If you dig a hole to China…..

This documentary was enlightening. I learned of it after reading Angela’s Ashes (see book reviews). I fell in love with the story of this family who struggled so badly to make something out of their poverty and father’s alcoholism. After reading Angela’s Ashes, I did more research on the family. All the McCourt brothers have published books focusing on their lives, and they reunited and traveled back to Limerick to give us a glimpse into the lives they speak of in their books.

It’s sad that young children have to suffer for the mistakes of adults. I see it everyday in my job. This film drives that principle home; however, the beauty of it is that people can change how they were raised and can make a difference in the world! And that is just what this film proves to the average human being.

I am so not a fantasy person! In fact, I only watched this movie because my husband begged me to do so.  I hated it!  It was so long, and drawn out, and boring.  There is some interesting symbology to it though.

The lion represents Christ, who is betrayed by his fellow men and must fight the war to regain his power. The witch is the antichrist, who is out to turn all people in her domain against the lion.  The lion gives his life for the sake of the lesser ones, where he is tortured and slain, and left to suffer and die.  He does rise again though!

If you are a Christan, and know all the biblical stuff and stories, you will see a lot of religious principles in the movie.  It’s amazing how Disney finds a way to sneak its own agenda into movies.  If you pay attention while you watch other Disney movies, you will see what I mean as well.

This movie was so great. It was based on a true story, and took place in El Paso, Texas, in 1965. The coach is hired to coach a Divison I basketball team, and he is on a mission to make it the best team in the division. He travels all over the states in search of athletes, black athletes namely, and finds them in Gary (Indiana), NYC, and Chicago on the streets playing “streetball”. He convinces their families that the way out of poverty is through an education, and he signs them up to come play ball at the college. Man, they were in for a real suprise when the got on a bus and came to the desolate area of El Paso. They faced so much hatred and discrimination because they were black, but their coach molded them to become great athletes and to value education. The coach and his family were hated by many for bringing blacks into the sport. One white colleague even said, “Blacks will not change this game.” Haha…how things changed! Great movie…I highly suggest it!

This movie was really cute…for a romantic comedy!  It is about a white guy who meets a black girl, and they really start to like each other, but she continues to fight it because her family does not believe in interracial dating.  She also comes from a family who believes so much in higher education, and the man she meets is a landscape designer, not a doctor or lawyer that her parents aspire for her to marry.  In the end, it all works out.  This movie brings up some good things on how different races see things. I liked it.

If you haven’t read the book, I think you will be really confused during this movie. It started off really fast, but then it went really, really slow, and certain parts seemed to drag. I’m glad I read the book…it was a million times better than the movie. In retrospect, I would have preferred to rent this one!