Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, made with Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sydney Poitier in 1967, addresses the at-the-time taboo topic of interracial marriage. Poitier plays a black doctor that has fallen in love with a white woman, and is now seeking her (and his own) parents’ approval. At the time the film was made, interracial marriage was still illegal in over a dozen states. The film masterfully addressed the importance of ‘walking the talk’ - of sticking to your principles when you’re hit hard on a personal level. Matt Drayton, who started the Guardian, was a staunch liberalist and advocate for desegregation, yet his principles are challenged when his daughter brings home a black man.

And Katharine Hepburn certainly deserved the Oscar she received for her role, if only for the memorable scene when she fired the manager of her art gallery, Heather, for spiteful comments on the interracial couple. This movie is a classic - watch it and you won’t forget it.

Antonio Salieri’s legendary hatred for Mozart is portrayed well in this film, yet side by side lays Salieri’s admiration, worship, even, of Mozart’s music. Tom Hulce gave a masterful Mozart performance… ultimately, his hilariously annoying giggle will stay with us all.

Abraham (director) portrays Salieri as one of the most treacherous backstabbers in history, ranking even among Brutus and Judas.

The movie is in flashback style, where an old and decrepit Salieri recounts his earlier life to a priest at a psychiatric hospital. It’s amazing to see how Mozart’s composing is in sync with Salieri’s ever growing hatred.

The most poignant and moving scene in the film was near the end, where Salieri and Mozart squabble over the death requiem - the portrayal of mediocrity versus genius was astoundingly cathartic.

It’s not an overstatement to say that “The Deer and the Cauldron” is one of the most addictive books I’ve ever read. Louis Cha’s fast-paced style focusing on action rather than settings makes thirteen-year-old Trinket’s journey through China a brilliant adventure. Unfortunately, these books are unsuitable for young readers as they feature mutilation, torture, foul language, and violence abound. Well, these are kungfu novels after all.

Cha is clearly an expert in Chinese culture and history, and these books will be much more enjoyable with that knowledge. But, the sheer excitement of the story forcibly drags readers along until the finale.

Five Christian missionary families traveled to the jungles of Ecuador in 1956, attempting to introduce a culture of piece to the Woadani tribes, regarded as the most violent group in the world. The five men from the families were speared and hacked to death while attempting to communicate with the Woadanis, leading to nation-wide media attention. Eventually, the women of the family went to live with the Woadanis and taught them forgiveness and love.

Steve Saint, son of Nate Saint, one of the missionaries killed, narrates in this incredible story of the power of Christian love. The documentary manages to make an enormous effect through spiritual statements. Fortunately, there are no overwhelmingly Gospel-like presentations, but instead the film relied on factual evidence.

This fine documentary covers the emotionally wrenching Woadani conversion from extreme violence to peace and love through God’s redemption.

“One Day in September” is a thriller/documentary directed by Kevin Macdonald. A team of 8 Arab terrorists entered the Olympic village during the 1972 Olympic Games at Munich, taking hostage 11 Israeli athletes. The so-called “Black September” group called for the release of over 200 political prisoners being held in Israel, a demand summarily rejected by the Israeli government. This film shows with compelling footage and narration what happened in the 21 hours of the tragedy.

The incompetence of the German police was shocking – none of their marksmen or snipers had radio contact, leading to mass confusion and one German policeman getting killed by friendly fire. In the end, only 5 of the eight terrorists were killed, but not before they executed all of the hostages.

The most interesting part of this film was the interview with the last surviving member of Black September (the two other survivors were killed by secret Israeli assassination squads), who is currently hiding in Africa.

Lucky Charlie Button happens upon a “golden ticket” enclosed in one of the famous chocolatier Willy Wonka’s “Wonka Bars.” One of only 5 golden tickets in the world, Charlie’s ticket entitles him and a parent of choice to a tour of Willy Wonka’s enormous chocolate factory with four other children and their parents. Wonka’s chocolate factory closed down years ago due to spies acting as workers stealing his amazing formulas and recipes for fantastical treats.

The tour of the factory eliminates all four children and their parents (via various foolish antics), leaving only Charlie and his grandfather. The Oompa-Loompas, all separate performances by Deep Roy, were a marvelously funny addition to the movie.

Willy Wonka eventually reveals the “prize” that the last child to remain would receive - the whole chocolate factory! However, Charlie wouldn’t go with Wonka without taking his family along, leading to Wonka’s reconciliation with his alienated father and a happy ending.

A great performance by Johnny Depp (Wonka), Freddy Highmore (Charlie), and Deep Roy (Oompa-Loompas) - this Tim Burton film was a joy to watch.

This movie is by far the best in the series. The tone of the Harry Potter series, as well as the movies, darkens in this fourth book and the rating has been shifted accordingly to PG13, up from the ratings of the three previous movies. The three tasks of the Triwizard tournament were suitably seat-gripping and at times, spine-chilling. Harry Potter fans will love this movie, but only if they have read the book before.

Those few who have not read the books and come to watch this movie will be subjected to a choppy experience - the 700-page book was indeed difficult to condense into a 2 hour-or-so film. Many of the interesting details in the book were left out, especially the Dursleys and the Weasleys.

Still, there was superb tension, especially at the end when Voldemort is resurrected and the Death Eaters reunite. This movie is definitely recommended, though after you have read the book.

American photographer Zana Briski traveled with Ross Kaufmann to the red light district of Calcutta, originally intending to film the lives and work of the prostitutes there. The documentary was filmed in the Sonagachi district, one of the most dirty and squalid regions of the city. The prostitutes refuse to be filmed, however, and the photographers found that everyone shied away from them, the Westerners.

They hit upon the idea of giving cameras to a group of children of the prostitutes and letting them capture images of the workplaces, their homes, and their neighborhoods. The children were expected to go into prostitution after puberty, as their mothers did - meanwhile, their fathers spend the days smoking, drinking, and acting as pimps. Astonished by the creativity and energy that the children put into their photographs, “Zana Auntie,” as she is called by the children, publishes some of their photos in America and attempts to get these children out of the brothels into boarding schools.

This movie is the touching story of Zana’s struggle to free these children, often with resistance from their prostitute mothers who need their children for income.

An Oscar-Winning Film (Best Foreign Language Film 2004), “The Sea Inside” is a fabulous piece of work reaching deep into human emotion and love. The story is closely based on the actual life of Ramon Sampedro, a quadriplegic from Northwest Spain who fought a fierce 30 year battle in Spanish courts for his right to euthanasia, or “death with dignity.”

Though I found director Alejandro Amenabar’s 2 hour long story slightly long, the story he wove was beautifully told. Ramon ended up in his quadraplegic condition after absentmindedly diving and snapping his neck when he was looking at a girl on the beach. “I should have died there,” thought Ramon. But no, he was saved by his friends and condemned to a life without dignity.

This masterpiece and examination of human dignity and life is filled with little details and interplays of values between all the characters. The story describes Ramon’s relationship with two women, Julia and Rosa. Julia is an attorney who has agreed to take on Ramon’s case and quest for death. She herself is suffering from a degenerative disease, one of the conditions that Ramon placed upon his attorneys.

The other woman, Rosa, is a cannery worker who tries all she can to make Ramon see that life is worth living though her own life is falling apart. In the end, Rosa is the one who truly understands Ramon and helps him to take his life.

This film is a paradox - Ramon’s quest for death is filled with so much vibrant life and wit that it absolutely deserves the reputation it has and the awards it received.

I happened upon a humorous article in the New York Times Style Magazine (Sunday, 20 Nov 05) called “Essential Reading - For Bill Bryson, That Would Include All Manner of Printed Matter.” Bill Bryson, the same man who wrote the “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” is one of those rare writers that can convey science to the public in a non-procrustean manner.

Bryson discusses the important of bringing adequate reading material on any trip, no matter how long or short, in the context of one of his trips to the town of Hammerfest in Norway. In Hammerfest, the dark clouds hung over the sky for two weeks, delaying his return and blocking his view of the aurora borealis.

In addition, he discovered that his supply of books and reading materials was quickly running dry. His thirst for books grew so great that he was “calling in twice a day to find out if the new issue of Woman’s Weekly had arrived.”

By the end of the second week, I had read everything in my posession, including the labels inside my suitcase and every word of the three English-language magazines sold in the local newspaper shop.

A good lesson learned, Bryson never cut corners again and always brings a plethora of books and magazines with him on any bus trips.