I happened to see two movies today with no apparent link until I noticed that they both ended with the letter “O”. I didn’t plan that.
First up, Superman and I went to see “Juno”. Every year around this time Superman makes a flight of fancy to see every picture nominated for Best Picture of the Oscars. I don’t have a problem with it, I just think it’s interesting.
“Juno” is basically about a 16 year old, high school junior who has gotten herself pregnant. She immediately decides the best thing to do is to give the baby up for adoption. So she and her stereotypical air-headed, cheerleader friend check the ‘Penny Saver’ for a good couple to give the baby to. (yeah, that's where *I'd* go...)
So they find a well off couple that lives in a nice neighborhood, with a nice house and nice furniture. Nice, right? Well, Juno falls hook-line-and-sinker for the couple and even feels the need to try and connect with them.
I guess, for me, it wasn’t about what was seen in the movie but what they left out. Directly after the credits roll Juno is seen walking into a small drug store/pharmacy/convenience store kind of place. She has a conversation with the man behind the counter which seems to indicate some sort of familiarity which is never explained.
Overall, I think more could have been done to explain some of what I felt like were inside jokes. There were a couple of times that lines were set up like they were jokes but the payoff fell flat.
The best I can say is that it was an ‘okay’ movie. If this is what is passing as Best Picture material, I’m not impressed.
My six word review: Juno trivializes adoption then seeks love.
The next movie I saw that ended in “O” was Michael Moore’s ode to the American health care system: “Sicko”. I happened upon a website that was offering free access to documentaries – this was one on the list – so I watched it.
In typical fashion, the director takes us exactly where HE wants us to go. He asks the questions that will evoke the right responses from the people he’s interviewing as well as the audience as they watch. The question this time: what’s wrong with the American health care system?
Admittedly he over-simplifies very complex situations but in the same breath lets us know that he’s a patriot. I truly believe he loves this country he just has a funny way of showing it.
This movie will make you laugh, make you cry, make you wince in your chair and, most of all – it will make you think.
He starts out by looking at America’s insurance companies and how they deny life-giving care to those who need it just to save the almighty dollar. He magnifies the insanity of insurers rules and regulations then shows what happens when real people go bankrupt trying to pay medical bills out-of-pocket. Or worse, he begins their story that ends with their death.
Then he looks at the way other countries manage their healthcare by visiting Canada, England and France to see how their socialized medicine is working for them. While they pay higher taxes for this ‘luxury’ they’re getting, it doesn’t seem to even affect the middle class.
In the final ‘slap in the face’ he takes several 9/11 workers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to try and get the same medical care that prisoners are given – no more, no less. His plea falls on deaf ears so he walks these folks into town to see what happens.
They walk into a pharmacy and try and get similar medicine that these workers are already taking. One woman can’t hold back her tears faced with the knowledge she just paid 5 cents for medicine that costs her $120 back home.
Throwing more salt on the wound, Moore walks them down to the local hospital where they partake of the countries medical plan. None of them pay anything but receive what they feel is top notch medical care. All from a country that Michael Moore has just dubbed a “third world nation”.
That’s why I say: it makes you think. I didn’t even go into the parts where he mentions politicians being paid off nor did I mention the coverage of health care management officials stating what a money-hungry industry the American health system has turned out to be (he blames it on Nixon, no less). There are just some things you have to see to believe… not that you need to believe everything that Michael Moore says. I think the biggest problem people have with him is his way of stating his opinions like they’re facts.
I haven’t seen all his films but Michael Moore seems to turn over rocks to take a cold hard look at what he finds. There are injustices taking place every day and he says what a lot of people feel but are afraid to say. You don’t always have to agree with him, you don’t even have to like him, but you do have to admit that sometimes he makes a pretty good point.
My six word review: Free health care best found elsewhere.
First up, Superman and I went to see “Juno”. Every year around this time Superman makes a flight of fancy to see every picture nominated for Best Picture of the Oscars. I don’t have a problem with it, I just think it’s interesting.
“Juno” is basically about a 16 year old, high school junior who has gotten herself pregnant. She immediately decides the best thing to do is to give the baby up for adoption. So she and her stereotypical air-headed, cheerleader friend check the ‘Penny Saver’ for a good couple to give the baby to. (yeah, that's where *I'd* go...)
So they find a well off couple that lives in a nice neighborhood, with a nice house and nice furniture. Nice, right? Well, Juno falls hook-line-and-sinker for the couple and even feels the need to try and connect with them.
I guess, for me, it wasn’t about what was seen in the movie but what they left out. Directly after the credits roll Juno is seen walking into a small drug store/pharmacy/convenience store kind of place. She has a conversation with the man behind the counter which seems to indicate some sort of familiarity which is never explained.
Overall, I think more could have been done to explain some of what I felt like were inside jokes. There were a couple of times that lines were set up like they were jokes but the payoff fell flat.
The best I can say is that it was an ‘okay’ movie. If this is what is passing as Best Picture material, I’m not impressed.
My six word review: Juno trivializes adoption then seeks love.
The next movie I saw that ended in “O” was Michael Moore’s ode to the American health care system: “Sicko”. I happened upon a website that was offering free access to documentaries – this was one on the list – so I watched it.
In typical fashion, the director takes us exactly where HE wants us to go. He asks the questions that will evoke the right responses from the people he’s interviewing as well as the audience as they watch. The question this time: what’s wrong with the American health care system?
Admittedly he over-simplifies very complex situations but in the same breath lets us know that he’s a patriot. I truly believe he loves this country he just has a funny way of showing it.
This movie will make you laugh, make you cry, make you wince in your chair and, most of all – it will make you think.
He starts out by looking at America’s insurance companies and how they deny life-giving care to those who need it just to save the almighty dollar. He magnifies the insanity of insurers rules and regulations then shows what happens when real people go bankrupt trying to pay medical bills out-of-pocket. Or worse, he begins their story that ends with their death.
Then he looks at the way other countries manage their healthcare by visiting Canada, England and France to see how their socialized medicine is working for them. While they pay higher taxes for this ‘luxury’ they’re getting, it doesn’t seem to even affect the middle class.
In the final ‘slap in the face’ he takes several 9/11 workers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to try and get the same medical care that prisoners are given – no more, no less. His plea falls on deaf ears so he walks these folks into town to see what happens.
They walk into a pharmacy and try and get similar medicine that these workers are already taking. One woman can’t hold back her tears faced with the knowledge she just paid 5 cents for medicine that costs her $120 back home.
Throwing more salt on the wound, Moore walks them down to the local hospital where they partake of the countries medical plan. None of them pay anything but receive what they feel is top notch medical care. All from a country that Michael Moore has just dubbed a “third world nation”.
That’s why I say: it makes you think. I didn’t even go into the parts where he mentions politicians being paid off nor did I mention the coverage of health care management officials stating what a money-hungry industry the American health system has turned out to be (he blames it on Nixon, no less). There are just some things you have to see to believe… not that you need to believe everything that Michael Moore says. I think the biggest problem people have with him is his way of stating his opinions like they’re facts.
I haven’t seen all his films but Michael Moore seems to turn over rocks to take a cold hard look at what he finds. There are injustices taking place every day and he says what a lot of people feel but are afraid to say. You don’t always have to agree with him, you don’t even have to like him, but you do have to admit that sometimes he makes a pretty good point.
My six word review: Free health care best found elsewhere.