gisele22

The way Heidi treated her Vietnamese family was a travesty. Maybe it's because I come from a culturally diverse background and was raised to understand and accept cultural differences, but I thought it was common knowledge that in many cultures throughout the world a way to show love for your family is to help care for them financially if you are able. The fact that she took offense to her sister, who has a hole in the floor for a toilet, asking her for money was unbelievable. Instead of showing compassion for her family's situation, she showed nothing but contempt. She said, in effect, "I can't believe they live like this, but how dare they ask me for money to improve their lives?" I'm sure if she would have sent only $10 a month, it would have helped them considerably, but because her Vietnamese family didn't live up to her expectations, she wants nothing to do with them? I have never seen such coldheartedness. And to wipe off her mother's kisses! She had supposedly been starved for affection for 22 years from her adoptive mother, but after only 7 days with her real mother she was tired of her affection? She should have felt ashamed when she sat down to watch the finished documentary and saw her mother still in tears two years after her visit. I feel the utmost sympathy for Heidi's mother and the rest of her family, but I couldn't muster up any sympathy for Heidi... Actually, that's not true. I do feel sorry for Heidi that it wasn't part of her nature to love and accept her family no matter what. I know she was raised by a less- than- affectionate adoptive mother, but she is no longer an innocent 7-year-old. She is an adult who needs to understand and accept that her monetary and, much, much, more importantly, her emotional selfishness will have a lasting effect on many people.

The biggest gripe I had with this movie was Hayden Christensen's performance, coupled with the way his character was written. Instead of Anakin being portrayed as a 20 year-old 'seemingly' mature young man struggling inside with his own 'dark' issues, he comes across as a 15 year-old brat whose voice hasn't changed yet. His 10 year old Phantom Menace counterpart was more mature! Since when is having temper tantrums considered to be an attractive quality? When he yelled, 'It's all Obi-Wan's fault!' I was like, 'What! OK, I've had enough of him. He needs a kick in the pants!', but they just had Padme fall for him even harder, which is totally beyond me. I know Hayden is 21 years old in real life, but he is a very young looking 21. He looks like he just got out of the 9th grade. They needed someone who looked older and could be more believable as a romantic lead and they should have written less hissy fits into the storyline (or how about no hissy fits at all?)....

OK, with THAT out of the way, AOTC was far and beyond better than TPM. Now THIS was a prequel! The storyline was good! (except for the aforementioned of course). I followed what was going on, and more importantly, I actually *cared* about what was going on! Without giving anything away, the biggest highlights of this movie (in no particular order) were: (1)Seeing where the Clones came from, (2)Watching Darth Sidious' strategy to rid the galaxy of the Jedi unfold and (3)Seeing the beginnings of some of the supporting actors from the sequels. That was great! The dialogue was cheesy, but I was expecting that. The special effects were amazing, although halfway through the movie, I think I began to take them for granted, which may be a good thing after all, since that means they were very believable. Oh! and how can I forget YODA! YODA! YODA! He completely *stole* the movie right out from under the live actors. He was unreal! I was apprehensive about him being CGI instead of the lovable puppet, but I forgot about that old piece of rubber as soon as I saw Yoda doing what he did in that movie! Because he was CGI, he could actually be a main character. Man, he was all over the place, literally! And as a woman, I must throw this little sidepoint in: Padme's costumes were absolutely stunning! If the costume designer doesn't win the Oscar next spring, it's a travesty!

I still think The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the Star Wars movies, but AOTC is up there with Return of the Jedi, in my opinion. I would give it 3 and 3/4 out of 5 stars. If the whole Anakin thing would have been better, I would have given it a 5.

I was pleasantly surprised with the complexity of "The Landlord". It was brilliantly directed. The cutting between different scenes was effortless and added depth to the storyline. There was plenty of symbolism, which is one of the things I always look for and enjoy in a film. For instance, when Elgar (Bridges) and his father are having an argument in the bathroom during a costume party, there is a quick cutaway to another man in the bathroom who has on a gun holster, which I thought was symbolic of the 'shootout' that was going on between Elgar and his father. In addition, the Enders family is constantly seen wearing white, and their home is decorated in white.

I thought the acting was top notch. Beau Bridges was very convincing as a naive, sheltered man learning to appreciate and embrace a different culture. But the movie is so much deeper than that... It dealt with people trying to break free from stereotypes, people struggling to be proud of who they are and be accepted for who they are, and some people not even knowing who they are, trying to find their niche.

I love the scene at the party that was supposedly in honor of Elgar, where more than one person tells him what it feels like to go from being an outcast to being the envy of everyone. If I remember correctly, they likened it to you having a mole in the middle of your forehead, and people are basically disgusted by it. But, then one day, that becomes the thing to have, and people begin to draw moles on their faces, but you have a real mole right there on your forehead, prominent for everyone to see, and suddenly you are "it", and your self esteem is taken to new heights. It seems like everything would be fine for you now, but I also interpreted that speech as saying that, at the time, blacks felt like they were a fad that might eventually fade out. I thought the words were very powerful, as well as the way the scene was carried out.

I don't think a film such as this could be pulled off properly now, because there is the constant threat of backlash if things aren't completely "PC", not to mention the fact that things are so different now. I think this film was made at the right time, but it still rings true 31 years later. And, thank goodness for the satisfying and realistic ending.