Change Your Image
leighs73
Reviews
Control Room (2004)
Moving
Two things moved me very much about this film:
The first was Lt Rushing, one of the US military media liaison officers at Centcom. His open-mindedness, fairness and plain decency are very rare to find in any spin doctor, let alone one working for an army during a war. He is a credit to himself, his family and his country, and I sincerely hope he hasn't suffered any professional repercussions for his honesty in this piece.
The second was the man who was the head of Al Jazeera. It was funny when he said he would accept a job at Fox News the second it was offered. But it turned out to be heartbreaking when he said as soon as his children are old enough, he'll send them to the US for education, in order to escape the "Arab nightmare" and live the "American dream". It's so sad that that part of the world is such a mess that even people who love it and have grown up there and are rooting for it recognise that there is little hope there for their children. If only that sentiment could be channelled into finding a solution for the problems in the Middle East.
Il postino (1994)
It's about Friendship, not romantic love
**contains spoilers**
It interests me that so many of the comments about this film (and the way it was marketed) focus on the romance between the postman and Beatrice Russo. To me, that is a minor part of the film. Beatrice has only a handful of lines and very little screen time. The film is more about the friendship between Mario Ruocculo and Pablo Neruda.
"Il Postino" is heartbreaking in its final half hour or so, when you realise that Neruda really ISN'T going to get in touch with his friends in Italy. The famous poet had far more of an impact on their lives than they had on his. It is sad that even when people don't love us as much as we love them, we still love them and yearn for them nonetheless. Even when it is clear to Mario that Pablo isn't going to write to him or keep in touch, he makes the beautiful tape for his friend.
When Pablo finally does return years later to find that Mario has died, and we see the scenes of him listening to the tape and walking along the beach, I felt nothing but loathing for him. Yes, he returned, but would it have killed him to have made an effort to keep in touch with the postman during those ten years. Neruda was just so, so selfish. It was beautiful that Mario realised he didn't mean as much to Neruda as Neruda had to him, yet he chose to still love his friend anyway and not feel bitter. In those final scenes, I was wishing pain and regret upon Neruda for his behaviour.
Office Space (1999)
Leave the computer and rent it now
This is a sensational movie - Gary Cole as Bill Lumbergh is the stand-out, especially the scene where Peter imagines him having sex with his girlfriend (complete with coffee mug).
I'm trying to single out some scenes as favourites, but there are so many... the one where Peter tells the therapist every day is the worst day of his life ... Michael Bolton rapping in his car until the black window washer walks by ... Jennifer Aniston showing the boss her "flair" ... Lawrence saying if he had a million dollars he'd do two chicks at once.
The minor characters are all brilliant, from the "Somebody's got a case of the Mondays" woman to Bryan, the flair guy.
My husband and I quote lines from this film to each other all the time, especially when we need each other to do something .. "Yeahhh, hi Phil, how's it going ... I'm gonna hafta ask you to do the dishes ... yeah, that'd be greeeattt".