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August 13 France 2008 TripYou can view photos of our recent trip to France at http://allenspruill.smugmug.com. Enjoy! July 30 Christian The Lion VideoIf you haven't heard the story of Christian the Lion on YouTube or on TV, you have to check this out. In 1969, two men saw a lion for sale in Harod's (yes, the London store used to sell exotic animals). They bought it, raised the cub for a year, and reintroduced him to the wild. This is that story. Enjoy! YouTube - The View - Christian The Lion July 21, 2008 Whoopi and Joy Stories October 22 Funny: Windows Vista Southern EditionI just had to share this hilarious blog entry that I found: http://blog.retrosight.com/PermaLink,guid,7f523ce6-150a-43de-b0de-44c659bd0a10.aspx. I wonder if I can actually get a few copies for all my friends and family in the South. Enjoy! June 17 SIFF Review: The First People on the MoonRussia
Rating 2 out of 5
An odd movie - done in the documentary style but mostly made up (10% real footage and 90% made up footage), this is a story about the secret that the Russians went to the moon years before the Americans did.
Viewed 6/15 at Harvard Exit SIFF Review: You Are So HandsomeFrance
Rating 4 out of 5
Touching romantic comedy about an older man who lives on a farm and has recently lost his wife. Since she helped with a lot of the work, he needs assistance. So he ends up at a matchmaker firm and visits Eastern Europe, himself looking for a work partnee while the younger women are looking for a husband and a ticket to greater prosperity. He just never figured he'd find love along the way.
Viewed 6/14 at Neptune SIFF Review: The Refugee All StarsGuinea
Rating 4 out of 5
Very interesting documentary about refugees from Sierra Leonne who form a band while in the refugee camps in Guinea. We learn about what it is like to be a refugee and why people are sometimes slow to return home. The music is very good, and the band has actually recorded an album and is touring the USA this summer.
Viewed 6/13 at Neptune SIFF Review: Dreaming of SpaceRussia
Rating 2 out of 5
A bit slow and confusing for me - story about a cook in Russia set around the start of the space race.
Viewed 6/12 at Neptune SIFF Review: Not Here to be LovedFrance
Rating 3 out of 5
Story about a lonely older man who starts Tango dancing for the exercise and then meets a younger woman who wakes up his life; a nice story
Viewed 6/12 at Neptune SIFF Review: The World According to Sesame StreetRating 5 out of 5
Viewed 6/10 at Pacific Place
Very interesting documentary about how Sesame Street is brought to new countries. We see the effort behind a new co-production in Bangladedh and how the Sesame Workshop people (formerly Childrens Television Workshop) work with locals to make the show relevant for each country, focusing on what they want their preschool kids to learn. This will air on PBS in October. SIFF Review: Distant JourneyCzech Republic
Rating 2 out of 5
Film about the Holocaust experience from the Czech people. It was a bit slow for me, and I have seen better Holocaust related films.
Viewed 6/10 at Harvard Exit SIFF Review: Who Killed the Electric CarUSA
Rating 5 out of 5
Very engaging documentary about the electric vehicles that appeared in California ten years ago, and that are now virtually extinct. The film examines how the cars came to be and who is responsible for their demise. It is an awakening in how far we have come technologically and how other factors hold us back from making good choices.
Viewed 6/10 at Neptune June 10 SIFF Review: Four StarsFrance Rating 5 out of 5 Funny crime caper about a beautiful girl who is on vacation enjoying some of her inheritence from a distant relative. She gets involved with a con man and ends up loaning him money, although he has no idea what it will cost. This is a very fun and stylish film. Viewed 6/9 at Egyptian Theater SIFF Review: The IcebergBelgium Rating 4 out of 5 Dark comedy about a woman who gets stuck in a restaurant freezer overnight, which changes her life. She leaves her family on a quest to find an iceberg. Viewed 6/9 at Pacific Place SIFF Review: The Great MatchSpain Rating 5 out of 5 Great film about people in remote regions of the world finding a way to get to a TV and watch the World Cup final. It was great fun watching the Amazon jungle tribe sending someone climbing up a tree holding a small satellite dish trying to get a signal. Everyone in the world is truly crazy over football, especially the World Cup. Viewed 6/8 at Egyptian Theater SIFF Review: Road to GuantanamoUK Rating 5 out of 5 This is an inflinching account of four Pakistani men in their twenties who lived in Britain and got caught up in Guantanamo. They went to Pakistan for a wedding a month after 9/11 and for some reason decided to visit Afghanistan. Caught up in the fighting and mistaken as Taliban, they are shipped to Guantanamo for questioning. I don't consider myself overly political but if even part of the things in this film are happening, then I am very ashamed of our government. SIFF Review: OSS 117: Nest of SpiesFrance Rating 5 out of 5 Funny spy film from France, set in the 50's. OSS 117 is an agent who thinks he's a little bit James Bond and a little bit Austin Powers. Somehow he seems to be able to get the girl and solve the case, but not without many amusing incidents along the way. Viewed 6/6 at Lincoln Square SIFF Review: Little Red FlowersChina Rating 3 out of 5 Interesting story of a boarding kindergarten in China. The teachers give little red flowers for doing your daily chores and behaving well. We follow a little boy who starts at the kindergarten against his will and always seems to be misbehaving. Viewed 6/4 at Egyptian Theater June 04 SIFF Review: La Maison de NinaCountry: France Rating: 4 of 5 Nina runs an orphanage during World War II for children abandoned by the war, with parents either fighting, in the resistance, or taken off to German concentration camps. When a group of young boys returns from the concentration camps to stay in her care, you get a sense of what the experience must have been like through the young boys' reactions to certain things, noises, and sights. It is an interesting way to view the war through the eyes of these children. Viewed 6/3/2006 at Lincoln Square Cinemas SIFF Review: ZozoCountry: Lebabon/Sweden Rating: 4 of 5 Set in Beirut in the late 80's, we see a family that is planning to leave together and settle in Sweden, where grandparents have already settled. Before they can leave Beirut, everyone in the family except young Zozo is killed by the violence. It really awakened me to this war that happened in my lifetime. Zozo settles in Sweden with his grandparents, but he finds that adjusting to live there is not easy. Viewed 6/3/2006 at Lincoln Square Cinemas SIFF Review: Cave of the Yellow DogCountry: Mongolia Rating: 4 of 5 This is a beautiful story set in Mongolia. A young girl befriends a stray dog, and her father does not want her to keep it. But luckily it stays around. What more could you want than amazing scenery, cute kids, and an even cuter dog. Viewed 6/3/2006 at Lincoln Square Cinemas |
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