Sunday, November 22, 2009

It's 2009 and I'm still sitting on Mr. Holland's Opus.

Okay, maybe I did fall off the face of the earth for a while. School has been...hmm....shall I say, dicey? That's a word, right? I moved from elementary, which is tough enough, to secondary. Let's face it. Working with teenagers is just plain crazy...important, but crazy.

So, poor Mr. Holland has been sitting there in queue, waiting since June of 2008 for some morsel of attention. That's incredibly embarrassing to say the least.

In the meantime, I've actually seen
Mr. Holland's Opus at least three more times. That would bring my overall viewing of this film up to at least 4 million, give or take. Obviously, something in this story speaks to me. The teacher thing, of course, but there has to be more or I would have relegated it to the drawer where I keep all the other "teacherly" movies I've enjoyed over the years...like Lean On Me and Stand and Deliver. Those are great stories too and are nice to pull out when a little self-pep talk is needed, but Mr. Holland's Opus is more than that. And I think it warrants a real discussion.

I hope there is still someone out there who is willing to discuss.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kimberlee--

I strongly recommend "School of Rock". An implausible, accidental teacher; a plausible, accidental education for the students.

Please temporarily put aside any doubts and preconceptions and try this movie.

If you can't get a copy, I can-really!-mail you one.
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Margaret Hamilton was first an elementary school teacher before becoming an actress. Here's a clip (2:07) of her acting at age 82 as a teacher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1V6FIffg90
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If you can't find a DVD anywhere else, here's where to try:

http://www.notavailableondvd.com/
---
lesle

Anonymous said...

"24 Eyes"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047281/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/movies/04takamine.html?scp=1&sq=Hideko%20Takamine&st=cse

Hideko Takamine "...in “Twenty-Four Eyes” (1954) she was a female Mr. Chips, a schoolteacher who guides her charges from the rise of militarism in the 1930s through the aftermath of war."

In the movie, she was from, lived on, and taught on, one of Japan's outer islands. Not unlike you in real life.
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Agnes Varda

The "Grandmother" of French New Wave. She's been making films since the mid-1950s.

Google her; then search the New York Times for articles about her.

PBS on the internet has a 1969 TV video of her and Susan Sontag being interviewed together.

(On camera, Susan Sontag lights up a cigarette! Times have changed.)
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Two more-

Cold Comfort Farm
My Brilliant Career (has discussion guide)

-lesle

Kimberlee said...

Lesle...
Thank you for the great movie suggestions! School of Rock was a hoot and Cold Comfort Farm is already one of my favorites! I'll definitely check out the others you have mentioned.

I hope your 2011 is starting off well!

lesle said...

Kimberlee- here's the body of email I sent to our local Film Society lead dog. (http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/View.aspx?id=351712&q=441400242&qz=166fbe)
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For a satisfying movie set in [southern] China, may I suggest Takashi Miike's The Bird People in China:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCRR--9k58Q
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http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/162448/The-Bird-People-of-China/overview
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142181/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bird_People_in_China
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586281/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Miike
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I've seen The Piano in a Factory, not too long ago; for me, personally, it simply did not rise to my expectations or its not-first-tier reviews.
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In no particular order, here's a few more really worth checking out for TFS:
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Bread & Tulips (Italian, 2000, 114 minutes; romantic comedy, would be a crowd pleaser)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237539/

Catfish (U.S., 2010, 86 minutes; hook, line, and sinker denouement)
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/460792/Catfish/overview

Terribly Happy (Danish, 2008, 90 minutes; with laugh-out-loud Hitchcockian ending)
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/movies/05terribly.html

Vera Drake (British, 2004, 125 minutes; the subject is abortion; you will find no finer film ensemble acting!)
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/306438/Vera-Drake/overview

In the Realms of the Unreal (U.S., 2003, 81 minutes; documentary)
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/300069/In-the-Realms-of-the-Unreal/overview

The Policeman (Israeli, 1971, 87 minutes) (Would make a great double-feature preceding The Band's Visit)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Policeman

Twenty-four Eyes (Japanese, 1954, 156 minutes) [A personal favorite of mine]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047281/

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (German, 1975, 104 minutes; as topical today as then)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Honor_of_Katharina_Blum

Drole de Drame (French, 1937, 94 minutes; set in Victorian London. A droll tongue-in-cheek farce, just plain fun!)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027552/

Angel-A (French, 2005, 91 minutes; a beautiful angel helps an inept scam artist get his game together)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473753/
(Last year I put a hold on Angel-A at the library...I was number 18 in the queue!)
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I have seen all of these, several more than once. They all are available on DVD and with English subtitles.
===