From April 2012. Carlos says, "Jah rules!"
“Marley” (+)
Stephen Holden of The New York Times loved this film as did my friend, Peter Aschkenasy, who urged me to see it. I didn’t think it was as fantastic as they did, but I certainly enjoyed it and came away with a deep appreciation of Marley’s talent and an understanding of his fans’ devotion to him and his music. The movie is definitely worth seeing.
In his Times review Holden wrote that Marley “was the son of a young black woman, Cedella Marley Booker, who had a passing relationship with the much older Norval Marley, a British Army man of mixed race who was considered a white Jamaican. Because of his racially mixed parentage Bob Marley found himself a social outcast.”
Interestingly, the film makes the point that while Marley was beloved by blacks around the world, and particularly in Jamaica where he was born, he never caught on with black Americans. His followers in the U.S. were overwhelmingly white. I saw the film at the Landmark Sunshine Theater on East Houston Street in Manhattan and was surprised that the audience was 90 percent or more white.
The film shows clips of Marley’s concerts but no songs are sung in their entirety. His style of music was Reggae which someone in the film defines as a mixture of Gospel, Soul, Rhythm and Blues, a touch of Jazz, and a host of other musical strains. I enjoyed listening to his music and particularly liked watching him dance during a concert. He dominated the stage the way Mick Jagger does during his shows.
Marley, a Rastafarian, was a short man with dreadlocks. He died of cancer at the age of 36. Apparently he did not seek adequate treatment when he was diagnosed a few years earlier with malignant melanoma in one of his toes. He feared amputation which would affect his ability to dance. When his hair fell out during cancer treatment, according to one observer, he became very tiny.
Whether or not you are familiar with Marley’s music, you will enjoy this film. A lot of details about his life are provided by his friends and by Cynthia Breakspeare, the mother of Marley’s son Damian, also a musician. Marley left a permanent mark on life and it was clearly a positive one.
“Bully”
I was deeply disappointed after seeing this documentary, because it didn’t adequately discuss or portray the agonies suffered by children who are bullied. Nevertheless, because few if any other movies have tackled this important topic, this picture should be seen by as many people as possible in order to give its subject matter the attention it deserves and get people thinking and talking about what has to be done.
Children can be cruel, and bullying is a common situation in many schools. The movie portrays some of the emotional problems that five children in different schools in various states are experiencing after being harassed. Most children surviving such torment will suffer enormous psychological pain that may remain with them and affect their adulthood. In some cases, the intimidation causes the victim to commit suicide.
It is important that youngsters not subject to bullying for whatever reasons – size, wealth, athleticism, etc. – be made aware of their obligation to immediately assist a child being harassed or, if they lack the strength to put the individual in his/her place, then to immediately report the incident to school authorities, so as to provide help to the victimized child.
Every state should adopt a model program to deal with the problem of bullying. Some states have. This picture makes it clear that many teachers and administrators do not know how to deal with the situation, often not being able to distinguish between the victim and the predator.
Do see this movie.
“The Moth Diaries” (-)
The critics are divided about this movie. I made a mistake and relied on the review of The New York Times critic Jeannette Catsoulis who made it sound interesting. I hadn’t yet read the capsule review in the Daily News which stated, “Another teenage goth tale about a new student at a creepy prep school suspected by her classmates of being a vampire. The moths that emerge from a room could just as easily come from the hoary, ridiculous script.” That analysis made it clear that this picture is a stinker, and I concur, having seen the film.
There are three major characters in the picture which has as its setting a girls boarding school. An innuendo is made of a “crush” between two of the girls, Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) and Lucie (Sarah Gadon), but at that age, it is foolish to call it lesbianism which several critics do. The mystery deepens with the introduction into the school of a new student, Ernessa (Lily Cole), who looks peculiar. Rebecca believes she is a vampire intent on stealing Lucie’s affections.
I thought the whole shebang was ridiculous and regretted having to stay to the end of the movie to fulfill my obligations as a critic. Do avoid unless you are a masochist.
