John Barry

Today we lost one of the great film composers, John Barry to a heart attack; he was 77 years old. The five-time Oscar winner worked on eleven Bond scores, Born Free, Out of Africa, and Dances with Wolves.

Sundance 2011 Be Here.

Oh, I was there and I was glad that I went. One of the reasons you go to Sundance is to expose yourself to films that you might never would have seen otherwise. Below are the two films I saw this year.

Family Portrait in Black and White

In a Ukrainian village, big-hearted, formidable Olga Nenya single-handedly raises 23 foster children. Sixteen are the biracial offspring of visiting African students and Ukrainian women, who, living in a country of blue-eyed blondes that’s racked with endemic racism, often see no choice but to abandon their babies. And that’s where Olga comes in.

Family Portrait in Black and White charts the rhythms of Olga’s hectic household, rife with rambunctious kids and goats. As diverse dramas unfold among the brood—a high-schooler struggling to transcend his plight through education, a boy longing to reunite with his Ugandan father, and a child courted for Italian adoption—Olga reveals herself to be loving and protective, but also narrow-minded and controlling. A product of communist ideology, she favors collective duty over individual freedom. It’s this philosophy that gives the orphans the rich sense of belonging they ache for, as well as cause for rebellion and distrust, in this lyrical, sometimes gut-wrenching tale about the meaning of “Mama,” “family,” and “nation.”

This film made me very grateful to be born and raised in America to a loving family and to have such luxuries like indoor plumbing. It broke my heart that Olga would not let her children be adopted to the loving host families that wanted them or let her children pursue their college education even though the government would pay for it. You wanted to reach out and help these children. The thought then brings me back to what am I doing to help those in my community? I can help here even though I might not be able to help there.


These Amazing Shadows

From Dorothy’s entrance into Oz to the pizza delivery at Ridgemont High, cinematic moments take on iconic levels of meaning in a film lover’s life. As the government-appointed protector of our cinematic legacy, the National Film Registry selects culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant works for preservation in the Library of Congress.

Guided by a true cinephile’s love of the medium and a treasure trove of archival footage, These Amazing Shadows molds a cultural history from pieces of film, offering a microcosm of the work of the National Film Registry and making a powerful case for film preservation.

I am so glad that AJ found this film at the last minute for us to watch. If I had my dream job, I would become a film historian so I really enjoyed this film. I knew the majority of the films they talked about (minus the unknown documentaries and some of the silent films) and it was interesting to hear why they chose these films to be preserved. I could talk about this film for hours because it is a subject that I am passionate about. One thing I do want to share is that did you know that anyone can submit a nomination for a film to be preserved? I’ve been contemplating which film not already preserved should be on that list. Which one would you preserve?

Ice Ice Baby

I’ve been in the mood for hockey for awhile so when I saw that the Stockton, CA Thunder was taking on the Utah Grizzles that sealed the deal. So this past weekend, AJ, AMM, JR and I went. I’ve been to two other hockey games but it has been years so I still don’t get all the rules. But one thing I knew for sure, it was going to be a good game when a fight broke out in the first 2 seconds of the game and about half the team on both sides end up in the penalty box. Just an FYI, the refs do not break up the fight until the players fall down on the ice and no one wants to look a wimp and fall down first so they can go on for awhile.

Our seats ended up being right behind the Stockton Thunders team and all that separated us was a piece of plexiglass. You missed part of the game with the coaches walking back and forth but it was very entertaining to see the players up close. We got to see the skates being sharpened, a hanging tooth pulled out, the same sweating/snot filled towel passed around from player to player (that grossed me out more than the blood), and we are still trying to figure out why there was double bubble gum evenly spaced out along the back ledge. One thing to note, the equipment manger did an excellent job, and yeah, he wasn’t too bad to look as well. Then again, he actually had all of his teeth unlike the players.

In the end Stockton won and I was glad because I felt they were my home team after watching them so intently.

Tron: Legacy

Maybe because I was really young when I saw the original Tron and have not seen it since that I thought it was cool. When you look at the era it was made it’s pretty impressive. So my dad, sister and I decided we had to go see the new film since we saw the classic one together.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed the film. It stayed true to the look and feel of the original with a few updates. Okay, a lot of updates on the special effects that made it very eye pleasing but the original concept was there.

I still love Bruce Boxleitner.

I did not like that they turned Bridges into a hippie.

The film defiantly left an opening for a sequel. My guess is it will be Sam Flynn taking on the Edward Dillinger character and that is why Cillan Murphy took such a small role at the beginning of the film.

A side note: I keep looking to see if the trend of Quorra’s bangs cut at a slant will catch on in the fashion world.