Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Nostalgia Fails Me Again

Like most, i happen to see the classic A Christmas Story several times over the holidays. What many do not know is that there is a sequel to the much loved christmas movie. To be fair, My Summer Story is barely a sequel. The family and neighbors share the same name as the original, and there are references in the beginning to the first movie, but not much beyond that. The only characters that remained the same are the teacher, played by Tedde Moore and the narrator is still done by Jean Shepherd. The plot is focused around the mothers obsession with dinnerware, a boy's quest to find the best top, and a father's war with the hillbilly neighbors.

I had not see My Summer Story since i was in middle school, but i remembered enjoying it immensely. Upon re-watching it, i did not enjoy it as much as i hoped to. This is another instance where i should have ignored my nostalgia curiosity.

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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The Great Debaters

Rarely do I walk away from a movie in awe. Tonight, The Great Debaters did just that to me. I went into the theater not knowing anything about the film, I hadn't even seen a trailer beforehand. Sometimes this works against me and I find myself trying to figure out what the premise of the movie is half the time and do not get to enjoy watching it. Luckily, The Great Debaters is a very easy movie to follow, but at the same time never dumbs itself down for the audience.

The movie was filled with so many great characters. Denzel Washington plays a very intelligent college professor and labor organizer in the 1930's. There was also great portrayals of a very strong young African-American woman and a bright 14 year old boy attending college.

The Great Debaters was one of the most powerful movies i have ever seen. It brought me to tears several times, of joy and sadness. I walked away from the movie wanting to educate myself as much as i can, especially on subjects i know very little about like African- American history. As Forest Whitaker says in the movie, "We do what we have to so we can do what we want to."

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