Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Dead Poets Society

This movie I hadn't seen in years and I believe I enjoyed it more the second time around, maybe because I am older and can see it from a better prospective. For those who have yet to see this great film, it's about a private school for boys and the boys who take an English Poetry Class with Robin Williams as Mr. John Keating, who teaches the boys more than just poetry, about following their dreams. He shares with them the history of others who attended the school and about the Dead Poets Society andabojut their secret meetings in a cave where the boys would read poetry.

This is the film that made a star out of Ethan Hawke, who plays Todd Anderson, a shy young man of 18, who Mr. Keating helps to overcome that shyness. Due to Keating's unorthodox way of teaching, trouble brews for the boys and it's not until a tragic accident occurs, do the boys rally around their teacher.

I give Dead Poets Society 5 big stars.

Remember The Titans

Remember The Titans
When I saw this movie when it first came out in 2001, I loved it then and I still love it today. Since this is a true story, it makes me love it more. For those who love football as I do, you'll love this heartwarming story of T.C. Williams High School Football Team in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1971.

Denzel Washington plays the new head coach that takes over for the original coach, as at the time they were segregating three high schools into one school and there were a lot of racial issues going on back then. Denzel's character, Coach Boone, has the team go to football camp to learn to play football as a team. Boone is a strict coach, as he was an in-your-face kind of guy, but did like to hug. He wouldn't hesitate to criticize a player in public, unlike Coach Yoast, played by Bill Patton.

With the two coaches working together, they were able to get the players to play as a team, teaching them to learn how to get along and learn about each other, even to bunk with a player of another race. The players were able to get past their fears, as that's all it was, as we are all alike as a person. When a team can learn to play as a team, everything is possible, even to winning games.

One scene I didn't remember from before was when "Sunshine" Bass was brought to the football field by his military father, saying he wanted his son on the team. A couple of the players called him a "fruitcake" because of his long blonde hair and Bass then threw the ball at the Captain who insulted him, hitting him in the back, so they all realized that Bass had a fantastic throwing arm. After watching the movie, I did some research on Wikipedia and found that a few things in the movie were inaccurate, but wait until afterwards to do that. Also, Bass mentions he'd just moved from Huntington Beach, which is my hometown, and is the high school I graduated from, but 5 years earlier.

When the community were celebrating after the season, the team Captain gets injured in an auto accident, he tells his fellow black teammate, while in the hospital, that he had "hated his brother," it was due to his fears.

Remember The Titans should be on everyone's to see list, even if you've already seen it.
I give it a big 5 stars.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Phar Lap: Heart of A Nation

Phar Lap: Heart of A Nation

I love animal movies, esp horse and dog movies and saw a recent trailer on this movie I hadn't seen since it first came out in '83 when we lived in Fresno. When we saw this true story, we'd never heard of Phar Lap, the Red Terror or Bobby as he was called by some. Phar Lap was an amazing Australian thoroughbred racehorse who was almost shot to death by criminals. This movie tells the remarkable love a stable boy has for this amazing horse, sleeping outside his stall everynight to protect Phar Lap. He is considered to be in the top all-time 100 racehorses at number 22. If you haved seen this film and haven't seen it for years or haven't seen it, you need to buy it from an independent seller, as amazon doesn't carry it. And, the version I have is the director's cut, which is what you'll get. Phar Lap's death has been shrouded in mystery for many years until most recently. I would see the movie before researching the rest of the story like I did.

I give this film a huge 5 stars.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Welcome To Teri's Silver Screen Blog!!!

Hi Everyone,
Since I've been watching a lot of movies lately on my computer, I had the thought that there's a need for blogging about the movies we see and share those magic moments with our friends, family and others. Since so many of the old classics are coming out on DVD, they are getting new generations of audiences and with a lot of new movies eitgher the made for TV or straight to DVD, we need to spread the news about these movies. You can rent for free so many movies from your local library from the comfort of your computer, as most libraries have an online catalog of all genre's of movies. I will be reviewing old and new movies, as I've been seeing old classics I've not seen in years. So, feel free to come in and see what's up for your viewing pleasure.

Toodles,
Teri