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jenny_freddie
Reviews
Tatínek (2004)
Pleasant, though a lot lost in translation
I am American who has been living in the Czech Republic for the last three years, so even though I have learned some Czech and am becoming more familiar with the culture and place, I still felt like I was an "outsider" looking in on something (but something nice!)
This film is a documentary-style look at the life of the beloved Czech actor, Jan Sverak, whom I came to know through the delightful film, Kolya. The best word I can think of for this documentary is "pleasant." It was slow at points and could have been boring (and might have been to someone with absolutely no prior knowledge of Sverak or the Czech context), but I found it enjoyable to watch because I simply like this actor as a human being. It was interesting to see his development and especially the connections between his life and Czech history. There were several points in the film where I really wasn't sure what he was talking about, but I think that some things were lost in translation--both literally and on a cultural/historical level because I have pretty limited knowledge still.
Overall, I would recommend this for people who really like Kolya or Tmavomodry Svet (Deep Blue World) and want to know more about Sverak.
Anne of Green Gables (1985)
my favorite movie of all time
Okay, I know it might be a rather strange choice, but this is my favorite movie of all time. Growing up, this was the movie I would watch every time I was home sick from school. I think I've seen in over 30 times (some of those times I wasn't sick :-). I actually had the vast majority of the movie memorized!
What I love about this movie is the character development. I feel like these people are my old friends, my family, my neighbors...
This is a great movie for young girls and I can't wait to share it with my own kids as they are growing up. It's fun, wholesome, family entertainment.
Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)
I wanted to like it
This movie happened to be at the end of a tape I borrowed from a friend. I decided to watch it one lazy afternoon because I didn't have anything important to do and thought it would be fun.
In all honesty, I really wanted to like this movie, but I just found it so lame. It was really hard to understand why all the guys instantly fell for Gidget over Abby (even though I'd agree that Gidget is cute and her personality is great). Most of the kids were just plain annoying. And I agree with the comment of one of the other reviewers about the unbelievability of Gidget's father paying for her boyfriend to take the next flight out to Hawaii. Who was this guy that he had that kind of money? One thing I did find interesting was some of the controversial issues that the movie touched on, including sex, affairs, and suicide. I wouldn't have expected that from a beach movie.
Anyway, if you like this type of movie and you're a fan of Gidget, I think you might enjoy it more than I did. Overall, though, I was pretty disappointed. (My apologies to the fans!)