Post by klep on Jan 4, 2021 9:21:58 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 1/4: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
OPTIMISM WEEK!
"I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down." - Chumbawumba
Life never stops throwing obstacles in your way. Some people have it much easier (even unfairly so) than others, but no one has everything go their way all of the time. A big part of who you are as a person has to do with how you respond to those obstacles and what you prioritize.
Ricky Baker's (Julian Dennison) life has been nothing but obstacles. Given up for adoption as an infant, he's been bounced from foster home to foster home. All that rejection has resulted in him acting out - throwing stuff, kicking stuff, spitting, loitering, etc. - and his social worker Paula (Rachel House) is giving him one last chance before sending him to juvie. She's already written Ricky off as a bad egg and treats him as such, as if that's going to do anything but make him think that of himself.
Fortunately Ricky's new home is with Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and Hector (Sam Neill). While Hector is prickly and wants little to do with Ricky, Bella is warm and inviting - as great a foster mom as you could want. Before long Ricky is opening up to her and believing he's found a home.
And then she dies.
At that point Ricky's newly found stability falls apart. Hector doesn't feel capable of taking care of him, planning to take off into the bush for a while. But even if Hector was willing to keep him, Paula's coming to take him regardless. Facing juvie through no fault of his own, obviously Ricky attempts to fake his death and take off into the bush himself.
Bella's death has well and truly torn the lives of both Ricky and Hector apart. They both feel like they don't have a good way forward, and are running away from their problems. But out in the bush they're forced together, and find out that they can get what they need from each other. Hector is someone who can provide the stability and validation Ricky needs even out in the bush, and Ricky can pull Hector out of his head and get him to enjoy the world. They're a good pair, and so it's no surprise they're able to avoid the manhunt they find themselves the target of for months.
Paula has not handled the obstacle of Ricky's disappearance so well. Already prone to harsh judgements and self-aggrandizement, her pursuit of Ricky goes all out of proportion, sparking a months-long nationwide manhunt with a bounty and helicopters and tanks. Her zealous conviction that Ricky is a plague upon the Earth who must be stopped is a clear corruption of her duty and demonstrates a serious unfitness to have anything to do with children. One wonders how she got her job in the first place, and we can only hope she's fired by film's end.
But ultimately Ricky gets a good home, and Hector comes to join him. They've both been faced with great obstacles both before and after meeting each other, but they've seen how those obstacles can be overcome - and how it helps to have someone helping you do it.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is in that sense fundamentally optimistic. It knows life can be hard in unfair and capricious ways, but it also needs you to understand that there is a path forward. Another door, if you will, behind which you can find Jesus and confectioneries - and maybe a little bit of happiness too.
OPTIMISM WEEK!
"I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down." - Chumbawumba
Life never stops throwing obstacles in your way. Some people have it much easier (even unfairly so) than others, but no one has everything go their way all of the time. A big part of who you are as a person has to do with how you respond to those obstacles and what you prioritize.
Ricky Baker's (Julian Dennison) life has been nothing but obstacles. Given up for adoption as an infant, he's been bounced from foster home to foster home. All that rejection has resulted in him acting out - throwing stuff, kicking stuff, spitting, loitering, etc. - and his social worker Paula (Rachel House) is giving him one last chance before sending him to juvie. She's already written Ricky off as a bad egg and treats him as such, as if that's going to do anything but make him think that of himself.
Fortunately Ricky's new home is with Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and Hector (Sam Neill). While Hector is prickly and wants little to do with Ricky, Bella is warm and inviting - as great a foster mom as you could want. Before long Ricky is opening up to her and believing he's found a home.
And then she dies.
At that point Ricky's newly found stability falls apart. Hector doesn't feel capable of taking care of him, planning to take off into the bush for a while. But even if Hector was willing to keep him, Paula's coming to take him regardless. Facing juvie through no fault of his own, obviously Ricky attempts to fake his death and take off into the bush himself.
Bella's death has well and truly torn the lives of both Ricky and Hector apart. They both feel like they don't have a good way forward, and are running away from their problems. But out in the bush they're forced together, and find out that they can get what they need from each other. Hector is someone who can provide the stability and validation Ricky needs even out in the bush, and Ricky can pull Hector out of his head and get him to enjoy the world. They're a good pair, and so it's no surprise they're able to avoid the manhunt they find themselves the target of for months.
Paula has not handled the obstacle of Ricky's disappearance so well. Already prone to harsh judgements and self-aggrandizement, her pursuit of Ricky goes all out of proportion, sparking a months-long nationwide manhunt with a bounty and helicopters and tanks. Her zealous conviction that Ricky is a plague upon the Earth who must be stopped is a clear corruption of her duty and demonstrates a serious unfitness to have anything to do with children. One wonders how she got her job in the first place, and we can only hope she's fired by film's end.
But ultimately Ricky gets a good home, and Hector comes to join him. They've both been faced with great obstacles both before and after meeting each other, but they've seen how those obstacles can be overcome - and how it helps to have someone helping you do it.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is in that sense fundamentally optimistic. It knows life can be hard in unfair and capricious ways, but it also needs you to understand that there is a path forward. Another door, if you will, behind which you can find Jesus and confectioneries - and maybe a little bit of happiness too.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 1/11: eXistenZ
BAD SCIENCE WEEK!
Next week our look at bad movie science takes us to David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, a film about a VR video game you enter by jacking into your spine and the effort by the game's designer to avoid the assassins after her. Be sure to join us next for for eXistenZ, available on CBS All Access and for rent at the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 1/5: A Matter of Life and Death
To start a pairing about men wrestling with the afterlife to get back to living the podcast is talking about the Powell & Pressburger classic A Matter of Life and Death. Come join our discussion on Wednesday of this film, which is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t3Xv70vkY8
BAD SCIENCE WEEK!
Next week our look at bad movie science takes us to David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, a film about a VR video game you enter by jacking into your spine and the effort by the game's designer to avoid the assassins after her. Be sure to join us next for for eXistenZ, available on CBS All Access and for rent at the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 1/5: A Matter of Life and Death
To start a pairing about men wrestling with the afterlife to get back to living the podcast is talking about the Powell & Pressburger classic A Matter of Life and Death. Come join our discussion on Wednesday of this film, which is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t3Xv70vkY8