Game Night 2018

     Max and his wife Annie usually meet with four close friends each week for a game night.  Max and Annie usually win the games but their marriage is on rocky ground.  Annie is worried that Max doesn’t want to have children.  She thinks he may be too much into the game nights.  It would be more difficult to get together with their friends every week if they have a child?  Max’s shady brother reappears after a long absence and he suggest the next gathering be held at his place.  Brooks intends for the game night to jump to the next level.  He organizes a full-blown murder mystery party complete with actors as criminals and cops.  Everything starts to take a dark turn with the game becoming too real. 

     This film switches back and forth between fun games and dangerous games.  Sometimes it’s difficult to tell when it’s not a part of the fun game and it’s moved onto the dangerous game??  Is the blood real or is it fake blood??  Are the guys actors or criminals?  There always sees to be one person left out in games with children and adults??  3* (This movie is OK.  

100 min, Action directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein with Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Sharon Horgan, Bill Magnussen, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jess Plemons, Michael C. Hall, Danny Huston, Chelsea Peretti, Camille Chen, Zerrick Williams. Joshua Mikel, R.F. Faley.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 84% critic 79% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 803 reviews, Common Sense Media, positive 1*, role models 2*, violence 3*, sex 2*, language 4*, consumerism 2*, drinking, drugs, smoking 1*, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 41 critics 7.2 out of 10 with 231 reviews, Empire Online 4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Marietta, Atlanta and Cartersville, Georgia.  There is a joke between Max and Annie that child actors don’t amount to much.  Jason Bateman was a child actor famous for his role in Silver Spoons and Valerie of 1986.  Before production began, the cast members had their own game night to get to know each other and prepare for the film.  Jason Bateman was set to direct but John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein would not do the rewrite of the script unless they could also direct.  Michael C. Hall is one of the bad guys and he played another bad guy in the TV series Dexter.

Early Man 2018

     The setting of this film is prehistoric times during the stone-age.  There are different types of dinosaurs and woolly mammoths roam the earth.  Dug and his sidekick Hognob unite the tribe cave men against their bronze-age enemy Lord Nooth.  Lord Nooth wants to take over the valley where Dug and the other cavemen live.  They want to mine the area for bronze.  There is a football (soccer) game to settle the dispute over the valley.

     I thought there were many very funny moments in this film.  There are a LOT of British references that we may not fully understand in America?  The animation is stop motion and the characters are developed over time.  The voice actors determine the way the characters look, move and speak.  Then there are 35 animators working on individualizing each character.   3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

    

99 min, Animation directed by Nick Park with the voices of Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall, Miriam Margolyes, Rob Brydon, Kayvan Novak, Richard Ayoade, Selina Griffiths, Johnny V egas, Mark Williams, Gina Yashere, Richard Webber, Simon Greenall, Nick Park.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 of 10, 81% critic 51% audience Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 3.8* with 126 reviews, Commonsense Media 2* educational, 4* positive messages, 4* role models, 3* violence, 1* sexy, 2* language, no consumerism or drinking, drugs, smoking, Metacritic 68/100 with 39 critics 6.4/10 with 62 reviews.

Special Note:  The characters Wallace and Gromit are in one of the crowd shots.  Director Nick Park didn’t know this happened until post-production.  Included in the end credits are cave paintings on the wall are the characters Where-Rabbit, Grommit and the Beady Eyed Penguin from other Nick Park movies.  Other films by Aarmand Productions are Chicken Run 2000, Wallace & Gromit 2005, Flushed Away 2006, Arthur Christmas 2011, The Pirates! 2012, Shaun the Sheep Movie 2015, Farmageddon, 2019 and Chicken Run 2 (TBA).  (I really liked Shaun the Sheep!!)

A Girl in the River 2015

     Included in the title are the words The Price of Forgiveness.  Saba is 18 years old and she is a young Pakistani woman living with her parents and siblings in Gujranwala.  She has been engaged to a young man in her village for four years and she wants to marry him.  Her immediate family was OK with this arrangement but her uncle was not.  He decided she should marry another man, he is her uncle’s brother-in-law and he's a rich man.  One early morning, Saba runs away from home, she goes to a local court with her fiance and they marry.  Her father and uncle come to her in-laws’ house.  They say Saba should go back to their home and the new husband should take her as his wife honorably.  They are worried that neighbors and society will look down upon the family and shame them.  They swore on the Quran that she would not be harmed.  Instead of taking her home, they drove her to a wooded area by the river.  They beat her for a long time and then they shot her.  She was put in a gunnysack and thrown in the river.  She was courageous, she persevered and she was able to use bushes to climb out of the river.  She saw the lights of a nearby gas station and she was taken to a hospital buy paramedics.  Usually, 99% of women attacked in honor killings do not survive to tell their story or accuse their attackers!!

     Saba’s father and her uncle were taken to jail and Saba is provided with an attorney.  He files her case against her father and uncle in court and Saba is determined to fight for her case.  She wants to make examples of her father and uncle.  She wants them to be shot in public so no other father or relative does this to a woman and their family.  Community members in the neighborhood said they would shun her in-laws if she didn’t forgive the charges?  She has two choices, forgive her family because of pressure or continue to fight the case?  Her father and uncle could be released after serving 5 years.  What would happen to Saba and her new family when they are released?  In these communities, the men feel like they own the women.  They need to be in control and the best way to do this is to silence them.  The issue of shame and honor is very powerful and the way to press women down is to kill them??  Saba credited her survival to the false vows taken on the Holy Book.  She will always have a scar on her face and her hand from the gunshot wounds.   I thought this was very good.  (4*)   

   

40 min, Doc directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Hinoy with Asad Jamal, Saba.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 14 reviews.

Special Note:  After the first showing of this film, Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy announced that the Prime Minister of Pakistan would change the law on honor killing.  Tina Brown and Sheila Nevins produced this film in collaboration with HBO Documentary Films.  Winner out of 74 entries submitted to the 88^th Academy Awards.

First Reformed 2017

     Ernst Toller is the 46 year-old Reverend of the historic First Reformed Church in upstate New York.  Most people view the church as a tourist stop or a souvenir shop?  Historically it is significant because it was the last stop on the Underground Railroad before the Canadian Border.  Abundant Life owns the church and also operates a 5,000-seat mega church overseen by Reverend Joel Jeffers.  First Reformed is preparing to celebrate an anniversary of 250 years. This will be a major event with dignitaries such as the governor and mayor.

     The membership of First Reformed is dwindling and Reverend Toller is facing questions of faith and morality.  He has been writing his thoughts in a journal for a year and he intends to destroy it.  Toller encouraged his son to join the military and he was killed in the Iraq War.  Mary is seeking counseling from Toller because her radical environmentalist husband is worried about bringing a child into the world.  Toller is also suffering from physical aliments but he has put off seeing a doctor.  I found this film to continually be very dark and I didn’t enjoy anything about it???  There is bleakness in everything including the characters and the scenery for nearly two hours!!  1 ½* (I really didn’t like this movie) 

113 min, Drama directed by Paul Schrader with Than Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric the Entertainer, Victoria Hill, Philip Ettinger, Michael Gaston, Bill Hoag, Kristin Villanueva, Ingrid Kullberg-Bendz, Ken Forman, Christopher Dylan White, Frank Rodriguez, Gary Lee Mahmoud.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 93% critic 69% audience, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 37 reviews, 85 out of 100 with 47 critics 7.7 out of 10 with 67 reviews, Film Crave 3.25* out of 4*, Roger Ebert 4*, Rollingstone 3.5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in New York City and Brooklyn, New York.  Filming for the interior and exterior of the church was done at the Zion Episcopal Church in Douglaston, Queens.  This film was shot in just 20 days on a $3.5 million budget.  Amanda Seyfried was pregnant during filming and her character is also pregnant.  Hawke was 47 at the time of filming but his haircut makes him look older?

Your Name 2016

     the title in Japanese is Kimi no na wa.  Mitsuha is the daughter of the mayor of a small mountain town called Itomori in Japan.  She’s in high school and she lives with her father, her sister and her grandmother.  Shinto rituals are of no interest to her and she doesn’t want to help her father with his electoral campaign.  She has dreams of leaving this boring town and going to Tokyo.  Taki is a high school boy in Tokyo and he works part-time in an Italian restaurant.  He aspires to become an architect or an artist.  Taki has a dream every night where he becomes a high school girl in a small mountain town. 

     There is also a novel and soundtrack album based on this film.  Mitsuha and Taki cannot figure out how or why they change places and switch bodies in their dreams.  They communicate with each other by writing in Mitsuha’s notebook and on Taki’s phone.  Sometimes they write on each other’s skin.  They begin to change each other too.  Taki begins a relationship with his coworker Miki.  Mitsuha to becomes more popular in school.  The reason for their switching places is so Taki can warn Mitsha that a comet will strike her town.  There is three years separation between their timelines.  A comet split in two, a piece fell to earth and destroyed Itomori.  Taki found Mitshuha’s name in the records of fatalities and he discovers the date of the disaster.  If he doesn't warn her Mitsha and many other people will die.  I thought this was an interesting concept teens changing places in their sleep.  3 1/2* (I liked this film)  

   

106 min, Animation directed by Makoto Shinkai with the voices of Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryo Narita, Aoi Yuki, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kaito Ishikawa, Kanon Tani, Masaki Terasoma, Sayaka Ohara, Kazuhiko Inoue, Chafurin, Kana Hanazawa, Yuka Terasaki.

Note:  Imdb 8.4, 97% critic 94% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 762 reviews, Metacritic 79 out of 100 with 25 critics 9.1 out of 10 with 494 reviews, The Guardian 5* Brian Tallerico, Roger Ebert 3.5*.

Special Note:  The teacher of Classical Japanese at Mitsuha’s school is Ms. Yuki and she is Yukari Yukino the heroine from Makotot Shinkai’s previous film The Garden of Words from 2013. 

I Can Only Imagine 2018

     This film is based on a true story.  MercyMe is the name of a band with the lead singer Bart Millard.  He wrote a very popular song titled I Can Only Imagine after he came to terms with his abusive father.  Bart had a difficult life growing up and he left home to get away from his father.  Bart’s mother had already moved away.  Both Bart and his mother had to put up with Arthur’s abuse and rage for a long time.  Arthur was just constantly a very angry man!!  Bart and his mother thought he would never try to change.  The only way to stomach Arthur was to get far away from him.  Bart is trying to make it as a singer with a band.  He meets Brickell and he starts to promote the band.  Bart thinks they are ready for the big time but Brickell tells him he’s not ready yet.  Bart knows he needs to return home and face Arthur or he’ll never be free from him and the memories of him.  He learns that things are not like he remembered them!!

     This film is good and the music is good too.  Dennis Quaid does a very good job as a very scary father and husband!!  The members of the MercyMe band are Bart Millard, Robby Shaffer, Nathan Cochran, Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul.  The band members came together in 1994 in Edmond, Oklahoma.  They released six independent albums before signing with INO Records in 2001.  The song I can Only Imagine elevated their debut album Almost There to triple Platinum Certification.  The song I can Only Image was awarded two GMA Dove Awards in 2002, 8 Dove Awards and many Grammy Award nominations.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

110 min, Drama directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin with J. Michael Finley, Madeline Carroll, Dennis Quaid, Trace Adkins, Cloris Leachman, Jason Burkey, Mark Furze, Randy McDowell, Cole Marcus, Alexander Dominguez, Brody Rose, Taegen Burns, J.R. Cacia, Tanya Clarke, Nicole DuPort.

Note:  Imdb 7.4, 65% critic 92% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.9* out of 5* with 1486 reviews, Metacritic 30 out of 100 with 8 critics 8 out of 10 with 44 reviews, Plugged In 4.5* of 5*, IndieWire 1.5 of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Dennis Quaid has twins, Thomas Boone Quaid and Zoe Grace Quaid and they are extras in a diner scene.  His daughter Zoe points to Quaid’s character when he collapses on the diner floor.  There is a picture Bart has of his dad.  It’s a real picture of Quaid in his #19 black jersey from the film Any Given Sunday.  This is the first movie role for J. Michael Finley.  The character Amy Grant is played by Nicole DuPort.  There is another film with the same title from 2005.

Journey's End 2017

     This film is based on a play with the same title premiering in London in 1928 with Laurence Olivier as part of the cast.  There is also a 1930 film adaptation directed by James Whale and starring Colin Clive.  The setting of this film is late March 1918 in a dugout in Aisne near St. Quentin, France during WWI.  This war has been grinding on for more than four years and it will go on for more than six months longer.  A group of British officers assigned to the 9^th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment are there to do battle.

     The title Journey’s End refers to the fear and terror of waiting for an impending attack.  War, irrational, illogical with young men and old men usually thinking it will be a short war with victory but taken from this life instead.  Now, women are wounded, maimed and dying.  It's for a cause supported by those not willing to enter the conflict but willing to send others.  How many wars have brought the tragic loss of many human beings???  The British Empire lost between 1,077,383 to 1,244,093 lives and this was .28-.33% of the population.  The total wounded was 2,101,077.  I must say that I watched this film with one eye while I read a book with the other eye!!  The subject is not really my “cup of tea?"?  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)  

  

107 min, Drama directed by Saul Dibb with Paul Bettany, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Tom Sturridge, Alais Lawson, Andy Gathergood, Jack Riddiford, Adam Colborne, Elliot Balchin, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Asa Butterfield, Derek Barr, Nicholasw Agnew, Rupert Wickham, Miles Jupp.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 93% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 42 reviews.Rolling Stone 3 ½* out of 4* Peter Travers, Metacritic 73 out of 100 with 23 critics 6.2 out of 10 with 13 reviews, Common Sense Media 2* out of 5 positive messages, 2* role models, 4* violence 1* sex, 4* language 3* drinking and smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Wales and Suffolk, England, UK.  Sam Claflin researched his family history and he learned that his great-great-grandfather was in a battalion posted to the Battle of St. Quentin.  This is the same battle depicted in this film. 

Annihilation 2018

     This film is adapted from the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer.  Lena’s husband left on a secret Army mission and he returns a changed man.  He doesn’t know how long he was gone, he doesn’t know what happened on the mission and he was the only one who returned?  He’s put into isolation and Lena decides to go with a group of women on the same mission.  She was in the Army for seven years and that’s how she met Kane.  She’s a biologist and she will be going with an anthropologist, psychologist, surveyor and linguist.   Dr. Ventress, Anya Thorensen, Cass Sheppard and Josie Radek.  They will be the second team entering an environmental disaster zone.   

     There is a strange and unknown area called the shimmer in Area X on the southern coast of the United States.  The shimmer began at a lighthouse and the area of the shimmer continues to grow.  On the other side of the lighthouse is the ocean.   Once inside the shimmer, the women are unable to remember extended stretches of time.  They find a mutated alligator that shows signs of being hybridized with a shark and they also encounter a mutated bear.  As they continue toward the lighthouse they find an abandoned and decayed settlement with human-shaped plants in front of this area. Josie Radek believes that the shimmer is acting on organisms in the manner of a prism.  The DNA is being distorted and refracting.  I certainly would not want to be a member of this investigative mission!!  Everything is twisted and only the colors in the shimmer beautiful.  The people are capable and brainy but there are some creepy, scary and unsettling scenes.  3* (This movie is OK)

115 min, Adventure directed by Alex Garland with Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Kristen McGarrity, Benedict Wong, David Gyasi, Oscar Isaac, John Schwab, Sammy Hayman.

Note:  Imdb 6.9, 87% critic 66% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon Empire Online 5*, Amazon 3.4* with 317 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Windsor Great Park, Windsor, Berkshire and Marsworth Airfield, England, UK.  The initial test screening was poorly received.  David Ellions, a financier at Paramount wanted changes made to appeal to a wider section of viewers  Essentially, it was thought to be too intellectual and too complicated?  Portman’s character needed to be more sympathetic and the ending changed.  These changes were not made because Producer Scott Rudin agreed with Director Alex Garland and the changes were not made.  Garland decided not to reread the novel Annihilation and chose to adapt this film like a dream of the book.  Oscar Isaac was also filming Stars Wars at the same time on an adjacent studio lot.  He often filmed scenes for both movies on the same day.  

All I Wish 2017

     Also titled A Little Something for Your Birthday.  This film features the different birthdays and new beginnings for Senna Berges.  Each new section of the film starts with Senna’s birthday.  Her mother Celia wants to be the first person to congratulate Senna on her birthday every year.  Senna is a struggling but aspiring fashion designer. She doesn’t have the cash to put together a fashion line and open a store?  She’s also desperate to find her soul mate.  She claims she doesn’t want to ever get married but that could possibly change if she met the right person?  Right now her life is filled with irresponsible behavior, lost jobs and random hookups with younger men.

     This is a lightweight comedy and Stone is up to the challenge but the dialogue is clunky and so is some of the comedy.  Sometimes the older hippy theme is stretched thin.  Maybe this is a filmed reality show instead??  It becomes wearying in the last third!!  Ellen Burstyn is beautiful in this film as Senna's mother Celia and she will be 82 in December.  Her hair is a lovely white color with the perfect haircut for her features.  3* (This movie is OK)  

         

94 min, Comedy directed by Susan Walter with Sharon Stone, Tony Goldwyn, Ellen Burstyn, Liza Lapira, Jason Gibson, Caitlin FitzGerald, Gilles Marini, Famke Janssen, Erica Ash, Leonor Varela, Yvonne Jung, D.G. Guyer, Ryan Lochte, Matthew Broussard, Jose Navarro.

Note:  Imdb 5.1, 15% critic 48% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic 49 out 100 with 9 critics, Amazon 3.3* out of 5* with 34 reviews.

Special Note:  Sharon Yvonne Stone was born on March 10, 1958, this film was released on March 30, 2018 and she was 60 years old.  On September 29, 2001 she was hospitalized for a subarachnoid hemorrhage and diagnosed with a vertebral artery dissection rather than the more common ruptured aneurysm.  Her brain was bleeding for nine days, the survival rate is very low, she spent two years learning how to walk, talk and read again.  She was treated with an endovascular coil emobilization.       

Peter Rabbit 2018

     This film is based on books by Beatrix Potter.  Peter Rabbit and his three sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton Tail plus their cousin Benjamin live near Mr. McGregor’s garden.  They enjoy harassing Mr. McGregor and taking produce from his vegetable garden.  One day Mr. McGregor has a heart attack?  The rabbits and all the other animals take over the garden and the house.  What they don’t know is that the house was left to a relative of Mr. McGregor.  Now there is a younger Mr. McGregor and he starts to fall in love with Bea who lives next door.  Bea loves the rabbits and doesn’t tolerate anyone being mean to them!!  Secretly, young Mr. McGregor is trying to get rid of all the animals stealing from his garden!!

     I thought this was cute and funny.  The rabbits and other creatures are very realistic but like toy animals brought to life.  Mr. McGregor holds his own against the over the top antics of all the animals.  The only thing that brings everyone together is love!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

95 min, Animation directed by Will Gluck with Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Sam Neill, Natalie Dew, Terenia Edwards, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and the voices of James Corden, Fayssal Bazzi, Sia, Colin Moody, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Daisy Ridley, Christian Gazal, Ewen Leslie. 

Note:  Imdb 6.6, 65% critic 58% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.5* our of 5* with 687 reviews, Metacritic 51 out of 100 with 26 critics 6.5 out of 10 with 64 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed at Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.  The character Bea is a reference to Beatrix Potter.  The scenes with the rabbits and other animals are live action scenes.  They were filmed in Australia and live rabbits cannot be brought into the country.  They are considered to be an introduced pest and in the late 1800’s the country was overrun with rabbits.  There is another live-action animated hybrid film with a rabbit character, Hop released in 2011.  There was some push back from food allergy groups because of a scene with the younger Mr. McGregor being pelted with blackberries and he is allergic to this berry.  Domhnall Gleeson plays General Hux in the Star Wars series.  He is the Commander of the First Order, the nemesis of the Republic.    

Winchester 2018

     This film is inspired by true events.  The most haunted house in the world is located on an isolated stretch of land 50 miles outside of San Francisco.  Heiress Sarah Winchester continues to build rooms onto her large mansion for 38 years.  Workers are on 24-hour shifts every day.  She says she is haunted by the souls of the people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.  Dr. Eric Price is hired to determine if Sarah is sane and in control of her faculties.  His review will determine if Sarah can still lead the Winchester Rifle Company. 

     The success and also the reputation of the Winchester began after the introduction of the .44 Henry rimfire cartridge and the Henry and 1866 rifles designed for this cartridge.  Many Union army units in the Civil War used this ammo and these rifles against the inferior ammo and rifles of the Confederacy.  This company has been responsible for some of the most successful cartridges ever introduced.  Sarah Winchester inherited $20 million equivalent to over $507 million in 2017 and a 50% holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.  She was one of the wealthiest women in the world in 1881.  3* (This movie is OK) 

99 min, Bio directed by Michael Spierig with Helen MIrren, Sarah Snook, Finn Scicluna-O-Prey, Jason Clarke, Emm Wiseman, Alana Fagan, Rebecca Makar, Tyler Coppin, Michael Carman, Angus Sampson, Alice Chaston, Eamon Farren.

Note:  Imdb 5.4, 14% critic 36% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 531 reviews, Metacritic 28 out of 100 with 18 critics 4.3 out of 10 with 52 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in San Jose and San Francisco, California; Melbourne and Ripponlea, Victoria, Australia.  The Winchester mansion has been a tourist attraction since 1923, one year after the death of Sarah Winchester.  Very little filming took place inside the mansion.  The design is extremely cramped and this made filming very difficult.  Most of the mansion’s interior was recreated on sound stages.  Sarah Winchester had severe, debilitating arthritis.  She had a series of short risers, only 3-4 inches high in place of stairs.  She could not raise her foot more than a few inches.  The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake caused the top three tiers of the house to collapse and multiple rooms were permanently closed because they were unsafe. 

The Yards 2000

     Contractors repair and rebuild New York’s subway cars in the rail yards of Queens.  This is a big business and there is a lot corruption involving companies, contracts, bosses and workers.  Leo Handler spent 5 years in prison but he didn’t rat on his pals also involved in his crime.  Leo didn’t know that his aunt married Frank Olchin and he’s one of the big contractors.  Leo arranges an interview with Frank about getting a job.  Frank recommends that Leo learn a trade such as machinist.  Leo doesn’t think this will work since he needs money now?  Willie Gutierrez is Leo’s best friend but Willie is involved in damaging the work of a Puerto Rican owned company.  He's also involved in a lot of dubious activities.

     This film is based on a real corruption scandal in the mid 1980’s.  The father of co-writer and director James Gray was involved in this case.  Initially, I thought this was a new film until I saw how young the actors are.  My copy was a new release of the 2000 film.  Charlize Theron has dark hair and that makes her look very different.  It was nice to see the older actors mixed in with the young actors.  3* (This movie is OK)

115 min, Crime directed by James Gray with Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Steve Lawrence, Andy Davoli, Tony Musante, Vicor Argo, Tomas Milian.

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, 64% critic 51% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 93 reviews, Metacritic 58 out of 100 with 31 critics 8.2 out of 10 with 22 reviews, Empire Online 3* out of 5* with 31 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Roosevelt Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Bronx, New York City, New York and New Jersey.  Originally, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) refused permission to film on its property.  Instead, filming was done at an old abandoned freight yard and on a studio set.  A deal was reached allowing one scene to be shot inside the 207^th Street Car Shop and Yard on NYCTA property.  Filming was done in the spring and summer of 1998 but the release was delayed until the fall of 2000.  The list of films with Mark Wahlberg doesn’t show this film on Imdb unless you click on 65 credits as an actor?

The Man Nobody Knew 2012

     Carl Colby is the director of this film and it’s about his father William Colby.  His father was the former director of the CIA and a legendary spymaster.  William Colby and his wife Barbara Heinzen met on a blind date and they were married from 1920-1984.  They had five children, Jonathan, Carl, Christine, Paul and William.  William asked for a divorce in 1984 and he married Democratic diplomat Sally Shelton-Colby.  During his marriage to Barbara, William served in WWII as a paratrooper with the Office of Strategic Services.  After the war, the family went to Italy where he worked to oppose Communist Party activities.  After living in Italy, the family moved to Saigon and Colby was involved in counterinsurgency actions and the 1963 coup in South Vietnam.  He worked with President John F. Kennedy in overseeing the Vietnam War.  He started working as Director of Central Intelligence from September 1973 to January 1976.  He revealed the existence of documents describing illegal activities by the CIA.  The Senate Church Committee and House Pike Committee interviewed him many times about these activities.  Colby disappeared and was found drowned in April 1996.

     I thought this film was interesting and probably the only person who really knew William Colby was Colby himself?  His wife Barbara was very surprised to be asked for a divorce because they had been Catholics their entire lives.  Divorce is not a tenant of the Catholic faith and they had been married for 64 years!!  I can see that Barbara,  the family and other relatives would be shocked by this event!!  Carl Colby interviewed his mother on camera for this film and she seemed to be a wonderful wife and mother.  She was dedicated to helping William with his career and she didn’t mind moving and living in locations outside of the United States.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

104 min, Doc directed by Carl Colby with Donald Rumsfeld, Zbigniew Brzezinski, James Schlesinger, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, Bob Woodard,

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 83% critic 63% audience on Rotten Tomatoes,

Metacritic 71 out of 100 with 11 critics, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 27 reviews.

Man in an Orange Shirt 2017

     There are two stories in this series. The first one is during WWII and the aftermath of the war.  Michael and Thomas are both injured during fighting and they meet in a hospital camp.  They become friends and later Thomas marries Flora.  Thomas and Flora have a son and he’s named Robert James.  Michael is a painter with a cottage in France and he leaves it to Thomas and Flora when he dies.  The second story skips a generation and it is about Flora and her grandson Adam.  He is a veterinarian and he lives with Flora.  She gives Adam the cottage in France that was left to her by her husband Michael.  Adam meets an architect and they begin to renovate the cottage.

     I didn't know anything about this film before viewing and the subject was unexpected.  At first I didn't know a generation had been skipped and then I caught on to that.  The characters are believable and the acting is good.  I do like dramas filmed in the UK.  3* (This movie is OK)      

 

120 min, two episodes, Drama written by Patrick Gale with Julian Morris, Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, David J Biscoe, Flaminia Clinque, Joanna Vanderham, David Gyasi, James Godden, Amanda Rawnsley, Tommy Bastow, Drew Edwards.

Note:  Imdb 8 out of 10, 89% critic 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes,Metacritic 72 out of 100 with 6 critics 6.3 out of 10 user score with 7 ratings, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 31 reviews,

Special Note:  Filmed in The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, England, UK.  A lot of the material in this series is autobiographical for writer Patrick Gale.  The screenplay was written over a period of six years and Gale is also a celebrated British novelist.  He has written Take Nothing With You, A Place Called Winter, Gentleman's Relish: Stories, Rough Music, Armistead Maupin, A Perfectly Good Man and 12 other titles.     

Star Wars, Episode VII, The Last Jedi 2018

     Luke Skywalker is a Jedi Master but he’s in hiding and he’s unwillingly guiding the young Jedi hopeful Rey.  She needs to know the ways of the force and other Jedi essentials.  Leia the former princess and she is now the general of the Resistance.  She is trying to steer the Resistance away from the ruthless and tyrannical grip of the First Order.

     There are many times that I wondered hasn’t this all been done before?  It was very nice to see Carrie Fisher in her last role!!  The story is the usual theme of the Resistance running away from the First Order.  There is the inclusion of the fights with Darth Vader’s apprentice Dylo Ren.  I’m not sure I would’ve thought of Adam Driver for this role?  What will Luke Skywalker do or not do?  Always the good guys against the bad guys plus the angst when the good guys are eliminated.  3* (this movie is OK)

152 min, Action directed by Rian Johnson with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Noyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 90% critic audience 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 3646 reviews, Metacritic 85 out of 100 with 45 critics 4.5 out of 10 with 7298 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Dubrovnik, Croatia; Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia; Skellig Michael and Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry; Brow Head, County Cork; County Donegal, Ireland; Iceland; Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.

Special Note:  Opening weekend gross was $220,009,584, gross in the USA was $620,181,382 and cumulative worldwide gross was $1,332,539,889 against an estimated budget of $317 million.  Carrie Fisher helped with the writing of the script for this film.  Previously, she had been a script doctor for other films and then someone else would be hired to change the script without any money paid to Carrie??  Mark Hamill wanted to make the arduous 600-foot climb on Ireland’s Skellig Michael Island only once.  He wanted to remain there overnight but Irish authorities said he was not permitted to pitch a sleeping tent because the location is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Daisy Ridley took her father to the set in Ireland.  When her father met Mark Hamill he asked him, “Who do you play, then?”  Daisy admitted she was not sure if her father was joking?

A Cook's Tour, Season 1 2002

     This is a travel and food show with Anthony Bourdain as the host.  He visits exotic and interesting cities around the world.  The chefs of different restaurants teach him about the local cuisine and culture.  Anthony is a chef in New York but he’s leaving the restaurant behind to explore new experiences.  He’s looking for tastes and smells because these are his memories.  He has also written a book on this same subject titled A Cook’s Tour; In Search of the Perfect Meal.

     This series is very interesting and Bourdain eats many unusual items.  Some things that I am not interested in eating no matter how much he enthuses over them!!  I think that no one could possibly eat the amount he does in one day but you can’t tell the span of the filming?  The different areas he visits are unusual and beautiful.  He also meets different local people in every area.  3 ½* (I liked this series) 

Note:  Imdb 8.1 out of 10, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 27 reviews, Ebay 5* with 3 reviews. 

Special Note:  This series was originally aired on the Food Network and there is a second season of 2003.  Bourdain also had a series titled No Reservations airing on the Travel Channel network.  This season was filmed in Tokyo, Japan Vietnam, Cambodia, Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Russia, Mexico, California, New York, Scotland and London.  Bourdain passed away from a suicide on June 8, 2018.  He was staying at the LeChambard hotel in Kayersberg, France.  He had been traveling with his friend Eric Ripert and he had been working on an episode of Parts Unknown in nearby Strasbourg.  The suicide appeared to have been an impulsive act?  The Bourdain was a heavy smoker of two packs a day, a former user of cocaine, heroin and LSD.  I don't know how he maintained  his sense of taste and smell since he smoked so much?

Sequins 2004

     This film is also titled A Common Thread.  Claire is 17 years old and she learns she is five months pregnant.  She decides she will give the baby up for adoption after she gives birth.  She has been working at a supermarket as a cashier.  The other employees have started to give her a difficult time about gaining weight.  She tells them she has cancer and she has been receiving treatments that cause weight gain.  She asks her doctor to write a note for the grocery store requesting medical leave.  She begins staying with her girlfriend.  Guillaume is the brother of her friend and he has been in a terrible motorbike accident.  His best friend was killed and he was the son of Madame Melikian.  Claire cautiously asks Madame Melikian if she can do the work her son had been doing?  Madame is grief stricken over her son’s death and she is an embroiderer for haute couture designers.  Claire has also been working on needlework projects and she’s very skilled at this type of job.

     This is a very quiet and calm movie with a slow pace except for a few scenes.  Some examples are the fighting at the grocery store, Claire’s reluctance to let anyone know about her pregnancy, Madame goes to the hospital after an accidental fall or a suicide attempt?  As the two women sew together, they create a bond despite their age and generational differences.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

89 min, Drama directed by Eleonore Faucher with Ariane Ascaride, Lola Naymark, Jackie Berroyer, Thomas Laroppe, Marie Felix, Anne Canovas, Marina Tome, Elisabeth Commelin, Christophe Hatey, Francois Noel.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 83% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Slant Magazine 3* out of 4*, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 5 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Angouleme, Charente; Fleurie; Hoptial Le vinatire, Bron; Studio 24, Villeurbanne, Rhone, Rhone-Alpes.  This film was shown at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won Critics Week Grand Prize and SACD Screenwriting Award.  The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art selected it for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films.  Also nominated for European Discovery of the Year at the 2004 European Film Awards. 

Tully 2018

     Marlo is the mother of two children and she is expecting another baby soon.  Her brother offers to hire a night nanny so Marlo can get more sleep after her new baby is born.  At first, Marlo doesn’t want a stranger in her home but she starts to change her mind when the night feedings begin.  Tully is really a miracle person and Marlo feels much better with her help.  They start to form a bond and they become real friends. 

     I thought Theron put a LOT on the line to play this character in this film.  It’s very easy to add weight but maybe more than twice as difficult to take it off.  There is a twist in this film near the end.  I thought it took a away from the movie instead of adding to it?  I didn't see it coming either?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

95 min, Drama directed by Jason Ritman with Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Asher Miles Fallica, Lia Frankland, Mark Duplass, Elaine Tan, Gameela Wright, Tattiawana Jones, Stormy Ent, Maddie Dixon-Poirier, Bella Star Choy, Dominic Good.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 87% critic 76% audience Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 45 reviews, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Rolling Stone 3 ½* out of 4*, Metacritic 75 out of 100 with 52 critics 7.6 out of 10 with 101 reviews, Common Sense Media 3* positive messages, 3* positive role models, 2* violence 3* sex, 4* language, 2* consumerism, 2* drinking, drugs and smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in New York City, New York; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Diablo Cody is the scriptwriter.  Theron gained 50 pounds for this role with an excessive diet of junk food, processed foods, In-N-Out burgers and milkshakes.  She ate macaroni and cheese at 1 AM to keep on the weight.  It took 18 months to shed the 50 pounds.  There was controversy because the conditions of postnatal, postpartum depression and other mental illness were not named or addressed?  Mackenzie Davis was also a character in the series Halt and Catch Fire of 2014-2017.  There is another film with the same title from 2002.

Overboard 2018

     Leonardo Montenegro is a spoiled and wealthy yacht owner.  He has cheated the woman who came to clean the carpets?  He didn’t pay her and he threw her along with her expensive equipment in the water.   He drinks too much wine in the evening and he falls overboard from his beautiful, luxurious and expensive yacht.  His crew is watching a soccer game and his helmsman is dancing on his job??  The carpet cleaner woman learns that Leonardo is in the hospital and that he has lost his memory.  She comes to the hospital and claims she is his wife.  She’s determined to get paid for the job she did and be reimbursed for the cost of her equipment.

     I am not a fan of the actor Eugenio Derbez!!  Probably some viewers really like him but he’s just not funny to me!!  Aside from that, I think this film is terrible!!  Anna Faris and Eve Longoria are OK in their roles but they are wasted in this film.  I think this film is just barely watchable!!  1 ½* (I really didn’t like this movie)

112 min, Comedy directed by Rob Greenberg with Eugenio Derbez, Anna Faris, Eva Longoria, John Hannah, Swoosie Kurtz, Mel Rodriguez, Josh Segarra, Hannah Nordberg, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Payton Lepinski, Fernando Lujan.

Imdb 5.8 out of 10, 26% critic 60% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon Video 3.5* out of 5* with 163 reviews, Metacritic 42 out of 100 with 27 critics 4.3 out of 10 with 39 reviews, Roger Ebert 1 ½*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Steveston, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.  The doctor at the hospital where Leonardo is taken says that there has only been one other instance of amnesia in the town.  He's referring to Goldie Hawn’s character in the original film Overboard from 1987.  This time the roles are reversed, the person in the original film with amnesia was a woman and this time it’s a man.  Derbez is a major star in his home country of Mexico and he’s trying to expand the scope of his fan base.  He’s an actor, comedian and filmmaker and he’s 57 years old.

The Commuter 2018

     Ex-cop and now life insurance salesman Michael MacCauley has just been let go from his job.  This is a surprise right out of the blue!!  He’s 60 years old, he has two mortgages and his son is ready to go to college.  Michael boards his regular commuter train to go home and he talks to a woman in the seat across from him.  She offers him a substantial amount of money to locate a single commuter on the train.  If he doesn’t find this person, his family could be killed!!  He’s given his wife’s wedding ring to confirm this information and to show they mean business.  How is Michael supposed to find this person?  He doesn’t know this is a man or woman or what they look like.  He is told the name that the person is going by but what good will that do??  This person has a bag that doesn’t belong to them?  Michael is instructed to attach a GPS tracker to this bag?

     There is a LOT of action in this film!!  Michael gets into a LOT of fights on the train.  His phone has been stolen and he has to borrow one from another passenger.  He can’t get in touch his family so he doesn’t know what’s going on there?  He tries to give a message to a police officer but this man is pushed in front of a bus and killed.  Michael has until the last stop for the train to complete his mission!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

 

105 minutes, Action directed by Jaume Collet-Serra with Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, Killian Scott, Shazad Latif, Andy Nyman, Clara Lago, Roland Moller.

Note:  Imdb 6.3 out of 10, 57% critic 41% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 539 reviews, Metacritic 56 out of 100 with 44 critics 6.3 out of 10 with 122 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Sacramento, California; Surrey, England, UK; New York City, New York; Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.  In Grand Central Terminal Neeson passes a poster for Paddington 2.  This film was released in the US the same day as The Commuter.  Vera Farmiga has second billing but she has only 6 minutes of screen time.  Elizabeth McGovern was in Downton Abbey as the character Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham and wife of Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. 

Phantom Thread 2017

     The setting of this film is post-war London of the 1950’s.  Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker.  Woodcock and his sister Cyril are at the center of the British fashion world.  Woodcock dresses royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, débutantes and dames with his distinct style of gowns.  Woodcock is a confirmed bachelor and women come and go through his life.  They provide him with companionship and inspiration.  He is dining out at a restaurant and his waitress is Alma.  Woodcock is attracted to her and she becomes a fixture in his life as well as a muse.  Woodcock likes and needs the atmosphere around him to be calm and quiet to enhance his work.  Alma makes too much noise at the breakfast table and Cyril warns her that these distractions will continue to irk him throughout the day!! 

     What Woodcock’s personality really screams total self-absorption and he’s a pain in the behind for everyone!!  The world revolves around him and his needs!!  One of the lines film is, “The tea is going out; the interruption is staying right here with me.”  This is because Alma brought him tea in the morning!!  Vicky Krieps did not meet Day-Lewis until her first day on set.  She was instructed to refer to him as Reynolds for the duration of filming.  The pace of this film is very slow and there are times of uncertainty about Alma and what her feelings are about Reynolds.  Cyril states in a later scene that she loves Alma but you are also unsure about her feelings about Alma?  There are many times this film is a real DOWNER!!  2 1/2* (so-so)

  

130 min, Drama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson with Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Julie Vollono, Sue Clark, Joan Brown, Harriet Leitch, Dinah Nicholson, Julie Duck, Maryanne Frost, Elli Banks, Amy Cunningham, Amber Brabant, Geneva Corlett, Juliet Glaves.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 91% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 334 reviews, Metacritic 90 out of 100 with 51 critics 7.7 out of 10 with 379 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in North Yorkshire, Lancashire and London, England, UK.  Director Paul Thomas Anderson was inspired to make this film when he was home sick in bed.  His wife, Maya Rudolph was tending to him and she gave him a look of intense tenderness and love.  Daniel Day-Lewis watched archival footage of the 1940’s and 1950’s fashion shows.  He studied famous designers and consulted with the curator of fashion and textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  He apprenticed under Marc Happel and he practiced on his wife Rebecca Miller.  He tried to recreate a Balenciaga sheath dress inspired by a school uniform.  Day-Lewis has a natural English accent and this is the first time he has used this manner of speaking in a film since Stars and Bars of 1988.  Allegedly, this is the final film for Day-Lewis made the announcement was made on June 20, 2017 that he would retire?  Many of the staff of the Woodcock couture house are not actors but real seamstresses or connected with the fashion world.