Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

I had to watch this film for a class I'm taking. I've seen it twice before so this was a third viewing, but it is a good film with a fine performance from James Stewart, who should have won his Oscar for this film, not the following year's The Philadelphia Story.
Here, a senator from an unnamed state dies suddenly and the governor needs to immediately fill the spot. Governor Hopper (Guy Kibbee) wonders who to pick but he is told to pick a puppet but his sons insist that he pick Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), an everyman who formed a Boys Club and is much loved. So Smith is selected and journeys to Washington D.C. He is struck with wonder upon arriving in the city and wanders off and roams the city. He is found only because he showed up at his office and the secretary, Clarissa Saunders (a great Jean Arthur) was there waiting for him. Unlike Jefferson, Saunders has been working for the Senate for some time, and knows the tricks of the trade. She explains to him the inner workings of Congress. He is naive and innocent, unaware for some time that he is only a pawn in the other senator's plan. Joseph Harrison Paine (Claude Rains) wants to run for president in the next election and he has a deal that will help the machine, who helped him get elected, James Taylor (Edward Arnold).
But Smith is not dumb, he eventually figures everything out and is devastated, but he also insists on fighting back, despite pleas for him to just go home. He tries to stand up for himself and get his park for the boys through, but Paine stabs him in the back, betraying him and branding him a liar.
Jefferson is in despair but Saunders manages to talk him out of it. The next day, he filibusters. But the plan to get the real story out there is thwarted by the nasty Taylor who controls all the newspapers in the state. Though the boys club prints out the truth, they are literally run off the road by Taylor's minions. Yes, that's right, children are being run off the road, something that is absolutely despicable. In the end, Paine cracks, and nearly attempts commits suicide, revealing that he is the liar, going nearly as crazy as many people believed that Smith was. Oh, and Jefferson and Saunders fall in love. Of course, it's Hollywood.
There are many fine performances in this film, mainly Stewart and Arthur, but Thomas Mitchell is brilliant as a drunken reporter who nearly marries Saunders. Even Harry Carey gives life to the bland role of the senate president, though he certainly did not deserve that Oscar nomination.
The film makes a wonderful point and is still timely, though the message is a nasty one, proving that a common man cannot function properly in the nasty world of Washington, that all the guys we vote for are corrupt and evil, bought and paid for by someone with an ulterior motive. Still, a great movie, though horribly dated. Nevertheless, the grade is an A.

The Middle: The Safe

I am so mad, but I'll get to that later. First of all, this episode was a repeat but I have not really reviewed it yet, so I'll do that now.
Axl is still upset at Sue for running over his foot with a car and it doesn't help that his chances of getting into college is growing dimmer by the moment. His parents arrange for him to get a tutor at the school. In the meantime, Frankie is also returning to school for dental assisting. Also, Sue gets Brick snacks for his social skills club. Some plots work out better than others.
For Sue and Brick, they have money left over from getting the snacks and see a yard sale (who has a yard sale in the middle of the week?). They find an antique and buy it so they can flip it and help contribute to the household. Then they find a safe and Brick insists on buying it because well, who knows what is in it? It takes some time, but they finally open it, only it comes at a cost. There is now another hole in Sue's wall, right where the old hole used to be. And nothing important nor interesting is in the safe. The rental car receipt isn't from Gerald Ford after all, but from some guy named Gerard Furd and they make little money from it.
Frankie is not having a good time at her school. She shows up late and is ill-prepared for the class as she doesn't have a lap top. Her teacher (Jane Kaczmarek) is also out to get her.  The next day, she brings cookies which makes the teacher only angrier, telling the class that Frankie doesn't respect the tooth. She proceeds to turn Frankie into the guinea pig and uses her as the example patient for the other students to pock around in her month.
Axl gets a tutor, Cassidy Finch (Galadrial Stineman) but they got off on the wrong foot. Axl doesn't want to be there and doesn't like that Cassidy doesn't care about football. She completely doesn't care and he's never met anyone like that before. And Axl certainly doesn't devote enough time to his studies. When Cassidy insults him, he realizes this but tells her that she needs to use smaller words, making her point. But then for the next meeting, Cassidy states plainly that God doesn't give with both hands and then proceeds to explain the Bay of Pigs better than most history teachers (luckily mine explained it well). Axl, then, kisses her on the lips and she immediately leaves the room, giving a little smile as she shuts the door behind her. As my friend put it, "I can't tell if she's angry or happy about it." We'll get the answer.
Needless to say, both Frankie and Axl are not prepared for the big tests that they have the next day and Mike sits down to help both of them study. And then Frankie takes the wrong medication and gives some to Axl, so yes, she drugged her son, but not the illegal kind.
In the end, Axl wrote down the answers on Frankie's arm and her teacher encourages her to quit. Frankie says that she has been a lifelong quitter and will probably quit, but will most certainly do it on her own terms.
Axl apologizes to Cassidy and says that it was a lame thing to do. Cassidy said that it was pleasant but because she has a boyfriend in college, the point was moot.
In the end, when Frankie is helping Mike fix the house, she puts her new knowledge to good use and Sue and Brick hit another yard sale, having not learned from the first one.
Now to the reason why I am mad and will never read spoilers again. For the longest time, I was convinced that Cassidy made up the fact that she had a college boyfriend. He was conveniently never named and she did do a good amount of flirting with Axl, especially in the Thanksgiving episode, but apparently I was wrong as they are currently casting that role for an upcoming episode. I am SO mad. Sorry if I ruined anyone's lives but I've learned my lesson and will never do something like that again.
Okay, sorry for my rant, and back to The Safe. This was a decent episode, mainly because it introduced us to the wonderful Cassidy, but I hated the subplot that dealt with the safe as it didn't really highlight the talent of Sue and Brick who are normally much funnier and better utilized than that. Grade: B+

Downton Abbey, Episode 5

Wow, this episode was heart-wrenching. Absolutely heart-wrenching.
This episode focused mainly on Sybil's labor, but we'll get to that later.
First, to the other major plot points. Isobel hired Ethel to be her new servant and her old and trusted cook, Mrs. Bird decided to leave so she wouldn't be associated with that sort of people. However, Ethel is a terrible cook so it is doubtful (via Mrs. Hughes's dialogue) that she'll be there for long. Edith still has yet to make up her mind on writing a weekly column for a newspaper. Matthew is supportive while Robert is not, but that's fairly typical of him. The kitchen servants are not really any closer to getting along, as there is a weird love square going on there and Thomas is attempting to make some sort of move on Jimmy by touching his arm often. Jimmy isn't pleased. Anna talks to the lawyer, Murray, about the evidence that has been discovered, but others in the prison are out to get Bates, so things aren't looking good there.
However, things could not have gone worse for the Crawley family. As Sybil, she is nearing giving birth, and in a great deal of pain. (Were did this come from? She seemed to be doing fine last episode.) Robert also hired a specialist to look in on her while Cora opted for the local and favored Dr. Clarkson who has known the girls since they were little. Clarkson believes Sybil suffers from high blood pressure. The fancy doctor doesn't believe this and insists that everything is normal. After a nasty argument over what should be done, Sybil has the baby, a healthy little girl. I was happy because I had predicted that it was going to be a girl. But then everything went horribly wrong. In the middle of the night, Sybil began having a seizure while the family and doctors just stand around their helpless, begging her to breath. It was absolutely terrifying. She dies.
I was devastated, but what upset me even more was Granny (aka Violet aka Maggie Smith)'s reaction. She remains stoic but is beyond depressed. Nothing could have prepared her to bury her twenty-four year-old granddaughter. That was just the most upsetting part.
But the craziness wasn't even over. After Sybil's death, Edith and Mary both say that only Sybil believed that they were both kind people. Edith asks Mary if they can change, but Mary refuses, saying they can only love each other in the moment. Come on, guys, please try to get along for Sybil's sake and for your niece's.
Then because Murray was visiting the family, Matthew picks the worst time to bring up the ideas for the changes and Mary is furious at him for doing so as Robert was completely unable to visit with Murray. Though I'm not a Mary fan, I believe that Matthew was completely out of place here. He should have waited for another time to bring the issue up. Sybil's death shocked everyone. Even Thomas sobbed, but he knew her as a person as they worked together during the war.
Now, next week's episode will be interesting. Cora is furious at Robert and with good reason. He is somewhat to blame but who knows what would have happened. Then there is also the baby. Tom is not going to go down without a fight as he plans to baptize the baby a Catholic which will infuriate Robert.
Though this episode is easily the saddest of the whole series, it is also one of the best of the season with fantastic acting, yet it is one that I don't really want to see again because it is just so sad. Grade: A-

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

This was an interesting film as the plot was complex and not really straight-forward and some of the main points were implied.
Kym (Anne Hathaway, brilliant) has just been released from rehab. She is fetched by her father (Bill Irwin) and step-mother (Anna Deavere Smith). The reason she is going home is because her sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) is getting married and may or may not have an eating disorder but is most certainly pregnant (doesn't anyone do things in the right order these days?), thus the title of the film. Her groom is the African American Sidney Williams (Tunde Adebimpe) who is very nice. However, with all the excitement of the upcoming nuptials, Kym is constantly battling her inner demons as she has had many addictions, from pills to food to alcohol. Her tragic past is eventually revealed as the movie continues: she was driving home from the park with her younger brother, Ethan, but she was completely stoned. She drove the car over a bridge and couldn't unbuckle him from his car seat and he drowned. The guilt she feels continues to this day and some members of the family, namely Rachel, won't forgive her. The arguments that Rachel and Kym have are nasty and Kym embarrasses Rachel. In fact, she has asked her friend, the nasty Emma (Anisa George) to be her maid of honor and doesn't want her at the family table, after all, it would mean there would be an odd number at that table. And that is just forbidden. (This scene only slightly upset me, in case you couldn't tell.)
However, the main conflict arises when Kym goes to visit her mother (Debra Winger). She demands to know why she was entrusted with her younger brother when her mother knew of her damaging issues. It appears (as my mom said) that her mother most likely set her up for failure. This issue is never fully resolved as Mother and her new husband leave the wedding early because they have a business trip planned.
After the nasty fight with Mother, she leaves the house in a huff and drives her car through a road sign and then crashes into a rock. Luckily, she is sober when all that happened so she's able to make it back in time for the wedding. 
There is another interesting incident. While getting her hair done, Kym is approached by this weird guy whom she used to know in therapy. He tells her that he got her anonymous confession and he reveals to her her secret confession. It was all a lie, she was never molested and her sister never had a serious eating problem. This angers Rachel greatly.
Throughout all of this, Kym has an interesting relationship with the best man, Sidney's good friend Kiernan (Mather Zickel) who also attends AA meetings.
The film is quite good, but I have my issues with it. The wedding (though it is part of the title) takes the focus away from Kym's inner journey. Anne Hathaway is brilliant as the eternally damaged Kym (better here than in Les Miserables) and fully deserved her Oscar nomination as her face is a blank slate, showing every emotion, from happiness to disgust to sheer terror and sadness. At the end, she goes off with the nurse from the rehab center and hopefully, this time, she will be able to rebuild her life, with or without her family's help.
The film itself is interesting with great camera angles and music. The wedding is also one of the most interesting and weirdest I've ever seen (in real life and in the movies) as it is a multicultural wedding with music spanning the genres. The performances here are all top-notch, and Rosemarie DeWitt and perhaps even Bill Irwin were robbed of Oscar nominations. Irwin is especially great in a scene where he and his soon-to-be son-in-law have a competition to see who can stack the dishwasher better and faster. It was a nice reprieve from the drama of the film, but it was ruined by looking at a plate that had Ethan's name on it. Still, I wish Kym had truly been the focus of this film and things would have been tied up with her mother, yet an excellent film. Grade: A-

The Middle: The Friend

This episode was actually better than I expected, thank goodness. After last week's amazing episode, I knew that there was no way this one was going to be as good, but it almost was.
This one had three separate plot lines going, two of which were more interesting than the other.
First, Sue's club, wrestlerettes, which she founded (and yes, this is a word crazy cheerleaders) is under fire as the wrestling team is supposed to do very well this year so the cheerleaders also want to cheer at these meets. Sue feels threatened and, of course, the cheerleaders ignore her so they end up having a cheer-off. The cheerleaders put on a wonderful show while the wrestlerettes put on an extremely awkward one (but quite hilarious), but it eventually gets the crowd, including the crusty principal onto their feet, leaving the cheerleaders wondering what they did wrong. Still, though the winner is obvious, it is never announced so we'll have to see how this plays out.
Second, Frankie begins the episode by saying how nice it was to see Axl settle down (though all they do is make out). It is as I really like Cassidy, but because she is so smart, this quickly becomes an issue though it wasn't until Brick points it out. So Axl asks Brick to tutor him, which he does. Axl then skips the prep rally to try and discuss art and other trivia with Cassidy, presenting one of the most heartfelt and real romantic speeches that I've heard in recent times. He truly does care about her. Luckily, even though Axl is a bumbling idiot but he truly does care about Cassidy and his lack of intelligence doesn't seem to bother her. I'm just grateful that they didn't break up because I probably would have cried had that happened.
Third, the plot line that I didn't like involved some new neighbors. Frankie is worried that Mike is becoming a crazy recluse like his father so she sets up a play date with the new neighbor (Jeff). Though the two of them get along well, Mike is furious that Frankie went behind his back. Then Frankie leaves a series of crazy messages on Jeff's wife's cell phone and soon the new neighbors want nothing to do with the Hecks, which is probably for the best. Though the adults needed something to do, this wasn't it as Frankie has rarely been so annoying. I understand that it bothers her that Mike doesn't have friends, but no amount of pushing is going to change that if he doesn't see a problem.
This episode was still quite good as there were hilarious moments sometimes involving Brick. When he finally had to stop making out with Cassidy, Brick said that it was nice to finally see her face, not just the back of her head. Another involved Axl sending pictures of himself  to Cassidy and then he took the phone under the covers with him while Brick merely roles his eyes. Sue is great trying to explain to the cheerleaders who she is even though she has done that before and they have even met her at her house when they were dating Axl. Sue is easily one of the funniest characters on television. Here's to continued great episodes. Grade: A-

Frozen River (2008)

This is another gritty drama of a desperate person.
Ray Eddy (her name is only said once in the film and I didn't know what it was until I saw her name tag when she was working) is a struggling single mother whose gamble-addict husband ran off with the needed money to buy a bigger trailer home. Ray (Melissa Leo) has spent the last two years of her life working at a dollar store, underappreciated and underpaid. She needs some money and fast. Then she stumbles upon something dangerous and illegal but it pays well. She teams up (I use that term loosely as she is held at gun point, with her own gun to drive across the frozen river of the title) with a Mohawk Lila Littlewolf (Misty Upham) who is known for smuggling illegal immigrants over the unguarded border on the Mohawk reservation. She reluctantly agrees. It is a dangerous job and nearly costs the life of an Pakistani infant who was placed in a duffel bag. Ray didn't want them to bring in anything that could be used to make bombs, luckily, in a brief moment of something positive, the baby survives the bitter, freezing cold of upper New York.
Meanwhile, at Ray's home, her oldest son, T.J. (Charlie McDermott), who has too much responsibility for a fifteen-year-old, nearly burns the house down because the water pipes froze over and to remedy the problem, he uses a blow torch like an idiot, this nearly causes the house to burn down. Ray is furious at him. In addition to this, T.J. also is scamming elderly Mohawks out of money, so he is not a good character. But he  is the one who remembers to ask his 'friend' and business partner to obtain a gift for his younger brother, Ricky (James Reilly), age five, for Christmas.
Lila, in the meantime, misses her infant son, who was taken by her mother-in-law from the hospital. Ray tells her to call the cops, but Lila says that tribal police don't interfere with those matters.
Ray is only one smuggle away from being able to afford her dream home, but something goes terribly wrong. At first, she decides to let Lila take the fall because her boys need her but then she changes her mind. In the end, Ray goes to jail while Lila snatches her son back from her mother-in-law (her husband died before the movie began) and returns home to the Eddy sons. Life will never be the same but it will continue. T.J. is even made to apologize for scamming the elderly woman, though he fails to look that sorry to me. The boys will never be normal again and Ray won't be either.
The topic is grim, but Ray is completely desperate and the money is too good to pass up. Melissa Leo is brilliant as Ray, though she looks much too old for have a son who is only five. She fully deserved her Oscar nomination, every emotion is written on her face. She is cautious around the state trooper (Michael O'Keefe) but can still lie to save her butt when push comes to shove. Misty Upham is also great in a simpler role. Charlie McDermott, best known as Axl from The Middle, one of my favorite TV shows, is nearly unrecognizable as Troy Jr, looking poor and unkempt, just as the role would require as Ray can barely afford food for her children. At the beginning of the film, there is only popcorn and Tang in the house.
The lighting is also grim and realistic, when Ray runs out into the woods at the end, you can barely see her as there is no natural light to be found. The film is little, but real and for some, probably too close to home for comfort. It is also nice to see women in the lead roles as not enough films in Hollywood offer good lead roles to women, fortunately this is an exception. Grade: A

Downton Abbey, Episode 4

This episode was sort of boring, I'm not going to lie.
Here tons of stuff did happen, but really nothing major. First, Bates has been deemed as a violent criminal by his nasty roommate, Craig so he is receiving no letters from Anna and Anna receives nothing from him and is getting quite upset about the whole thing. Luckily, the whole thing is sorted out simply by Bates placing something contraband under Craig's sheets. Thus, he gets his letters and Anna gets her, all is right in that little world. Thank goodness for that.
Also, Tom is officially an idiot. There I've said it. He used to be one of my favorite characters but not any more. He got involved in some dangerous activities (no surprise there) but it was dangerous enough that he had to flee the country immediately, leaving Sybil to follow. Robert was rightfully angry about that. Luckily, Sybil arrives the next day and they share a passionate kiss, too passionate than Tom deserved. Robert worked out a deal that nothing bad will happen to Tom unless he returns to Ireland, and then he will be immediately arrested. This doesn't sit well for him. Sybil wants something stable which Downton can provide. She wants the baby to be born there. Tom, please aside your desires for your cause and put your family first.
In the meantime, Matthew learned that the estate of Downton has been mismanaged but Robert doesn't seem too concerned with this, so I have a feeling that that will boil over soon. It was almost weird not having Mary and Matthew fight, something that I had gotten used to. Also, Mary is not pregnant yet, though she did go to the doctors, but it wasn't for anything major, just a hay fever. I wonder if this will soon become an issue. Also, Carson hired a new footman, Jimmy Kent, who is rather easy on the eyes and that includes Thomas's. Look for more action there.
The major plot line that closed up was Ethel giving her cute little son to the parents of his dead father, even though his grandfather is a nasty piece of work but does seem to love the little boy. It was a sad departure and it may or may not be the best thing as the grandfather is sour to all around him including Ethel. Hopefully now she can leave her dreaded past behind her and move on.
Edith also wrote a letter to a newspaper expressing her opinion on the fact that she can't vote. Good for her as she does need to find something to do with her time. Daisy was just about to express her feelings to Alfred (twice) but was interrupted by Mrs. Patmore and the second time, Mrs. Patmore introduces her new assistant to Daisy and Alfred also appears to like this new girl, Ivy as well. How many girls can he have a crush on at a time? But whatever, this just creates more crazy drama which can't be a bad thing. Hopefully the episodes after this one will build upon this one because nothing major happened. Still, it was a great way to spend my Sunday evening. Grade: B

Winter's Bone (2010)

This is a powerful film.
Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is keeping her family together. Her mother, Connie and two younger siblings, Sonny (Isaiah Stone) and Ashlee (Ashlee Thompson). Her father, who, like so many others in the rural part of the country, runs a meth lab. The conflict arises early, with the arrival of the sheriff Baskin (Garret Dillahunt) to tell her mother that if her father misses his court date, then the house and land will be gone as he put it up for his bond.
This sets her on a quest to find him, regardless of what it takes. She visits everyone, from her meth-addicted uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes), who goes from being somewhat cruel, as he fiercely grabs Ree's head to warn her not to go looking for trouble. However, later when Ree does get into trouble, he comes to her aid and helps her out by giving her money. He, like everyone else in the film, has his own set of morals.
Ree doesn't have an easy journey, as she is nearly killed because she wanted to gleam information from the back mountain mob boss, Thump Milton. His wife, Merab (Dale Dickey) is kind to her at first, and tells her to stay away, but later Ree hunts Thump down at an animal auction. Needless to say, Merab and her sisters beat Ree up horribly after this because she failed to listen to their advice. But they didn't fully understand the reason why Ree needed to find her father.
Both Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes received Oscar nominations for their roles here (as did the film itself and the screenplay and they were deserved) and they (especially Lawrence) fully deserved it. Ree is a strong character, killing squirrels and cooking stews for her family and teaching her siblings to do the same. She is responsible for them. Yet, she wants to join the army for the money, really no other reason. Fortunately, because she is only seventeen, she is too young to sign her life away, which is good as who knows what would happen to her younger siblings without her around.
The neighbors offer to take her brother off their hands, but she refuses this offer. She is also upset that they don't want her younger sister.
The part of the country depicted in this book is crude. The people seem to live by their own moral code. If someone betrayed the community, then they take care of it, even going against the sheriff. At times they are nice, as her neighbor often brings over food for the family but they can turn on you if you betray them. It is an awful life.
In the end, the ending is a stunner and the story is so complex that I can't figure out all the pieces and how they fit together yet because the ending is never spelled out, you actually have to think to figure out what happened to Jessup Dolly. The ending is, fortunately, a rather happy one, considering the depressed nature of the film. But when it comes to a film with a young, strong female heroine, you can't get much better than Winter's Bone. Grade: A-

Every Day by David Levithan

This is a book. Though I normally don't blog about books (even though I read a good bit), I will make the exception for this treasure.
Here, in Every Day, the world is mostly realistic with one interesting twist. A knows no permanent life. This person doesn't even know if s/he is a male or female. The reason for this is that every morning A wakes up in a different body, it could be male or female, fat or skinny, or even a Beyonce look alike.
But then one day, everything changes. Justin (the person who A is for the day) has a girlfriend named Rhiannon and A falls hopelessly in love. This is an unforeseen complication.
From that day forward, A needs to see Rhiannon, breaking many rules of the lives that s/he is currently living as to do so. A starts to get sloppy, something which has not happened before. And then s/he opts to tell Rhiannon the truth and she believes him/her.
The book is impossible to put down. The style flows smoothly, with realistic characters and dialogue. Some characters are sadder than others. One girl whom A inhabits is close to committing suicide, perhaps A can save her life. And then, there is also the possibility that A is not alone, that other people can jump from body to body.
This is a real page turner and to give anymore away would be a crime. The insight is real, brilliant points are made, such as can A be true to him/herself or should this person just live the life that s/he must for that day and deal with the hand dealt. Is it worth getting attached to someone that can never fully be with you? This book is wonderful and deserves to read by anyone. Grade: A

The Impossible

This film was heart-wrenchingly realistic and incredibly difficult to watch. That doesn't mean it wasn't excellent, because it was. In fact, it is one of the best films of 2012.
Here a typical family, British by their accents (though the actual family is Hispanic), but living in Japan for the last several years, travels to Thailand for the Christmas holiday, just days before the devastating tsunami in late December 2004. Maria (Naomi Watts) is the mother while Henry (Ewan McGregor) is the father. They have three sons: Lucas (Tom Holland) is the eldest, with Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) as the two younger brothers. Before the tsunami hits, the family's biggest worries include whether or not they set the alarm system to their house, the turbulence endured as the plane lands and whether or not Henry will be fired from his job. Then everything changes in an instant. The tsunami hits and the family is separated from each other.
Maria is alone, holding on to dear life to a palm tree, screaming at the top of her lungs and then she sees Lucas floats by. Eventually, they join forces and Lucas informs her that Thomas, Simon and Henry are dead. Maria is upset, but doesn't show it. Survival is the first thing on her mind. Then Maria and Lucas wade through the dangerous water and Lucas notices how badly his mother is injured, the back of her leg is literally torn open and the sight of it can turn anyone's stomach. As they are nearing a tree, Maria hears the yelling of a small child. She begs Lucas to go after it, but Lucas doesn't want to go. Maria snaps at him, "Even if it's the last thing you do." So they rescue the small Daniel. And they climb up the tree, Maria even refuses Lucas's help. Here they are until the next day when they are rescued. Maria must endure more pain as she is dragged back to receive medical attention, probably even furthering her injury. Unfortunately, they are separated from Daniel as they make their journey. (Luckily, Daniel has a happy ending as he is reunited with his father.) Upon arriving at the medical station, she is in bad shape though the doctors quickly work on her bad leg. Finally, she is resting in a bed and urges Lucas to help the woman in the neighboring bed, only for her to cough up blood. Maria then throws up something stringy and horrendous. After she calms down, she encourages her son to help people as he is good at it. So he wanders around the hospital, dealing with language barriers and various people desperate to find their family members and after some time wandering around, he finally reunites a Swedish father with his son. This makes him want to see his mother again, but she has been moved and he, along with the kind nurse, assume that she is dead so Lucas is taken to the tent with all the other orphans or unclaimed children. This is where he stays until the nurse returns and takes him to a table to examine some objects but he recognizes none of them. Then he is taken to his mother, she has been moved and misidentified and is probably too weak to correct them as she is in bad shape, barely surviving surgery and relying on an oxygen mask to breathe. Her ordeal is far from over.
Luckily, this story has a happy ending. Henry survived as did the two younger sons. Henry is searching for his wife and eldest son, and trying not to lose hope. However, his sons have the opportunity to go north to the mountains and Henry lets them go but opts not to journey with them as he must continue searching for his wife. Along the way, he stumbles into an American family who are trying to figure out a way to get out of there, never mind the numerous injured all around them. The man refuses to lend Henry his cell phone, so Henry can let his family know that he is alive. "Everyone here needs something," is the cruel answer he receives. So he returns. Finally, he finds his way to a hospital where he and some others who have lost their family have formed a sort of support group. A man who has lost his wife and young daughter offers his cell phone to Henry, despite its low battery. Henry calls his father-in-law and tells them that he is fine but he doesn't believe that Maria is. He breaks down, this is his most powerful scene. Henry, who is not too injured, with nothing major wrong, though he has some nasty cuts and is horribly filthy, as everyone around him is. He sets out to find his family. The other father joins him because he just can't stay put.
In the meantime, Thomas and Simon are taken to the mountains where they are later put in a bus with other children. (This is only after they are watching the stars and an older lady [Geraldine Chaplin] joins them.) Finally, all three sets of people are in the same place, but because the place is filled with people, they just miss each other. And then, finally, Lucas greets his two younger brothers with open arms, they are no longer the pains they used to be. Then they meet up with Henry and Lucas takes them all to meet Maria, who is still in sorry shape.
She is then taken for another surgery and begs not to be put under general anesthesia. She survives. The family is able to fly on home. All is well. 
The family is powerful and filled with the most realistic settings and special effects ever. There is almost a documentary feel to the film. Also the performances are simply marvelous. Naomi Watts fully deserved her Oscar nomination. Tom Holland (for Best Actor) and Ewan McGregor (for Best Supporting Actor, always underrated) certainly also deserved nominations in a crowded field as the roles they took on were anything but easy. You won't forget this film or the incredible odds this family had to overcome. They overcame the impossible and lived to tell the story.
The only problem at all that I had with the film came at the very end. There is no epilogue. The audience will never know what happened to the family, if Maria managed to keep her leg or anything like that. That killed me. Perhaps the reason why that happened was because the family was really from Spain but instead were played by famous white actors.
Nevertheless, the film is amazing. The family had to survive the unthinkable tsunami, and then the rubble and then the crude medical treatments in a third-world country in unclean conditions. Yet, they survived and for that I'm grateful. It's impossible not to cry during this treasure of real life overcoming all obstacles thrown in their way. Grade: A

The Middle: One Kid at a Time

Finally, a good episode of The Middle.
Here, after a crazy evening with all three kids in the car, fighting over what to do and which restaurant to eat dinner at, Frankie and Mike decide to focus on each kid at a time. And that's exactly what they do.
Axl, being the oldest, is up first. Though he is reluctant at spending time with his parents, he decides to see how far he can push this. He decides to go play paint ball, which is going pretty well until he disappears. Mike finds him making out with his girlfriend in her car. Naturally Mike is furious that he ditched his parents for some random girl (I love when the audience knows more than the characters), so Axl finally tells them that Cassidy is his girlfriend and he wants to spend all of his time with her.
The next day is spent with Sue and she takes full advantage of it, even making shirts with a picture of all of them on it, which was incredibly funny. After spending the whole day, even waking up before dawn so they could watch the sun rise, Sue wants to see Frankie's old prom dresses which are at Aunt Edie's house. Frankie reluctantly agrees. Instead of being shocked at how dated the dresses are, Sue loves them and even tries one of them on (it fits her much too well) and then she finds Frankie's old high school yearbooks. Here Sue learns that Frankie was a cheerleader (she tries to explain that it was only for her senior year) and on prom court. This, at first, devastates Sue, but then she realizes that this means that there is cheer-leading DNA in her blood, which means that she will never give up. Great, just great.
For Brick's day, both Mike and Frankie are exhausted but they still try to give Brick his special day, but ultimately fail because they don't want to drive to the special convention in Indianapolis and then shoe shopping doesn't go well either. Brick explains to his mother that he wishes that they would treat him just like Sue and Axl, but they ran out of energy by the time they came around to him. However, when they get home and Brick simply throws his stuff on the floor, they yell at him which they've seldom done before. As Brick walks to his room, he smiles, happy with how everything turned out.
This episode was wonderful especially after last week's upsettingly poor one and it didn't rely on guest stars, with only one short appearance from Axl's girlfriend (thanks for bringing her back). This was only one of the really funny shows, especially Sue's segment. The family members learned stuff about each other and they grew because of it. Keep episodes like these coming as it is one of the best of the season. Grade: A

Downton Abbey, Episode 3

Wow, that is the only word I can use to describe this episode.
It's finally time for Edith's wedding, but money woes are still plaguing Downton and Matthew and Mary are having plenty of fights over it. However, Matthew finally receives a letter from Lavinia's father, Mr. Squire, and he learns that Lavinia must have written to her father just hours before her death. Matthew does not believe that though so Mary confronts the servants about it the next morning, asking if any of them posted a letter for Lavinia. None of the servants had, leaving us to believe that perhaps Mary concocted the letter herself, but then Daisy comes in and says that she did it, not believing that it would be a big deal. Instead of anger, Mary is grateful and tells Matthew the good news. He decides that now the money can go to saving Downton and will tell Robert directly after the wedding.
Meanwhile, Daisy debates on whether she should start speaking her mind more and tell Alfred (the new footman) how she really feels while Anna confronts one of Vera Bates's old friends to try and piece more of the story together, but she doesn't get that far. Thomas decides to start a nasty rumor that O'Brien is leaving which is untrue and O'Brien promises that he will pay for his deed. And he should know that better than anyone else as they used to be on the same team. Mrs. Hughes's health scare is under control as the results are back and the tumor is only benign, or so she says. Crisis avoided. And, trust me, we needed some good news after the disaster known as Edith's wedding.
Edith's wedding was to the main point of the episode. Now, Sir Anthony is a nice fellow, though he could easily be Edith's father. He was also injured in World War I and has no use of his right arm so Robert was quite against the marriage because Edith was going to be nothing more than a nurse. Edith, on the other hand, seemed fine with that, going as far as telling Sir Anthony that he was going to be her life's work. She is also quite looking forward to her wedding and looks absolutely gorgeous on the morning of her wedding and then, upon arriving at the alter, Sir Anthony says that he cannot marry her. I was crushed. It was shocking, I haven't been that shocked in some time. Edith felt the same way. She couldn't even look at her sisters, with their extreme happiness, while she was denied hers. Even O'Brien gathered some sympathy for her. (The servants got a meal fit for a king that night, eating all of the food intended for the wedding, including the lobster.) Isobel says that Edith needs to find a purpose in life and the sooner the better.
Now to the most interesting subplot, and it's not Bates and his nasty cell mate, who tried to hide something contraband in his bed. Instead, it's Ethel who is now a prostitute. Isobel is trying to urge her to get help, but she admits that she is too far gone, but there is much more to her story but have absolutely no clue what it could be.
Despite the devastation of the Edith's failed wedding, "it would have been too easy if they had gotten married." (My mother's line not mine.) She's right. Of course, we all wanted Edith to marry Anthony, but it would have too easy if that had gone forward, but that doesn't mean I'm not devastated and hope never to see Anthony ever again. I have a feeling I'm not the only one. However, what bothered me more was that Sybil and Tom are back for the wedding without any explanation and then they have three lines between them (next week, I have a feeling I'll much more to say and Tom will be in hot water) and Grandmama Martha left despite knowing that another granddaughter would be tying the knot, though perhaps it's a good thing she left when she did. And I hated the way Mary and Matthew would fight like cats and dogs, though hopefully that is all settled. Still, this episode will be long remembered because I haven't been upset for a fictional character in some time. Grade: B+

American Graffiti (1973)

This film was a pretty good one, though it was quite dated. Perhaps what is most shocking is that it was created by the same man who would become a household name with Star Wars (1977).
It is the final day of summer in 1962. Here, there are a group of friends, with Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) as the leads preparing to leave for college, though Curt is having second thoughts. Ironically, it should be the other way around, as Curt was offered a scholarship and has no current girlfriend while Steve, despite being class president is desperate to leave though he has a steady girlfriend, Curt's kid sister, Laurie (Cindy Williams, great in a weak role). However, crazy stuff happens to each guy throughout the course of their last night at home before leaving. Steve and Laurie break up and get back together several times throughout the night, but it is only after Laurie nearly gets killed that Steve realizes how much she truly meant to him, and while she weeps into his shoulder begging him not to go, Steve decides to stay at home, why search for something that you already have. Curt, on the other hand, accidentally has a run-in with the local gang and decides that escaping would be his best option, and he's probably right. So Curt ends up leaving while Steve stays put. Curt is probably also upset that a lovely blonde woman whom he has had his eye on, refuses to meet with him.
Though the leads are pretty good, it is the supporting characters who truly shine. There is John Milner, a rebel bad-ass (Paul Le Mat) who loves to drag race his car. He gets stuck with the younger sister of a girl he was trying to pick up. This girl is named Carol (Mackenzie Phillips), who is probably the most interesting character of the whole film. She is young and geeky, but worldly and knows the way of the streets. However, she is also quite annoying and nothing more than a pest to John, but eventually, he develops some sort of attraction toward her, though I'm not really sure what kind. John races the crazy Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford, before he became famous) who later picks up Laurie and gets frustrated with her and then drives off the road, but luckily does not die. Another supporting character is Terry (Charlie Martin Smith), who is younger than all the other guys. Steve entrusts him with his car and he uses this to his advantage and eventually manages to pick up the older and beautiful Debbie (Candy Clark, Oscar nominated). They mostly hit it off, though the night is not easy for them as the car gets stolen and Terry gets sick from the alcohol he drank. Still, this was an interesting plot line, though I didn't think Clark was worthy of her nomination; it should have gone to Phillips instead.
Though the movie doesn't make as strong as a point as it should have, it was far from a waste of my time and the soundtrack alone was worth it. However, Star Wars is considerably better entertainment, as this film has dated itself severely and it will only continue to dated itself with each passing year. Another problem is, you only see a snapshot of these people's lives, much as European films do, which is fine, though because of this, you don't understand the reason the characters act the way they act. I'll forgive that though, as the film was already enjoyable enough. Grade: A-

The Middle: Life Skills

This episode was good, but not as good as they have been in the past.
There were three plots some of which deserved more time. A tree branch falls down and breaks the windshield of Frankie's car, but the insurance won't cover it, despite Frankie and Mike believing that it is an act of God, which would be covered. However, the insurance broker doesn't agree with this because the tree branch was not properly trimmed, so it's negligence instead. But God (aka the pastor at their church) comes through for them by allowing the Hecks to borrow the crazy Church van if they take the seniors to get their hair down on Wednesday. Frankie looks on the bright side, "at least it has a windshield."
Then Brick has to meet the equally socially awkward guidance counselor who gives him some bad tips to make friends of his own age, but these tips don't really work. This coming from the guidance counselor who didn't have a girlfriend until he was thirty, yikes. But Brick gets the better of him, stating that he doesn't need to have friends of his own age because he has friends such as the librarian and to the counselor's delight, Brick, despite everything, considers him to be a friend. In the end, Brick tries to make friends so the counselor can keep his job. He's just doing him a solid.
The main plot is the one that was entertaining but also ludicrous. Axl finds Sue to be in his life skills class which upsets him massively. It becomes worse when they are left without partners on a project because Sue (being typical Sue) was unable to find a partner and Axl was too busy tying his shoes together to find one. Sue begins immediately working on the project while Axl creates new ways to waste time. Then on the morning of the project, Sue discovers that she tragically grabbed the wrong bag, meaning all the hard work she did will go to waste. She is devastated. However, Axl comes through. Because he has done stuff for other people, including setting this one guy up with this girl, Axl is able to get everything he needs for the project, including getting this one guy to hack into Sue's computer to obtain the necessary papers. The project is a success and Sue is shocked that everything worked out. Although this was hilarious, it stretched the limit of the truth, though this show has often done that in the past.
Though the acting was once again great as it always is in this show because Sue's face can tell the whole story itself, the story line was not that good. This is probably one of the weakest episodes of this season. They need to bring Axl's girlfriend back, stat. Grade: B

Oscar Predictions and My Wish List

The Oscar Nominations will be announced tomorrow morning and I will certainly be watching them. Now, for my predictions, which, as usual, are quite incomplete because I have not seen that many films.

Best Actor: I feel that Bradley Cooper (in Silver Linings Playbook) and Daniel Day-Lewis (in Lincoln) delivered the best performances of the year and both of them fully deserve nominations. When it comes to the win, I really can't choose as they were both so great, but I would give the slightest edge to Cooper because he is not the greatest actor (see He's Just Not that Into You) while Day-Lewis turns in good performances left and right (well, not really as he doesn't make that many films, but he was brilliant, utterly brilliant in My Left Foot, winning one of the most deserved Oscars of all-time). Denzel Washington was also great in Flight, and I'll be happy if he gets nominated, but he does not deserve to win, nor does Hugh Jackman of the upsetting Les Miserables. In fact, if Jackman does not get nominated, I won't be upset about it. Also expected to hear there name called tomorrow are John Hawkes in The Sessions and Joaquim Phoenix in The Master, both of which I have not seen.

Best Actress: This is easy (for me, at least). Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, as her main competition (that I have seen) is Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games. If she wins, I'll be happy, if not, I guess I will have to see the film which won. Also likely candidates include Naomi Watts in The Impossible (one of the few films of the bunch that I actually do really want to see), Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty (which I really don't want to see despite the millions of awards that it is winning), Marion Cotillard in the french Rust and Bone and maybe Helen Mirren in Hitchcock.

Best Supporting Actor: Another crowded category. For the expected competitors, I have seen Alan Arkin in Argo, Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook and Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln. All of these are great, though I will be rooting for De Niro come Oscar night. Also expected to be nominated are Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master and someone from Django Unchained, but there are three men in that movie fighting for the last spot, so who knows will win out.

Best Supporting Actress: I want Anne Hathaway to win for Les Miserables, as she saved the film from being a waste of my time. However, that being said, if Sally Field wins (going an improbable three-for-three) for her great turn in Lincoln, I won't lose too much sleep. Some are saying that Maggie Smith in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will hear her name, and though I won't complain, I feel that Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy will hear her name instead. The other two spots will most likely belong to Amy Adams in The Master and Helen Hunt in The Sessions.

For the other categories, it is harder to judge. I expect Ben Affleck, Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, David. O. Russell and Ang Lee for Best Director, while the Best Picture category is nearly impossible to predict as the number of films could be anywhere from just five to ten. Certainly Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, Amour (another French film winning tons of awards), Moonrise Kingdom, and Beasts of the Southern Wild are among some of the most likely contenders. I would okay with Lincoln, Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook winning the coveted award, but I'll be rooting for Argo.

Downton Abbey: Season 3

Well, the show was back after a wretched wait period. And nothing was like I expected.
When we left last season, Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Matthew (Dan Stevens) had literally just gotten engaged, so this season picks up a few months later with wedding preparations in full swing. But problems arise, mainly in the form of a bad (actually horrendous) investment on Robert's (aka Lord Grantham's).  part. Now the family is in terrible and real danger of losing Downton. This I had a problem with. I don't really care about the family going broke, I just find it quite out of character that Robert (Hugh Bonneville) would invest all of his wife's money in only one stoke. No one can believe that he would do something so foolish (and that includes the many characters in the show, namely his wife and eldest daughter, Mary). The fact that they might lose Downton is more than he can bear, and he breaks down. The only other time he did that was in season one after his wife suffered a tragic miscarriage.
Now, back to the wedding. Matthew, the heir to Downton, receives word from the late-father of his fiance who died. He is set to inherit a vast sum, certainly enough to save Downton. But, despite Mary's pleas, he doesn't want to lose the money to save Downton. He feels that he should not inherit the sum because he did not truly love Lavinia (Zoe Boyle) but perhaps even drove her to her own death. This nearly causes Mary to call off the wedding just hours before it was to occur.
But luckily, Tom Branson (Allen Leech) is able to save the day. Tom is an interesting character, as he was the former chauffeur of the Crawley's and an Irish republican. Now, however, he is Sybil's (Jessica Brown Findlay's) husband. (For those who don't know, Sybil is the youngest Crawley daughter, but the first to get married.) Though Tom is only a commoner, he and Matthew must stick together because of their choice of wives. Tom convinces him to go through with it because Matthew will never be happy with anyone else.
So the wedding happens, covered in sap, as all weddings are, even in real life. I did have a slight problem with the show jumping from Mary arriving in the church to them coming back from their honeymoon in the south of France. I know that is where one show stopped and another started, but I really would have liked to see the rest of the wedding, though I know what would have happened. But last season, they showed two weddings, and they were both the weddings of servants. Not that the servants are any less interesting, in fact they are equally as interesting as their upstairs counterparts.
Now to the second half of the premiere. Edith (Laura Carmichael) is the only Crawley sister left without a suitable husband, and she is working desperately to change that, but the man that she has her sights on is over twenty years older than her and was injured in the war, so now he cannot use his right arm for much of anything. The attraction is reciprocal, but he feels he cannot drag her on any longer and Robert agrees, only to Edith's heartbreak, so needless to say, by the end of the episode, they are engaged.
Now to other news. The housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) has discovered a lump in her breast, which is most likely cancer. Though this plot line is tragically sad, it is also, perhaps, the most realistic. She is also trying to keep it hidden from the remainder of the staff and household, which only allows her more sympathy.
In the meantime, Mary and her grandmother, Violet (Maggie Smith, always great) are trying to save Downton and decide to ask her American grandmama (Shirley Maclaine) for more money, but she cannot do that, with more than enough good reasons, as she (technically her late husband) has already given the family more than enough, which is quite true. Thus, the future of Downton is looking mighty bleak, as is the future of Bates, the former valet of Robert (Brendan Coyle). He was accused and found guilty of murdering his wretched wife and now is in prison, with a dreaded roommate. His life is completely miserable, but his wife Anna, a servant of the house (Joanne Froggatt), is doing everything she can to help him get out, but he probably even further condemned himself when he threatened his roommate that he should never again forget that he is saving the room with a murderer.
Though this show is still crazy, with Sarah O'Brien (Siobhan  Finneran), Cora's (Elizabeth McGovern's) maid and Thomas (Rob James-Collier) as Robert's valet, stirring more than enough trouble downstairs, it still lacks the punch of season one and parts of two had. But life does move on, and some of the characters (as opposed to none, as was pretty much the case in the first two seasons) are happy. Sybil is content with living humbly in Dublin and being known as Mrs. Branson and Edith will be quite happy with her fiance, despite his shortcomings. But I worry about Mary and Matthew, their marriage has not gotten off to a good start and I feel that if Downton is lost, Mary will never be able to forgive him. How much more baggage does their marriage need? Still, the show often had me on the edge of my seat and groaning in discomfort, and struggling not to yell at the characters to come to their senses, but I cannot wait for next week, though it comes head to head with the Golden Globes, always a problem this time of year. Grade: B+