Rich Hill is a documentary that follows three
disadvantaged young men who live in a town called Rich Hill, which is about 70
miles southwest of KC just on the MO side.
It won the U.S. Documentary prize at Sundance, but I’m not sure
why. There doesn’t seem to be a
point. It’s interesting and mostly sad,
but it didn't look at a random set of kids in that
town, it focused just on the most troubled and there was no arc or analysis at
all. It wasn't quite a commentary on
poverty or parenting or mental illness either...but it is still in my thoughts
so I can say it was absorbing. The best
contrast that was drawn in the film was between those kids and the annual 4th
of July pie auction that brings in thousands of dollars each year. Clearly
someone in that town has money to spend, so I think it would have been a better
portrait
if it also showed a child from the wealthier part of town and would be more of
a real image of small town (or anytown) America - the haves AND the have-nots,
living side by side yet ignoring each other and just going about their
business. Ultimately, I think it just makes the “haves” who are watching it
(and going to Sundance) feel like they are looking at the poorest town in
America and when the lights come up, they can go about their normal lives. I grew up in a very poor town myself, but
there is always more to the story. There are recent updates on the three kids
online too and it seems to only get worse for them, if you’re interested.
2.75 out of 5 stars
Guardians of the Galaxy is based on a comic book, but don’t
let that scare you away (or draw you in).
Let it stand on its own, which it does very well. This comic
scifi adventure story of a ragtag set of thieves and assassins is thoroughly charming
and enjoyable. It has the feel of a
modern Red Dwarf or Spaceballs, with all the necessary parallels with Star Wars
thrown in. Bradley Cooper as the Rocket
the racoon is my favorite, but not for his sometimes spot on, if accidental,
Gilbert Gottfried impression. Unencumbered
by his own good looks on screen, he seems free to express himself in ways not
yet seen. In this film, he essentially
leads a successful version of the A-Team, for all his folly in the previous film
of the latter. For those of us of a
certain age, the multitude of 80s references to music, toys and other pop
culture of that time period abound in a very detailed way – not just your run
of the mill allusions. One final note,
see the movie for this at least: Glenn Close (doing her own impression of
herself from 101 Dalmations) says the word, “prick”.
3.25 out of 5 stars
Dolphin Tale 2 is a sequel to Dolphin Tale 1 (surprise!),
which itself was based on the book which was based on the real life story of an
injured dolphin who washes ashore and is taken in by a marine mammal hospital
in Florida and helps tell the coming of age story of a young boy. The story here is pretty much the same, but
the boy is 3 years older. This one tugs
at the heartstrings just as well as the first, and the acting is just as bad,
but it’s got that certain something anyway, darn it. The two young leads are so bad they seem
almost real, unlike their adult on screen counterparts (Ashley Judd, Harry
Connick, Jr. and Morgan Freeman), who
must have signed on just to do something educational for children, because it
wasn’t for the Lifetime movie dialog.
The real draw is the animals and new twist is somewhat reflective of the
recent hullabaloo surrounding Sea World and last year’s documentary,
Blackfish. There are several plot
developments focused on making sure the audience knows the hospital is doing
everything by the book and putting the animals first, over humans or even
money, and not doing anything against nature by keeping them there. It wasn’t subtle, but I guess I prefer it to
the reality of Sea World.
3 out of 5 stars
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