Friday, April 28, 2017

Movies Monthly: March

I have already told you about my genealogy project which is a time consuming and a very involving hobby.

What I forgot to mention

Thanks to it I also learned the term '1st cousin once/twice/many time removed' which meaning is quite a complicated and not so obvious to me. Especially that such an expression describing relations does not exist in Polish, my native language.

I got to know that in the past, families recorded the births, deaths and family marriages on the pages of the Bible books - one Bible in the family was handed in from generation to generation to keep the records going. I had never come across such a tradition in Poland. Most of the official and private records from the past did not survive due to the complex history of Poland - the partitions of the country and the wars which rolled over Poland again and again. A lot of documents/data were destroyed in the fires of history. Maybe that is also a reason why I cannot find any information on my own ancestors.

Anyway, the genealogy research is not the only thing which occupies me. During the day I am busy with different other matters as well. When the evening comes, then we watch TV, different movies, and other programs.

 


Here are the ones which we found most interesting last month (listed in the order of watching):

Jacob The Liar - 1999 (war, drama) - quite an ironic but tragic story with the interesting part by Robin Williams.  The story about a man whose words are regarded as true only when he lies. It all would be funny if it was not for the dreadful times and history circumstances the plot is set in.

Bridge of Spies - 2015 (drama, thriller, history) - based on a true story. The Cold War times, spies, a lawyer and men's lives at stake. Somehow I had not heard about that spy and plane pilot exchange before. Never heard anything about it on Polish TV. Maybe not a popular topic in Poland.

Manglehorn - 2014 (drama) - one of the movies which make you wait for something to happen, the story to develop in any way. But nothing really happens - it is just as if it was a day or two taken from somebody's life - yours, mine - and shown almost like a reality show, you talk to people, they talk to you, you go somewhere, then come back home, take care of your pet, eat, go to sleep. Some things are very important to you even though it does not matter to anybody else - it is your life which you create on your own. A different type of film with the main role by All Pacino.

Forsaken - 2015 (drama, western) - just an interesting and involving story - with  Keifer and Donald Sutherland as the main characters.

Enemy at The Gates - 2001 (war, history) - WWII, the Russian front and the battle of Stalingrad shown from a different angle - the tragic fate of Russian soldiers killed by their own officers and countrymen, German and Russian snipers tracking and fighting each other + other, more personal  threads which make the film quite engaging and worth recommending.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - 2016 (action, romance, horror) - generally, we do not watch zombie type movies as most of them are stupid, low-budget productions with no real plot just a lot of blood on the screen and people moving like mannequins. We watched it by accident and to be honest, we were positively surprised with the movie. That film was unlike the others - based on the plot of 'Pride and Prejudice' - with some, not that very silly 'zombie motif'. The compilation of the classic novel and zombies may seem weird but actually quite shapely put together. Nice costumes as well. However, the ones who enjoy the cheap, bloody zombie films could be disappointed with Pride and prejudice and Zombies.

I, Robot - 2004 (atcion, SF) - in my teens, I read a lot of SF and fantasy type books. When I read all the SF books which were in stock in the library closest to my home, I became a member of another, more distant one, and so on. One of the books I read then was I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. The short stories which made the book were something totally different from the movie of the same title. The latter one was entertaining, though. Maybe I will reread the book by Asimov if I come across it somewhere.

Out of The Furnace - 2013 (crime story, drama) - with Casey Affleck (among others) - an interesting option for those ones who enjoy watching not only action movies.

No Escape - 2015 (thriller) - what may happen if one is unlucky to be at the wrong time and / or at the wrong place.

The Last Mimzy - 2007 - (family, SF) a fantasy type story for children and the entire family as well. The deeper layer of the plot is a message which can be missed/not understood by kids, though. Enjoyable watching and nice special effects.

The First Moosie

No comments :

Post a Comment