Passover DVD Review

I have had the chance to watch a number of DVDs lately and several are worth mentioning.

Borat was a mix of rolling on the floor funny and boorish and insulting. One of the best scenes was on the subway when Cohen was confronting New Yorkers. The lowest point was when he visited someone's home and insults the host's graciousness. Hopefully it was staged and not genuine.

I stumbled across Conversations with God at a local Blockbuster and found it inspiring. The film is a biography of Neale Walsch who becomes homeless and dictates a series of books which reveal how anger against God can be turned into peace.

Then we received some free passes to see Peaceful Warrior which despite the lukewarm reviews was also quite good.This film is the story of Dan Millman who struggles to reach the Olympics as a gymnast during college. The essence is that in order to reach our potential we must discover ourselves. The movie is filled with meaningful observations, such as thinking something does not represent who we are but the action we take upon thoughts does. Another example is after Dan is told to abstain from drinking and partying he goes to a bar with his mentor who buys him a drink and lights up a cigar, the point he makes is that what is important is to be in control of your actions with full understanding and responsibility for those actions. There are quite a few humorous moments as well. The film is also an introduction into the series of books that teach the same philosophy.

Finally we rented The Ten Commandments: The Musical since it seemed appropriate for the Passover holidays. The whole family enjoyed it and I thought the movie offered good perspective that is missing in more classic interpretations. This version really brings out the interpersonal struggle between Moses and Ramses who were like brothers for almost 40 years. The strength of this production is the exploration of the emotional side of the story. It made a great follow up to our Seder and the kids were able to take their understanding of the story to a greater depth.

As an encore our this little band of Jews is heading out (on Easter Sunday no less)  to see the touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Ted Neeley. Around 30 years ago I worked on a production of the same musical with Ted Neely and Carl Anderson. I worked with Ted personally and I am looking forward to seeing him in his swan song tour of the show. The wife has never seen this iconic show and the kids will see another Passover Seder.

Comments

[Tom]

"Borat" was actually my favorite movie of last year. A few bits were staged, but the majority of it was real (including the dinner scene you were referring to).

My favorite books are the "Conversations With God" ones, so I am looking forward to seeing the "CWG" movie. Thanks for the recommendation.