I love movies. Small movies. I avoid the big Hollywood blockbusters (except Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter!) and I pass over the obtuse critically acclaimed art films that are so often a) morbidly dark and depressing; b) plotless, incoherent, narcissistic and rambling; or c) all of the above!
No, I prefer the small films that lift my spirits, renew my hope for a better world and engage me intellectually and emotionally. I glean the titles from news and magazine articles that send me to my favourite source for non-mainstream films, Cinemail, an online dvd rental outfit based in Winnipeg that has proven to be my greatest ever movie find. That’s where I keep a running list of everything I want to see and Cinemail obliges me by sending me a new dvd once I return the one I’ve just watched.
Some of my favourites? Waitress with Keri Russell playing a small town diner waitress trapped in a miserable marriage to a no-good lout. She bakes such incredible pies like “kick in the pants pie” and “I don’t want Earl’s baby pie”, that fans have created a website where they share their own versions of “therapeutic” pie. Most memorable moment? Andy Griffith’s heartwarming monologue when he describes how much he looks forward to Jenna’s Tuesday pie.
Another wonderful film was A Good Year with Russell Crowe playing a Wall Street shooter who returns to his grandfather’s vineyard in France, where he spent his childhood. There are many comedic turns as lessons in viticulture are trumped by lessons in life. Gracie was another fine film that transported me back to the 1970’s when we hung out in paneled rec rooms, wore knee socks and tight gym shorts, and girls and boys understood the expectations and limitations of gender. Gracie wants to play soccer but the only school team is for boys only. She not only has to fight the school and the school board for a spot on the team, but other students and even her parents don’t understand why she won’t just go play field hockey, a sport more suited for girls.
Finally, check out The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the true story of the handsome globe-trotting Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffered a stroke and had to live with an almost totally paralyzed body. A heartbreaking film of unimaginable human suffering, endurance, love and hope.
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