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ragingbull1965
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Santa and the Three Bears (1970)
A Golden Christmas Oldie!!!
For kids who have grown up with Christmas animations such as Jim Carry's Grinch and A Christmas Carol, this classic animation may not appeal to them. But for those of us who grew up watching this program as well as A Charlie Brown's Christmas and A Christmas Story, this will definitely have sentimental value. The ranger represents every parent who tries to explain Santa Claus to their children and the cubs represent every child who wants to learn about Santa. Of course the parents know that Santa doesn't exist and the kids want to believe in him so the parents (in this case, the Ranger) will pretend Santa is real so as not to disappoint their children (the cubs). Where I live, this delightful animation is not shown anymore. The last time it was featured was 2004, if I recall correctly. But if anyone has the chance to watch it, I recommend that they give it a chance. And for those of us "baby-boomers", it will be a chance to relive our own childhood and remember a time when public celebrations of Christmas were not politically incorrect and how excited we all were every year during Christmas. And how much we liked this film when we watched it as kids!
Madigan Men (2000)
Another victim of lack of instant gratification by the networks
Since I am interested in Irish culture, I actually liked this series because it was a very humorous mix of Irish and American cultures. Sadly, as with so many other series that came before and after this, it was not a ratings success and ABC decided to cancel it after only 9 episodes. These very short-sighted network execs seem to forget that some of the best television series were not top-10 or -20 shows in their first season but they later caught on with the viewing public and became major successes. Series like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Hill St. Blues and the Odd Couple started off with very low ratings (in the case of the Odd Couple, it didn't become a success until after it had gone into syndication). If these series were shown today, they probably would not survive the first season. Over the last 10 years, some very good series like Pan Am, Alcatraz, The Firm and Tron Uprising were canceled after just one season because of poor rating. Instead of having faith in their products finding an audience, the networks decided to kill these series too soon. Nowadays, if you aren't in the top-10 in your first month, you won't last very long and that's a shame.
Bride & Prejudice (2004)
I love Indian Culture!!!!!
Even though I am not Indian, I just love her culture! They know how to party and their food is so great! It can turn even the most fanatical carnivore into an vegetarian (though their tandoori meat dishes are also excellent)! Indians are a great people! Shrewd business people but very warmhearted! I'm not a big Bollywood fan but India has a very rich film industry as well. Jai Hind everyone!!!!
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
A clash of cultures
As anyone who was raised by immigrant parents can attest to, this film illustrates the struggles of a second-generation Indo-Briton (Jess) to integrate into the host country and her parents' struggles to raise their children in the traditions of their own culture. I can relate to this because I am a second-generation American born to immigrant parents and I remember very well wanting to fit in with my classmates but having to endure the resistance of my parents who kept reminding me that "we are different". This film did an excellent job presenting these cultural differences in the simplest yet most poignant way; with the use of football. Since football is not as popular in India as it is in Britain and in most of the world, it represented one cultural difference. Also, girls playing sports in India is also not encouraged so to have an Indian girl wanting to play a non-traditional Indian sport represented two simultaneous cultural differences. Finally, in many Asian cultures, children are expected to always obey their parents even if that means sacrificing their own ambitions so as not to disappoint their parents. So Jess is forced to make a choice; play football against her parents' wishes or do what her parents want her to do even if this means giving up football. These are just some of the reasons why many immigrants find it hard to assimilate into the dominant culture of the host country. And the consequences are not always amusing.
Yesterday (1981)
Very underrated film
I saw this film in the summer of '82 on HBO but it was called This Time Forever. I had never heard of it but since I am a fan of Eddie Albert and Cloris Leachman, I decided to give it a try. It turned out to be one of the best films I had ever seen. It is not a sordid film about a teenager trying to lose his virginity and nor is it a sappy love story about two young people falling in love against their parents' wishes. It is about a young man trying to choose where his real loyalties lie; his duty to serve his country or remain with the lady he loves. The problem is that it is very hard to find today and it is almost never shown anymore. If anyone gets the chance to see it, I highly recommend it. You may be just as surprised as I am.