Miniseries: John Adams

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: NR(not rated)

Runtime: 501 minutes

Genre: Drama, Biography, Miniseries

I had heard a lot of hype about this miniseries and I wasn’t sure if it could live up to all it was supposed to be. I found it even better than what I had heard.

John Adams is a seven episode miniseries(spread over 3 DVDs) presented by HBO about the life of John Adams from the beginning of the American Revolution until his death. Paul Giamatti stars as the title character John Adams and Laura Linney costars as Abigail Adams. The seven episodes are:

Episode 1: Join or Die.

The Boston Massacre to Adams’ departure for the First Continental Congress.

Episode 2: Independance.
The First Continental Congress to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Episode 3: Don't Tread on Me.
Adams travels to France with Ben Franklin to help rally support for America against the British. Adams leaves France for Holland.

Episode 4: Reunion.

Adams returns to Paris to reunite with Abigail. He is called upon to represent America to the English crown. He returns to America to become Vice President.

Episode 5: Unite or Die.

Adams serves as the VP to George Washington. Ends with John Adams accepting the presidency.

Episode 6: Unnecessary War.

Adams takes his role as president. Ends with his loss of the Presidency to Thomas Jefferson and his return to Massachusetts.

Episode 7: Peacefield.

Shows Adams in his “retirement” to his death.

When I first heard that Paul Giamatti was to play the role of John Adams, I was unsure if he could pull it off. I mean, really? Paul Giamatti, although I think he’s a great actor, probably wouldn’t have been on my list of actors to play Adams. Well was I wrong. Giamatti does more than pull off his role; he owns it. In fact, I’d say a lot of the actors became their characters. Laura Linney was amazing in the role of Abigail. The relationship between Abigail and John is one of the great romances in history; Giamatti and Linney had great on screen chemistry to recreate the relationship. In fact, I thought the casting was perfect. George Washington(David Morse) was exactly as I had pictured him from the history books, a tall, handsome man with an overshadowing presence.

John Adams is filled with powerful speeches and great dialect. Those were some of my favorite parts of the series. They were moving and really make you appreciate America when you see what the Founding Fathers of America went through.

The characters are what make this miniseries. When you hear the names of these iconic men, it’s hard to picture them with a human light. I thought this miniseries did a great job of bringing the men in our history to life in a realistic way. I thought this brought John Adams out of the shadows of the presidencies of Washington and Jefferson, and showed us the true Adams and his accomplishments in addition to his faults.

The best part about this miniseries was the gritty realism of it all. The period of the American Revolution is often over romanticized, but this feels like it could be the real thing. Dirt, blood, sickness, unease, and bad teeth are all present. At one point you’ll see a man tarred and feathered. This is one of the most brutal things I’ve seen, and you can feel his pain and humiliation as it’s happening.

There’s also an interesting feature called “Facts Are Stubborn Things.” If you choose to, it will display facts related to the screen you’re watching at the bottom of the screen. There are some really fascinating facts that can give more insight into the scene or time period if you don’t mind taking a few seconds away from watching to read the quick tidbit.

Even if you don’t love history, I think you should see this. If they showed movies more like this in history class, more people would be interested in history. I’m not sure how it will compare to the miniseries, but I can’t wait to read the book John Adams by David McCullough that was the basis for it.

Netflix Page for John Adams.

Rocket Science.

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: R

Runtime: 101 minutes

Genre: Indie, Comedy, Drama

When my friend took me to see this film, I didn’t know anything about this movie. I’m really glad he took me to see this because I left the theater with one of those happy, satisfied feelings that makes it hard to stop smiling.

This film is about Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson), a stuttering outsider, dealing with his life after his parents separate. When Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick), the star of the debate squad, recruits him to the team to be her partner, Hal must overcome his stuttering problem. He also has to deal with falling in love with Ginny. At the same time that Hal is starting his debate career, his mom begins to date a new man and along with this comes his annoying son. On top of this, Hal constantly has to deal with his older brother, Earl (Vincent Piazza), who is a kleptomaniac. With all these troubles, it’s no surprise that Hal would be frustrated.

This film combines the elements of high school to make it an easy to relate to film. Most normal kids have obstacles, whether it be a stutter or something else, to overcome to figure out who they are. I’ve never been a great speaker, so imagine having doing that with a stutter is terrifying.

Some of my favorite scenes in this Rocket Science were when Hal was trying different methods to overcome is stutter. When Hal’s advisor tells him to try using an accent to stop the stutter, the result is awkward and hilarious. But by far my favorite scene in the movie is when Hal tries to stop stutter by singing his case to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. You can’t help but crack a smile and laugh at that original idea.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys indie comedies or anyone who is/was a debater. My sister is in debate and she really enjoyed all the small debate related details put in by the director, who is a former debater. But even if you aren’t a debater, you’ll still enjoy this one.

Netflix Page for Rocket Science.

Good Bye, Lenin.

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: R

Runtime: 112 minutes

Genre: Foreign, Comedy, Drama

I don’t know about you, but I never learned about, or perhaps even thought about, the transition from socialism to democracy for the people for East Germany. Even though this film is about an unrealistic(but highly entertaining) story of one family, it still captures the heart of the transition.

Good Bye, Lenin! is the story of Alex Kerner and his family. When Alex’s mother sees him at an anti-communist rally, she has a heart attack and goes into a coma. When she wakes up, her doctor tells Alex and his sister that their mother’s heart can’t handle too much excitement or surprise. The problem is, she doesn’t know that the wall has fallen. Worried that her roommate at the hospital would tell her about it, Alex decides to take her home and tries to recreate the world as it was before the wall fell. But how far is he willing to go to keep his mother from finding out?

Even though all of the references don’t necessarily make sense to me(being that I live in the United States) but the main ideas transfer over easily. Change is hard, especially one as major as this. One of my favorite parts of this movie was seeing how East Germany from its own perspective. I feel like I’ve only seen films that express the negatives of socialism. I felt that this film wasn’t completely biased towards that prospective and that it was a nice change to see. As far as the actual changing away from socialism, it felt realistic. Not everyone was happy with the change, and there were moments where people missed the way things used to be.

This movie is definitely worth your time. It's funny and touching and really does make you think about how we take everyday things such as Coca Cola and Burger King for granted.

Netflix Page for Good Bye, Lenin.

Waitress.

My Rating
(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 104 minutes
Genre: Indie, Romantic Comedy, Drama

A word to the wise: don’t watch this film when you’re hungry. You’ll be craving pie by the end of it. Waitress really is the definition of a chick flick. At times, this film will make you crack up, other times you’ll just want to go “Awww,” and other times you’ll want to cry.

Waitress is a cute little story about Jenna(Keri Russel), a waitress at Joe’s Pie Diner. She works there with her quirky friends Becky(Cheryl Hines) and Dawn(Adrienne Shelly). Jenna’s one passion is pie, and she expresses her life through them. One day, she finds she is pregnant with her obsessive jackass of a husband Earl. Now she has to figure out what to do.
However, I had a few problems with this movie. I thought the fake southern accents were pretty bad and hard to listen to for over an hour and a half. The plot of this movie is really unrealistic, too.

But there were good things too. There were a lot of “aww” moments in the movie as well as hilarious moments. And that’s what makes a good romantic comedy I suppose. For me, the scenes between Jenna and her doctor were both hilarious and aww moments. As a bonus the pies in this movie looked absolutely delectable(they have recipes online here).

Overall, I’d say that if you’re craving a girl-power romantic comedy, this would definitely satisfy your craving (was that meant as a bad pie pun? Either way, sorry!).

Netflix Page for Waitress

The Band's Visit

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 87 minutes

Genre: Foreign, Comedy, Drama

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen very many Israeli films, if any. Both touching and funny, this one certainly makes a good first impression.

The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra takes a trip from Egypt to Israel in order to play at the opening of an Arabic cultural center. However, the arranged transportation fails to show. So instead they must find their own way there. The band boards a bus to a town with a similar-sounding name, and becomes stranded there. The town is in the middle of the desert and there is nowhere for the band to stay. However, the woman who owns the restaurant and then two men who occupy the tables out front of the restaurant take them in for the night.

Keep in mind, this is one of those slice of life movies, so don’t expect too much action in this one. The movies tagline says it all, “Once-not long ago-a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this...It wasn't that important.” It’s just people of one culture interacting with people of another. It’s simple, yet it shows that in every culture there is loneliness, love, loss, and joy. The characters are all realistic, complex human beings, who you get to know more of as the film goes on.

Comedy-wise, my favorite scene is when Haled, the young ladies-man of the band, accompanies one of the men he met at the restaurant, who happens to be quite awful with the ladies, to the local roller rink. His date begins to cry and he has no idea what to do. Haled decides to help him which results in a really cute and funny scene in the movie.

As far as serious moments goes, the one that stuck in my mind the most is when the band member who wrote an unfinished concerto is sitting a room with the man who he’s staying with and his child. He then gives him solemn advice on how to finish his concerto after all of these years (I don’t want to spoil it).

The music in the film was beautiful. I loved the hauntingly beautiful unfinished concerto. It went perfectly with the shots of scenery shown while it was playing. The song in the last scene was the perfect end to the film. I just wish there was more music in the film since it was so magnificent.

Netflix Page for The Band's Visit

Paris Je T'aime.

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: R

Runtime: 110 minutes

Genre: Foreign, Comedy, Drama

Paris Je T’aime isn’t your typical film. The movie is divided into 18 vignettes about five minutes in length, each with a different director, set in a different part of Paris. Every vignette is about love. And you feel it through the entire movie.

That said, some of these stories are amazing, some of them mediocre, and some...well, bad. However, there are considerably more good than bad.

My Top 3 Vignettes (in order they appear in the film):

Le Marais

Director: Gus Van Sant

This vignette is about a teenage French boy who walks enters a print shop. He has a gut feeling that one of the workers is his soul mate and he tries to explain how he feels.

You know that feeling when you meet someone you’ve never met before, but you feel like you’re inexplicably connected? Well, this vignette totally captures that feeling, which is why I love it so much.

Faubourg Saint-Denis

Director: Tom Tykwer

A blind college student receives a call from his girlfriend who breaks up with him. He reminisces about their relationship from the moment they met to the present.

This is a lot better than it sounds. This is probably my favorite story in the movie. Natalie Portman plays the girlfriend and is absolutely wonderful in the role. This story ends up being an incredibly touching 5 minutes.

14e arrondissement

Director: Alexander Payne

In this vignette, a mail carrier from the US recounts her long awaited trip to Paris. She comes to the city alone and remains alone through the entire trip. But in the end she ends up falling in love with Paris.

This was the perfect story to place at the end of the movie. This story is funny and meaningful. I felt like I, too, had fallen in love with Paris by the end of this film.

My Least Favorite Vignette:

Porte de Choisy

Director: Christopher Doyle

A beauty product salesman makes a visit to Chinatown to try to sell his goods in this story. I honestly didn’t fully understand what was happening in this one. I didn’t get where the whole love part was supposed to come into play. I think that this was the only vignette I didn’t like.

Overall, I thought the film was beautiful. The mishmash of directors and writers shows just how multifaceted love really is and what it means to other people.

Netflix Page for Paris Je T'aime
This film is also available on Watch Instantly.

If you enjoyed this movie, they’re coming out with another movie like this called New York, I Love You. See the trailer here .