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Dorje grew up in a remote high-altitude village in Nepal without electricity, running water, or even the wheel, in the 1980s. The book is the story of her life to about age 10, when she is adopted by an American couple and brought to the US for life-saving scoliosis surgery. With no schooling at all, she is turned loose in the Himalayas at age 6 to shepherd over her family's herd of goats and yak, responsible for both getting herself and the animals back to the village safely each day. As it becomes apparent that she needs medical help the family embarks on a nearly 1-month trek to Kathmandu, where Dorje sees electricity, automobiles, and TV for the first time. Living 9 people in a 1 room apartment with another family from the village, they eek out survival via begging and social services until Dorje is accepted into a boarding school and starts to learn to read and write, and her family starts the 1-month trek up the mountain back to the village. The book ends as Dorje receives life- saving surgery in America. The book is essentially self-published, but her story is so compelling it does not matter. A real editor working their magic could result in an amazing book that would compare to Angela's Ashes. As is, I still highly recommend the book.
posted by COD on Apr 6, 2023 - 0 comments

This is a loose retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, set in modern day South Korea and wrapped in a murder-mystery-thriller. 12 episodes; episodes drop Saturday and Sunday on Netflix; Sep 3 through Oct 9, 2022. Director: Kim Hee Won (Vincenzo); Screenwriter: Jung Seo Kyung (Handmaiden, Mother). [more inside]
posted by kbar1 on Sep 28, 2022 - 8 comments

“Gay people -Men- gather together under one roof and decide to have a competition amongst themselves: BALLS. This movie is about the ball circuit, and the gay people that’s involved in it, and how each person’s life brought them to this circuit.” Filmed over seven years, Paris Is Burning is Jennie Livingston’s legendary documentary about gay ball culture in New York City in the 1980s.
posted by Going To Maine on Apr 17, 2018 - 10 comments

After having suffered a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight the bureaucratic forces of the system in order to receive Employment and Support Allowance. The newest from critically acclaimed director Ken Loach.
posted by DirtyOldTown on Jul 13, 2017 - 3 comments

Two brothers (Chris Pine, Ben Foster) rob small-town banks in Texas. Two Rangers (Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham) pursue them. [more inside]
posted by Wordshore on Sep 14, 2016 - 14 comments

Arthur Agee and Will Gates, two of Chicago's top high school basketball prospects, face pressure on and off the court in this iconic documentary about sports, family and race. [more inside]
posted by MoonOrb on Feb 9, 2015 - 2 comments

Hernando de Soto wanted to figure out what was trapping people in poverty. "There's gotta be an invisible wall someplace," he thought. "Let's find the wall."
posted by radioamy on Jan 29, 2015 - 2 comments