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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Blancanieves

Written and directed by Pablo Berger, this clever Spanish re imagining of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is replete with a really evil stepmother, I mean really evil! - (almost a caricature),  Shot in black and white, with no sound track, it is a worthy tribute to the silent melodramas of yore. (Old fashioned captions periodically- as needed.) 
The unique feature of this take on the immortal tale of Snow White, is that she is the daughter of a famous bull-fighter and becomes a famous bullfighter herself, starring with a troupe of, (what else but?) seven Dwarfs.   Oh, and because of an accident, she has lost her memory, and doesn't know why or how she learned to be a bullfighter.  I fell in love with the actor who played her father. (Sorry, I'm not familiar with the names of the Spanish cast, all of whom were marvelous.)  Photography was excellent; noteworthy! Scene is set in Southern Spain in the 1920's.   I thoroughly enjoyed this film. (Though it is melancholy.)  

Saturday, April 20, 2013

42

The title, "42"  refers to the number that Jackie Robinson wore when he finally made it to the Brooklyn Dodgers team.   It was a shameful time in America where prejudice against Negroes was widespread, and he endured outrageous taunts and  curses from opposing team members, and even his own team guys were not happy to have them join him.   But his magnificent ball-playing skills soon became evident, and with the unflinching backing of the team manager played by Harrison Ford (whom I nominate for an Academy Award as supporting actor!) he opened the door for the integration of color-blind teams around the country. Overall,  I loved this movie.  Every actor was excellent and the story was an important one that was well told with a fine script. (And I'm not, nor have ever been a baseball fan!)  Highly recommended.