acrisisblog

I saw a commercial for Rescue Me and the DVD caught my eye at the video rental store. I like Dennis Leary but never have time to watch network TV, nor do I particularly like mindless TV "fiction." I'm a Discovery Channel, History Channel, HGTV gal when I turn on the tube. I rented the 1st Season DVD and my husband and I watched the 13 episodes in 3 nights! We couldn't get enough of it! It is well written with timely content and is the first program to deal with men's issues from a male point of view. I found Dennis Leary a good actor/comedian in the past, a bit over the top at times, but I am stunned by the quality of this series. The creative use of fantasy, dream sequence and micro-psychotic experiences of Leary's character keep me glued to the screen. We have seen all 3 seasons and can't wait to see what happens in Season 4! Thank you Dennis! YOU'RE THE MAN!

The local video store was totally out of these (and they had at least 100 copies)for the first week it was released. I saw the previews, a woman on a flight loses her daughter. I couldn't see how they could make this into a feature film. WOW, was I wrong. Jodi Foster seems to pick these intense story lines. This begins in Berlin, a bereaved widow claiming her husband's body at the funeral home to return New York for burial. Kyle (Foster) is a "propulsion" engineer, designing jet engines for the new super jet liners that will be in our future. It is one of these 450 passenger liners that will carry her, her 6yr old daughter and her husband's coffin home to New York. Once aboard, she decides to take advantage of some empty seats in the rear of the plane to get some sleep. She wakes up a couple hours later, and her daughter is gone. She enlists the help of the flight attendants, but something is terribly wrong.... her daughter is not on the manifest, there is no record of her boarding... What is real, did we see the daughter or was it her delusion? This is a nail biting, intense plot with twists and turns that will pull you in like a roller coaster. Two words....SEE IT!

I prefer Indy and Foreign films, but occasionally a Hollywood release gets enough chatter that I have a look. This was well worth it. From the opening scene to the closing credits I was transported out of my living room and into the story written by John Le Carré and brought to the screen by Jeffery Caine and Fernando Meirelles. It is a complex tale of British diplomats, capitalist conspiracy, and lust, not 3 words you usually find in the same sentence. Ralph Fiennes is convincing as Justin Quayle, a mild mannered representative of her majesty's government with a passion for gardening. He meets Tessa (Rachael Weisz) during a lecture in London he is giving as a favor for the writer who could not deliver it himself. She is a fiery girl who clearly wants to challenge whatever is wrong with the world. When he asks her to join him for a cup of coffee I had to smile recalling that was a euphemism in London for something quite different. We learn he is being transferred to Africa, and the infatuated Tessa asks to go along "as your lover, your mistress, or your wife...." You must learn the rest on your own, as the story is woven through flashbacks and present time. I will leave you with one word....Riveting!