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KatrinaG74
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An American Pickle (2020)
Delightful Sunday Afternoon Gem!
I've grown up with Seth Rogen comedies for roughly half my life. And while I've never gotten into the weed subculture - Rogen's characters are always lovably unpretentious, yet insightful. This remains true for Rogen's main characters Herschel and Ben. What I especially appreciated about the Greenbaums' "American pickle" was how adeptly it addresses difficult issues that many of us modern first-generation Americans deal with in our daily lives: old-country parental values vs. Modern middle-class urban American values. Issues such as "What role should religion play in our lives?" or "What does 'family' mean today?" and "How is 'wealth' defined?" In the end, I think that while all generations want to enjoy family, weath, and shared beliefs - how each generation "gets to happy" and meets these needs can be very complicated. Rogen demonstrates how bridging that old-world/ new-world gap can be quite funny, with each generation having something to teach the other in the end. Overall, I felt that 'An American Pickle' is a delightful Sunday afternoon gem for the whole family - Jewish or otherwise. 😊
Baking It (2021)
Why didn't the "best" team win???
I absolutely adore the Great British Baking Show, so I was very excited to find this little holiday gem on Peacock. Andy and Maya were very fun with their cute riffs. Also, all the grannies were kind but fair - and super sweet. As with other bake shows, more experienced & talented bakers rose to the top episode after episode - winning prize brooches for their winning bakes. In total 8 brooches were awarded. By the season finale, Niyati and Abhi - alone - had won 4 brooches, WAY more than any other team. So I was super surprised when, despite getting top marks by the judges for their last bake during the season finale - they somehow lost the competition with no reasonable explanation as to why. Personally, I loved the winning team - as people - but as contestants - I am very confused as to why Niyati and Abhi didn't get to take home the prize. 😢
Men, Women & Children (2014)
What Modern Middle America is Really Like Today
This is a film that really touches your heart and tugs on a string or two. If you have lost touch with what life is really like for regular (albeit white) middle class Americans - this is an excellent afternoon watch with hubby or your teens. It will certainly create some interesting discussions.
Nowadays Hollywood only seems to portray the super-perfect or the violent aspects of teen life or the life of married couples. This is the first film I've seen that lets you know what life is really like in the wake of these Hollywood stereotypes in Middle America. I was less shocked and more heartbroken to see how everyone still had the same needs and feelings as everyone always has (love, hurt, rage, desire, ambition, jealousy) only now texting, sexting, and online dating have taken everything to a whole new level.
While I found the movie to be eye-opening and sometimes almost too heartbreaking to watch - in the end it was good to know that even though we middle Americans may have lots of new gizmos to assuage the daily pain we go through - in the end we are all still human.
Minority Report (2015)
Cool Futuristic Effects, Nice Plot.
I'm not sure why this show is getting bagged; I just watched it and found it totally entertaining. It's a nice twist on the crime- solving cop shows.
The show is set approx. 50 years into the future. The cop buddy duo has a guy and a girl. The shy-but-sweet precog guy is afraid of his own shadow, but wants to save the people who are about to die horribly, based on his visions. The tough-as-nails cop chick is very smart, very kick-ass, and has lots of techie tools at her disposal to help solve the murders before they happen. Together, their cop buddy team does a great job solving crime, and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Usually in these cop shows I can peg the bad guy, and sometimes even how he's gonna commit the crime. Here - I just couldn't predict.
Altogether - lots of fun, decent plot, totally entertaining.
Selfie (2014)
Ditz Perfection!
Some days a smart busy girl just wants to chill out at home and live vicariously through a stylish, successful, clueless, "former nerd" ditz. She's like a dumbed-down yet trendy and attractive Ugly Betty. The fact that John Cho (Harold & Kumar, Sleepy Hollow)is in this is a complete PLUS for me. Selfie being a modern spin off of My Fair Lady is another PLUS for me. I also like the fact that she is trying to turn herself around and be more "people friendly." As a Nerd-Girl myself, I totally can relate to not knowing what to say to people, even "How are you?" is a total challenge. I really like John Cho's wise-older-man advice; it's informative and funny. Also, not a "Mindy" fan & not a "New Girl" fan - so this is "def" the show for me. :-)