This new documentary looks simply amazing amazing. Alas, where can I see it locally?

Movie reviews:

"Spanglish" is a wonderful movie about difficulties of communication and the dysfunction and breakdown of a wealthy L.A. family. Flor Moreno leaves Mexico with her young daughter and migrates to Los Angeles where she eventually finds a housecleaning job at the house of John and Deborah. John and Deborah are far from being on the same page as to their parenting, and one of the best scenes in the movie is when they break out into a fight over their son George. Deborah alleges that John undermines her authority by setting up a dynamic of good cop, bad cop. John's character attempts to dismiss/lighten the conversation and tries to do so by cupping his wife's breast. She is, rightly so, infuriated and gives him the earful that he has coming. Deborah's idea of parenting when it comes to their slightly overweight daughter Bernice is incredibly screwed up. Deb surprises Bernie by buying her new clothes from a sample sale - in a smaller size than she actually fits into, in the hope of encouraging her to lose weight. The scene is entirely heartbreaking as disappointment dawns on Bernie's face and she runs into the bathroom. Witness to this interaction, Flor secretly takes the clothes and tailors them with a sewing machine to Bernie's size. Flor, who speaks no English at this point in the movie, learns the phrase from her daughter Christina "Just try it on." Though Flor's knowledge of English is limited, she repeats this phrase 4 times to Bernie before getting her to do as she requests, and as she goes through each phrasing of "Just try it on", the audience can read the emotional shifts and renewed intensity and desire to communicate with each delivery. Deb decides she wants to rent a summer home on the beach and gets Flor to move in as a live-in housekeeper, with her daughter. Deb is enamored of Christina, who is thin, appreciative, intelligent, but most of all, the perfect little girl that her daughter Bernice is not. Deb sneaks Christina off to shopping trips and gets her a scholarship to the private prep school that Bernice attends, and Flor is left to struggle with wanting the best for her daughter while being afraid of losing her. Another wonderful moment in this movie is when after dropping off the girls at the bustop, Flor protests against her neurotic employer. They have just left the bustop where Deb has given Christina a number of gifts for her 1st day at school, and Christiina has given a warm goodbye to Deb, and only waved at her mother. Flor starts walking back to the house as Deb lingers behind. And when Flor hears Deb running - she has an obnoxious habit of yelling out "left", "right" when passing others on the road, Flor says with great determination, "NO LEFT" and starts running in her skirt and flats. These were my favorite moments in the plot - ultimately, Deb has an affair which she confesses to John who has had a growing attraction and affection for Flor. Flor and John share a kiss, but Flor quits her job and Christina is taken out of private school and at the end we realize that through the many subplots, this movie is very much about love between a mother and a daughter.

More later on Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou...

Interesting to read on Ron's site about Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty". I confess to never yet having seen this movie, though I have heard it hyped, mostly by a male poet I used to know in Boston who praised it as his all time favorite movie. And so, how illuminating to hear about the fellatio scene with the beautiful Liv Tyler. Of course!