A Smattering of (Really Brief) Reviews

Born into Brothels
Rating: *****

Absolutely fabulous and very moving. It's about children who were born in the brothels in the red-light district of Calcutta. It is a documentary, and it follows one woman's attempts to help them. The woman is a photographer who teaches the children about photography and becomes connected to them through that. There is now a non-profit that she has started called Kids with Cameras that also strives to help kids in the same way.

Saint Ralph
Rating: *****

This is about a Catholic boy whose mother is in a coma. He decides to try to win the Boston Marathon as a way to wish for a miracle for his mother. It's a fabulous movie, one of the best movies I have ever seen. I highly recommend it.

Voices in Wartime
Rating: *****

This one is about poets who have written about war. It was inspired by the Poets Against the War Movement that started shortly before the war in Iraq broke out. I am planning to show this movie in my poetry class in the fall. It's that good.

The Journey
Rating: ***

This is an Indian lesbian movie. It wasn't banned in India, though, which Fire was. Fire was much more explicit about the relationship between the woman, and there was a (gasp) sex scene. Don't look for that in The Journey. It's an intriguing story, and the ending is left open, which I appreciated. I thought for sure one or both would die at the end. It's a very pretty movie to watch, either way. The cinematography is excellent.

Songcatcher
Rating: ****

There is actually a lesbian couple in this one, too, but it doesn't end happily for them either. The main part of the movie is about a woman who collects folk songs in the Appalachian mountains. It's quite a nice movie.