Two movies worth seeing

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the perfect chick flick movie, particularly for mothers and teen daughters. My teen daughter took me. I really loved it, in spite of some spotty dialog writing and some of the predictable story lines (leukemia does make an appearance designed to pull on the viewer's heart strings). Still, the acting by the quartet of young adult women surprised me. They brought originality and believability to their roles. Lots of tear-jerking moments. Lots of memories evoked from my history and those of friends.

I found myself wishing to be in a sisterhood (I usually loathe sisterhood movies) and to try on jeans with girlfriends. I wanted to make rules and break them. I wanted, in fact, to be sixteen again. That's its triumph.

I especially enjoyed the scenes set in Greece. Just the view of the white washed adobe homes tucked into the hillsides over the deep blue waters of the sea below made the rest of the movie worth it. Alexis Bledel plays the character of Lena whose only responsibility for the summer is to sketch Greece and fall in love. Works for me! She's got the best wardrobe in the movie too. And she was my favorite character.

Anyway, if you have an abundance of estrogen and a gal pal or teen daughter, go see this movie. Then stop by the thrift store for some vintage shopping.

Crash comes from an entirely different place and it seems odd to review both of these movies in the same post. Having grown up in the Los Angeles basin, I was attracted to the setting of the film even more than the themes, when I first heard of it. "Crash" explores the challenges of inter-racial tension, both the stereotypes and their origins. It also reverses expectations (how we are more complex than the stereotypes might indicate) by the last third of the film which packs a powerful emotional punch.

I found some of the racial slurs surprisingly direct (my experience as a southern Californian is that you don't say these things outloud for fear of being seen as a racist... not an attractive reputation to have in California). The movie explores repeated miscommunications through literal language gaffes as well as mistaken assumptions.

There are some supremely touching moments as well as the deepest kinds of terrors. The film is unrelenting in making you look. Living in Cincinnati where racial tensions between white police and the black community continue unabated year after year, I couldn't help but wish everyone would view this film. It not only showed us the basis for the stereotypes, but also the dangers inherent in imposed corrections to the problems. I came away feeling that no one has a solution, yet hopeful that humans would somehow triumph over hate in spite of the system.

Over it all, the white race continues to reign (unsteadily, uneasily, and even with some guilt). We do so by revising the rules that dole out benefits and blessings in limited ways, but these become twisted or immoral even in their attempts to be moral. Sandra Bullock played a role I could relate to - I grew up with women just like her.

Lots to think about in this movie. Visually, challenging and artistically conceived.