This is the kind of movie you see on cable in the middle of the night and it surprises you because it is so good. It is about a teenager who has a terminal brain tumor and a dying wish to "hang out" with a particular supermodel. It's a refreshing movie about cancer because it doesn't conform to the stereotypes. Also, I didn't cry hot tears at the end. It stars Michael Angarano, and Cynthia Nixon of Sex In The City fame plays his mother. It's interesting that this movie was released in 2005 and she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.

I just watched this documentary on PBS called "The Truth About Cancer," and I really liked it. It is narrated by Linda Garmon, who tells the story of her husband's battle with cancer. Over the course of the film, Garmon returns to the same Boston-area hospitals at which her husband was treated, and exposes startling truths about survival rates of metastasized cancers, and the limited success of drugs and clinical trials. Interwoven throughout are the stories of three additional cancer patients, and their families and doctors, as they navigate the deeply personal decisions surrounding the disease. The documentary also follows several medical professionals working to promote screening, research the latest developments in cancer treatment, and help patients and their families live with a cancer diagnosis. The half hour panel discussion after cracked me up. I have to admit that I was prejudging. In her introduction, news journalist and breast cancer survivor Linda Ellerbee says, "I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. I lost both my breasts and all of my hair. My hair grew back...I can laugh about it today mainly because all these years later, I am on the right side of the grass." Then comes a lot of truth-from her and from the doctors and experts she gathered who have experienced their own cancer. They can see it from both sides of the fence.

Kris Carr was diagnosed with an incurable, rare, late stage (IV) cancer in 2003. The video diary she started after her diagnosis turned into a full length feature film that includes the stories of 4 other young women dealing with different kinds of cancer. / The film is a document of the 4 year emotional and physical trip after her diagnosis. / The story is one of the most inspirational I have seen about cancer. Towards the end of the film she says, "Cancer wasnt killing me, it was pushing me to live...If I could learn to make peace with my disease even if it didnt go away, I could do anything." / Kris is fun to watch, and unlike most other cancer poster children she doesnt give me the dumb chills. At the very least, its definitely worth checking out the trailer. Look out for our friend Jackie Farry, who is part of the reason WR is here.

Starting with a long walk down scary, narrow halls of French Canadian hospital, where people line the walls thrid-world health clinic style, and the doctor calls the patient by the wrong name, the start of this movie is like the opening of a horror movie. And in a way The Barbarian Invasions is a horror movie. It is frank about death and pain. Central to the story is how a strained father-son relationship fares around the fear of death. / But the second scene of the movie is the first clue to why it rocks so hard./ Remy (the dying father) to the nurse: (as an introduction) My wife Louise. / Nurse: It must be hard having him here/ Louise: I threw him out 15 years ago, so weather he is here or humping co-eds in his condo.../ Its also a political movie in a way, but politics and then current events (the movie was made in 2003) are more metaphors...as ultimately, is cancer. Smart movie. Didn't know that heroine is 800% more effective than morphine. What else aren't they telling us? / This movie is the second in a trilogy directed by Denys Arcand. It won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2003. The films that sandwich it are The Decline of the American Empire (1986), and Days of Darkness (soon to be released). All are in French with subtitles.