29th Street movie review

A couple of years ago the Powerball lottery reached a gazillion dollars and all our friends were going nuts about it. Lorena and I drove across the border to Rhode Island and marched into a convenience store. We had never ordered a lottery ticket before and the guy looked at us as if we had come on a space ship. He did take pity on us, took our money, and handed us a bunch of tickets. Like millions of other people, we won nothing.

That does not happen to everyone, though. Someone does win big time once in a while. A guy called Frank Pesce (played by Anthony LaPaglia) did in 1970s New York. A "loser" son in a working-class Italian family (another similar movie that I like is West Side Story), he bought the ticket when he was forced to spend money at a convenience store to cash his check. The only problem is that he "gave" his winning ticket to the Italian mafia boss (while a "loser," Frank was also a lucky guy so much so that the mafia boss thought he was going to win the lottery), so that he won't harass his family for the debt they owed him. There are interesting twists and turns, and in the end, the family gets the money.

29th Street is a beautiful movie and shows the challenges of working class Americans in the seventies, though, things haven't changed much for low-income Americans. Some great acting by all, including Danny Aiello (who plays Frank's father), this true story (yes, the real Frank Pesce Jr. acts as the brother and is also the executive producer) comes to life in this excellent comedy.

Delivering Milo movie review

While I am an optimist and hope that life will be great in the future, it won't be easy to convince a kid why she or he should come into this world. Wars (Read Grave Of The Fireflies movie review), global warming, and all the challenges that one has to go through just to survive makes it an unexciting place.

That is exactly the challenge an angel Elmore Dahl (played by Albert Finney) faces when he has to convince an unborn soul Milo (played by Anton Yelchin) to be born. The kid simply refuses to get himself into trouble. The solution is to send Milo and Elmore to New York City and let Milo enjoy all the wonderful things that the city has to offer, including a trip to Ellis Island or a visit to a toy store or even worse, a trip to Atlantic City. Elmore is less interested in the outcome but more important in hooking up with his old flames.

Like "Defending your life," the movie is not meant to answer any profound questions about life and death, but is a comic look at our life on the planet from the perspective of an outsider. While I recommend the movie, it is a fairly light and funny film. Don't expect to be wowed.