Bob Weinstein (1)

Paper Clips by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Epiphany library section 15: adult media. This DVD documentary for middle school age and up discusses how middle school students in a small rural school in Tennessee had a dilemma while studying the Holocaust. The white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant students, while studying WW2 history, could not quite wrap their minds around the Holocaust. What kind of culture could condone killing six million people? “Are Germans like us?” they asked. “What is a show more Jew?” “What did the Germans have against Jews?” “Why was there such hatred?” “Just how many is 6 million?” “Is there a way we could show that to make it easier to grasp such a huge number?”
The students, their two history teachers, and their school principal found themselves amid a school-wide project to find the answers to these questions. I will not give you a spoiler here. All I can say about this fine documentary is that the school project these kids undertook with their teachers and principal changed the way the entire community felt about themselves, prejudice, and justice. And that is saying a great, great deal for a community 100 miles away from where the KKK was founded, and just 30 miles from where the Scopes trial took place.
This fascinating look at what small town kids can feel, dream of, and bring to fruition gives us great hope for the future of humankind. If you ever watch only one documentary, this is the one to watch. It is fascinating and life-changing. These homogeneous kids went from being students to documentarians, to teachers, to memorialists, to keepers of the flame of peace and justice. It is excellent. We watched it during the final session of our Intro to Judaism for Lutherans course in Epiphany’s bible study. It is based on the book, Six Million Paper Clips, by Peter Schroeder. show less

Frodo and Sam continue their journey to Mordor and can't get there quickly enough. The longer Frodo keeps the ring, the more it harms him. The once honest and innocent hobbit begins to feel the nasty weight of his task. The second installment from the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy boasts new lands, new creatures and new battles.

Desperate battles against the forces of evil.

I liked it last night a lot more than I did the last time I saw it, a few years ago. It always used to be my least favorite of the trilogy, but now I found myself watching it as a film rather than as a geekfest. I can't even do that with the other two. This one just works differently. It shamelessly manipulates your emotions, where the first two rely more on a "Dude, that's awesome" factor. Although, some of the Attempted Emotion Manipulation show more doesn't work at all (e.g., the romantic subplot, or anything after the first ending), so it's good they still have enough awesomeness to fall back on.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 3.1/4

(Nov. 2010)

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A+ (One of my favorites). I love these movies, but honestly, it could have been a lot shorter. For the last half hour or so, every time I watch it, all I can think about is counting endings.

(Sep. 2023) show less

Acting: 5.0; Theme: 5.0; Content: 3.5; Language: 5.0; Overall: 5.0

There seems to be two story lines in the classic movie of the iconic J.R.R. Tolkien novel of the same name. Gandalf, along with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and King Theoden, travel to Isengard where they meet up with Merry and Pippin to celebrate the seeming victory at Helms Deep. After Gandalf realizes the plan of their enemies to attack Minas Tirith, they must bring together their forces to overcome their foe. Meanwhile, Frodo show more and Sam continue their journey to Mordor. After many adventures, the two groups meet up together to celebrate their victorious separate ventures. Highly recommend.

***April 16, 2023*** show less