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: #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: #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: #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.