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Reviews
Pelé: Birth of a Legend (2016)
I love this movie, but...
I LOVED this movie. Everything but the way they portrayed the British coach of the Swedish team. George Raynor was actually the opposite of the way the movie implied - he was NOT racist and neither was the Swedish team. Raynor was passionate about the game's ability to unite - and he became the first hugely successful foreigner coaching teams at the highest level - in Sweden and Italy - and in reality, he opened millions of people's minds to a bigger picture view of sport as a unifier rather than just my country versus your country. Sweden believed in his message of sports as a way to unify nations and celebrate competition as an alternative to the wars that had devastated Europe in the first half of the 20th century. The movie did show the King & Queen of Sweden cheering equally for both teams in the 1958 final - that was a fact - and a huge deal (it confused a lot of people around the world at the time, who didn't get it). George Raynor deserved way better treatment in this movie.
Its true though that Sweden played a rough style of soccer - that was the Scandinavian way and was largely because many played hockey in the winter as kids - definitely the way I experienced soccer as a youngster in America being coached by Scandinavian players of that era. The other fact that the movie left out was that in the dreaded 1950 World Cup (where the movie opens) Brazil defeated Sweden 7-1 in a quarter final match. So both teams were a bit shook by that: Sweden was actually in great fear of Brazil in the 1958 final. While Brazil (the host nation) remembered they had gone far only to get cocky and lose to their neighbor Uruguay in the final, which was mega-embarrassing for them.
Harriet (2019)
Woman of faith and action
Was fortunate to attend a screening with a published author expert on the Underground Railroad who assured us that the historical arc of the movie was accurate and that Harriet Tubman was very much a woman of faith and action as depicted. We greatly enjoyed the movie and are excited to learn more about a truly great American who worked without compromise for justice - and helped in major ways to drive a stake into the heart of slavery.
End of the Spear (2005)
Finally an accurate depiction of how faith motivates
What Mel Gibson "risked" in bringing "The Passion of the Christ" to the screen, so did Mart Green to realize the story of "End of the Spear" - a truly inspiring must-see film that outlines the interaction of American missionaries with isolated people in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956. In an era when Americans - and particularly Evangelical Christians - are subject to stereotype and ridicule around the world, this movie has another perspective on what is in the hearts of those who follow Christ. I sincerely hope that Mart Green and the rest of the team that worked to realize this true story on film, will receive acknowledgment for what they have accomplished. They certainly have my appreciation and respect. See this movie, and bring friends, particularly people who do not know this kind of faith in their lives. This is a story of transformational love which will not be lost on anyone.
Though some mainstream media critics and virulent anti-Christians will be especially harsh to a non-Hollywood financed motion picture that succeeds in getting its message across, please don't be discouraged by their cynicism. It is is true that this movie doesn't have some of the computer-generated nuances of a big budget film. And it is true that an acting performance or two among the cast is uneven. And it is true that this movie would have benefited mightily from a script make-over and a big-budget editing team. But that is just the point - those very elements of the film-making support the raw, edgy nature of the setting and plot for the story.
My favorite reviewer comment comes from John Niccum of the Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World: "This generally engrossing Christian parable is the type of film that conservatives will over-praise and liberals will over-criticize."
Which is fair comment. And supports strongly the observation that a large number of the public wants many more of these kinds of films - and those that don't acknowledge the power of these stories. So let them carp about imperialism and all else - it will only help draw the fair-minded into the theater for their own analysis. "End of the Spear" will make the point that perhaps they have never experienced about love and redemption.
Oh, and like everyone else says: stick around for the credits!
Joyride (1977)
Undiscovered Cult Classic
"Joyride" captures the malaise of the 70's so much better than many films of the era. Think of it as a perfect antidote to "Saturday Night Fever" on many levels. Watch for the Pacific Northwest cinematic quirkiness that comes through later in everything from "Twin Peaks" to "Napoleon Dynamite" and many more. There are many northwest talents that went on to other endeavors in this movie as well - surprising it has not been celebrated a bit more for that. I recommend it highly to college sociology students and Melanie Griffith groupies (get a life!). Truth be told, I've always held a candle for Anne Lockhart. We could have been very happy together, the restraining order was so uncool. Psyche! She's great.
Living Life (2004)
Break-out movie from the youngest director in Hollywood
In Living Life, seventeen year old Jason Miller (played by Benjamin P. Garman in a solid first film performance) learns he is dealing with a very serious metastasized late-stage neuroblastoma (abdominal) cancer. His grandfather (movingly portrayed by veteran film actor Dick Arnold) has been estranged from the family for many years but because of his grandson's grave illness, insists on spending time with him. In a beautiful scene done on a rowboat in Seattle's Green Lake, Jason asks his grandfather: "Have you ever wanted to do something really great for a person, something wonderful that actually affects their lives?" This theme underscores the entire movie.
Jesse Harris graduated from Seattle's Ballard High School last year and now has the major motion picture "Living Life" in distribution. As a sophomore Harris wrote the screenplay about a young man's triumph in the face of terminal illness. By his senior year he had shot the movie, and used his own college funds to fund the project's development. His film has been an audience favorite at screenings like the Bay Area's prestigious Orinda Film Festival. This led to a post-production and distribution contract - with a major Hollywood movie distributor.
Harris admits that at film festivals and test screenings "people tell me, like in their twenties and thirties, that it (the movie) changed the way they think. People are relating to loss, to family, to what this all means for them personally. I'm not like a religious person. And the film does not come off as preachy. But all of a sudden the message just hits." And people are deeply moved. "I want people thinking about it, talking about it" Harris admits. And people tell him in thinking about encountering crisis in their lives "they learned how to react, and what they would do based on the movie." Film critics in Seattle have marveled how this movie is shot with the deft touches of an experienced director's eye. And how it bravely explores end-of-life themes from the teenage perspective of both the characters and creator of the film. Spielberg brought us "Duel" as his film school best. It is incredible to ponder what this young director will be capable of - based on the power of this superlative first effort. Jesse Harris has arrived with "Living Life" - and just as Sir David Lean praised Spielberg's first - I hope Steven (and others in the top echelons of directing) take notice of Jesse Harris' talent. But frankly, Jesse Harris is already a young Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu based on the rawness of emotion and depth of meaning he tackles. And it will be fascinating to see him direct action sequences: is he going to be more Wong Kar-Wai or John Frankenheimer? Something tells me he is going to be solidly Jesse Harris.