Kid Movies

Yesterday I caught the first hour of the movie Splash on the television. What a hoot. I still giggle when the park ranger first sees Darryl Hannah naked at the Statue of Liberty... "The Statue is a gift from French citizens and has come to symbolize hope for naked women everywhere... BOCCE BALLS." It got me thinking about all those films I remember from being a kid which might not be good at all, but I miss them. There was Big, another Tom Hanks film, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which my sister could recite every line of. We also both knew most of Spaceballs. Then there's Gremlins and The Goonies, with the funny Japanese kid and his super gadget trench coat. And of course The Princess Bride, "As you wish," and Willow, "You stupid daikini!" and Val Kilmer in bad drag.

Of course, the best part of this list is that I was no more than 12 years old when these movies came out and cannot be held responsible for any lapses in taste! What movies do you remember from being a kid?

Babel

It's probably a sign of how far behind I am that I watched Babel for the first time this weekend. It was a good film, though. I was quite on edge through most of it wondering what would go wrong next. The performances were all strong and the images - cinematography - was also great. Films it made me think of... Crash and Magnolia. They also have several intersecting stories. Somehow, when the there are parallel stories happening within a film, it starts to give the film the texture of a novel. It also adds a nice mental challenge to try and figure out just how everything fits together.

This reminds me of an article I read recently in the New Yorker, "Twilight of the Books". It describes a decline the amount that people read over the past 70 years. The first surprise is that anyone even keeps track of these things. But the article also suggests that watching TV and reading are about the same thing in so far as they are both forms of entertainment. I'm not so sure what I think of that. I suppose it works for me if the parallel is drawn further. Watching reality TV might be the same as reading People magazine, for example. How much do you think about the quality of what you watch and read? Are your criteria the same for both media? Is there a difference between quality and entertainment?

Hands

I've not posted over the weekend despite wanting to post daily because my hands aren't working well. Yup, my hands are all (excuse the description) puffy and burny and itchy and no, there doesn't seem to be a good medical explanation or solution. Luckily, I discovered yesterday afternoon that my fingertips are doing much better, so typing is relatively comfortable. Now, I can do something more than change the channel with my fingernails - thank goodness!

My couch time was put to valuable use, though, watching movies. I watched Das Leben der Anderen (The Life of Others), Hot Fuzz, and 12 Angry Men. All very good, very different films. My vote for film to reflect on would go to 12 Angry Men.

Some thoughts on 12 Angry Men, in no particular order. The film maintains the Aristotelean qualities of unity of time and place. A rare quality in cinema productions, which usually cut from one place and time to another with alarming frequency. An exception might be 24, but that's another discussion. The film is less about a court case than prejudice, argumentation, truth, and justice. It raises some valid questions about the concept of a jury trial, as well. Do we really want to trust our legal system to citizens who are more concerned with getting back to work or not missing a ball game than with deciding a capital murder case? All in all, a recommended film.

Any suggestions for me should the hands give out again?

image source