Lifebuilders 7/11/10

Dixon Gallery Summer 2010 Exhibits

An eclectic combination of paintings and prints by women are currently on display during the summer season at the Dixon Gallery.

Over forty impressionist paintings by New Orleans native, Helen M. Turner are featured in the main gallery. This southern spinster pursued formal art training late in life in New York. Most of the paintings portray domestic period scenes of women.

English native, Clare Leighton, produced a large number of prints for books in the early twentieth century. From her days in New York city and The South, she produced a large volume of modernistic urban and rural prints.

Also on display are paintings of Memphis native John Torina and daughter Clare Torina.

This was an interesting combination of works by three accomplished female artist. The impressionist paintings by Helen M. Turner were exceptional.

Movie Review "Green Zone"

This action thriller stars Matt Damon as a US Army Warrant Officer in search of Weapons of Mass Destruction during the early part of the latest war in Iraq. Damon is a committed patriotic soldier who is frustrated by his fruitless search for weapons. He is caught up in a web of governmental infighting and deception. The action is quick and not overly gory. The plot is semi-sophisticated. The higher levels of military and Executive branch of the US government are portrayed as merciless and deceitful. The only honorable characters are Damon, some of the Baathist leaders and those within the intelligence community who are trying to thwart his weapons search.

Movie Review: Young Victoria

This historical film chronicles the life of a youthful Queen Victoria. Until recently, the mass of movies involved Queen Victoria in her later years. The bulk of the plot involves the sporadic romance of Victoria and Prince Albert of Germany. Intrigues abound as Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, and her lover, Sir John Conroy scheme to steal the power of the monarchy from her prior to reaching her majority. Byzantine plottings between the two political parties of the era confound Victoria’s plans for empire and matrimony.

Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend excellently portrayed Victoria and Albert. The two are destined to marry, but protocol demands that Albert may not ask her hand in marriage until Victoria gives permission to do so. The settings and cinematography are above average. Some license is taken with the historic facts, but all without destroying the essence of the story.

Movie Review: "The Book of Eli"

This movie is the most recent addition to the recent explosion of post-apocalyptic stories. Denzel Washington plays Eli, a mysterious loner whose divine vision leads him to journey west across the mayhem of a barren lawless North America with his sacred book. Gary Oldham convincingly portrays Carnegie, an ambitious ruthless ruler who is determined to take Eli’s book. The characters are well developed. The plot of semi-sophisticated, but the running time is too long. Were it not for the salty language, the movie could have forgone it’s “R” rating. Scenes are violent, but not particularly gory by today’s standards.

Movie Review: "A Christmas Carol"

This 3D animated version of the Dickens classic was directed by Polar Express’ Robert Demeckis. Jim Carrey is the visual template and voice for the Victorian character Ebenezer Scrooge. Because of it’s popularity, there are very few plot surprises in the story’s telling. The animation truly brings 3D viewing to a new height. The screenplay was a fairly accurate rendering of the book. The film did not over rely on it’s highly sophisticated animated effects. The movie is rated PG, but some of the ghostly scenes would probably be a little too intense for younger viewers.

Movie: "Where the Wild Things Are"

Max Records is a boy living in a single parent suburban home. He has a fantastic imagination, but cannot control his anger or emotions. In a fit or rage, he leaves home and sets sail in a small boat to an island populated by bigger- than- life sentient fantastic creatures. There he establishes himself as king over the wild things. Most of the story is spent in conflicts amongst the wild things and his rule over them.

Max is mostly out of control emotionally the first twenty minutes of the movie. The facial animation of the creatures is excellent. The story and cinematography are dark and cheerless. You definitely will not leave the theater feeling enlightened or uplifted.

Despite being based on a children’s book, I would not recommend taking small children to see this.