BLINDSIGHT (PG)

"A lot of people say, I can’t do it because I’m blind, or I have red hair, or my feet are too big. Get the right team around you, don’t set boundaries and go for it.” — Sabriye Tenberken

A movie like Blindsight might make even the most virtuous and well meaning among us think we don’t do enough with our lives, that we can always do more. (We can, and we should.)

The people in this move will astound you. You may have to help your kids understand just how astonishing this story is, but your editorial input and clarifying comments will be worth any interruption. (I’m recommending this for patient kids 10 and up, hopefully with a little documentary experience under their belt.)

Blindsight follows a group of six blind Tibetan teens, who ascend a 23,000-foot Himalayan peak. They are mostly poor, shunned by varying degrees by their families and villages, and certainly know nothing about climbing as the story begins. They learn everything, slowly and patiently, with a gleam in their eyes and nervous grins; they are seeing so much more than a mountaintop in their dreams.

Blinded at age 12, Sabriye Tenberken is a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Mother Theresa Award recipient and the founder of Braille Without Borders, a foundation that has transformed attitudes about the blind (and of the blind) in some pretty remote places. One of them is Tibet, where she traveled from Germany, alone at age 26, to set up a blind school for Tibetan children. She set out on horseback with a Tibetan woman as her guide, to find blind kids who had been ostracized by their families and neighbors, and literally gave them new lives. She also created the Braille text for the Tibetan language.

(And she hasn’t won a Nobel Prize?)

“Just because you lose your sight,
it doesn’t mean you lose your vision.” - Erik Weihenmayer

Also completely blinded at age 12 (the same year he lost his mother in a car accident; imagine that for a moment), Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person, in 2001, to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. He is one of only 150 mountaineers to climb the “Seven Summits,” the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, and the only sightless person in their numbers. Erik is also a para-glider, snow skier, long distance cyclist, skydiver and marathon runner. I could go on, but I don’t want to make you feel bad.

(Oh, and Sabriye and Erik are two of Oprah’s "favorite people." Yeah, now you get the gist of their greatness.)

Ok, so long story shortish: Sabriye gets the crazy idea to take a handful of the most driven kids on a climbing expedition. Maybe a just a short one. She contacts Erik, who lives in Colorado, and asks if he’s interested in heading up the adventure. Of course he says yes, and before you know it, six shy, excited and terrified students of Sabriye’s are preparing for their trip up Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Everest.

The viewer is in on the planning, the training, the conditioning, the fear and trepidation, and when the climb is finally underway, it seems impossible, like it was just a crazy idea that should never have been undertaken. Seeing Weihenmayer, from an earlier trip, climbing up a sheet of ice or traversing a crevasse (with a bottomless drop) on a wobbly ladder -- blind, remember? -- is enough to make you hold onto your armchair or nearest loved one and not want to let go. These kids can barely walk in boots, over rocks, how in the hell are they going to climb a 23,000 foot peak?

That’s for you to find out.

This may be a little slow going for some kids. You may want to plan breaks or special treats to dangle like carrots and serve when their patience wears a little thin. Oh, there is also the matter of Life is a Bitch, Part XXII, where nobody wants you if you’re blind in places like Tibet, where they think you are possessed by demons or some equally horrid thing and you are either tethered (er, figuratively, in these particular stories) to your home without much of a future, or, worse, traded away. A western (sighted) climbing guide confesses to the camera that he’s pretty sure one kid has cigarette burns on his body, obtained during a particularly dreadful phase in his life.

That stuff may be hard on the kiddies. It will be hard on you. But it’s worth it in the end. Think you can do it? You can. You can.

And you should.

Trailer below, and more on Erik, Sabriye and the film here.

Sneak Peek at "Up"

The folks over at FirstShowing.net got a sneak peek at the first 45 minutes of Disney/Pixar’s latest, Up, and by all accounts they left with smiles on their faces. It was a fun read, and seems to point to it being a more interesting kids’ movie than I’d previously thought from the previews I’d seen. Take a quick look over at FirstShowing.

While you're there, you can be one of the first to see a trailer for the new Quentin Tarantino film, Inglourious Basterds. (Could this be the first blog post to be both about Tarantino and a Pixar film? Nah.) Ladies, if you have a thing for Brad Pitt, you may not want to see this movie (nor do you want to see it if you have a weak stomach). I must admit I'm a Tarantino fan, even his violent tendencies usually come across as pretty brilliant cinema to me... and one of my favorite films ever is Reservoir Dogs. Jackie Brown might also make a Top Something-Or-Other list if I took another look at it just before composing such a list; what a criminally underrated piece of work it is.

Ok, so FirstShowing is a pretty cool and well-informed site, even if all the editors look like they're about 12 and not one of them lists Woody Allen or Werner Herzog as favorite directors.

GODZILLA! (and other Japanese Monsters)

It’s funny, but the 1950s/'60s Godzilla franchise is a huge part of our lives here, and yet I haven’t written about it until now! It might be because I found it daunting in its hugeness, but that was before I actually gave it more than two minutes of thought. Once I did that, I realized the best thing to do is tell you why we love ‘em and how far you can go with this genre. (The short answer to that last part is: to about 1972.)

Again, I must mention that my husband is a huge fan of monster and horror films in many guises (the more low budget and unknown, the better), but these in particular have always struck a chord with him, and he once dreamed of having a kid who loves them as he does. And gee, his dream has come true (not without a little work!). K’s idea of a good time with dad is watching Godzilla vs. the Seamonster. I’m sure this will change sooner than we want to admit.

The Godzilla films and their many spinoffs begin, of course, with the original Godzilla (1954), from which all the others came. The key thing about these movies (for inquiring parents) is that they are for the most part, pretty innocuous, with crude special effects and monsters that are kind of lovable in their primitive renderings. (In one film, Godzilla does a little victory dance after battle with one of his nemisises, and the moves are now a staple in our house. It’s crazy cute.) When you’re dealing with younger kids, it certainly helps to see the strings attached to flying gigantic moths, or to point out that Godzilla is really just a guy in a rubber suit (ok, only go there if you really need to).

Another positive is consistency. There are consistent themes throughout that look pretty much like this:

- The movies are dubbed, clumsily, in English
- Cites will be stomped on and crushed
- There will be fire
- The armies of the world are incredibly inaccurate when it comes to big guns and missiles
- Godzilla is usually a good guy
- There will be scenes of panic and running in the streets
- Surprisingly, there is often a smart, attractive woman helping the scientist/army guy/genius figure out what to do

These things can be counted on in the genre.

So you always know, pretty much, what you’re going to get with one of these movies. Even the offshoot films, like All Monsters Attack!, follow the same basic formula, and have the same lovably cheesy quality (D would strongly disapprove of the word “cheesy” here).

You know your kids better than anybody, so using this basic knowledge about the films’ content, you should be pretty well armed to decide if these are appropriate for your seven- or nine-year old. (For the record, I believe K started watching these with us at about age seven.)

Now, the caveat is that you don’t want to go too far into the ‘70s, and certainly not into the ‘80s.

(Wait, let me clarify: you can wander, at your own risk, of course, but we did a couple of times, and just FYI, we regretted it at least once. Things tend to get dicier in terms of language, innuendo and, later, in more intense violence.)

Here is a list of films that worked well in our household (yeah, we’ve seen all of these!):

Gojira, or Godzilla (1954) Japanese version, without Raymond Burr
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) American edit, with Raymond Burr (many say the original is the better film)
Return of Godzilla or Godzilla’s Counterattack (1955)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero ( (1965)
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (1966)
Godzilla’s Revenge (1969)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Godzilla vs. Smog Monster (1972)

SPINOFFS:
Rodan (1956)
Gamera Return of the Giant Monsters (1966)
Gamera vs. Monster X (1967)
All Monsters Attack (1969)


Ok, that's a lot to chew on, for now. I have a feeling there are some other Japanese monster movies I've missed, so I'll consult D and see if we have some gaps to fill in.

There are a couple of titles here that the guys have watched twice now, so believe me when I say they have a huge fun factor built in.

Happy Godzilla-ing!

Happy Feet? ... Not So Much

Food for thought:

NPR aired an interesting piece by Michel Martin about what is "wrong" with the kids’ movie Happy Feet (you know the cute animated penguin movie? where they dance, dance, dance? and in fact, their dancing is what saves them?). It’s posted on NPR’s web site, and I thought I’d share it with you.

Did she “overanalyze” the movie? Or express some valid insights?

Here are some of her points:

What's troubling about it, if indeed a kiddie movie about penguins can be said to be troubling, is the suggestion that the penguins weren't saved from starvation and extinction because they had intrinsic worth ... but rather, they deserved to be saved because they were entertaining.

... Entrenched interests reflexively fight any suggestion about changing the status quo for kids, especially kids who aren't making it ... We care about the cute ones, the smart ones, the little Dakota Fannings and Tiger Woodses, the little Olympic gymnasts, the little perfect SAT scorers, the precocious Oprahs-in-training ... But the rest, well, maybe next lifetime, kid.

Read the full article here, and if "comments" are 'closed' (an annoying feature of the NPR site), feel free to comment here!

Candy Land, the Movie! Monopoly, the Movie!

So you’ve probably heard by now about the G.I. Joe movie being made, along with a sequel to Transformers (see my anti-Transformers rant here), but did you know that this Hasbro deal with Universal is pretty much busting out all over? There’s a film version of Candy Land on the way, with director Kevin Lima (Enchanted) and writer Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder and Madagascar 2) taking the reins. There must be endless story opportunities here that escape me at the moment, because there are a bizarre number of homemade Candy Land movies on YouTube. I kid you not.

Monopoly is also coming down the pike, with director Ridley Scott (Ridley Scott?!) “attached” to the project, either as producer or director, or both. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Scott is “attached to helm the project, with an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic ‘Blade Runner.’”

Ok, this could be awful or really fantastic. Rich Uncle Pennybags as a rogue android? The roadster as a futuristic killing machine? The thimble as ... a transforming explosive device bent on taking over the world? Hmmmm. And, seriously, what would this be rated? I'll bet a buck it will be an unfortunate PG-13. (There's really no reason a thrilling, entertaining movie can't be made with a PG rating.)

For documentary lovers, Monopoly is the topic of Under the Boardwalk, similar (perhaps) to Word Wars, the documentary covering the crazy world of competitive Scrabble players ( a really fun movie, by the way). Under the Boardwalk is filming now, and will continue throughout 2009, following through with the Monopoly Championships in October in Las Vegas. The filmmakers are seeking people with Monopoly stories of their own; so if that’s you, or you’re interested in the tournament in October, visit their web site for more info. (You can see a trailer there, too.)

This Week’s Classic Kids’ Movie

There are so many classic movies for kids out there (that is, films intended for kids, unlike, say Planet of the Apes or Jackie Chan movies) which I may never get to, that I’ve decided to feature one every week, with a very brief blurb on it, just to remind you they’re out there.

This week, we point you to the Iron Giant, which is not that old, but I have very fond recollections of K at about age 6 watching this at a birthday party with some dear friends back in SF; the kids just loved it. (Hmm. Come to think of it, they were probably a little on the young side for it, really, but I remember they were glued to the screen and obviously enjoyed it. K asked to see it again a few years ago.)

It’s animated, and is rated PG as it does deal with some suspense and peril, and it also has some juvenile potty humor and language (er, certainly nothing worse than “penis breath” muttered by a kid in E.T. -- ah, you’d conveniently forgotten that, hadn’t you?). Like the aforementioned E.T., it deals with a creature taken in and loved and protected by our child protagonist, but there are deeper subtexts that are quite moving and poignant. In fact, it’s a little on the heavy side.

Ok, so forget I mentioned six-year-olds.

We were all, clearly, bad parents.

Tim Burton's 9

I just happened on a tidbit about a new Tim Burton film coming later this year (on 9/9/09, to be exact), called 9. Here's the storyline:

When 9 (The Lord of the Ring's Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive ... the very future of civilization may depend on them.

9 stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer and Crispin Glover and features the music of Danny Elfman (er, and Coheed and Cambria, apparently).

I'm pretty sure K will be in line for this one (ok, so will I: Crispin Glover's in it, for Godssakes!).

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME (NR = G)

So, who knew that Washington D.C. and a third grade class in Wuhan, China pretty much operate on identical levels when it comes to politics and election shenanigans?

This charming little documentary (58 minutes) should delight all parents, but will perhaps only engage some kids. I’d think those around the same age group as the students -- and a little older -- might enjoy Please Vote For Me, as it’s a straightforward look into the growing pains and heartbreak of schoolyard politics -- and what kid isn’t familiar with that, on some level? (Did this touch me in particular, as I remembered running -- and losing -- for Class President in the sixth grade? I got beat by a red haired, bullyish boy, and the pain was palpable, long after his coronation and even after I faded into the background, becoming a quiet, bell-bottomed, skinny girl with braces who never ran for anything again. That was the end of my political career. Who needed the agony?)

Um, back to the film (which I watched when K wasn’t around, unfortunately, so I can’t give you his take on it): Here we have a slightly mystifying and completely engaging documentary, focusing on three kids running in a democratic election for Third Grade Class Monitor, in the People’s Republic of China in 2006, when the country is clearly being torn in many different political and cultural directions and tentatively dipping its toe in the murky waters of democracy ... How and why did this film get made? Was it “sanctioned” by the government? Did they feel it portrayed the democratic process as a failure, as unfair, as being riddled with cruelty fueled by the darkest and most deceptive motivations inherent in the human psyche?

Aren’t we awful, us democratic societies?

Or, is the filmmaker a secret lover of democratic principles, and camouflaged the obvious upside to the process with the downside (Machiavellian scheming, corruption, temper tantrums) to allow it to pass Party scrutiny?

Ok, I’m really not smart enough, or deep enough, to provide you with answers here. You can read more about the film and filmmaker as part of the project, Why Democracy, on their web site (and find more interesting films while you’re at it), and perhaps put things in context a bit more before you watch.

But it was fascinating -- both as a parent and as an avid consumer of political drama -- to observe these adorable, smart, driven kids, doing whatever it takes to win. (I confess, it was fascinating in that car wreck sort of way, where you don’t want to watch, but you can’t stop. And it’s not nearly as heartbreaking as some documentaries [speaking of the human psyche, good God, have you seen Errol Morris’ Abu Ghraib documentary, Standard Operating Procedure?], and it does remind us, perhaps unpleasantly, that kids are much, much smarter than we often give them credit for. Some of ‘em are sharks, I tell you.)

Conclusion: Score one for democracy -- I think.

LITTLE MANHATTAN (G)

Sometimes we parents need to be a little duplicitous. Sometimes we need to act dumb. Sometimes we need to do both at the same time.

“So, watch this movie with me, will ya? It’s about a couple of kids growing up in New York City... and, you know, you were just there and everything. It could be fun.”

I tried not to sound like I cared much one way or the other.

“Well, what’s it about?” K asked.

“About two kids growing up in New York City,” I repeated, with an emphatic “Duh!” unspoken but firmly implied.

“But what is it about? Sports? Getting lost? Monsters in Manhattan?” He was impatient, furiously drumming along to a Dinosaur Jr. song (I forgot how good they could be!) on "Rock Band 2." (Thank God it’s not all Survivor, the Go Gos and System of a Down.)

“I don’t know. They just ... live there.”

“I’m going to watch it, even if you don’t.” I almost blew it, forcing the nonchalance, but I can proudly say that I had just the right tone of not really caring. I’m no amateur.

If I told him Little Manhattan was about an 11-year-old kid (who happens to live in NYC) and his first love, I would have been laughed out of the room and that would have been the end of it. I had to play it right.

“Why don’t I just start it in a bit, and if you don’t like it after ten minutes, you can do something else. But I want to see it .... ‘cause... you know ... it’s New York.”

Silence (except for the sloppy drumming).

“Ok,” he grunted in between fills.

So, an hour and a half later, we’re grinning and talking about what a fun movie it was.

(Yeah, that’s how you do it!)

So, yes, a big thumbs up here. Little Manhattan is totally charming, sweet, not embarrassing to watch with your own 11-year-old kid, and I wondered why I hadn’t heard of it before. Was it a straight to DVD movie?

It came out in 2005, and is directed by Mark Levin, who was a writer and co-producer for the television show “The Wonder Years.” Remember “The Wonder Years?” This film shares that style of narrative ( the story being told by the boy) and also shares its knack for not presenting kids as silly and dismissive, but rather as curious, bright and impatient masses of matter -- with brains and emotions firing in all directions -- trying to find their way.

Levin also directed Nim’s Island, and wrote 2008’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, both pretty decent kid films. He knows what he’s doing.

Get Little Manhattan, watch it with your kids -- act surprised that it has anything to do with embarrassing, budding emotions and hormones, but revel together in all the life-stuff you share with the film: the agony of belt acquisition in karate class (or your own sports drama equivalent); bullies; the “iron curtain” that falls between boys and girls and their friendships somewhere around first or second grade; a tweener boy constantly being mistaken for his mom on the phone (what could be more embarrassing for him?); and perhaps even the throbbing pain of divorce (the boy’s parents are in the horrible, awkward throes). Admire New York (and wonder if a good parent would really let their kid ride all over NY -- even the upper West Side -- on a scooter, for hours on end) and remember how much you loved Bradley Whitford in “West Wing” (and maybe you loved Cynthia Nixon in “Sex and the City;” I could never get through an episode of that show).

And the best part: steal surreptitious glances at your progeny during the cheesy but bittersweet “this-crush-is-gonna-kill-me" scenes, and glean something about your kid and the future.

Hey, it’s gotta happen sometime.

Redbox Reservations

Did you know you can reserve a film to be picked up at a Redbox location? I didn't, until I clicked on one of those little text ads (the ones we all ignore) on another movie blog.

This could come in handy if you live in a populated area and use Redbox (which is pretty cool, really -- a movie for a buck!). I doubt we'll ever need it here, where there are more moose than people (especially considering the movies we tend to pick), but it's good to know.

Actually, come to think of it, we haven't used Redbox since we hooked up the Xbox 360 to stream movies directly from Netflix (which is even cooler, let's face it). But still.

(More on streaming via Netflix here.)