A Glorious ‘Pi’ in Your Eye, Plus ‘Sessions’ for the Heart The film, based on a true story, is about a writer (John Hawkes) who has been confined to an iron lung following a severe bout with polio. It’s almost a miracle that he has survived into adulthood. He is a devout Catholic but desires some intimacy in his lonely life, even though he is certain that his
By Theda Kleinhans Reichman Hollywood is coming to the end of its annual summer boil. Every fall, movies shift from robots and comic book heroes to Oscar contenders for mature audiences. During this transition, there’s a period of doldrums when few new releases are offered. So I decided to catch up with some of the films I missed that are now on DVD and Blu-ray. Two easy ways to access recent oldies is via Netflix and at that handy-dandy Redbox in your neighborhood grocery store. Using the latter, I checked out two fine motion pictures I had not
film seen prior to this year’s Oscars. One of these gems, “Life of Pi,� won Ang Lee the gold statuette for best director. The film also landed countless technical awards, and deservedly so. The story, about a 16-yearold Indian boy who survives a shipwreck and is stranded alone on a lifeboat in the Pacific with a Bengal tiger, is highly involving, visually stunning and spiritually uplifting. (It is based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name.)
physical disability has made it impossible for him to marry. William Macy plays a compassionate San Francisco priest who serves as the protagonist’s confessor and non-judgmental friend. Warm and often funny, “The Sessions� is rated R for nudity and adult themes.
A major plus on the DVD is the making-of feature. I was especially curious about the photo-realistic special effects and methods used to create the animals, particularly the tiger; how the filmmakers pulled it off may surprise you, as it did me. That the wonderful actor in the main role, Suraj Sharma, had no previous formal training as a thespian may surprise you, as well. My other Redbox selection was “The Sessions,� starring the always marvelous Helen Hunt as a sex therapist. (She was nominated for her work here in the Best Actress category.)
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September 25, 2013
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