plkldf

I didn't know who was in this. I don't think I've ever seen jennifer Lopez in a film before. I really liked the "Ramona" performance. I was pleasantly surprised to see her name come up at the end. Extraordinary performance.

Simply great soundtrack. I enjoyed the characters. I thought the device of the reporter was nicely done. If I could criticize anything, i would say they could have cut it by 20 minutes.

I may see it again.

Interesting combo of send-up and genuine entertainment. For example, there are two production numbers that are exaggerated, but not in a way that diminishes the original genres that they were derived from. Instead they are updated, and watchable.

It's not a weighty movie -- just a lightweight look at a bygone era, and the things that happen when movies are being made, with familiar faces (although I challenge you to spot Frances McDormand) and funny jokes. I don't know what anyone else is saying about Channing Tatum, but I really liked his performance. And this guy Alden Ehrenreich -- whoa! He is just great. He has a gift for comedy and movie star good looks, and his character is *earnest* -- and likable. He is fun to watch. The secretary to Eddie Mannix, the studio head (presumably named after notorious MGM fixer Eddie Mannix) is a prominent character and she is compelling - she steals every scene, I think: Heather Goldenhersh! Today she'd be a producer, and I think the movie makers are making a poignant statement with her character.

Lots of cameos: "Newman" from "Seinfeld,: David Krumholtz, Alison Pill from "Newsroom," the stand-up comic from "Mad Men" -- really fun seeing so many familiar faces in unfamiliar roles.

I saw it in preview at Cinemark Egyptian in Hanover Maryland. I can't wait till it opens so I can see it again.

Saw this at Maryland Film Festival and it was received very well.

It's a documentary about a free school in New Jersey. The film maker and the sort of main character (the director of the free school, Alex) presented the film, which was shot in 2007 and 2008, at the Festival.

The movie follows a group of kids who are the first students of this new free school. Without giving anything away, there is much conflict that arises around a couple of kids, especially one particular child -- if you watch the movie, you'll probably have a pretty good idea of which kid is going to be at the center of the conflict pretty much from the beginning. There is also one child who takes charge of the situation in a way that I think most adults would not be capable of. The children, given huge amounts of autonomy, behave in various admirable and not-so-admirable ways.

What stands out in this documentary is the ability of the director, who operated the camera, to seemingly always know where to point the camera. Of course, the viewer doesn't know what events were missed, but what was captured is woven together into an fascinating narrative, complete with an amazing climax.

I was a homemaker and homeschool parent from about 1987 - 2000 -- I worked with lots of homeschoolers (mainly unschoolers) and much of what is presented in "Approaching the Elephant" was familiar to me - the balance between allowing the children autonomy and self-direction on the one hand, and creating chaos and child tyrants on the other.

Luckily for the filmmaker, although not necessarily for the students and the administrator of the school, there were lots of interesting things going on at this place.

This film is utterly absorbing, and there's never a dull moment.