If you didn't attend MARCH FOR OUR LIVES, go to the next march.

My wife and I attended March For Our Lives in DC this past Saturday. 

It was exciting, moving, exhilarating, powerful, exhausting and a thousand other adjectives.

Apparently A LOT of teachers attend these marches. I kept getting high fives for my sign and people stopped me to take photos and ask if I was a teacher (My parents were. It's not genetic).

One group of teachers even asked if they could have their photo taken with me.

I knew several people who attended. We randomly ran into one , but it would have been impossible to find any others even though I later learned some were standing just a few feet away.

It’s weird to think that there were friends I had not seen since high school just a couple hundred feet from me but I couldn’t see them. 

If you have never been to a march like this one, seriously attend. If you are physically able to go, please go. Yes, it’s claustrophobic; yes, you have to stand for hours; yes, it’s emotionally overwhelming but it’s worth it. If I can handle the crowd, you can handle the crowd. 

This march and the 2017 Women’s March were unbelievably cramped but everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) was polite. No one lost their temper. No one shoved or started a fight. 

There's nothing quite like being in a massive crowd of polite people.

 All of the speakers were fantastic. They were all focused and well-spoken. I know a lot of the media are painting them as ignorant kids who want to sneak into your homes and steal your hunting rifles, but that is not the case.

Even if you are a life-long conservative, even if you are a gun owner, seriously consider taking part in one of these marches. My favorite signs were ones that read “Republicans for Gun Control!” or “Hunters for Gun Control!” I wish I had gotten my phone out in time to take a photo of these.

Yes I’m a liberal. Yes a lot of us who attended are liberals. But this isn’t a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a life vs. death issue. 

    

Also, don’t make the same mistake I made during the Women’s March, write a message on BOTH sides of your sign.

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #12 AUSTRALIA

This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

PLOT: In northern Australia, an Indigenous Aboriginal man named Minygululu (Peter Minygululu) realizes that his younger brother, Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil), is in love with one of his three wives. During a hunting trip, he tells Dayindi a story set during the time of their ancestors. Through the story the impatient younger brother learns how find balance in life.

                                     

Just a heads up, the above trailer is NSFW because it contains a good deal of non-sexual nudity. 

MEMORABLE MOMENT: The audience learns all the horrors that might befall you if an evil sorcerer gets a hold of your feces. He could put it in a tree and every time the branches rub together you will suffer from a sore throat. He could set it on fire and kill you. Or he could use it to steal your soul. Not the kind of magic taught at Hogwarts. 

IMDB TRIVIA

• Ten Canoes was the first major Australian feature completely filmed in an Indigenous language.

• The canoes in the film were made according to original tribal methods, using directions from elders who had not made them for at least fifty years.

• During shooting in the remote Arafura Swamp, the crew required eleven crocodile spotters.

WHO IS THIS MOVIE FOR?: Anyone who is a fan of Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life, Badlands) will love the natural beauty and mythic themes found in this film. I would also recommend this movie to people who want to see a film set in a culture seldom represented in Hollywood.  In many ways Ten Canoes is unlike anything else I have seen before.
 
WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT?: Netflix DVD. You can also buy the DVD on Amazon but the first price that came up for me was $67.99. So, yeah, just get it from Netflix.

RUNTIME: 90 minutes.

DIRECTOR:
Rolf de Heer
Peter Djigirr

WRITTEN BY:
Rolf de Heer

 STARING: 
Crusoe Kurddal
Jamie Gulpilil
Peter Minygululu

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #11 SPAIN

This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

In honor of Guillermo del Toro recently winning best Director and Best Picture at the 2018 Academy Awards for The Shape of Water, this week I decided to go with one of his first (and one of his best) films.

PLOT: After Carlos, a 12-year-old whose father died in the Spanish Civil War, arrives at a remote orphanage, he discovers that the school is haunted...and that's just the start of his problems.    

MEMORABLE MOMENT: A bomb that was recently dropped from an enemy aircraft sticks up in the middle of the orphanage's courtyard. Boys play around the weapon, not giving it any mind. Carlos (Fernando Tielve), is assured that the bomb has been deactivated. He playfully kicks the bomb and presses his ear to its outer shell.  Metal clangs within the mechanical guts. Something is still alive in there, waiting to explode.

IMDB TRIVIA:

• Guillermo del Toro had described this movie as being Pan's Labyrinth's sibling. The Devil's Backbone is the brother. Pan's Labyrinth is the sister.  

• The director has also said that the film was strongly inspired by his own personal memories of his uncle, who supposedly came back as a ghost.

• The design of the ghost was inspired by the white-faced spirit in Japanese horror films like Ringu (Thank you Ringu. You will always live in our nightmares.)

• Guillermo del Toro worked on this film for sixteen years. He started writing it when he was in college. (So let that inspire those of you who have novels, screenplays and symphonies hidden in your drawers.)

WHO IS THIS MOVIE FOR?: Fans of films like The Others or The Witch should definitely check this movie out. The atmosphere is potent and seeps under your skin. While I have not yet seen The Orphanage (sorry, I know, I know) I have heard that these two movies are extremely similar. The Orphanage was even produced by del Toro and the two movies share similar plots and even images. 

I was once swapping obscure horror movie recommendations with someone at work. He said something along the lines of, "I want something totally messed up, something were even the dog dies." This wouldn't be the movie for him. 

Don't get me wrong, The Devil's Backbone has some very unsettling moments (Spoiler Alert: children do die). However, while there are several classic horror ghost scenes the true terror comes from the atmosphere and the turbulent times in which these children live (the movie is set during the Spanish Civil War). In a way the film is more melancholy than it is disturbing. It is a truly beautiful ghost story with images and characters that will stay with you long after the the dedication at the end, "To my parents."

WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT? The movie is available on Netflix DVD. It is also available to rent ($3.99) or buy (12.99) on Amazon.

RUNTIME: 106 Minutes

DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro

WRITTEN BY:
Guillermo del Toro
Antonio Trashorras 
David Muñoz 

STARING:
Federico Luppi 
Marisa Paredes
Fernando Tielve

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #10 ARGENTINA

This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

 RUNTIME: 122 Minutes

DIRECTOR: Damián Szifron

WRITTEN BY:
Germán Servidio
Damián Szifron

STARING:
Erica Rivas
Oscar Martínez
Ricardo Darín

WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT?: I borrowed a copy from the Baltimore County Public Library. If your public library has a decent collection of foreign films I'm sure you can get it from there for free. Otherwise, it is available on Netflix DVD and it is available to rent ($3.99) or buy ($12.99) on Amazon.

PLOT: A dark comedy composed of six short stories. Each story explores the extremities of human behavior in suspenseful and hilarious ways.

MEMORABLE MOMENT: Gun to my head, if I really had to choose just one I'd pick the first (and shortest) of the tales. A beautiful woman riding in an airplane discovers that the man sitting across the aisle from her is a music critic who once professionally and emotionally destroyed her ex-boyfriend. They soon realize that a woman sitting nearby was a teacher who was once very hard on him. It turns out everyone on the flight had at one time or another hurt or betrayed this emotionally unstable young man.

Guess who's flying the plane.   

 IMDB TRIVIA:

• Images of wild animals appear during the opening credits. When the director's name appears it is accompanied with a fox. The director (Szifron) stated that this was because his father loved foxes so much and used to watch documentaries on them.

• In the third tale the character of Diego (Leonardo Sbaraglia) identifies a bridge as being at the 60th kilometer between Cafayate and Salta. The scene really was filmed at that exact location. The spot became a tourist attraction after the movie was released. 

•  Damián Szifrón wrote most of the tales in his bathtub. 

Anthology films are a highly effective form of filmmaking. These movies (which include works such as Pulp Fiction and Creepshow) weave together short vignettes that could theoretically be their own movies. Instead, they are reduced to ten to thirty minute segments in which all the extra fat has been trimmed away. There is minimal buildup as the audience is taken directly to the climax.

Most anthology films are connected by plot, characters or setting. There might be a frame story, or the hero of one segment might have a cameo in the next. However, Wild Tales doesn't have a frame story. The characters don't meet and the plots never overlap. The only connection is that every one of the "tales" includes a character who loses control and crosses the line between civilization and savagery.

Most of us get a great deal of pleasure from dramas and comedies about mild-mannered human beings who are pushed until they resort to their barbaric nature. Just look at popular shows like Breaking Bad or Dexter. These are works about characters who do the polar opposite of what society wants from them.

One of the most common pieces of advice given to aspiring writers is to have active characters. Many of us don't want a heroine who slinks into a miserable marriage after she learns on her wedding day that her new husband has been cheating on her. We want a character like the sixth tale's Romina (Erica Rivas) who flings her husband's lover through a mirror.

None of the stories in Wild Tales are connected in terms of plot, but the common theme of ordinary people being pushed over the edge is so strong, each segment support the others. Nothing feels unnecessary or out of place.

I once had a film teacher who said he'd always wanted to give an assignment in which every student in the class made a short film centered around a common object. Then he would edit these films together to create one, feature length movie. Wild Tales proves that anthology films don't need common characters, events or frame stories. All they need is a theme strong enough to support a single, unforgettable masterpiece.

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #9 NIGERIA

This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

RUNNING TIME: 91 Minutes

DIRECTOR: Ishaya Bako

WRITTEN BY:
Genevieve Nnaji (story)
Ishaya Bako
Emil B. Garuba

STARING
Genevieve Nnaji
Oris Erhuero

WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT?: Netflix Instant. I actually discovered this movie on this website: "10 African Movies to Watch on Netflix." One can theoretically buy it on Amazon but at the moment they appear to be out of stock.

PLOT: An estranged couple discusses their marriage on a road trip. During the long drive, memories and secrets are revealed, threatening the future of their relationship.

MEMORABLE MOMENT: When the audience sees the couple (Genevieve Nnaji and Oris Erhuero) together for the first time. Victoria, the wife, has recently arrived from the airport after being away for three weeks and is surprised to find her husband, Izu, still living in their house. Very little is said but the tension is almost unbearable.

 Spoilers Below
There is a scene early in the film when Izu drives home drunk. He swerves into the wrong lane and the windshield is filled with the oncoming car's headlights. In the next scene, Izu wakes Victoria at four in the morning and insists that they leave immediately for his uncle's funeral. The rest of the movie follows the couple on their road trip. Through heated conversation and flashbacks, the audience learns the secrets they have kept from one another. The film ends (sorry, I warned there were spoilers) with the two of them in a hotel room where they forgive one another. 

Then, Victoria wakes up. She is in a hospital room. Izu lies in the bed, dying from injuries he received in the car accident that took place at the beginning of the film.

Everything that took place after the car accident, the road trip, the conversations and the eventual reconciliation was all a dream.

 I'm just going to come out and say it. I've always hated movies/TV episodes that end with "It was a dream the whole time." And yes, I'm looking at you, Wizard of Oz. Even when I was a kid I didn't care for that "children's classic" because nothing matters in it. Dorothy could have been eaten by the cowardly lion or the flying monkeys or could have just stayed in Munchkin Land and she would have still woken up safe in Kansas (where Ms. Gulch still wants to put down poor Toto).

I was initially just as frustrated with The Road to Yesterday, but as I watched the film's conclusion I realized that it uses the twist to its advantage. This is a very dream-like movie, not in a surreal David Lynch-ian sort of way, but in the sense that the film moves back and forth through time. Not even the flashbacks take place in chronological order. There are moments where one has to stop and wonder if they are watching the character's past, present, or even future.

Also, one has to wonder if Victoria's vision really was only a dream. She wakes from her long sleep with her head resting beside her dying husband's body. One could interpret that Izu's spirit lingered long enough to go on this "road trip" in order to work out their conflicts before they parted. This farewell is the meat of the story. Had the film been about Victoria avoiding mortal danger the dream element would not have worked because by the end the audience would have realized she was safe in the hospital room. However, she is facing emotional rather than physical stakes. This is a conflict that can be worked out in a dream.

Even during the movie the audience was given the impression that Victoria and Izu would probably not work out in the long run. A "happily ever after" ending would ring false.  Instead, this is a story of two souls parting. It is too late for them to bid farewell in the physical world so they do it in the spiritual.

The "it was a dream the whole time" ending is (thankfully) not used as much these days as it was in the first half of the twentieth century. While I don't know if I'll ever find it a totally satisfying conclusion, The Road to Yesterday is one film that uses this ending to its advantage to make the film more unique.