http://pittcountynow.com Thu, 9 Sep 2010 22:24:55 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/414/4/the-road.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/414/4/the-road.html
Man’s Appetite for Evil is Fortunately Exceeded by his Capacity for Courage

It’s the reason we continue to exist after so many horrendous bouts of self-mutilation of the species. Cormac McCarthy wrote this titular Pulitzer Prize winning novel about our Earth in a post apocalyptic state, which was brought on by Man’s and nature’s complicit resolve to make the planet die, with host killing it parasite - Mankind. Joe Penhall adapted the screenplay of the McCarthy’... Read More]]> Wed, 8 Sep 2010 16:35:22 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/383/5/fiddler-on-the-roof.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/383/5/fiddler-on-the-roof.html
"L'chaim! To the best musical of all time!"

Most people either simply adore musicals, or think they are ridiculously contrived. Even aware of the risk, I can say without fear of mockery that the 1971 film adaptation of the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof is not only one of the best musicals of all time; it is also one of the best movies ever made.

I understand that a five-star rating is a bold move, so I’m starting with a full disclosure: I am one of those ‘silly’ peo... Read More]]> Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:32:30 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/379/2/oxford-murders.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/379/2/oxford-murders.html
“When a Butterfly Flaps its Wings: Does it Start a Hurricane on the Other Side of the World?”

This farcical hypothesis was presented at a symposium by mathematician / philosopher Arthur Seldom, played by character actor John Hurt. His premise that everything is interconnected was one he could not endorse.

What he could support was that there were no simple answers, and truth was a rare commodity. Factor in the remarkable occurrence that murders of the elderly, and the infirmed, bega... Read More]]> Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:05:43 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/357/4/the-extra-man.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/357/4/the-extra-man.html This Eccentric Comedy Will Find an Audience

I just was not that impressed, however, there were moments when the picture almost worked for me. This film directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, with the screenplay written by Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman and Jonathan Ames, who wrote the novel that the screenplay was adapted from, made inroads; however unsuccessful, into the inane events within the life of confused literary novice, and frustrated private school instructor... Read More]]> Fri, 6 Aug 2010 16:41:11 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/327/2/inception.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/327/2/inception.html After emerging from the dark theater into the glaring midday sun, following a 148 minute descent into Christopher Nolan’s dream sequence, Inception, I’m not embarrassed to say that it took splashing my face with cold water to assure myself that I was really awake. Not as efficient as being ‘kicked’ awake (as they say in the movie); but it worked.

Because I knew I had to write this review, I paid extra close attention to the movie. My hyper-conscious brain followed the ... Read More]]> Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:49:44 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/277/2/the-pacific-installments-iii-iv.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/277/2/the-pacific-installments-iii-iv.html A Time to Rest and Regroup

But war can be Hell even when the Marine Corps is not fighting.

With the battle of Guadalcanal won and Henderson Field operational, the. Marine Corps 1st Division needed and deserved a fine rest. Australia was the nearest civilized, at least by the Marine Corps standards, haven for these battle weary Marines. The Melbourne, Australia destination offered a good bit of drama, nonetheless, for these lonesome marines as they struggled to strike a balance between w... Read More]]> Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:02:59 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/255/4/the-blind-side.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/255/4/the-blind-side.html Christian Charity in a Strong Willed Southern Woman

Memphis native Leigh Anne Tuohy exemplified the best of both attributes and it made a huge difference in the true-life story of one young man - Michael Oher. Michael Oher was a large bodied, athletic, young black man, with the sweet spirit of an untainted child, who received an athletic scholarship to attend Wingate (actually, the private school is known as Briarcrest in Memphis circles) Christian School.

Wingate was a private school for... Read More]]> Thu, 20 May 2010 10:08:55 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/254/2/the-warlords.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/254/2/the-warlords.html The Blood Oath Transcends All

A half a world away in the short time after the conclusion of the American Civil War, there existed another bloody conflict, The Taiping Rebellion, in the late Qing Dynasty in China. The Taiping Rebellion was long and bloody with an estimated 20,000,000 casualties, most of them civilians, that weakened the social fabric of China to the extent that communism took hold before, during and definitely after the second world war, which began in 1931 for China. This h... Read More]]> Mon, 17 May 2010 12:19:42 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/246/5/full-metal-jacket.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/246/5/full-metal-jacket.html "Goodbye My Sweetheart, Hello Vietnam"

This refrain from Dave Dudley's country ditty, an integral melody in the soundtrack of the classic "Full Metal Jacket" regarding a more patriotic approach to the Vietnam predicament, is etched in my subconscious as I reconsider Stanley Kubrick's grim satirical view of the Vietnam War. Reminiscent of Kubrick's classic "Dr. Strangelove," without the Peter Sellers effect, the dark comedy of "Full Metal Jacket" does little to relieve the discomforting realit... Read More]]> Thu, 13 May 2010 16:43:06 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/244/5/being-john-malkovich.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/244/5/being-john-malkovich.html All Things Malkovich

And the film works. I know it sounds crazy, but that is essentially why this film is so alluring. An entire film built around seeing the world through the eyes of one of America's great current character actors - John Malkovich - and it works due to the outstanding story / screenplay by thrice Oscar nominated / once Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman ( Kaufman was nominated for this film and won for "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" ). His screenplay uses the essent... Read More]]> Tue, 11 May 2010 13:45:46 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/239/5/donnie-darko.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/239/5/donnie-darko.html Looking to the Future can be Hazardous to your Health

Or maybe I could be wrong. That's what the coming of age / sci-fi film "Donnie Darko" does to me - every time I see it. By the time it is over, I don't know whether I'm coming or going - more questions than answers - and then I get it. And then I lose it again.

Either the film was meant to answer none of the questions it asks, or it asks questions that can't be answered. Regardless, it is fine entertainment as far as a good movie and... Read More]]> Fri, 7 May 2010 13:50:55 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/238/5/gladiator.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/238/5/gladiator.html "My Name is Gladiator"

I remember the day I saw the greatest movie ever – Ridley Scott’s "Gladiator." I was in my sixth month of pregnancy and had just finishedor taking a final exam in my last year of law school. I had read the book and just loved the story, and couldn’t wait to see it on the big screen. I called my husband to meet me at the theatre but he was busy so I went by myself. I got a big tub of buttered popcorn and a diet soda (of course) and was ready to e... Read More]]> Thu, 6 May 2010 11:15:41 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/235/5/being-there.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/235/5/being-there.html Naivety and Innocence are Comfortable Collaborators in this Humorous Farce

Peter Sellers' second to his last movie, before his death in 1980, may also be his second best. "Being There," directed by Hal Ashby, is a humorous farce that marries the innocence of an illegitimate child; sheltered from the world until he emerges as a middle aged man after the death of "The Old Man" (his biological father), with the naivety of an influential and dying old man.

The illegitimate man /child, named C... Read More]]> Wed, 5 May 2010 13:21:34 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/234/5/the-whole-wide-world.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/234/5/the-whole-wide-world.html The Story of the Best Pulp Fiction Writer in "The Whole Wide World" was a Whale of a Tale

Pulp Fiction Writer Robert Ervin Howard, who in life was successful in the most difficult of economic times and in death celebrated for his effusive talent of "spinning" the most powerful of "yarns," is the subject of the biographical film "The Whole Wide World." This film was adapted from the memoirs of Howard's contemporary Novalyne Price Ellis entitled "One Who Walks Alone." The film, like Mrs. El... Read More]]> Tue, 4 May 2010 10:55:00 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/203/4/food-inc.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/203/4/food-inc.html Information is the Key

Robert Kenner, Magnolia Pictures Participant Media and River Road Entertainment deliver an amazing glimpse beneath the veil of our nation's food production system with their documentary Food, Inc. Food, Inc. contains all the elements of a great documentary: the exposure of a great "social wrong" in this case, the entire system of food production; profiles of greedy villains who fight to maintain the status quo to protect financial interests at the expense of workers an... Read More]]> Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:38:02 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/202/2/the-eclipse.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/202/2/the-eclipse.html
Small Independent Irish Film Quickly Tells a Timeless Tale …

Ghosts in the British Isles, and this film, written and directed by Dubliner Connor McPherson, does what any good story should do: it speaks well in broad cinematic strokes of a story that interested the Director, and in turn communicates to the audience.

The film centers around the Cobh Writers Festival in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, which is a where this small film was actually filmed. The Director incorporates this sleep... Read More]]> Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:24:12 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/199/2/the-pacific-installments-i-ii.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/199/2/the-pacific-installments-i-ii.html The Adventures of Young Men Chronicled in the Annals of War

Welcome to Guadalcanal. Hell’s just around the bend.

Was it worth me purchasing HBO for the next 3 months? If the first two installments of the new HBO miniseries, “The pacific,” is any indication: Yes. This 10 part miniseries was produced by the same crew: Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg that produced the classic war film / miniseries, “Band of Brothers.”

From that first installment that premiered... Read More]]> Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:19:44 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/198/4/up.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/198/4/up.html Pixar Scores Again

Those crazy kids at Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios have done it again. After giving us the much celebrated Finding Nemo and the much less celebrated, Monsters, Inc., they really outdid themselves with their latest offering, delivered to us in the form of the highly entertaining, funny and surprisingly touching, Up.

The Brainchild of Peter Docter, Bob Peterson and Tom McCarthy, Up is a poignant parody on the adventure of life. It begins with an episodic glimpse ... Read More]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:27:10 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/196/5/to-kill-a-mockingbird.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/196/5/to-kill-a-mockingbird.html I Always Wanted to Know an Atticus Finch

And yet I never quite met him. I never found him in any of my coaches, my teachers, my friends, the fathers of my friends and even my beloved father never had that perfect pitch of character while he still ranks as the greatest inspiration to my manhood. I once had a minister that came close, who was also the father two of my friends, but he could never turn a phrase like Atticus. Ronald Reagan seemed about the closest, but I never actually met "The Gr... Read More]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:51:33 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/192/4/the-hurt-locker.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/192/4/the-hurt-locker.html For Love of Country or Love of the Rush?

Does it really matter? Staff Sergeant William James is still an American Hero - almost along the order of Audie Murphy. Sergeant Audie Murphy saved the lives of many American soldiers by killing hundreds of well armed Nazis. Staff Sergeant William James saved the lives of many American soldiers by dismantling hundreds of IED's in war torn urban Iraq.

The Staff Sergeant, portrayed by virtually unknown actor Jeremy Renner, had just disarmed a very... Read More]]> Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:48:13 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/191/2/where-the-wild-things-are.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/191/2/where-the-wild-things-are.html I know this Will Anger Some, But the Movie Did Not Need to be Made

I do try to give films a good go of it when I try to enjoy them as art or simply entertainment. In terms of "Where the Wild Things Are," I tried to look at the picture trough the eyes of an unruly child, but I came up empty. The movie was 101 minutes long and was about 60 minutes too long to tell the story of the unruly Max in a make-believe-world that originated from a short, but very interestingly illustrated book by Mauri... Read More]]> Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:45:17 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/188/2/shutter-island.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/188/2/shutter-island.html Martin Scorsese Keeps the Impregnable Island Central to His Story

The great director also turned my mind inside out, as I struggled to conceive the point nd purpose of his lavish film, which examined the inner recesses of a damaged mind. By the end of the film, with my mind struggling to reconcile this story’s many twists that suggest the realty within Scorsese’s surreal depiction of the upside down existence of his protagonist, Detective Teddy Daniels, played by Leonardo DiCapri... Read More]]> Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:14:36 EDT http://pittcountynow.com/post/187/5/the-lost-boys.html http://pittcountynow.com/post/187/5/the-lost-boys.html
The Late Corey Haim's Best Film is Also One of my Favorites

I will forever watch "The Lost Boys" through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl. Though it was produced in 1987, when I was 5, it wasn’t until my teens that I saw this coming-of-age vampire film. At the time, my girlfriends and I loved horror movies. Better still, we loved horror movies with cute bad boys playing the title roles. "Pet Cemetery II," with Edward Furlong, was our typical slumber-party rental, and, like pizza, it n... Read More]]> Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:02:59 EDT