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Month: July 2016

“Buen Día, Ramón” –The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

  The German-Mexican co-production, “Buen Día Ramón” (“Good Day, Ramón”) tells the unusual story of a poor young Mexican immigrant named Ramon who emigrates to Germany after having incredibly bad luck in his multiple attempts to emigrate to the US illegally. Desperately in need of finding work to support his mother and provide medicine to his grandmother, he decides, on a friend’s advice, to travel to Germany. Ramon’s remarkable openness to accept the kindness of strangers and begrudge none of his hardships is rendered believable. Struggling to survive on the street,...

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“The Past” (Le Passé)—Does the Past Define Us?

THE PAST (LE PASSÉ) was nominated for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or award, the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award , and a Golden Globe. Directed and written by Asghar Farhadi of “A Separation” fame (winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film).  Ahmad, an Iranian man (the remarkable Ali Mosaffa) deserted his French wife Marie Brisson (the sublime Bérénice Bejo of “The Artist”) and her two children from a previous marriage. Now living in Tehran, he is asked to return to Paris to finalize his divorce because Marie wishes to marry a third...

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“The Innocents”—And War

Guest blogger: Barbara Donsky, author of the memoir Veronica’s Grave,  and blog owner of www.desperatelyseekingParis.com  For the unedited version of this review go to Barbara Donsky’s blog   Les innocentes Writers and film-makers continue to successfully mine stories stemming from World War II. “The Innocents”  is such a film—a Polish-French venture by the director Anne Fontaine that takes place in December 1945. Based on real events as described by Madeleine Pauliac, a French Red Cross doctor who had served with French troops in war-torn Poland, the film illuminates the various...

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“Closed Circuit”—We’re Under Surveillance

“Closed Circuit” (2013), an adrenaline-pumping political thriller, portrays corrupt government forces who will stop at nothing. It’s an exciting genre. The title “Closed Circuit” is designed to raise the alarm over both the injustice of closed court hearings and the use of surveillance technology. Covert surveillance amplifies the sense that London has become a police state with ubiquitous security cameras. We don’t know who’s watching or how they’re using what they see. The opening scene provides the hook. After a truck explodes in London’s bustling Borough Market, killling 120 people,   authorities...

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“The Family”—A Plot of the Broken-Hearted

  Guest blogger: Emily Lewis, founder of MrsMommyBookNerdsBookReviews.com, a fantastic blog reviewing novels focusing on the themes of  family and parenting, as well as children’s books.  Go check it out! The Family The ABC drama– THE FAMILY— is a psychological thriller that showcases a family trying to recover from a tragedy that occurred a decade before.  The politician’s young son disappears when she is campaigning near their home and presumed dead.  None of the family members have recovered from the loss and all are fighting their own demons. This television...

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