This film is inspired by true events. It is a chilling psychological drama with a secret pact. Julius Morland is a successful art photographer and painter. He lives with his wife Ellen in the UK but they have also purchased a large home in Ireland. Ellen has been seeing a doctor in the UK and he tells her she has a brain tumor. She has surgery but all of the tumor could not be removed. She cannot get chemotherapy because of the type of tumor and her prognosis is not good. Julius and Ellen retreat to Ireland for rest and recovery. Julius finds a new muse in Ann and his photography and paintings are selling again. Someone breaks into his studio and throws everything around but nothing seems to be missing? It is suggested by the police that he install security cameras and he does take this action. The break-in and other events have set in motion intense paranoia in Julius. He is constantly on edge and he is at a breaking point. He is very jealous of a rising young artist, Dutch painter Robert Jansen. There is beautiful cinematography and the scenery of this area is part of the story.
There are some puzzles in this film and I can’t fill in a lot of the details without giving away key plot points that need to unfold as a surprise. There are two separate time periods in this film. There is Julius and his manager wife Ellen. Then there is Ann, his latest muse. There is some dullness about Julius and that can lead to impatience by viewers. Even Ellen and Ann become angry about his lack of communication skills and dour demeanor!! Some of the plot points are not clear until later as well. This is a very different film!! I was surprised to learn that the film is based on true events!! 4* (I liked this movie)
94 min, Drama, directed and written by Tjebbo Penning, also written by Matthew Faulk, Ruud Schuurman and Mark Skeet with Paul Freeman, Susan Lynch, Diana Kent, Eric van der Donk, Marcel Faber, Porgy Franssen, Huib Broos, Joe Gallagher, Ann Bourroughs, Freida Hand, Nora Mullens, Masximo Mewl, Paddy O’Conell, Elvira Out, Derek Reid.
Note: Imdb 6.3 out of 10 with 432 ratings, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 510 ratings, Metacritic 60 out of 100 with 9 critics (6 positive 2 mixed and 1 negative), Letterboxd 3.3*.
Special Note: Filmed at the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare; Duleek, Country Meath, Ireland; Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. Released by Film Movement.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
Ratatouille 2007
Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef in spite of his family’s doubts and his biggest drawback is that he is a rat. He has an exceptional nose and he appreciates the finer foods in life. He is suddenly swept away by the sewers of Paris and finds himself under a restaurant formerly owned by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. At first, Remy doesn’t think he has a chance to work at this respected establishment? He helps Linguini, the newly hired garbage boy correct the seasonings in the soup du jour (of the day) and he’s on his way to a career. There are many mishaps and missteps along his path.
I have seen this before but I had forgotten how funny it really is. Remy controls the garbage boy in cooking by pulling the boy’s hair underneath his chef hat. The current chef thinks he keeps seeing a rat in the kitchen but how can that be? There are remarks about the French, haute cuisine, food critics, etc. Linguini is an orphan but he is a young adult and not a child. There is some moderate peril involving rats and weapon wielding humans!! 5* (I really liked this movie)
111 min, Pixar Animation directed and written by Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, with the voices of Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Peter O’Toole, Janeane Garofalo, Will Arnett, Julius Callahan, James Remar, John Ratzenberger, Teddy Newton,Tony Fucile.
Note: Blockbuster 4*, Imdb 8.0 out of 10, 96% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen, age 6+, 4* out of 5*, 1* educational. 3* positive, 3* role models, 3* violence & scariness, 1* sexy stuff, 1* language, 1* drinking, drugs, smoking, metacritic 96 out of 100 with 37 critics (37 positive) 8.6 out of 10 with 1738 ratings (1574 positive, 105 mixed, 59 negative), The Guardian 5* Xan Brooks, cbn.com 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 5,443 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed at Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Animation Studios, California; Paris, France; Chicago, Illinois. Pet rats were kept at the studio in the hallway for more than a year so that the animators could study the movement of their fur, noses, ears, paws and tails!! To find out how to animate the scene with the Head Chef wet, a person was dressed in a chef suit and put into a swimming pool. The animators needed to see which parts of the suit stuck to his body and the parts you could see through. In nearly every Pixar movie, the trademark Pizza Planet truck from the Toy Story franchise is shown. It is about one hour and fourteen minutes into the film. This time it appears on the bridge over the Seine in the scene where Skinner chases Remy. Marketing tie-ins were problematic for this movie because no food product company wanted to be associated with a rat!! This movie was filmed in France and it broke the record for the biggest debut for an animated movie in France.
I have seen this before but I had forgotten how funny it really is. Remy controls the garbage boy in cooking by pulling the boy’s hair underneath his chef hat. The current chef thinks he keeps seeing a rat in the kitchen but how can that be? There are remarks about the French, haute cuisine, food critics, etc. Linguini is an orphan but he is a young adult and not a child. There is some moderate peril involving rats and weapon wielding humans!! 5* (I really liked this movie)
111 min, Pixar Animation directed and written by Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, with the voices of Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Peter O’Toole, Janeane Garofalo, Will Arnett, Julius Callahan, James Remar, John Ratzenberger, Teddy Newton,Tony Fucile.
Note: Blockbuster 4*, Imdb 8.0 out of 10, 96% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen, age 6+, 4* out of 5*, 1* educational. 3* positive, 3* role models, 3* violence & scariness, 1* sexy stuff, 1* language, 1* drinking, drugs, smoking, metacritic 96 out of 100 with 37 critics (37 positive) 8.6 out of 10 with 1738 ratings (1574 positive, 105 mixed, 59 negative), The Guardian 5* Xan Brooks, cbn.com 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 5,443 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed at Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Animation Studios, California; Paris, France; Chicago, Illinois. Pet rats were kept at the studio in the hallway for more than a year so that the animators could study the movement of their fur, noses, ears, paws and tails!! To find out how to animate the scene with the Head Chef wet, a person was dressed in a chef suit and put into a swimming pool. The animators needed to see which parts of the suit stuck to his body and the parts you could see through. In nearly every Pixar movie, the trademark Pizza Planet truck from the Toy Story franchise is shown. It is about one hour and fourteen minutes into the film. This time it appears on the bridge over the Seine in the scene where Skinner chases Remy. Marketing tie-ins were problematic for this movie because no food product company wanted to be associated with a rat!! This movie was filmed in France and it broke the record for the biggest debut for an animated movie in France.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Seabiscuit 2003
This film is based on a book by Laura Hillenbrand published in 2003. The setting of this film is during the Depression. This was during the late 1920's and into the late 1930's. Times are hard for everyone and car maker Charles Howard is trying to rebuild his life. His only child tragically died and this ended his first marriage. Now he is married to his second wife Marcela. Charles has decided he wants to get into horse racing and he lands in a team of underdogs chasing their own dream. The trainer is Tom Smith and he has a natural instinct to spot the capabilities of horses. Tom selects Seabiscuit and this is an unconventional choice. This house has a pedigreed lineage but he is small at fifteen and a half hands real with a slight limp?? Tom sees something in Seabiscuit’s nature that will make him a winner. He needs to be retrained from his inbred losing ways. They decide to hire Johnny “Red” Pollard as the jockey. He has this nickname because of his red hair. Red also has a natural way with horses.
The jockey, Red is sent to someone who owns a stable and who and offer to put Red up as a jockey. His parents are forced to do this because of their reduced income and abilities due to the Depression. Red doesn’t understand why this has happened because he is not old enough. Red also tries to make some money by amateur boxing. He has significant injuries from a fight. Red also has another sports-related injury to his leg. There is an off-screen car crash with a young child being killed. There is drinking during Prohibition, a radio announcer is drunk a lot of times and cigarette smoking. It wasn’t until 1963 that smoking was found to be a harmful practice. There are good themes of perseverance, kindness, struggles and self-reliance. This is beautifully shot and well-acted. There isn’t any way you can’t be rooting for Seabiscuit and Red!!! 5* (I really liked this movie)
140 min, Drama directed by Gary Ross with David McCullough, Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Vincent O’Connor, Chris Cooper, Michael Ensign, James Keane, Valerie Mahaffey, David Doty, Carl M. Craig, Michael O’Neill, Annie Corley, Michael Angarano, Cameron Bowen, Noah Luke, Mariah Bess.
Note: Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 64,533 views, Roger Ebert 4 1/2*, Rotten Tomatoes 78% with 205 critics 76% audience with 118,381 ratings, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, age 13+, 4* out of 5*, 2* positive, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Derek Malcolm, empireonline.com 4* out of 5* Angie Errigo, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 1,754 reviews, Letterboxd 3.1* out of 5*, Metacritic 72 out of 100 with 43 critics (38 positive 4 mixed 1 negative), 7.3 out of 10 with 53 ratings (41 positive 7 mixed 5 negative), Goodreads gives the book 4.22* out of 5* with 137,748 ratings and 4,261 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Hemet, Santa Anita Park & Racetrack, Arcadia, Filmore, Pasadena, Pomona, Tjon Ranch, Ontario, Universal City, Los Angeles, California;, Saratoga Race Track, New York; Keeneland Racetrack (Pimlico), Paris, Kentucky Laura Hillenbrand is also the author of Unbroken 2014 and Unbroken: Path to Redemption 2018. She was born May 15, 1967 in Fairfax, Virginia and she won an Eclipse Award in 1998 for her American Heritage magazine article on Seabiscuit entitled Four Good Legs Between Us. The budge was estimated to be $87,000,000, opening weekend gross $20,854,735, gross USA $120,277,854, worldwide $148,336,445. More than 5.5 million copies of DVD’s were sold.
Trivia: Trainer Tom Smith tries to bring a goat into Seabiscuit’s stall. Many horses feel better if they have the company of another animal. It’s a common practice to partner a horse with a goat. The saying,”to get one’s goat” came from the practice of stealing a goat from a rival race horse’s stall the night before a big race. This would upset the horse before the race. The horse War Admiral was played in the film by one is Seabiscuit’s descendants, a gelding named Verboom.
The jockey, Red is sent to someone who owns a stable and who and offer to put Red up as a jockey. His parents are forced to do this because of their reduced income and abilities due to the Depression. Red doesn’t understand why this has happened because he is not old enough. Red also tries to make some money by amateur boxing. He has significant injuries from a fight. Red also has another sports-related injury to his leg. There is an off-screen car crash with a young child being killed. There is drinking during Prohibition, a radio announcer is drunk a lot of times and cigarette smoking. It wasn’t until 1963 that smoking was found to be a harmful practice. There are good themes of perseverance, kindness, struggles and self-reliance. This is beautifully shot and well-acted. There isn’t any way you can’t be rooting for Seabiscuit and Red!!! 5* (I really liked this movie)
140 min, Drama directed by Gary Ross with David McCullough, Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Vincent O’Connor, Chris Cooper, Michael Ensign, James Keane, Valerie Mahaffey, David Doty, Carl M. Craig, Michael O’Neill, Annie Corley, Michael Angarano, Cameron Bowen, Noah Luke, Mariah Bess.
Note: Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 64,533 views, Roger Ebert 4 1/2*, Rotten Tomatoes 78% with 205 critics 76% audience with 118,381 ratings, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, age 13+, 4* out of 5*, 2* positive, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Derek Malcolm, empireonline.com 4* out of 5* Angie Errigo, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 1,754 reviews, Letterboxd 3.1* out of 5*, Metacritic 72 out of 100 with 43 critics (38 positive 4 mixed 1 negative), 7.3 out of 10 with 53 ratings (41 positive 7 mixed 5 negative), Goodreads gives the book 4.22* out of 5* with 137,748 ratings and 4,261 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Hemet, Santa Anita Park & Racetrack, Arcadia, Filmore, Pasadena, Pomona, Tjon Ranch, Ontario, Universal City, Los Angeles, California;, Saratoga Race Track, New York; Keeneland Racetrack (Pimlico), Paris, Kentucky Laura Hillenbrand is also the author of Unbroken 2014 and Unbroken: Path to Redemption 2018. She was born May 15, 1967 in Fairfax, Virginia and she won an Eclipse Award in 1998 for her American Heritage magazine article on Seabiscuit entitled Four Good Legs Between Us. The budge was estimated to be $87,000,000, opening weekend gross $20,854,735, gross USA $120,277,854, worldwide $148,336,445. More than 5.5 million copies of DVD’s were sold.
Trivia: Trainer Tom Smith tries to bring a goat into Seabiscuit’s stall. Many horses feel better if they have the company of another animal. It’s a common practice to partner a horse with a goat. The saying,”to get one’s goat” came from the practice of stealing a goat from a rival race horse’s stall the night before a big race. This would upset the horse before the race. The horse War Admiral was played in the film by one is Seabiscuit’s descendants, a gelding named Verboom.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Liberty Stands Still 2002
A gunman ties up an actor and locks him in his dressing room just before a performance. He puts a bomb with a 90-minute timer next to the actor. The gunman goes into a room above the LA plaza and draws a bead on the actor’s girlfriend, international arms dealer Liberty Wallace!! He calls Liberty’s cell phone and tells her his name is Joe. He shows her a rifle pointed right at her. He tells her to cuff herself to a hot-dog cart nearby with the cuffs beside it. Over the next 90 minutes the story begins to unfold. The gunman wants a public debate on the Second Amendment because of his daughter’s death. Liberty begins to bond with Joe on the phone and he gets some truths from her plus his revenge.
This film was screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It failed to get a theatrical release and went straight to DVD on October 22, 2002 because of critical reception. There was praise for the performances by Snipes and Fiorentino but panned the overall plot. This film is good in the suspense part but weak on the action. The beginning is slow but then it starts to pickup as it goes along. Includes heavy messages about gun control. 3* (This movie is OK)
96 min, Action directed and written by Kari Skogland with Tanya Allen, Hart Bochner, Fulvio Cecere, Gregory Calpakis, Terry Chen, Garvin Cross, Roger Cross, Martin Cummins, Keith Dallas, Linda Fiorentino, Marrett Green, Darch Laurie, David Lewis, Brian Markinson.
Note: Imdb 5.7 out of 10 with 7,151 views, Rotten Tomatoes 20% with 5 critics 36% with 3,896 user ratings, Letterboxd 2.6* out of 5*, Amazon 3.8* out of 5* with 100 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. There are mistakes in this film. Near the end of the film, Liberty drops her phone and headset on the ground. In the next scene we see the headset still in her ear? The rank insignia worn by the police captain is improperly worn at odd angles? The red dot of Joe’s laser-sight is on Liberty’s chest but she repeatedly scans buildings behind her while trying to spot Joe??
This film was screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It failed to get a theatrical release and went straight to DVD on October 22, 2002 because of critical reception. There was praise for the performances by Snipes and Fiorentino but panned the overall plot. This film is good in the suspense part but weak on the action. The beginning is slow but then it starts to pickup as it goes along. Includes heavy messages about gun control. 3* (This movie is OK)
96 min, Action directed and written by Kari Skogland with Tanya Allen, Hart Bochner, Fulvio Cecere, Gregory Calpakis, Terry Chen, Garvin Cross, Roger Cross, Martin Cummins, Keith Dallas, Linda Fiorentino, Marrett Green, Darch Laurie, David Lewis, Brian Markinson.
Note: Imdb 5.7 out of 10 with 7,151 views, Rotten Tomatoes 20% with 5 critics 36% with 3,896 user ratings, Letterboxd 2.6* out of 5*, Amazon 3.8* out of 5* with 100 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. There are mistakes in this film. Near the end of the film, Liberty drops her phone and headset on the ground. In the next scene we see the headset still in her ear? The rank insignia worn by the police captain is improperly worn at odd angles? The red dot of Joe’s laser-sight is on Liberty’s chest but she repeatedly scans buildings behind her while trying to spot Joe??
Friday, March 27, 2020
Cigarette Soup 2017
A journalist gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is embedded with a small band of American soldiers during the height of the war in Afghanistan. There is a surprise attack and they become separated from their unit. They are trapped in an insurgent bunker and surrounded on all sides by the enemy. During this time, the journalist is able to interview the soldiers and find out who they are individually. Even in the face of war and terror, there is still kindness and hope.
This film is not a documentary and this is pure fiction and totally false. Basically, it is the producer’s personal political views being stated by the fake soldiers? The US Army had very limited operations in Helmand in 2006. It was primarily NATO and the ANA/ANP units with a heavy presence of British soldiers. Also some Gurkha's and Scots. A few US Marines here and there also. In mid 2007, units 6th, 7th and 8th Marines started to heat up. The 10th Mountain and the 101st Airborne were not running regular foot patrols at this time. The actors/soldiers are wearing all kinds of unit patches at the same time. 2* (I didn't like this movie)
108 min, Action directed and written by Damian Voerg with Dina Shihabi, Samantha Soule, Joe Perrino, Tobias Truvillion, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Alejandro Santoni, Donna Worsley-Hines, Rahul Rai, Joshua Wills, Jonathan Sale, Christopher Stadulis, Michael Gentile, Sea McHale, Darrian Strong.
Note: Imdb 6.4 out of 10 with 511 views, Amazon 1.4* with 86 reviews.
Special Note: ANA Units are soldiers from the Afghan National Army. ANP units refers to the Afghan National Police. The Gurkhas are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent of Nepalese nationality and ethnic Nepalis of Indian Nationality recruited for the British, Nepales, Indian Armies and Gurkha Contingent Singapore, Gurkha Reserve Unit Brunei, UN.
This film is not a documentary and this is pure fiction and totally false. Basically, it is the producer’s personal political views being stated by the fake soldiers? The US Army had very limited operations in Helmand in 2006. It was primarily NATO and the ANA/ANP units with a heavy presence of British soldiers. Also some Gurkha's and Scots. A few US Marines here and there also. In mid 2007, units 6th, 7th and 8th Marines started to heat up. The 10th Mountain and the 101st Airborne were not running regular foot patrols at this time. The actors/soldiers are wearing all kinds of unit patches at the same time. 2* (I didn't like this movie)
108 min, Action directed and written by Damian Voerg with Dina Shihabi, Samantha Soule, Joe Perrino, Tobias Truvillion, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Alejandro Santoni, Donna Worsley-Hines, Rahul Rai, Joshua Wills, Jonathan Sale, Christopher Stadulis, Michael Gentile, Sea McHale, Darrian Strong.
Note: Imdb 6.4 out of 10 with 511 views, Amazon 1.4* with 86 reviews.
Special Note: ANA Units are soldiers from the Afghan National Army. ANP units refers to the Afghan National Police. The Gurkhas are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent of Nepalese nationality and ethnic Nepalis of Indian Nationality recruited for the British, Nepales, Indian Armies and Gurkha Contingent Singapore, Gurkha Reserve Unit Brunei, UN.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Wycliffe Series 4, Episode 27
This is a British television series based on novels written by W.J. Burley about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe, the head of CID. The Cornish setting is an important feature and it provides beautiful landscapes and insights into the local way of life. In this episode titled Seen a Ghost, Morna Petheric, a young woman deliberately runs over an elderly woman walking in a pedestrian crossing. She not only runs her down but she drives over her? The victim is identified as Dinah Curran. During the inquiry by Detective Superintendent Wycliffe, Deputy Chief Constable Lane and Deputy Chief Constable Kersey, Morna insists that she ran over a ghost that had come back to life to haunt her!!
During the coroners inquest, stab wounds from years earlier are seen on Dinah’s chest and hands? During an interview with her second husband, he said he never noticed them? An interview with Morna’s mother reveals that she doesn't’ know where her husband is? He is the father of Morna and her older brother? Morna believes she killed Dinah many years ago as a young child of about 7 and her brother was 9? Dinah was once married to Morna’s uncle and Dinah’s second husband didn’t know she was married before? Morna’s mother and her uncle run two separate bed and breakfast establishments that are right next door to each other. In the past, the businesses were together but they physically separated. Morna’s brother starts digging in the yard but his mother and his uncle pay no attention?
I am reviewing this TV episode because I found it to be one of the most unusual plots that I have ever seen?? In the beginning, Morna bought something at an auction. She was the highest bidder and it was placed in her car. I thought there was some kind of connection between what she bought and running over of Dinah? This turned out to be an entirely false assumption!! Another item that I thought was unusual is how stoic Moana’s mother and uncle are?? I don’t think any occurrence would rattle them?? “Oh, my daughter will probably be charged with murder?" It is treated like saying, my daughter forgot to buy milk at the market?? About the digging in the yard? I would not be very happy if a family member or a stranger started digging up my grass and I would certainly stop them?? 5* (I really liked this episode)
During the coroners inquest, stab wounds from years earlier are seen on Dinah’s chest and hands? During an interview with her second husband, he said he never noticed them? An interview with Morna’s mother reveals that she doesn't’ know where her husband is? He is the father of Morna and her older brother? Morna believes she killed Dinah many years ago as a young child of about 7 and her brother was 9? Dinah was once married to Morna’s uncle and Dinah’s second husband didn’t know she was married before? Morna’s mother and her uncle run two separate bed and breakfast establishments that are right next door to each other. In the past, the businesses were together but they physically separated. Morna’s brother starts digging in the yard but his mother and his uncle pay no attention?
I am reviewing this TV episode because I found it to be one of the most unusual plots that I have ever seen?? In the beginning, Morna bought something at an auction. She was the highest bidder and it was placed in her car. I thought there was some kind of connection between what she bought and running over of Dinah? This turned out to be an entirely false assumption!! Another item that I thought was unusual is how stoic Moana’s mother and uncle are?? I don’t think any occurrence would rattle them?? “Oh, my daughter will probably be charged with murder?" It is treated like saying, my daughter forgot to buy milk at the market?? About the digging in the yard? I would not be very happy if a family member or a stranger started digging up my grass and I would certainly stop them?? 5* (I really liked this episode)
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Calendar Girls 2003
This film is based on a true story about eleven middle-aged Englishwomen. Chris Harper and her friend Annie Clarke are two of the middle aged women. They volunteer a lot of their time at their local Kanpely, Yorkshire County chapter of the Women’s Institute. Their motto is enlightenment, fun and friendship. They like most of the women members at the WI. But, Chris doesn’t appreciate the way the local President Marie runs the chapter? The monthly presentations seem bland plus devoid of enlightenment and fun. The fundraising calendar from last year only raised 75.60 pounds? The calendar featured local bridges and the calendar for this year is to feature local churches. Annie’s husband has recently passed away and Chris would like the WI to provide a memorial in his memory. To accomplish this, they will need the calendar to raise more money. A new sofa for the family room at the hospital will cost 999 pounds!! Chris proposes the calendar feature tasteful photographs of nude WI members? Will Chris and Annie be able to convince nine other WI members to pose with December being a group photograph??
The calendar will have the women posing behind different tasks that the WI teaches their members. Such as making bread rolls, knitting, planting flowers, playing the piano. The calendar will be tastefully photographed and it will tie into the latest idea that older can still be beautiful!! I thought this film was very funny!!! One of the lines is, “We’re going to need substantially larger buns for this photo!! The characters seem real and like normal people!! The calendar was a success and raised more than 500,000 pounds for a new leukemia unit sofa. Annie’s husband died from leukemia. 5* (I really liked this movie)
108 min, Comedy directed by Nigel Cole and written by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth with Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Penelope Wilton, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Philip Glenister, Ciaran Hinds, Cellia Imrie, Geraldine James, George Costigan, Graham Crowden, John Fortune, Georgie Glen, Angela Curran.
Note: Imdb 6.9 out of 10 with 22,472 views, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 74% with 126 critics 67% with 74,457 audience ratings, empireonline.com 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 60 out of 100 with 30 critics 7.3 out of 10 with 16 ratings, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1,121 reviews, Common Sense Media Beth Pratt age 14+, 3* positive, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: There is a scene where some of the real institute members appear as institute members at a cooking competition. Most of the filming was done in the village of Kettlewell in North Yorkshire about ten miles away from the location of the real institute in Rylstone. This film was staged as a touring theatrical event in the UK. The stage show generated more box-office revenue than this movie release.
The calendar will have the women posing behind different tasks that the WI teaches their members. Such as making bread rolls, knitting, planting flowers, playing the piano. The calendar will be tastefully photographed and it will tie into the latest idea that older can still be beautiful!! I thought this film was very funny!!! One of the lines is, “We’re going to need substantially larger buns for this photo!! The characters seem real and like normal people!! The calendar was a success and raised more than 500,000 pounds for a new leukemia unit sofa. Annie’s husband died from leukemia. 5* (I really liked this movie)
108 min, Comedy directed by Nigel Cole and written by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth with Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, Penelope Wilton, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Philip Glenister, Ciaran Hinds, Cellia Imrie, Geraldine James, George Costigan, Graham Crowden, John Fortune, Georgie Glen, Angela Curran.
Note: Imdb 6.9 out of 10 with 22,472 views, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 74% with 126 critics 67% with 74,457 audience ratings, empireonline.com 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 60 out of 100 with 30 critics 7.3 out of 10 with 16 ratings, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1,121 reviews, Common Sense Media Beth Pratt age 14+, 3* positive, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: There is a scene where some of the real institute members appear as institute members at a cooking competition. Most of the filming was done in the village of Kettlewell in North Yorkshire about ten miles away from the location of the real institute in Rylstone. This film was staged as a touring theatrical event in the UK. The stage show generated more box-office revenue than this movie release.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Agent of Influence 2002
The time setting of this film is 1964 and at the height of the Cold War. The Americans and the Soviets are on opposing sides. Other nations, such as Canada are caught somewhere in the middle of the war. James Watkins is the Canadian Ambassador to the Soviet Union. He is also a personal friend of the Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel Laureate Lester B. Pearson. This friendship is the only reason why Watkins took this job. Otherwise, he would not have been interested in the job. The CIA believes Watkins has been turned and he is really working for the Soviets. They have no conclusive evidence but they are working on getting something concrete to prove what they think is true. The Americans want Canadian action taken to neutralize Watkins. They don’t care if they have evidence. Certain sections within Canada are not in agreement with this action. Inspector David Present, Director of the RCMP’s KGB desk wants to see the evidence before taking any action.
An agent of influence is a person with some influence and status. They are using their position to manipulate public opinion or decision making to produce results beneficial to the country they are serving. It seems like the CIA won’t listen to anything Watkins has to say and they won’t contact anyone in Canada that could clear up their doubt?? Other complications are what about the men and the one woman doing the interrogation?? What side are they really on?? I really didn’t like this movie because of all the lies and deception!! Plus, I remember Valarie Plame was thrown under the bus by the CIA!!! She was outed to the public as an undercover agent working for the CIA by Bush administration officials Richard Armitage, Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. This action wasn’t about Valerie or her job, it was about her husband Joseph Wilson. 1 1/2* (I really did not like this movie)
98 min, Crime directed by Michel Poulette and written by Ken Chubb, Ian and Riley Adams with Christopher Plummer, Marina Orsini, Ted Whittall, Shaun Johnston, Kurtis Sanheim, Alain Goulem, Terry Lawrence, Paul Coeur, Gregory Hlady, Cs Anvar, Norman Edge, Pierre Rivard, Al Holt, Doug MacLeod, John Dunn-Hill.
Note: Imdb 6.4 out of 10 with 249 views, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 25 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Calgary, Alberta; Montreal, Quebec, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Canada.
An agent of influence is a person with some influence and status. They are using their position to manipulate public opinion or decision making to produce results beneficial to the country they are serving. It seems like the CIA won’t listen to anything Watkins has to say and they won’t contact anyone in Canada that could clear up their doubt?? Other complications are what about the men and the one woman doing the interrogation?? What side are they really on?? I really didn’t like this movie because of all the lies and deception!! Plus, I remember Valarie Plame was thrown under the bus by the CIA!!! She was outed to the public as an undercover agent working for the CIA by Bush administration officials Richard Armitage, Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. This action wasn’t about Valerie or her job, it was about her husband Joseph Wilson. 1 1/2* (I really did not like this movie)
98 min, Crime directed by Michel Poulette and written by Ken Chubb, Ian and Riley Adams with Christopher Plummer, Marina Orsini, Ted Whittall, Shaun Johnston, Kurtis Sanheim, Alain Goulem, Terry Lawrence, Paul Coeur, Gregory Hlady, Cs Anvar, Norman Edge, Pierre Rivard, Al Holt, Doug MacLeod, John Dunn-Hill.
Note: Imdb 6.4 out of 10 with 249 views, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 25 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Calgary, Alberta; Montreal, Quebec, Rocky Mountains, Alberta, Canada.
Monday, March 23, 2020
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane 2013
This series is inspired by a book written by Kate Summerscale. Whicher offers to help a country lady find her niece and he’s drawn into a disturbing case of murder. He finds himself up against wealthy and powerful figures. It also throws him into conflict with his former police colleagues.
Susan Spencer’s niece Mary is found stabbed outside of a rough tavern in London. This causes her to go into labor and she delivers a baby boy but she dies. Whicher has several items to solve involving this crime. Who is the baby’s father? Where is the baby? Who killed Mary? Where was she living before she was killed? She was wearing a valuable necklace with gemstones and that is missing? Who took the necklace and is it the murderer? I thought this was very interesting and the social and living conditions of this time period are not at all like our time period.
Season 1, Episode 2, 2013, TV Series 2011-2014, 95 min, Crime directed by Christopher Menaul screenplay written by Neil McKay with with Paddy Considine, Tim Pigott-Smith, William Beck, Olivia Colman, James Wilson, Paul Longley, Andy Gathergood, Shaun Dingwall, Angela Terence, Christopher Harper, Justine Mitchell, Justin Edwards, Mark Kempner.
Special Note: This is a fictionalized spin-off featuring the real-life character of Mr. Jack Whicher. He was a Metropolitan Police detective assigned to murder investigations. He was sacked after he failed to solve a case. There is a mistake, when Mr. Whicher visits Miss Spencer at her moment on two occasions, there is a modern security device on the front door lover left as he enters the reception hall. The time period is 1860 in Wiltshire, England.
Susan Spencer’s niece Mary is found stabbed outside of a rough tavern in London. This causes her to go into labor and she delivers a baby boy but she dies. Whicher has several items to solve involving this crime. Who is the baby’s father? Where is the baby? Who killed Mary? Where was she living before she was killed? She was wearing a valuable necklace with gemstones and that is missing? Who took the necklace and is it the murderer? I thought this was very interesting and the social and living conditions of this time period are not at all like our time period.
Season 1, Episode 2, 2013, TV Series 2011-2014, 95 min, Crime directed by Christopher Menaul screenplay written by Neil McKay with with Paddy Considine, Tim Pigott-Smith, William Beck, Olivia Colman, James Wilson, Paul Longley, Andy Gathergood, Shaun Dingwall, Angela Terence, Christopher Harper, Justine Mitchell, Justin Edwards, Mark Kempner.
Special Note: This is a fictionalized spin-off featuring the real-life character of Mr. Jack Whicher. He was a Metropolitan Police detective assigned to murder investigations. He was sacked after he failed to solve a case. There is a mistake, when Mr. Whicher visits Miss Spencer at her moment on two occasions, there is a modern security device on the front door lover left as he enters the reception hall. The time period is 1860 in Wiltshire, England.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Stone of Destiny 2008
This film is based on a true story about Ian Hamilton and he is a dedicated nationalist. He reignited Scottish national pride in the 1950’s with his daring raid on the Heart of England. He brought back the Stone of Scone to Scotland. Four young Glaswegian students outwitted the British authors in 1950. They were successful in bring back the Stone of Scone, this is a beloved symbol of Scottish pride. It was returned to its country of origin.
This is a simple tale but inspiring. Four college students brought back the stone, three men and one woman. They risked arrest by the British police and also the possibility of being expelled from university. There are some very funny moments in this film despite the seriousness of the event. The young woman gets very ill and one of the men rents a room at a bed-and-breakfast. He said she is his sister, she just needed to sleep and she did recover quickly. The police come by and wondered what is going on? The key to one of the cars is lost and there was a possibility of having to break into it with a LOT of noise?? Another problem is that they needed two cars because of the weight of the stone. A part of the stone broke apart after they took it out from under the coronation chair. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
96 min, Adventure directed, written by Charles Martin Smith and written by Ian Hamilton with Charlie Cox, Kate Mara, Stephen McCole, Ciaron Kelly, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan, Brenda Fricker, Juliet Cadzow, Alex Donald, John Comerford, Richard Addison, Danielle Stewart, Suzanne Dance, Pauline King.
Note: Imdb 6.8 out of 10 with 3,549 views, Rotten Tomatoes 53% with 17 critics 58% with 1,786 user ratings, eyeforfilm.co.uk 1 1/2* out of 5* Scott Macdonald, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 329 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed in Glasgow University, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Arbroath, Angus, Scotland, UK; Bridgend, Wales, UK; Glenfinnan, Viaduct, Fort William, Highland, Scotland, UK; London, England, UK; Oakshaw street East, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK; Paisley Abbey, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK.
Special Note: John Josselyn was one of the men who went with Ian Hamilton to the field to recover the stashed stone. He was the 21st great-grandson of King Edward I. Robert Carlyle in the role of John McCormick, also starred in Hamish Macbeth 1995. The final episode of this show dealt with a theft of the Stone of Destiny. All of the the external night scenes and interior scenes were shot at Paisley Abbey and not Westminster Abbey. This is a joint UK/Canadian film. The Stone of Destiny is also the name of a video game for PC, iPhone, iPad.
History: The real stone is said to be made from marble and this stone is the one that was taken to Westminster Abbey by Edward I in 1296. The stone is an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy and used for centuries in the inauguration of its kings. It is seen and felt to be a scared object of Scotland, it is not currently in Scotland but in Westminster Abbey, UK. The English are keeping the stone to signify power over Scotland. It is kept below the coronation chair in the Abbey. According to Scottish legend the stone is a sandstone slab used by Jacob as a pillow when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven. It was brought to Scotland though Egypt, Spain and Ireland.
This is a simple tale but inspiring. Four college students brought back the stone, three men and one woman. They risked arrest by the British police and also the possibility of being expelled from university. There are some very funny moments in this film despite the seriousness of the event. The young woman gets very ill and one of the men rents a room at a bed-and-breakfast. He said she is his sister, she just needed to sleep and she did recover quickly. The police come by and wondered what is going on? The key to one of the cars is lost and there was a possibility of having to break into it with a LOT of noise?? Another problem is that they needed two cars because of the weight of the stone. A part of the stone broke apart after they took it out from under the coronation chair. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
96 min, Adventure directed, written by Charles Martin Smith and written by Ian Hamilton with Charlie Cox, Kate Mara, Stephen McCole, Ciaron Kelly, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan, Brenda Fricker, Juliet Cadzow, Alex Donald, John Comerford, Richard Addison, Danielle Stewart, Suzanne Dance, Pauline King.
Note: Imdb 6.8 out of 10 with 3,549 views, Rotten Tomatoes 53% with 17 critics 58% with 1,786 user ratings, eyeforfilm.co.uk 1 1/2* out of 5* Scott Macdonald, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 329 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed in Glasgow University, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Arbroath, Angus, Scotland, UK; Bridgend, Wales, UK; Glenfinnan, Viaduct, Fort William, Highland, Scotland, UK; London, England, UK; Oakshaw street East, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK; Paisley Abbey, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK.
Special Note: John Josselyn was one of the men who went with Ian Hamilton to the field to recover the stashed stone. He was the 21st great-grandson of King Edward I. Robert Carlyle in the role of John McCormick, also starred in Hamish Macbeth 1995. The final episode of this show dealt with a theft of the Stone of Destiny. All of the the external night scenes and interior scenes were shot at Paisley Abbey and not Westminster Abbey. This is a joint UK/Canadian film. The Stone of Destiny is also the name of a video game for PC, iPhone, iPad.
History: The real stone is said to be made from marble and this stone is the one that was taken to Westminster Abbey by Edward I in 1296. The stone is an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy and used for centuries in the inauguration of its kings. It is seen and felt to be a scared object of Scotland, it is not currently in Scotland but in Westminster Abbey, UK. The English are keeping the stone to signify power over Scotland. It is kept below the coronation chair in the Abbey. According to Scottish legend the stone is a sandstone slab used by Jacob as a pillow when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven. It was brought to Scotland though Egypt, Spain and Ireland.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Feast of Love 2007
This film is based on a novel written by Charles Baxter. A group of friends living in Portland Oregon meet Chole. She is young and she has a free spirit. She changes their outlook on life in ways that they didn’t expect. Harry is a college professor and writer but he is not teaching at this time. He sits quietly in a local coffee shop and he sees the locals residents become swept in the magical mischief of love. Shop owner Bradley is married but his wife believes he doesn’t know anything about her. They get a divorce. Real estate agent Diana is seeing a married man and she meets Bradley. Diana and Bradley get married. Chloe starts working at the coffee shop and she meets Oscar, he also works at the shop. Oscar is a nice guy, used to be on drugs but his father is a piece of work!! Harry and his wife Esther are still grieving the loss of their son.
Love is the answer and this well-meaning drama tries to offer some positive life lessons. Support your friends and family, if love betrays you, try again. There is infidelity, abuse, addiction, some nudity, graphic sex, language is strong, a man hits a woman, a woman hits a man. In reality, the other side of the coin is that some people are just in love with the idea of being in love and anything about the other person doesn’t matter?? You can convince yourself that you really know them but it is possible that is not the case at all. You have a different picture in your head than what they really are? There are also times when friends or even strangers can see more truth in your relationship than you can see yourself!! There are different kinds of love, young, older, not returned and parental. 4 1/2* (I really liked this movie)
97 min Drama, directed by Robert Benton and written by Allison Burnett with Morgan Freeman, Radha Mitchell, Alexa Davalos, Billy Burke, Selma Blair, Toby Hemingway, Stana Katic, Erika Marozsan, Fred Ward, Margo Martindale, Missi Pyle, Shannon Lucio, Alex Mentzel.
Note: Imdb 6.6 out of 10 with 15,676 views, Roger Ebert 2*, Rotten Tomatoes 40% with 116 critics 55% audience with 117,439 user ratings, Metacritic 51 out of 100 with 28 critic reviews (13 positive 13 mixed 2 negative) 6.6 out of 10 with 20 ratings (11 positive 5 mixed 4 negative, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, age 17+, 3* out of 5*, violence 3*, sex 5*, language 3*, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, dove.org sex 5, language 5, violence 2, drugs 2, nudity 5, other fortune teller a comment of no choice but to leave the spouse, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 253 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in several locations in Portland. The shop is Fresh Pot Coffeeshop on Mississippi Avenue. Toby Hemingway as Oscar and Alexa Davalos as Chloe have the same birthday, May 28. Alexa Davalos was the character Juliana Crain on the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle.
Love is the answer and this well-meaning drama tries to offer some positive life lessons. Support your friends and family, if love betrays you, try again. There is infidelity, abuse, addiction, some nudity, graphic sex, language is strong, a man hits a woman, a woman hits a man. In reality, the other side of the coin is that some people are just in love with the idea of being in love and anything about the other person doesn’t matter?? You can convince yourself that you really know them but it is possible that is not the case at all. You have a different picture in your head than what they really are? There are also times when friends or even strangers can see more truth in your relationship than you can see yourself!! There are different kinds of love, young, older, not returned and parental. 4 1/2* (I really liked this movie)
97 min Drama, directed by Robert Benton and written by Allison Burnett with Morgan Freeman, Radha Mitchell, Alexa Davalos, Billy Burke, Selma Blair, Toby Hemingway, Stana Katic, Erika Marozsan, Fred Ward, Margo Martindale, Missi Pyle, Shannon Lucio, Alex Mentzel.
Note: Imdb 6.6 out of 10 with 15,676 views, Roger Ebert 2*, Rotten Tomatoes 40% with 116 critics 55% audience with 117,439 user ratings, Metacritic 51 out of 100 with 28 critic reviews (13 positive 13 mixed 2 negative) 6.6 out of 10 with 20 ratings (11 positive 5 mixed 4 negative, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, age 17+, 3* out of 5*, violence 3*, sex 5*, language 3*, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, dove.org sex 5, language 5, violence 2, drugs 2, nudity 5, other fortune teller a comment of no choice but to leave the spouse, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 253 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in several locations in Portland. The shop is Fresh Pot Coffeeshop on Mississippi Avenue. Toby Hemingway as Oscar and Alexa Davalos as Chloe have the same birthday, May 28. Alexa Davalos was the character Juliana Crain on the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Prescription for Love 2019
Claire Abbott is a nurse at a local hospital. Her supervisor is intent on making her job and life miserable. Claire works hard and she cares about her patients. The supervisor likes to hang out at the desk and she will not clean up after or take care of patients!! Clair’s roommate Lena is a ballet dancer and she gives Claire a ticket to see her evening performance. Unfortunately, Claire, Luke Taylor and a waiter are stuck in a stalled elevator. They don’t see anything of the performance and they are not freed until everything is over. Surprisingly, the new doctor at the hospital is Luke Taylor. He wanted to get Claire’s name and phone number but she left too soon with Lena. Dr. Taylor can’t get Claire out of his mind but he doesn’t recognize her in her nurse’s scrubs uniform?
Not only is the supervisor ruthless in her assignment of tasks for Claire, she chastens her supposed advances towards Dr. Taylor. It’s the first day on the job for Dr. Taylor and he is also very brusque with Claire. Most of the patients are kind and they appreciate what Claire does for them in the hospital. There is one cranky man that doesn’t care about what nurses or doctors do with him or for him!! There is an evening event at the hospital and of course, Claire is assigned to work. Some of the patients get together and obtain a dress and shoes for her to wear to the event. Others volunteer to cover the shift for Claire. This film is like a cinderella story. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
89 min, Drama directed by Brian Brough and written by Brittany Wiscombe with jillian Murray, Trevor Donovan, Jillian Joy, Charla Bocchicchio, Gary Sivertson, Anne Sward, Mikayla Iverson, K. Danor Gerald, Belle Warren, Charan Prabhakar, Joel Bishop, Tim Flynn, Bryce Bishop, Anna Bingham, David Cleveland Brown.
Note: Imdb 6.1 out of 10 with 268 views, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 119 ratings.
Special Note: There is a mistake in one of the scenes with Claire and a patient. She is listening to the patient’s lungs but the patient is talking. This would make it difficult for Claire to hear the sound of air entry and release from the lungs.
Not only is the supervisor ruthless in her assignment of tasks for Claire, she chastens her supposed advances towards Dr. Taylor. It’s the first day on the job for Dr. Taylor and he is also very brusque with Claire. Most of the patients are kind and they appreciate what Claire does for them in the hospital. There is one cranky man that doesn’t care about what nurses or doctors do with him or for him!! There is an evening event at the hospital and of course, Claire is assigned to work. Some of the patients get together and obtain a dress and shoes for her to wear to the event. Others volunteer to cover the shift for Claire. This film is like a cinderella story. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
89 min, Drama directed by Brian Brough and written by Brittany Wiscombe with jillian Murray, Trevor Donovan, Jillian Joy, Charla Bocchicchio, Gary Sivertson, Anne Sward, Mikayla Iverson, K. Danor Gerald, Belle Warren, Charan Prabhakar, Joel Bishop, Tim Flynn, Bryce Bishop, Anna Bingham, David Cleveland Brown.
Note: Imdb 6.1 out of 10 with 268 views, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 119 ratings.
Special Note: There is a mistake in one of the scenes with Claire and a patient. She is listening to the patient’s lungs but the patient is talking. This would make it difficult for Claire to hear the sound of air entry and release from the lungs.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Beyond the Reach 2014
This film is based on a 1972 novel titled Deathwatch written by Robb White. John Madec is an international and unscrupulous entrepreneur. He hires Ben, he is a skilled young tracker able to guide him through the fearful and barren Mojave Desert during a hunting trip. Things take a turn for the worse!! Prideful Madec unintentionally shoots the wrong target!! He cynically attempts to wash his hands of this irrevocable deed?? He tries to bribe himself out of this predicament by offering Ben a hefty compensation in exchange for his silence. This goes against Ben’s principles!! In a short time, Ben will run for his life under the fierce and merciless sun. The desert is limitless but also is the desire to survive!!
This film is a cat-and-mouse thriller set in the Mojave Desert. There are guns, shootings and a body with bloody wounds. A character becomes very badly sunburned with painfully wounded feet. A family is shown dying from the desert heat. There is some language. The bad guy sips from a bottle looking like whisky and he drinks a martini. Tracker Ben probably would not have taken this job but his girlfriend left for college and he is distraught over her absence. Character motivations are given in a straightforward, dead-eyed manner. John Madec only cares about himself, his reputation and his finances!! I don't know how they would be able to sneak up on any animals because of the loudness of this vehicle? 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
91 min, Thriller directed by Jean-Baptiste Leonetti and written by Stephen Susco with Michael Douglas, Jeremy Irvine, Martin Palmer, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Ronny Cox, Patricia Bethune, Madelyn Dawn Wilkins, Eddy Glenn Patterson.
Note: Imdb 5.6 out of 10 with 9,144 views, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 37% with 68 critics 20% with 921 user ratings, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 34 out of 100 with 19 critics 4.6 out of 10 with 23 ratings, Slant Magazine 1* out of 4* Ed Gonzalez, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson, age 16+, 4* violence, 2* sex, 3* language, 2* consumerism, 1* drinking, drugs & smoking, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 3,597 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Farminton, Aztec, Shiprock, Navajo Indian Reservation, Rattlesnake, Sanostee, Little Water, Ford Butte, Huerfano, New Mexico. This film is a remake of a 1974 ABC Movie of the Week titled Savages of 1974. Sam Bottoms and Andy Griffith portrayed the Jeremy Irvine and Michael Douglas roles. The $500,000 Mercedes SUV G63 6X6 appears both in this film and in Jurassic World 2015. A Mercedes designer flew in from Germany and lived with the crew for six weeks. He was there to make sure the truck was surviving each scene. The license plates are German and from the city of Stuttgart where the Mercedes headquarters is located. Michael Douglas carries a Steyr Scout .308” rifle. The character Sheriff Robb is named after author Robb White. He wrote Deathwatch 1973, this film and previous film adaptations are based on that film.
This film is a cat-and-mouse thriller set in the Mojave Desert. There are guns, shootings and a body with bloody wounds. A character becomes very badly sunburned with painfully wounded feet. A family is shown dying from the desert heat. There is some language. The bad guy sips from a bottle looking like whisky and he drinks a martini. Tracker Ben probably would not have taken this job but his girlfriend left for college and he is distraught over her absence. Character motivations are given in a straightforward, dead-eyed manner. John Madec only cares about himself, his reputation and his finances!! I don't know how they would be able to sneak up on any animals because of the loudness of this vehicle? 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
91 min, Thriller directed by Jean-Baptiste Leonetti and written by Stephen Susco with Michael Douglas, Jeremy Irvine, Martin Palmer, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Ronny Cox, Patricia Bethune, Madelyn Dawn Wilkins, Eddy Glenn Patterson.
Note: Imdb 5.6 out of 10 with 9,144 views, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 37% with 68 critics 20% with 921 user ratings, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 34 out of 100 with 19 critics 4.6 out of 10 with 23 ratings, Slant Magazine 1* out of 4* Ed Gonzalez, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson, age 16+, 4* violence, 2* sex, 3* language, 2* consumerism, 1* drinking, drugs & smoking, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 3,597 reviews.
Special Note: Filmed in Farminton, Aztec, Shiprock, Navajo Indian Reservation, Rattlesnake, Sanostee, Little Water, Ford Butte, Huerfano, New Mexico. This film is a remake of a 1974 ABC Movie of the Week titled Savages of 1974. Sam Bottoms and Andy Griffith portrayed the Jeremy Irvine and Michael Douglas roles. The $500,000 Mercedes SUV G63 6X6 appears both in this film and in Jurassic World 2015. A Mercedes designer flew in from Germany and lived with the crew for six weeks. He was there to make sure the truck was surviving each scene. The license plates are German and from the city of Stuttgart where the Mercedes headquarters is located. Michael Douglas carries a Steyr Scout .308” rifle. The character Sheriff Robb is named after author Robb White. He wrote Deathwatch 1973, this film and previous film adaptations are based on that film.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
A Bridge Too Far 1977
This film is based on a novel by Cornelius Ryan. It is a portrayal of the true story of Operation Market Garden. This was an attempt by the Allies in September 1944 to hasten the end of WWII. American General Gavin and British General Urquhart are in charge of a combined British and American paratrooper force. Soldiers also drove through Belgium and Holland into Germany. The US airborne divisions were to take the towns of Eindhoven and Nijmegen. A British airborne division reinforced by a Polish airborne brigade were to take the town of Arnhem. The British XXX Corps, land-based and driving up from the British lines in the south were reinforcements. Bridges were the key to the operation. If the Germans held the bridges or blew them up, paratroopers could not be relieved. Unfortunately, there was faulty intelligence!! Allied high command stuffed shirts and stubborn German resistance forces would be a huge complication.
This film seems like it could have been produced by the History Channel. There are many maps, narrations and many tactical discussions. The ensemble cast is great and the characterization is good. One major weakness is that the film gives away the battle results too early. The battles are a mixture of thrilling and terrifying. They make you become involved in the film and what is happening. The biggest fault of this film is the extended run time. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
160 min, directed by Richard Attenborough and written by William Goldman with Siem Vroom, Marlies van Alcmaer, Erik van’t Wout, Wolfgang Preiss, Hans von Borsody, Josephine Peeper, Dirk Bogarde, Paul Maxwell, Sean Connery, Ryan O’Neal, Gene Hackman, Walter Kohut, Peter Faber, Harmut Becker, Frank Grimes.
Note: Imdb 7.4 out of 10 with 49,098 views, Rotten Tomatoes 63% with 24 critics 86% user score with 43,213 ratings, Roger Ebert 2*, empire online 3* out of 5* Ian Nathan, Amazon 4.4* out of 1,338 reviews, Goodreads gives the book 4.32 average with19,5050 ratings and published in 1959.
Special Note: In order to keep high costs down, all star-name actors agreed to participate on a “favoured-nation” basis. They would all receive the same weekly fee of $250,000 per week (the 2012 equivalent of $1,008,250 or 642,000 lire. Shooting scenes on the Bridge at Nijmegen was dubbed the “Million-Dollar Hour.” Due to heavy traffic, the crew could film only between 3 and 9 o’clock on October 3, 1976. Failure to complete the scene would require rescheduling at a cost of one million dollars or more. Attenborough insisted that all actors playing corpses keep their eyes closed!! United Artists paid $6 million for US and Canada distribution rights. It was a box office disappointment in North America but performed well in Europe. American critics shunned and ignored this film during Oscar time because it dared to expose the fatal inadequacies of the Allied campaign? Impressively staged and historically accurate but too long and too repetitive. Others have stated that there are historical inaccuracies and the film should be viewed as a Hollywood interpretation of events??
Awards: Evening Standard British Film Award Best Film; 31st British Academy Film Awards, Best Sound, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edward Fox), Best Film Music (John Addison), Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Unsworth), 1977 Nat Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actor (Edward Fox).
This film seems like it could have been produced by the History Channel. There are many maps, narrations and many tactical discussions. The ensemble cast is great and the characterization is good. One major weakness is that the film gives away the battle results too early. The battles are a mixture of thrilling and terrifying. They make you become involved in the film and what is happening. The biggest fault of this film is the extended run time. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
160 min, directed by Richard Attenborough and written by William Goldman with Siem Vroom, Marlies van Alcmaer, Erik van’t Wout, Wolfgang Preiss, Hans von Borsody, Josephine Peeper, Dirk Bogarde, Paul Maxwell, Sean Connery, Ryan O’Neal, Gene Hackman, Walter Kohut, Peter Faber, Harmut Becker, Frank Grimes.
Note: Imdb 7.4 out of 10 with 49,098 views, Rotten Tomatoes 63% with 24 critics 86% user score with 43,213 ratings, Roger Ebert 2*, empire online 3* out of 5* Ian Nathan, Amazon 4.4* out of 1,338 reviews, Goodreads gives the book 4.32 average with19,5050 ratings and published in 1959.
Special Note: In order to keep high costs down, all star-name actors agreed to participate on a “favoured-nation” basis. They would all receive the same weekly fee of $250,000 per week (the 2012 equivalent of $1,008,250 or 642,000 lire. Shooting scenes on the Bridge at Nijmegen was dubbed the “Million-Dollar Hour.” Due to heavy traffic, the crew could film only between 3 and 9 o’clock on October 3, 1976. Failure to complete the scene would require rescheduling at a cost of one million dollars or more. Attenborough insisted that all actors playing corpses keep their eyes closed!! United Artists paid $6 million for US and Canada distribution rights. It was a box office disappointment in North America but performed well in Europe. American critics shunned and ignored this film during Oscar time because it dared to expose the fatal inadequacies of the Allied campaign? Impressively staged and historically accurate but too long and too repetitive. Others have stated that there are historical inaccuracies and the film should be viewed as a Hollywood interpretation of events??
Awards: Evening Standard British Film Award Best Film; 31st British Academy Film Awards, Best Sound, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edward Fox), Best Film Music (John Addison), Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Unsworth), 1977 Nat Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actor (Edward Fox).
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Lost River 2014
This film is a dark fairy tale about love, family and fighting for survival. Lost River is a virtually abandoned city and Billy is a single mother of two boys. She visits a macabre underworld to earn money save her childhood home and to try to hold her family together. Her teenage son discovers a mystery about the origins of Lost River. This event will trigger his curiosity and set into motion an unexpected journey. He will find his limits tested and also the limits of those he loves.
I thought this might have been filmed in Detroit because of the large number of rundown and vacant homes. Some of them are being torn down as the movie progresses. I got about half way through this film and it was just way too weird for me!! Billy takes a job at an eccentric underground club and then the story gets even more weird!! There are some violent sequences and there is strong language in nearly every scene. When it started to turn even darker, I bailed!! 2* (I didn’t like this movie)
95 min, Drama directed and written by Ryan Gosling with Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker, Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith, Ben Mendelsohn, Eva Mendes, Reda Kateb, Barbara Steele, Landyn Stewart, Rob Zabrecky, Shannon Plumb, Torrey Wigfield, Misty Robinette, Holly Schlegel, Thomas McDonald.
Note: Imdb 5.8 out of 10 with 16,309 views, Roger Ebert 2* Brian Tallerico, rotten Tomatoes 31% with 72 critics 38% with 3,188 ratings, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 154 reviews, Metacritic 42 out of 100 with 21 critics (3 positive, 13 mixed, 5 negative) 6.9 out of 10 with 67 ratings (40 positive, 128 mixed, negative 9), Letterboxd 3* out of 5* with 46 reviews, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen, age 17+, 2* out of 5*, 1* positive, 2* role models, 4* violence, 2* sex, 4* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: Filmed in Detroit, Michigan. The reviews in Cannes of this film were very vitriolic and hateful!! There are a LOT of ideas and images but they don’t seem to connect together.
I thought this might have been filmed in Detroit because of the large number of rundown and vacant homes. Some of them are being torn down as the movie progresses. I got about half way through this film and it was just way too weird for me!! Billy takes a job at an eccentric underground club and then the story gets even more weird!! There are some violent sequences and there is strong language in nearly every scene. When it started to turn even darker, I bailed!! 2* (I didn’t like this movie)
95 min, Drama directed and written by Ryan Gosling with Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker, Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith, Ben Mendelsohn, Eva Mendes, Reda Kateb, Barbara Steele, Landyn Stewart, Rob Zabrecky, Shannon Plumb, Torrey Wigfield, Misty Robinette, Holly Schlegel, Thomas McDonald.
Note: Imdb 5.8 out of 10 with 16,309 views, Roger Ebert 2* Brian Tallerico, rotten Tomatoes 31% with 72 critics 38% with 3,188 ratings, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 154 reviews, Metacritic 42 out of 100 with 21 critics (3 positive, 13 mixed, 5 negative) 6.9 out of 10 with 67 ratings (40 positive, 128 mixed, negative 9), Letterboxd 3* out of 5* with 46 reviews, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen, age 17+, 2* out of 5*, 1* positive, 2* role models, 4* violence, 2* sex, 4* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: Filmed in Detroit, Michigan. The reviews in Cannes of this film were very vitriolic and hateful!! There are a LOT of ideas and images but they don’t seem to connect together.
Monday, March 16, 2020
Adopt A Highway 2019
Ex-convict Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 20 years for processing an ounce of marijuana to sell. It’s his 3rd strike conviction in California. The world outside has changed a LOT and it seems like he’s looking through a glass pane and he moves at a different pace than other people. He does what he needs to do but he has no interaction with other people and he finds that to be a scary concept. He’s still on parole and he’s working at a burger shop. One night he finds an abandoned baby outside of the shop!! He’s scared and unsure of what to do?? He feels overwhelming affection but also intense panic. Can Russ come out of his shell and become a person, son and a man again? Will taking care of this baby girl help him relate to others too?
This movie can be intense!! It’s about an emotionally and socially stunted man. There are good messages about recovery, redemption and the very harsh realities of life after incarceration. There are also the realities of caring for a baby with very limited resources. Russ is determined to do whatever he can for this baby. 3* (This movie is OK)
78 min, Drama directed and written by Logan Marshall-Green with Ethan Hawke, Christopher Heyerdahl, Chris Sullivan, Elaine Hendrix, Anne-Marie Johnson, Betty Gabriel, Mo McRae, Milauna Jackson, Chris Williams, Nate Mooneyh, John Norwood, Diane Gaeta, Rich Ceraulo Ko, Loni Love, Jeremie Harris.
Note: Imdb 6.2 out of 10 with 1,710 views, Rotten Tomatoes 68% with 31 critics 73% audience with 62 ratings, Roger Ebert 2 1/2* Sheila O’Malley, indiewire.com Grade C+, Common Sense Media Renee Schonfeld, age 15+, 3* out of 5*, positive 4*, role models 4*, violence 1*, language 3*, drinking, drugs & smoking 1*.
Special Note: Filmed in Indio, California. I think a person on parole in California would not be able to travel outside of the state without specific permission from their parole officer? Near the end of the film, Russ takes a bus to Casper, Wyoming??
This movie can be intense!! It’s about an emotionally and socially stunted man. There are good messages about recovery, redemption and the very harsh realities of life after incarceration. There are also the realities of caring for a baby with very limited resources. Russ is determined to do whatever he can for this baby. 3* (This movie is OK)
78 min, Drama directed and written by Logan Marshall-Green with Ethan Hawke, Christopher Heyerdahl, Chris Sullivan, Elaine Hendrix, Anne-Marie Johnson, Betty Gabriel, Mo McRae, Milauna Jackson, Chris Williams, Nate Mooneyh, John Norwood, Diane Gaeta, Rich Ceraulo Ko, Loni Love, Jeremie Harris.
Note: Imdb 6.2 out of 10 with 1,710 views, Rotten Tomatoes 68% with 31 critics 73% audience with 62 ratings, Roger Ebert 2 1/2* Sheila O’Malley, indiewire.com Grade C+, Common Sense Media Renee Schonfeld, age 15+, 3* out of 5*, positive 4*, role models 4*, violence 1*, language 3*, drinking, drugs & smoking 1*.
Special Note: Filmed in Indio, California. I think a person on parole in California would not be able to travel outside of the state without specific permission from their parole officer? Near the end of the film, Russ takes a bus to Casper, Wyoming??
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Passenger 57 1992
Charles Rane is also know as “The Rane of Terror!!” He has masterminded four terrorist attacks. Authorities have him handcuffed and he is onboard Flight 163. Officials don’t know that he plans an attack on this plane to free himself. Unknown to Rane, John Cutter, an undercover security operative is also on board the plane. When Cutter sees that Rane has taken over the plane, there is only one thought in his mind. Do or be done to!!
It’s easy to see that this film is dated but it’s packed with a LOT of action!! Snipes changed his career from a drama/comedy actor into an action hero after this film was released. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City. Very early he decided that dance and theater were to be his career.
84 min, Action directed by Kevin Hooks and written by Stewart Raffill, Dan Gordon, David Loughery with Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, Rom Sizemore, Alex Datcher, Bruce Greenwood, Robert Hooks, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael Horse, Marc Macaulay, Ernie Lively, Duchess Tomasello, William Edward Robert, James Short, Joel Fogel, Jane McPherson.
Note: Imdb 5.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 24% with 25 critics 37% user with 56,260 ratings, empireonline 3* Marcus Trower, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 368 reviews, Letterboxd 2.7*.
Special Note: Filmed in Orlando, Florida Keys, Sanford, Florida. This is one of the earliest film roles for Elizabeth Hurley. In this film she plays Sabrina Ritchie and she is working with Rane on the attack operation. Snipes started acting in the TV series All My Children as Marty in 1984.
It’s easy to see that this film is dated but it’s packed with a LOT of action!! Snipes changed his career from a drama/comedy actor into an action hero after this film was released. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City. Very early he decided that dance and theater were to be his career.
84 min, Action directed by Kevin Hooks and written by Stewart Raffill, Dan Gordon, David Loughery with Wesley Snipes, Bruce Payne, Rom Sizemore, Alex Datcher, Bruce Greenwood, Robert Hooks, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael Horse, Marc Macaulay, Ernie Lively, Duchess Tomasello, William Edward Robert, James Short, Joel Fogel, Jane McPherson.
Note: Imdb 5.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 24% with 25 critics 37% user with 56,260 ratings, empireonline 3* Marcus Trower, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 368 reviews, Letterboxd 2.7*.
Special Note: Filmed in Orlando, Florida Keys, Sanford, Florida. This is one of the earliest film roles for Elizabeth Hurley. In this film she plays Sabrina Ritchie and she is working with Rane on the attack operation. Snipes started acting in the TV series All My Children as Marty in 1984.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
The Black Velvet Gown 1991
This film is based on a novel written by Catherine Cookson and published in 1985. The setting is 1830’s in northern England. Riah Millican is a widow with three children. She takes a job as a housekeeper to a reclusive former teacher, Percival Miller. Mr. Miller is very appreciative of the work Riah and her children are doing at the large home. He gives Riah a beautiful black velvet gown that belonged to his mother. He also gives her the other clothing his mother has left behind when she passed away. He gives Riah the silk shirts he doesn’t wear so she can make shirts for her sons. Riah is happy that they are stable and she has time to teach her children reading and writing. Later Percival passes away and he leaves the house to Riah but on the condition that she never marry. There won’t be any money coming in since Percival has died so the two boys and her daughter go into service at an estate. The boys work in the stables and her daughter Biddy works as a laundress.
I’ve read a lot of novels by Catherine Cookson and they are usually set in the time period of the 1800’s in England. There is a lot of class distinction in this period. People are very poor, in the middle of income levels or wealthy. Many people worked their entire lives as servants. Some worked in groups of many servants on large estates. The movie and series Downton Abby is an illustration of this type of life. Lord and Lady or scullery maid and blacksmith. Times were good or they were very tough but it is an interesting period. Many people had no education and didn't know how to read or write. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
103 min, Drama, TV film directed by Norman Stone and written by Gordon Hann with Bob Peck, Janet McTeer, Geraldine Somerville, Brendan P.. Healy, Jean Anderson, Christopher Benjamin, Wendy Williams, David Hunt, Aran Bell, Jonathan Firth, Madeleine Moffat, Val McLane, James Garbutt.
Note: Goodreads gives the novel 4.01* out of 5* with 224 ratings and 50 reviews, Imdb 7 out of 10 with 441 views, Rotten Tomatoes 58% with 298 user ratings, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 99 ratings, Letterboxd 3.6* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed in Wynyard Hall, Tees Valley; Durham County Durham. Seaton Delaval Hall, Seaton Sluice; Howick Hall, Howick; Medlon Park Morpeth; Walllington Hall, Cambo, Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK. This film won an International Emmy for Best Drama.
I’ve read a lot of novels by Catherine Cookson and they are usually set in the time period of the 1800’s in England. There is a lot of class distinction in this period. People are very poor, in the middle of income levels or wealthy. Many people worked their entire lives as servants. Some worked in groups of many servants on large estates. The movie and series Downton Abby is an illustration of this type of life. Lord and Lady or scullery maid and blacksmith. Times were good or they were very tough but it is an interesting period. Many people had no education and didn't know how to read or write. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
103 min, Drama, TV film directed by Norman Stone and written by Gordon Hann with Bob Peck, Janet McTeer, Geraldine Somerville, Brendan P.. Healy, Jean Anderson, Christopher Benjamin, Wendy Williams, David Hunt, Aran Bell, Jonathan Firth, Madeleine Moffat, Val McLane, James Garbutt.
Note: Goodreads gives the novel 4.01* out of 5* with 224 ratings and 50 reviews, Imdb 7 out of 10 with 441 views, Rotten Tomatoes 58% with 298 user ratings, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 99 ratings, Letterboxd 3.6* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed in Wynyard Hall, Tees Valley; Durham County Durham. Seaton Delaval Hall, Seaton Sluice; Howick Hall, Howick; Medlon Park Morpeth; Walllington Hall, Cambo, Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK. This film won an International Emmy for Best Drama.
Friday, March 13, 2020
The Blue Max 1966
This film is based on a novel written by Jack Hunter. The setting is WWI in 1918 from the perspective of the German soldiers. Lt. Bruno Stachel has been fighting in the infantry but he has just completed flight school. He sets a goal of obtaining the medal the Blue Max. This medal is given to a pilot with 20 confirmed enemy kills. He tries to fit in with the officers but they feel he is lower-class and not chivalrous. Stachel is very vocal about his disappointment about one of his kills not being verified. It is thought that he shot at and killed men on the other side that were not shooting at him?
This film is based on a novel written by Jack Hunter. The setting is WWI in 1918 from the perspective of the German soldiers. Lt. Bruno Stachel has been fighting in the infantry but he has just completed flight school. He sets a goal of obtaining the med the Blue Max. This medal is given to a pilot with 20 confirmed enemy kills. He tries to fit in with the officers but they feel he is lower-class and unchivalrous. Stachel is very vocal about his disappointment about one of his kills not being verified. It is thought that he shot at at killed men on the other side that we not shooting at him?
There is one thing that Lt Bruno Stachel makes very clear from the beginning, he only cares and thinks about himself!! There are differences in the film from the book about the plot and the portrayal of the characters. George Peppard was 37 years old and the character in the novel was 19 years old. Stachel is a deeply troubled alcoholic with a habit of lying in the novel but not so in the film. Heidemann exhibits an immediate favoritism toward Stachel in the film. At the end of the novel, Heidermann reveals that he has been secretly boosting Stachel’s achievements as part of an experiment in publicity management. There is a change in the ending of the novel and the film too. The scenes of this war show how violent it was and how many men lost their lives!!
156 min, Action directed by John Guillermin and written by Ben Barzman, Basilio Franchina, David Pursall, Jack Seddon, Gerald Hanley with George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Jeremy Kemp, Karl Michael Vogler, Anton Diffring, Harry Towb, Peter Woodthrope, Derek Newark, Derren Nesbitt, Loni von Friedl, Friedrich von Vedebur, Carl Schell, Hugo Schuster, Alex Scott, Roger Ostime, Ray Browne, Timothy Parkes, Ian Strauss.
Note: Imdb 7.1 out of 10 with 6,076 view, Rotten Tomatoes 76% audience with 3,085 ratings, Empire Online 3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 46 reviews, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed at County Cork, County Wicklow, County Dublin, County Kildare, Ireland. There is a mistake with the DR1 triplanes, they never carried overall lozenge pattern camouflage. The Iron Cross national insignia on the German aircraft were incorrect for this period of WWI. The makeup and hairdos of Ursula Andress are very much of the 1960’s. TV antennas can be seen on the roof tops on the houses in the town? Author Jack Hunter was very disappointed in the appearance of planes since it was not accurate!! The art director said that a D-7 with curve-sided crosses photographs better!! The machine-guns with no ammo feed tracks, no big deal, people just watch the muzzle flashes!!
This film is based on a novel written by Jack Hunter. The setting is WWI in 1918 from the perspective of the German soldiers. Lt. Bruno Stachel has been fighting in the infantry but he has just completed flight school. He sets a goal of obtaining the med the Blue Max. This medal is given to a pilot with 20 confirmed enemy kills. He tries to fit in with the officers but they feel he is lower-class and unchivalrous. Stachel is very vocal about his disappointment about one of his kills not being verified. It is thought that he shot at at killed men on the other side that we not shooting at him?
There is one thing that Lt Bruno Stachel makes very clear from the beginning, he only cares and thinks about himself!! There are differences in the film from the book about the plot and the portrayal of the characters. George Peppard was 37 years old and the character in the novel was 19 years old. Stachel is a deeply troubled alcoholic with a habit of lying in the novel but not so in the film. Heidemann exhibits an immediate favoritism toward Stachel in the film. At the end of the novel, Heidermann reveals that he has been secretly boosting Stachel’s achievements as part of an experiment in publicity management. There is a change in the ending of the novel and the film too. The scenes of this war show how violent it was and how many men lost their lives!!
156 min, Action directed by John Guillermin and written by Ben Barzman, Basilio Franchina, David Pursall, Jack Seddon, Gerald Hanley with George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Jeremy Kemp, Karl Michael Vogler, Anton Diffring, Harry Towb, Peter Woodthrope, Derek Newark, Derren Nesbitt, Loni von Friedl, Friedrich von Vedebur, Carl Schell, Hugo Schuster, Alex Scott, Roger Ostime, Ray Browne, Timothy Parkes, Ian Strauss.
Note: Imdb 7.1 out of 10 with 6,076 view, Rotten Tomatoes 76% audience with 3,085 ratings, Empire Online 3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 46 reviews, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed at County Cork, County Wicklow, County Dublin, County Kildare, Ireland. There is a mistake with the DR1 triplanes, they never carried overall lozenge pattern camouflage. The Iron Cross national insignia on the German aircraft were incorrect for this period of WWI. The makeup and hairdos of Ursula Andress are very much of the 1960’s. TV antennas can be seen on the roof tops on the houses in the town? Author Jack Hunter was very disappointed in the appearance of planes since it was not accurate!! The art director said that a D-7 with curve-sided crosses photographs better!! The machine-guns with no ammo feed tracks, no big deal, people just watch the muzzle flashes!!
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Timeless Love 2019
Megan Murphy was in a terrible car accident and she has been in the hospital in a coma for two months. When she wakes up, she thought she was married to Thomas and she had two children, a boy and a girl. Her parents tell her that she’s never been married and she doesn’t have any children?? Megan and her parents are both worried but Megan is determined to get on with her life. She doesn’t want to go back to the type of work she did before as a Management Assistant. She wants to write and get a different type of job. She calls a job agency and they send her to a possible job at a photography shop. Megan is very surprised when she learns the photographer is Thomas and the same Thomas she was married to?? This Thomas doesn’t know her at all and has never met her. He also has a long time girlfriend. Megan still has her memories but she is moving forward and making a new life.
This is like a Hallmark movie but it’s from SunWorld Pictures. This is different type of movie and I wasn’t sure how it was going to end? I did like the story and the characters. Some of the scenery is very beautiful too. It shows that sometimes a person just needs one other person to believe in them. It can be something other than a major event to encourage us to reevaluate our current life-course. I was really rooting for Megan to make her ‘real’ life come true!! 4* (I really liked this movie)
85 min, Drama directed by Brian Brough and written by Donovan Barlow and Brittany Wiscombe with Rachel Skarsten Brant Daugherty, Jill Adler, Brooklyn Brough, Carter Brough, Maddox Brough, Liz Christensen, Scott Christopher, Natalie Devine Riskas, Cathy Ford, K. Danor Gerald, Terence Goodman, Mary Hall, Kristen Marie Jensen, Rick Macy.
Note: Imdb 7.2 out of 10 with 274 views, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 152 reviews.
Special Note: The aquarium scene is filmed at The Living Aquarium in Draper, Utah. The shark tank is an actual exhibit with the same bleacher seating shown in the film with Megan and Thomas sitting on it.
Rachel Skarsten: Rachel started acting in 1998 and she has been in several TV Series and other films. Batwoman 2019-2020, For Love 2020, Acquainted 2018, Imposters 2018, Marry Me at Christmas 2017, Molly’s Game 2017, Reign 2015-2017, Wynonna Mary 2017, Lost Girl 2013-2015, The Red Dress 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey 2015, In My Dreams 2014, Republic of Doyle 2013, Beauty and the Beast 2012, Transporter 2012 and more through 1998.
This is like a Hallmark movie but it’s from SunWorld Pictures. This is different type of movie and I wasn’t sure how it was going to end? I did like the story and the characters. Some of the scenery is very beautiful too. It shows that sometimes a person just needs one other person to believe in them. It can be something other than a major event to encourage us to reevaluate our current life-course. I was really rooting for Megan to make her ‘real’ life come true!! 4* (I really liked this movie)
85 min, Drama directed by Brian Brough and written by Donovan Barlow and Brittany Wiscombe with Rachel Skarsten Brant Daugherty, Jill Adler, Brooklyn Brough, Carter Brough, Maddox Brough, Liz Christensen, Scott Christopher, Natalie Devine Riskas, Cathy Ford, K. Danor Gerald, Terence Goodman, Mary Hall, Kristen Marie Jensen, Rick Macy.
Note: Imdb 7.2 out of 10 with 274 views, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 152 reviews.
Special Note: The aquarium scene is filmed at The Living Aquarium in Draper, Utah. The shark tank is an actual exhibit with the same bleacher seating shown in the film with Megan and Thomas sitting on it.
Rachel Skarsten: Rachel started acting in 1998 and she has been in several TV Series and other films. Batwoman 2019-2020, For Love 2020, Acquainted 2018, Imposters 2018, Marry Me at Christmas 2017, Molly’s Game 2017, Reign 2015-2017, Wynonna Mary 2017, Lost Girl 2013-2015, The Red Dress 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey 2015, In My Dreams 2014, Republic of Doyle 2013, Beauty and the Beast 2012, Transporter 2012 and more through 1998.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Despite the Falling Snow 2016
The setting of this film is Moscow of the 1950’s during the days of the post-Stalinist Soviet Union. It is based on the book Before Snow Falls by Shamim Sarif, the writer and director. Communist Katya secretly spies for the Americans in the Cold War arms race. She lost her parents during the Stalinist repressions. She lands her biggest assignment, stealing secrets from rising government star Alexander “Sasha” Ivanov. She doesn’t expect to fall in love with Sasha but she does. They marry and he decides to defect when he has an opportunity to go to the United States. He expects that the Americans will be able to get Katya out of Moscow. Later, when he asks about Katya, the Americans say they have lost contact with her??
There are some changes from the book in the movie. I thought it was confusing with Rebecca Ferguson playing the spy Katya Grinkova and then later she turns up as another character. She is Lauren Grinkova and not related to Katya but she looks like her except for her hair?? Lauren is actually the niece of Sasha and she visits Russia 30 years later with Sasha to learn Katya’s fate. Supposedly, Lauren has been helped by a journalist to find out Katya’s story. Perhaps the main fault of this movie is that it’s a short film but it attempts to juggle two stories. Each story is set in a different time period. The hurry up and believe the central romance between Katya and Sasha can’t pass muster if only the writers believe it?? 3* (this movie is OK)
93 min, Drama directed and written by Shamin Sarif With Rebecca Ferguson, Charles Dance, Anthony Head, Antije Traue, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Sam Reid, Amy Nuttall, Thure Lindhardt, Jelena Gavrilovic, Imogen Daines, Ben Batt, Tamara Krcunovic, Anne Kidd, Milos Timotijevic, Nenad Herakovic.
Note: Imdb 5.8* out of 10* with 2,187 views, Rotten Tomatoes 9% with 22 critics 42% audience with 234 ratings, the Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Empire Online 2* out of 5* Ian Freer, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 158 reviews, Metacritic 33 out of 100 with 8 critics (6 mixed 2 negative) 6 out of 10 with 6 ratings (2 positive 3 mixed 1 negative), Den of Geek 2* out of 5* Mark Harrison, Letterboxd 2.7* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed in Belgrade, Serbia. The song in the end credits is “Now That You Love Me Again” by Ella Henderson. Rebecca plays both the role of Katya and Lauren and she said she would listen to the music that she thought each character would have liked. This helped her separate the two roles in her head. She would not disclose what music she used for either character??
There are some changes from the book in the movie. I thought it was confusing with Rebecca Ferguson playing the spy Katya Grinkova and then later she turns up as another character. She is Lauren Grinkova and not related to Katya but she looks like her except for her hair?? Lauren is actually the niece of Sasha and she visits Russia 30 years later with Sasha to learn Katya’s fate. Supposedly, Lauren has been helped by a journalist to find out Katya’s story. Perhaps the main fault of this movie is that it’s a short film but it attempts to juggle two stories. Each story is set in a different time period. The hurry up and believe the central romance between Katya and Sasha can’t pass muster if only the writers believe it?? 3* (this movie is OK)
93 min, Drama directed and written by Shamin Sarif With Rebecca Ferguson, Charles Dance, Anthony Head, Antije Traue, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Sam Reid, Amy Nuttall, Thure Lindhardt, Jelena Gavrilovic, Imogen Daines, Ben Batt, Tamara Krcunovic, Anne Kidd, Milos Timotijevic, Nenad Herakovic.
Note: Imdb 5.8* out of 10* with 2,187 views, Rotten Tomatoes 9% with 22 critics 42% audience with 234 ratings, the Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Empire Online 2* out of 5* Ian Freer, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 158 reviews, Metacritic 33 out of 100 with 8 critics (6 mixed 2 negative) 6 out of 10 with 6 ratings (2 positive 3 mixed 1 negative), Den of Geek 2* out of 5* Mark Harrison, Letterboxd 2.7* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed in Belgrade, Serbia. The song in the end credits is “Now That You Love Me Again” by Ella Henderson. Rebecca plays both the role of Katya and Lauren and she said she would listen to the music that she thought each character would have liked. This helped her separate the two roles in her head. She would not disclose what music she used for either character??
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Moonfleet 1955
This film is based on a novel written by J. Meade Falkner published in England in 1898 but not published in the US until 1951. In the 18th century, a young orphan, John Mohune is sent to the village of Moonfleet in Dorset England. The child is going to stay with his mother’s former boyfriend Jeremy Fox. This man has the facade of a gentleman but he is actually the leader of a gang of swashbuckling bootleggers!! John and Jeremy find themselves on the run from the British soldiers. They must decipher a coded message in order to find a fabulous diamond hidden long ago!!
This film features pirates, villains and intrigue all handled by Jeremy Fox. The movie deviates from the book but there are solid performances from Stewart Granger as Jeremy Fox and Jon Whitely as John Mohune. There is smuggling set among the cliffs, caves and downs of Dorset. What will be the outcome of the conflict between the smugglers and the revenue men? This film would be in the category of historical romance. Lang’s direction is good and he keeps the story moving along with male-bonding between Granger and Mohune. There is grace, dignity and charm but also dueling, lying, killing. I liked the clothing and makeup of this time period. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
87 min, Adventure directed by Fritz Lang and written by Jan Lustig, Margaret Fitts with Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors, Jon Whiteley, Liliane Montevecchi, Melville Cooper, Sean McClory, Alan Napier, John Hoyt, Donna Corcoran, Jack Elam, Dan Seymour, Ian Wolfe, Lester Matthews, Skelton Knaggs, Richard Hale, John Alderson.
Note: Goodreads gives the book 3.94* out of 5* with 44,472 ratings and 322 reviews, Imdb 6.7 out of 10 with 3,067 views, Rotten Tomatoes 69% with 13 critics 69% audience with 503 ratings, dvdtalk.com very good ++, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 37 reviews, Letterboxd 3.4*. out of 5*.
Special Note: Donna Corcoran’s brother Kevin Corcoran starred in a Disney film with a similar theme and similar title, Mooncussers 1962. In the 50’s Errol Flynn was an aging actor and Stewart Granger was younger, tall, suave and cool by today’s standards.
Reception: This film ended up being rather crazy!! It was much admired by European filmmakers but commercially it was a disaster. According to MGM records the movie earned $567,000 in the US and Canada and $1,007,000 overseas. The loss was $1,203,000!!! Surprisingly, the prestigious French film publication Cahiers du Cinema named Moonfleet as one of the 100 most essential films ever made listing it as #32?? Filming was shot almost entirely on the MGM back lot with a few shots of the California coast added. The producer was John Houseman and the Director Fritz Lang. Houseman said he got along fine with Fritz even though they screamed and yelled at each other? Stewart Granger said he hated working with Lang, he was German and it was a bloody awful film? Granger wanted to produce and he made Lang and Houseman buy the book. Associate producer, Jud Kinberg came down to the stage and he heard yelling?? He heard a German accent saying, "You are not a professional, we pay you a lot of money to be a professional actor, it seems to me you are stupid, lazy and nothing at all." The recipient of the yelling was a little boy of eleven, Jon Whiteley!! But, he wasn’t eleven, he was nine years old during filming??
This film features pirates, villains and intrigue all handled by Jeremy Fox. The movie deviates from the book but there are solid performances from Stewart Granger as Jeremy Fox and Jon Whitely as John Mohune. There is smuggling set among the cliffs, caves and downs of Dorset. What will be the outcome of the conflict between the smugglers and the revenue men? This film would be in the category of historical romance. Lang’s direction is good and he keeps the story moving along with male-bonding between Granger and Mohune. There is grace, dignity and charm but also dueling, lying, killing. I liked the clothing and makeup of this time period. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
87 min, Adventure directed by Fritz Lang and written by Jan Lustig, Margaret Fitts with Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors, Jon Whiteley, Liliane Montevecchi, Melville Cooper, Sean McClory, Alan Napier, John Hoyt, Donna Corcoran, Jack Elam, Dan Seymour, Ian Wolfe, Lester Matthews, Skelton Knaggs, Richard Hale, John Alderson.
Note: Goodreads gives the book 3.94* out of 5* with 44,472 ratings and 322 reviews, Imdb 6.7 out of 10 with 3,067 views, Rotten Tomatoes 69% with 13 critics 69% audience with 503 ratings, dvdtalk.com very good ++, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 37 reviews, Letterboxd 3.4*. out of 5*.
Special Note: Donna Corcoran’s brother Kevin Corcoran starred in a Disney film with a similar theme and similar title, Mooncussers 1962. In the 50’s Errol Flynn was an aging actor and Stewart Granger was younger, tall, suave and cool by today’s standards.
Reception: This film ended up being rather crazy!! It was much admired by European filmmakers but commercially it was a disaster. According to MGM records the movie earned $567,000 in the US and Canada and $1,007,000 overseas. The loss was $1,203,000!!! Surprisingly, the prestigious French film publication Cahiers du Cinema named Moonfleet as one of the 100 most essential films ever made listing it as #32?? Filming was shot almost entirely on the MGM back lot with a few shots of the California coast added. The producer was John Houseman and the Director Fritz Lang. Houseman said he got along fine with Fritz even though they screamed and yelled at each other? Stewart Granger said he hated working with Lang, he was German and it was a bloody awful film? Granger wanted to produce and he made Lang and Houseman buy the book. Associate producer, Jud Kinberg came down to the stage and he heard yelling?? He heard a German accent saying, "You are not a professional, we pay you a lot of money to be a professional actor, it seems to me you are stupid, lazy and nothing at all." The recipient of the yelling was a little boy of eleven, Jon Whiteley!! But, he wasn’t eleven, he was nine years old during filming??
Monday, March 9, 2020
Reap the Wild Wind 1942
Clipper ships taking the shortest route between the Mississippi and the Atlantic often end up on the shoals of Key West in the 1840’s. Salvaging the cargo from these ships has become a lucrative business for two companies in the area. Feisty young woman Loxi Claiborne has a Florida ship salvage company and she falls for Jack. He is the captain of a ship now wrecked on the Key West shoals and he is recuperating from his injuries at her home. Her rival in the salvage business is King Cutler and he has reached the ship first. King’s partner is his younger brother Dan Cutler and he has already started to ransack the ship. Loxi travels to Charleston and she is charmed by the man who is the head of the company that owns the captain’s ship. Her romance with Jack becomes complicated by the arrival of this new man into her life and he is also interested in Loxi? She thinks she may be able to influence the company owner to give the captain another position on the company’s first steam ship?? Loxi's cousin Drusilla adds another complication because she is in love with Dan Cutler the brother of King Cutler??
Piracy has become unchecked in this part of the country but steam engines are beginning to replace the tall ships. The Cutlers have a reputation for reaching wrecks ahead of competitors. There is speculation that the Cutlers are making under-the-table deals with dishonest captains. There is a lot of realism in this film and it’s stunningly beautiful even after the passing of 78 years. There is a thrilling rescue near the beginning and another near the ending. 4* (I really liked this movie)
123 min, Action directed by Cecil B. DeMille and written by Alan Le May, Charles Bennett, Jesse Lasky Jr., Thema Strabel, Jeanie Macpherson, Theodore St. John, Thelma Strabel with Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Susan Hayward, Charles Bickford, Walter Hampden, Louise Beavers, Martha O”Driscoll, Elizabeth Risdon, Hedda Hopper, Victor Kilian, Oscar Polk, Janet Beecher.
Note: Imdb 6.7 out of 10 with 2,755 views, Rotten Tomatoes 78% with 9 critics 55% with 1,633 ratings, 3* out of 5* radiotimes.com, hometheaterforum.com overall 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 221 reviews, Letterboxd 3.1* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed in Charleston, South Carolina; Key West, Florida Keys and New Iberia, Florida: Tank, Pan Pacific Marine Museum, Santa Monica, Underwater, Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, Paramount Studios, United Artists Studios, Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch, California. Originally Gary Cooper was to have the lead role of the ship’s captain but he had a prior commitment to Goldwyn’s film Pride of the Yankees. This film won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects. The shooting was done in Technicolor and this was a rare luxury treatment in the 1940’s. Much of the filming was done on location in Charleston and around Key West. The underwater action was done in a huge tank.
Piracy has become unchecked in this part of the country but steam engines are beginning to replace the tall ships. The Cutlers have a reputation for reaching wrecks ahead of competitors. There is speculation that the Cutlers are making under-the-table deals with dishonest captains. There is a lot of realism in this film and it’s stunningly beautiful even after the passing of 78 years. There is a thrilling rescue near the beginning and another near the ending. 4* (I really liked this movie)
123 min, Action directed by Cecil B. DeMille and written by Alan Le May, Charles Bennett, Jesse Lasky Jr., Thema Strabel, Jeanie Macpherson, Theodore St. John, Thelma Strabel with Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Susan Hayward, Charles Bickford, Walter Hampden, Louise Beavers, Martha O”Driscoll, Elizabeth Risdon, Hedda Hopper, Victor Kilian, Oscar Polk, Janet Beecher.
Note: Imdb 6.7 out of 10 with 2,755 views, Rotten Tomatoes 78% with 9 critics 55% with 1,633 ratings, 3* out of 5* radiotimes.com, hometheaterforum.com overall 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 221 reviews, Letterboxd 3.1* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed in Charleston, South Carolina; Key West, Florida Keys and New Iberia, Florida: Tank, Pan Pacific Marine Museum, Santa Monica, Underwater, Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, Paramount Studios, United Artists Studios, Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch, California. Originally Gary Cooper was to have the lead role of the ship’s captain but he had a prior commitment to Goldwyn’s film Pride of the Yankees. This film won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects. The shooting was done in Technicolor and this was a rare luxury treatment in the 1940’s. Much of the filming was done on location in Charleston and around Key West. The underwater action was done in a huge tank.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Pale Rider 1985
The setting of this film is in a gold mining camp in the California foothills. This area is besieged by a neighboring landowner intent on stealing their gold claims. Preacher rides into the camp and he uses all of his powers of persuasion to convince the landowner to give up his attacks on the miners.
The scenery in this area is very beautiful. Preacher is a man of few words!! He uses his eyes, the corner of his mouth, his face in shadow or a movement of his hand. Also, the other people project their emotions upon him. There is a possibility that he may be an avenging spirit come back to confront the man who murdered him? It is also possible that he is a ghost or something other than a real person? Eastwood has directed himself in nine previous films. There is a LOT of action going on in this film. 5* (I really liked this movie)
115 min, Drama directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack with Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Chris Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, richard Kiel, Dough McGrath,John Russell, Charles Hallahan, Marvin J. McIntyre, Fran Ryan, Richard Hamilton, Graham Paul, Chuck Lafont.
Note: Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 49,779 views, Rotten Tomatoes 92% with 26 critics 83% with 39,650 ratings, Metacritic 61% with 13 critics (8 positive 1 mixed, 4 negative) 8.1 out of 10 with 9 ratings (8 positive, 1 mixed), Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1,256 reviews, Letterboxd 3.5* out of 5*,Roger Ebert 4*, Letterboxd 4*.
Special Note: Eastwood had an injury on the set when the horse he was riding fell through thin ice. Eastwood was launched forward off the horse and he suffered a very painful dislocated shoulder. Preacher helps Club (Richard Kiel) back on his horse and viewers cannot see this but Club had back problems. He used a step to get onto his saddle. The first horse assigned to Richard Kiel collapsed the first time he climbed aboard and he was assigned a stronger horse. This is Eastwood’s first western since The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976. There was a gap of nine years. His last prior western to Unforgiven 1992 was a gap of seven years. Preacher’s revolver is a Remington Model 1858 modified from a cap and ball revolver cylinder to a cylinder firing cartridge ammunition. He has a belt that holds the spare cartridges on his left side. This is the highest grossing western at the box office made and released during the 1980’s. The title refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation, Chapter six. Filmed in the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho just north of Sun Valley. The opening credits feature the images of the Sawtooth Mountains south of Stanley.
The scenery in this area is very beautiful. Preacher is a man of few words!! He uses his eyes, the corner of his mouth, his face in shadow or a movement of his hand. Also, the other people project their emotions upon him. There is a possibility that he may be an avenging spirit come back to confront the man who murdered him? It is also possible that he is a ghost or something other than a real person? Eastwood has directed himself in nine previous films. There is a LOT of action going on in this film. 5* (I really liked this movie)
115 min, Drama directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack with Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Chris Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, richard Kiel, Dough McGrath,John Russell, Charles Hallahan, Marvin J. McIntyre, Fran Ryan, Richard Hamilton, Graham Paul, Chuck Lafont.
Note: Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 49,779 views, Rotten Tomatoes 92% with 26 critics 83% with 39,650 ratings, Metacritic 61% with 13 critics (8 positive 1 mixed, 4 negative) 8.1 out of 10 with 9 ratings (8 positive, 1 mixed), Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1,256 reviews, Letterboxd 3.5* out of 5*,Roger Ebert 4*, Letterboxd 4*.
Special Note: Eastwood had an injury on the set when the horse he was riding fell through thin ice. Eastwood was launched forward off the horse and he suffered a very painful dislocated shoulder. Preacher helps Club (Richard Kiel) back on his horse and viewers cannot see this but Club had back problems. He used a step to get onto his saddle. The first horse assigned to Richard Kiel collapsed the first time he climbed aboard and he was assigned a stronger horse. This is Eastwood’s first western since The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976. There was a gap of nine years. His last prior western to Unforgiven 1992 was a gap of seven years. Preacher’s revolver is a Remington Model 1858 modified from a cap and ball revolver cylinder to a cylinder firing cartridge ammunition. He has a belt that holds the spare cartridges on his left side. This is the highest grossing western at the box office made and released during the 1980’s. The title refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation, Chapter six. Filmed in the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho just north of Sun Valley. The opening credits feature the images of the Sawtooth Mountains south of Stanley.
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Blinded by the Light 2019
This film is based on the book Greetings from Bury Park - Race, Religion, Rock ’N’Roll and inspired by the words and music of Bruce Springsteen. Also, inspired by the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and based on his memoir Greetings from Bury Park. In 1987 England, a teenager from a Pakistani family learns to live his own life. He begins to understand his family and find his voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen. Javid Khan is a British-Pakistani arts student in Luton. His father is dominating and Javid is depressed by his oppressive family life. He feels he has no future in his hostile community. A newfound friend introduces him the the music of Bruce Springsteen. Javid is touched by the star’s powerfully eloquent ownership of his own feelings. Javid is inspired to reach out for his own dreams with his own talents. He finds friends but he butts heads with his newly unemployed father. There is a conflict of values and his father refuses to understand Javed’s new aspirations. Javed will need to decide what is truly important to him and learn to cope with his family struggles.
This is a feel-good, fact-based comedy. It shares themes with the songs about conflict between tradition and following your own dreams. There are tensions between parents and teens. It also shows how something can become an all-consuming obsession. There is the importance of empathy, working hard and overcoming difficult obstacles to achieve your goals. Learning to appreciate the sacrifices others make in your behalf. There is some strong language, racist bullying and violence. There is a hate crime at a local mosque and characters feel threatened because of their race. I could see how Javed was regaining his own power through the words of the songs and from his friends. A teacher encourages him in his pursuit of writing. 5* (I really liked this film)
118 min, Comedy directed by Gurinder Chadha and written by Surfraz Manzoor, Paul Mayeda Berges and Sarfraz Manzoor with Billy Barratt, Ronak Singh Chadha Berges, Viveik Kaira, Lee Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, Kit Reeve, David Hayman, Kulvnder Ghir, Nikita Mehta.
Note: Imdb 6.9 out of 10 with 12,678 views, Rotten Tomatoes 89% with 243 critics 91% audience with 2,634 ratings, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* Sheila O’Malley, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Simran Hans, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers, Washington Post 3.5* out of 4* Ann Hornaday, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 486 reviews, Metacritic 71 out of 100 with 44 critics (36 positive, 7 mixed, 1 negative) 6.6 out of 10 with 73 ratings (45 positive, 17 mixed, 11 negative), Letterboxd 3.4* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed at The Mall Luton, United Kingdom and New York City, New York. Blinded by the Light was in Springsteen’s debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. 1973.
This is a feel-good, fact-based comedy. It shares themes with the songs about conflict between tradition and following your own dreams. There are tensions between parents and teens. It also shows how something can become an all-consuming obsession. There is the importance of empathy, working hard and overcoming difficult obstacles to achieve your goals. Learning to appreciate the sacrifices others make in your behalf. There is some strong language, racist bullying and violence. There is a hate crime at a local mosque and characters feel threatened because of their race. I could see how Javed was regaining his own power through the words of the songs and from his friends. A teacher encourages him in his pursuit of writing. 5* (I really liked this film)
118 min, Comedy directed by Gurinder Chadha and written by Surfraz Manzoor, Paul Mayeda Berges and Sarfraz Manzoor with Billy Barratt, Ronak Singh Chadha Berges, Viveik Kaira, Lee Barnett, Dean-Charles Chapman, Kit Reeve, David Hayman, Kulvnder Ghir, Nikita Mehta.
Note: Imdb 6.9 out of 10 with 12,678 views, Rotten Tomatoes 89% with 243 critics 91% audience with 2,634 ratings, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* Sheila O’Malley, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Simran Hans, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers, Washington Post 3.5* out of 4* Ann Hornaday, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 486 reviews, Metacritic 71 out of 100 with 44 critics (36 positive, 7 mixed, 1 negative) 6.6 out of 10 with 73 ratings (45 positive, 17 mixed, 11 negative), Letterboxd 3.4* out of 5*.
Special Note: Filmed at The Mall Luton, United Kingdom and New York City, New York. Blinded by the Light was in Springsteen’s debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. 1973.
Friday, March 6, 2020
American Woman 2018
The story in this film is told over a span of 11 years. In a small, blue-collar town in Pennsylvania, a 32-year-old woman’s 16-year-old teen daughter goes missing. Her mother Deb is left to raise her infant grandson alone without her daughter. There are many trials-and-tribulations over the years. She is looking for closure and finally there is a long-awaited discovery of the truth.
The main character is a loving woman but she has problems. She has no filter, she’s promiscuous, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, profane and basically out of control?? The film is more abut how the disappearance affects Deb and not the actual disappearance of her daughter. Deb perseveres and eventually becomes stronger, more self-reliant and she is more self-respecting. For a while Deb has a man living with her to help with the rent and her car payment. That doesn’t go well over time!! There are some good times but also very sad moments in this film. 4* (I really liked this movie)
111 min, Drama directed by Jake Scott and written by Brad Ingelsby with Sienna Miller, Sky Ferreira, Kentucky Audley, Christina Hendricks, Alexander Joseph and Maximus Thomas Wildes, Will Sasso, Katie Elinoff, Rene Cadet, Gavin Earle, Kobi Polisky, Amy Madigan.
Note: Imdb 6.8 out of 10 with 2866 views, Rotten Tomatoes 88% with 74 critics 81% audience with 62 ratings, Roger Ebert 3* Tomris Laffly, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Simran Hans, Metacritic 68 out of 100 with 18 critics (12 positive 6 mixed) 6.9 out of 10 with 12 ratings (9 positive 2, mixed, 1 negative), Common Sense Media Tara McNamara, age 16+, 2* positive 2* role models, 3* violence 4* sex, 5* language 2* consumerism.
Special Note: Originally Anne Hathaway was cast in the lead role but she dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Sienna Miller plays a 38-year-old and Aaron Paul plays a 35-year-old but he is actually 41. Most police departments do not actively search for anyone under the age of 16. There would need to be real evidence of foul play. A uniformed officer would take the original report and the case would be assigned to a detective on the next shift.
The main character is a loving woman but she has problems. She has no filter, she’s promiscuous, hard-drinking, chain-smoking, profane and basically out of control?? The film is more abut how the disappearance affects Deb and not the actual disappearance of her daughter. Deb perseveres and eventually becomes stronger, more self-reliant and she is more self-respecting. For a while Deb has a man living with her to help with the rent and her car payment. That doesn’t go well over time!! There are some good times but also very sad moments in this film. 4* (I really liked this movie)
111 min, Drama directed by Jake Scott and written by Brad Ingelsby with Sienna Miller, Sky Ferreira, Kentucky Audley, Christina Hendricks, Alexander Joseph and Maximus Thomas Wildes, Will Sasso, Katie Elinoff, Rene Cadet, Gavin Earle, Kobi Polisky, Amy Madigan.
Note: Imdb 6.8 out of 10 with 2866 views, Rotten Tomatoes 88% with 74 critics 81% audience with 62 ratings, Roger Ebert 3* Tomris Laffly, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Simran Hans, Metacritic 68 out of 100 with 18 critics (12 positive 6 mixed) 6.9 out of 10 with 12 ratings (9 positive 2, mixed, 1 negative), Common Sense Media Tara McNamara, age 16+, 2* positive 2* role models, 3* violence 4* sex, 5* language 2* consumerism.
Special Note: Originally Anne Hathaway was cast in the lead role but she dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Sienna Miller plays a 38-year-old and Aaron Paul plays a 35-year-old but he is actually 41. Most police departments do not actively search for anyone under the age of 16. There would need to be real evidence of foul play. A uniformed officer would take the original report and the case would be assigned to a detective on the next shift.
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Red Joan 2018
This film based on a novel written by Jennie Rooney. It is the story of English-born Joan Stanley, she was exposed as the K.G.B.’s longest serving British spy. Joan was a Soviet and Communist Party sympathizer. She worked as a British government civil servant and she is recruited by the K.G.B. in the mid 1930’s. She transfers nuclear bomb secrets to Soviet Russia. The information she sends enables them to keep up with the west in the development of atomic weapons. She remained undetected as a spy for over a half a century!!
This is a fact-based drama and there are scenes that deal with suicide, language is infrequent and mild, there are some sex scenes but sexuality is muted. Many characters smoke and that is accurate for this era. They also drink at dinner in pubs and the main character is a very strong principled woman. Many viewers may disagree with her reasons for her actions. There are themes of compassion and courage but what she did is very unpopular in democratic countries. 4* (I really liked this movie)
101 min, Bio directed by Trevor Nunn and written by Lindsay Shapero with Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Nina Sosanya, Laurence Spellman, Nicola Sloane, Spophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova, Freddie Gaminara, Raj Swamy, Tom Hughes, Adrian Wheeler, Ben Miles, Lulu Meissner, Phill Langhorne, Mike Sykes.
Note: Imdb 6.3 out of 10 with 6,570 views, Rotten Tomatoes 30% with 143 critics 57% with 196 ratings, Roger Ebert 3* Tomris Laffly, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Pamela Hutchinson, Metacritic 45 out of 100 with 22 critics (7 positive 13 mixed, 2 negative) 4.4 out of 10 with 20 ratings (3 positive, 12 mixed, 5 negative), Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 743 reviews, Letterboxd 2.8* out of 5*, Common Sense Media Joyce Slaton age 13+, 2* positive, 2* role models, 3* violence, 2* sex, 2* language, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: Filmed in Cambridgeshire, Cambridge, London, South East UK and HMP Wormwood Scrubs, London, United Kingdom. Loosely based on the real-life case of Civil Servant Melita Norwood (1912-2005). She passed information between the 1940’s and 50’s. It wasn’t discovered until 1992 and the Ministry of Defense declined to prosecute an 80-year-old woman. Norwood has stated she did not receive money for her work. She did it to help prevent the defeat of a system that had given ordinary people food, fares, education and health service that they could afford. The Manhattan Project is mentioned and this was a project of research and development during WWII in the US that produced the first nuclear weapons.
This is a fact-based drama and there are scenes that deal with suicide, language is infrequent and mild, there are some sex scenes but sexuality is muted. Many characters smoke and that is accurate for this era. They also drink at dinner in pubs and the main character is a very strong principled woman. Many viewers may disagree with her reasons for her actions. There are themes of compassion and courage but what she did is very unpopular in democratic countries. 4* (I really liked this movie)
101 min, Bio directed by Trevor Nunn and written by Lindsay Shapero with Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Nina Sosanya, Laurence Spellman, Nicola Sloane, Spophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova, Freddie Gaminara, Raj Swamy, Tom Hughes, Adrian Wheeler, Ben Miles, Lulu Meissner, Phill Langhorne, Mike Sykes.
Note: Imdb 6.3 out of 10 with 6,570 views, Rotten Tomatoes 30% with 143 critics 57% with 196 ratings, Roger Ebert 3* Tomris Laffly, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Pamela Hutchinson, Metacritic 45 out of 100 with 22 critics (7 positive 13 mixed, 2 negative) 4.4 out of 10 with 20 ratings (3 positive, 12 mixed, 5 negative), Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 743 reviews, Letterboxd 2.8* out of 5*, Common Sense Media Joyce Slaton age 13+, 2* positive, 2* role models, 3* violence, 2* sex, 2* language, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: Filmed in Cambridgeshire, Cambridge, London, South East UK and HMP Wormwood Scrubs, London, United Kingdom. Loosely based on the real-life case of Civil Servant Melita Norwood (1912-2005). She passed information between the 1940’s and 50’s. It wasn’t discovered until 1992 and the Ministry of Defense declined to prosecute an 80-year-old woman. Norwood has stated she did not receive money for her work. She did it to help prevent the defeat of a system that had given ordinary people food, fares, education and health service that they could afford. The Manhattan Project is mentioned and this was a project of research and development during WWII in the US that produced the first nuclear weapons.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Miss Sharon Jones! 2015
Dreams never expire but sometimes they are deferred. Miss Sharon Jones follows the talented and gregarious soul singer of the Grammy nominated R&B band Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. This is the most challenging period of her life because Sharon is confronting pancreatic cancer. She is struggling to find her health and voice again. She is a powerful woman determined to regain the singing career that has eluded her for 50 years. She is using every aspect of her mind and spirit all the time!!
In the beginning of this film, you aren’t sure if it’s going to be about her career but then I learned it’s about her career but also about fighting cancer. It’s an interesting portrayal of Sharon as the movie settles down into what it’s about. I would’ve liked to know more about Jones at the beginning of the movie since I had not heard of her before. She is fighting the most important battle of her life but she is kind to everyone around her and thankful for those working with her and helping her. She stays with a friend to recover from her surgery and her friend does everything she can to help Sharon get healthy again. Her recipe is love, rest and nutrition. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
93 min, Doc directed by Barbara Kopple with Sharon Jones, Starr Duncan-Lowe, Winky Griptite, Megan Holken, Austen Holman, Alex Kadvan, Saundra Williams. Note: Imdb 7.2 out of 10 with 530 views, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* Matt Fagerholm, Rotten Tomatoes 91% with 53 critics 88% audience with 364 ratings, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 75 ratings, Letterboxd 3.6* out of 5*, Metacritic 77 out of 100 with 15 critics (14 positive, 1 mixed).
In the beginning of this film, you aren’t sure if it’s going to be about her career but then I learned it’s about her career but also about fighting cancer. It’s an interesting portrayal of Sharon as the movie settles down into what it’s about. I would’ve liked to know more about Jones at the beginning of the movie since I had not heard of her before. She is fighting the most important battle of her life but she is kind to everyone around her and thankful for those working with her and helping her. She stays with a friend to recover from her surgery and her friend does everything she can to help Sharon get healthy again. Her recipe is love, rest and nutrition. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
93 min, Doc directed by Barbara Kopple with Sharon Jones, Starr Duncan-Lowe, Winky Griptite, Megan Holken, Austen Holman, Alex Kadvan, Saundra Williams. Note: Imdb 7.2 out of 10 with 530 views, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* Matt Fagerholm, Rotten Tomatoes 91% with 53 critics 88% audience with 364 ratings, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 75 ratings, Letterboxd 3.6* out of 5*, Metacritic 77 out of 100 with 15 critics (14 positive, 1 mixed).
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
The Model and the Marriage Broker 1951
Mae Swasey is a marriage broker and her company is called Contact and Contracts. She somewhat cynically arranges her loser clients’ affairs, meets movie star Kitty Bennett and can’t resist meddling in her life!! She begins by disentangling Kitty from a married man and fixing her up with a nice radiologist.
The city of New York is also a character in this film with it's gritty hustle and bustle. Thelma Ritter's performance is very good and there is a battle between her and Kitty Bennett. It is really an earnest attempt for two hardheaded women to bond and from a kind of mother-daughter relationship. Actually, Mae Swasey has a sad past and she wants to make the future of others happier. Some of the characters are straight out of the 50's style!! 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
103 min, Comedy directed by George Cukor and written by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard L. Breen with Jeanne Crain, Scott Brady, Themla Ritter, Zero Mostel, Michael O’Shea, Helen Ford, Frank Fontaine, Dennie Moore, John Alexander, Jay C. Flippen.
Note: Imdb 7 out of 10 with 495 views, Rotten Tomatoes 100% audience with 32 ratings, Letterboxd 3.4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 55 ratings, allmovie.com 4* out of 5 user rating 3 1/2* out of 5* with 10 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios, Century City, Los Angeles, California and on location in New York City. Thelma Ritter as Mae Swasey gets third billing but she has more screen time than stars Jeanne Crain or Scott Brady? Mae goes to a health resort in Sharon Spring, NY. It is located about 50 miles west of Schenectady NY. Mae has her office in the famous Flatiron Building. It is located at 175 Fifth Avenue, it is 22 stories and this landmark was completed in 1902.
The city of New York is also a character in this film with it's gritty hustle and bustle. Thelma Ritter's performance is very good and there is a battle between her and Kitty Bennett. It is really an earnest attempt for two hardheaded women to bond and from a kind of mother-daughter relationship. Actually, Mae Swasey has a sad past and she wants to make the future of others happier. Some of the characters are straight out of the 50's style!! 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
103 min, Comedy directed by George Cukor and written by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard L. Breen with Jeanne Crain, Scott Brady, Themla Ritter, Zero Mostel, Michael O’Shea, Helen Ford, Frank Fontaine, Dennie Moore, John Alexander, Jay C. Flippen.
Note: Imdb 7 out of 10 with 495 views, Rotten Tomatoes 100% audience with 32 ratings, Letterboxd 3.4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 55 ratings, allmovie.com 4* out of 5 user rating 3 1/2* out of 5* with 10 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed at 20th Century Fox Studios, Century City, Los Angeles, California and on location in New York City. Thelma Ritter as Mae Swasey gets third billing but she has more screen time than stars Jeanne Crain or Scott Brady? Mae goes to a health resort in Sharon Spring, NY. It is located about 50 miles west of Schenectady NY. Mae has her office in the famous Flatiron Building. It is located at 175 Fifth Avenue, it is 22 stories and this landmark was completed in 1902.
Monday, March 2, 2020
Golden Boy 1939
This film is based on a play written by Clifford Odets. He was inspired by a story told to him by Paul Muni about how Muni gave up boxing because it endangered his secondary career as a violinist. The problem between the two professions is that if a boxer injures his hands, he may never play violin again!! Joe Bonaparte’s father wants him to pursue his musical talent with the violin but Joe wants to be a boxer. He persuades near-bankrupt manager Tom Moody to give him a chance when Moody's fighter breaks his hand. Joe’s father gets a new violin for Joe to try to persuade him to stay with the violin and not boxing. Moody’s girlfriend Lorna Moon visits Joe and she talks him into staying with the fighting business. Is Lorna thinkng about Joe, herself or Tom Moody?? Tough gangster Eddie Fuseli wants “a piece of Joe” and Lorna starts to have second thoughts?? Does she really have feelings for Joe and can she turn what she’s set in motion around??
Lorna thinks she has her life under control but does she really? She is fending for herself but she becomes uncertain about what she is really looking for from life. She thought she wanted to marry crusty boxing manager Tom Moody? But, he is already married and he doesn’t have the money for a divorce? She begins to see-saw between wanting the best for Joe or wanting the best for herself. Could it be possible they are both the same thing?? What about Moody, what will she tell him if she changes her mind about their relationship?? A drawback and difference between a violin player and a boxer is the people around him. The mugs, the gamblers, the fashionable set, the race groups, the sadists, the broken-down stumble-bums rolling their heads with the punches? 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
99 min, Drama directed by Rouben Mamoulian and written by Lewis Meltzer, Daniel Taradash, Sarah Y. Mason, Victor Heerman with Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, William Holden, Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Calleia, Sam Levene, Edward Brophy, Beatrice Blinn, William H. Strauss, Don Beddoe.
Note: Imdb 6.9 out of 10 with 1,646 views, Rotten Tomatoes 46% audience with 373 ratings, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*, The Ace Black Blog 5*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 60 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed on Eighth Avenue and 50th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York. William Holden was very grateful to Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in his first big role. He sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of filming. Holden publicly thanked Stanwyck at the 1978 Academy Awards. She was his co-presenter and she shed a few tears. Holden took boxing and violin lessons all day every day for a week before production began. Then he boxed two hours a day and practiced the violin for 1 1/2 hours each night to keep his fingering convincing. Lee J. Cobb is playing William Holden’s middle-aged father but he was actually only 27!! Almost 5000 actors were considered for the part of Joe Bonaparte and more than 80 were given screen tests. The odds were very much against William Holden but director Rouben Mamoulian also lobbied for Holden. Many consider 1939 to be the greatest year in the history of movies.
Lorna thinks she has her life under control but does she really? She is fending for herself but she becomes uncertain about what she is really looking for from life. She thought she wanted to marry crusty boxing manager Tom Moody? But, he is already married and he doesn’t have the money for a divorce? She begins to see-saw between wanting the best for Joe or wanting the best for herself. Could it be possible they are both the same thing?? What about Moody, what will she tell him if she changes her mind about their relationship?? A drawback and difference between a violin player and a boxer is the people around him. The mugs, the gamblers, the fashionable set, the race groups, the sadists, the broken-down stumble-bums rolling their heads with the punches? 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
99 min, Drama directed by Rouben Mamoulian and written by Lewis Meltzer, Daniel Taradash, Sarah Y. Mason, Victor Heerman with Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, William Holden, Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Calleia, Sam Levene, Edward Brophy, Beatrice Blinn, William H. Strauss, Don Beddoe.
Note: Imdb 6.9 out of 10 with 1,646 views, Rotten Tomatoes 46% audience with 373 ratings, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*, The Ace Black Blog 5*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 60 ratings.
Special Note: Filmed on Eighth Avenue and 50th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York. William Holden was very grateful to Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in his first big role. He sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of filming. Holden publicly thanked Stanwyck at the 1978 Academy Awards. She was his co-presenter and she shed a few tears. Holden took boxing and violin lessons all day every day for a week before production began. Then he boxed two hours a day and practiced the violin for 1 1/2 hours each night to keep his fingering convincing. Lee J. Cobb is playing William Holden’s middle-aged father but he was actually only 27!! Almost 5000 actors were considered for the part of Joe Bonaparte and more than 80 were given screen tests. The odds were very much against William Holden but director Rouben Mamoulian also lobbied for Holden. Many consider 1939 to be the greatest year in the history of movies.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Lots & Lots of Trains Volume 2 - Model Railroads in Action 2007
Get ready for more of the most exciting trains you'll ever see in Volume 2. There is a large variety of live-action trains from around the globe. There are trains winding through mountains, climbing steep grades, gliding over trestles, hauling, pulling, loading and more. There is the blast of the steam whistles, the blare of the diesel horns and the trains thunder by on the tracks. You can see the heat and the smoke coming from the engines. If you were standing next to the trains, you could hear and feel all the noise they can make as they go by. The scenery is very beautiful away from the cities.
There is close-up camera footage, sing-a-long songs from original music by James Coffey along with the real train sounds. These are mighty machines and they let you know it every time you see them!! There are two drawbacks in this film. One is some of the trains are shown more than once and I would like commentary about the trains and their type of fuel. I think children from two years old up to seniors would like to watch this film and find it enjoyable. Plus, it is worth seeing more than once!! 3 1/2* (I liked this film)
45 min, published by Marshall Publishing and Promotions, Inc.
Note: Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 58 ratings, 29,234 views on Youtube.
There is close-up camera footage, sing-a-long songs from original music by James Coffey along with the real train sounds. These are mighty machines and they let you know it every time you see them!! There are two drawbacks in this film. One is some of the trains are shown more than once and I would like commentary about the trains and their type of fuel. I think children from two years old up to seniors would like to watch this film and find it enjoyable. Plus, it is worth seeing more than once!! 3 1/2* (I liked this film)
45 min, published by Marshall Publishing and Promotions, Inc.
Note: Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 58 ratings, 29,234 views on Youtube.
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