Preview to Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is a movie about a family in New Mexico on a road trip to California so their daughter Olive can compete in a beauty pageant. The family that is traveling is a father who has a nine-step confidence plan, a mom who just wants the best for her children, a suicidal uncle, a heroine addicted grandpa, a son who is in the mist of a nine month long vow of silence and a daughter who just wants to win a beauty pageant. On their way to California they go through trails that the average road trip would not have. Their VW bus breaks down and they then have to push start it. Their grandpa dies and have to steal his body. Once to the pageant Olive is true to herself and even though she wins, she learns how important it is to be yourself and how important family is.

Reaction to The King's Speech

 The Kings Speech is the story of King George VI and his battle with his stutter. He was the second son of King George V. When he was required to give a radio broadcast he is unable to go through it because of his awful stutter. His wife seeks the help of Lionel Louge to help her husband. At first he is hostile towards Lionel, but as time goes on they become very good friends. When "Berttie's" brother David is put on the throne after their fathers death, the Parliament start to resigned fearing that he will not be able to handle the threat of Hitler. David ends up leaving throne so he can marry a divorced woman. The country doubts Berttie's capability of being king because of his stutter. When the decision is made to go to war with Germany he must give a radio broadcast to the nation. With the help of Lionel he gives a great speech and is able to inspire a country.

This movie is set in the late 1930s and early 1940s. This was the biggest difference I saw in this movie. The clothes they wore were styled to match that time period. Also the cars and homes all resembled the time period.
The Kings lifestyle was very different for Lionel's and ours. Where ever he went he and his wife were dressed very nicely and people stop to adore him. Also they eat dinner at a very late time. When they would go to dinner they would put their daughters to bed first. Now the average American eats dinner at six and in the movie they would eat at eight or nine. Also the most common drink they would have is tea. Which is opposite from the United States where we mostly drink coffee. The king's family was very wealthy and whenever they had a party the best food and champagne was served.
I really liked this movie. It was a nice balance between history and entertainment. It is a great story and very entertaining. I would recommend everyone watches this movie.

Reaction to the Bet Collector

The Bet collector is a movie about a Philippine woman who goes around collecting bets for an illegal game called jueteng. It is a game that the poor locals rely on to get money. Most of the movie is her going around and getting bets from all of her friends for the game. In the movie you never get to see how the actual game works. This movie ends with them at some sort of celebration where the main character gets shot in the arm.
This movie may have been set in the Philippines but the numbers they used were Spanish. The reason for this is that the Philippines used to be colonized by the Spanish. Even though that was quite some time ago they still left their mark on the country. This can show how parts of different parts of cultural can stay in a country even after an extended period of time. 
Where they were in the Philippines was poverty stricken. Some people lived in shacks made from ruble. That is something you just do not see here in the United States. We have poverty but not to this point. I have never personally seen a make-shift village. It also seems like our government helps people who are in need and there was not any for these people. 

Something that is common in this movie with most other places was the corruption in the police force. Even though they are meant to stop the illegal gambling they still participate in it. In one scene the main character is taken to the police station and while there she takes bets from the officers. You see this everywhere there is always things on the news about someone being corrupt. And there is no exception in this movie. 
This was not the best movie. There was not a strong story line, making it hard to follow. The whole time I was waiting to see how the game was played and it never was explained.

Reaction to Kitchen Stories

 Kitchen Stories is about man researcher who goes into a bachelors house to observe him in his kitchen. When he first arrives his subject stays out of his kitchen as much as he can. He then drills a hole in his ceiling so he can observe the observer. But as the movie goes on they start to accept each other and become friends. But because of their friendship the observer faces the choice of either leaving the home he is in or quitting his job thus keeping his friendship. He chooses to stay and then starts to live his his former subject. The movie ends with the subject dying.
A cultural difference I have seen in almost every movie we have watched this year is the difference in the food they eat. In this movie their food was usually colorless and Nordic based. A treat to them was pickled herring. Potatoes and eggs seemed to be staples in what they chose to eat. Here in the United States you don't really see people eating things like herring and Lutifistk. Unless they have a stronger connection with their Nordic roots.

The landscape in this movie was very similar to the landscape in Minnesota, which would explain why so many swedes and Norwegians immigrated here. The Swedish and Norwegian culture is still very strong here. Unfortunately this movie did not show many aspects of that cultural. Since most of this movie took place in the kitchen. One thing that i did see was that the most common job was farming. When swedes and Norwegians came to Minnesota they came to farm because it was what they knew how to do. That is apparent in this movie.
Overall I enjoyed this movie. It was slow at times, but it showed that no matter how different people are they can still become fiends. Also it showed that its not human nature to sit and observer but to interact and become inquisitive.

Reaction to Little Otik

Little Otik is a movie based on a German folk tale. A man and a woman longing for a child create a child for themselves. One day while out removing a tree the father pulls up a root and envisions  a child. He puts a finish on it and gives it to his wife. She also sees a baby and starts treating it so. They fake a pregnancy and take the wooden baby home with them. Over time the wooden baby comes alive and eats a lot. All it does is eat and eat and eat. After a good amount of time the baby eats their mailman. Overtime he also eats other people. The only person outside of the family that sees this is a little girl living next door. At one point they realize the horror of what their "baby" had become. They lock him in a basement in an attempt to starve it. The little girl them takes it upon herself to feed it. In the end a woman in the apartment building kills it with a garden hoe.                                                   
     There were not many aspects of the German culture shown in this movie. One thing I did notice was the different foods that they ate. It seemed like they ate a lot of soups and things that looked like mush. Something that was similar to the United States was the idea of an ideal family. They all want to have a husband, wife and kids. The longing for a child is what drove these people mad. It was something they wanted so badly that it was able to take over everything in their lives. Their thoughts, their actions, everything.
This was one of the weirdest movies I have ever watched in my life. The story was weird and something we just don't see very often.It could have been considered a horror story. The technology in this was sub-par. Clay-mation was used for the baby and it was not done well. I did not enjoy this movie. It was nice to learn about a German folk tale but the way it was presented was not enjoyable.

Reaction to Of Love and Eggs

"Of Love and Eggs" is a movie about a group of people living in a poor village in Indonesia. Throughout this whole movie they are all waiting for the dome to come to their village to put on the top of their mosque. Each family is struggling with their own issues, from needing money to suicide.

The village that this movie was set in is a very poor village. The newest building that was built in  their village is their mosque. Everything in this movie is based around this building. This shows how important to everyone their religion is. One girl is constantly scolded for drawing pictures of the mosque without a dome on top. Another will not allow anyone to sit on a prayer rug that belonged to her estranged mother. Everything in their lives is based around this building and their religion. Unlike here in the United States where there are fewer people who based their lives around their religion. Also we have more diversity when it comes to religions. In this village everyone has the same religion.
There were some common things that I saw in this movie. There was a daughter who had a strained relationship with her father and did not want to communicate with him. The people of the village were about to come together and convince them to rebuild their relationship. Also a young boy who's mother died when he was a baby attaches himself to a woman and begins to treat her as a mother figure. His father ends up in a relationship with her. All these things happen all over the world. Here in the U.S. and in other countries too. They are common problems that everyone has to face.
At the end of this movie the dome is delivered and everything in the village is balanced again. The girls mother returns and the little boy was able to have a mother he longed for. This movie was okay, the story lines did not seem to mesh together. But overall it was fun to see another countries culture.