michellelcalvert Reviews

Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway (2023)

Truly disturbing story of government overreach

[8/10 · 27 May 2023]

For those who question the accuracy of this story, I discovered it by watching a BBC investigation called Norway's Silent Scandal. It interviewed Norwegian mothers who had lost custody of their children. The mothers reported being scrutinized for tiny things, even having a visible cobweb in their home. One mom lost 2 of 8 kids, but was allowed to keep 6. How can a mom be incompetent to manage 8 kids, but deemed competent for 6? The court decisions made no sense in many cases. It was truly disturbing to learn about this overreach in a 'civilized' European country. In the documentary comments I saw references to this movie and watched it. My heart went out to this mom and her custody battle. It correlated closely to the BBC investigation documentary. I hope this is a reality check for Norway and helps change the foster system for kids in the future.

Pet Fooled (2016)

Should be required viewing for all vet students!

[10/10 · 17 May 2022]

This was a fantastic eye opener that exposes what is actually in your processed dog food. Do your research. It discusses raw, unprocessed foods that animals are genetically optimized to absorb vs highly processed foods that have very questionable byproducts and grains and strong preservatives and chemicals. And while several reviewers slammed this as just advertising for raw food companies, it's not. Raw food diets are something that anyone can make from scratch at home. However, research needs to be done to ensure that correct nutrients and ratios are given to pets. Holistic vets are happy to give advice on raw diets, and there are lots of resources and books for making your own food. I once popped into a holistic vet clinic near me and wasn't even a customer, but asked for food recommendations and they happily answered my questions and gave me handouts for deciding on which foods are healthiest for pets.

Attention Please (2018)

Preparing to start this program after seeing this!

[10/10 · 12 June 2021]

Update: our son is partway through the process and is now sleeping better, is more cheerful, is engaging with others better, has improved communication, and is doing so much better! We were so impressed that I started researching and decided to try it for myself. My chronic migraines are linked to the ATNR reflex and have practically disappeared. No meds involved, only daily exercises. If anyone wants to learn more about reflex integration and primitive reflexes, here are some key experts: Sally Goddard Blythe (INPP method) Robert Melillo (Melillo Method) Svetlana Masgutova (MNRI method) Harald Blomberg and Moira Dempsey (Rhythmic Movement method) Sonia Story (hybrid method) Bette Lamonte (hybrid method) Bonnie Brandes (QRI method)

Original post: Thank goodness some sweet random grandma suggested this documentary in a social media group I am in. Amazing documentary and we found an American therapist who does this exact therapy and will start working with our son soon! We are on a waitlist for a regular occupational therapist but apparently the waitlists are very long. Then I found this documentary. This sounds more promising!

Holidate (2020)

Good potential, but could have been so much better!

[3/10 · 1 November 2020]

There were a few good moments in this movie, but overall the main actor and actress were both selfish, rude, crass, shallow and unlikeable. Their chemistry was good, but that was about the only thing that carried the movie through.

Hold the Dark (2018)

Read the book if you are confused.

[6/10 · 30 September 2018]

I read the book a few months ago and then discovered the movie on Netflix. The movie does follow the book fairly well, but the book just seems to explain things better and provide better background details so you don't feel so confused. I realized the ending of the movie skipped over a lot of details.

Blond woman who was in the hut helping Core recover from the arrow injury was the mom of the Medora and Vernon, who are twins and in an incestuous relationship. In the end, the twins wander off into the wilderness to live in secret and have another child to start over with. The first son's death is eventually simply accepted and the two move on. The mom provides them supplies. Throughout the movie there are implications about Medora messing with evil and such, and it's primarily because of her relationship with her brother and their child. She was instructed to kill her own child (I think by the wolf killer guy if I remember correctly), and she did. The wolf masks were more like curses in the book. The old lady who was killed was more of the local witch doctor or medicine woman who knew about the incest.

Very odd book, but the book definitely contains a better ambiance for understanding things.

Bible Secrets Revealed (2013– )

This is NOT a Christian documentary.

[2/10 · 20 July 2015]

This was from the History channel. I have watched several episodes so far, and this is NOT a Christian documentary. The show references many biblical scholars, but appears to have a slant towards discrediting the bible in every episode. It emphasizes inaccuracies or confusion about biblical text and traditions, but then takes biblical references out of context. For example, one episode discusses how there is a queen of heaven (and both a masculine and feminine side to God) and the show said the bible even references the 'queen of heaven'. I looked up the bible verses, and in context, the references to a queen of heaven were clearly referred to as an idol that people were worshiping. In no way does the bible infer in those verses that there is an actual queen of heaven, and anyone who reads this will see that. (Jeremiah 7:18 and Jeremiah 44:17-25).

In episode 2, part of the show focuses on discrediting the exodus of the Jews out of Israel, and tries to establish doubt that there was ever even a true exodus, as well as tries to establish doubt that the promised land is actually a promised land for the Jews. Whatever your views are on this topic, just understand that this documentary focuses on discrediting the biblical concepts about any promised land.

The most interesting aspect of this show is that if you look up the producer and main people in this show, they are all critical of nature of the bible! Check Wikipedia. Reza Aslan was raised Muslim, dabbled with Christianity, then converted back to Islam. How are we to get an unbiased review of the bible by someone who prefers the Koran? Then Robert Cargill was raised Christian, but has now decided that he can't support the bible as a literal source of history and is a professed agnostic. Bart Ehrman is also agnostic. Per Wikipedia, 'Ehrman's work focuses on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the development of early Christianity.' Other biblical scholars are interviewed as well, but most provide just snippets of details about historical or biblical knowledge.

So watch this TV series with a grain of salt. Yes, there are some interesting concepts discussed, and we should actively research and study the bible and biblical history as well as the mysteries and conflicting details of the bible. BUT, this show does nothing but criticize the nature of the bible, and has a clear slant on discrediting any historical basis of the bible. You've been warned.

Refuge (I) (2012)

Very touching drama.

[8/10 · 10 September 2014]

I stumbled across this on Netflix and apparently this was perhaps a straight to DVD video, so I wasn't expecting much but it turned out to be a sweet, heartfelt drama. Amy is a young woman with a bright future and college scholarship but chooses to stay home to care for her younger siblings when their parents abandon them. The movie starts after she has been home for a while and is dealing with the frustrations of small town life with parental responsibilities of two teenagers. When a stranger, Sam, drifts into town with his own challenges and interacts with Amy, they each have to come to terms with what happiness means to them.

Dido Belle (2006)

Not quite sure what this really is, but it's not a movie

[2/10 · 8 June 2014]

Having just watched the movie 'Belle', I wanted to learn a bit more about the heroine (Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay) since the movie was based on a true story. I stumbled across this clip that they call a movie. Save yourself the time of watching this poorly made partial summary of this story, and just watch Belle. This 5 minute clip doesn't provide a full story of what happened to the heroine, and doesn't come close to the quality of the movie Belle. The story behind this clip and the movie Belle is worth learning about, as this heroine ended up affecting legal decisions regarding slavery in England in the late 1700's, along with class issues.

Fed Up (2014)

This should be required viewing for all schools, doctors, and nutritionists

[8/10 · 20 May 2014]

Overall excellent documentary that everyone could benefit from. The trailer covers a lot of the main spoiler points (added sugar and refined flour is bad, etc) but the movie delves in deeper and shows the politics going on to make sure that no matter what bad news is discovered about sugar, processed food companies will make sure you somehow consume even more. The movie points out what affects the bottom line for food companies is sales and growth, not health. The movie also showed some very interesting concepts about our fascination with exercise and counting calories. Our modern world is exposed to all kinds of manipulative marketing that feeds into what nutritionists and doctors tell patients. The movie tragically showed how well meaning parents thought that their processed food diets were healthy even though their kids were obese. The movie points out that nothing will change until people stop believing popular marketing and switch from processed foods to whole, fresh foods without all the chemicals, additives, and sugar. I would not be surprised if years from now we will look back on the sugar industry with the same horror as the tobacco industry, and hope that we do something about this before many more people develop unnecessary health issues.

I wish the story ended with a few more encouraging stories of people who kicked the sugar habit. Instead, I kind of felt like we were left hanging. I really enjoyed learning about the politics behind food marketing. There were also some parts of the movie that were slower going, hence only 8 out of 10.

Christmas Lodge (2011 TV Movie)

Awkward and staged

[5/10 · 20 May 2014]

While the story works OK for a 'cute' movie and is very family friendly, I found the main couple (Mary and Jack - such original names!) in this movie to have no chemistry at all. None! In fact, Mary seemed downright embarrassed and uncomfortable around Jack, especially when he brought up any serious topics. And as for Jack, after watching this actor in many of the Stargate shows, I know he is capable of much better acting and have no idea why he was pigeonholed into something like this.

The show was ultimately not realistic, and Mary would have known better than to go begging about how her project was a labor of love - very unprofessional. The story line was very amateur at times, with plenty of time dedicated to watching everyone be called to dinner and eating, Mary and the family all joining in for care-taking, etc. While an instance or two of this is good and emphasized family involvement, showing it over and over again was tedious overkill and added nothing to the plot. It was almost as if they were looking for filler fluff.

Overall, fine for a family showing, with good moral lessons, but lacking if you were looking for anything more.

Civil Love (2012 Video)

Average romance story - low budget

[5/10 · 6 March 2014]

I stumbled across this and the plot seemed interesting enough as a romantic storyline. The basic plot played out fairly well, but there were a number of reminders throughout the movie that this was very low budget. I don't think there was a wardrobe artist, as there were all sorts of outfits that just didn't fit in to the time era. One lawman wore a traditional floppy hat of the era, while his partner wore a hat that looked like a gangster's hat from the 1920's. The daughter in the story wore her hair wild and loose and wore boy's outfits. The daughter's appearance just didn't seem plausible, given the time period and how strict the mom was with the son. The mother in the story acted stiffly and forced and her acting didn't blend well with how the others acted.

I also was pretty surprised to find that this was a civil war movie that dealt with numerous debates about who was right or wrong, but never once mentioned any issues involving slavery? A good part of the movie was spent trying to understand the southern prisoner and the family was trying to decide if he was good and moral, but never once asked about his opinions of slavery. Yes, he knew the bible, but there were plenty of people in the south who knew the bible but were still racist.

Overall, the movie was a typical historic chick flick that could have been based on any number of romance novels.

One more comment - there is very limited IMDb background info on this, and even the credits are incomplete. I guess this was so low budget that no one even took the time to complete the IMDb details? The hero of this story is a mystery man since his name is not in the credits at all. The movie was probably PG and is appropriate for families - nothing to object to. Was this a book to TV movie? Was it Not sure.

The Whistleblower (2010)

Amazingly disturbing movie - a must see!

[10/10 · 30 December 2013]

Every woman and teenage girl should see this. Watching this will save lives.

I didn't realize what this movie was about and had gotten it confused with another whistle blowing type movie, so this movie sat in my Netflix queue for over a year until I was home sick with the flu. I started watching this and was dumbfounded. I've seen other movies like Trade, Savior, Welcome to Sarajevo, etc. and was familiar with some of the politics going on during the war, but had never heard about this woman or what she exposed. This has now been moved to the top of my movie recommendation list.

I beg you - watch this movie!

The Perfect Human Diet (2012)

Great documentary!

[9/10 · 28 July 2013]

There are so many conflicting theories about diet that it makes sense to look back and see what humans ate and thrived on as they evolved. In recent decades there's been a lot of new theories with very little scientific research to support them, and at the same time, humans are getting fatter and sicker than ever before. Low-fat, high-carb, vegan, and other new diets all sound good, but there's no history of these diets ever being utilized by humans for any substantial amount of time. This film looks at the history of human diets and has some great concepts on what a healthy diet should be. The film touches on Weston Price's studies done in the 1930's, where Dr. Price was able to meet people who were raised on primal diets that had not yet been influenced by processed food. The results were quite surprising, and he published a book called 'Nutrition and Physical Degeneration', which should be a must-read for every medical student.