Tom Fudge : We're going to begin this Film Club talking about a bit of news that sprang up around last week's opening of a new movie called Horton Hears a Who! .
Dr. Seuss fans will no doubt recognize the name of that famous children's book, which has been made into a feature film starring the voice of Jim Carrey. The theatrical opening of this new movie was remarkable because its premiere attracted a group of anti-abortion protesters.
Why? The protesters latched onto one of the famous lines from the book which, of course, is also spoken in the movie. The line comes when Horton, the kindly elephant, says "A person's a person, no matter how small." The abortion protesters handed out flyers after the film, telling folks that Horton, in that statement, tells us why we need to protect the unborn. Dr. Seuss, real name Ted Geisel, lived in San Diego where his widow, Audrey, still lives.
Audrey is actually a buddy of our political correspondent Gloria Penner. Gloria got on the phone with Audrey just yesterday to ask her about the politicization of Horton's proclamation.
Horton Hears A Who! is currently playing in area theatres.
Chicago 10 is the name of a new documentary film about the protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Several men, normally called the Chicago 8, were arrested and charged with inciting riot at the convention. Film Maker Brett Morgan calls his movie Chicago 10, because he thought the lawyers who defended these guys should get a little credit, too.
Chicago 10 is a documentary that relies on 40-year-old film footage to show us what happened in the streets of Chicago during the convention. To tell the story of the trial, the film uses animation and the voices of a few famous actors. The dialogue in the trial is taken from official transcripts. The film is filled with music, much of it contemporary rap and rock.
Chicago 10 plays at the Ken Cinema through tomorrow.
Our next movie is called Funny Games. It's directed by German film maker Michael Haneke. In fact, this is a remake of a German-language film he made about ten years ago. In this movie, a wealthy family of three is vacationing along the coast when they are visited by a couple of unfriendly neighbors. These neighbors are clean-cut 20-something guys, who may look innocent, but in fact they break into the house, hold the family hostage, and start to terrorize them by threatening to kill them and so forth.
Funny Games is currently playing in area theaters.
Married Life is the name of a movie, set in late Forties America. The action takes place in an unnamed big city where a successful businessman, played by Chris Cooper, is thinking of leaving his wife. He confides this fact in an old friend, played by Pierce Brosnan. First, the husband's plan is to divorce his wife, and move in with a young sweetheart. But after time, the man decides the best plan is to kill his wife. This is does not tell his friend. He decides killing is wife would be more merciful, because it would save her the suffering the divorce would bring. It's an odd form of compassion.
Over time, the murder plan takes shape, and the husband takes steps to get the job done. What happens next is not something I'm allowed to tell you. But I think I can say the end of Married Life was surprising, to me at least. Married Life is directed by Ira Sachs. It also stars Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams.
Married Life is currently playing at Landmark's La Jolla Village theater.
The last movie we're going to talk about today is Snow Angels. Snow Angels
is set in a small town, and the opening scene of this film kind of sets the tone. We're watching a high school marching band rehearse when shots ring out from some nearby woods. The movie then goes into a couple weeks flashback to show us the events that lead up to those gunshots.
Snow Angel is a slice of small town life, in which we're introduced to many different kinds of people with varying degrees of happiness and hopefulness. Director David Gordon Green has made a few other movies, some of which have gotten critical praise. They include George Washington and All the Real Girls. Snow Angels features the actors Kate Bekinsale and Amy Sedaris.
Snow Angels opens on March 28th in area theaters.
Guests
- Gloria Penner , political correspondent and host of Editors Roundtable for KPBS. She also writes a weekly political blog for KPBS.org.
- Beth Accomando , KPBS film critic.
- Scott Marks, author of the film blog Emulsion Compulsion .
