Children of Heaven

Children of Heaven is a 1997 Iranian film by Majid Majidi. It centers around a brother and sister and their adventures over a lost pair of shoes. Ali loses his sisters shoes in the beginning of the film and after telling his sister, the two decide to keep it a secret from their parents to avoid getting into trouble. The two decide to split Ali's shoes between the each other.Zahra will wear them to school in the morning and hand them off to Ali at noon so he can attend afternoon classes. Hilarious hijinks ensue as the two continue on with the secret despite how inconvenient it is.One day, Zahra sees her missing shoes on the feet of a classmate and follows her to her house. It is here that she realizes that the girls' father is blind. Soon after, the two become friends. Towards the end of the movie, Ali enters a race where 3rd place receives a pair of shoes. Thus, he tries his best to get third. However, he accidentally places 1st and gets the rand prize. He is very saddened by this. Zahra appears disappointed by this and the movie cuts to their father riding a bike...and on the back are two new pairs of sneakers.

I think the major theme of the film is perseverance. At least on Ali's part. He spends the entire movie running to class and always being late. He never stops, no matter how late he will be or is. And when he is stopped in his tracks he still continues on. I mean this literally and figuratively. Towards the end of the film, he uses his running for competition and tries his best to place 3rd. But alas, he gets 1st. His idea of victory not being in line with theirs makes him brutally sad either way.

I really liked this movie. It was one of the most fun movies I feel we had seen all year. Ali is a character we can all look up to. No matter how old we are compared to him. His sister also had admirable characteristics as well; she finds the girl who has her shoes and does noting about it. And when I say 'nothing' I mean, she didn't get angry or confrontational. Instead, they became friends. The whole movie was really good, from start to finish. It was fun and thoughtful at the same time, which most movies cannot execute nowadays.

Eat Drink Man Woman

Eat Drink Man Woman is a 1994 Taiwanese film directed by Ang Lee.

The movie is about a semi-retired and widowed Chinese chef and his family. At the start of the film, he lives with his three single daughters. One is a teacher, one is a business woman and one is a college student. As the film goes on, each daughter becomes involved with a man and moves out of the house. All except the oldest daughter who coincidentally had the most difficult relationship with her father.

The father is called in to 'save' a meal at a restaurant. It is then that we realize how sage his wisdom of the kitchen is. At the beginning of the movie, he is cooking a tremendous amount of food with a tremendous amount of patience and precision. We are introduced to his daughters....each one single and seemingly uninterested in relationships. Every Sunday, the four of them have a grand dinner. 9/10 those dinners are quite awkward. AS the movie progresses, each daughter comes across a man that is able to grab their interest. The school teacher becomes interested in a gym teacher she believes is interested in her but actually hasn't made any moves towards her. The college student falls for the boy who is actually interested in her co-worker. Yet, her co-worker shows signs of not caring for him at all. The daughter on the other hand is on the other side of that fence and the two decide to be together very early. The third, oldest and most successful daughter becomes entangled with a new hire. But instead of the two falling in love and creating a more lasting relationship, decide to cut it out. The fathers loneliness begins to grow as he loses his taste buds....which is tragic for a chef.

The major theme of the film is necessity. Eat....we need food to live. Drink...we need to drink....the last two, Man and Woman...are what shape the film. Before becoming engaged to a man, the two women seem to lead a hollow existance. They were living, but it just seemed as though something was missing. They finally move on however, when they get involved with men. And I guess the same thing can be said about the men...especially the boy the college going daughter meets. He leads a hopeless life until he becomes involved and in love with her.

I thought the movie was very good, and very comical. The title and theme were are my favorite parts of the movie. I love metaphors and symbology and this movie was filled with both. It focuses heavily on mortality, and the steps to be taken so as not to squander that mortality. I don't necessarily agree that companionship is needed to survive...but I can see where the message spawns from. Ang Lee is a very talented director and very well rounded.

Bad Education

Bad Education is a 2004 Spanish film directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It tells the story of two reunited childhood friends/lovers; Enrique who has become a film director and Ignacio who is an actor. Ignacio comes to Enrique six years later with a story he would like for him to turn into a film. The story is based on their childhood. Enrique decides to make his story into a movie and the plot unfolds through both the present, flashbacks and the production of Ignacio's short film. The story is primarily based on Ignacio's molestation that he sustained at the hands of their Catholic school teacher, Father Manolo. As production continues, Enrique stumbles upon a murder mystery.


The film is filled with several major themes including sexual abuse by Catholic priests, transsexuality and drug abuse. When the film starts, we are keyed in on the sexual abuse by Father Manolo. The unjust nature of it all is covered greatly and in length. Father Manolo will stop at nothing to stop Ignacio from informing the public of the molestation. For years and years, Manolo pays for his transexual surgeries in exchange for his silence and to be near him. Transsexuality is what drives the character of Ignacios greed. In the present, Ignacio/Juan wants to play the part of Zahara, the transsexual lead in his story being adapted by Enrique, but Enrique scoffs at this notion. Juan however, is not so easily dissuaded and constantly requests that he get the part. Ignacio's character does plenty of drugs and eventually overdoses the day he decides to quit. I guess 'greed' in itself is also a major theme in this film. Everyone wants something in the movie. Manolo wants Ignacio, Ignacio wants money/drugs, Enrique wants the next big story and Juan wants fame and money.

I thought the movie was good. Except that it was a little confusing and the twist seemed somewhat forced. It felt like it came out of left field....out of nowhere. I let it grow on me though and it honestly makes the film 10x more interesting. I mean, it was intriguing to begin with, but now you're sitting there trying to figure out the brothers motives for doing everything he has done. I thought the production value was really good and enjoyed the camera angles. Intertwining multiple stories to form one will always be a risky thing to do, but I liked it. Even though, like I said earlier, I was confused. I'm not surprised it took ten years to write this script.

Amores Perros

Amores Perros is a Mexican film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The movie is 153 minutes long and contains three different stories, which, at some point, link all characters briefly in the same exact car crash. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000 and won the Ariel Award for Best Picture from the Mexican Academy of Film. It is dubbed by many as the 'Mexican Pulp Fiction'.


The first story is about Octavio who we find out has feelings for his sister in law who lives with him, his ill tempered brother and is mother. Octavio begins entering their dog into dog fights after it manages to kill one of the toughest dogs after being jumped by it on the streets. Octavio makes a lot of money and begs Susana, his brothers wife, to run away with him. His advances are ignored left and right. Octavio continues to win games. Most of them against the owner of the first dog his dog beat who continues to try and beat Octavio with new dogs but fails. In a private match however, he kills Octavios dog by shooting him. Before leaving, Octavio stabs him and gets into a high speed chase which ends up with him and his friend crashing into someones car.



The second story is about a man who works for a magazine who seems happily married with a wife and kids. The home continuously gets calls and whenever the wife answers the phone there is no one on the other end. Soon, we find out, that Daniel is having an affair. He eventually leaves his wife after spending a fortune on a new apartment to movie in with his mistress, Valeria, a very popular model whose ad stretches alongside a building that can be seen from their new apartment window.

The two are extremely happy.

Until Valeria gets into a car accident with Octavio and has to get surgery. Surgery goes fine and she goes home. One afternoon, while playing fetch in the apartment, her dog falls into a hole in the floor. She is worried for him, but Daniel thinks he will find his own way out. Valeria is stuck at home with nothing to do and gets restless. She also feels that Daniel doesn't care about her or the dog. Mysterious phone calls begin to be made to the house which makes her suspicious. The two are in a loveless relationship which ets even worse when Valeria must lose her leg to avoid gangrene. Her career as a model is over. And the ad alongside the building across the street gets taken down.

In the third story, El Chivo is a homeless man who cares for stray dogs and is a hit ma who wishes to visit the daughter he left behind years ago. He witnesses the collision and steals Octavios dog to take care of him. Back at his place, we find out that he has at least half a dozen dogs already which he loves and cares for. He leaves Octavios dog alone with them while going out on business and comes back to find all his others dogs slaughtered. Octavios dog has killed them all and El Chivo is greatly saddened by this. Throughout the film, he takes on a few jobs until he gets one which involves killing a mans brother/lover. He lets the two fight amongst themselves after tying them up in his dwelling. He sells a truck and walks out into the distance with Octavios dog, who he now calls blackie.

I think the movie is filled with themes from left and right. But the MAJOR theme is cruelty against one another. Octavio and his brother always get into physical conflicts. Daniel and Valeria HATE one another, and Daniel just ended his long relationship with his wife to be with her. El Chivo seems like a nice guy, but he kills people for a living. When he retrieved Octavios dog from the crash, he stole money from his dead friend instead of pulling either one of them out of the car. Blackie kills his fellow hounds. Not just one or two of them, but all of them.

The film also covers the hierarchy of the social class. Octavio is lower class, Daniel and Valeria are upper class and El Chivo is at the poverty level...he's homeless. All of them however, still showcase the same amount of cruelty and emotional distress. Each of them are 'broken'. And a car crash ties them together for a brief moment.

I think the movie was very good. 153 minutes was necessary to get everything across. this was the second time I have seen this movie and I didn't mind sitting through it. The only problem I had with it was the subtitles. From the title to the dialogue, Engish viewers are practically being lied to. But, alas, that is not the fault of Alejandro González Iñárritu. Who has delivered on an excellent film that concludes with a not so Hollywood ending and that is always a plus in my book.