Movie Review: Czech Dream

Now that we have Netflix back, the wife and I can stream movies to our little hearts’ content. One that I’d heard about a while ago and added to my queue was Czech Dream. It’s a movie made by two film students in Prague. Basically, they decided to film a social experiment. They created an extensive ad campaign for a Walmart-esque store that was to open in Prague. They ran said campaign–successfully, I might add. The only hitch? There was no actual store. It’s a campaign for a product that didn’t exist. It’s a fairly straightforward premise, but the way it plays out in the film is fascinating. I really enjoyed the film: 3 and a half stars, though of course, I’m already fairly interested in things Czech or Slovak-related.

Along those lines, one thing that I noticed in the film was the attitude of the Czech people toward superstores like Walmart. They looked forward to them–saw them as a great addition to the area, loved shopping there, got excited about them. This is in stark contrast to the growing sentiment I see here in America toward superstores. People hate them. They go to great lengths to avoid shopping at them. In a way, it seemed like the Czech approach is a few decades behind America’s approach. We’re in a “been there, didn’t like that” phase, while to them, it’s all still new and exciting. Now in America (or at least my corner of it), I see a growing desire to get things local–to downsize. To go to smaller niche stores. It’s like Americans want what Czechs have, and they want what we have.

Maybe the grass really is always greener . . .

Book Review

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder

My review

 
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book, although the ending sort of fell apart for me. I know that seems odd to say about a nonfiction book–it’s the truth, right? How can you make it different? But you can still give a feeling of closure to a narrative, and that’s what this book lacked for me. Still, fascinating to read about Paul Farmer’s efforts. It makes me feel more than a little inadequate. There are dying people in the world, and I’m here writing a review on Goodreads . . .

View all my reviews.