Monday: The Story of Three Loves (1953)
The first story is about a ballet dancer named Paula. During her audition for a major ballet choreographer she faints. Later when she sees a doctor she's told she has a serious heart condition. If she continues to dance it will kill her. After a chance encounter with the choreographer, who she falls for, she decides she can't live without dance. No matter the consequences. The second story is of a young French tutor, Mademoiselle. She is tutoring a young American boy in Rome. The boy is bored and wished to be an adult. He meets a witch who teaches him a spell to make him a grown man. It works and he runs into his tutor. As a grown man he has feelings for her and they fall in love. The third story is about a trapeze artist named Pierre. He saves a young woman who tried killing herself. He learns she is athletic. Pierre thinks she will be a perfect partner for him because she doesn't fear death. He gets more than he bargained for. I thought this movie was alright.
Tuesday: Under the Volcano (1984)
A former British consul living in Mexico, Geoffrey, now spends his days getting drunk. He wonders the town becoming more delirious. His ex wife returns from the U.S. to try and convince him to come back. She hope to sober him up and give him another chance. It soon becomes clear that he has no intention of getting sober. A day trip with his ex and brother takes a disastrous turn. This movie was ok.
Wednesday: Compensation (1999)
This movie is about two deaf black women. One in the early 1900s and the other in the 90s. In the early 1900s Malindy is a smart women. She has her own dress making business. Malindy meets a young farmer who has moved north. He takes a liking to her. He doesn't know ASL and can't read. So they have no way of communicating. He is determined to get to know her. So she teaches him to read and write through ASL. They fall in love. In the 90s Malaika is a smart woman who works in a print shop. Every day when she does tai chi at the beach a young librarian goes by. He tries to get her attention but she ignores him. When he finds out she is deaf he learns ASL. Malaika starts to like him and they date. They struggle with their differences. I thought this movie was ok. The acting wasn't the best. It was an interesting concept. It was shot in black and white. The 1900s story was filmed like a silent film with title cards. But you can hear the characters talk. A lot of the in between scenes are photos from that time.
Friday: Devotion (2022)
This is based on a true story. Jesse was the first black Navy aviator. He is a good pilot and gets along with most of the other aviators. A new man joins their squadron, Tom. He and Jesse get along after some initial awkwardness. The squadron is sent to Europe to fight communism. Then they end up being sent to Korea and fighting in the war. This movie was good. The actors who played Jesse and Tom did a great job.
Saturday: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
The general story is the same but there are some darker twists. Geppetto loses his son to a bomb in Fascist Italy. Later he makes a puppet to look like his son, or as best he can while drunk and before he passes out. The wood sprite of life decides to make the puppet alive and names him Pinocchio. A cricket, Sebastian, who had hoped to make a home in Pinocchio before he became a puppet, is in trusted to make sure Pinocchio knows right from wrong. Geppetto is unsure at first but grows to like Pinocchio. The fascist leader in the town wants Pinocchio in school so he learns how to follow orders and be a good citizen. On his way to his first day of school Pinocchio ends up signing a contract to be a star in the circus coming through town. It does not go well. When it is discovered he can't die the fascist leader takes an interest as well. Then when he tries to leave the circus the circus owner says that Geppetto would owe him a lot of money. The leader also wants Pinocchio to go to the fascist youth training camp. Pinocchio decides to work off his debt at the circus, but still ends up in the training camp. Geppetto searches for him and ends up in the belly of a sea beast. The rest plays out similarly to the original with some changes. This is a really good movie. Sorry if I did a bad job summarizing it. It is a stop motion film with artists from Mexico, London and Portland. The animation is great. Although the story is darker it is still happy for the most part. The music is good too. I highly recommend it.
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