Movies: August 2014 List

Hello friends, it’s fall! And it means our annual pilgrimage to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood is already on its slow, steady stride. In the next couple of weeks, the Academy will close the submission window for the Best Foreign Language Film category. October 1 is the deadline set for the countries to select their entry. As I write this, 60 countries have announced their selections except for a few countries that are considered as traditional Oscar contenders. Russia, China and Spain have yet to decide on what films to submit.

Of the announced submissions, this writer has seen only about 2 of them – I know, I pity myself, too! I have only seen the entries from Lithuania (“The Gambler”) and Venezuela (“The Liberator”) so far. I could have seen the entry from Brazil, Switzerland, Greece and Poland already if I only had time. Of course, if I flew to Cannes or Venice or Berlin or Toronto, I would have seen almost half of all the submissions.

But am not thoroughly disappointed. Really! Why? Because in just a month, the American Film Institute will hold the annual AFIFest and, taking into consideration the programs in the past, a good number of these Oscar contenders will likely wind up in the main program this year! And I have resolved to dedicate a good week of my time this November just for that.

Why am talking about something in the future when I should be writing about the movies I saw in August this year. (I know, I know, this post is again late.)

Well, if you have keen observational skills, surely you would know why I am talking more about the movies that I have yet to see than those that I have already seen.

August was again a pretty busy month for me. I am even surprised I managed to watch all these movies below despite the very bad schedule I had during the month. But the movies I saw aren’t the kind that would make me go and write lengthy reviews about. I saw a couple of good ones, yes. I loved “The Hundred-Foot Journey” which I reviewed – here’s the link: http://raymonddeasislo.blogspot.com/2014/08/film-review-hundred-foot-journey.html. I thought it was a charming little film that celebrates the innate goodness in all of us.

I also loved “Belle”, the film based on a 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle beside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray at Kenwood House. The movie is an interpretation of what it must have been like for the dark-skinned Belle to live at a period in England when slavery is still a form of commerce and blacks are considered inferior people. It’s a moving film that depicts a girl’s journey from being a sheltered but hidden family member to becoming one of the first advocates for the abolition of slavery in England. The performances of Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Reid are particularly noteworthy.

Below are the movies I saw in August and their respective ratings. Yes, I did not like HBO’s “The Normal Heart” – it has a powerful theme, true, but the storytelling just did not come across as compelling to me as it should have. But the performances are marvelous, however!

The Normal Heart (US) – 2 Stars
The Hundred-Foot Journey (US) – 4 ½ Stars
Don't Move (Spain) DVD – 4 Stars
Tom at the Farm (Canada) DVD – 3 ½ Stars
Into The Storm (US) – 2 ½ Stars
Lucy (US) – 3 Stars
What If (US) – No Rating (Did not finish)
Under The Skin (Scotland) - 3 ½ Stars
Belle (UK) – 4 ½ Stars
The Railway Man (Australia/UK) – 3 Stars

See you at the movies!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Film Review: "The Hundred-Foot Journey"

I had no great expectations going into “The Hundred-Foot Journey” when my good friend (Oliver Carnay) and I went to the Arclight in Hollywood last Monday upon the invitation of Disney to watch a sneak peek. I had two reasons why I wasn’t so keen about it: first, the trailer was not really catchy and, second, I am not aware there was a book of that title and, of course, I never got to read it.

You can forget all that because the movie turned out to be such a heartwarming little gem that made me feel really, really good about the world and about myself. You would want to live in that small Parisian town where the story is set. You would want to live in their part of the world and experience the inherent kindness and, well, competitiveness in people, and feel secure about your surrounding.

There's a certain charm in the kind of movies that Lasse Hallstrom has been making lately and “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is a worthy addition to his already impressive filmography. The material itself is not really groundbreaking – it’s rather a simple story of a young boy's rise to fulfill his destiny despite the typical odds but that uncomplicated premise and the simple elements in the movie are the very reason that lends the movie its charm. 

We long for a world where we can root for our hero to succeed and to have a triumphant homecoming. We long for a world where there's simplicity and sophistication but the genuine shared respect and understanding among neighbors permeate the air. We long for a world where a small town can have the sophistication and worldliness of a big city but retains its genial charm and innocence.  We get all that in this movie. Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg are two of the producers that take us to that world and for that we owe them our thanks.

Finally, this movie makes us long for a fusion not just of a particular cuisine but of culture and people so that the world will just be a much better place to live in. It may take a hundred-foot journey or a thousand hike (which is what the family actually did when they were forced out of India) to get there but it's the promise of peace that makes us take that initial step and continue on with the journey.

Rating: 4 ½ Stars

XXX
Raymond Lo