Movie Review - The Book Thief

She finds her love of reading as a way to shut out the horrors of Nazi Germany. She steals them, shares them, and uses their words and thoughts to nurture those around her. In doing so, she creates a magical world that inspires them all.

Based on Markus Zusak's international best-selling book, "The Book Thief" is about Liesel, an extraordinary and courageous young girl who finds solace in stealing books. Set in 1938, the movie opens with Liesel's mother taking her daughter and son to live with a foster family in a German working-class neighborhood outside Munich. Unable to care for her children, Liesel's mother must give them up. However, on the train ride, Liesel's younger brother dies, and in the snow-covered ground, he is laid to rest. There, at age nine, she steals her first book, "The Gravedigger's Handbook" and thus begins her love affair with books.

She tries to adapt to her new life with the foster parents Hans and Rosa portrayed by Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. Hans kindly takes her under his wing, gains her trust and when he discovers she's illiterate, he teaches her how to read. Rosa, the stern one, sees problems with this new addition and questions the decision to take her in. Liesel, played by Sophie Nélisse, at first wants to run away, but then finds a budding friendship with schoolmate Rudy (German youngster Nico Liersch). Over the next six years, the characters are affected by Hitler's rise to power and the war that follows.

Books are at the center of this film, not so much for their physical presence but for their ability to unleash a freethinking society, one that can make up its own mind. When Hitler came to power, Nazi Germany was obsessed in suppressing dissident viewpoints, ideas contrary to their ideologies and the party line agenda. Public book burnings were one way to control the masses and force them to give up the thoughts, the words, and the stories that gave direction to their lives.

The book burning is one of the strongest scenes in this movie because it's a turning point in young Liesel's life. She attends and initially she is caught up in the jubilant celebration. However, her composure slowly changes when she realizes something is shamefully wrong. When pushed to take part in this horrific act, she becomes one of us and we feel her turmoil destroying the very thing she loves. Over the loud speakers, the rantings of German-speaking official combined with the flames of the burning books creates a terrifying scene. It foretells of the tragedies to come and that no one is safe in this warped and misguided world. From this moment on Liesel must live a double life, one seeking truth, the other obeying the Nazi dictates.

"Twelve Years A Slave" - A New Film Report

"I Was All Set To Shout... !

I was all set to shout 'ACADEMY AWARD!'-- from just hearing the initial reviews for "TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE". I'd been led to think it was going to be the film that would raise all of our consciousnesses to a level we had never before known. We were going to see a film about a free black man, birth-named Solomon Northup, who is kidnapped under false pretences, and soon finds that he is now a slave with a new name, Platt-- far from his native home-Saratoga Springs, New York-and without much of a chance of escaping his fate. If this weren't true, it wouldn't work

"You're Supposed To Be Hit!"

Of course, when you come to a film such as this one, you're supposed to be hit with some powerful punches and character interplay that give you more than awful facts. This movie could have been so much more than it was. I saw minor artistry and tiresome sequences. I blame the director for not being able to give us the good actors here-- attached to energized plot movements. Steve McQueen had a great opportunity to use a talented man, Chiewetel Ejiofor, to portray the slave who'd been a violinist. He's a brave man, quite resolved to take the hell of lashings, brutal verbal assaults, and the grimness of family loss for twelve years at the hands of merciless masters.

Autograph - How to Get an Autograph

Getting an autograph requires patience and tenacity. If you want a player to sign something for you, you will need to wait near where he will pass by. You should not yell or antagonize the player for any reason. You will need to observe the area where the player may go during a break in the game.

You may also need to get to a sporting venue very early so you will have the opportunity to get close to the players while they are warming up. Some players are relaxed during warm-up so they are more likely to give you a minute or two of their time.

If you are attending a professional tennis tournament, you may have the opportunity to get within inches of all of the tennis players including the most famous ones. Tennis players generally must move from their locker room quarters to the courts without the aid of any security.

If you are hoping for a player's autograph, you should smile and politely ask the player to sign your ball or program. Make sure that you have a pen ready. The players at a tennis tournament only have a few minutes to spare while transitioning between matches so you will need to be prepared.