Movies


United 93: The Movie

For a number of reasons United 93 has not been on my list of movies to see. First, most of the movie has to be fictionalized and this was too important an event for such fictionalization so soon. Second, I object to the commercialization of the event. Yes, I know that we use various fictionalized versions of our past to explore the surrounding issues and as a form of catharsis. But, again, this is still too soon! It is like yesterday.
On the other hand, if I were to change my mind something like David’s review would do it:

The movie doesn’t come across in any way as exploitation and while it doesn’t work to demonize the terrorists, it doesn’t sanitize them or make them into sympathetic figures, either. It just comes across as a retelling of events without any sense of melodrama. I don’t think we should all live out the rest of our lives mired in depression because of the events of that one day, but for anyone who has managed to distance themselves too completely from 9/11, United 93 should act as a reminder of the day that shook us from our collective complacency.

David and I disagree on many aspects of this administration’s post 9/11 actions but I do agree that we should not forget or forgive what happened on that day.

Read David’s review and the many others that will be circulating. It may or may not be a movie for you.


Laughter is Still A Great Medicine

Apparently we should go to more funny movies:

Viewer responses to movies in a humorous vein (such as the 1998 comedy There’s Something About Mary) appear to have a beneficial effect on arterial endothelial function, reported researchers from the University of Maryland Medical Center here.

In contrast, responses to serious films, such as the heart-wrenching opening D-Day sequence in the 1998 drama Saving Private Ryan appear to constrict arterial blood flow, wrote Michael Miller, M.D., and colleagues in a scientific letter published in the February 2006 issue of the journal Heart.

I suppose some will extend this to TV sitcoms but my stress level seems to go up when a typical sitcom is running on our tube…the quality and humor is just so bad.