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Year: 2022

This Week in Movies with Meaning

This Week in Movies with Meaning

Reviews of “The Duke” and “The Whaler Boy,” along with a podcast preview, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here ...
Idealism's Challenges on The Cinema Scribe

Idealism’s Challenges on The Cinema Scribe

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday May 24, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser and Jiosaavn ...
‘The Whaler Boy’ explores the challenges of coming of age

‘The Whaler Boy’ explores the challenges of coming of age

“The Whaler Boy” (“Kitoboy”) (2020 production, 2022 release). Cast: Vladimir Onokhov, Kristina Asmus, Vladimir Lyubimtsev, Nikolay Tatato, Arieh Worthalter, Maria Chuprinskaia, Ankas Aimetgirgin, Evgeny Ayanto, Ivan Tynau, Zakhar Vykvytke. Director: Philipp Yuryev. Screenplay: Philipp Yuryev. Web site. Trailer. Coming of age is a singularly human process that virtually everyone goes through, no matter where one lives and under what conditions. It’s a time of wonder, exploration and challenge as we examine and seek to understand the world in which we find ourselves. It’s an odyssey that’s generally as diverse as the various surroundings in which we reside. Yet there are also elements quite common to each individual’s particular experience – triumphs, disappointments, disillusionments and personal awakenings. And all of those experiences are explored in the new Russian comedy-drama, “The Whaler Boy” (“Kitoboy”). Fifteen-year-old Lyoshka (Vladimir Onokhov) is coming of age in the middle of nowhere. He lives with his elderly grandfather (Nikolay Tatato) in a whale hunting village in the Chukotka region of eastern Siberia along the shores of the Bering Strait. When he’s not engaged in the hunt and performing other everyday chores, he spends his time hanging out with his best friend, Kolyan (Vladimir Lyubimtsev), but there’s precious ...
‘The Duke’ presents lessons in idealism, compassion, discernment

‘The Duke’ presents lessons in idealism, compassion, discernment

“The Duke” (2020 production, 2022 release). Cast: Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Matthew Goode, James Wilby, Jack Bandeira, Aimée Kelly, Charlotte Spencer, John Heffernan, Heather Craney, Anna Maxwell Martin, Richard McCabe, Andrew Havill, Charles Edwards, Ashley Kumar, Craig Conway. Director: Roger Michell. Screenplay: Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. Web site. Trailer. Standing out often means standing alone, especially for proponents of particular causes. Individuals who embrace this stance frequently must engage in striking, sometimes-outlandish behavior that gets them noticed in order to get their initiatives noticed. But having to go to such lengths can be exasperating, frustrating and even legally challenging. So it was for an eccentric activist in early 1960s England as seen in the new fact-based comedy-drama, “The Duke.” Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) has great expectations of himself. The 60-year-old Newcastle resident and wannabe playwright/political activist wants to make a name for himself, though more so for the causes he believes in and the statements he wishes to make than from hauling in a bundle of cash. Nevertheless, all well-meaning aside, money is something of an issue in the Bunton household, primarily due to Kempton’s inability to hold down a steady job. The principal breadwinning responsibilities fall ...
This Week in Movies with Meaning

This Week in Movies with Meaning

Reviews of “Brighton 4th,” “The Jump” and “The Gravedigger’s Wife,” as well as a film festival wrap-up, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here ...
‘The Gravedigger’s Wife’ grapples with a heartbreaking choice

‘The Gravedigger’s Wife’ grapples with a heartbreaking choice

“The Gravedigger’s Wife” (“Guled and Nasra”) (2021). Cast: Omar Abdi, Yasmin Warsame, Kader Abdoul-Aziz Ibrahim, Samaleh Ali Obsieh, Hamdi Ahmed Omar, Awa Ali Noor, Fardouza Moussa Egueh, Saharia Ahmed Moussein. Director: Khadar Ahmed. Screenplay: Khadar Ahmed. Web site. Trailer. What lengths would you go to for the one you love? When adverse situations arise, we can be left with difficult choices, the kind that frequently leave us between a rock and a hard place. No matter how much we care for a loved one, circumstances may thrust us into a position where Herculean efforts – with no guarantee of success – are often foisted upon us. And, if we do nothing, the outcome can be tragic, leaving us devastated. So what are we to do? That’s the core question raised in the new Somalian domestic drama, “The Gravedigger’s Wife” (“Guled and Nasra”). Djibouti gravedigger Guled (Omar Abdi) struggles to make ends meet to keep his family together. His meager earnings are barely enough to stay afloat, yet that doesn’t stop him from seeking out sources of additional income. In fact, during times of no work, he and his colleagues park themselves outside a hospital emergency room, hoping that arriving ambulances ...
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