Word: rider
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...served teenage boys with decades' worth of action movies, is now making something of a play for their sisters. It has been, sort of, the summer of the girls, with pictures ranging from Bend It Like Beckham (Indian girl in London satisfies her dream of soccer stardom) to Whale Rider (Maori girl becomes the spiritual leader of her tribe) to I Capture the Castle (British teen comes to grips with her emerging sexuality). All these movies have hung on for weeks in theaters, attracting not just young girls but their parents...
...others along with themselves in their car crashes; girls often turn harmfully, secretively on themselves. The other is that girls, more so than guys, tend to mourn lost (Freaky Friday) or emotionally distant (Thirteen) fathers. Is it possible that the absence of fathers, a subject touched on in Whale Rider and Castle as well, is what's driving these girls nuts? That's a question some movie should tackle with the kind of head-on fervor often seen in teenage girls. --With reporting by Desa Philadelphia/Los Angeles
Influence, though earnest and enjoyable, could use more of Christie's even-handed objectivity. For instance, the documentary praises Easy Rider (actually a 1969 film) for drawing in a new audience that had been staying away from the movies. But when Star Wars does the same thing, it's pandering to escapist sheep easily led by movie marketers. And the scope is both comprehensive and frustratingly limited, focusing on critics' darlings while Rocky, Superman and the like get barely a sneer...
...WHALE RIDER. The Whangara people of New Zealand search for a new tribal leader to follow in the legacy of their ancestor Paikea, who was once saved from drowning by riding on the back of a whale. The would-be heir to the title of chief dies during birth, while his twin sister, Pai, survives. A natural leader, Pai grows up striving to overcome the odds of gender oppression in her tribe and engages in a quest for the title of chief. The performance is moving and well acted, although meanings of some tribal references are lost on Western audiences...
...owner was wealthy San Francisco car dealer Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), who lost his son in an accident and his marriage in the tragedy's aftermath. His trainer was the terminally taciturn Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), who had a flinty sympathy for damaged and derided horseflesh. His principal rider was Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), too big and too angry to be a great jockey, but a man who saw something of his unpromising yet ever striving self in Seabiscuit...