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I Am From Titov Veles, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: Macedonia
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Jas sum od Titov Veles (I Am From Titov Veles)
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By: Teona Strugar
Starring: Labina Mitevska, Ana Kostovska, Nikolina Kujaca, Xhevdet Jashari
Genre: Drama

Overview:
Set in the quaint but scarred town of Veles, three sisters long to escape the suffocating environment of their dying community.  Burdened by memories of their late father, each chooses a different path:  Sapho struggles to secure a visa to Greece, Slavica desperately searches for a rich husband, and Afrodita harbors hopes for love and children.  In this contemporary story of urban decay, director Teona Strugar Mitevska blends stark realism with memorable performances to create a vivid landscape of life and longing in post-communist Macedonia.

My Thoughts:
Watching this film, I am reminded of coal country - eastern Kentucky, West Virginia - except instead of coal, here we have a factory that brings jobs and poisons the land and people.  We have a bleak crumbling infrastructure people are desperate to escape from - into dreams, drugs, sex, or to actually grasp the ability to leave for better opportunity.  This was a really well done character study, both of the sisters themselves and the character of the place.  You can feel the despair and the hopelessness roil off the screen.  If that didn't say it - this isn't a happy story, and it doesn't have a happy ending.  But it has something to say about life and living, and that always makes for a film worth seeing.

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on May 12th, 2014)

36 Hours, a review by Antares

36 Hours (1965) 76/100 - I had never heard of this film and caught it on TCM about a week ago. At first I thought it was going to play out a little like The Americanization of Emily, another war film starring James Garner. But then I was quite surprised when it turned out to be a rather exciting tale of espionage and intrigue which used the D-Day invasion as a backdrop. James Garner plays an OAS operative who is kidnapped in Lisbon by the Nazis, just days before the invasion. He is taken to a special encampment near the Swiss border which is fabricated to look like an American military hospital. Here, he is made to look a few years older by some temporary kind of plastic surgery, in order to create the ruse that he has suffered from amnesia for the last 6 years and that the war is over and the Allies have won. By convincing him of this scenario, they hope by treating him for the amnesia, that he will communicate the actual invasion plans to his physicians. All in all, this film kept me engaged throughout, and the ending of the film is quite satisfactory.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on October 12th, 2013)

Angel Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

19. Sanctuary
Original Air Date: 5/2/2000
Convinced Faith is capable of changing her ways, Angel tries to help her even as Kate, the Watchers Council and Buffy continue to hunt her down.

Guest Stars:
Elisabeth Rohm
Christian Kane
Stephanie Romanov
Eliza Dushku
Sarah Michelle Gellar

My Thoughts:
This is a great conclusion to Faith coming to LA. Plenty of excitement. And Buffy comes to town seeking vengeance. Though I do think Wesley was a little quick to help Angel after the torture he went through at the hands of Faith.  At least Cordelia taking off for a vacation while they helped Faith was a little more believable.

My Rating:

(From Angel Marathon on February 28th, 2010)