I saw this film September 2nd of 2010 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture “…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.” Heartland gave that award to this film.
In 1968 in Dagenham, England, a small number of women went on strike against Ford. The workers at the huge Ford finishing plant were overwhelmingly male. These women were striking for two reasons. First, their jobs were re-classified from semi-skilled to unskilled. Second, regardless of the job classification, they simply made a substantial percentage less than men whose positions were graded the same.
No one was on their side – not the Ford management (obviously), not the male-dominated union leadership, not their husbands and significant others, and not the government. And, these women were workers, not labor activists. They were truly amateurs.
They persevered and struggled. They showed daring and restraint – they showed courage and fear – they showed strength and weakness – they sacrificed and were oh so human in their once-in-a-lifetime chance to try to make a difference.
The story is told simply without tricks. But the story is interesting and matters because you slowly begin to care for the characters and you want things to end right.
We know today that women have a legal right to earn equal pay for equal work. You have to watch this movie to see if the women of Dagenham obtained that right.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Flipped
I saw this film in late March, of 2010 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture “…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.” Heartland gave that award to this film.
This is a coming of age film set initially and briefly in the late 1950s and mostly in the early 1960s. The boy, Bryce, is chased by his neighbor girl, Juli. And is he chased! Juli is immediately smitten or “flipped” by Bryce’s eyes and the story unfolds.
What is unusual about the story telling is that each major event is played back twice – once through the eyes and voice of Bryce and once through the eyes and voice of Juli. It’s the same scene, but you wouldn’t know that from their differing viewpoints.
Juli is the adventurous and interesting one. Bryce just wants to fit in at their Junior High School. Juli slowly begins to unlike Bryce and Bryce slowly begins to appreciate Juli. Will they ever meet at the same emotional place at the same time? That is the drama and story.
The art direction and era are right on. It is the Eisenhower and Kennedy years in look, and even in feel. The wives are subordinate to the husbands. The children are mostly respectful to their parents. And the teachers teach and the students learn. But, you can see the seeds being laid for the rebellious war babies of the late1960s.
Rob Reiner is a talented director for romances – “When Harry Met Sally.” And he is a talented director for handling young actors – “Stand By Me.” He combines these talents to help us understand the better part of the human condition; that is, love, respect, sacrifice, forgiveness, and honor. And we have fun and laugh along the way. This is like the TV program, “Wonder Years” – but heightened and deepened.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
This is a coming of age film set initially and briefly in the late 1950s and mostly in the early 1960s. The boy, Bryce, is chased by his neighbor girl, Juli. And is he chased! Juli is immediately smitten or “flipped” by Bryce’s eyes and the story unfolds.
What is unusual about the story telling is that each major event is played back twice – once through the eyes and voice of Bryce and once through the eyes and voice of Juli. It’s the same scene, but you wouldn’t know that from their differing viewpoints.
Juli is the adventurous and interesting one. Bryce just wants to fit in at their Junior High School. Juli slowly begins to unlike Bryce and Bryce slowly begins to appreciate Juli. Will they ever meet at the same emotional place at the same time? That is the drama and story.
The art direction and era are right on. It is the Eisenhower and Kennedy years in look, and even in feel. The wives are subordinate to the husbands. The children are mostly respectful to their parents. And the teachers teach and the students learn. But, you can see the seeds being laid for the rebellious war babies of the late1960s.
Rob Reiner is a talented director for romances – “When Harry Met Sally.” And he is a talented director for handling young actors – “Stand By Me.” He combines these talents to help us understand the better part of the human condition; that is, love, respect, sacrifice, forgiveness, and honor. And we have fun and laugh along the way. This is like the TV program, “Wonder Years” – but heightened and deepened.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Ramona and Beezus
I saw this film on May 12th of 2010 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture “…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.” Heartland gave that award to this film.
Ramona and Beezus are sisters. Ramona is in grade school and Beezus is in high school. They get along pretty good for being quite different ages, but their real conflict comes with Ramona’s unique skill of getting into trouble or doing inappropriate things. Beezus, on the other hand, is the perfect daughter and sister.
Ramona is not mean spirited. She is a daydreamer and has an overactive imagination and has trouble focusing. This puts her into difficult situations. Oh yes, and she is unlucky too.
The small problems of Ramona quickly get dwarfed by the big problem of her Dad losing his job through no fault of his own. He has a hard time getting another job, and this causes financial and emotional stress for the whole family. This is the focus of the movie.
This is a delightful and funny and entertaining movie for young grade school children. It teaches many important lessons that are worth knowing and reinforcing. The most important lesson is that families have their ups and downs. But if they all remember they love each other and treat each other with respect, something positive can emerge from the downs or hard times.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
Ramona and Beezus are sisters. Ramona is in grade school and Beezus is in high school. They get along pretty good for being quite different ages, but their real conflict comes with Ramona’s unique skill of getting into trouble or doing inappropriate things. Beezus, on the other hand, is the perfect daughter and sister.
Ramona is not mean spirited. She is a daydreamer and has an overactive imagination and has trouble focusing. This puts her into difficult situations. Oh yes, and she is unlucky too.
The small problems of Ramona quickly get dwarfed by the big problem of her Dad losing his job through no fault of his own. He has a hard time getting another job, and this causes financial and emotional stress for the whole family. This is the focus of the movie.
This is a delightful and funny and entertaining movie for young grade school children. It teaches many important lessons that are worth knowing and reinforcing. The most important lesson is that families have their ups and downs. But if they all remember they love each other and treat each other with respect, something positive can emerge from the downs or hard times.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Storytelling is vital to being a human being
"A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species Homo sapiens--second in necessity apparently after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or home, almost none in silence; the opposite of silence leads quickly to narrative, and the sound of story is the dominant sound of our lives, from the small accounts of our day's events to the vast incommunicable constructs of psychopaths."
Reynolds Price
A Palpable God
Monday, March 8, 2010
How To Train Your Dragon
I saw this film in early March, of 2010 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture “…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.” Heartland gave that award to this film.
It’s in 3-D and it’s gorgeous animation. But what really matters is the story. And it’s a good one. At first it seems the main story is about a Viking colony equally distant from nowhere, which is being constantly attacked by a wide variety of marauding dragons. It’s a full time job trying to keep the dragons at bay and the Viking warriors are often out on their boats hunting their wily and ferocious opponents.
But really the story is about a father and chief of the Vikings who has a young son, Hiccup, who is small and who is a slick, sarcastic talker and who doesn’t take orders well, but still seeks respect from his impressive father. At first, his Father will not let his son be a warrior Viking, but later relents to have Hiccup train with the other youngsters. But the young boy gets sidetracked and instead of wanting to kill dragons, the boy befriends them and seeks to understand them.
A young and inexperienced son seeking approval of a strong father is an often-told tale. Sons often act foolishly trying to impress their fathers. And fathers often ignore the strivings of their sons. In this case, there is honor and courage on all sides and it is inspiring to watch the father and son wrestle with their relationship.
And yes, about the dragons – they ARE ferocious and talented and aggressive warriors.
But their motivations are a mystery that unfolds slowly. And that’s the fun of this film.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
It’s in 3-D and it’s gorgeous animation. But what really matters is the story. And it’s a good one. At first it seems the main story is about a Viking colony equally distant from nowhere, which is being constantly attacked by a wide variety of marauding dragons. It’s a full time job trying to keep the dragons at bay and the Viking warriors are often out on their boats hunting their wily and ferocious opponents.
But really the story is about a father and chief of the Vikings who has a young son, Hiccup, who is small and who is a slick, sarcastic talker and who doesn’t take orders well, but still seeks respect from his impressive father. At first, his Father will not let his son be a warrior Viking, but later relents to have Hiccup train with the other youngsters. But the young boy gets sidetracked and instead of wanting to kill dragons, the boy befriends them and seeks to understand them.
A young and inexperienced son seeking approval of a strong father is an often-told tale. Sons often act foolishly trying to impress their fathers. And fathers often ignore the strivings of their sons. In this case, there is honor and courage on all sides and it is inspiring to watch the father and son wrestle with their relationship.
And yes, about the dragons – they ARE ferocious and talented and aggressive warriors.
But their motivations are a mystery that unfolds slowly. And that’s the fun of this film.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A Shine of Rainbows
I saw this film in December, of 2009 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture “…explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.” Heartland gave that award to this film.
Tomas is a young boy that is bullied and unhappy at an orphanage. He is suddenly and mysteriously adopted by a childless couple, who live simply and modestly on a very remote Irish island. The Mother, although in ill health, is a woman of astounding positive energy and beauty and sets herself to healing the mental and physical scars of the boy’s unfortunate upbringing. The Father meanwhile loves his wife dearly, but is far less excited by the recovering, damaged boy.
Intertwined with this awkward triangle relationship is light fantasy and legend and mystery of the gorgeous Irish coast. The Irish coast is so beautifully rendered that it is like a fourth character.
There is suddenly a great change in circumstances and two parts of the triangle have to come to terms with this tragedy. It takes courage and resolve and change and love.
The three actors of the triangle are vivid and hold your attention and each ultimately moves you emotionally in three different ways.
FYI – There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.
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