Help!

Does anyone know the copyright laws concerning internet photo usage? Is it legal to post a still from a movie if I include the title of the movie, the names of any actors or actresses in the photo, the year the movie was released, and what studio released it? What if I post the photo, the title of the movie, year it was released, and who released it, along with my source for the photo (i.e. the name of the website I saved it off of)?

Regarding The 39 Steps

Richard Hannay (Rupert Penry-Jones) is bored. Recently returned to England after living in Africa for a time, he finds English people dull and stuffy. Then a secret agent pushes his way into Hannay's apartment and is promptly killed - after giving Hannay a coded notebook and instructions to give the book to Captain Kell of the secret service. Hannay is accused of the murder and soons finds himself on the run from the police and a German spy ring.

Pros: I really like Hannay. His morals aren't quite on line, but he's really nice. I also really like Victoria Sinclair (Lydia Leonard), the harum-scarum suffragette who joins Hannay. The story is pretty good - an amalgamation of the book by John Buchan and the earlier movie by Alfred Hitchcock, with a few new parts thrown in. For the most part, they really handled the guy and girl traveling together alone angle well. They could have made it really sleazy, but they stayed pretty clean considering how new the movie is.

Cons: The ending is extremely frustrating!! There are a couple of scenes I sincerely wish they had left out. And, of course, the "mysterious" German spies are rather too shifty looking for my taste.

My Rating: T (sexual references, content)

In Relation To Might As Well Be Dead

In Rex Stout's Might As Well Be Dead, detective Nero Wolfe is contacted by a wealthy man from Omaha, Nebraska, who wants to find his missing son. Wolfe (or, rather, his sidekick, Archie Goodwin) finds the son, all right - who has just been convicted of murder! But Wolfe is convinced the man is innocent, and decides to dig deeper into the case before he reports his findings to the man's father.

Pros: I just love Nero Wolfe books. What a character! An immensely fat orchid lover who never leaves the house, but manages to solve murder mysteries time after time - amazing! Plus, I find Archie's commentary very funny, although this book wasn't as humorous as others I've read.

Cons: The story wasn't the greatest, and the most valuable piece of evidence is kept in the dark until Wolfe reveals the killer. Very annoying for Agatha Christie fans who are used to having all the facts ahead of time.

My Rating: T (sexual references, content)

On The Story of Robin Hood

Richard the Lionheart (Patrick Barr) rides off to war in the Holy Land, taking most of the best men in England along with him - including the Sherrif of Nottingham. The new sherrif (Peter Finch) immediately raises taxes and bolsters the number of foresters at his command. When his father is killed for speaking out against the sherrif's policies, Robin Hood (Richard Todd) is branded an outlaw and takes to Sherwood Forest to rob the rich to feed the poor.

Pros: I really like the minstrel's character, and Robin isn't bad, either. There are a few things about this movie that are different from other Robin Hood stories I've seen. 1) Robin starts out as a peasant. Usually he's already the Earl of Locksley or something like that. 2) Prince John never tries to usurp the throne from his brother - a welcome change!

Cons: I like the idea of this movie; I really do. However, the decent story, writing, and (occasionally) acting somehow get swallowed up in the bad costumes and sets, as well as the painful slapstick humor.

My Rating: AGC

Pertaining To The Historian

In Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, a young woman finds a mysterious packet of letters in her father's study. When she demands an explanation from him, he begins, bit by bit, to tell her a strange story concerning an old book, a professor of his... and Dracula. As the mystery gradually becomes clear, the young woman finds herself ever more deeply entangled in a desperate mission that could end with her or one of her loved ones as a dead body. Or an undead body.

Pros: The story was very interesting and kept me reading. There were some unexpected twists. I rather like the father, though I think the daughter is a total idiot.

Cons: Kostova used two strategies to build suspense. I think she failed at both. 1) The book is over six hundred pages long. If she had eliminated unnecessary details and descriptions, it could have been three hundred pages and a lot more fast-paced and exciting. 2) It jumps from letters to stories to present time, with four different people narrating at different times. Only masterful writers can use this technique to their advantage; it only works when the reader leaves an interesting/cliff-hanger part of the story to go to another interesting/cliff-hanger part of the story. Switching from an interesting part of the story to go to a dull part of the story does not work. 

My Rating: MT (evil vampires, moderate sexual content)

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Concerning Unbreakable

David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the only survivor of a horrific train wreck that killed over a hundred people. The only other person to be pulled from the wreckage dies of a crushed skull and other injuries within minutes, but Dunn is completely unhurt. Upon leaving a memorial service for the victims of the train wreck, he finds a mysterious card from a comic book store called "Limited Edition" under the windshield wiper of his vehicle. Naturally curious, he seeks out the store and find that its owner, Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), thinks that Dunn may be a modern superhero - a man who is literally "unbreakable."

Pros: There are a lot of things I like about this movie, but I can't mention half of them because I would give something away. That being said, although Bruce Willis isn't a terrific actor, the rest of the cast in the movie is very good. I also like Dunn's wife, Audrey (Robin Wright Penn) very much.

Cons: It's a bit slow, and doesn't have the same emotional pull that some of director/writer/producer M. Night Shyamalan's other movies have.

My Rating: T (language, intensity, sexual reference)

Picture from impawards.com

Regarding The Rescuers

Little Penny (Michelle Stacy) is in terrible trouble. Held captive on a riverboat by an evil woman, Penny tosses messages in bottles into the water, hoping against hope that one of her bottles will end up in the right hands. Or paws. As it turns out, the Rescue Aid Society, a group of mice from all over the world, finds one of her messages and sends two of its members out to save her. Or one of its members and its janitor. Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor), the agent who is chosen for the mission, chooses Bernard (Bob Newhart), the superstitious and timid janitor, as her companion. Together they have to find Penny and rescue her before it's too late.

Pros: I think this movie is so funny! Miss Bianca is so sweet, and Bernard is hilarious - though my favorite characters are Orville (Jim Jordan) and Evinrude (James MacDonald). Oh, and Penny is an adorable little girl!

Cons: I think Bernard's superstitions are funny, but I'm not sure they're entirely appropriate for a kids' movie.

My Rating: AGC

Picture from impawards.com

*Spoiler Reflections* On Religion in Signs

This article contains spoilers of M. Night Shyamalan's movie Signs (starring Mel Gibson)

Which is better, a pie in the face or a pie on the table? A pie can't be eaten after it's been slapped in someone's face. A pie on the table, though, is ready and waiting to be enjoyed at its eater's leisure. The same can be said for movies. Filmmakers have two choices when they set out to make a movie: slap the viewer in the face with a message, or invite the viewer to enjoy the message at his or her leisure. Unfortunately, most Christian filmmakers choose the former.

Because of this, I am not a fan of movies made by Christian groups. Once, I tried to watch a Kendrick brothers film - Facing the Giants. I made it through ten minutes before I turned it off. I could see exactly how the story would go, and exactly how it would end. I could probably even paraphrase The Line that would tell the viewers exactly what the message of the movie was. The movie was predictable, and would just slap me with its message, over and over and over again. Don't get me wrong; sometimes people need to be slapped with a message. But not in movies.

Now I'll reveal the real reason I'm writing this blog post: Plugged In ticked me off. I watched Signs, M. Night Shyamalan's movie about faith. Curious about Plugged In's review of the movie, I went to the website and checked it out. I was unpleasantly surprised. The reviewer was disappointed in the way the movie portrayed Graham's renewal of faith. To quote the reviewer, "It's a windblown faith based less on God's remarkable and unchanging character than on how smoothly life is going at the moment." Respectfully, I couldn't disagree more.

When Graham's son Morgan survives because of his asthma, Graham realizes that "Someone" saved him. In the next scene, which is the final scene of the movie, we see Graham wearing his priestly collar. He has obviously renewed his commitment to God. Does he need to be shown praying to God, something he refused to do earlier in the movie? No. Besides, how could M. Night have shown Graham making a daily commitment to God, through good times and bad, without either drawing out the movie or putting in a very cheesy, slap-in-the-face line or series of lines? To me, the brief ending M. Night used is more than adequate for the story's purposes.

In the end, because there's only one "footnote" scene at the end of the movie, viewers walk away from Signs remembering the moment when Graham realizes that there are no coincidences, and that Someone is looking out for us. That moment has more power than a hundred scenes describing Graham's renewed commitment to God.

In Relation To Frequency

Playing with an old ham radio one night, Queens cop John Sullivan suddenly makes contact with his father Frank (Dennis Quaid) - a firefighter who was killed thirty years ago in the line of duty. John is able to warn his father about the fire and ends up saving his life. But changing the past is not an easy way to avoid responsibility or employ twenty/twenty hindsight to fix things that went wrong. John soon discovers that a serial killer known as the Nightingale, who disappeared after killing four women in the late '60s, didn't kill just four women after all - he killed eleven. John and his father must race against time and thwart the Nightingale before he can kill the seven women who weren't supposed to die.

Pros: I absolutely love this movie! The time traveling idea was really cool and actually worked pretty well. I also love the themes - 1) Even changing the past (something everyone would like to do once in a while!) doesn't erase responsibility for one's actions and 2) Family, particularly fathers, are very important in the lives of their children. On top of all that, I thought the writing and acting were excellent. Oh, and Jim Caviezel is really handsome.

Cons: Not everything matched up perfectly, but none of the inconsistencies were glaringly obvious.

My Rating: MT (language, violence)

Picture from impawards.com

On The Squire's Tale

Gerald Morris's The Squire's Tale is about Terence, a young man who was raised by a hermit during the time of King Arthur. With a little help from a mischievous sprite, Terence comes upon Gawain, a young man with knightly aspirations. Terence volunteers to become his squire, and the two soon find themselves in a whirlwind of excitement - and magic.

Pros: It's humorous. I really like Terence.

Cons: The story is, frankly, rather disjointed. Events happen so quickly - until they slow down - that it seems like a bunch of mini stories instead of one cohesive whole.

My Rating: OK (violence)

Picture from childrensliteraturenetwork.org

Concerning Signs

Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) used to be a priest. Six months ago, his wife died and he lost faith in God. Now strange things are happening on his farm in Pennsylvania. His kids, Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin), wake up early one morning to find huge geometric patterns stamped on the cornfield. Graham and his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) dismiss the patterns as vandalism. But as things become stranger and stranger, the Hess brothers are forced to confront a spooky possibility: What if there are aliens on Earth?

Pros: A pro-faith movie that doesn't beat its viewer over the head with its message! Yes! Plus, there are some mighty powerful lines. Bo is absolutely, positively adorable - one of the cutest, sweetest little girls I've ever seen in or out of a movie. Merrill is sweet and hilarious. And rather cute. The technology wasn't quite there for animation, but M. Night Shyamalan (the writer/director/producer) didn't try to do more than the technology would allow. There are several parts that make my top-favorite scenes list.

Cons: I didn't get some parts the first time I watched it. But everything one needs to enjoy the movie is very clear - the confusing parts are of secondary importance. I still don't get a few things, but I think M. Night Shyamalan wanted it that way. He focused on the things that were important to the movie, and left unimportant things unexplained.

My Rating: T (spookiness, language)

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Pertaining To Guys and Dolls

Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) has a problem. He runs a gambling busniess in New York. But gambling is illegal, and he needs to raise $1000 in one day so he can use Joey Biltmore's garage as his place of business. In desperation, Nathan bets gambler Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he can't take Salvation Army Sergeant Sarah Brown (Jane Simmons) to Havana for dinner. There was never a more unlikely pair than Miss Sarah and Sky - but then, love is often found in unlikely places.

Pros: I love Sky Masterson. Not exactly sure why, but I do. Miss Sarah is also one of my favorite characters ever. Nathan's girlfriend Adelaide (Vivian Blaine) is great (except for her dance scenes). The music is awesome, and I always laugh all through the movie.

Cons: Okay, Marlon Brando was not cut out to be in a musical. And Frank Sinatra was not cut out to be an actor. I generally skip both Adelaide's dance scenes and the bar in Cuba because they're a little off-color.

My Rating: T (mild sexual references)

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Regarding Storyteller

Storyteller, written by Edward Myers, is about a young man named Jack who lives in Yorrow, a village in the kingdom of Sundar. Jack loves to tell stories. One day he decides to go off and seek his fortune. On his way to the royal city, he comes upon a crow-like bird named Loquasto. Loquasto not only speaks, he has fallen in love with a beautiful fish princess named Artemisia. Together, the Jack and Loquasto go to the royal city - and soon find themselves knee-deep in trouble.

Pros: Some of the names in this book seem to have deeper meanings. For instance, "Loquasto" is rather similar to "Eloquent," and the bird can talk. "Stelinda," the shining princess of Sundar, is similar to "Stella," which means star. "Yorrow" is like "Sorrow." I liked the final message of the book - each person is who he is and what he does.

Cons: Okay, I'm darn sure there's a deeper meaning to this book, but I haven't quite put my finger on what it is. It's criticizing a controlling few who won't allow people to tell live their own lives. Whether Myers means communism (which I would completely agree with) or the Catholic Church (which would be entirely misguided), I'm not quite sure. I'm leaning toward communism. Another problem I had with the book was it ripped me out of the story at various intervals to return to the old man telling his grandson a story. Very annoying. Also, I don't quite get the bird and the fish falling in love. Any hint at "love" that isn't quite... normal reminds me of gay marriage. But then, a fish and a bird are very different creatures, as opposed to homosexuals, who have essentially matching bodies.

My Rating: AGC

Picture from library.fayschool.org

Yet Another Sherlock Holmes

Once, when I was very young, I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes. No, not the crabby drug addict from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books. The sweet, smart detective in the TV series who was played by Ronald Howard. (Not Ron Howard, the creepy anti-Catholic director; his father, Ronald.) But I have yet to find another Sherlock that satisfies me. Since I don't watch PG-13 comedies, I missed out on the Robert Downey, Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes that came out last year. Besides, I didn't want to see a movie with Sherlock as some sort of street fighter. (What is up with that, anyway?!) But! Masterpiece Theatre has a new series coming this November called Sherlock. The famous detective has now been transposed to the twenty-first century, along with his sidekick Dr. Watson and the ever-annoyed Inspector Lestrade. This could be really good (new and exciting) or really bad (updated with a lot of unnecessary sleaze). However, for what it's worth, here is the trailer on Masterpiece Theatre's website.

In Relation To Odd Hours

In Odd Hours, Dean Koontz's lovable psychic Odd Thomas is back again. This time, Odd is living with an old actor near the ocean shore. Troubled by dreams of a red ocean and a young woman, Odd is certain that something terrible is going to happen. Then he meets the young woman from his dream - a very pregnant young woman who asks for his help. Little does he know the magnitude of what her pursuers are planning.

Pros: As always, Dean Koontz is an amazing writer, and I love Odd. This book's story is pretty different from the other ones, which is good. Every series needs variety or it gets old pretty quick. There was one scene that absolutely terrified me. The scene with the mirror. *shudders*

Cons: There aren't as many dead people in this one. I mean, Odd doesn't see as many. I had the hardest time imagining the scene on the pier.

My Rating: MT (sexual references)

Picture from deankoontz.com

On Don Bosco

In 19th-century Italy, young boys work at factories and building sites for starvation wages. One man gathers up as many boys as he can, repeatedly going to the factories and other work places to rescue these children and young men from a life of hardship. Father Bosco (Ben Gazzara), better known to the world as Don Bosco or St. John Bosco, has dedicated his life to the boys and will do anything to show them they are loved. However, like any holy person in history trying to make a difference in society, he meets with stiff opposition from all sides - and some of his adversaries even try to kill him.

Pros: Ben Gazzara plays a great Don Bosco! This movie is not like many other saint biographies - the acting, writing, and costumes, etc., are pretty darn good in this one, as opposed to pretty much all the others I've ever seen.

Cons: Lina (Patsy Kensit) is mildly annoying. She's not a real great actress, and her high-pitched voice rapidly gets annoying. Also, the Latin in the movie seems a little out of whack. Starting Mass on Easter Sunday with the Pater Noster (Our Father)? St. Dominic Savio, one of Don Bosco's boys, isn't in the movie. I guess the filmmakers didn't want anyone to steal Don Bosco's thunder.

My Rating: T (a brothel near Don Bosco's house for boys)

An External Link...

Being a huge Pixar fan and a moderate DreamWorks un-fan, I just had to include a link to this infographic on Decent Films comparing Pixar and DreamWorks.

Pertaining To Swiss Family Robinson

The Robinson family is on its way to New Guinea to start a new life. Then a storm hits their ship and runs it straight into a reef. When the storm subsides, the family discovers that the captain, crew, and other passengers have all abandoned the ship and left the Robinsons to fend for themselves. Determined to make the best of things, they escape from the ship to a nearby island. After settling on the island, the two older boys, Fritz (James MacArthur) and Ernst (Tommy Kirk), go to explore - and discover a band of pirates.

Pros: I grew up watching this movie, which ranked third on my all-time favorites list until I was nine. I love Fritz, Ernst is funny, and the whole treehouse thing is really, really cool. Now that I'm older, I like the parents and Roberta (Janet Munro) much more.

Cons: It is an old movie, so the pirates are somewhat dramatized, as well as the fight with the snake.

My Rating: AGC

Note: I have a question. Why isn't Ernst on the cover?

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Concerning Bleak House

Jarndyce and Jarndyce has been going on for years. This case, involving several contradicting wills left by a very rich old man, has been in court for decades, and it never seems to near its end. Then two wards of the court, Ada Clare (Carey Mulligan) and Richard Carstone (Patrick Kennedy), together with their orphaned companion, Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin), are placed under the guardianship of a rival in the Jarndyce case - a Mr. John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson) of Bleak House. Another rival in the Jarndyce case is Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson), who is married to old Sir Leicester Dedlock (Timothy West). She is every inch a lady, but she is bored. When her husband's lawyer brings a legal document to show to Sir Leicester, Lady Dedlock recognizes the handwriting - and she faints from shock.

Pros: Gillian Anderson is awesome! Especially considering she is an American playing a British role. I love Ada and Esther. This movie is very funny, very engrossing, and very... long. Over seven and a half hours!

Cons: I can't think of a single thing I don't like about this movie.

My Rating: T (thematic elements)

Picture from coverbrowser.com

Regarding The Mystery of the Blue Train

In Agatha Christie's The Mystery of the Blue Train, the little Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is hard at work again. The only daughter of an American millionaire has been murdered and robbed of a fabulous ruby necklace on board the Blue Train in France. Her husband, who she was about to divorce, is immediately suspected of the crime. After all, he was on board the train at the time. He has pressing debts, and would have been cut off without a cent if his wife had lived to divorce him. But Poirot is unsatisfied and suspects there's more to this case than meets the eye.

Pros: I like any redemption story, and I believe this is a redemption story.

Cons: The beginning got on my nerves a bit, what with the wife and her boyfriend, the husband and his girlfriend, and the talk about a divorce.

My Rating: T (unfaithful spouses)

On Brother Odd

Brother Odd is the third book in Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. Odd, exhausted by the ordeals of the last year or so, is taking a sabbatical as a guest in a monastery with an adjacent school run by nuns for children with severe mental and physical disabilities. When Odd spots bodachs, evil spirits attracted by violence, hovering over some children in the school, he knows something terrible is about to happen. Helped by Brother Salvatore, affectionately known as "Knuckles," Odd must avert the disaster before the school and everyone one in it are destroyed.

Pros: As a Catholic, I greatly enjoy any accurate book about nuns and monks, and this book is accurate. Also, it dispels the myth that the Catholic Church has historically been anti-science. The idea! As if it wasn't the Church that built the first universities, as if Jesuit priests weren't sometimes scientists themselves. It's also a great story. And spooky! Brrr!

Cons: I guessed the resolution.

My Rating: T (sexual references, language, spooky things)

Picture from deankoontz.com

In Relation To Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves

In Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves, the latest installment in Regina Doman's Fairy Tale Novel series, Alex O'Donnell's relationship with Kateri Kovach is at a stand-still. Kateri is determined to break up, but for some reason she never gets around to talking about it. Meanwhile, Alex's father is a hacker. He doesn't use his talent for stealing identities or other illegal and immoral purposes; he just follows people around the internet. But when he hacks into a mysterious website - and gets a check in the mail for over a million dollars just a few days later - he begins to think he may be in over his head.

Pros: I absolutely love Alex! Also, I didn't know how Regina Doman was going to translate Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves into a halfway-realistic modern American story, but somehow she pulled it off. The "barbarians" were awfully funny, too.

Cons: I'll come right out and say it: I don't like Kateri. I love her name. I liked her in Waking Rose. But, as a heroine, she doesn't cut it for me. She's way too uptight. But, thankfully, everything else in the book more than makes up for her character!

My Rating: T (mild sexual references)

Picture from fairytalenovels.com