Alternative cinema for big kids: Wadjda

Meet Wadjda. 

She's a spunky, smart, enterprising 10-year-old Saudi Arabian girl living in Riyadh who has her eye on a green bicycle at the shop. 

Much to her dismay, she can't convince her mother or father to purchase it; bicycles are considered unseemly, a bit scandalous, and even damaging for a girl ("you won't be able to have children if you ride a bike!" she's told). So she decides to take fate into her own hands and enter the Koran recitation contest at school that offers a cash prize with enough to get the bike.

Wadjda delighted me. If you haven't seen it yet, you are in for a treat. The Guardian called it "a rebel yell with a spoonful of sugar" and that's about right. It has a sweetness to it while gently pushing the envelope for opportunities for girls in Saudi Arabia. And I was fascinated by the window into daily life in Riyadh. Wadjda deftly navigated the themes of cultural beliefs & practices, family relationships, faith, and social change, reflecting some of the nuance and complexity of these issues rather than going for a heavy-handed approach.

It's also a movie of firsts: the first feature film made in Saudi Arabia and the first film ever made by a Saudi female filmmaker. In fact, since it is illegal there for men and women to work in public together, director Haifaa al Mansour had to communicate with the crew through phones and radio from inside a van.  (For more about Haifaa al Mansour's experience directing the movie and her approach to gradual change within Saudi Arabia, listen to this interview with the Guardian and this one with NPR.)

Wadjda (rated PG)  is available on iTunes and Netflix. 

• I loved it. Highly recommended and one of my favorite recent film finds.
• Recommended for: ages 10 and up, especially those who are curious about other cultures and about children around the world--and those who don't mind reading captions to keep up with the story.
• You should know: You may have to explain a bit about Muslim culture and, specifically, why Wadjda's father is considering marrying another woman. There's also some very mild innuendo that will go right over most kids' heads. (As always, if you have any reservations or questions, see it first before showing your kids.)

Alt cinema picks just for you!

When I'm feeling the itch to escape the burbs and need access to some insta-culture, I often choose to drive into town to a fabulous little theater that specializes in independent films (River Oaks Theatre for any locals). It's a bit of a drive, but, as a bonus, the shopping center also boasts one of the BEST macaron bakeries in town -- so there's THAT.

Here's two films I can whole heartedly recommend:

Several months ago (as in five) I saw Fill the Void, a film about an Orthodox Hassidic family from Tel Aviv. The narrative focuses primarily on the women, particularly an 18 year old girl who is considering marriage within an extremely conservative and duty-bound culture. The story is interesting, but the insight into Hassidic culture is spectacular. The clothes, the food, the rules -- all of it made for an anxious and beautiful look at duty to family, personal choice, and the downright uncertainty of life. Several weeks after seeing the film I was in New York and ended up staying in Brooklyn, quite near an Hassidic neighborhood. I tried my best not to stare, but I have to admit I'm fascinated. NPR has a great review of the film (with some information on the director, Rama Burshtein) here. Available on iTunes or Amazon. [Note: This movie would be good for teens, although I suspect girls would like it more than boys.]

Just last weekend I drug my sister back downtown to see Philomena (see the trailer here).  When we arrived it was actually sold out (imagine them not holding a ticket for me!), but we persevered and waited until the later show. Guys, it was completely worth the wait. Judi Dench plays an older Irish woman whose son was put up for adoption in the early 1950s. She actually gave birth in a small convent that took in unwed mothers, charging them four years of hard labor in return for room and board. In addition, the convent adopted the babies out (for a sum) to families in America. It's all about shame, choice, forgiveness, religion, and  . . . well . . . of course the resiliency of the human spirit. Judi Dench is incredible. I'd really like to take Rebecca back to see the film, to give her a taste of what life was like for women in 1950. Be aware that there is some explicit language, although it's not used gratuitously (meaning the objects of the profanity dearly deserved the eptithets). There are also some sexual references (Philomena is very forthright about sexuality), so this would definitely be more for an older teen. And this one is still in theaters, so go forth boldly, with popcorn and junior mints!

Memory drive fail

While it has brought me a lot of joy, going back to grad school as an "older student" in my thirties (and, as it drags on, now my forties too) has definitely forced me to face my growing weaknesses. For example. When I was a younger student, I had a pretty darn good memory. In fact, I let my little-engine-that-could memory pull me out of numerous academic fixes, cramming as much information as my poor short-term memory could tolerate, only to eject it clean and empty moments after the exam. I had the audacity to think this meant I was smart. Nope; it turns out it was just the new equipment I was working with.

Now I look at those young students and their fancy next-to-new brains with the same knowing look that I give cute bouncy teenagers on the beach, with their smooth firm figures that they seem to think they earned. My amused, slightly knowing look says "your day will come, too, sweetheart. Enjoy it while you can." 

I have this sense that every time I put something new in my brain, something else falls out. Other things I decide not to park in there at all...thank goodness for calendars and computers and other gizmos that store information for me! I always cross my fingers that what I'm putting in there-in my brain--ranks more important that what it's replacing but who knows? I leave things behind, I forget appointments, I seem flakier. (Greg makes me feel better when he reads one of his thriller-genre books and, halfway through, says "I think I've read this before." And then continues reading because he can't remember how it ends anyway. Like a whole new book! And don't even get me started on the time G and I left our car running in the parking lot for an hour while we were shopping in Costco. Sheesh.) 

The "what's-his-name" work-around descriptions and word gaps (hilariously, one of the words I can never think of is "articulate," ha!) will only increase as I get older, I'm sure. Thankfully Billy Collins has covered that exact topic and, fangirl that I am of his poetry, I couldn't resist passing it along:

Forgetfulness

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

~ Billy Collins

So...had any memory fails lately?

Cinema for big kids: Holiday edition

By the time this posts, I'll (hopefully) be in the air on the lonnnnng but happy flight home for the holidays. But before I go, a quick post to celebrate holiday movies, second only to music in setting my Christmas barometer to "festive." Here's a list of holiday films (and some tv episodes)--obvious and maybe not-so-obvious--to consider for your holiday viewing this year:

• Elf. (2003) Of course.
• It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Of course. Every single year. Buffalo girls won't you come out tonight?
• John Denver and The Muppets--A Christmas Together (1979): A must-see Muppet Christmas tv episode. Classic--we also love the soundtrack from this one.
• Little Women (any version but I like the 1994 one with Claire Danes and Wynona Ryder and Christian Bale(!) for its winter scenes). Sure, it's not a Christmas movie per se but the holiday scenes are so evocative! 
• The Bishop's Wife (1947): A Bishop prays for guidance and Cary Grant appears as the Angel Dudley. Trailer here. 
• Meet Me in St. Louis (1944): How can you resist Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?" 
• A Christmas Story (1983): Ralphie's Christmas quest for a Red Ryder BB gun, his dad's leg lamp, the tongue on the icy flagpole. (Some language; we learned through experience this one isn't really for the younger end of the spectrum.)
• The Bells of St. Mary's (1945): Not technically a Christmas movie but it contains one of my all-time favorite Christmas nativity scenes:

• Holiday Inn (1942): Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire. Need I say more?
• White Christmas (1954): Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney come together to save a Vermont Inn with music. 
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993): Not a Christmas movie either but some of the crucial scenes happen on Christmas Eve and can you really go wrong with Nora Ephron?
• Home Alone (1990): Christmas overload! 
• Little House on the Prairie (1974): What better way to catch the Christmas spirit than joining the Ingalls in their Christmas at Plum Creek episode (even if you're a little distracted by all the leaves on the trees and bushes in December in  "Minnesota")
• The Waltons original tv pilot movie (1971): The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. This one's for you, Sarah:

Enjoy! Now, what am I missing? What are your holiday movie favorites?

A few good gems

Things are getting holiday real around here. The kids' last day of the school year is today and their summer holiday break officially starts tomorrow. We are packing up this weekend to head north (wayyy north) for a colder, whiter Christmas with family. You can probably imagine the giddiness at our house right now!

photo via Style Me Pretty

But first I want to share some of the internet's finest offerings this week. I kind of went overboard but isn't a little bit of excess expected (or at least excused) this time of year?

I loved this New Yorker tribute to Nelson Mandela. So many good Mandela quotes have been cited in the last day or two but I especially love this one: "It always seems impossible until it's done." Rest in peace and godspeed, Mr. Mandela. 

This crispy hash browns cake from the gals at A Beautiful Mess looks like the perfect breakfast/brunch for tomorrow morning (at our house that breakfast/brunch timing tends to depend on whether you're a parent or teenager):

photo via A Beautiful Mess

I can totally relate to this BrainChild post about a family's three generations of women and their membership in the unofficial Society of Late Night Readers.  I'm a proud member of that club. When I can stay awake for it, that is. 

Art makes you smart. Amen.

I have a confession to make: we haven't actually had our holiday card photos taken yet, let alone ordered the cards. (I KNOW. I'm such a card hypocrite, after I was all cardy way back in October.) I was really inspired by this fun photo, though, and if I get my act together we might just make our Christmas deadline. (Or Valentines Day might be good, too.)

Via Babble. Photo credit LaViePhoto

Anne Lamott said her original title for this article on self acceptance was actually "My Four Worst Secrets That I Bet Are Yours, Too."  Either way, I love her wisdom and realness and vulnerability. Preach it, Anne!

The internet is a both magical and stinky place. I'm sure you've noticed. And you may also have already seen this but I must include Emily Graslie's response to icky comments on her video blog "The Brain Scoop."  She nailed it. (And hooray for fantastic sciencey role models like Emily!)

I was recently reminded of this lovely, moving essay on the unique gift and challenge of parenting a terminally ill child, "Notes from a Dragon Mom."  She writes "We are dragon parents: fierce and loyal and loving as hell. Our experiences have taught us how to parent for the here and now, for the sake of parenting, for the humanity implicit in the act itself, though this runs counter to traditional wisdom and advice." 

This cool (admittedly outdated) infographic depicting 4000 years of human history makes me want to print it out, put it on my wall, and take a good long look at it with my kids.

It's eery and moving to listen to this 50-year-old recording of the moment the audience at a Boston Symphony Orchestra afternoon concert hears of the assassination of President Kennedy. The impromptu change to the program is stirring, too.

Finally, can someone really make a keyboard doorbell, pretty please? I'd be first in line (via Apartment Therapy, idea by Li Jianye).

photo via

Have a fantastic weekend! Go show it who's boss!

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The Brothers Green

If you have teenagers, chances are you've heard about the Green brothers, John and Hank.  After all, they do have over 500,000,000 (yes, that's 500 million) combined views on their projects so even my shoddy statistical reasoning leads me to think some (or most?) of you have probably come under the Green spell. But if not, you're in for a treat for you and your kids. 

John Green is a popular YA author whose most recent book, The Fault in Our Stars, was both a critical and popular cross-over hit that is being made into a movie. (I think Maddy just read it again for the third time, actually; we suggest it for 15+ since it has some mature themes and a bit of language.) 

Hank Green is an entrepreneur, musician, and vlogger who created the Lizzie Bennet Diaries series, a modern-day adaptation of Pride & Prejudice we mentioned in our weekly Gems a few months back (and it went on to win an Emmy, you guys!).

Now he's back with a new interactive series called Emma Approved based on, you guessed it, Jane Austen's Emma with the modern-day Emma re-imagined as a "bold, smart, idealistic, and audacious young female entrepreneur in life coaching and matchmaking." There's a youtube channel that airs the video episodes and Emma also tweets, has a Facebook page, and a Tumblr. Here's the first episode:

The two brothers also have a hilarious Vlogbrothers channel on YouTube where they leave video messages to each other several times a week and entertain the rest of us in the meantime with their smart, nerdy-cool, fast-paced dialogue on whatever they're thinking about at the time--science, health insurance, maps, animals who stopped sporting events, jokes, etc. For your Monday entertainment,  please enjoy one of Hank's joke challenges:

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Alt cinema for big kids: Opal Dream

In Opal Dream, Kellyanne Williamson is a young girl with a vivid imagination living with her family in an opal mining town in South Australia. When her two imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingan, go missing, the mysterious sickness that she soon suffers has her older brother Ashmol on a search to find the invisible pair for her.

At the same time, Kellyanne and Ashmol's dad is chasing dreams of hitting it big in the opal mines. He is caught accidentally straying onto another miner's turf and assumed to be "ratting," looking for opals on another's territory.  Thereafter the family faces harassment over it in their small town.  

Based on the Ben Rice novella Pobby and Dingan, this bittersweet family film has a simple fable-like quality, the story an allegory for the loss of childhood. It also grants an interesting view of Australian life in the mining region. Might be a bit too sweet for some (as in more jaded older teens?). Good for 10+ or so. 

. . . 

Rating: PG (some occasional language and tense moments of bullying.) 
 
Themes: siblings, bullying, imagination, compassion, faith, family loyalty, other cultures
 
Year: 2006
 
Rotten Tomatoes score: 70%
 Available on iTunes to rent or buy 

Interesting tidbit: the original movie had a different ending; a last-minute cut was made against the wishes of the director because the financiers thought it would have better success at the box office with a different ending. 

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(Thanks to my aunt Susie, who mentioned this film recently. It was a good find!)

Looking for some more off-the-beaten-path options? Here are our other Nest & Launch alternative cinema titles so far: 
 Children of Heaven
 Charade
 Lagaan
 Les Choristes