Moviewallas – Page 48

Underwater Dreams | Review

Moviewallas

It is easy to dismiss Underwater Dreams as yet another David vs. Golliath tale as it chronicles the epic story of four teenage boys from the desert who built an underwater robot from Home Depot parts and went up against engineering powerhouse MIT in a NASA contest and won.

However, there is way more to this documentary written and directed by Mary Mazzio than first meets the eye and narrated expertly by Michael Pena. Hidden behind the robotics and competition is an incredible story of immigration, aspiration and what happens when smart people are given opportunities that others often take for granted. It’s true, nerds come in different shapes, sizes, cultural backgrounds and ethnicities.

We’ve all heard the phrase “behind every successful man is a woman”, well behind every successful student is a passionate teacher and in this documentary, the boys are lucky enough to have two; Fredi Lajvardi and Allan Cameron, two energetic high school science teachers, who on a whim, enter their high school, a Title I school where most of the students live in poverty, into a sophisticated underwater robotics competition sponsored by NASA and the Office of Naval Research, among others.

Winning the competition was never a consideration and what comes across in this heart-warming tale is the enthusiasm and verve each of the four boys (Lorenzo Santillian, Oscar Vazquez, Luis Aranda and Cristian Arcega) plus their teachers bring to the project. Despite advice from oceanic engineers that their underwater robot (aptly named Stinky) would require expensive glass syntactic flotation foam, the group charge forward with all they could afford which was PVC pipe, some duct tape and oh yes some tampons!

This documentary is timely given the current state of immigration in the US where unprecedented numbers of illegal minors are bombarding the US for a chance at a better life. Although the documentary doesn’t advocate one way or another, what it does do cleverly is create empathy for smart kids who just want to make something of themselves and contribute to moving the field of robotics further; One can’t argue with that.

The most moving and haunting part of this movie for me is ten years on from the memorable win, how the lives of these four incredible boys has evolved and diversified and just how much these boys; sons of undocumented parents themselves are willing to give back to kids who they have inspired as a result of their actions.

Underwater Dreams Trailer

Website: www.UnderwaterDreamsFilm.com

AMC Theatres Release: AMC will release the movie theatrically on July 11, 2014 at AMC Burbank in Los Angeles and AMC Empire 25 in New York. In addition, beginning July 19,

AMC will host community screenings free of charge for schools, non-profits and other communities whose members would be inspired and entertained by this movie. Requests for community screenings can be submitted via the film’s website: www.UnderwaterDreamsFilm.com or by email requests@50eggs.com.

Check Local Listings for viewing details

Episode 237 – Transformers: Age of Extinction / Begin Again

Moviewallas

Heading to the Movies this 4th July weekend? Should you see Transformers or Begin Again? Find out in this episode of Moviewallas.

– Begin Again

– Transformers: Age of Extinction

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (38.9MB)

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Episode 236 – Godzilla / Million Dollar Arm

Moviewallas

We’re playing catchup this week with reviews of:

– Million Dollar Arm

– Godzilla

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (28.3MB)

Episode 235 – A Million Ways to Die in the West / The Fault in Our Stars

Moviewallas

It’s time for Moviewallas! This week we review:

– The Fault in Our Stars

– A Million Ways to Die in the West

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (37.6MB)

Coherence | Review

Moviewallas Sundance

I have been lucky enough to see one comet in my lifetime so far and fortunately it did not come with half of the drama that faces the group of eight friends at dinner in the movie Coherence.

On the night of an astronomical anomaly namely one Miller’s comet flying through the skies, eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of reality bending events. Part cerebral sci-fi and part relationship drama, Coherence is a tightly focused, intimately shot film whose tension intensely ratchets up as its numerous complex mysteries unfold.

There are many thing to like about this movie including the fact that this is an incredibly original idea. Like all of the best sic-fi movies, what is most enjoyable to watch is the depth of the characters and the relationships between them. Good writing ensures that we understand the meaningful history between this group of eight complete with conflicts and ex boyfriends/girlfriends which add spice to the movie as the tension builds and we try and make sense of exactly what is going on. The mystery unfolds slowly, posing interesting existential questions as it does so. This married with innovative editing as each scene cuts to black often creates horror-esque tension leaving you wondering just how everything will wrap up. When you do finally get to the end of the movie, it will leave you with many questions about your own life including

Some of the things that I enjoyed most about this movie were impressive around the dinner table scenes where the conversation seemed so natural and organic as it weaved and morphed that iI almost forgot I was watching a movie and watching a fly on the wall documentary instead. In addition, the way that group think is portrayed both when faced by a problem and also how people react under severe stress and pressure was well acted and directed.

Coherence Trailer

Coherence is written and directed by James Ward Byrkit and stars Nicholas Brendon, Emily Foxler, Maury Sterling, Elizabeth Gracen, Alex Manugian (who conceived of the story), Lauren Maher, Hugo Armstrong and Lorene Scafaria.

Coherence will be in theaters beginning June 20th, check local listings for show times

Out in the Night | Los Angeles Film Festival 2014

Directors documentary Los Angeles Film Festival 2014 Moviewallas Opinion Review Sneak Peek Trailers YouTube

Exactly what is the responsibility of the media in reporting news? In my opinion, news should be reported factually and in an unbiased fashion. However we all know that with the advent of syndicated news channels and the need for 24-hour news cycles, it is easy for smaller stories to escalate to larger ones and others to get sensationalized and out of control. Welcome to the movie Out in the Night, a new documentary by Blair Dorosh-Walther that examines the 2006 case of The New Jersey 4.

Through the lives of four young women, Out in the Night reveals how their race, gender identity and sexuality became criminalized in the mainstream news media and criminal legal system.

The documentary skillfully tells the story of a group of young friends, African American lesbians who are out, one hot August night in 2006, in the gay friendly neighborhood of New York City. They are all in their late teens and early twenties and come from a low-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. Two of the women are the focus – gender non-conforming Renata Hill, a single mother with a soft heart and keen sense of humor, and petite femme Patreese Johnson, a shy and tender poet. As they and their friends walk under the hot neon lights of tattoo parlors in the West Village, an older man sexually and violently confronts them. He says to Patreese “let me get some of that” as he points below her waist. When she says that they are gay, the man becomes violent and threatens to “fuck them straight”. He spits and throws a lit cigarette. Renata and Venice defend the group and a fight begins, captured by security cameras nearby. The man yanks out hair from Venice’s head and chokes Renata. Then, Patreese pulls a knife from her purse and swings at him. Strangers jump in to defend the women and the fight escalates. As the fight comes to an end, all get up and walk away. But 911has been called and the man involved has been stabbed. Police swarm to the scene as their radios blast out warning of a gang attack. The women are rounded up and charged with gang assault, assault and attempted murder. Three of the women plead guilty. But Renata, Patreese, Venice and friend Terrain claim their innocence. They are called a “Gang of Killer Lesbians” by the media. In activist circles they become known as The New Jersey 4.

One can easily forgive Dorosh-Walther for giving us a somewhat one-sided narrative given few people were initially advocating for the women and even fewer people have been able to hear the story from their side, but this is an important documentary to watch. Out in the Night will anger you, sadden you and frustrate you all at the same time and so it should because Justice should be genderless, raceless and sexless and yet we are led to believe time and time again that had these women been middle class heterosexual white women, their lives may have turned out very differently.

The incredible narrative that unfolds over a period of years beginning in 2006 through to present day and in some cases through many of the years that some of the women were incarcerated will have you glued to your seat. Beyond the injustice however, the most endearing thing about this documentary is the women front and center of the debate, Renata, Patreese, Venice and Terrain, who have very graciously opened up their lives to us.

Out in the Night Trailer