Babette's Feast (1987) [G]

One of the first great food movies. This is a Danish movie about a French woman who was taken in by two daughters of a now deceased pastor of a small religious community in Denmark. The sect is quiet and repressed, with little emotional passion expressed. Babette is a refugee from violence in Paris. The sisters take her in and she becomes their housekeeper, taking good care of them and the other aging members of the community for 14 years. Her only remaining tie to Paris is a lottery ticket that a friend renews for her each year.

One day Babette wins that lottery and decides to spend the money on creating an epicurean feast for the people who saved her. The movie has the most beautiful scenes of food preparation! She pours her love into the meal which is indeed sumptuous.

The movie is more than just meal preparation. We also get to see the past lives of the sisters, including their opportunities for love. The sisters are sure that the meal will be too sensual for their religious sensibilities, and with the other members of the community, agree to accept the meal, but not to enjoy it! Are they in for a surprise!

This is a lovely and gentle movie about love in many of its forms. Food is the metaphor. Don't watch this while you are hungry!

The movie is based on a story by Karen Blixen, who also wrote the story that Out of Africa was based on. It was also the first Danish film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.


DIRECTOR: Gabriel Axel.  CAST:  Stephane Audran, Jean-Phillipe Lafont, Gudmar Wivesson, Jarl Kulle, Bibi Andersson, Birgitte Federspiel, Bodil Kjer.

AWARDS:  Academy Award and another 10 wins and 6 nominations

 

Zoolander (2001) [PG-13]

This movie is funnier than it has the right to be! If you have had any dealings with the modeling business, you will find it even funnier. A real family affair (his father, mother, sister, and wife are all in the movie), this is Ben Stiller as a really dumb fashion model who the bad guys brainwash into assassinating the Prime Minister of Malaysia! He also co-wrote and directed the movie.

Derek Zoolander is a male model with a series of special modeling faces (the joke is that although they have different names: "Blue Steel", "Le Tigre" and "Ferrari", they are all the same expression which is basically him staring into the camera as he sucks in his cheeks). Recently unseated as top model by Hansel (Owen Wilson), he is working on a new face, "Magnum." He is also very disturbed that no male model seems to live beyond the age of 30.

Will Ferrell is Mugatu, the villain. He dresses in bizarre outfits, with his ugly little dog wearing a doggy version of the same clothes. He is the owner of a fashion line, "Derelicte," described by Mugatu as "a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique."

I laughed hard throughout the movie, except for a strange orgy scene with Zoolander, Matilda (Christine Taylor, Stiller's wife), and Hansel. It's the only jarring note and is responsible for the PG-13 rating.

There are tons of celebrity cameos, so keep your eyes open for Cuba Gooding Jr., Winona Ryder, David Bowie, Donald Trump, Christian Slater, Natalie Portman, and many high fashion names.

There are some real standout moments: the walk-off between Zoolander and Hansel, the boys at the gas station having so much fun "washing" the car, Zoolander's inability to turn left, those funny faces of his, and those dog outfits. Yes, this is stupid funny, but it is funny!!!

DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller  CAST: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, David Duchovny, Jon Voight, Judah Friedlander.

AWARDS: 1 win and 9 nominations.

The Other (1972) [PG]

Back when The Exorcist was on the best-seller list, there was another book on the list that also had a sense of the supernatural to it: The Other by Thomas Tryon. A little overshadowed by The Exorcist, The Other did quite well and it, too, was turned into a movie.

This is an eerie psychological thriller about two twin boys, Niles and Holland. Niles is the good one and Holland the bad one who is always up to trouble. Their father has died recently, their mother is a recluse in mourning, and their grandmother (played by Uta Hagen) who lives with them is the one who gives them the most attention. Niles seems to be her particular favorite and she has taught him to project himself outside of himself, such as becoming the bird he sees. She calls this "the great game."

Bad things start to happen. There are deaths, accidents, and disappearances. The boys seem to be involved, but how?

The author, Tryon, also wrote the screenplay, changing the ending. Whereas the book is a good read, the different ending in the movie makes it all more ironic.

I don't recommend this if you have any 11-year-old boys at home. Everyone else should enjoy the little shivers they get from this movie. This is a thriller, not a gory chop 'em up, but more like The Sixth Sense. And check out the book!

DIRECTOR: Robert Mulligan.  CAST: Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, Chris Udvarnoky, Martin Udvarnoky, Norma Connolly, Victor French, Portia Nelson, John Ritter.

AWARDS:  1 win.

Windwalker (1980) [PG]

Not your typical western nor a cowboys and Indians movie. Instead, this is a lovely and often funny Native American story, great for family viewing. The PG rating is due to violence, so it is probably not good for the very young.

Windwalker, an old Cheyenne man, decides it is a good day to die as his tribe prepares to leave for winter camp. His family stays behind to prepare him for death, while Windwalker starts to tell them the story of his past. He recounts falling in love and earning his bride.

The family places him on the high scaffold which is the Cheyenne custom for burial. Believing he has died, they continue on to winter camp.

After a while, Windwalker is surprised to wake up and find himself still alive. He begins his trek to join his family, making narrow escapes from the dangers of the wilderness. He continues to remember his past, and the story of his wife and sons.

During this time, his family has been ambushed and his son injured by a band of Crow, enemies of the Cheyenne. They find some shelter and try to figure out what to do next.

There is a very happy ending to the story. Windwalker's past is resolved with his family's help. There are surprises, both funny and heartwarming.

There are some really special things about this movie. First, there are no white men. This is not a story of the destruction of the Native Americans, but rather a story where all the characters are Cheyenne or Crow. The only English we hear is the narration and Windwalker's thoughts. All other speaking is in tribal languages (with titles).

The one glaring problem is that in a movie that really attempts to be a faithful depiction of Native customs and pay honor to their culture, Windwalker is portrayed by Trevor Howard, who is British! (They had to dub his narration due to his English accent!) The only other white actor is James Remar, who plays Windwalker as a young man. All the other roles are played by Native Americans. Howard is not awful, but you can't help but wonder why they didn't use one of the excellent older Native American actors.

The movie does pay careful attention to details of culture, language, costuming, and age-old traditions. The scenery, which is in Utah, is gloriously beautiful. Windwalker has the distinction of being named the #1 anthropological film of all time in an early 1990s poll of the American Anthropological Association.

DIRECTOR: Kieth Merrill. CAST: Trevor Howard, Nick Ramus, Serene Hedin, Dusty Iron Wing McCrea.

AWARDS: 1 win.

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1981) [PG]

This is a very funny movie. Three stories intertwine, along with culture clashes and jungle animals. This is a romance, adventure, anthropological study, travelogue, and comedy all rolled into one!

The movie starts out slowly, seeming to be a documentary. Don't be put off, just keep watching. I promise you will enjoy this!

A young woman in South Africa, tired of the big city rat race, arrives at a remote village to teach. She encounters a shy bumbler of a young scientist who is studying the local animals and tries his best to make her feel welcome.

At the same time, a Bushman has decided that the Coca-Cola bottle that fell from the sky is not really a blessing. He is going to go to the edge of the earth to return it to the gods, who must be crazy, since they sent only one bottle, and for the first time there is jealousy and dissension in the tribe. He encounters modern civilization for the first time.

There is also a band of guerilla fighters who are pursued by the military, adding some real suspense and danger to the movie. Along with some very brief nudity and adult language, it is this part that earned the movie its PG rating.

A big hit when first released, it played in the theaters for almost three years, and was for a long time the highest grossing foreign film ever released in the US. Some of the production values are primitive and there are some jerky editing moments, but somehow those just add to the fun.

There were many conflicting and maybe fictional stories about the lead actor who is a real Bushman. My favorite is the story that when N!xau was paid in money, he just let it fly away since he didn't understand what money was good for. The producers felt bad and asked him what he might want instead. He answered, "I've heard that a cow is a good animal." It was easy enough for the producers to give him four cows. A few weeks later, someone asked him how the cows were. He grinned and said, "Very easy hunting!"

If you enjoy slapstick, jungle animals, silly romances, and learning about other cultures, this is the movie for you!

DIRECTOR: Jamie Uys.  CAST: Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo, N!xau, Louw Verwey, Michael Thys.

AWARDS: 2 wins and 1 nomination.