Once Upon a Crime 1992

     This film is a remake of Mario Camerini’s comedy Crimen.  Phoebe has gone to Rome to meet up with her boyfriend but she finds herself jilted.  She’s not happy about that and a little dachshund dog eats her hamburger lunch.  Now she’s just got some crackers to eat for herself.  She starts looking through the newspaper and she finds out there is a $5,000 reward for the little dog.  She meets Julian Peters and they both want to claim the reward money.  They go to the mansion where the woman owner lives and they find out she’s dead.  Phoebe leaves her suitcase behind and Julian thinks he saw the murderer’s shoes and his face in the greenery.

     The scenery is very beautiful but this film suffers from age?  Some of the gags and jokes aren’t funny either?  George Hamilton has his normal bronze tan complexion but he looks very old and his skin like leather?  2 1/2* (This film is so-so)

94 min, Comedy directed by Eugene Levy with John candy, Jim Belushi, Cybill Shepherd, Sean young, Richard Lewis, Ornella Muti, Giancarlo Giannini, George Hamilton, Roberto Sbaratto, Joss Ackland, Ann Way, Geoffrey Andrews.

Note:  Imdb 5.8 out of 10, 0% critic 42% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 78 reviews, TVGuide 1* out of 4*

Special Note:  Filmed in Casino de Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Gare de Nice-Ville, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes; Pathe Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy; Piazza Novona, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

The Killer Inside Me 2010

     This film is based on a book by Jim Thompson.  Lou Ford is a mild-mannered sheriff’s deputy in a West Texas oil town of the mid 1950’s.  His boss sends him to a house on rural property outside the city and he’s instructed to run Joyce Lakeland out of this house and off this land.  He doesn’t do any of that!!  He starts to see her every day for a couple of weeks.  Lou has a plan to get rid of her, get revenge on a long time enemy and get away with everything.  Sheriff Bob Maples thinks this is an open and shut case but the county attorney Howard Hendricks thinks there is more to this?  During all of these events, Lou has been seeing his girlfriend Amy Stanton.  She wants to get married but Lou’s not sure about that?

     This is a tough movie to watch!!  The book this film is based on is a cheap paperback with an alluring cover picture to catch your eye and buy the book.   What’s inside doesn’t need to make any sense?  Lou is always calm and he never shows any emotion?  Maybe he just doesn’t have any feelings inside?  He’s also smart, seems to treat most people kindly and a hard worker?  He could be a psychopath, have a split personality or maybe he is just regular crazy?  I liked the cars and the clothing plus the hairstyles of the women.  Maybe that is all there is to like??  2 ½* (I didn’t like this movie)    

109 min, Crime directed by Michael Winterbottom with Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty, Elias Koteas, Tom Bower, Simon Baker, Bill Pullman, Brent Briscoe, Matthew Maher, Liam Aiken, Jay R. Ferguson.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, 55% audience 39% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.5* out of 151 reviews, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Metacritic 53 out of 100 with 33 critics 7.8 out of 10 with 68 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Oklahoma City, Cordell, Guthrie, Enid, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Originally Andrew Dominik was to direct and Tom Cruise was to play Lou Ford.  Both dropped out of the project.  Katherine Heigl, Michelle Williams, Natalie Portman and Sienna Miller were considered for the role of Amy Stanton.  Emily Blunt, Anee Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried were considered for the role of Joyce Lakeland.  There is another film with the same title from 1976.

Legend 2015

     This film is based on the true story of twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray and adapted from a book by John Pearson.  The film begins in the 1960’s and they are the most notorious criminals in the London criminal underworld.  Ronnie advances the family business with violence, intimidation and vulgarity.  Reggie struggles to be a legitimate businessman.  He’s in love with a local girl Frances Shea and she is the sister of his driver.  She doesn’t want to marry a criminal.  Reggie tries to go straight but he’s in and out of prison.  Ronnie is very unpredictable and he is a loose cannon waiting to explode.

     This is a complex film with a LOT of violence!!  Tom Hardy is playing both Reggie and Ronnie.  There are scenes where you can tell they were filmed separately and then put together.  Frances is the narrator of the film and there are times when you feel very sorry for her!!  Her mother never gives her a break!!  I never felt sorry for Reggie or Ronnie.  The brothers both received criminal convictions for murder and they died five years apart.  Ronnie died from a heart attack in 1995 and Reggie died from cancer in 2000.   3* (This movie is OK)

132 min, Bio directed by Brian Helgeland with Paul Anderson, Tom Hardy, Christopher Eccleston, Joshua Hill, Emily Browning, Colin Morgan, Tata Fitzgerald, Nicholas Farrell, Adam Fogerty, Mel Raido, Major Johnson Finely, Millie Brady, Chris Mason, Stephen Thompson, Sam Pruell.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 61% critic 59% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 931 reviews, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, Metacritic 55 out of 100 with 31 critics 8.5 out of 10 with 289 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Wapping, Bethnal Green Teesdale Street, Waterloo, Buckinghamsire, Canrobert Street, Bethnal Green, Stuart Road, Stoke Newington, Coventry Street, Greenwich, Crofton Park, Lambeth, London, England, UK.  This film became the highest grossing 18-rated British film of all time and surpassed Trainspotting of 1996.  Rating of 18 is adults only and no one younger than 18.  The British classifications are U, PG, 12A and 12, 15, 18, R18.  The gross worldwide was $41,636,816 with a production budget of $25,000,000.  Ronnie was certified to be insane in 1979.  He also kept his sexuality very private because he saw it as an exploitable weakness.  Tom Hardy received a very serious ankle injury during a pub fight scene.  Hardy won Best Actor from the British Independent Film Awards, London Film Critics’ Circle and Toronto Film Critics Association.

King Kong 1933

     Carl Denham is looking for a leading lady for his current picture.  He wants to finish this film and he has found the perfect location.  He meets Ann Darrow and he knows right away she is the right woman for this role.  They are heading out on a steam ship to Skull Island.  No one knows what will be found on the island?  It’s very mysterious but they will learn about it when they reach the island.  They immediately find many natives and then they find a giant gorilla.  He grabs Ann in his hand and goes into the jungle with her.  The crew sets out to get her back.  They find dinosaur beasts during their search.  Many of the crew members are killed trying to rescue Ann.

     I’m not sure if I’ve seen this film before?  I was surprised about how I felt when the dinosaurs were killed?  I thought they needed to be brought back with Kong or at least they needed to be studied and not killed.  There was a stegosaurus, T-Rex, snake creature and a pterodactyl.  Some of the scenes seem good, some ridiculous and not scary at all now.  I always think about Fay Wray in King Kong's hand when I think of this movie.  3* (This movie is OK)  

100 min, Adventure directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack with Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy, Noble Johnson, Steve Clemente, James Flavin, Walter Ackerman, James Adamson, Van Alder.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 98% critic 86% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* out of 4* user rating 4.42* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Culver City, California; Hoboken, New Jersey; New York City, New York.  Merian C. Cooper’s first idea for this film was of a giant ape on top of the world’s tallest building.  He worked backwards from his original idea.  The gross was ninety thousand dollars on opening weekend and this was the biggest opening ever at this time period.  RKO Pictures credited the success of this film for saving the company from bankruptcy.  King Kong’s roar is a lion’s roar and a tiger’s roar combined and run slowly backwards.  Stop-motion animation sets were used in the jungle.  They were a combination of metal models and real plants.  During filming, a flower on a miniature set bloomed and it wasn’t noticed.  When the film was developed and shown, a time-lapse effect showed the flower coming into full bloom and the entire day of animation was lost.  There is a scene with a comment made by a man standing in line to see King Kong.  He said the tickets were $20 for two tickets.  This would have been a tremendous cost in the depression of 1933.  It was 35 cents to see the New York Yankees in 1933 with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  There is another film about King Kong from 2005. 

The Alamo 2004

     This is a historical drama about the 1835-36 Texas revolution and the siege of the Alamo.  The siege took place between February 23 – March 6, 1836.  Commanded by Colonel Travis, 183 American-born Texans and Tejanos (Mexican-born Texans) defend the Alamo from the Mexican army of General Santa Anna.  For the men at the Alamo there were long days and nights of waiting and wondering when the attack by General Santa Anna would start.  The focus of this film is the leaders and who they are as men.

     In the beginning of this film, I couldn’t seem to get interested and I wondered if the original version of 1960 was better?  I had a difficult time keeping track of what person the actors were portraying too.  Since this is historical, almost everyone already knows the ending before they start this film?  I was very surprised in one of the beginning scenes of the battle that the Alamo men didn’t have a guard on duty in the night?  There are a lot of details that I didn’t know previously too.  3* (This movie is OK) 

 

137 min, History directed by John Lee Hancock with Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Patrick Wilson, Emilio Echevarria, Jordi Molla, Leon Rippy, Tom Davidson, Marc Blucas, Robert Prentiss, Kevin Page, Joe Stevens.

Note:  Imdb 6.0 out of 10, 29% critic 45% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 431 reviews, Metacritic 47 out of 100 with 38 critics 6.3 out of 20 with 16 reviews.

Special Note:  There is another film with the same title and subject from 1960.  One of the fighters stuffed a bag of Doritos in his costume before he went out to be filmed.  He was killed and the bag popped out.  This scene had to be re-shot and later everyone had to be checked before the scenes.  Several people used as Texan extras were actual descendants of the defenders of the Alamo.  The cost of this film was over $140 million with marketing expenses added.  The worldwide gross was slightly more than $25.8 million making this one of the biggest box office bombs in film history!!  The size of the set was 51 acres and very expensive to be built.

I Love Trouble 1994

     Sabrina Peterson is a new reporter for the Chicago Globe and Peter Brackett is a veteran reporter for the Chicago Chronicle.  The newspapers and the reporters are in competition for stories and sales.  There is a terrible train accident and Sabrina and Peter are working to see who can solve the case first.  This may or may not be related but two young men come to the scene of the wreckage and they steal luggage.  They drive quickly away from the accident.  One of the young men calls Sabrina and tells her that he has found some interesting evidence.  She might want to pay for what he has to sell?  When she goes to where he lives, he’s dead and the evidence is gone.  Sabrina and Peter finally decide to work together when they are both setup to be killed at the same place.

     I thought it was interesting to see how far the reporters would go to get a scoop for their paper.  They are taking risks that can get them killed?  Sometimes Peter would like to just phone in the story but Sabrina can't do that as a newcomer!!  The train accident turns out to be a very big cover up instead of just small news.  A high-tech company is trying to keep the big profits coming in!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

123 min, Action directed by Charles Shyer with Nick Nolte, Julia Roberts, Saul Rubinek, James Rebhorn, Robert Loggia, Kelly Rutherford, Olympia Dukakis, Marsha Mason, Eugene Levy, Charles Martin Smith, Dan Butler, Paul Gleason, Jane Adams.

Note:  Imdb 5.2 out of 10, 20% critic 32% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, 

Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 123 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Madison, Baraboo, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; Las Vegas, Nevada.  Roberts was 26 at the time of filming and Nolte was 53. Roberts didn’t get along with Nolte during filming.  Roberts said Nolte was the worst actor she ever worked with.  Nolte said this was the worst movie had had ever done.  Roberts said Nolte was disgusting.  Nolte said Roberts was not a nice person.  Both Roberts and Nolte refused to shoot their later scenes together.  This caused some quick rewriting, editing and camera tricks.  Word from the set was Roberts and Nolte occasionally got along when they were both fed up with the writers Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer.  Elmer Bernstein wrote the original score.  That score was rejected and replaced with a score by David Newman.  Warren Beatty was considered for the role of Peter Brackett. There is also another film with the same title from 1948.

Nerve 2016

     This film is based on a 2012 novel by Jeanne Ryan.  Nerve is a truth or dare video game.  People sign up as players or watchers of Nerve.  There are three rules in Nerve.  All dares completed must be recorded with pictures on the player’s phone.   Earned money will be revoked if the players fails or bails from a dare.  Players must not report the game to law enforcement.  If they report all their money will be revoked.  A player can accept or decline to accomplish the dare but they will not get money.  Watchers don’t make any money but they are counted.  Venus ‘Vee’ Delmonico wants to leave her home with her single mom in Staten Island for college.  She wants to attend the California Institute of the Arts.  They don’t have the money for this school.  Vee’s friend Sydney becomes very popular in Nerve but they are entirely different personalities.  Vee is shy and reserved but Sydney is bold and popular.  Vee and Sydney have a spat and Vee is furious, she decides she will become a Nerve player. 

     This game can be very dangerous and some dares are easy but others can turn out to have irrevocable consequences.  It seems to be almost like a drug and when you start out with the easy dares, you become more empowered to move onto more complicated dares.  I’m not sure if this would be true in an actual game of Nerve but the jocks and the nerds are separated?  Jocks rule and become the players.  Nerds watch and bail out the jocks?  Everything begins to turn on a different axis when Vee’s mother Nancy starts to learn what is going on?  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

      

96 min, Action directed by Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman with Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Juliette Lewis, Kimiko Glenn, Marc John Jefferies, Machine Gun Kelly, Brian Marc, Ed Squires, Rightor Doyle.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 67% critic 67% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 868 viewers, Metacritic 58 out of 100 with 33 critics 6.6 out of 10 with 192 reviews .

Special Note:  Filmed in Jane’s Carrousel, Brooklyn Bridge Park and New York City, New York.  Directors Joost and Schulman also collaborated on the documentary Catfish of 2010 based on the Internet.  Their belief is that the Internet is neither good nor bad, it depends on the user.  The budget was $19 million and the worldwide gross was $85.2 million.  There is a Simpson’s episode with Homer willing to degrade himself for money?  Nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Thriller Movie January 18, 2017.  There is another film with the same title from 2013.

Action in the North Atlantic 1943

     The setting of this film is WWII.  The American oil tanker, the SS Northern Star is captained by Steve Jarvis and a German U-boat sinks the ship in the North Atlantic Ocean.  The First Officer is Joe Rossi and they make it to a lifeboat with the other crew members.  The U-Boat crew starts to film the men in the lifeboat and then they are rammed by the sub.  They drift at sea on a raft for 11 days.  They have a brief liberty and then they are back aboard a newly launched ship.  It’s the Liberty Ship SS Seawitch and this ship is armed with 5-inch anti-aircraft guns.  There is a Navy Armed Guard force on the ship to man the guns.  The Seawitch sails with a convoy but they are attacked by a German wolf pack.  The convoy ships are ordered to scatter and one of the U-boats follows the Seawitch.  The U-boat contacts the Luftwaffe and the next day a pair of Heinkel He 59 seaplanes attack the Seawitch with machine guns and bombs.  Several seamen are killed and Capt. Jarvis is wounded. 

     I was surprised that none of this sea action was actually on the water, it’s all done on sound stages and a back lot.  The directors were prohibited from filming at sea due to wartime restrictions by the US government.  The working title for this film was Heroes Without Uniforms.  More than a dozen merchant mariners and several hundred US sailors were at the premier in New York.  The shipbuilding magnate Henry J. Kaiser wanted this film shown to all his employees.  The Merchant Marine schools used it for training because of the technical and educational material.  Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Best Original Story).  I previously reviewed this film in July of 2013.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

126 min, Action directed by Lloyd Bacon and Byron Haskin with Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale, Julie Bishop, Ruth Gordon, Sam Levene, Dane Clark Peter Whitney, Dick Hogan.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 70% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* user rating 4.4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Santa Barbara and Burbank, California.  Near the end of this film as the ship is nearing Murmansk, several Russian airplanes fly out to meet them.  One of the pilots guns his engine in short bursts.  Three short bursts followed by a long one.  Audiences of the 1940’s would know that this is the three dots and a dash of the more Code V for Victory.  It was heavily used as a slogan during WWII.    A replica of a ten thousand-ton tanker was built in sound stages six and seven.  Each stage contained ½ of the ship’s hull and deck-housing fixtures.  A Liberty Ship was constructed on the same stages for later scenes.  Their size prohibited rocking equipment and a rocking camera mounted on a crane was used.   The House Un-American Activities Committee looking for subversive activities later investigated several writers, John Howard Lawson, A.I. Besserides and Alvah Bessie and they were blacklisted.  Bessie and Lawson became known as members of the Hollywood Ten, a group of writers and directors refusing to answer questions from the Committee.  They invoked their Fifth Amendment rights under the US Constitution.  They were sent to prison for refusing to testify.  Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Best Original Story).

In This Corner of the World 2016

     This film is based on the award winning manga of the same name written and illustrated by Fumiyo Kono.  The setting of this film is Japan during WWII.  It takes place in two cities between the 1930’s and 1940’s in Hiroshima, Eba and Kure.  Suzu Urano loves drawing and she lives in a seaside town called Eba in Hiroshima City.  In 1944, Suzu is 18 years-old and she is working for her grandmother’s small family business of cultivating Nori, an edible sea weed.  Her parents tell her that an unknown young man has proposed marriage to her.  His name is Shusaku and he lives in Kure City.  This is a large naval port city 15 miles away from Hiroshima City and he is a navy civilian.  He remembers when he first met Suzu during one of Suzu’s childhood visits to the city.  Even though she doesn’t remember Shusaku, she agrees to marry him.  Suzu begins to adjust to her new life with Shusaku and his family in Kure.  Life is changing in this city for everyone because US air raids are beginning to concern the townspeople     

     The main focus of this film is between 1944 and 1945.  This is the period when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  It is interesting to see the Japanese side of WWII.  There are food shortages and the government implements food rationing.  Whenever anyone talks about relocation to Hiroshima, it immediately comes to my mind that the first atomic bomb was dropped there.  On August 6, 1945 a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  Three days later, a bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.  The two purposes for using these bombs were for the Japanese to surrender and to save American lives.  There isn’t anything mentioned about the Pearl Harbor attack on the United States or any other military action by the Japanese against other countries in this film.  In reality, this is slanted to ensure viewers have sympathy for the Japanese people.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)            

130 min animation directed by Sunao Katabuchi with Non, Kira Buckland, Christine Marie Cabanos, Barbara Goodson, Todd Haberkorn, Megumi Han, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Natsuki Inaba, Nanase Iwai, Minori Omi.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 98% critic 96% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Metacritic 73 out of 100 with 21 critics 8.6 out of 10 with 8 reviews, The Guardian 3* out of 5* review by Wendy Ide, Amazon 4.4* with 51 reviews.

Special Note:  This film is produced by MAPPA with character designs by Hidenori Matsubara and music by Kotringo. The title in Japanese is Kono sekai no katasumi ni.

Miss Lulu Bett 1921

     This is a sepia toned American silent film based on a 1920 play and the bestselling novel by Zona Gale.  Lulu is a very timid young woman and she lives with her married sister.  Their town is a boring Midwestern town and Lulu is an exploited household drudge.  Her brother-in-law Dwight Deacon is overbearing and Lulu never sits down at the table with the family.  She always eats her cold meal after they have finished.   The family also includes Lulu and Ina’s mother and Ina’s daughter Diana.  Ninian is Dwight’s brother and he has been traveling the world.  He stops by the house for a visit.  He invites Lulu to come to the city for dinner with him.  Of course, Ina and Dwight must tag along.  On the spur of the moment, Ninian asks Lulu to marry him!!  He has seen how she is treated and how hard she works for the family without any thanks.  Dwight is able to perform marriages as a Justice of the Peace and they marry right there at the table in the restaurant.

     Everyone in town is shocked to hear about the marriage!!  Now Ina and her mother either have to cook and clean or they have to let things go which they do.  They want Lulu back and they miss everything she has been doing for them.  There were no modern conveniences at this time period.  Everything had to be done by a hand and with LOT of work!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

71 min Drama directed by William C. de Mille with Lois Wilson, Milton Sills, Theodore Roberts, Helen Ferguson, Mabel Van Buren, Mae Giraci, Clarence Burton, Ethel Wales, Taylor Graves, Charles Ogle, Peaches Jackson, Carrie Clark Ward. 
  
Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 6 reviews, TCM user rating 3.5* out of 5*.

Special Note:  The premier of the play was on December 27, 1921.  It ran for 198 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1921.  In 2001, this film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for cultural, historical or aesthetic significance.

The Informer 1935

     This is a black and white film and the setting is Dublin of 1920.  Gypo Nolan was a member of the rebel organization but he was let go.  Now he is starving and on the street.  He’s not the only one in this situation because many people in Dublin are very poor and hungry.  Gypo passes by a wanted poster for his former comrade Frankie.  There is a 20-pound reward for information about Frankie.  Gypo is distressed about the dire circumstances of his sweetheart Katie and he gives in to temptation.  He betrays Frankie and collects the reward.  Gypo feels horribly guilty about what he has done to get this money.  Frankie is killed because he would not give himself up.

     Gypo wishes he could turn back time and reverse the decision he made to turn in Frankie.  He ends up squandering the blood money that he received.  There is an abundance of fog to set the dreary mood.  It's the Irish rebellion against the British that is causing the hardships in Ireland.  There have been many years of struggles between Ireland and Britain.  Currently, the economy is more prosperous with more employment opportunities.  Also, the conservative Church is not holding as much of a tight grip on the people.  There are still questions abut the future of the country and the population.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

         

91 min, Crime directed by John Ford with Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Una O’Connor, J.M. Kerrigan, Joe Sawyer, Neil Fitzgerald, Donald Meek, D’Arcy Corrigan, Leo McCabe.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 91% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* user rating 4.4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  John Ford told Victory McLaglen more than once that he wouldn’t be needed for filming the next day.  Ford knew McLaglen would go out and get drunk and be hung over when he was called to the set.  A terrible hangover was the effect Ford wanted.  Dudley Nichols turned down acceptance of an Oscar and he was the first person to do this.  It was because of union disagreements but he took possession of his Oscar by 1949.  A presentation copy of the script was recently found on a garbage pile in Madison, WI.  It was brought on the set of Antiques Roadshow in 1979 and appraised for about $4000.  It took Dudley Nichols six days to write the script.  The 20-pound reward would be $88.50 in 1922 or $1,250 in 2016.  Awards were received for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Writing, Best Music.

May in the Summer 2013

     After the successful release of her first book, May is thinking she has it all.  To top it off, she is preparing to marry her sensible, stable, studious fiancé.  She travels to meet with her family in Amman, Jordan.  It’s been too difficult to plan the ceremony in New York where she lives.  She has underestimated the drama and chaos of the life she was leading in Amman.  Her mother Nadine is judgmental and headstrong.  Nadine disapproves of the forthcoming marriage because Ziad is a Muslim.  She plans to boycott the wedding and refuses to attend.  May has two younger sisters, Dalia and Yasmine.  Her sisters seem to behave like children even though they are adults?  Her estranged father has remarried and it is a BIG surprise to May that he is interested in making amends?  May begins to question everything from her past and her present?

     I wonder if May would’ve been better served in this period of her life if she had planned her wedding in New York and continued what she established for herself in the United States?  Everything she has set in motion, thinking of doing and preparing for comes under intense scrutiny.  I wonder if she will regret the decisions she is making under family pressure?  I don’t believe she plans to remain in Amman?  Does she need to remold her life to adjust to this culture if she isn’t going to live there but return to New York?  Is her first priority pleasing her family or living her own life?  None of these questions are addressed or answered in this film?  3* (This movie is OK) 

99 min, Drama directed by Cherien Dabis with Alaadin Khasawneh, Cherien Dabis, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Hiam Abbass, Tarek Shafakoj, Ali Elyan, Mary Nuqul, Sima Salti, Ritu Singh Pande, Bill Pullman.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 9 reviews, Read The Spirit 3* out of 5*, Screen Crush 5* out of 10*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Jordan.  This is the second time I’ve seen this film and I reviewed it previously in February of 2015.   Cherien Dabis is the writer, director and lead actress in this film.  She was also the director, writer and executive producer of Amreeka 2009.  She was the supervising producer of 6 episodes of Empire from 2016 to 2017. 

The Undefeated 1969

     The setting of this film is just after the Civil War.  John Henry Thomas was a Union Colonel and James Langdon was a Confederate Colonel.  John Henry and James are in separate groups but both are leading both animals and people to the Mexican border.  John Henry has sold a large herd of horses to the unpopular Mexican government for $35 a head.  He had planned to sell to the US government but they were paying $25 a head.  James is leading a group of displaced southerners looking for a new life in Mexico.  There properties have been lost to carpetbaggers overrunning the South. When faced with both bandits and revolutionaries, the two men need to mend their differences and join together to stay alive.

     You can tell that Wayne is older in this film than North to Alaska of 1960.  He was 53 years-old 1960 in 62 years-old in 1969.  Fist fights, brawls and shoot outs must have been very popular between 1960 and 1969?  There are many of them in North to Alaska and also in this film?  Maybe they are a script fill in with no dialog needed?  I think this film has a weak plot and script!!  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)     

115 min, Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen with John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Antonio Aguilar, Roman Gabriel, Marian McCargo, Lee Meriweather, Merlin Olsen, Melissa Newman, Bruce Cabot, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ben Johnson, Edward Faulkner.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 17% critic 65% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 328 reviews, TCM user rating 5* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Baton, Rouge, Louisiana; Durango;, Sierra de Organos, Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Sierra de los Ajos, Bavispe, La Presca de La Angostura, San Pedro de la Cueva, Huasabas, Nacori Chico,  Bavispe River and Bacadehuachi, Sonora, Mexico.  John Wayne needed to lose most of the weight he put on to play Rooster Cogburn in True Grit of 1969.  Wayne fell from his horse, fractured three ribs and was unable to work for almost two weeks.  Later, he tore a ligament in his shoulder and couldn’t use one arm at all.  During that time, he could only be filmed from a certain angle for the rest of the picture.  Wayne liked working with tall actors.  He was hoping James Arness at 6 feet 7 inches would be cast in the role played by Rock Hudson.  Wayne also liked to play bridge and Hudson was a good player plus the same height.  Wayne wore lipstick in his movies that he applied himself?  He told Hudson that his lips would not show on film without lipstick?  This film implies that most of the people in Mexico supported the fight against Maximilian.  The Catholic Church thought Benito Juarez to be a troublemaker and a rabble-rouser.  The Church strongly supported Emperor Maximilian’s rule.  There is another film with the same title from 2011.

North to Alaska 1960

     The setting of this film is Nome Alaska of 1900 and it’s based on a play titled Birthday Gift by Ladislas Fodor.  Sam McCord and George Pratt are partners in a gold mine in Nome.  They strike it rich and George sends Sam to Seattle Washington to bring back his fiancée Jenny Lamont and also obtain heavy drilling equipment.  George has been committed to and waiting to reunite with his fiancée.  When Sam gets to Seattle he learns she is maid and already married to a butler.  Instead, he returns with Angel.  She falls in love with Sam and she misunderstood what he said about George.  Sam leaves her off at a hotel in Alaska but she runs into con man Frankie Cannon.  They know each other from Seattle and Angel wants nothing to do with Frankie.  She throws a suitcase out the window and screams for help.  Sam retrieves her and they head for the mine.  Sam has heard that there must be a guard on the mine at all times because of claim jumpers.  One of these men is the con man Frankie.  When Sam and Angel get to the mine, George becomes enraged and rejects Angel.  George’s brother Billy is definitely interested in Angel but he’s 17?

     I would’ve hated living in Nome during this time period because of the constantly muddy streets in the town!!  There is a LOT of drinking plus gambling in the saloon and a LOT of brawls.  Conman and saloon owner Frankie is always operating and on the lookout for the next new scam.  Sam is pig-headed and he can’t get the idea in his head that Angel is actually in LOVE with him!!  I was surprised that none of the scenes are filmed in Nome or Alaska?  3 ½* (I liked this movie, especially the song North to Alaska)    

122 min, Romance directed by Henry Hathaway with John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian, Capucine, Mickey Shaughnessy, Karl Swenson, Joe Sawyer, Kathleen Freeman, John Qualen, Stanley Adams.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 43% critic 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* user rating average 3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 403 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Hot Creek, Inyo National Forest; Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest; Point Mugu and Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California.  Originally, this film was to re-team John Wayne and Dean Martin after their huge success with Rio Bravo of 1959.  Howard Hawks was set to direct again.  Richard Fleischer was also hired to direct but he learned there wasn’t a script?  He also talked to Capucine and he thought she was wrong for the role of Angel.  Capucine said that Wayne wore lifts in his shoes?  You can see Wayne without his wig when he falls backwards from being punched?  Granger and Fabian are playing brothers but Granger is 30 years older than the 17-year-old Fabian.  The day after Johnny Horton recording of the theme song was released, he was killed in a car crash.  It reached #1 in the country chart and #4 on the Hot 100 plus 23 in the UK. 

On Wings of Eagles1986

     This series was adapted for television from a best-selling book by Ken Follett.  The Shah of Iran is forced out of the country and the Ayatollah Khomeini has taken over leading Iran in 1979.  During this time the pro-Khomeini forces overran the US Embassy.  Texas based Electronic Data Systems (EDS) has been working in Iran.  Two of the executives are arrested in Tehran and held in prison for $13,000,000 ransom on false charges.  The rest of the employees and their families have returned home to the United States.  The families of the two executives have also returned to Texas.  H. Ross Perot is the head of this company.  He tries diplomatic approaches to get the two men released.  That has failed and his next path is to hire retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Arthur E. ‘Bull’ Simons.  One of the major problems in getting the two prisoners released is that Iran is overrun with angry mobs.

     According to the Chicago Tribune in an article by William Gaines and Mike Dorning from July 9, 1992, this series is over dramatized and some sequences are a myth?  Supposedly, Ross Perot recruited author Ken Follett to write a thriller about the rescue.  He also retained authority over script approval for the TV series.  EDS started working in Iran in late 1974 when Middle Eastern countries were spending oil wealth to modernize.  It is included in the series that the people of Tehran stormed the prison, shot the guards and released all the prisoners.   Perot claims an Iranian EDS employee convinced revolutionaries to storm the Shah’s prison?  The EDS executives were jailed by the government of the Shah and not by the Ayatollah.  The series doesn’t state that there were complaints about EDS performance and charges of corruption linked to the computer company’s partnership with Abolfath Mahvi.  He was the middleman between EDS and the government of Iran.  It was widely reported that Abolfath was a bag-man for the Shah?  It seems there are two versions of this story?   Viewers will need to choose what they believe?  Are the scenes in the series true and the details reported by the Tribune true??  Perot was running for president and that may have tainted his truth?  3 1/2* (I liked this series) 

  

5 hours (241 min), Drama, TV Mini-Series directed by Andrew V. MacLaglen with Burt Lancaster, Richard Crenna, Paul Le Mat, Jim Metzler, James Sutorius, Louis Giambalvo, Robert Wightman, William Bumiller, Cyril O’Reilly, Lawrence Pressman, Alan Fudge, John Doolittle, Karen Carlson, Diane Salinger, Bob Delegall, Patrick Collins, Martin Doyle.

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 50 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Toluca, Estado de Mexico and Mexico City, Mexico.  Originally shown on NBC in two parts on May 18 and 19, 1986 and also titled Teheran.  There is another film with the same title from 2017.  Nominated for Outstanding Miniseries at the 38^th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Dead Cert 1974

      This movie is based on a novel by Philip D’antoni.  In a surprise move, two horse owners decide to ride their own horses in a steeplechase.  Bill Davidson’s horse Admiral begins to behave weirdly and the horse falls hard after an obstacle.  Medical personnel go to check on Bill right away but he succumbs to his injuries.  His friend Alan York was riding his horse and he suspected Admiral was doped.  He also believes it was unscrupulous bookies involved in the doping.  The medical tests don’t reveal any evidence of drugs being used on Admiral?  The group involved in the doping doesn’t want anyone to investigate their activities and Alan may be in way over his head?    

      This film suffers somewhat from age?  The scenes of the races are good and the horses are very beautiful.  The men involved in the doping don’t care about the riders or the horses.  They are only interested in profits and the acclaim for winning.  Alan also rides a horse into the woods to escape the British police.  He leaves the horse behind and steals a police car.  Judi Dench was 40 years old at the release of this movie.  3* (This movie is OK)    

        

99 min, Thriller directed by Tony Richardson with Scott Antony, Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Nina Thomas, Julian Glover, Mark Dignam, John Bindon, Josephy Blatchley.

Note:  Imdb 5.1 out of 10, 14% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.1* out of 5* with 22 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Portsmouth, Hampshire; Frontwell Racecourse, West Sussex; Findon, West Sussex, England, UK.  Go-Pontinental owned by Fred Pontin was one of the horses in this film.  He ran in the 1968 National, returned in 1973 and 1974. 

The Citadel 1938

     This film is based on a classic novel by A.J. Cronin.  Andrew Manson is a young and enthusiastic Scottish doctor.  He has taken his first job in a Welsh mining town.  He will be the assistant to a bed ridden Dr. Page.  He learns quickly that Mrs. Page is not treating him fairly.  He receives extra money because he saved a newborn baby from dying.  Mrs. Page refuses to give him the money and she feeds herself well but not Andrew.  He quits and he gets another job working as doctor for the local coal mine.  Andrew married Christine, she was the school teacher at his first job with Dr. Page.  It was a requirement that Andrew be married in order to take this next job.  He starts to wonder about the constant cough many of the miners complain about.  He begins to take samples and investigate.  The miners and the miner’s board begin to question the need for research and they protest.  Andrew and Christine move to London and he opens a practice.  He’s struggling until he learns a lucrative career can be obtained by treating wealthy patients that really just want attention.

     Andrew didn’t realize he was really onto something with is research of the miner’s lung condition.  Later, another doctor and friend of Andrew’s begins to make progress with this research.  An accident happens and Andrew finally realizes he is fooling himself with treating the wealthy patients.  This isn’t what he took an oath to accomplish with his career as a doctor.  Christine has been trying to tell Andrew but he wasn’t ready to listen.  I thought this was interesting and good.  It's a look back at the problems in Scotland with the miners.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

     

110 min, Drama directed by King Vidor with Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson, Rex Harrison, Emlyn Williams, Penelope Dudley-Ward, Francis L. Sullivan, Mary Clare, Cecil Parker, Nora Swinburne, Edward Chapman.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 88% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5* with 227 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* user rating 3.5* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Abertillery, Glaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire, South Wales, Wales, UK; Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.  Initially Elizabeth Allan was announced in the role of Christine Manson, Rosalind Russell replaced her and Elizabeth sued MGM.  Vivien Leigh, Greer Garson and Geraldine Fitzgerald also tested for the role of Christine.  This film was nominated for Oscars as Best Picture, Best Actor, Direction and Adapted Screenplay.  Listed in The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.  There is another film with the same title released in 2012.

The Book of Henry 2017

     Susan Carpenter works as a waitress at a diner with her friend Sheila.  Susan has two boys and she’s a single mom.  Henry is 11 years old and he is smart beyond his years.  He has set up investments and a portfolio for his mom and she doesn’t want to talk about it or think about it.  Henry says she can get a new car and she doesn’t need to work but she doesn’t listen to that either.  Peter is the younger son at 8 years old and he has trouble with bullies at school.  Henry tries to be there for Peter when he sees him on the ground.  Susan and Henry begin to learn that Christina next door living with her stepfather has a dangerous secret.  Henry is trying to gather information and find out how he and Susan can help Christina.

     Henry feels he is the one that needs to keep his mom and his brother together.  Susan plays video games and not Henry.  He’s much too serious for that and he doesn’t have time or want to make time.  I was surprised at the low reviews?  I thought this film was interesting and different from a lot of family centered films.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

          

105 min, Drama directed by Colin Trevorrow with Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, Jacob Tremblay, Sarah Silverman, Dean Norris, Lee Pace, Maddie Zieglr, Tonya Pinkins, Bobby Moynihan, Geraldine Hughes, Maxwell Simkins.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 20% critic 63% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Metacritic 31 out of 100 with 31 critics 4.5 out of 10 with 35 reviews, The Guardian 1* out of 5* review by John Patterson.

Special Note:  Filmed in Croton-on-Hudson, Manhattan, Nyack and New York City, New York.  Jacob Tremblay was the boy character in Room of 2015.  The screenplay was reported to be 19 years old and it was more of a dark comedy.  The time period would be 1998?  Trevorrow didn’t want to make that type of film.  This is the first film for Maddie Ziegler as Christina.  Watts worked with Lieberher on St. Vincent of 2014.  Watts and Tremblay worked together on Shut In of 2016.  There is a mistake, Henry uses a payphone to make stock trades and he uses fractions.  US markets changed to decimals on April 9, 2001.  In a later, scene a doctor shows a scan on a tablet too advanced for pre-2001.  The budget was $10 million and box office was $4.4 million.  Release was planned for September 16, 2016 but Focus rescheduled release to June 16, 2017 finishing 13 at the box office.