Pressure Cooker

This newly released documentary movie Pressure Cooker, to me, was a refreshing, uplifting emotional roller coaster. As a big fan of food movies and from the title, I hoped it would be about food. Well, it is, but not so much in a traditional way.

Very basic background of this movie
Mrs. Stephenson is a Philly public high-school teacher. Because of her blunt character and strict disciplinary style, she gets on the bad side of other teachers who also train their students to compete for scholarships—through a cooking tournament sponsored by C-CAP. There's no such sour reputation in her own school—because she is not an unreasonably audacious tyrant. She is a tough yet caring teacher who tries to bring opportunities to her students from working-class families. As amazing as Mrs. Stephenson is these kids. All are very hard working in the cooking class, on grades, with sports (some of them belong to the cheer leading team which Mrs. Stephenson coaches), against adversities in each family.

I know nothing about making films and no doubt every movie presents directors' intention or view, which is also true to documentaries. In Pressure Cooker, however, intentional gimmicks or editing play very humbly, in my opinion. In the after-screening interview, the directors explained the process was very spontaneous. Mrs. Stephenson was also on stage with one of her students from the movie. She remembers getting annoyed with the camera in the kitchen first but then didn't even notice afterwards.

I laughed a lot and cried almost the entire 90 minutes. It was a very strange feeling; to cry and feel very warm in heart simultaneously. While other reviews tell too many details on what happens in one scene to next, I hope you just go straight to IFC (a nice size theater with great seats)!

FYI: One of the directors Mark Beckers' former movie Romántico is also a very wonderful documentary, a portrait of a Mexican musician. Now available on DVD.

Happy Accident

Ruby's stuck herself with a string of losers until she meets Sam, sweet, tender, funny, mysterious guy. Everything was great until Sam starts to act really strange, claiming he's from the future. After fear/doubt/love/reality/delusion/trust/hope, what does Ruby discover about him, about herself?

It's a romantic drama with a SciFi twist. The director usually produces TV series or thrillers. It's a sweet yet not-girly romantic drama. If it was not recommended by someone or if you normally avoids love stories, you may never try this movie. I rented this because I like Marisa Tomei and was recommended by the video store guy. Speedy and intricate story and good writing. Likable cute girl who is a relationship sucker. Not so handsome guy with lots of love. The best time traveler movie, too.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

After seeing the trailer, I had a huge expectation in this movie. It's a truly charming, good movie, but not Allen's best.

Allen knows how to capture the beauty of the city, weather in NY or Spain, without using dazzling gimmicks. This movie did make me want to go to Spain.

Javier, in my mind, still is the powerful villain from No Country for Old Men. Scarlett is always Scarlett. Penelope completely nailed the hysterical, beautiful artist character. I wanted to see more of her. Her character was stronger than the story itself. I don't expect a big finale in movies, but I left the theater, feeling unsatisfied.

It's a worth-seeing movie but not in the theater necessarily.

There Will Be Blood

Arguably one of the best actors of our generation Daniel Day-Lewis's new movie and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood. In very short, it's a movie about a life of a man whose ambition was to become an big oil tycoon and his struggle with power, money, faith, God, family and royalty and others. From the preview, which shows only the scene with Daniel Day-Lewis, I was suspicious that this movie may end up one of those with one major actor and nothing else is good. I was wrong. He was good, of course. Really good. But the sound, cinematography and direction were all great.

After the Wedding

I rented the 2006 Oscar Foreign Film nominee, After the Wedding. The story is kind of complicated so I won't say much to reveal the ending:

Jacob has spent his life caring for Indian street kids. When a Danish businessman Jorgen offers him $4 million to his orphanage, Jacob is asked to fly back to Denmark and meet the guy. Upon Jacob's return to Denmark, Jorgen insists Jacob to attend his daughter's wedding. At the wedding, Jacob finds he didn't fly back only to receive the donation but to deal with his own life in an unexpected way.

Children in the orphanage are just charming and beautiful. And the actors are very good, I thought. It's not a suspense but the story is intricate enough to ask for a really good screenplay. You look around and find many people who need help. But you only can save so many, and most importantly, your own family is the ones who really need you. I thought about this a lot.

Adam's Rib

Desprate for some fun movie, I picked this movie, one of the highest rates on Netflix. Turned out this movie features a feminism—specifically the equal rights between Man and Women before the law. Story is simple. A love, mid-age, lawyer couple (Spencer Tracy and K Hepburn) gets assigned on a attempted murder case: A housewife finds her husband flirting with another woman in her apartment and shot him. Spencer on the husbund side, Hepburn defending the wife. Hepburn's eloquent and powerful approaches and her passion toward equal rights unfortunatelly brings inaccordance to their house. Besides the story itself, Hepburn's costume is so worth watching.

Up and Down - Horem pádem

I was always interested in the DVD cover and yet didn't feel compelled to see it. But as a tribute to my good Czech friend, I gave it a shot last night.

I haven't seen Babel but I did see Crash and didn't quite like the over-done interwoven story setting. This Czech movie renders similar scenario but by far better than Crash. It's not a commedy. It's not a serious movie. It's not like I was particularly impressed or some scenes were memorable. But it was showing many aspects and lives of Czech people smartly. The interlocking story style is subtle yet very effectively applied.

The Mirror - Ayneh

An actress with the cutest voice in this charming Iranian movie.

A girl waits for her mother to pick her up at the school. Without much help from her teacher and other adults, she decides to find a way home on her own—not remembering the address or which bus to take. On her journey to home, the movie turns into a completely unexpected direction.

I simply couldn't get over her sweet, high voice.

Kamome Shokudo

Here's a new Japanese movie called Kamome Shokudo (Kamome Diner) which I just saw at the Japan Society. I've known about this movie mainly because of the famous female actresses I love. My American boyfriend among all other Western audience laughed a lot and enjoyed this charming movie.

It's a stroy about a little diner in Finland. One female owner whose background and history is omitted in the film meets other two Japanese females who happened to meet the owner and start helping her. All three are famous in Japan not only for their acting skills but more for their unique character. You love them. And this is not a typical Japanese story that forces the audience to appreciate the Japanese culture. With humor and great script, this movie brings you happiness and appreciation for Japanese food. I'd categorize this movie as humorous drama.

You won't regret.

Veronica Guerin - The Magdalen Sisters

Last two nights, I watched based-on-true-event movies, both set in Ireland.

Veronica Guerin—an Irish journalist who reported to unveil the drug dealing crimes that particularly contaminated youth. Regardless of the truth, she was depicted somehow as an imprudent female journalist, at least to me. Even a male journalist wouldn't go unarmed alone to confront a perilous gangster, which she did and got beaten up so bad. I admire her determination to continue the investigation even after couple sever attacks. But shouldn’t she be more careful? I feel like there was a chance that she could have win the battle with the brutal evils without losing her life. I probably shouldn’t say this because this was a real event but I don't mean to be disrespectful for her death. It’s also unfortunate that the society didn’t respond until after her death.
(Recommend to learn about her rather than watching this movie.)

The Magdalen Sisters—a story of three Irish young women who suffered and endured mental and physical abuses at the asylum. This is probably one of the most depressing movie I’ve ever seen. The girls were sent to this church-owned "hell" by their own family for the sin they’ve made; being raped by his cousin, being a un-wed mother and being beautiful and flirty. Ironically, the asylum was originally founded as a part of Rescue Movement, founded for rescuing and educating the prostitutes. The depraved discipline and abuses by the villainous nuns have completely lost its uplifting origin but rather made it a hopeless, dehumanizing prison. Coincidentally, the last asylum was closed on 1996, the year Veronica Guerin was killed.
(Movie highly recommended but be aware it’s painful to watch.)

I picked these two tragic stories randomly and ended up thinking about two issues relative to both movies.

Is it necessary or appropriate for the viewer to know that the movie is based on a true event? The viewers may be compelled to feel more empathy toward the film—simply because the event actually happened. But it’s not a documentary. Tweaks and some details are added. Then shouldn’t that be treated and seen as a drama?

Each movie, in a way, illustrates the issue of women’s right. Today, none of the Magdalen Sister wouldn’t be a shame or accused for their "sins." But it’s still not the safe and fair society for many women weather to pursue a decent life or a rather challenging professional career. And the two movies did feature strong women who tried to uphold their spirits and dignity to their lives.

Inland Empire

I got completely lost in Mulholland Dr. I did enjoy Straight Story. I was afraid of Elephant Man. I was amazed by Inland Empire.

My friends invited me to see David Lynch's new movie, Inland Empire, in which the reality and imagination loses its boundary. It's absolutely confusing and it's supposed to be so. You see some links between each scene yet it never establishes a linear narrative. It's like a circle that's linked with another circle that's surrounded by another circle that's actually one of the circles within. Everyone would try to re-connect the dots and figure out the story. But at the same time, it might be wise not to try think too much about the narrative. The visuals and actinings are wonderful. Laura Dern is great. In the movie, the portrait of women in Hollywood, or perhaps not limited to Hollywood, seems to be one of the messages/theme.

3 hours is long. Especially since this movie doesn't give you much idea of how far it went. It could continue forever. But after letting myself sank in the story and finishing the task, I found myself refreshingly recalling the scenes and not even annoyed with accumulated halluciantion and intensity of the movie. It's a bit scary—perhaps the digital camera added further creepiness. I was pleased and proud of my capability: Little Miko can enjoy surreal masterpiece!

Elling

A charming, funny movie from Norway about two 40-year-old guys with mental disabilities. Elling, the main character, has spent most of his life alone with his mother until she dies and the Norwegian government sends him to the institution. His roommate in the institution is Kjell Bjarne, a huge guy with strong passion for sex and women, in non-harrassing way. While Kjell has an easier time adapting himself in a new environment, Elling keeps himself inside the apartment, avoiding his life-time enemy: depression/anxiety. This is a movie about mentally and socially challenged men. Yet, the director smartly put it in a unique, humorous way. The script is also very elaborate. If you aren't in the mood for some serious dramas or simply ridiculous comedy, this is highly recommended.

Been Rich All My Life

Isn't that a pleasure to discover a great movie? Pick a movie simply by a brief review and see it without knowing much about it. And that happens to be one of the best movies you see in a year. Been Rich All My Life is my recent discovery at Quad Cinema in Union Square, NY.

I picked this documentary simply because of a NY Times movie reviewer's suggestion. Did a bit of web surfing to find out about it. It's about a group of old black ladies–average age of 86–who used to be chorus dancers in pre-war Harlem. Now after over 60 years, They reunited to start a dance team, Silver Bells, and had shows throughout the city.

Even though they can't lift their legs high to the face or stretch their backs or the steps are not as powerful as they used to be, theie dance is steady enough to keep the rhythm. One of the ladies still teaches dance to young dancers. Their dance is not counting 1, 2, 3... It's all with the rhythm that remained in their soul and body. Perhaps, young dancers can dance faster steps but they still cannot dance the way the Silver Belles do.

As entertaining and encouraging as it is, this movie also deliveres the real, sad truth. None of these ladies is an iron grandma: They are old, undeniably, and they do have to face with issues and fears of aging. Surrounded by many senior audience and a group of teen dance team, I cried and laughed. I recommend this movie to all women regardless of age. You will surely learn and feel something out of this movie.