movies

Can’t-Miss Documentary: A Small Miracle

July 9, 2010 at 8:00 am, by Ladies' Lounge

Can a small act of kindness really make a difference?  Yes, if you listen to the story of  Chris Mburu, the subject of the inspiring documentary, A Small Act, which premieres July 12 on HBO. Chris grew up in Kenya—with little hope for a future beyond coffee picking—until a Swedish pre-school teacher named Hilde Back stepped into his life. Hilde and Chris never met, but she sponsored his education, sending him a few dollars each month to pay for his school.  Thanks to Hilde, Chris went on to do great things: graduating from Harvard Law School and becoming a human rights activist.

To honor his “angel,” Chris started the Hilde Back Education Fund in 2003, so other bright yet disadvantaged Kenyan students could have a chance at a better life. The film not only shows the first meeting between Hilde and Chris, it also follows three gifted students—Kimani, a high spirited boy, Ruth, a shy yet quietly ambitious girl, and her beautiful yet brainy friend, Caroline, as they compete for the one Hilde Back scholarship that will determine their fate. The results are both uplifting and heartbreaking (keep tissues handy).

“When I started making this film, I kept thinking, I’d like to do good in the world, but I’m not Gandhi and I’m not Mother Theresa. I have a full-time job. What can I do?” says the film’s director, Jennifer Arnold, 39. “But after making the movie, I learned you can do something small. You might think it won’t make a difference, but there’s someone out there it will touch, and that person will touch someone else. All of us have the power to make a difference.”

So moved were audiences members at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where the documentary premiered, that they handed over checks and cash to Arnold, to go to the Hilde Back Foundation. “We raised $90,000 in ten days,” says Arnold. “And recently, one person donated $250,000 after watching the film. Because of donations like that, now hundreds of kids will be able to go to school.”

As Hilde Back says, “If you do something good, it can spread in circles, like rings on the water.”  Watch the trailer after the jump, or learn more about the Hilde Back Foundation and make a donation at ASmallAct.com.

- Susan Pocharski

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Oscar-Worthy Cookies

March 3, 2010 at 10:50 am, by Khalil Hymore

And the cookie goes to…me!

Wow, plain old sugar cookies just got WAY more glamorous. Check out these awesome Oscar cookies from Eleni’s—now an annual tradition for this haute New York bakery. They use edible ink and paper to create adorable (ahem, George Clooney and Colin Firth) caricatures of this year’s best actor, actress, and picture nominees. Order a set and then honestly admit to partying with film icons Sandra Bullock, Morgan Freeman, and Meryl Streep or newcomers Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe.

Hmm…now the only question is, who do I eat first? I’m looking at you, Helen Mirren.

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Guilty Pleasure Movies

September 4, 2009 at 4:33 am, by Lisa M. Gerry

Hello ladies! I am so excited to get to talk with you about one of my favorite subjects—entertainment. I am a self-avowed entertainment connoisseur (because connoisseur sounds much better than junkie). And my tastes definitely run the gamut—I consider Milk and Revolutionary Road to be two of my favorite films from last year, just as much as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Twilight (oh yes, Twihards, I am one of you). Just like my father—who after countless wine tastings, books on the subject and even his membership in a wine club, still maintains that a $9 bottle from the grocery is one of his favorites—I understand the value of both high- and lowbrow. I will certainly trek downtown to an obscure theater with stale popcorn to see the “It Indie” of the moment, but I will also never turn my nose up at such classics as Joe Versus The Volcano, Troop Beverly Hills or How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. After a rough day, or a long week, heavy films can be overrated, and for me the formula is quite simple—if you make me laugh, you win my heart. So while there are certain movies that I could recite every line from, and that I will watch again and again, they might not be the ones most prominently displayed by my TV.

Ladies, I’ve told you some of mine—what are some your favorite guilty pleasure movies?

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