GimletBlog

Trapped by the Mormons, a 1922 anti-Mormon/exploitation film now better appreciated for its unintentional campiness, is now available on DVD. Grapevine Video and Hale Video are selling the film accompanied by a new organ score and some interesting featurettes. (Aside: check out Grapevine’s collection of restored silent and other early films!)

The extra features include a documentary about the scoring of the film (and the Wurlitzer theater organ’s renovation); a discussion with Deseret Morning News and Salt Lake Tribune film critics about the history of the film; a full-length commentary by film historian James D’Arc; Thomas Edison’s 1905 short film, A Trip to Salt Lake City, also with new organ score; and the novel text for Winifred Graham’s The Love Story of a Mormon, the 1911 Mills & Boon novel from which Trapped was adapted.

So, what’s all the fuss about? (more…)

Editor’s note: Every summer, a local patent law firm hosts a “client appreciation” movie day. The firm, clients, and their friends and family are treated to an all-expenses-paid summer blockbuster matinee at Seattle’s landmark Cinerama Theatre — the tickets and all concessions are free of charge, plus attendees get goodie bags and other treats. Are patent lawyers just the coolest, or what? The Gimlet, Thing One, and Uncle B attended this year’s showing of Superman Returns.

The movie Superman Returns was a good movie. At the Cinerama Theatre, I got free treats, like a lunchbox with treats inside and also a Superman hat. The movie had scary and sad parts, but I would recommend it to my older cousins. The movie also has some funny parts. It was really cool when the bullet hit Superman’s eye and I also liked it when he pushed a big rock into space.

The movie Cars I watched today was great. Everything in the movie is a car, even the bugs. They’re Volkswagen bugs. My favorite part was when the army truck in Radiator Springs set up the flag with army bugle music and the Volkswagen bus, which was in his peace house, started Jimi Hendrix’s version of The Star Spangled Banner, and the army truck said, “Stop that disrespectful music!” I liked when the tow truck found and lost his hood in the end, and also in the end, when some cars were in jail. I’m soon going to see Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties!

Recommendations: I’d recommend this movie to my cousins. It’s a very good story and funny, too.

The Gimlet’s recommendations: Everyone in the family will love Cars, especially someone who is an old car buff. Paul Newman plays a Hudson. As with all Pixar films, you must stay through the credits for some great extra treats. However, I cannot share Thing One’s cheerful optimism about the Garfield sequel.

Last night we watched Kandukondain Kandukondain (aka I Have Found It), a Bollywood adaptation/modernization of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Technically KK is a Kollywood film because it was made in South India in the Tamil language (Bollywood being the Mumbai-based, Hindi language films). However, the DVD case identifies it as “Bollywood” no doubt for those of us who aren’t as familiar with the finer distinctions.

The Wikipedia entries linked above provide a nice summary of genre conventions, etc. so I’ll just add that KK is a lively, exotic approach to Austen’s classic story. The lavish song and dance numbers are fun. While the plot has been altered to accommodate Indian culture and a 21^st-century setting, KK stays true to the spirit of the original novel. The cast is excellent (and as the Gimlet notes, all the Bollywood actresses are beautiful).

The DVD may be available at a specialty rental store. Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, the two biggies, don’t carry it. Netflix does, but without English subtitles. Scarecrow, of course, has it (gloat). We purchased our copy (distributed by Kino Video) through Amazon. It features optional English subtitles if your Tamil is rusty, song clips and music video montages.

A newer Austen/Bollywood hybrid is Bride and Prejudice, also starring Aishwarya Rai. It’s available at the major rental chains and, with the exception of the opening song/dance number, is entirely in English. This film, considered to be a Bollywood-lite movie targeting Western audiences, is good, frothy fun as well and more exuberant in tone than KK (much as Pride and Prejudice is a livelier, more sparkling read than Sense and Sensibility). Fans of Lost will enjoy seeing Naveen Andrews play a singing, dancing Mr. Bingley — and, as the Gimlet keeps pointing out, the actresses are all very pretty! Pre-blog, I reviewed B&P in detail and highly recommend it.

In short, Kandukondain Kandukondain is worth finding — as the titular song suggests, you’ll be glad you did.

P.S.: Thing One has several summer films on his wish list so he and the Gimlet will share their comments on those. They will see Pixar’s Cars later this afternoon.