Taking Chance - A True Story

Taking Chance

English

2008, 78 minutes

5 Stars

This HBO movie is based on the true story of LTC Michael Strobl, USMC (Ret) as he escorted a 19-year-old fallen Hero home for burial. PFC Chance Phelps lived in Dubois, Wyoming. Rainy Day did manage to make it through the first 10 minutes before tears began leaking. It is a simple story, really, of one man paying respect for another. And all the everyday Americans along the way who also paid their respects – ground crews at plane terminals, passengers, flight crews, and even an impromptu honor guard along the final highway journey. This is one of Kevin Bacon's best performances. Yes, it will tug on your heart strings, but in a good way. Get some kleenex and deal with it. Watch the movie!

For a trailer, click here.

Rainy Day thanks all you Vets out there, and all you families of Vets!

To read the original essay, click here.

Dancing By The Star!

Mao's Last Dancer

English

2010, 117 Minutes

5 Stars

Rainy Day seems to be on a run for Biopics. This movie is based on the autobiography of Li Cunxin, a peasant villager taken at age 11 to study ballet in Beijing. From there, he is 'seen' by Ben Stevenson, Director of the Housing Ballet Company, and brought to the US on a temporary Visa. The music ranges from Chinese traditional to Ballet classical; the dancing is breathtaking in its beauty. Li's decision to remain in the US is heartfelt, and sad, and joyous all at once. There are many scenes to bring forth laughs, and a few that bring forth tears.  From the poverty of China in the Cultural Revolution to the excesses of Houston, this is a great movie and a terrific story. 

YouTube Talk

YouTube Innerview    

Have you ever considered how difficult it would be to leave your country, your family, your very language, to pursue your dream? Could you? Would you? 

Biopic of HH the 14th Dalai Lama

Kundun

1997, English

135 minutes

5 Stars

Rainy Day has long had an interest in the 14th Dalai Lama. She actually remembers when he escaped from Tibet, though the memories are hazy. When this movie played in theaters, Rainy Day couldn't attend and was therefore delighted to see it on Netflix the other day. Martin Scorsese directs a cast of non professional actors, including Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, a grandnephew of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. I had hoped for stunning photography of Tibet, but the film crews were not allowed in-country, and instead filmed in Morocco. Absolutely stunning photography. This beautiful movie is well worth the time to watch. Rainy Day agrees with other reviewers, the second hour is the most engrossing, as Kundun becomes an adult, and knows he will lose his country to his 'liberating' neighbor, China. Kundun received 4 Oscar nominations, and should have won them.

Click on title for 10 minute trailer