dead poets society


 "O Captain, my Captain!" is one of my all time fav lines from movie history. And it comes from a movie that you can watch over and over and over and it never gets old. 

Robin Williams stars in maybe the best role of his life. He's a teacher at an all boys school, and he teaches his students what life is for. He challenges his boys to suck the marrow of life - to live a life that they won't look back on and regret. 

Due to his powerful influence, the boys form a "Dead Poets Society" where they gather and drink wine and read poetry to one another, learning that jobs are important to make a living, but poetry and music and beauty are what life is lived FOR.

Besides Robin Williams, this is Ethan Hawke's big breakout film. And also Robert Sean Leonard, who went on to many other great roles including Houses's doctor on the TV show House.

This movie has inspired so many teachers to make their roles in the lives of their students more than just the one who teaches math or English. To really impact the lives of the people with whom we walk the mortal coil. I loved the movie so much that when I was a substitute teacher, I used to tell my class they could call me "O captain, my captain" if they were brave enough.

Some were.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie. It'll inspire you to be a better person, and a great teacher. There is a little strong language, very brief nudity (a picture, I think), and a suicide that is shown offscreen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the Banshees of Inisherin

Image
I just started watching this. I'm about five minutes into it. it already grabbed me. this is gonna be good.  UPDATE: So I finished this one and it's a masterpiece. The SUBJECT of the story is twisted and interesting. One character, pictured on the right above, decides one day that he doesn't like another character (played by Colin Farrell, pictured on the right). He tells him to stop talking to him. The Colin Farrell character refuses to stop, so the other guys says every time he talks to him, he's going to cut off one of his own fingers. That's the kind of twisted I mean. I'm not going to give you any more spoilers. But the tone and setting and mood of the movie is the real reason to watch it. You get TOTALLY drawn into the life of these simple people living on an island off the coast of Ireland. It's a beautiful and tragic movie that explores human relationships and their importance and limitations.  I highly recommend it, though it's not for the faint...
Read more

lost in translation

Image
 I had a funny experience when I watched Lost in Translation the first time. I watched it with some friends who were not the brightest lights in the harbor. And they did NOT get it. They kept complaining about little things throughout the movie that they were clearly not understanding. I thought that it was extremely apropos and hilarious that they were misunderstanding a movie called Lost in Translation. This is a wonderful movie. It's slow and warm and deep. It's about a friendship between two unlikely people, played by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. There is sexual tension between them, and I'm not going to give away the movie by telling you what happens, but I found it delightful. It's directed by Sofia Coppola, and it was the reason I fell in love with her as a director. It's rated R for language.  I highly recommend it if you like slow, warm movies about unlikely friendships - and great acting and writing.
Read more

puss in boots

Image
 I went in with high expectations. It surpassed them. Puss in Boots (2022) is the best movie I've seen recently. It's laugh out loud funny throughout the whole movie. The writing is witty and snappy and really fun. Antonio Banderas is perfect reprising the role of Puss in Boots. Salma Hayek is fantastic as Kitty Softpaws. I don't know the actor playing Perrito, but he's very funny in this role. John Mulaney is great and nasty as the evil Jack Horner. And Florence Pugh is fun as Goldilocks with her adopted family of three bears.  All of the characters are searching for a map that will lead them to a wishing star, and that star will grant the person one wish. I won't give spoilers by telling you what they are all wishing for or what happens. But the end is VERY satisfying. The movie begins with a song that is EXTREMELY catchy and gives us one of the best movie openings I've seen since Capt Jack Sparrow stepped off the sinking ship in Pirates of the Caribbean.  I H...
Read more