Reviewing Whatever

To Kill a Mockingbird
1962, on DVD, from the library

You should know
I’m working my way through AFI’s Top 100 movies. This one currently ranks 25 (up from #34 in 1997) – not to mention #2 most inspiring, #17 best score, and #1 hero for Atticus Finch.

Also, this is my 100th post. Whoo-hoo!

So?

Even now, Atticus Finch comes across as a fairly nontraditional parent; I can only imagine how he would have seemed when the move first came out – or, for that matter, when the book was first published. On that note, I really need to read the book, don’t I?

If you’re not familiar with it, the story is about a single father and his family. The kids are intrigued by their secretive neighbor; the father is a lawyer defending an African-American man in rather racist criminal trial. The movie follows the summer and autumn during which these events occur.

I do have a question: Scout is telling the story, right? So when she says that her brother Jem never told anyone about something that happened to him, that she did not witness, how does she know it to tell it in this story?

Other than that nagging issue, the movie was quite enjoyable. Was it deserving of so many accolades? Possibly; it’s hard to tell the impact of a film so many decades later (viewers who see The Matrix for the first time are already growing unimpressed with the special effects, for instance, and it’s only eight years later).

Rating
See it…
…if only so that you can say you did. Personally, I enjoyed the film, but even if it doesn’t sound like your thing, there’s a lot to be said for having a working familiarity with the canon of your culture.

The rest of the Internet
The Wikipedia pages for the novel and film.
Lots of study guides for To Kill a Mockingbird (warning: some of these have pop-up ads).
And those were just for the book. This is for the film.
Flash movie: How to Kill a Mockingbird.
Excellent reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.
Paco Malo at Gold Coast Blue Note was inspired by the movie.
ACR at My Take reflects on the camerawork.
MusicAndShowGirl at Blogs and Such compares the film to the book.

Awesome link of the week
Dumb Little Man has a list of ways we can keep the best parts of the holiday season alive all year. More plants? More letters? I'm in! I hope everyone's holidays have been great, and don't forget: technically, Christmas isn't over 'til Epiphany!