“Discarded Things”: A Review

Discarded Things is a part of the genre that I will call Christian movies. I enjoy Christian movies. They are the English language equivalent of Mexican soap operas. Christian movies are a bit campy, dramatic, kind of over the top with a limited budget. Yet the are quite entertaining. They always have an inspirational message. God always prevails after all.

I’m going to avoid spoilers because this film has an ending that will knock your socks off. I’ll keep this brief. I enjoyed this movie. It was a bit corny but I enjoyed the acting and it was a good story. The lead actress is named Karen Abercrombrie. She plays Grace Wyatt who is a teacher for trouble children. She’s fifty eight and a real fox. She was foxy in the movie and they styled her down. Check out her IMDB. Karen is fire.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1620433/

Cameron Arnett plays a pastor named Solomon Grant and the father of Grace. He was in the film briefly but his performance was memorable. He did a great job in this film and played a great villain. I hated him with passion. Cameron did his job. I think he deserves an Oscar.

My criticism of the film is that Grace is a teacher for troubled youth but the youngsters are super sweet and squeaky clean. They aren’t believable as juvenile delinquents. The other criticism is that the film almost feels like it’s two distinct films. I wish the first act that involved Grace’s childhood could have lasted longer. The middle dragged a bit until it picked up at the end.

Check it out if you get the chance. Regardless of your beliefs explore Christian films. They are wholesome albeit a bit corny. They are family friendly and always have an inspirational ending.

Over the Limit

Over the weekend I watched the documentary “Over the Limit” about gold medal winning Olympic rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun. This is a good sports movie and I recommend it. It is in Russian with no subtitles or voice overs. The film is an hour and fourteen minutes long and I didn’t understand a word except for a scene where Rita’s family sang “Happy Birthday”. The film was engaging and easy to understand despite the language barrier. I think not understanding what anyone is saying may have made the film more intense.

The thing I appreciate most about “Over the Limit” is that the subjects of the film had no discernible awareness of the camera. The audience observes Rita, her coaches and other people in her life as if we are flies on the wall. Watching Rita’s dedication to her sport takes the audience through a range of emotions. Throughout the film we admire Margarita and at times we felt bad for her. Her coaches are very stern and stoic. It’s hard to judge the coaches since I am not of the Russian culture or an athlete but at times they seem borderline abusive.

Margarita is surrounded by coaches, team mates, fans, a seemingly loving family and a dreamboat boyfriend who is an Olympic swimmer yet her journey was lonely. The visuals or the film are stark. It takes place in Moscow. Rita spends all of her time in the film in small apartments and gyms.

She competes in a solitary sport and she spends much of her time outside of the gym alone in her quiet apartment preparing her props for practice and competition. At times Rita seemed distant from her coaches while having conversations with them and looking into their eyes. The most warmth in the film comes from her relationship with her boyfriend who is now her husband.

If you get the opportunity check out “Over the Limit”. It’s a good sports movie. It’s fairly quick, interesting and enjoyable even if you are not a Russian speaker.

Pandemic Summer Review: Malice at the Palace on Netflix

The Malice at the Palace is the infamous brawl that took place at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004 between players from the Indiana Pacers, players from the Detroit Pistons and Pistons fans. Netflix made a documentary about the melee by the same name. I enjoyed the film. I think NBA fans and students of human psychology will like it. Malice at the Palace is fairly short. It gets to the point and doesn’t waste time so it’s not a big investment if you don’t care for it.

I remember the night of the Malice at the Palace otherwise known as the Basketbrawl but I still learned some new things. The film about the history making fight has interviews from the players, fans and police involved in the incident. It was pretty interesting hearing the perspective of fans, some of whom were arrested and one left the Palace on a stretcher and law enforcement.

My impression of the Basketbrawl is that everyone over thought it and got too emotional about the incident. The only difference between the Malice at the Palace and other sports fights is the fan involvement. It’s not rare for baseball to have a bench clearing brawl after a pitcher intentionally hits a batter with a ball. Hockey is notorious for fights. I think we’ve all heard the joke that they watched a fight on TV and a hockey game broke out. Pro sports is pretty much a celebration of toxic masculinity anyway and I thought that’s why we all watched.

There was a lot of media focus surrounding The Malice at the Palace. The media talked about if for weeks and the players were vilified and labeled as thugs. The NBA is made up of mostly Black players. In the early 2000s many of them were tattooed with braided hair. The public thought of them as thugs anyway so the Basketbrawl fit the narrative that already existed in the minds of many.

The fight happened at the beginning of the season. Key players were suspended for nearly half the season. The Pacers players that were interviewed thought the punishment was too harsh. I agree. The movie pointed out that the Pacers had a great team that year and had a great chance to go to the NBA Finals and winning.

The Pacers players lament a missed once in a lifetime opportunity. We’ll never know if the Pacers would have made it to the ’05 Finals and become NBA Champions. At the end of the season the championship hopeful Pacers team was disbanded. Ron Artest went to the Lakers and Reggie Miller retired.

It has long been my observation that the NBA favors large market teams and cheats smaller market ones. I’ve noticed bad officiating in The Playoffs over the years in favor of teams with larger markets and bankable stars. The 2004 NBA Finals Champions were the Detroit Pistons who essentially were a bunch of midwestern unknowns that beat the LA Lakers during Lakers era. I suspect that the commissioner at the time, David Stern didn’t want a different group of midwestern, small market players having a Cinderella season. That is my theory for the harsh punishments for the fight aside from publicly flogging Black men for American audiences.

Check out The Malice at the Palace if you’re an NBA fan, someone who enjoys drama or if you’re nostalgic about the early 2000s. I think you’ll enjoy it. If you don’t at least it’s short and fast paced.

Pandemic Summer: “The Heights”

I saw the musical The Heights last week. I enjoyed it. I think people that enjoy musicals will enjoy it but it’s not the greatest musical ever. Hamilton was better and I can name five musicals off the top of my head that are better than The Heights. It’s not great. It’s OK yet entertaining.

The Heights takes place in a working class, Latin, immigrant community in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. The film focuses the hopes for the future and struggles of the characters. The actors are nice looking, there are movie romances that follow the arc many movie romances do, there are a few laughs and dancing in the streets. The film also addresses modern concerns such as gentrification and The Dreamers.

There was some controversy about the film. Many thought the cast was whitewashed and did not accurately reflect Washington Heights New York. When I saw the commercial for The Heights I questioned the casting too. I’ve never been to Washington Heights but I would guess there are a lot more visibly Black people in that community than what is portrayed in this film based on what I’ve seen of NYC. The film itself is more diverse than the commercials promoting it.

Here is a clip from my favorite part of the movie. The woman that describes herself as Chile Dominican Rican performs my favorite minute of the movie. She’s a hoot.

The movie has a Hollywood happy ending and is very pro American and patriotic from an immigrant’s perspective. It’s lighthearted if you approach it with a light heart. If you enjoy musicals I suggest you give it a try. It not in my top five musicals but The Heights was very popular on Broadway and it made Lin Manuel Miranda famous so it may become one of your favorites.

Spring Book Review: Let Love Rule – Lenny Kravitz

I recently finished reading the autobiography of rock start Lenny Kravitz, Let Love Rule. I enjoyed reading the book and I would recommend the book but there are conditions. I’m biased because I’ve been a Lenny Kravitz fan since the 90s. People that aren’t fans of Lenny Kravitz may find the book to be a bit dull.

Lenny Kravitz has a charmed life. He spent his early childhood in New York City in the 70s and early 80s. I’m grateful to have grown up in the 80s because children had more independence and a sense of safety. At the same time there were not as many children only spaces so children had the opportunity to observe adults more. They just had to stay out of adult business.

Lenny grew up playing on NYC streets with friends and when he was a bit older riding the subway himself to museums like The Met and exploring art. Lenny’s parents were a sophisticated couple and exposed Lenny to fine restaurants and theater as a child. Lenny crossed paths and even had close relationships with entertainment legends. One night while out with his dad Lenny met Frank Sinatra. His godmother was Cicely Tyson and her husband was Miles Davis. Lenny’s stylish parents enjoyed entertaining and he described himself as having numerous glamorous aunts. That is great for character building.

When Lenny was in middle school his mother was cast as Mrs. Willis on The Jeffersons. He was disappointed in having to leave New York but he resettled in sunny southern California and his parents bought a home in the hills overlooking Los Angeles. LA is where Lenny discovered his love of music and developed his talent.

Lenny had a contentious relationship with his father. Their personalities clashed. Lenny’s father spent time in the military and he didn’t mesh well with his free spirited son. Lenny and his dad fell out so badly during his teen years that Lenny got kicked out of the family home and was homeless for a while. But Lenny’s father was key to his success and prosperity in many ways.

Lenny Kravitz married Lisa Bonet in Las Vegas in his early twenties and had a baby shortly after. Lisa and being a young dad were also key to his success. Lisa helped him become more comfortable with who he was as a young man and being a father grounded him. The book ends after the release of his album Let Love Rule. I hope Lenny writes another autobiography because I want to know more about his career, his marriage, his divorce, fatherhood and acting career.

Lenny’s life is pretty wholesome so his story is not one with a lot of action, trauma or tragedy which is what propels most stories these days. Some people may find it a bit dull. But I’m a Lenny fan so I enjoyed the book. Lenny has a very blessed and glamorous life even with the pit falls and false starts. I would recommend this book.

Lockdown Review: Drag Kids

I returned to work a week ago so this is my last Lockdown Review. I watched a documentary on the Kanopy app which was made available to me through my local library. “Drag Kids” is about children who dress up in drag and participate in shows and competitions. The children participate in drag the way other children play in little league basketball.

The film features three boys and one girl that are drag queens. They are around the ages of ten to fourteen. I was a bit apprehensive about watching the movie because I don’t know if I am comfortable with the idea of children performing drag. These children perform before adult audiences.

Young boys put on make up, dresses and heels and dance before grown ups. I’m not sure that most people would support young girls doing the same activity. The girl in the movie was the oldest and she was quite precocious. Her drag performances weren’t much different than something a young girl would do in pom pom squad.

The children were truly innocent in their enjoyment of drag and it seemed like a good creative outlet for them. However, I don’t think I would want my child in some of the environments where the performances took place.

Adults were in attendance at some of the performances wearing sexually suggestive fetish clothes. I think preteens can wait for that. The young lady in the documentary was disappointed that she wasn’t allowed into a club where a drag gathering was going on and I was relieved. The children were always accompanied by an adult.

What I loved about this documentary was the parents. They were all very sweet and supportive. The love they had for their children was evident. To me this film was mainly about parenting and what people will do in the name of love for their children. The parents beamed with pride while watching their children on stage in the unconventional settings. It was quite touching and I really don’t think that theme is presented in film making very often.

I would recommend “Drag Kids”. Once you get past your pearl clutching you will enjoy watching the heartfelt relationships between these parents and their children. It’s a great movie about nurturing children, acceptance and true love. I think that you will enjoy the film.

Lockdown Reviews: The Chambermaid

“The Chambermaid” is a Mexican film about a twenty four year old hotel maid who works in an upscale hotel Mexico City named Eve. It is in Spanish and I watched it with English subtitles. This movie doesn’t have a lot of action and it barely has a plot but nonetheless I enjoyed it.

There is absolutely nothing special about Eve. She is average looking, mild mannered and bit standoffish. She makes her living in a low skilled job and isn’t particularly ambitious.

The film follows Eve through her days at work in the hotel. She experiences annoying, odd and pushy hotel guests, phony coworkers, a workplace fling and disappointment at work. It’s fascinating. We know very little about Eve’s life outside of the hotel except that she has a four year old son that is cared for by a babysitter.

I find average people to be interesting. There’s always a story there that could rival any Hollywood production. I’ve had numerous service industry jobs and I can tell you that I’ve met some real characters with interesting back stories.

There is so much drama and tension involved in workplace relationships and politics. I think that’s particularly true in low wage jobs. People that work in low wage, service industry jobs have more stress and inconsistency in there lives which leads to more pressure and things such as promotions and raises that could pay a few more cents an hour are higher stakes.

There were brief moments of suspense in the movie when a guest requested extra towels and we weren’t sure if she would be able to remember the room number to where they were supposed to be delivered. She wrote the number on her hand but I was afraid she would get her hands wet or sweat the ink off. The melodrama in the movie is very subtle.

Eve is the kind of person that goes through life almost invisible and she’s not particularly interested in being seen. This was her story and it was enjoyable to watch.

Lockdown Reviews: For Small Creatures Such as We

I finished ” For Small Creatures Such as We” by Sasha Sagan early on into quarantine. I spotted it in the library and thought it would be an interesting read. I don’t remember what I thought the book was going to be about but this wasn’t it. I didn’t care for the book at all. “For Small Creatures Such as We” isn’t terrible. I just have a completely different outlook on the world and I had a hard time relating to the author.

The author is an atheist woman with Jewish heritage that enjoys observing various cultural rituals, including religious rituals. Sasha feels that societal rituals add meaning to her life. I enjoy social activities, gatherings and decorating for holidays. To me it is just for fun and enjoyment so I would agree that rituals bring meaning to life. For me the rituals are not spiritual at all. That includes rituals and traditions inspired by religious holidays such as putting up a Christmas tree.

Sasha crossed my mind during the quarantine. Rituals mean a lot to her and all rituals that are performed outside of your own home and have more participants than a few people were cancelled. Easter, Mother’s Day and graduation rituals were all erased because of COVID 19. Just like that the things that gave her life meaning were taken away from her. I would be interested in hearing her thoughts on life during the 2020 quarantine.

Rituals are fine because they bring people together. I think that we all took a lot for granted before the COVID 19 quarantines. The rituals that we choose to participate in are more for the benefit of tightening social bonds which is important and enriches your life. I missed certain rituals but they are no substitute for having faith in Jesus Christ which isn’t a ritualistic act.

So “For Creatures Small as We” is interesting because it gave showed me a point of view that is very different from my own but I can’t say that I enjoyed the book because I couldn’t relate to the author because of her perspective.

3022: My Review

This movie is not good at all. It’s a B movie that happened to have well known actors in it. 3022 is unoriginal with a thin plot and cheap looking. Very little imagination went into the making of this movie. This is one of those films that you run across and it has big name actors in it and you wonder why. What made them do this? What were they going through? Did they owe someone a favor? Are they living check to check like everyone else? I thought they had options.

Spoiler Alert Omar Epps is the captain of a spaceship with a crew of four people. The ship gets lost in space. A young crew member dies, the oldest crew member loses his mind, it’s Kate Walsh and Omar Epps for a while. They run across another spaceship that is lost in space. They decide to help those aboard the other spaceship. Unfortunately there are limited supplies and not enough resources including oxygen for everyone to survive and make it back to Earth in the time they project.

A fight for survival ensues. One of the newcomers dies. The other two lose their minds. Those two eventually die. Kate Walsh dies at some point and Omar Epps ends up an old man lost in space by himself which is sad. I thought that the spaceship had limited resources but I guess Omar figured that out.

3022 is not the year that this takes place it is the day of the mission when Omar Epps makes a journal entry as an old man. The movies takes place in the distant future but the movie set looks like an old black and white episode of “Lost in Space” and they used keyboards on the spaceship that look like the exact keyboard I am using right now.

Lost in Space

3022

I guess if you’re a fan of Omar Epps or Kate Walsh you will enjoy this. Miranda Cosgrove is in this as well and she is very cute. You may like it if you enjoy science fiction under any circumstances. But I can’t find a real reason to recommend this movie. It’s pretty corny.

Terminator, Dark Fate: My Review

I watched Terminator Dark Fate yesterday and it was OK, just OK. I was a fan of the old Terminator films so I gave this film some grace for being a part of a franchise that I loved long ago. However, I don’t think it stands alone very well.

Linda Hamilton and Arnold Swarzenegger were great in this movie. When I heard about this film’s release I was confused as to how either of them could reprise their roles due to their ages. Both actors are what most of us would consider to be long in the tooth to be an action hero. Hamilton is sixty three and Schwarzenegger is seventy two. But they played their roles as well as they did in their prime. Perhaps they are still in their prime; who am I to say? Edward Furlong wasn’t in Dark Fate if you’re wondering but his character was in the story briefly.

I have always had a problem with movies that transcend time and or dimension. Movies such as The Matrix and Inception always confuse me. I have a difficult time keeping track of what is the reality or a dream and what is the present, the future or the past. Back to the Future worked because there were clear differences between the times that he traveled between.

The plot was pretty typical. A young woman held the fate of all humanity in her hands and she needed to be protected. There was a villain, a Terminator that was trying to kill her in order to change the history of the world. She had to be protected. Chaos and destruction ensues. Meh.

Terminator, Dark Fate took place in the future and then went further into the future. I think. It was hard to keep up with what was going on. In all fairness I have to divulge that I borrowed a DVD of this movie from the library. I had to watch it late at night on a work night and I was drowsy while watching it and dozed off in parts. That might explain why I couldn’t totally follow the plot.

Another problem with this film is that it is extremely loud. I’m glad I watched it at home where I could control the volume. This film must have been overwhelming in theaters. I don’t remember being bothered by the loudness of Terminator 2 that I remember seeing in a theater. But I was much younger then and more tolerant of racket.

This movie could stand to be shorter. There is a loud, non stop action sequence that lasted thirty to forty five minutes. Crazy things happened, such as fights against indestructible, futuristic robots in planes while in flight and a huge door was open. They fought the robot under water for a while. The story took place in Mexico City so I have no idea what body of what they were in. The scenes were wild and the noise was deafening.

The evil robot that was in pursuit of the savior of the world, the late model Terminator, had a clear advantage in that he was nearly indestructible. I mean this guy got shot, bludgeoned, set on fire, put through a turbine of some sort and continued to fight. But he couldn’t take out three mere mortals and one robot that was an old model. That was a huge hole in the plot for me.

If you enjoyed the old Terminator films you may get a kick out of this for the sake of nostalgia. You may also enjoy it if you enjoy raucous action films and special effects. This movie was just OK for me. If it wasn’t a part of a successful franchise that I enjoyed long ago Terminator, Dark Fate wouldn’t hold much merit for me at all.