2013 Summer Movies: #17 Gifted Hands the Ben Carson story

Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Ben Carson, the world renowned neurosurgeon, in this biopic from 2009. The film is not rated but would probably warrant a PG for for violence and some language.  Ben Carson worked on controlling his temper and with his religious convictions overcame his outbursts.  With the support of his mother he overcame his beliefs that he was dumb.  He went on to Johns Hopkins and became one the most famous brain surgeons of our time.  

In the film his mother eventually realized the hold and constraints that the  tv viewing had on her boys.  She limited the tv that he and his brother could watch to two tv programs a week.  When they asked what they would do with the rest of their time she told them she wanted them to read two books a week and  to give a report on each book.  

Carson went on to study music and art in addition to reading numerous books. I though this was an excellent example of how to balance reading and tv to some extent.  One of the shows they watched both before and after the tv restrictions was a quiz game show.  At first they didn't know the answers back when they watched tv everyday.  They started handily answering the questions during the nights that they did watch the quiz show after the switch to more reading time.   Thank you to one of my aunts for suggesting this wonderful movie!  

2013 Summer Movies: #16 Something The Lord Made

Mos Def and Alan Rickman star in this true life story of  Dr. Thomas and Dr. Blalock who started cardiac surgery in 1944 on a baby suffering from blue baby syndrome.  Through their research, they introduced cardiac surgery to the world (over a million heart surgeries are now performed each year in the US alone) and they also saved countless lives through their research and work on traumatic shock.  Although Vivian Thomas performed almost all the lab work on the shunt process in hundreds of operations on dogs, he was only able to coach Dr. Blalock during the actual human surgeries since he was a lab technician and was not awarded an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins until 1976.

The film was made in 2004 and is not rated but would probably get a PG rating for surgical work on both dogs and humans and some language. 

 This was a wonderful film that not only tells Blalock and Thomas's story; it touches briefly on the story of Vivian Thomas's brother, Harold Thomas, and his fight for equal pay for school teachers.  His attorney?  Thurgood Marshall.  They won.  For more information there's another blog post at: http://gdhslawblogwill.wordpress.com/tag/thurgood-marshall/

2013 Summer Movies: #15 Iron Jawed Angels

Iron Jawed Angels came out in 2004 and follows the story of Alice Paul and the NWP (National Woman's Party) after they broke off from the NAWSA (National American Women's Suffrage Association).  Paul's group picketed President Wilson and endured attacks from the public and politicians in their fight to get a Federal amendment giving women the right to vote.  They were arrested on false charges and send to Occoquan Workhouse where they were brutally treated.   The abuses they suffered in the workhouse led to newspaper stories about the abuses and the  suffrage cause.  The press helped the women's cause by revealing the abuses and garnering public sympathy and support for the amendment.

It's not the children's storybook version of the 19th Amendment but it's a powerful story of how hard and how long women from all classes worked for this right to have representation in American government.  The movie is not rated (NR) since it was made for tv but we estimate it would have received a PG-13 for the prison brutality and forced feeding scenes.  Ironically, we started watching this film (it took a few days to finish it) on the 93rd anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment back on August 18, 1920. 

Utah gave women the right to vote in 1870.

2013 Summer Movies: #14 Catch Me If You Can

Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio star in this PG-13 film (for sexual content and brief language).  Based loosely on the true story of a young "unsub" (unknown subject) who mastered check fraud, forgery, and impersonation and managed to pose as an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer all before being caught at the age of 21.  I did always wonder how he managed restitution....

Hedgehog and Daisy were amused by the French substitute teacher impersonation and Mica  noted that they do point out that he passed the Louisiana bar exam on his own. (Although some accounts claim he studied longer than the two weeks mentioned in the movie and that he may have had to take the exam more than once to pass.)  I  appreciated that he changed his life and started helping banks, companies and the government to counter fraud.  You can read an interview with Frank Agagnale from January 2008 with computer dealer news: http://www.computerdealernews.com/news/frank-abagnale-breaks-his-silence/5363

2013 Summer Movies: #13 Braveheart

Braveheart is rated R for brutal medieval warfare.  How much is freedom worth?  Daisy and Mica thought it was good and Hedgehog added it to her list of favorite movies.  If you wish to learn more then there are a number of sites that discuss the history of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and other notable historical figures of the time.

2013 Summer Movies: #12 Independence Day

We've got to have a couple of popcorn, solely for entertainment, not really emotionally tense, or mind-bending flicks for the summer and here's one from 1996. Independence Day rated PG-13 for sci-fi destruction and violence.  There's a bunch of well-known names like Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Adam Baldwin, and Brent Spiner just to name a few of the actors in this big budget summer blockbuster.  We thought it was suitably entertaining. And, I appreciated the nod to the old technology of morse code.   You can even get a morse code app for $.99 at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/morse-it/id284942940?mt=8

2013 Summer Movies: #11 Schindler's List

Schindler's List, rated R, released in 1993.  Mica had seen Schindler's List before and said it was good.  Hedgehog echoed the good  but both agreed it's not the kind of film you want to see over and over again.  Daisy will have to wait to see it since she was away at camp when we watched it this time.  At 3 hours and 17 minutes, it is a long film and it is emotionally draining.  The film also shows the power of black and white in a day and age where many things are over-saturated.

You can read more about Oskar Schindler at: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/schindler.asp

2013 Summer Movies: #10 Freedom Writers

Rated PG-13 and dealing with both gangs and the holocaust, this educational film (that was based on the non-fiction book) came out in 2007.  A young idealistic teacher (Erin Gruwell) both teaches and learns from her students.  The Los Angeles Times published an interesting article on January 9, 2007 by Gina Piccalo titled: "Did 'Writers' get it wrong?" wherein Gruwell defends the movie and how it was portrayed.  We liked it and it was a good segue into modern history.  In a less positive twist, we read about a gang related death in our area the day after we finished the movie.  Would it make a difference if any gang members in our area saw this movie?

2013 Summer Movies: #9 Mona Lisa Smile

In 2003 Julia Roberts starred with Maggie Gyllenhaal,  Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles in Mona Lisa Smile, rated PG-13 for thematic issues and sexual content (nothing graphic is shown but there is kissing, implied actions, and things like contraception and affairs are discussed).  The movie is set in the 1950's and Roberts character is the new art teacher at Wellesley College for girls.  She introduced her students to a new way of looking at art and life. 

2013 Summer Movies: #8 United 93

Released in 2006, rated R for some intense sequences of terror and violence and language. United 93 is not a documentary but feels like one because of the way it was made such as details on passengers given by friends and family and some people actually portraying themselves in the film.  See more info at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475276/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv  It was rated R but didn't feel like an R.  We stopped this movie several times to discuss how 9/11 changed the way we travel, communicate, and the chain of command.

2013 Summer Movies: #7 Michael

Michael with John Travolta, Andie MacDowell and William Hurt.  Rated PG and released in 1996.  A decent flick about judging others.  We especially noted the following Hollywoodized tidbits: angels smell good, you can never eat too much sugar, and a cute pie ditty.  I also thought it was an applicable film to watch since it also featured Jean Stapleton who recently passed away in May of 2013 at the age of 90.

2013 Summer Movies: #6 Spellbound

Spellbound is rated G and was released in 2002.  Following 8 finalists to the 1999 National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., we are introduced to their families and styles for learning the thousands of words used in the contest.  Hedgehog thought the movie was slow at first but once they get to the competition it picks up and is very tense.  Mica and Daisy both liked it.  We agreed it's worth seeing at least once but probably not worth buying.  How many words can you spell? 
(We did think the rumpled giant dictionaries were amusing-we use a dictionary for both spelling and looking up meanings but ours is just a small dictionary-anything more and we just look online.)  We also agreed that many times it's just luck of the draw for the words-the kids who make it to the national level all have a pretty good chance of winning.  Pronunciation can sometimes make or break you so there are benefits to learn how to pronounce words properly.

2013 Summer Movies: #5 The Errand of Angels

Rated PG for dramatic situations, The Errand of Angels stars Erin Chambers and Rachel Emmers in this 2008 work about sister missionaries.  While the film talks some about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it's primarily about relationships and how the main character learns to build better relationships throughout her mission.  If we start expecting more from others, we need to look first at how much we are contributing to the situation both positively and negatively and focus more on the positive.  Mica and Hedgehog had seen this before so just Daisy and I watched it this time 'round and we both liked it.

2013 Summer Movies: #4 Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham rated PG-13 for language and some sexuality.  This feel good soccer film  was made in 2002 and stars Parminder Nagra, Kiera Knightly and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  We thought it was very enjoyable with some surprising comedy.    For some interesting highlights contrasting reel life and real life in Bend It Like Beckham, visit: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/merron/031110.html
In 2003 a slightly better known film starring Kiera Knightly came out: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

2013 Summer Movies: #3 The Devil Wears Prada

Released in  2006, The Devil Wears Prada with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt.  Rated PG-13 for some sensuality (the main character has a boyfriend).   When do you say no to your boss?  Who are you willing to step on so that you can get ahead?  And how did they wrangle those advanced copies of Harry Potter?!?  There were clever additions to the movie of asking for the improbable if not impossible.  Hedgehog could see the differences in the color of the belts  and it was a lesson in fashion for myself and Daisy.  This was a fun little spree of a movie into the world of vogue that trickles down to our shopping level.

2013 Summer Movies: #2 Pleasantville

Made in 1998 and starring a host of big name actors such as Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon along with several other familiar screen faces.  Don Knotts has a hilarious role throughout the movie and look for his reaction at the end of the film as he's driving away.

Pleasantville was filmed in color, then individually manipulated to replace color in certain sections of the film.  The effect is succinctly describe here: http://video.about.com/desktopvideo/Pleasantville-Effect-With-Final-Cut.htm

Rated PG-13 for language and thematic elements dealing with sexuality. (It's generally implied that people turn to color after engaging in some sort of sexual behavior but people can also turn to color for other reasons such as love, anger or even just things not in the norm for that individual.)

The movie creates a good background for discussing everything from art to book banning and censorship to racism and nudity vs. pornography to sexuality. When do we stand up as opposed to when we stand "with the crowd" and go along?  The standing with the crowd and the standing up happens on both sides of the color situation in Pleasantville, giving a nice contrast of how hard it can be to determine which side to join in some battles because both sides have tenants with which we agree.   The last movie, Stand and Deliver, was pretty straight forward and definitely worth watching with some discussion thrown in.   We just ended up discussing Pleasantville quite a bit more both during and after the movie.

2013 Summer Movies: #1 Stand and Deliver

Stand and Deliver rated PG made in 1988 starring Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, and Lou Diamond Phillips.  Educational movie about Calculus and the AP test.  Daisy didn't think that she would like it but she did. Hedgehog said it was good and the teacher was funny.  Mica also liked this film