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ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

TxMike I found this movie on Netflix streaming movies. I had avoided it all these years because just based on the title I didn't think I would enjoy it. Now I know that was an incorrect judgment. It really is an exceptional story and the movie treats it very well.The main character is played by Winona Ryder who unfortunately is often known mainly for her shoplifting conviction, but she is a good actress. She plays Finn, 26 and working on her Master's thesis. It seems she has changed topics more than once which is used as an illustration of some difficulties she is having making commitments.She is engaged to be married, her fiancé is played in an understated manner by Dermot Mulroney as Sam. He drops her off at her grandma's place north of Los Angeles, a house at the edge of a large citrus grove. She plans to spend the summer there working on her thesis and he will pick her up at the end of the summer. But she wonders if marrying Sam is really what she wants to do, and meeting an attractive young man complicates her decisions.The title arises from the comparison of a group of ladies, a "quilting bee", making a quilt. Certain choices must be made, the overall intent of the quilt must not be forgotten, but in the end choices must be made and chances must be taken. Outcomes can't always be accurately predicted.So it is in life. The ladies are making the quilt for Finn but at the same time she is uncertain about her choices. As the movie moves along each of the older women shares her tales, of loves gained and loves lost, of compromises they might have made, all having an impact on Finn and helping her sort out her own feelings, goals, and desires.

mark.waltz When writer Winona Ryder goes to visit her grandmother (Ellen Burstyn) who is living with her sister (Anne Bancroft), she becomes involved with the women who are part of an annual quilting bee. What she learns will not only help her in her own writing but in lessons she can teach the women who will come to her in her own future. This sweet and touching drama is the story of these group of women who help Ryder through a rough batch as she decides whether or not to return to her fiancé (Dermot Mulroney). Ryder learns each of these women's stories, usually involving the men in their life, and each of those tales surrounding their influence in their parts of the quilting will be an influence for her as she discovers her own destiny.The Oscar Winning Burstyn and Bancroft are gems together as sisters, facing their own past as Bancroft married the love of Burstyn's life and watched the two of them fall back together. In spite of that, the bond between the sisters never bended, and influenced Bancroft, a powerful artist in her own right, to use her anger in her art in creating a special wall. The dignified Maya Angelou tells of her aunt's own quilt, which surrounded the crow that lead her to the love of her life. Esther Rolle has a powerful cameo in flashback as this aunt. Angelou then tells how she fell in love with the young white boy who left her pregnant and how this brought her into the lives of Ryder's family. The sweet Jean Simmons gives a poignant performance telling Ryder of how her artist husband couldn't help his own infidelities and how she came to accept him for who he was, but how destiny has changed her own plans. Then, Alfre Woodard, as a spunky Haitan woman, tells of how she never allowed herself to become trapped by a man, something she sadly regrets but realized was beyond her control.Each of these women have something powerful to offer, but perhaps the most powerful of these characters is the former champion diver played by stage legend Lois Smith who is both feared and admired in the community and gets a great final scene to show how far she has come. A terrific ensemble in a lightly plotted drama shows that less can be more in creating terrific art.

Pandelis I really liked this film, the same way I like the idea of someone in trouble (Finn) going to her country home and there finding a suitable distraction, until she will make her mind around her problems. That distraction was of course the stories of the magnificent women of her grand-mom's quilt making beehive.One thing I didn't like though in the film was how self absorbed and immature the leading character is. I found my self at the end caring more about the secondary characters than Finn! One point in the film that shows how Finn really is as a character is when Sophia Darling brings her the lost pages from her thesis. There, Finn is so typical and indifferent that instantly drove me away from her. This is the only scene in the film where Sophia actually wants to say something personal, to open up, but Finn is actually rude. It's like she's saying to her: "OK, old lady. Thank you for bringing me the pages and telling me I am a good writer. However, this doesn't mean I have to pay attention in whatever you have the urge to say. Actually, I already know your bloody story and I find it just pathetic. Now buzz off and let me be!" I don't have to say that from all the stories, of the "quilting beehive women", I was both drawn and saddened the most by the one of Sophia.Life played her such an unfair game: She wanted to became a diver and so she asked her beau to help her get out of that small town. But, as it usually happens, he got her pregnant instead and she had to get married and having to spend a lot of time home alone being a housewife. That totally killed her spirit and passion and left her a bitter old woman that blamed her husband for her life going wrong.Her husband (finally) realized that and made some efforts to get back together. He did that by building her a pond, in order to remind her her old free self. However, that ironically ended it all, since it was too painful for her to remember how she was (comparing to what she is). That was the saddest thing, to Sophia, since building a pond for someone who loved to dive was ironically sad and showed such lack of understanding, that it was almost disrespectful. And so they argued. She did try to make amends but it was too late. Her husband, partly because of disappointed and partly because of quilt, left her.And something last: If you wanna "watch" more stories about americal quilts that hide really fascinating stories, then you must read the books in the Shenandoah Album by Emilie Richards. There are 5 books in this collection, all best sellers...

tavm Filled with veterans, (Ellen Burstyn, Anne Bancroft, Jean Simmons) recognizable character actors, (Rip Torn, Holland Taylor, Esther Rolle, Alfre Woodard), hot young adult stars (Winona Ryder, Dermot Mulroney, Samantha Mathis), some up-and-comers (Jared Leto, Claire Danes, Johnathon Schaech), and a poet (Maya Angelou), How to Make an American Quilt is an inspiring movie about a young college student staying during the summer at her aunt's house with many of that aunt's friends sewing a quilt while sharing memories of their young lives that provide material for the young woman's college paper. Based on a novel, this film provides detailed flashbacks of some of those lives and less so on others but they mostly provide some impetus for the aspiring author's decisions as she makes up her mind of what future she decides on. As a result of the constant flashbacks, some of what happens may be confusing but most gets explained at the end. So on that note, I recommend How to Make an American Quilt.