Past seven days

The highlight of the week was the chance to see the "dark" alternate ending to 1986's Little Shop of Horrors.  Thank you to DarkRefrain for hosting the screening.  It also gave me a reason to visit another of Chicago's old movie theaters I have never been to before, The Patio Theater.  They screen first run and a lot of cult movies, and for good prices too.

Across 110th Street
21 and Over
The Caller
Dark Skies
Little Shop of Horrors (with alternate ending) (1986)
The Sweeney
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
Wake in Fright

Bless Me, Ultima

This Mexican-themed coming-of-age film, which also touches on religion and mysticism, is based on a book of the same name by Rudolfo Anaya, apparently banned in some schools for its pagan depictions. The story is told from the point of view of its young protagonist, Antonio (Luke Ganalon). It tells of the year or two when Ultima, an old woman and friend of the family, comes to spend her final years in New Mexico with them. The story stars an all-Hispanic cast of mostly unfamiliar (to me) actors. I believe Alfred Molina narrates as the adult Antonio.

The story takes place in 1944. Antonio and his sisters have it in their heads that Ultima is a bruja, a witch. But she says she is only a curandera, a healer, and this is borne out a few times during the film when she uses her knowledge of plant lore to save the sick and dying. But, Ultima also uses voodoo-like rituals and this witchlike behavior makes her a bit feared among the Catholic-religious Mexicans who live here.

Antonio’s father has dreams of moving from New Mexico to California where he hopes for a better life. Antonio’s mother comes from a family of farmers and is content to stay here where her father and brothers are close. Since it is in the era of World War 2, Antonio also has several older brothers, barely men themselves, who are fighting in the war, soon to return home.

We see Ultima teaching Antonio plant lore, and he witnesses both tragic and happy incidents involving his family and community. An uncle was unlucky to chance upon some local sisters in the night, who are suspected to be witches, and falls ill because of it, but Ultima cures him. This angers the sisters’ father Tenorio, a powerful man who vows vengeance on Ultima when one of his daughters dies, he believes from Ultima’s curse.

Antonio grows up and starts school, has scrapes with friends. His young uncles have wanderlust and want to migrate elsewhere to start their own lives. Summers are spent harvesting on the mother's family's farm. Antonio's father makes a stand to protect his family and Ultima, but her last days are spent with Antonio’s family as she vowed.

Past seven days

I've been on a Star Trek kick lately, rewatching the Deep Space Nine and Voyager series, instead of movies.  And I started watching Netflix's original series, House of Cards, which is quite entertaining.  But I still managed to squeezed in a few movies this past week:

Bless Me, Ultima
Flight
The Hole
Oscar Nominated Shorts-Animation
The Tiger's Tale

Chasing Ice

This doc addresses climate change, pointedly through the work of a professional photographer James Balog. In recent years he has been trekking to the northern parts of the Earth to photograph glaciers. As a longtime nature photographer, he discovered the beauty of glaciers and then in later visits of the same locales, saw them receding too fast to be explained by nature.

In an effort to document glacier movement, he took it upon himself to set up cameras in different locations that would take photos long term, which he would then string together into a time lapse video.

His first effort is unsuccessful as due to a faulty computer motherboard and other issues few of his cameras have captured any photos, leading him to frustration.

Redesigning the tech components, Balog tries again. Success! His videos show dramatic change in how terrifyingly quickly the glaciers are receding. He feels that a visual medium, rather than facts and figures, will convince humans to not only acknowledge that human-influenced climate change happens, but that we must do something about it--and NOW.

I'll Come Running

I think is hard to categorize this movie as it has elements of an independent, foreign, romance, drama, and light comedy script. I would categorize it most as an independent drama.

A Danish tourist, Pelle (Jon Lange) is in Texas with a couple friends. They are at a Mexican chain-type restaurant where they flirt briefly with the waitresses, one whom forms a quick bond. Veronica (Melonie Diaz) claims not to be able to pronounce Pelle's name so nicknames him Milhouse from The Simpsons cartoon TV show character (Milhouse is sort of a geek/milquetoast) after they have some repartee about that show. Pelle in turn nicknames her Lisa, also a character from The Simpsons, and they address each other with these names throughout this story.

Pelle gets a message from a friend at home, Soren (Christian Tafdrup), who has gotten a job for him, so Pelle decides to cut his vacation short as his vacationing friends move on. He changes his flight but has a day more before his flight leaves, so Veronica/Lisa and her roommate invite Pelle to a party, after which Pelle/Milhouse stays the night since he has nowhere to stay. He and Veronica have some casual sex and bond a little over the next day or so, but Veronica often reminds him about the impermanency of their relationship, and gets him to get in a cab to return to the airport.

Unfortunately a tragedy happens and despite Veronica's knowing very little about Pelle (not even his real name) she impulsively goes to Denmark, and manages to get inside his apartment. His friend Soren is dismayed to learn the bad news and can't seem to get over it. He seems to have his heart on his sleeve in a way about Pelle. Soren embellishes Veronica's relationship to Pelle's parents, making her more important in Pelle's life than she was.