Make sure you see them all…series 1, 2, and the Christmas Special. I loved “Office Space,” but this even topped that one. I’ve had a boss kind of like David Brent…and that made it even more funny (and painful at times). The things he says…it’s so sad and pathetic it’s funny. My guess is that if you liked “Office Space,” enjoy Dilbert, and you laugh at dry British humor…you’ll love this one.

Note: Now they have an American version of the Office, which is also funny. But the British one is classic. Well worth watching.

I love photography and enjoyed the passion Busca-Pe has for taking pictures. This show, however, wouldn’t have needed the photography angle that to keep my attention. It is inspiring to hear stories of people who beat the odds and overcome the difficult situations that life has given them. (Especially for me…I have so much yet still find life to be tough.) I forget, all too often, how good I really have it…and every once in a while I need a movie like this to slap me in the face.

Wow, Ryan Gosling gives an amazing performance. This was an intense show which made me think of a bunch of different things; prejudice, cruelty, fear, Speaking out, fighting for your rights, and being assertive. On the outside, this show looks addresses these issues. But I thought the show was more about …beliefs. Specifically, in this case, beliefs about God. Do we question or don’t we? Do we hold on or let go? Do we sit passive or fight? Do we believe…or not? Maybe we just wish we didn’t believe….or maybe we hate ourselves because we do. Or, maybe we turn that hate towards the people who tried to convince us to believe in the first place? Now we hate them because we don’t want to believe…but we can’t help it.Along these lines, the show gave me some good food for thought. I feel pretty clean about growing up and changing my beliefs. I don’t feel anger or hatred, but watching this show made me look at it a bit and at least ask some questions of myself…I know it did make me upset about always being so passive in so many areas of my life.

Wow. This show was harrowing. It’s not for the squeamish or easily offended. It’s a frank look at a group of kids in Harlem and well beyond anything I saw or experienced in my sheltered life. I found myself thinking, this doesn’t really happen does it? It’s hard to admit that kids actually live in this type of an environment.It was depressing, sad, and eye-opening. I can get quite comfortable in my safe little corner of the world and forget about some of the rough things that happen on this planet. Sometimes it takes a movie like this to remind me that not only do I have a good life, but I have a responsibility to help those searching for something better. If you get this show, which I suggest, it’s contains mature themes and images.

This is a powerful show. It grabbed my heart, and shook it like a put bull. I’ve seen Temuera Morrison (Jake the Snake) in other movies (like Attack of the Clones), and it’s hard not to hate him because of his incredible performance in this movie. I have to remember, he was just acting. He did an excellent job at playing the type of person that I don’t think should allowed to be a father or even be around kids at all for that matter.Knowing that stuff like this happens makes it even more difficult to watch. It’s part of the dark side of humanity. This is a sad show but good to see because its reality for some people. We need to admit it’s there, look for it, and try to change it.

Within a week after watching American Beauty, I quit a job that I absolutely hated. This was my show. My life was about being mentally and emotionally sedated while I dragged myself from day to day and this inspired me to try to make some changes. I say try because although changing jobs helped, it didn’t fix everything. It’s going to take a while. But this goes down as one of my all time favorites. I laughed and cried.It felt real. The characters seemed like human beings with frustrations and problems like me. We all live and struggle in this world. We all cry. We all feel insecure. But so often I suffer alone in my fears and imperfections by burrying them as deep as possible. It’s torture. We need more courageous people to speak honestly and openly about our shadows. We need less bragging, gloating, blaming, and criticizing and more frank, open, vulnerable honesty. Like this show.

Summary

Here is a list of some of my favorite films. It’s not complete, by any means. I’ve left out many of the blockbusters which most people have seen. I have tried to include movies that may not be as well known…for the most part. Maybe someday I’ll start posting reviews of them…
District 9
The History Boys
Pan’s Labyrinth
American Gangster
Dirkie
Knocked Up
Little Miss Sunshine
Hotel Rwanda
Stranger than Fiction
Gridiron Gang
The Squid and the Whale
Boston Legal (TV Series)
The Ringer
The Departed
Blood Diamond
Why We Fight
A Love Song for Bobby Long
The Shipping News
Memoirs of a Geisha
Shopgirl
Capote
Primer
The Constant Gardener
The Aviator
Sin City
Crash
War of the Worlds
Door in the Floor
The Corporation
Dopemine
L’Auberge Espagnole
Love Jones
L.I.E.
Trailer Park Boys
Memento
Lost in Translation
Fight Club
Unbreakable
Amelie
Antwone Fisher
Bliss
Bend it Like Beckham
Billy Elliot
The Breakfast Club
American History X
Bully
Dead Poets Society
Donnie Darko
Good Will Hunting
Happiness
Grand Canyon
The Hours
In The Bedroom
In America
House of Sand and Fog
Lovely and Amazing
Magnolia
Monsters Ball
Moulin Rouge
Parenthood
Punch Drunk Love
Quills
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Regarding Henry
Requium for a Dream
Run Lola Run
Sylvia
Talk to Her
Whale Rider
What Dreams May Come
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Sex and Lucia
The Experiment
The Station Agent
The Tin Drum
Scared Straight
Secondhand Lions
White Oleander
Real Women have Curves
Blue Velvet