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Movie Picks 2010
By Erin Schmidt, Staff Reporter
Family Film Pick: DUMA
Duma is a charming family film about a boy and his cheetah. It is full of breathtaking African landscapes,
exotic animals (including an adorable bush baby and, of course, the majestic cheetah), and a soaring world
music soundtrack. Best of all, while it entertains, it also exposes children (and adults) to the lessons of
courage, independence, and respect for nature and the value of parents to their children. There are some
scary moments (lions, crocodiles, etc.), but the film is appropriate for all but the very youngest of children,
with no profanity or crudeness. It has a beautiful happy ending and is very enjoyable.
Were the World Mine
Were the World Mine is a thoroughly charming film. It's a musical with a great rock soundtrack with the lyrics
based on William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Midsummer Night's Dream happens to be my favorite of all of Shakespeare's brilliant plays. I cross-dressed
and played the workman-actor Peter Quince in my fifth grade school production of it. I took my husband to
see it live on stage when we were first dating. I adore the 1999 film version, and not just because it has a
young Christian Bale as Demetrius.
Were the World Mine is not just a new adaptation of the play, though. Its central character is Timothy, a gay
teen at an all-male private school. He has an unrequited crush on Jonathon, who happens to be an uber-jock
rugby player. Enter Miss T, the English teacher. She insists on casting the macho rugby players in the school
play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Everyone knows that English teachers possess magic, and in this case,
it's literally true. She casts Timothy as the mischevious fairy Puck, prompting many "fairy" jokes but also
teaching him the magic formula for making the play's love-inducing flower.
With the magic pansy that can make people fall in love with each other at first sight, Timothy gets Jonathon to
fall in love with him. Unfortunately, he makes a mistake and accidentally also gets his heterosexual friend Max
to fall in love with him. Then Timothy goes a little wild and turns most of the town gay. But this is a comedy,
and like the Shakespearean version, all the star-crossed romances and rivalries will be straightened out
(literally, in this case) by the end of the film. I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn that when all the
magic is reversed, it turns out Jonathon's feelings for Timothy are genuine, and the two live happily ever after.
The music is great, the characters are adorable, and Miss T's glam production of A Midsummer Night's
Dream is gorgeous. (Adam Lambert could easily star in this, if it were adapted as a stage musical.) Lovers of
theater will appreciate the play within the play. In fact, only the crustiest homophobe could dislike this
disarming production.
I'm Not There
There are several things I loved about this movie: Cate Blanchett's cross-dressing performance as an
American rock star in London, the inclusion of the haunting "Visions of Johanna," the appearance by Richie
Havens, David Cross' gleeful Allen Ginsberg, the Beatles frolicking with one of Dylan's incarnations while all
parties are high as kites. As a whole, it's a bit too quirky, too bizarre, too avant garde for my tastes. I love the
music, but it's hard to care about the constantly morphing cast of characters (except "Woody Guthrie," of
course, because I defy any feeling person not to care about the fate of a sweet-faced 11-year-old boy).
Oh yes, and then there's Christian Bale. Normally I adore the moody Mr. Bale, but he seems underutilized in
this menage of a cast. His role as a rocker turned born-again preacher gives him surprisingly little
opportunity to emote, as he does best. What he does best in this film is photograph well on a mock album
cover imitating Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin.' (There's something about the etched cheekbones
that make the Anglo-Saxon Bale resemble the Jewish-American Dylan.) Great music, though.
The Healer
THE HEALER is one of those films, like POLISH WEDDING or Oliver's Stone's HEAVEN AND EARTH, which
seems at first glance to be a slice of life, a story of one woman's personal struggles, but which on further
reflection is embued with deeper meaning. It's unusual, a bit unsettling, but it will stick with you.
Miranda Otto, best known as Eowyn in the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, plays Julie, the twins' mother. Her
anger with her husband over an affair initially inspires her to take the kids and leave, though she can't quite
bring herself to hate him and eventually changes her mind. Just then, her son Nicolas develops leukemia.
Though she has drifted far from her Polish father's Catholic religion, Julie takes a leap of faith and goes to
Poland with her son to seek out a renowned Russian healer, who heals people just by touching them. She
follows him around Poland for a month, successfully healing her son and, at the same time, realizing the
healer, Alexei, needs her. He follows her home to Canada, and Julie and Alexei have an affair. Her husband
tolerates it with the same mix of jealousy, anger, frustration, and unbroken connection to his spouse that Julie
has learned to adopt to cope with the husband's affair.
This film wants us to ask ourselves, what is a good life? Can one be sick, or hurt, physically or emotionally,
and still forge a good life? Is sex necessary to a good life? Does a good marriage have to be monogamous?
What IS healing, anyway? What is love? The ending won't give you any of these answers; it will leave you
wondering.
By Erin Schmidt, Staff Reporter
Family Film Pick: DUMA
Duma is a charming family film about a boy and his cheetah. It is full of breathtaking African landscapes,
exotic animals (including an adorable bush baby and, of course, the majestic cheetah), and a soaring world
music soundtrack. Best of all, while it entertains, it also exposes children (and adults) to the lessons of
courage, independence, and respect for nature and the value of parents to their children. There are some
scary moments (lions, crocodiles, etc.), but the film is appropriate for all but the very youngest of children,
with no profanity or crudeness. It has a beautiful happy ending and is very enjoyable.
Were the World Mine
Were the World Mine is a thoroughly charming film. It's a musical with a great rock soundtrack with the lyrics
based on William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Midsummer Night's Dream happens to be my favorite of all of Shakespeare's brilliant plays. I cross-dressed
and played the workman-actor Peter Quince in my fifth grade school production of it. I took my husband to
see it live on stage when we were first dating. I adore the 1999 film version, and not just because it has a
young Christian Bale as Demetrius.
Were the World Mine is not just a new adaptation of the play, though. Its central character is Timothy, a gay
teen at an all-male private school. He has an unrequited crush on Jonathon, who happens to be an uber-jock
rugby player. Enter Miss T, the English teacher. She insists on casting the macho rugby players in the school
play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Everyone knows that English teachers possess magic, and in this case,
it's literally true. She casts Timothy as the mischevious fairy Puck, prompting many "fairy" jokes but also
teaching him the magic formula for making the play's love-inducing flower.
With the magic pansy that can make people fall in love with each other at first sight, Timothy gets Jonathon to
fall in love with him. Unfortunately, he makes a mistake and accidentally also gets his heterosexual friend Max
to fall in love with him. Then Timothy goes a little wild and turns most of the town gay. But this is a comedy,
and like the Shakespearean version, all the star-crossed romances and rivalries will be straightened out
(literally, in this case) by the end of the film. I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn that when all the
magic is reversed, it turns out Jonathon's feelings for Timothy are genuine, and the two live happily ever after.
The music is great, the characters are adorable, and Miss T's glam production of A Midsummer Night's
Dream is gorgeous. (Adam Lambert could easily star in this, if it were adapted as a stage musical.) Lovers of
theater will appreciate the play within the play. In fact, only the crustiest homophobe could dislike this
disarming production.
I'm Not There
There are several things I loved about this movie: Cate Blanchett's cross-dressing performance as an
American rock star in London, the inclusion of the haunting "Visions of Johanna," the appearance by Richie
Havens, David Cross' gleeful Allen Ginsberg, the Beatles frolicking with one of Dylan's incarnations while all
parties are high as kites. As a whole, it's a bit too quirky, too bizarre, too avant garde for my tastes. I love the
music, but it's hard to care about the constantly morphing cast of characters (except "Woody Guthrie," of
course, because I defy any feeling person not to care about the fate of a sweet-faced 11-year-old boy).
Oh yes, and then there's Christian Bale. Normally I adore the moody Mr. Bale, but he seems underutilized in
this menage of a cast. His role as a rocker turned born-again preacher gives him surprisingly little
opportunity to emote, as he does best. What he does best in this film is photograph well on a mock album
cover imitating Dylan's 'The Times They Are A-Changin.' (There's something about the etched cheekbones
that make the Anglo-Saxon Bale resemble the Jewish-American Dylan.) Great music, though.
The Healer
THE HEALER is one of those films, like POLISH WEDDING or Oliver's Stone's HEAVEN AND EARTH, which
seems at first glance to be a slice of life, a story of one woman's personal struggles, but which on further
reflection is embued with deeper meaning. It's unusual, a bit unsettling, but it will stick with you.
Miranda Otto, best known as Eowyn in the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, plays Julie, the twins' mother. Her
anger with her husband over an affair initially inspires her to take the kids and leave, though she can't quite
bring herself to hate him and eventually changes her mind. Just then, her son Nicolas develops leukemia.
Though she has drifted far from her Polish father's Catholic religion, Julie takes a leap of faith and goes to
Poland with her son to seek out a renowned Russian healer, who heals people just by touching them. She
follows him around Poland for a month, successfully healing her son and, at the same time, realizing the
healer, Alexei, needs her. He follows her home to Canada, and Julie and Alexei have an affair. Her husband
tolerates it with the same mix of jealousy, anger, frustration, and unbroken connection to his spouse that Julie
has learned to adopt to cope with the husband's affair.
This film wants us to ask ourselves, what is a good life? Can one be sick, or hurt, physically or emotionally,
and still forge a good life? Is sex necessary to a good life? Does a good marriage have to be monogamous?
What IS healing, anyway? What is love? The ending won't give you any of these answers; it will leave you
wondering.