Video
7 years later – again
Before there was Honey Boo Boo, there was "Seven Up," Paul Almond's groundbreaking 1964 film in which 14 British 7-year-olds discussed their lives, hopes and dreams for the future.
In 1971, Almond and Michael Apted had the brilliant idea to catch up with them, a ritual the filmmakers have continued every seven years since. The latest is "56 Up."
The core participants have allowed viewers to drop in on their lives as they grapple with the cardinal concerns of their generation. "56 Up" is modestly upbeat, its subjects candid about their regrets, but also satisfied, even if the difference between resignation and contentment isn't always clear.
Many of the protagonists are now on strong second marriages, their adult children mostly successfully launched. The anxieties about money, health, children, work and death that animate much of "56 Up" are banal but profoundly universal.
This is the stuff of reality television and Russian novels — and, every seven years, at least, of a compelling and moving film.
The DVD (First Run, $30) includes film critic Roger Ebert's interview with Apted. "The Up Series" ($80), a seven-disc special edition, includes all eight films.
Washington Post
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Learn a language
LaMP, or Lingual Media Player (free; www.lingualmediaplayer.com), is a neat Windows and online program for learning a new language through watching videos — one of the best ways to become more efficient in a foreign language. The program displays foreign language subtitles for any film you load into the media player or videos you select from YouTube.
