MsLiz Reviews

East Side Sushi (2014)

Great movie showing people working together across differences

[10/10 · 24 December 2016]

A wonderful surprise from the West Coast!

The Port Washington N.Y. library showed this film, which I had never heard of, last night, and I was delighted by the story, the actors and the director's work.

This is a film I would recommend to all of my friends. It is very truthful about how real people manage their differences in culture and background. Juana's life as a single mother, and working with her father to support her daughter reflect the experience of many young women I know. This simple story points the way for those who choose to learn about people different from themselves and working together with mutual respect.

I was happy to see that the movie avoided so many of the "working with others" clichés. The actors and the director made the story feel authentic and real.

The Way Way Back (2013)

This Movie Gets the Awkward Teenager's Life Right!

[10/10 · 14 January 2014]

I spent a lot of my teenage years feeling like an outsider. When I got to my 20s I was surprised to realize that most of the people I talked to did not feel like a success when they were teenagers, even the pretty, smart and handsome ones.

For me, summer stints as a camp counselor helped me find myself as a useful pre-adult. Someone taught me to serve a volleyball, and then I helped my campers win games. Someone played a guitar and led singing, and I found that I could also play guitar and sing with others.

The movie had me laughing out loud at the library showing, and I was delighted with the way this movie realistically told us about Duncan's summer of self-discovery! I look forward to the next movie these writers, producers and directors put together, I am sure they have more to tell us.

Zuo you (2008)

This film is quite an experience

[10/10 · 24 April 2009]

Film Movement has made this film available, and I have always been impressed by their selections. Tonight a library in our area showed this movie, and I found it compelling to watch. It is true that several people in front of us got up before the end saying that the film was too long; I will leave it to more technical observers to decide what could have been shortened. The actors were all new to me. The scenes of modern China were very interesting in the context of the story.

I felt this quiet film of everyday people in a difficult situation was very well written, directed and acted. It is another marker on the road of contemporary Chinese films like "Not One Less" and "Raise the Red Lantern." I believe it tells a story which many of us can understand. I would recommend it to you, I was glad to have the opportunity to see it.

Acqua e sapone (1983)

Good effort, slow in places

[3/10 · 18 April 2007]

This film was featured in a presentation of movies about "fashion" but it touches very lightly on the fashion business.

The proverb is "A cat can look at a king," in this case, an ordinary guy can look at a beauty. The exposition takes too long in some places, the ending is conventional. A person I saw the film with told me the English subtitles did not adequately translate the Italian dialogue. Once I realized the film was made in 1983 I understood why sometimes the plot seemed so "old."

For me, learning that "soap and water" means "a woman who knows her way around" did not illuminate the story. What I did enjoy was the Italian grandmother and her relationship with her grandson - he thinks he is fooling her, but she knows what is really going on every minute!

Red Doors (2005)

Enthusiastic packed informal screening

[10/10 · 21 July 2006]

I watched this film tonight with a packed house at Pt. Washington library. One of the actresses and the assistant director were there to answer questions after the movie. People kept coming into the theater room after the movie had been running for a half-hour or more, and the room was filled with not just the usual in-town audience but many friends of the film who had traveled 20 or 30 miles to be able to see the film screened.

I think every father has problems adjusting to how their daughter(s) lives change as they grow up. My own father's favorite picture of me was taken in my freshman year of high school when I still wore glasses(!) and hadn't yet changed into the young woman that disagreed with many of his plans for her.

I was very pleased by the character development of the sisters and the father, they found ways to make changes in their lives even when the changes were difficult.

I liked the film very much, and most of the audience did too! Congratulations to Georgia Lee and the cast and crew for this great family film!

The Station Agent (2003)

Even better than I expected

[3 September 2004]

I heard the comments, I read the reviews, but actually seeing The Station Agent was even better than I had expected. I watched it in a library--and it was almost a full house for the showing tonight. At the end there was a burst of applause. I watch movies in libraries quite often, but I can't remember the last time I heard applause when the movie was over.

Another movie (Lost in Translation is in this group) which doesn't settle for the oh-too-obvious "fall in love" clichés, and presents supportive friendship as a worthwhile choice. I think that working towards friendship is a tremendous possibility (and never one that you have to regret in the morning)!

In America (2002)

This is the story of most immigrants to America

[28 July 2004]

Housing in New York City is very expensive, so the part about the family finding the only affordable place to live in a bad neighborhood is very real even today. What I appreciated is that the family and their neighbors accepted each other, this is possible in my experience, people can be just people.

Actors come to New York City from all over the world, because it is an entertainment center. Each one expects to be the success story, most of them never get to a stage, much less have any lines to say...

I really liked this film, I was surprised from time to time when my expectations of what would happen when children knock on a door marked "Keep Away" were challenged, for example. Imagine being surprised by good instead of the bad I expected!

Two centuries ago a Swedish song said that money grew on trees in America, many of our families came to the U.S. hoping for a better opportunity than they had at home, and this film reminds us all that today's immigrants are also following a hope and a dream of America.

Hardhat and Legs (1980 TV Movie)

I loved this TV special and was so impressed by the writers!

[10 January 2004]

I didn't know Ruth Gordon and Kanin's work before I saw this program, which I watched when it debuted on television so long ago. I felt the story was just right, very well written and realistic. I have watched it at least once more when I saw it listed, and I continue to love the story. Also a great showcase for Sharon Gless.

Our Song (2000)

I was once a teenage girl like this

[25 March 2003]

Fifteen and wondering what will happen in the future. Trying to figure out what you can and cannot do with boys without getting into trouble. Trying to figure out how to be as cool as I wanted to be without losing who I was becoming. I found this film very true-to-life, it reminded me of my cousins, nieces, and friends in this stage of life (and of course, myself). I only hope many young people will see it on DVD and many adults will take to heart the tentative movements this film portrays and give the kids a break.

The Icicle Thief (1989)

Relax and enjoy this!

[11 October 2002]

A fun takeoff on the serious drama of "The Bicycle Thief." The film contrasts the intense, self-centered film director; his characters, who are just trying to make things turn out more pleasantly for themselves; the ideal and imaginary people we see in commercials; and the people in the television audience who see any film chopped up into bits that fit around commercials and other station business.

A film critic who uses the notes he prepared for another film tries to evaluate and analyze the film the television program is playing (titled "The Icicle Thief"), while the director in the studio sputters in disbelief. The characters in the melodramatic black-and-white film are stuck in drudgery and dispair until the fantasy characters in the commercials start to enter their lives. The audience, represented by a typical family, just looks at the screen whenever there is nothing better to do, while the television program chatters on in their mundane existence. Could this be us? Could this be you?

The Road Home (1999)

Once I was 18 and in love

[17 May 2002]

This movie had the wonderful ability to remind me what it was like to be an 18-year-old in love. I did not live in China, but it was heart-rending experience, and one that brought me closer to who I am today.

I also appreciated the opportunity to remember the death of my father, when I was 24, and the stories I know of his life and how he and my mother met, and the impact he had on the lives of the people who knew him.

This movie also taught me more about China's varied geography--I had no idea there were birch trees and prairie farms there, as in the Kansas of my childhood.

I highly recommend this film, it helps me remember that we are connected to those whom we have never met, because we all can feel love and remember the best parts of life.