aka Nirgendwo in Afrika Winner, Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film, 2002 in German, Swahili, and English; with English subtitles based on the autobiographical novel Nowhere in Africa by Stefanie Zweig
My grade: A
In the beginning of the movie, it is 1938, and Walter and Jettel Redlich and their young daughter Regina have fled Nazi Germany for Kenya. Adjusting to their new home is a struggle, particularly for Jettel, who yearns for her comfortable life back in Germany. It is their daughter Regina who thrives in Kenya. Her relationship with the people, especially their cook Owuor, is very special. The family still has problems, though, even in Africa, and the strain is evident in Walter and Jettel’s marriage. Knowing the unthinkable has happened to their loved ones in Germany is especially difficult on both of them.
After the war is over, the family must decide whether to stay in Kenya or return to Germany, or even whether or not to remain a family. The film is a realistic, astounding portrait of Jewish refugees during WWII.
Seeing the film definitely made me want to read Zweig’s book. There is also a sequel, Somewhere in Germany, that I’d like to read as well.
Also finished: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown () (I’ll have that review tomorrow), and now I’m halfway through Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.
I watched and reviewed an excellent Japanese film, Departures, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009. Loved this film. Loved it.
And, I participated in the Villette read-a-long and made plans to participate in the Atlas Shrugged read-a-long. I’m loving Villette so far and I’m excited for Atlas Shrugged. I’d like to finish it before the movie comes out on April 15.
Amazon info
(Caution, spoilers ahead.) I had $5 in Amazon video-on-demand promotions so I used it last night to see Never Let Me Go. First of all, I could have done without Keira Knightley in the film. I’m not a fan of hers, and the only movie I’ve ever liked her in was the first Pirates of the Caribbean. (And don’t get me started on why the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice is infinitely better than the Knightley version.)
Other than her being in it, I LOVED it. The scenery and the music were so beautiful. Carey Mulligan was fantastic. And the film affected me way more than the book did. Ishiguro is a terrific writer, but at the end of the book I really did question whether they had a soul or not. The way the characters were portrayed on film erased that question in my mind.
I highly recommend this movie, but I would hope that you’d read the book first.
I read The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2006, and though I didn’t like some of the bad language in it, I absolutely LOVED the story. I think the movie was supposed to come out last fall, but it kept being pushed later and later, so I was a little worried about how it was going to turn out. But with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana as the lead roles (two of my very favorite actors), I thought it couldn’t be too awful.
I really liked but didn’t quite love the movie. It was very emotional for me, just as the book was. Of course they changed some elements of the story (Gomez is all good in the film), but most of the movie was as good as I expected. The problem for me was that the beginning of it didn’t quite work for me. I’m not sure why, but I think they could have set up the storyline a little better than they did. Also, while Erica Bana was great,I didn’t like Rachel McAdam’s acting in parts — it was as if I could “see” her acting. I loved loved loved her in The Notebook, so I was surprised and disappointed in this. But, it was only in parts. In other sections of the movie I thought she was as fantastic as Bana.
My only caution is that if you haven’t read the book, it might be a little hard to follow. And if you haven’t yet read the book, I highly recommend you do so!
Julie and Julia was a pleasant surprise for me. Of course I knew it was about Julia Child, but funnily enough, I didn’t know it was also somewhat about blogging! I remember watching Julia Child on PBS when I was a kid and thought she was the funniest thing. Meryl Streep has to be one of the best (if not the best) actresses of all time. She played Julia sooooooo well. I’ve loved Amy Adams in other movies, but to me she was a little disappointing in this film. All in all, though, I really liked the film. I most enjoyed learning more about Julia’s life — she was quite a character. [Side note: Did you know Julia was 6'2" tall? Her husband made special kitchen counters for her!]
I don’t even like cooking all that much except for a few dishes that my family loves me to make, but I may just have to get Julie Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The recipes looked and sounded delicious!
Since there’s been so many highly anticipated films that have come out recently, my family’s been on a bit of a movie watching binge. Luckily, my theater’s first showings of the day are only $4.00 — even for a new film! We’re sci-fi nuts at our house, so we’ve been anxiously awaiting these three films. I’m not going to give full reviews on these, but I would like to briefly state my thoughts on each.
Star Trek. Grade: A+
Absolutely loved this. Casting was perfect, and I loved the storyline. One of my sons has a problem with movies and books that have time travel involved, so he didn’t care as much for the story as the rest of us. I, however, loved it! Even my sister, who’s not really into Star Trek at all, really liked the movie.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.Grade: A
This movie definitely answers all your questions about the origins of Wolverine. Jackman was awesome, and so was Liev Schreiber. The opening sequence of the movie is really great. I liked this movie much better than the third X-Men film.
Terminator Salvation. Grade: B-
Disappointed. I actually almost gave this a C+. I love all the Terminator films and we’ve also seen all of the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles episodes on TV. This was our (and I mean all four of us!) favorite show on television, but sadly, it got cancelled. So I was really excited that the fourth installment of the films was coming out.
Christian Bale is absolutely one of my favorite actors, so it pains me to say I really didn’t like him in this. He acted it well, but there was really no heart to the story. The only heart I saw came from the characters Marcus Wright and Blair. Some of the machines were particularly cool, like the ‘motorcycle’ terminators. However, I really despised some of the sound in the film. Terminators are machines, not animals. Some of the sounds coming from them were almost like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Didn’t care for that at all. One more thing — some of the terminators in LA were wearing bandanas. Campy. Just dumb. This is my least favorite film of the franchise, and I must say that the TV series is also better. That makes me sad because I really wanted to love this.
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So if you’re in the market for a movie this weekend and you’re into sci-fi, I’d choose Star Trek or Wolverine over Terminator Salvation.
I watched this movie from Netflix instant viewing to wrap up my Jewish Literature Challenge. I also used it for the Orbis Terrarum Film Challenge.
Words cannot describe how much I loved this movie. It’s a film about love, hospitality, and above all, faith. Ushpizin means “holy guests,” and when Moshe and Mali have unexpected guests during the Succoth holiday, their faith is not only tested, but also their love for one another. This is a must see if you are interested at all in the Jewish experience. Highly recommended.
aka Nirgendwo in Afrika
) (I’ll have that review tomorrow), and now I’m halfway through Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.
