Basic Plot: The account of a high school football coach and the developmentally challenged man he took under his wing. Inspired by a 1996 Sports Illustrated article.

Ourburst: Have your daredevil kids skip the opening credits; the movie begins with a ‘don’t try this at home’ moment. This film is formulaic and conventional. You’ll find no innovations in directing, storyline, or editing but they did a pretty good job considering they created a movie out of everyday life. The end result is that the quality of this film hinges solely on the acting ability of Cuba Gooding Jr, whose performance is unfortunately inconsistent. The overall impression is of mediocrity, with brief moments of genius-level acting ability.

— Fairly innocuous as a family movie, hinging on topics of prejudice, bullying, and how we treat the mentally disabled (and, to some extent, African-Americans) in our society.

Official Site: Radio
Original Article from Sports Illustrated: Someone to Lean On
Real Life vs. Reel Life: A Comparison of Factual Events to the Movie on ChasingTheFrog.com

WATCH IT NOW: Radio

IMDB: Devil’s Double

Basic Plot: Based on the autobiography of Latif Yahia, the body-double for Saddam Hussein’s sadistic son.

Outburst: There’s no doubt Uday Hussein was a monster, but this movie tries to portray him as both cruel psychopath and spoiled brat. Looking back on real footage, I’ve come to believe his character closer to Thulsa Doom than Cobra Commander, and his movie persona was altered to ensure no one would idolize an insane despot. This is the same canned movie they parade to mainstream audiences under a different veneer. If you are going to make a biography, have it hold to truth; if you want to make Hollywood-tripe, why bother using real people? Violent temper tantrums, scantily-clad women, and inane humor make this a pubescent boy’s dream — minus a few car crashes and big explosions. The end drags; the last fifteen minutes could be lopped off entirely.

— While I’d like to believe the mainstream public doesn’t want to see the same pap recycled into yet another movie, I’d be wrong. Millions of hoo-rah wannabes are desperate to see this and don’t know it yet. It’s one star from me, and two for overgrown boy hordes.

Official Site: The Devil’s Double
Wikipedia Entry: Uday Hussein

IMDB: The Passion of Joan of Arc

Basic Plot: A chronicle of the trial of Jeanne d’Arc on charges of heresy. Silent film, originally French but with texts subtitled to English.

Outburst: This has the most amazing and powerful soundtrack I’ve heard EVER, tied masterfully into a film that is only slightly better than average silent-movie fare. Falconetti is a wooden and wide-eyed Joan (which is supposed to portray a girl touched by God, but looks simply bizarre to me); the ecclesiastical judges are natural in their contempt. The bloodless torture sequence is genius, and has the added benefit of improving Falconetti’s acting afterward as she is now playing the “near-death Joan.”

— For a silent film, this is way ahead of its time.

Wikipedia Entry: The Passion of Joan of Arc
Buy the DVD: The Passion of Joan of Arc
WATCH IT NOW FOR FREE on YouTube: Passion of Joan of Arc

In truth, I think the soundtrack is one of the best elements of this movie. I highly recommend it for those into classical, opera, or religious music.
BUY THE SOUNDTRACK! The Passion of Joan of Arc (CD)
BUY IT NOW! The Passion Of Joan Of Arc Soundtrack (MP3)

Basic Plot: Based on the story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his inner-city students to learn calculus.

Outburst: An alright movie, probably my least favorite of the ‘mentor’ films. It is a pioneer of the student-teacher genre, which holds a special place in my heart.

— Classic of the ‘troubled youth and mentor’ subset of movies. Also great for learning Spanglish and for discussions about discrimination against Latinos.

WATCH IT NOW: Stand And Deliver

Basic Plot: History Channel documentary covering tales from the life of Sun Tzu and his famous work, The Art of War.

Outburst: What can you learn about the Art of War in 94 minutes? Not much. King Halu of the kingdom of Wu got Sun Tzu to defeat the Chu. Sounds like a glossy, thin version of the truth. By necessity of time constraints, so is this documentary. It is a good place for beginners to start on the principles of war strategy.

— Newbies to the Art of War by Sun Tzu should pick up this documentary as an introductory study.

Wikipedia Entry: The Art of War (original text by Sun Tzu)

BUY IT NOW! Art of War (DVD)
BUY THE BOOK: The Art of War by Sun Tzu – Classic Collector’s Edition

IMDB: The Science of Healing

Basic Plot: This is billed as a historical documentary about the science of medicine and the mind-body connection, but it is really a biography of one rheumatologist’s fight with inflammatory arthritis.

Outburst: This woman needs practice doing voiceovers, because she seriously overemphasizes; I feel like I’m being read a bedtime story. Evidence presented here is sometimes anecdotal rather than scientific, some of the experiments look like the researchers are leading the subjects, and the documentary draws conclusions based on research projects that are not yet complete. Where is the science?

(0 stars) — Some of the research cited in this documentary is suspect. Watching this could be misleading and has the potential to be detrimental to people looking to improve their health.

Official Site: Esther M. Sternberg

Basic Plot: Biography covering a portion of the life of Jerry Lee Lewis, one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s.

Outburst: I chose to watch the movie because I enjoy rockabilly and Jerry Lewis, while knowing nothing about the scandal surrounding his life. Considering this musical biography centers around the marriage that nearly ended his career (to his underage first cousin, once removed) it’s one of those details that’s nice to know beforehand. Dennis Quaid feels overacted to me, but the young Winona Ryder is stunning.

— A great movie for dancing and rockabilly music, but not for the incestuously squeamish. This is a sensationalized, Hairspray-style version of the actual events, and not tied solidly to facts.

Wikipedia Entry: Great Balls of Fire! (film)
Wikipedia Entry: Jerry Lee Lewis
Cousin Relationships — explanation of ‘first cousin, once removed’

BUY IT NOW! Great Balls of Fire! (DVD)

But don’t take my word for it! You can compare Dennis Quaid’s acting with an original Jerry Lee Lewis performance on our Facebook fan page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Movie-Outburst

Basic Plot: The story of World War I soldiers who are sent to an asylum, among them a famous poet.

Outburst: Eerie. Literary. Obviously this is not a comedy. Like all WWI British war movies, everyone is dressed and behaves in similar fashion, but their plotlines are dissimilar enough that they are easy to follow.

— If you are moved by poetry inspired by traumatic events, you will enjoy this film.

Wikipedia Entry: Regeneration (movie)
WATCH IT NOW: Behind the Lines (aka Regeneration)

Booknote: The movie holds so faithfully to the book one can almost interchange them.

Wikipedia Entry: Regeneration (novel) by Pat Barker
BUY THE BOOK: Regeneration
Kindle eBook: Regeneration

Basic Plot: Historical drama about the city of Alexandria, the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, and the famous female philosopher Hypatia.

Outburst: It has all the elements of a great movie, but I still didn’t like it. In the end, I decided this long epic tale simply lacked a definitive focus. Is the story about Hypatia or the brutality of fanatics? Maybe the best part of this story occurs in the talks about this movie after it is over.

— Philosophy and history majors should plummet through the depths of this movie. This is a thinking person’s movie, not one to kick back and enjoy. Best for classes and discussions.

Wikipedia Entry: Agora (film)
WATCH IT NOW: Agora

Basic Plot: Young man goes off to fight in Vietnam War, and tries to make sense of it all after he comes back disabled and emotionally scarred. This is based on the autobiography of Ron Kovic.

Outburst: Oliver Stone took 145 minutes to say something that could have been done in 105 minutes, and I still feel like parts were left out. Then again, if you are trying to stay true to reality it’s not going to feel like a normal movie. Tom Cruise as Kovic is amazing.

— A good movie to watch once. There are too many adult concepts to want kids around when its playing. You’ll like it best if you are into epic war movies.

Wikipedia Entry: Born on the Fourth of July (film)

WATCH IT NOW: Born on the Fourth of July