Tennessee (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)TENNESSEE is a minimalist film: there is very little dialogue, not a lot of movement, not a huge climax. It just happens and while it is happening it changes you. Though it is a small budget film it makes a big impact, making us wish that there were more films like this to counterbalance all the big over the top bonanzas that seem to rule the theater circuit. It is gently written (by Russell Schaumburg), sensitive directed by Aaron Woodley, and acted with honesty by a fine young cast.
Ellis (Ethan Peck, definitely an actor on the rise) and Carter (Adam Rothenberg (ditto) are brothers; their mother is dead and their father has a history of abusing the boys to the point that Ellis and Carter no longer see him. Ellis is a photographer by hobby, taking photographs of mountains and landscapes in their Tennessee small town: Carter drinks too much but looks after his younger brother. Ellis is diagnosed as having leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant - Carter offers but despite being siblings the match is not adequate. The brothers set out on a trip to be together and end up in New Mexico. But soon they are on the road again and in Texas they pause at a diner where they meet Krystal (Mariah Carey) waiting tables, but preferring to write songs. Seeing that the brothers have no money, Krystal takes them home - she is married to an alcoholic Texas Ranger Frank (Lance Reddick) who routinely beats her and demands that the 'freeloaders' be gone in the morning. The next morning the three of them take the car and head to Tennessee - the boys have decided that Ellis' only hope is to find their father to see if he is a candidate to donate bone marrow. The three are chased by Frank until they finally reach Tennessee where, for need of cash, Krystal sings in a nightclub contest and captures the audience's approval while she now has money to give to the brothers to find their father.
How these disparate, desperate people come together emotionally and the manner in which the story ends may seem too pat for some, but for viewers with vulnerable hearts this little film will be fulfilling. Each of the cast is excellent, but it is such a pleasure to see Mariah Carey in a role that merits her talent and find that she handles it so well is rewarding. It is a small story with a huge heart. Grady Harp, December 10

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A moving tale of sacrifice and self-discovery; Tennessee is the story of three people who strive to realize their dreams. Brothers, Carter (Adam Rothenberg) and Ellis (Ethan Peck) set out on a road trip to their childhood home in a desperate search for their estranged father, who may hold the key to their future. Along the way, they are joined by Krystal (Mariah Carey), who is trying to escape a troubled life. These unlikely traveling companions are guided in their mutual journey by the conviction that the only way to a new life is by overcoming their past.

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Walking Tall (1973) Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie is certainly one of the bloodiest true stories ever filmed. Even though many of the scenes in the film are fictionalized for dramatic effect, there are many scenes in this film that did happen to Buford Pusser in real life and that is what makes so many scenes in the film shocking.
Joe Don Baker gives his best performance as Buford Pusser, a retired wrestler who after being brutally beaten in a local nightclub, exacts revenge on the very same people who did it. Pusser is arrested by the corrupt town sheriff and is taken to court for his actions. Thanks to a sympathetic jury, Pusser is rightly found not guilty and takes up his friend's plan to run for town sheriff against his wife's wishes.
While serving his term as sheriff, he is constantly followed, shot at, lied to, and eventually in one of the bloodiest scenes ever put on film, ambushed while driving with his wife, Pauline (played by Elizabeth Hartman). Pauline is brutally murdered and Buford Pusser is severely wounded when he is shot in the face several times with a machine gun.
Director Phil Karlson managed to make a terrific biographical action film with just one serious flaw. People who love spotting bloopers will find more than their fair share in this film. There are at least seven scenes in this movie where the boom mic comes into the frame or the shadow of the boom mic operator is seen along the wall.
If you can get by that, you will be left with a terrific movie.
Parents: Don't let children younger than 14 watch this film. There are numerous scenes of graphic, extreme violence (eg: Pusser's many beatings and gunfights) and coarse language.

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Based on true events in the life of Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, who "removes" corruption in his county with a four-foot-long wooden club. When the criminals attack his family, Buford shoots a whorehouse manager in the head and runs hillbilly gangsters over with his car.

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Paper Clips Review

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(More customer reviews)It is so refreshing to see that there can be genuinely excellent documentaries such as "March of the Penguins" and this moving film, "Paper Clips," particularly in light of some of the schlock documentaries that have become hits in recent years. "Paper Clips" documents a project in the Whitwell, TN Middle School in which principal Linda Hooper leads dedicated students and teachers in a lesson on the meaning of the Holocaust. Whitwell is a lower middle class rural community that is almost exclusively white Christian. The members of the community set out to collect six million paper clips, one for each Jew killed by the Nazis. As word spread, contributions came from all over the country and, indeed, the world.
A group of holocaust survivors, from the Five Towns area of Long Island, New York, came to visit the community. Most people in Whitwell had never seen a Jew before but, the two groups instantly bonded. As they heard the tales of what happened in the Holocaust, there were many tears and hugs between the two groups. One student, Cassie Crabtree, was taken by how grandfatherly one of the survivors named Sam is. What happened in Whitwell is that two sets of sterotypes were shattered. The people of Whitwell learned how devestating prejudice and hatred is but, visitors to Whitwell learned how sterotypes of rural southerners as prejudiced rednecks is equally wrong and inaccurate.
It is so intensly moving to see that in our midst there are good, kindly, saintly people. The students, teachers and community members of Whitwell are truly such people. What is also moving is to see how this project grew beyond its original scope. With the help of two German born journalists, the community acquired a cattle car that the Nazis used to transport victims to the concentration camps. This car is a lasting memorial and the clips are kept in that car. Since they received such a huge number of clips, eleven million are stored there, six million for the Jews that were slaughtered and five additional million for the other victims of the Holocaust. What makes this movie so emotional is to see the genuine good that can exist in people as exemplified by the wonderful citizens of Whitwell, TN.

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PAPER CLIPS - DVD Movie

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