THE KID WITH A BIKE (2011, FRANCE)

Son of 21st century films month! (Post 7 of 12)

The Kid With a Bike

The Kid With a Bike is 12-year-old Cyril's story and...

The most interesting thing about Cyril’s story is that you really see why Cyril is the way he is and does the things he does. We would dislike Cyril if we just witnessed his actions (like rob someone after hitting them over the head) instead of going through the events that lead up to it. We learn through the film that he is a boy who desperately wantes to connect with a father who wants nothing to do with him and is forced to spend much of his time in an orphanage or with a foster family. The scenes with Cyril being rejected by his father are hard to watch. Ultimately, we hope that Cyril is somehow going to straighten himself out, and the answer is...

(SPOILER ALERT!)

is…we don’t know what's going to happen to Cyril. And it seems more real that way.

THE CLASS (2008, FRANCE)

Son of 21st century films month! (Post 6 of 12)

The Class

Boy, just when I was having trouble coming up with ideas of what to write on this blog, I post a movie that I actually watched several months ago and is slowly fading from my memory banks. But let me try. I know that whenever I see any film about teaching inner city youths (be they French, American or Swahili) it doesn’t really inspire me to be a teacher. This was a tough film with no pat answers, no To Sir With Love hero worship, just teachers and students trying to get along under tough circumstances. I do like that it gives you a lot from the teacher's point of view.

Which reminds me of one of my all-time favorite televison shows: Room 222. Why would this type of schoolroom show not be on televison today?. Because it (gasp!) actually shows things from the teacher's point of view! But that's a rant for anouther day. And to Room 222's Karen Valentine, you'll always be my sitcom rerun valentine. xoxoxoxoxo

CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)

Son of 21st century films month! (Post 5 of 12)

Children of Men

The focus of Children of Men is really in the background, behind the main focus of what is going on, according to the filmmaker Slavoj Zizek. You can see this in an oblique way only if it remains in the background, a prism in which you see the background even more sharply...

Wait a minute.

I'm not sure if I really want to continue on this route or not. Do I really want to discuss the ideological despair of late capitalism? Do I really want to attempt to wax poetic about fertility being a spiritual renewal that can be transcended through the art of motion pictures?

Where do you go when you reach a crossroads with your blog?

Is anyone listening?

Does anyone care?

Are we, the bloggers, just waiting our turn to put in our two cents?

Has the blogosphere turned us into writers INSTEAD of readers?

On a blog can anyone hear you scream?

Should I continue watching all the movies on this list when I could really be working on my dream blog of reviewing every single cartoon short in the Hanna-Barbera catalog?

I'll have to think this over.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008)

Son of 21st century films month! (Post 4 of 12)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Rex Reed factor

There are some critics over the years that I have used as a pretty good barometer to judge whether or not I will like a film or not (Roger Ebert or Eleanor Ringel are examples). There are other critics that I may disagree with but are enjoyable to read (Pauline Kael and David Thompson come to mind). So where does that leave long-time New York Post critic Rex Reed, with his drippy sarcasm and apparent lack of taste for anything remotely offbeat? I'm glad you asked. I use him as a reverse barometer. If the former Gong Show panelist doesn’t like something, it is probably something to check out. Or if one of the co-stars of Myra Breckinridge raves too much about a film, it makes me more than a little hesitant to watch.

The problem in this case is that Rex really liked The Curious Case of Benjamin Button…and so did I. Well, I'm still not going to change any of my critical or reverse critical barometers. Let's say that Rex and I will just have to agree to agree on this one.