James' World 2

THE LIFE AHEAD

The Life Ahead (Italian: La vita davanti a sé) is an Italian drama directed by Edoardo Ponti (Sophia Loren’s son), from a screenplay by Ponti and Ugo Chiti. It’s the third screen adaptation of the 1975 novel The Life Before Us by Romain Gary. The Life Ahead is interesting and heartfelt.  This is Sophia Loren’s first theatrical movie since Nine, released in 2009. I love this film, kudos to Sophia who still has what it takes to maintain her status as a class act diva and superstar.

Madam Rosa (Sophia Loren) is a former prostitute and Jewish Holocaust survivor who provides a home in her apartment for the children of other “working women” in the port city of Bari, Apulia, Italy. After a 12-year old orphaned Senegalese immigrant child, Momo(Ibrahima Gueye) robs her, Dr. Cohen (Renato Carpentieri, the boy’s foster father, who also happens…

The Father is a drama co-written and directed by Florian Zeller, based on his 2012 play Le Père. A French-British co-production. The Father follows an aging man who must deal with his progressing memory loss. The Father takes a very realistic look from the patient to the caretaker’s point of view.  As a person digresses into a vacuum of Alzheimer’s disease, their loved ones are also profoundly impacted. The Father is an eyeopener.  I think it’s important to know the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer’s, briefly described below: Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia. Alzheimer’s is a specific disease. Dementia is not. As Alzheimer’s advances, symptoms get more severe and include disorientation, confusion, and behavior changes. Eventually, speaking, swallowing, and walking becomes difficult. There is no way to prevent, cure…

The White Tiger is a drama directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film was produced by Mukul Deora and Ramin Bahrani, and executive produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Prem Akkaraju, and Ava DuVernay. The White Tiger’s musical score is produced by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians and the cinematography is by Paolo Carnera, and editing by Tim Streeto. An adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s 2008 novel of the same name, is the story about Balram, who comes from a poor Indian village and uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty. I’m not sure if the message is a good one or not but the movie was great!

In 2010, entrepreneur Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) emails Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, requesting a meeting, and relating his life story. He states his belief that the Indian underclass is trapped in a perpetual state of servitude, like chickens in a chicken coop. In…

Over the Moon is a computer-animated musical family fantasy, directed by Glen Keane and co-directed by John Kahrs, from a screenplay by Audrey Wells with additional screenplay material by Alice Wu and Jennifer Yee McDevitt. The film was produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix Animation and animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Over the Moon is an animated children’s story about a  young girl who can’t accept her mother’s death or the fact that the Moon Goddess is only a legend.

A 9-year-old girl named Fei Fei (voice: Cathy Ang) is being told, by her mother Ma Ma (voice: Ruthie Ann Miles) and father Ba Ba (voice: John Cho), about the legend of the Moon Goddess, Chang’e (voice: Phillipa Soo). By taking a potion that would make her immortal, Chang’e became a goddess and ascended to the moon leaving her soulmate HouYi (voice: Conrad Ricamora) behind. She believes he…

Wolfwalkers is an animated fantasy adventure directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The film is the third and final installment in Moore’s “Irish Folklore Trilogy”, following his previous films The Secret of Kells (2009) and Song of the Sea (2014).  An international co-production led by Cartoon Saloon and Mélusine Productions. I really enjoyed Wolfwalkers, it follows a young apprentice hunter who arrives in Ireland with her father during a time of superstition and magic to wipe out the last wolf pack.

In 1650, the residents in the town of Kilkenny, Ireland are working to clear the nearby woods under orders from the authoritarian Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (voice: Simon McBurney), putting them at odds with a wolf pack. English hunter Bill Goodfellowe (voice: Sean Bean), with his rebellious daughter Robyn Goodfellowe (voice: Honor Kneafsey), has been summoned to Kilkenny by the Lord Protector to exterminate the…