Row 'M' Seat 30 "Twilight NEW MOON"

SPOILER ALERT

Discussion Guide to follow...

Installment 2 of the Twilight film adaptations 'NEW MOON' is an engaging depiction of adolescent angst made all the more real by the secrecy around the world of vampires and werewolves. The setting for this incedulous story allows each character to grapple with growing up, identity, how they interact and effect each other and all the uncertainties, challenges and story shaping action of the average teenagers life.

Watch the film with a cinema comfortably full of schoolgirls [if you can] so you know what's supposed to be funny or poignant, gripping or hilarious!! Perhaps the gratuitous 'shirt removals' are taken less seriously this way!!

Bella struggles as Edward decides she'd be better off if he left. Asking her to promise 'not to do anything reckless' he appears at those tempting moments and creating an incentive to 'push it' in Bella's despair and loneliness.

Jacob is experiencing quite a transformation as the teenage male hormones kick in and he represents the 'what's good for you' choice in love.

NEW MOON explores the world of the vampire, werewolf and the world of a whole peer group of different characters.

Not having read the books I was bored almost to sleep by the DVD of the first film in the 'Twighlight' series. I thought the angst was a little false and the incredulous stuff was too understated to creat the smile humour that lifts these stories to another level.

However in "NEW MOON" by all reports the Director and storytellers have made a much more engaging film.

Row 'M' Seat 30 "As It Is In Heaven"

I have had some space this week to write some resources I've been meaning to catch up on... including this discussion guide and resource for the great Swedish film "As It Is In Heaven."
The film operates on lots of levels and is only enriched by the direct messages for those engaged in 'church' community!!
A pdf will be downloadable soon from the Youth Unit website here but is here for saving as a gif file!!

I look fwd to a group discussion again this coming week with colleagues at the 'Formation Intensive' at Nth Parramatta!!

Row M Seat 30 'Terminator Salvation' rated M

Row M Seat #30 "Gran Torino" rated M

SYNOPSIS:

Following his wife's funeral, grumpy Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) has little to do but drink beer and sneer at his mostly South East Asian neighbours, some of whom sneer back. Next door, Hmong teenager Thao (Bee Vang), is reluctantly pushed into an initiation for the local Hmong gang - to steal Walt's pristine 1972 Gran Torino - until Walt catches him at it.

Walt's general disdain isn't limited to Hmongs; he has never really connected with his adult sons, either. But when the prickly old geezer is out of beer, he grudgingly accepts an invitation from Thao's sister Sue (Ahney Her) to go next door for a barbecue - and beers.

His resentment begins to thaw, and when Thao wants to repair the family name and work for Walt doing odd jobs for a week, Walt starts to recognize the humanity in the boy and becomes the father figure the boy doesn't have, leading to dramatic changes in everyone's lives.

Urban Cinefile

Everything I read told me this would be a good film, with the grainy storytelling qualities of 'Million Dollar Baby' and some familiar themes Clint Eastwood seems to have enjoyed exploring in recent times. This is a moving parable and is one of those multilayered films I appreciate even more the further away I get.

Eastwood's character study is made most real by the authentic neighbours, with little or no English and a very different culture of family life.

Walt 'fixes things' from electrical goods to potentially his young neighbour whose sensitivity and struggle Walt sees. He is gruff and is disappointed in himself and others, yet redemption is possible and surprisingly so...

Set in Detroit, the Gran Torino is a symbol of life itself, from the glory days of American 'muscle cars' to the current economic plight and societal changes thrown in along the way.

It's a moving exploration of:

*multicultural issues

[Walt lumps all 'slopes or zipperheads' together until it's pointed out to him these Vietnamese people are there because they fought on the US side and had nowhere else to go after the war]

*classic second generation issues with a gang storyline

*generational differences pre and post the 1950s

*identity

*issues of faith & life with some nice by play between Walt and his young Catholic Priest

Spoiler Alert:

Confession, redemption and the path to seeing more in others than their flaws proves to be far more complex than might be expected and the parable ending is suitably bitter sweet!!

It's a timely story with Easter not too far away...

Row M Seat 30 "Seven Pounds" starring Will Smith

'Ben Thomas' [Will Smith] has a secret where even the previews talk about how he took only seven seconds to ruin his life. We pick up the unfolding story in this film where it seems Ben has chosen a range of people to help out in life, seemingly out of his capapcity as an IRS [Tax Ofice] Case Worker.
This moving film comes from the 'Pursuit of Happyness' team and has a similar grain and feel whilst Will Smith works hard to create the depth and complexity of his character who is surprised by the girl he meets who is in need of a heart transplant.
As the truth about Ben and the reasons for and nature of his helping become clear, this turns into a very moving and thoughtful story of one persons attempts to make a real difference in the lives of others.

Will Smith quote:
"Usually with the films that I make there are ideas that I connect to, but lately I've been dealing with the bittersweet in life because it feels more natural. You don't ever get it really the way you want in life. That really fascinates me. As an actor, there are certain parts of a character that you create, and you train yourself to have those reactions and then it becomes hard to stop them when the role is over. You have to retrain yourself. My character in this film is like hot grits. You know you can't shake them off and when you do, it hurts."

Rotten Tomatoes movie review website was like many others not exactly raving about the film.

SPOILER ALERT
While I found the story had weaknesses and some aspects were simply implausible, it is a 'fable' in the truest sense and offers reflections on:
life
mistakes
that things don't always go well

There are challenges awaiting many thoughtful viewers and the films climax is sudden and definitive!!

Row 'M' Seat 30 "Seven Pounds"

"It is within my power to drastically change his cirumstances, but I don't want to give that man a gift he doesn't deserve."

Angela 'scoop' Bishop's entertainment wrap for TEN this morning on TV included a sneak peak at Will Smith's new movie due here in Oz in January!!
"Seven Pounds" Ben (Will Smith) is an IRS agent who is deeply depressed and guilt-ridden over mistakes from his past. He sets out in his job to help seven strangers. When he meets Emily (Rosario Dawson), a beautiful woman with a heart condition, he falls in love with her, thereby complicating his plans. Woody Harrelson also appears as a blind pianist who befriends Ben.
It's from the makers of 'Pursuit of Happyness' so it's probably more than the marketing that's a similar feel to that film!!

Other cinema to look for now/2009:
'Frost/Nixon' December
'Valkyrie' January [the reason for that Tom Cruise hairstyle]
'Star Trek' May
'Terminator Salvation' with Christian Bale as John Connor
'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' June
'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' July [should have been November 2008]
'The Seventh Python' July
'GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra' August
'Dirt Music' based on Tim Winton's novel September

Row M Seat 30 Film Discussion "JUNO"