Rosy the Reviewer

Friday, October 3, 2014

Naked TV and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "This is Where I Leave You," DVDs "Belle" and "Blended" and the book "I Said Yes to Everything" by actress Lee Grant. I also keep you up-to-date on my "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Project" and how I'm doing with my changing my life thing]

But First

I am sure you know that I write this blog as a public service to you, so I feel it is my civic duty to warn you of just what is happening on TV these days.

It's called "Naked TV."

Did you know that people are dating naked, shopping for homes naked, trying to survive naked (and afraid) and getting their naked bodies painted, all in the comfort of YOUR living room?

Well, they are, and as much as I love reality TV, this must stop, I tell you!

Buying Naked

With such titles as "Brave Nude World," "The Big Bust," and "Nude to the Neighborhood," each episode features real estate agent Jackie Youngblood showing homes to house-hunting nudists in clothing optional communities - in the nude, of course (the house hunters, not Jackie).

Rosy the

Rosy the Reviewer says...I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole, pardon the expression.

Dating Naked

The point of this show (if it really has one) is that when "stripped" of artiface people can find a true connection.

Two contestants, a man and a woman, date each other and then they both go off on two other dates, nude on all fronts, and then at the end, they each choose a person they want to see after the show, presumably WITH clothes as well as without. There are lots of activities, such as nude zip-lining and nude boating, lots of alcohol and lots of butt. Breasts and genitalia are pixilated, but bare butts must have passed the good taste test. My favorite episode was the first one - Joe and Wee Wee. I will leave it at that.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like butts, this is for you.

Skin Wars

This is a body painting competition hosted by Rebecca Romijn and judges declare a winner after ten episodes. The people being painted are referred to as "canvases.'

Rosy the Reviewer says...kind of like "Project Runway," except without clothes.

Naked and Afraid

In this program, it's not enough to be naked, you have to be afraid too. A man and woman contestant are brought to wild locations such as the Louisiana swamp or the sand dunes of Brazil where they strip off and then must survive for 21 days - no food or water that they don't find themselves. They only get to bring one personal item - machete or fire starter, pot, etc.

Rosy the Reviewer says...this one I like, because it's not really about the nudity. It's like "Survivor," but here you really, really do suffer to survive and they don't even win any money if they make it for the 21 days. But best of all, and, mercifully for the viewers, we don't have to listen to Jeff Probst's long winded sermons at tribal council.

Now, I feel better. I have done my duty and warned you.

You are welcome.

Now on to The Week in Reviews

***In Theatres Now***

This is Where I Leave You

The death of their father forces three grown brothers and a sister to return home to sit shiva for seven days with their mother, spouses and assorted other friends and foes from their past.

Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) returns home to find his wife in bed with his friend and employer, radio shock jock Wade (Dax Shepherd). Speaking of shocks, his sister, Wendy, (Tina Fey) then calls to tell him that his father has passed away so he heads home to join her and his brothers, Phillip (Adam Driver) and Paul (Corey Stoll) to sit shiva with their mother. Paul is there with his wife, Alice (Kathryn Hahn). The two of them are desperately trying to have a baby. Phillip arrives with his much older girlfriend, his ex-shrink (Connie Britton). And then we have the matriarch played by Jane Fonda. You now have all of the ingredients for dysfunction and comedy. Unfortunately, there is more dysfunction than comedy.

When everyone comes together they overshare their disappointments. Judd has his unfaithful wife; Wendy has a husband who is always on the phone; Phillip is a playboy ne're-do-well and Paul and Alice can't seem to get pregnant.

Based on a best selling novel by Jonathan Tropper (2009) and directed by Shawn Levy of the "Night at the Museum" franchise, this could have been fertile ground to explore these issues of infidelity, infertility, loss and family dysfunction, but these issues are glossed over and replaced with supposed witty repartee and the easy laugh.

It's not a bad movie and in fact, the cast is what saves it. The ensemble works, and there are some genuinely funny moments, such as a baby monitor broadcasting Phillip and Alice trying for that baby. I just wished that there could have been more depth to some of the touching moments, rather than going for the cheap laugh.

Bateman has come into his own from his teen TV years and as in "Bad Words," another near miss I reviewed recently, he is the king of comic timing and the slow burn. Rose Byrne, who seems to be everywhere these days, provides romance for him as an old childhood flame.

The fun one here is actually Fonda as the mother without a filter and enhanced breasts. And Kathryn Hahn, who co-starred with Bateman in "Bad Words," is always wonderful, but rarely has her own vehicle. For that, check her out in "Afternoon Delight."

A funeral is a popular movie device for getting a dysfunctional family together, as in "August:Osage County," but this one is less venomous, much sweeter. It's a reminder that no matter how much dysfunction may exist in a family, in the end they are there for you.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a likable comedy but not a great one.

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

Belle (2013)

After the death of her mother, her father, a Royal Navy Admiral, recognizes his mixed race daughter and takes her to live with his artistocratic great-uncle in 18th century England.

The illegitimate daughter of Admiral John Lindsay (Matthew Goode, who you might recognize from the wonderful mini-series "Dancing on the Edge" and "Birdsong") and a slave, Dido Belle (Gugu Mbatha Raw) is sent to live on the palatial estate of his uncle, William Murray (Tom Wilkinson), the 1st Earl of Mansfield. who is also the Lord Chief Justice, the highest judge in the land. (The estate was Kenwood House, which still stands in Hampstead Heath in London). This is a singularly unusual act in 18th Century Britain considering it was a slave-trading nation and a Colonial Empire. There she is treated as one of the family, becoming good friends with her cousin Lady Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon), and enduring the initial discontent of Murray's wife (Emily Watson).

Though the family grows to love her, Dido is not allowed to eat with them, always reminded that she is somehow "less than." However, there is irony in the fact that when Dido's father dies at sea, he leaves her a fortune whereas Elizabeth is part of the penniless aristocracy. This is brought to the fore as Lady Ashford (played venomlously by Miranda Richardson) tries to marry off her sons Oliver and James to the one with the money, despite her racism. But another irony is the fact that despite Dido's wealth, once married she would for intents and purposes be a slave to her husband, since men basically owned their wives and their fortunes.

Based on a true story, a painting of the two young women hangs in Scone Palace in Scotland.

There is a side story about the Zong massacre, in which over 140 slaves were dumped off a ship in order to collect the insurance money on them. Dido becomes involved and tries to reason with her uncle to do the right thing. She aligns herself with a young lawyer, John Davinier (Sam Reid), who seeks mentorship from Sir William and who becomes Dido's suitor.

It's a very interesting story but sadly treated with a shallow approach. We don't see much in the way of the harsh realities of slavery in this film, just lots of talk.

The film is beautifully photographed, Gugu Mbatha Raw plays the title role effectively and it's fun to see all of these great British actors together, but the script lets them all down.

Rosy the Reviewer says...it's a worthwhile film that Jane Austen fans will enjoy but in the end, it is a serious subject simplified to melodrama.

Blended (2014)

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore get together again for a romantic comedy about two single parents.

Sandler (Jim) and Barrymore (Lauren) meet for a blind date at Hooters. (That right there should be fair warning about what you are getting yourself into). It is not a successful date so both seem happy to never see each other again. However, through a series of events, they both end up on a joint vacation in Sun City, South Africa with their kids - he has three girls, she has two sons. The kids are out of control and Jim and Lauren hate each other - until they fall in love that is. What? You didn't see that coming?

It is amazing to me to think that Rhinos having sex and scatological humor does a comedy make, but Sandler thinks that is all he has to do. That and his constant smirking. Barrymore is sweet but not sweet enough to save this thing.

The black "Greek chorus" that follows them all around singing is borderline offensive and Sun City is an uncomfortable symbol of Apartheid. Bad taste.

I didn't get Adam Sandler when he started out as Stud Boy on the MTV show "Remote Control," and I still don't get his appeal. How he could get something like this made says much about his power, but little about his taste. And it seems like he makes these films so he can go on vacation with buddies and family (I counted no less than five family members in the credits).

Rosy the Reviewer says...horrible. I just don't get what other people get about Adam Sandler.

"My 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Project."

I talked about this project in my blog post last month, where I shared how many of the 1001 films I had seen (685), which meant I had to watch 316 more before I die.

So I have included this project in my Friday blog post and will let you know how I am doing and point out some of the films YOU need to see (or maybe not) before YOU die. There could definitely be debate on some of the films included.

I am now down to 312 to go.

Daisies (1966)

Two young Czech girls run around town pulling pranks, taking advantage of old men and acting silly.

These girls see to be so annoying at first, but when you realize this was made in Communist Czechoslovakia before the Czech Spring of 1968, then you realize just how subversive and feminist it was for its day and for its location. These girls were doing whatever the hell they wanted despite the repression. The exuberance of these two girls was a call against the repressive Communist rule. There are many references to being hungry and cold followed by orgies of eating. In fact, this movie was banned and the director, Vera Chytilova, was not allowed to work in her country again until 1975. It's all very psychedelic and slapstick.

Rosy the Reviewer says...These girls grow on you. (subtitles)

Cyclo (1995)

In 1990's Hanoi, a young rickshaw driver (called a Cyclo) is robbed of his rickshaw. To pay off his employer, he is forced to work for a local pimp and, unbeknownst to him, his sister is forced into prostitution.

One can't help but think of Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief (another classic film)," but here the director focuses on the brutal landscape lurking behind the rhythms of the city and finds beauty in the violence.

Tony Leung plays the pimp, a brooding, chain-smoking character named Poet. Tony would go on to make the impossibly beautiful "In the Mood for Love" (also one of the 1001 films).

Rosy the Reviewer says...an uncomfortable film to watch. I think "Cyclo" rhymes with "Psycho" for a reason. Whether this is a masterpiece of film-making would be up for debate. (subtitles).

***Book of the Week***

I Said Yes To Everything: A Memoir (2014)

Actress Lee Grant tells a story of success, devastation and then success.

Actress Lee Grant was celebrated on Broadway and nominated for an Academy Award all by the age of 24 and then lost it all. She was named to the Hollywood blacklist by the House Un-American Activities Committee and her life fell apart. After 12 years of fighting the blacklist, she was exonerated and her career took off again: "Peyton Place," "Valley of the Dolls," "In the Heat of the Night" and "Shampoo," for which she won her first Oscar.

Grant is not that well-known to the younger generation, but she is an acclaimed actress who worked with all of the greats: Brando, Poitier, Beatty. She had to say yes to everything to survive those bitter black list years but she rose from the ashes to great heights.

She talks about her growing up years as "the perfect child" whose mother wanted her to excel in the arts - any of them - and her failed marriage and the bitter insecurity brought out in her by the withholding personality of her first husband. But eventually she was to find happiness. Rosy the Reviewer says...an important actress you should know about, writing about an important, but sad part of our history.

***And finally, if you have been keeping track of my other project, where I am attempting to get myself out of a rut and change my life by adding a new habit every month, well, don't. ***

I am not doing so well. I did OK in July where I promised to break the habit of ordering a Skinny Vanilla Latte, but now I am back to that again. In August, I vowed to moisturize. I managed only a couple of those days. And for September, I was supposed to ride my bike every day that the sun shone. I could try to trick you and say the sun didn't shine much because, hey, this is Seattle, right? Well, wouldn't you know, we have had a fantastic summer and in September, too, the sun was shining almost every day. And (hanging my head), I only rode my bike on two of those days. So now I am scared to remind you and myself of what I said I would do in October.

***Walk 10,000 steps every day***

If you read last Tuesday's post, "Fitbit on My Shoulder," you will know that I am already struggling with that. I doubt that I will do it every day, but it's my new goal to get there at least five times a week.

One thing I am learning is that it's damn hard to change!

Check back at the end of the month to see how I do with this one!

Thanks for Reading!

See you Tuesday

for

"Welcome to Sweden"

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Or you can go directly to IMDB.

Find the page for the movie, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews." Look for "Rosy the Reviewer" on the list. Or if you are using a mobile device, look for "Critics Reviews." Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under "Rosy the Reviewer."

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Fitbit on My Shoulder

When you start out in life looking like this...

(I'm the baby that looks like she was fattened up for a sacrificial dinner...and from the look on my face I look a bit worried, like I see myself turning on a spit.

What the hell? What was my mother feeding me? I look like I was created in a sausage factory! That can't be from breast-feeding!)

...you embark upon a never-ending quest to avoid looking like that ever again.

I didn't look too bad in my youth (though I didn't realize it then), but the weight has crept on over the years. I am on a mission to get back to how I looked then, and when I say "youth," I am talking my 40's! I will settle for that.

So I am always looking for something to help me either lose weight or maintain the weight that I have.

And exercise is supposed to help with that, right?

One of the things that I did to facilitate weight loss was to purchase a Fitbit.

For those of you not aware of this little device, it's a pedometer that not only keeps track of how many steps you take each day, it calculates calories, tells the time and even gives you a little smile. Mine is a basic model. There are some that have all kinds of bells and whistles, such as telling you what you weigh at any given minute, calculating your body fat and telling you to call your mother. If you wear it to bed, you get extra points for Restless Leg Syndrome.

Once sinc'ed in with your computer, it also communicates with you and gives you a report at the end of the week on how well you did. More on that later.

It has become fairly common knowledge in the fitness world, that walking 10,000 steps is the most desirable number of steps for keeping fit, so I thought this little device, unobtrusively hooked onto my bra strap, would tell me how I was doing.

What I didn't realize was...once you invite the quick fix, a certain kind of evil enters your life.

Oh, I know it looks benign, friendly, even. Look at that smile. But there is evil lurking there.

That little Fitbit sitting on my shoulder has become like a monkey on my back. I know the expression "Monkey on my back" implies an addiction of some kind - and it is.

If I forget to put it on and find myself somewhere without it, I break into a cold sweat. There I am at the mall walking around and suddenly realize I forgot my Fitbit! Oh, no, what's it going to say? I'm going to get a bad report!

But it's worse than that.

I'm like "The Thing With Two Heads."

The Fitbit is like having another little head, an evil one, attached to my shoulder.

Yes, folks, it talks to me. Not audibly, but it KNOWS when I don't have it on.

I will get a message on my phone reminding me.

Or even when I do have it on, it lets me know how I'm doing.

"Only 5000 more steps. You can do it!"

And that's when I'm done for the day and sitting in a chair with a glass of wine watching an episode of "Naked and Afraid." So then I think I should get up and start running in place, so I can get the Fitbit to give me kudos when the goal of 10,000 steps is reached- "You Nailed It! Good Job!"

That little device sitting on my shoulder also inspires guilt. I reach for a bowl of ice cream and I can feel it cringing, disapproving, that little smile turning into a grimace of disgust.

"You're not really going to eat that, are you?"

Hubby and I were out walking the other day and stopped at a Top Pot Doughnuts, your "I-cannot-walk-by-this-shop-and-not-buy-a-doughnut" kind of doughnut shop. But later when we were resting at a wine bar, your basic "I-cannot-walk-by-this-wine-bar-and-not-get-some-wine" kind of wine bar, I checked my steps and calories and felt guilty. As I was drinking glass of wine number two and saw that little Fitty (that's what it demands I call it) said I had expended 1470 calories, I knew I didn't deserve that calorie count. And that little device knew it!

But the Fitbit is also unfair!

If I go to the gym and use the elliptical or the rowing machine or the stationary bike, Fitbit doesn't approve of that and doesn't calculate anything as steps. So I spend 90 minutes at the gym and only get credit for about 2000 steps, a far cry from the 10,000 it demands of me.

It's also upsetting when I get the weekly report of how many steps I did each day. It might look something like this.

Monday                 10,070 steps.    "Way to go, Rosy! You nailed it!"

Tuesday                  5,423 steps.    "Better lay off the TV!"

Wednesday                    0              "Rosy, what the hell happened?"
                             (I forgot to put it on that day!)

Thursday                10,147             "That's better, Rosy, you had me worried!"

Friday                       7,856             "I saw you eat that ice cream.
                                                     You don't really deserve this calorie count!"

It's like being in a horror movie!

And here's the thing. Do you realize how long I have to walk to get those 10,000 steps? An hour and a half!

Who has that kind of time?

I know I am retired, but, folks, I'm busy. I have to get dressed every day, brushing my teeth takes time, I don't even know the last time I washed my hair, there are movies I have to watch, I need to keep up with my TIVO, books are calling to me, I need to write this blog, go to the gym, go to the library, fulfill my volunteer obligations, Happy Hour with Hubby... and I need a day off once in awhile...

You get the idea. How did I get myself into a situation where I am craving the approval of a little blue plastic device attached to my bra strap? I have now managed to add one more stress element to my life. Keeping my Fitbit happy.

But I will say that walking has its perks.

It is, in fact, my favorite way to get exercise. I love walking around Seattle, enjoying the neighborhoods and taking in the views. It also affords some alone time with Hubby. We walk, we talk, we hold hands, no distractions except the lovely scenery and each other.

And when we do that, I kill two birds with one stone.

I make Hubby happy...and my little Fitbit very happy.

Gotta keep little Fitty happy!

And maybe I will lose those pounds I've packed on since I was in my 40's.

That would make ME very happy!

But until then, I will continue my quest to try anything I can that will help me lose weight.

Got any cool gadgets I should know about?

Thanks for reading!

See you Friday

for

"Naked TV"

(I'm not kidding!)

Friday, September 26, 2014

My Colonoscopy and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "The Maze Runner," as well as the DVDs "The Stories We Tell" and "The Signal," recommend a biography for you Jon Stewart fans and bring you up-to-date on my quest to see all of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"]

But First

Let's talk about my colonoscopy...

Just like death and taxes, a colonoscopy is inevitable.

And just like childbirth, if you have already had one, you have forgotten just how awful it was.

I just had my second one last week. Because my first one didn't show any early signs of cancer, I was given a reprieve for ten years. That ten years was just long enough for me to think I remembered that I didn't remember anything.

I thought I would share my experience with you, because as I learned when I was trolling around the Internet trying to find out why I couldn't have wine during the prep period, I found that people like to talk about their colonoscopy experiences.

And so do I.

First of all, have you ever noticed how difficult it is to make appointments for things like this? You could be on hold for hours. As I am on hold, I am thinking, "Why am I working this hard to make an appointment for something I don't want to do?"

"They" call it preventive medicine because colon cancer grows slowly and in most cases, can be treated during the procedure if found early.

But let me tell you, this is one preventive measure where the prevention is almost as bad as the cure.

Since this blog tries to be helpful, I thought I would share a few things I learned this time around.

1. It doesn't get any easier.

It's been ten years since I had my first one. You would think it would be easier this time around. Think again. What with all of the technological advances that have taken place in the world - we can talk to each other on tiny phones we carry around, we can access the Internet almost anywhere and get instant answers to our questions and we have been to the moon for god's sake - can't we have a colonoscopy prep that doesn't include drinking vile liquid and sitting on the toilet for hours? No, I guess not. We aren't that far advanced yet. Moon? Yes. A colonoscopy prep that doesn't make you feel like you are drinking antifreeze? No.
(Please, lord, don't let me see another bottle of Gatorade ever again).

2. Make an early morning appointment for your procedure.

I had this mistaken idea that if I made an appointment for late in the day that I wouldn't have to start the, should I say, "purging," until later the day before, thus being able to celebrate Hubby's birthday which was that day before (I know, my bad). Anyway, I was wrong. No matter what time your procedure is the next day, you have to stop eating the whole day before, like as soon as you get up. So Hubby had to go spend his birthday at McDonald's by himself (wasn't he considerate to not eat in front of me)?

3. Everyone says the day before the procedure when you have to clean everything out is the worst.

Not sure about that. It is difficult for me to think that sitting on the toilet with your insides falling out is worse than having a camera looking around inside of me. However, everything I read said don't worry about the procedure itself. By the time you get there, you will welcome it, like a little mini-vacation. I wanted to think that.

4. The whole process doesn't just start the day before.

Several days before you are told to lay off nuts and corn. So what do I crave the most? Nuts and corn. The day before the procedure, nothing red, purple or blue so naturally I was fixated on red jello with blueberries and a bowl of beets.

5. Have a sense of humor.

As I was trolling the Internet trying to find out why I couldn't make this process better via a few glasses of wine (you aren't supposed to drink alcohol - naturally, let's make this REALLY NO FUN!), I came across a cheeky article giving advice on the procedure. I think it was written by someone in the U.K. which would explain some of the humor, but her advice was to write something on your posterior for the amusement of the doctor doing the procedure, something like "Easy Does It" or "Hey Sailor." Well, maybe not that last one. I thought that one up myself, but thought better of it. I ran the idea of writing a message to my doctor on my backside by the nurse who was getting me ready, and though she thought it was funny, told me my doctor was a serious type. So good thing I didn't go through with that. You don't want to piss off a doctor standing behind you with a colonoscope!

6. Be prepared for a bad night.

Yes, I knew I would be getting up in the night, but didn't think I would be dry heaving into the sink. Geez, can this thing get any worse?

7. It's best to wear comfortable clothes that you can get in and out of easily since you will be terrified when you are getting out of them and woozy and violated when getting into them.

When I finally made it to the clinic and was getting undressed for the procedure, the nurse helping me complimented me on my choice of clothing. She was remarking on the easy on/easy off aspect, not the fact that I was dressed entirely in black. I didn't want to say I was wearing black, because I was in mourning for what my colon had been through the night before.

8. Forget flirting with your cute doctor.

When my doctor came to see me briefly, I thought, "He's cute. Too bad the only side of me he is going to get to know is my backside."

9. No matter how much you tell them you don't want to watch, realize you have little control.

I made it clear I did not want to be awake. As I got onto my side on the gurney in the operating room, I was facing a TV screen. The nurse came over to administer the "happy juice" as she called it and said "Let me know if you need anything" and THEN THE DOCTOR STARTED THE PROCEDURE. I thought, "Hey, wait a minute. Let the happy juice kick in!" There I was watching my colon, feeling crampy, thinking I was stuck there for the long haul with no "happy juice." I do remember thinking, "Gee, that's a nice clean colon." That must have been when the drugs kicked in.

10. In the end (pardon the pun), you won't care much about what happens.

I swear I was awake, but as I was told, even if you drift awake, you won't really care and that's kind of how it was. "Oh, here I am lying on my side with my backside exposed to a total stranger and I am admiring my colon on a TV screen. This must be what it's like to not care about much."

11. No alcohol before, no alcohol after.

Don't listen to them.

12. When it's all over, don't feel guilty for lying around feeling sorry for yourself, especially if you don't have a sympathetic significant other.

You deserve a little pity party. It was awful.

13. Hopefully, good news will arrive that all is well and you won't have to go through this again for another 10 years.

In the meantime, you can gaze lovingly at the picture of your lovely colon they gave you upon exiting. A nice little souvenir of a mini-vacation from hell.

Want to commiserate?

Now on to something more pleasant...

The Week in Reviews

***In Theatres Now***

The Maze Runner

Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) wakes up in community of boys surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable maze with no memory of where he came from. How will they get out?

The movie begins with Thomas being transported by an elevator like device up, up, up. Suddenly, it is opened and he is confronted by a gang of boys. He can't remember anything, not even his name, but one of the leaders, Alby, (played by Aml Ameen, an engaging young actor we will no doubt see more of in the future), gains his trust and helps him understand what has happened to him. Every month a "Greenie," a newcomer arrives out of that elevator with supplies. All of the boys are in the same boat, all arrived the same way. All found themselves here in "The Glade," and no one knows why. All they know is that they are surrounded by a maze, and they need to find out how to get out.

Every day the huge stone door of The Maze opens and some of the boys appointed "Maze Runners" go into the Maze to try to map it and find out its secrets, but they must get back before the door closes again because no one has survived a night in The Maze. The Maze is home to some very inhospitable and ugly mechanical tarantulas called The Grievers. This has been going on for three years with no luck, but now that Thomas is there, things start to happen. He is asking questions and really wants out. But there is always the one averse to change, forever playing devil's advocate, who appears to be content to just stay put and that's Gally (Will Poulter). He provides the conflict - well, the human conflict, anyway. There is nothing that Thomas says or does that Gally approves of, to the point that it actually gets annoying. Eventually a girl shows up, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), and though I give this film props for not creating the usual sexual tension that occurs when a woman shows up in a community of men, I will also say she didn't seem to have much to do or need to be there.

Along with O'Brien, Maze Runner, Minho (Ki Hong Lee) and fellow Glader, Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) are stand-outs in the cast.

Based on the best-selling young adult novel of the same name by James Dashner, this film starts out well with lots of excitement as the boys try to discover the secrets of The Maze but the last part of the film falls into melodrama and doesn't make much sense, partly because it's obvious a sequel is in the offing.

I really get disturbed when I realize I have just spent two hours watching a movie that needs a sequel to be satisfying. That's what happened here. It's so blatantly part of a new Teen franchise that I felt ripped off.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a cross between "Lord of the Flies," "The Hunger Games" and a 50's B horror film starring gigantic tarantulas, but not as good.

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

Stories We Tell (2012)

Actress Sarah Polley discovers her parentage in this imaginative and dramatic documentary.

Polley remembers people saying she didn't look like her Dad at all. Turns out there was a reason for that.

This film is mostly about Sarah's mother, Diane Polley, a Canadian actress, who died in 1990 from cancer when Sarah was 11, who was married to actor Michael Polley, and who gave up her career to raise her family, but was able to dabble in acting from time to time. Diane was the life of the party, living life to the fullest. Michael a more quiet, withdrawn sort. She becomes discontented with her marriage and embarks on an affair while in Quebec doing a play.

But this is also a story about a family and the secrets that exist there.

Polley is joined in telling this story by her two older brothers and her two older sisters and others who knew her mother and her father provides the narration, reading from a memoir he wrote. Each tells their story from varying points of view, trying to recollect memories full of cobwebs, while Polley weaves home movies in with film that looks like home movies, but you realize that some of it is being done by look alike actors. But it's so seamless, you don't notice it until the end when you go "Wait a minute, how could someone have filmed that back in the day?"

Polley came to stardom in "The Sweet Hereafter" but avoided the lure the Hollywood, instead preferring to work in Canada in smaller films and to direct. Her first directorial effort, "Away from Her," was a wonderfully heartbreaking story of Alzheimer's starring Julie Christie which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and Polley a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a wonderful, intimate, poignant portrait of a family, reminiscent of another wonderful personal documentary about family secrets, "51 Birch Street."

The Signal (2014)

Three friends on a road trip are taunted by a hacker who previously hacked into their college's computers (MIT) and find themselves in a waking nightmare.

Three computer geek MIT students - Jonah (Beau Knapp), Nic (Brenton Thwaites, you saw him in "The Giver" and he's the hot new thing in town) and Haley (Olivia Cooke) - are on a road trip to take Haley to California where she plans to live for a year. Nic has muscular dystrophy and doesn't want to hold Haley back so he has bottled up his feelings for her. Haley is worried about their relationship. While en route, Nic and Jonah discover that a hacker NOMAD (who nearly got Jonah and Nic expelled for breaking into MIT servers), is taunting them with strange and ominous emails. They track NOMAD to an abandoned house in the middle of the Nevada desert and decide to go after him. After finding nothing in the house, Nic and Jonah black out as Haley is pulled upinto the air. They all wake up in a HASMAT like controlled environment.

It was all going so well up until the unseen forces got into this thing. When Nic and Jonah were in the abandoned house, it felt a bit like "The Blair Witch Project" and it was eerie and scary. But then once Laurence Fishburne (Damon) got a hold of them, it started to unravel. This has bits of the aforementioned "Maze Runner," young people in a controlled environment who must find a way out. But there the comparison ends.

This is a low-budget sci fi film with engaging young stars and gorgeous cinematography. That's the good news. The bad news is it is ultimately unsatisfying.

There is some underlying gobbledygook about logic versus emotion and the "signal" being that clear, small voice inside that tells us what's true, but unfortunately, the character development here doesn't bring that out sufficiently.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like Science Fiction, you will probably enjoy this. There are definitely worse sci fi films out there (think "Transcendence.")

***My 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die Project***

Pather Panchali (1955)

I am starting to work through the 300+ films I need to see to get to the 1001 I must see before I die. I think I started with 316 - now it's 314 to go. At this rate, it will take me three years to see all of these!

The daily struggles of a poor Brahman family in Bengali in the early part of the 20th century.

The first film directed by acclaimed Indian director Satyajit Ray and the first film in what would comprise "The Apu Trilogy," it is known for its mise-en-scene, it's lyrical and expressive story-telling.

Rosy the Reviewer says...it is a simple poetic story punctuated by Ravi Shankar's music. (b & w with subtitles)

Detour (1945)

A hapless loser tries to hitchhike across country to meet up with his lady love only to end up a victim of a series of chance events.

"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" says, " One of the greatest of all B movies...[it] makes no attempt to rise above its budget...instead reveling in its cheapness, presenting a world somewhere between pulp fiction and existentialism..." I don't know about that but, boy, is it a classic 1940's B movie. It is the precursor for such films as "A Simple Plan," where wrong decision after wrong decision is made to excruciating effect.

Rosy the Reviewer says...It's about as noir as you can get in film noir, but it's also very campy by today's standards. It feels like an episode from "The Twilight Zone." This would make a great midnight movie feature along with "Rocky Horror."

***Book of the Week***

Angry Optimist (2014)

Jon Stewart's unlikely rise to stardom.

Born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, Stewart is one of today's major comedy players and admitted liberal voice. Growing up in New Jersey, Stewart was a smart-ass and grew up in a typical middle class Jewish household. He was small in stature so learned from an early age that his humor could ward off the bullies. He was class clown and a troublemaker, but he also excelled at soccer. He went to college on a soccer scholarship and there experienced prejudice for the first time. His soccer dreams did not pan out so after graduation he worked a series of uninspiring jobs until he decided to move to New York City to pursue his dream of being a stand-up comic. He always knew he was a witty smart-ass so why not do it for a living? He paid his dues on comedy stages for seven years until MTV came knocking. "The Jon Stewart Show" debuted in 1993 but when the show was canceled, he moved to LA where he acted in films until he landed "The Daily Show" in 1999. Author Rogak sheds light on Stewart's personal life, what goes on behind the scenes at "The Daily Show," and how Stewart has become a major liberal player in the U.S.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are a Jon Stewart fan, you will love this.

Thanks for Reading!