THE COLOR OF MAGIC

I`ve got to say "The Color Of Magic" was excellent. Directed by Vadim Jean and writen by Terry Pratchett and Vadim Jean it was released in the UK in 2008. "The Color Of Magic" begins with a chance meeting of Ankh-Morpork`s oldest and worst student wizard and the city`s first tourist.

Forced by the uncannily well informed Patrician Lord Havelock Vetinari (Jeremy Irons) the incompetent and cynical wizard Rincewind (David Jason) involuntarily becomes a guide for naive tourist Twoflower (Sean Astin). Accompanied by his trusty Sapient pear-wood trunk Twoflower is determined, with Rincewind`s help, to see all the most memorable sights Ankh-Morpork has to offer.

FINDING BLISS

This 2009 film written and directed by Julie Davis follows Jody Balaban (Leelee Sobieski) through her first year in Hollywood. Her determined searching finally leads to a promising job offer.

  Reminiscent of The 2004 movie"Girl Next Door," another warm, sexy, feel good comedy with another cameo by Ron Jeremy as (himself). At least he wasn`t naked. Hey they even managed to get underpants on Ricky Bobby.

TRAVELERS AND MAGICIANS

"Travelrers And Magicians" is a 2003 Bhutanese Dzongkha language film written and directed by Khyentse Norbu a reincarnate lama of Tebitan buddhism, who is also known as Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. This movie is the first feature film shot entirely in the kingdom of Bhutan.This movie was so cool I got whole new genre name out of it,"divergent cultural templates." It wasn`t just that it was in Dzongkha, or that the scenery of Bhutan was so different (it just looked mountainous). It was more like the weird humor of "Nacho Libre." The everyday events colored by the filter of a basically different set of expectations.

As a westernized civil servant Dondup (Tshewang Dendup) makes his way from his isolated village to the capital city of Thimphu on his way to America, he is joined on his journey by a Buddhist monk (Sonam Kinga). Playing his ornate dramyin by their campfire the monk shares a folk tale of a boy who steps across a dream barrier to the forest shack of a shaman.

MILKING THE RHINO

No, that`s not prison lingo. This 2008 movie from Kartemquin films produced and directed by David E. Simpson, is an examination of the emerging face of community based wildlife conservancy in post-colonial Africa. Addressing head-on the myth of "wild Africa" this is a some what harsh movie, probably a bit too bloody for little kids. It is a penetrating look at the benefits and consequences of wildlife conservancy, from the point of view of the people living day to day with large wild animals.

Centered mainly on the Himba of Namibia and the Maasai of Kenya, this is a look at their experiences with Western-style game reserves and eco-lodges and the impacts they`ve had on the local inhabitants. Actually a pretty good (though not a very rose-colored) short vacation to Africa. No shots necessary.

...................Aquavelveta..................

VIDEOCRACY

We just wished it was fiction, and in English. Yet another uncomfortable movie to watch. Revealing a cult of amoral greed and thinly veiled fascism, this movies promotional ads were banned by Italy`s state broadcasting agency. Through the use of salacious TV productions the ongoing régime of Italy`s three time prime minister and top media mogul Silvio Berlusconi has sent Italy down a dark and stupid path. Foisting the velina (who began as game-show Vannas but morphed to become more like squirmy, underpants-optional, Paris_Hilton wannabes) and their clones at every opportunity.

Unfortunately the "Videocracy"/"Ideocracy" connection seems unbreakable. Italy appears destined to become a place where education, intelligence, and morality are kept secret for safety `s sake.

.................Aquavelveta................

THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA

Tommy Lee Jones stars and directs in this 2005 movie written by Guillermo Arriaga. Set straddle of the border, this dark tale bleeds back and forth from English to Spanish, and from Texas to Mexico. It is easy enough to forget the subtitles. The lives and laws seem to become more tangled, and the values more blurred the closer to the mostly invisible border we look. The border patrol wages a war in boxing gloves, sorting lives and livelihoods according to rules that keep the tension constant. There, a few miles means feast or famine and the whole economy revolves around a bilingual culture trapped on a knife edge.

This is the best tease of a trailer I found, though any of them really told more than I would have liked. This was an uncomfortable movie to watch, with no clear hero. Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) wants to do right by his friend Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo) by returning his body to his home town of Jiménez in Mexico as he promised. He enlists the unwilling help of Border Patrol Agent Mike Norton (Barry Pepper) to bring this about.

SON OF RAMBOW

I had to get this one on the list as quick as possible. Woo Hoo! Eggcelent, definitely my favorite since my last favorite movie awhile ago.The movie had so many high points, I`m not going to tell you any of them. "Son of Rambo," a 2007 film including Neil Dudgeon, Bill Milner, and Jessica Hynes, is a blast from the brick-phone past. The hardest part was finding a place to pause to wash the dishes. In this nostalgic comedy, young Will (Bill Milner) whose ultrareligous family forbids him to watch TV or go to the movies, is recruited by class bully Lee (Will Poulter) to help make a movie based on "First Blood." This film documents the unlikely friendship that blossoms between them.

"Son Of Rambo" is a British-French product from the team behind "Hitch Hikers Guide To The Universe." Unlike "Crank 2 High Voltage," (an excellent movie we`ll finish watching next) this was a really good dinner movie. Wish I was 10.