Jester's Musings and Missives

Review: Country Boys

I just had to share how much I loved the recent Frontline documentary, Country Boys, by director David Sutherland.  It’s a powerful story about two young men in Kentucky trying to improve their lives in extremely challenging environments.  The movie’s three 2-hour segments topics cover family dysfunction, poverty, drugs, alcoholism, violence, and how hope and hard work occasionally prevail.

This documentary is excellent; a really interesting story tracking two boys through their last few troubled years of high school.  I was particularly moved by Chris Johnson’s story.  He’s such a likeable kid; you can’t help but root for him through the entire movie.  I was emotionally invested in his efforts to get his high school diploma and go on to college.   

"The Chronicles of Narnia" go Gangsta!

I don’t watch Saturday Night Live very often, but caught the first 30 minutes or so of it last Saturday.  I’m glad I did because I saw a clever digital short entry came on the screen. 

Two guys (Chris Parnell and someone I didn’t recognize) made a rap video about going to see The Chronicles of Narnia movie on a lazy Sunday.  Their rhymes about buying cupcakes and other snacks to sneak into the theater, the best route to take to get there, and even about answering the ridiculous trivia questions we all watch while waiting for movies to begin were hysterical! 

The “Sith” Beats Records and Expectations

I was one of the millions of people who saw "Revenge of the Sith" over the weekend.  I fondly remember the original Star Wars release from my childhood, but the “Sith” installment may just be my favorite of the entire franchise.  I wasn’t surprised to hear that it earned a record-breaking $158.5M (AP).  I think it’s going to continue to blow other movie attendance and revenue records out the window.

Action – action – action!!  Light saber and space fights galore.  New bizarre creatures and exotic planets.  All of the story’s loose ends wrapped up in a bow.  George Lucas kept the story moving along quickly, which is good, because when he slowed down to let the two lovebird characters talk, a collective snore could be heard in the audience.