A MOVIE REVIEW – “A SEPARATION”
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“A Separation.” This movie comes to us from Iran and so you’ll need to spend time reading subtitles if you go to see it, but if you do you won’t regret it. The film opens with Simin (Leila Hatami) making copies of travel documents. The next scene has Simin and her husband, Nader (Peyman Moadi), in front of a judge. Simin wants a divorce. Why? She wants to leave Iran. Nader refuses. He is the caregiver for his father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi) who has Alzheimer’s. Simin insists that the father no longer recognizes them and that they must take this opportunity to leave the country. Since Nader refuses to leave, Simin wants a divorce. The judge grants the divorce and Simin moves out of the house. Their child, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), stays with her father. Interestingly, Simin does not leave the country, but instead moves in with her mother – perhaps hoping that her now ex-husband will change his mind or maybe her airplane ticket isn’t for another few weeks.
With his wife moved out of the house, Nader needs a caregiver for his father. He hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a very religious woman, who is conflicted regarding the job (working for a now single man). She needs the job to help out with family expenses as her husband, Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini), has lost his job and has enormous debts. She brings her child, Somayeh (Kimia Hosseini), with her. The job is difficult for her as she is pregnant. (more…)
The Movies I’d Like to See Nominated for a Best Picture Oscar…
If I was able to cast an Oscar ballot for this year’s Best Picture nominees, I 
would go with:
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” I was blown away by this movie. You have the emotionally scarred Lisbeth Salande alongside a defeated Mikael Blomkvist, joining forces to solve a mystery that is set in the harsh wintry weather of Sweden. I love how director David Fincher goes with two different movie styles during the first half of the movie as he switches between the darkness of Lisbeth and the professional world of Mikael Blomkvist and then blends them perfectly together when they finally join forces in the second half. This movie isn’t for the weak of heart. There are scenes that will make you squirm, but the movie doesn’t back down from those moments. And one has to mention Trent Reznor, because his music drives the movie forward.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.“ I am a Harry Potter fan. This movie ends the series in wonderful style. Wizards. Battles. Good vs. Evil. There aren’t any stupid Quidditch-moments. We get to finally say “goodbye” to evil Voldemort. Sometimes life isn’t about having fun, sometimes it is about life and death and this movie takes us on that journey.
“Hugo“. A love story to the beginning of movie making. And along the way we get to watch a story where adults and children learn from each other.
“Bridesmaids.” The funniest movie of the year. (more…)
POST OF MONDAY’S PAST…IN PHOTOS (PART II OF III)
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Special thanks to all the venues for allowing us to photograph these nights
L.A. FASHION WEEK(END): FROM A PHOTOGRAPHER’S POINT OF VIEW…
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ERMELINDA MANOS
LOVE RIDE FOR AUTISM SPEAKS
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I’ve lived in Glendale for a number of years and around this time frame each year there is a Love Ride event. The event was started by Oliver Shokouh who owns the Harley-Davidson dealership in Glendale. This year the event raised money for the non-profit Autism Speaks.
I have to admit this event is not on my calendar (I haven’t been on a motorcycle since forever). However, I am always made aware of this event on the day it occurs as the Harley-Davidson dealership is close to where I live. One year after getting in late on a Saturday night I was awaken at 6 a.m. by the sounds of motorcycles. Talk about being upset. Anyways, on Sunday I was driving to the Famers Market and noticed all these motorcycles. It must be the Love Ride event, I concluded. After doing my food shopping, I decided to walk on over and snap some photos of life in Glendale. There were hundreds of motorcycles parked in rows that stretched for about three blocks.
I hope they were able to raise massive bucks for Autism Speaks.
P.S. When the ride started, I went with the ear plugs.
OUT TO SEE: ‘THE HELP’
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Upfront: I LOVED IT.
I resisted seeing this movie for a few weeks, but when the long Labor Day weekend approached I decided to catch this movie (saw this movie before heading off to a wedding, so perhaps that skews everything I’m about to write). What else was I supposed to see:”Apollo 18″, “Shark Night 3D”? Why my resistance? All you have to do is take one glance at the poster and it tells you: chick flick combined with, as one friend put it, the “white savior genre” (or as the WSJ critic put it, the white guilt genre). As for the chick flick comment, the male actors in “The Help” are almost an after thought– a handful of boyfriends/husbands, a waiter, a boss, a pastor and all of them playing two-bit roles. Nelsan Ellis(playing “Henry the Waiter” or better known to many of us as Lafayette Reynolds from “True Blood”) has a somewhat pivotal role, but let’s just say the movie would have done just fine without his character. As for the white savior comment, it follows that glorious (infamous) line of movies starting with “Dancing with Wolves” and moving on to “The Last Samurai,” “Gran Torino” and “The Blind Side” – I’m sure I could find similar movies that date before “Dancing with Wolves”, but I am under the impression that “Dancing with Wolves” is seen as the godfather of this genre. I’m not saying that all of those movies are awful and unintentionally racist. I loved “Gran Torino.” I was insulted by “The Last Samurai.” It is just that when you combine “chick flick” with “white savior”, in my mind, a film immediately starts out with two strikes. (For a deeper dive into the “white savior” comment, read Patricia A. Turner’s op-ed in the New York Times.)
Now that I’ve shown my willingness to attack a movie just based on the poster, let’s move on to a movie summary. Skeeter (Emma Stone) has returned to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating from Ole Miss. She finds a job working at a local newspaper answering questions from stay at home moms, but she is soon inspired to write a book about the African-American maids that work in Jackson. This inspiration comes when she finds out that her family maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), no longer works for the family and she is given an explanation that feels like a lie from the start. She gets further inspiration when she sees how her hometown friends treat two maids in particular, Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (OctaviaSpencer).
If the above summary isn’t the definition of a “chick flick” combined with the “white savior” genre, I’m not sure what is. On the other hand, I walked out of that movie surprised that two hours and twenty-six minutes had gone by. I LOVED IT. I love it even after thinking about some of the movie flaws such as whether or not Missus Walters (Sissy Spacek) is suffering from dementia or not – seriously, one single moment she can’t even remember what town she lives in while during the rest of the film she seems as sharp as a wacky university professor.
One has to say that this is one of those films that might have a few strikes against it, but it is pushed into the I LOVED IT column by the actresses. Emma Stone lights up the screen (one perhaps can understand Jim Carrey’s video if you see this movie along with “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and “Easy A”). Jessica Chastain (Celia Foote, the woman born on the wrong side of the tracks – and if you’re into thrillers/international intrigue, check out her other film that is currently in the theaters called “The Debt”) brings a bubbly personality that will result in proclamations of love as her last scene ends. Viola Davis portrays perfectly a character that has suffered an enormous loss and yet uses it to develop inner strength. Octavia Spencer plays to comedic perfection that untrusting personality who once she finds you trustworthy will talk your head off (or if you play her wrong will take sweet revenge). Bryce Dallas Howard(Hilly Holbrook), Ahna O’Reilly (Elizabeth Leefolt) and Anna Camp (Jolene French – Anna Camp also is from that “True Blood” cast of characters) are delicious as the “mean girls” of Jackson.
All-in-all, one of the top 5 films of the summer.