I loved this film. It is intelligent, warm and deeply moving, a story about cross-cultural differences, growing up with one foot in one culture and one foot in the other, adolescence, identity, isolation, alienation and journey to adulthood taking place in 1980s Thatcher England, job loss, racial hostility and synth music. It's about a Pakistani family, a Sikh friend who loves the Boss (who is the Boss of us all), Sony Walkmans, tape cassettes, working for a living and having skinheads spit on you. It's about loving words, having a passion for writing, paying attention to words and the words of a fellow poet, Bruce. It's about parents, their sacrifices and struggles and the letting go. Loss. And, it's about meaning. Living a life with meaning, values and love. The film is well-written, acted, directed and edited. There is humor. There is not a false note anywhere. The only complaint I can make, and it's a very small one, because of my American ears, there were a couple of Xs I did not understand the dialogue.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Menashe
(2017)
Emotionally real
3 January 2018
I saw this movie after seeing it listed on someone's top 20 films for 2017. It is available on Amazon Prime.
This movie was thoroughly absorbing & emotionally real. Almost the entire film takes place in Yiddish. The actors, all very good, are amateurs.
There was only one scene that I thought could have been a little better? It was the scene where Menashe talks to his brother-in-law at his door. There was very little eye contact from Menashe. He looked down the entire time. This may be true in real life but for a film there should be some eye contact to express emotion.
Great story telling. Really well done. Highly recommended.
This movie was thoroughly absorbing & emotionally real. Almost the entire film takes place in Yiddish. The actors, all very good, are amateurs.
There was only one scene that I thought could have been a little better? It was the scene where Menashe talks to his brother-in-law at his door. There was very little eye contact from Menashe. He looked down the entire time. This may be true in real life but for a film there should be some eye contact to express emotion.
Great story telling. Really well done. Highly recommended.
The Shape of Water
(2017)
Beautiful and yet...
28 December 2017
Beautiful story about love, not about getting it, or keeping it, but about love and how it shows up. It is also about love for the movies. Beautifully filmed and acted. However...the story is kind of thin, filled with obvious jokes & pop culture references of the early 60s. Maybe because of Mad Men, maybe because of Apollo 13, maybe because I've seen these references so many times, they have gotten kind of stale. Then, there is the bogeyman played by Michael Shannon. I read his part was written for him. Good for him. I thought his acting was over the top. Maybe it was his eyes? The ending brought tears to my eyes and I stayed for the credits which I rarely do.
Fences
(2016)
Great story with universal themes
2 March 2017
I enjoyed viewing this the day of the Oscars and I think I might go see it again! The theme of this movie is about manhood, being a father and being a husband for Troy Maxson, an illiterate African American man born in 1918. He left home at age 14. He was incarcerated. He was a Negro League ball player. He is a full time sanitation worker (what we used to call a garbageman). He is a good provider. He turns over his weekly paycheck to his wife. He takes care of his disabled brother. He is the father of 3 children by 3 different women. He drinks gin. He builds a fence.
Troy Maxson is also a raconteur, a strict father and an adulterer.
This is an African American story. But, there is also a larger human story here about what it means to be a father. There were elements of Troy Maxson's character that reminded me of my father, who was Caucasian and born 10 years after Troy, and I see some of these elements reflected in my brother: the desire to feel free, the desire to feel powerful and the desire to protect their sons. I see also the downside of being so stoic and responsible -- the inability to show an interest in their son's talents. The definition of love for this generation was quite different. As Troy Maxson tells Cory, "I don't have to like you."
Troy Maxson is also a raconteur, a strict father and an adulterer.
This is an African American story. But, there is also a larger human story here about what it means to be a father. There were elements of Troy Maxson's character that reminded me of my father, who was Caucasian and born 10 years after Troy, and I see some of these elements reflected in my brother: the desire to feel free, the desire to feel powerful and the desire to protect their sons. I see also the downside of being so stoic and responsible -- the inability to show an interest in their son's talents. The definition of love for this generation was quite different. As Troy Maxson tells Cory, "I don't have to like you."
Moonlight
(I) (2016)
One of the most beautiful films I have ever seen
14 January 2017
One of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. I felt this movie's themes transcended race, class, gender and sexual orientation. The will to survive all obstacles and the need to love and be loved, to be touched, is a human story told so affectingly here against a sun drenched tropical landscape with an ocean view. The use of water as a metaphor for human growth or the soul, the unbearable isolation of young Chiron who wears his backpack like Atlas bearing the weight of the world, the visual and audio perceptions from the point of view of a child, an adolescent and a young man and the emotional truths so tellingly displayed thru-out this entire film make this one of the most deeply felt films I have seen. I felt like crying afterwards and nobody died.
Deli Man
(2014)
Interesting & Fun
14 March 2015
This documentary is about a deli man, the Ziggy of Kenny & Ziggy's in Houston, TX, really David Gruber, a professionally trained chef following in the footsteps of his grandfather who started the Rialto Deli in Manhattan in 1933. David is a 3rd generation deli man. The documentary presents the history and sociology of delis interspersed with brief interviews of owners, patrons and 1 waiter. We visit one of David's purveyors for whitefish.
The decline of the deli parallels the acculturation of Eastern European Jews. At one time, there were 1500 kosher delis alone in NYC. Today, there are 150 delis in the US. Anyone who lives in a large urban area has seen the change.
Pastrami was created by Romanians. Who knew? Thank you Romania!
The decline of the deli parallels the acculturation of Eastern European Jews. At one time, there were 1500 kosher delis alone in NYC. Today, there are 150 delis in the US. Anyone who lives in a large urban area has seen the change.
Pastrami was created by Romanians. Who knew? Thank you Romania!
A Disappointment
7 March 2015
In all honestly, I had not seen the 1st one, and still plan to see it. This movie was a disappointment. The plot wanders. The characters and relationships are trite. And, really, could we not have had Maggie Smith's character in a better fitting wig and wardrobe? She looked so ill-groomed and drab. I loved the locale and the vivid color palette but there is no sense of the changes or adjustments one must make in living in a foreign country on a retiree's income. There is one comment of it being cheaper which did not come from someone living there. There was only 1 reference to food ("oh, you must try the pancakes" which was said twice.). I loved the Indian actors and the big dance scene at the end which I always look forward to. But, the actual ending, where everyone scoots off into the horizon w/ their chosen partner, was so "Where The Boys Are". Spring break in Fort Lauderdale had more integrity.
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