Then Came You 2018

     Calvin is a hypochondriac and he works as an airport baggage handler.  He has entered his many illnesses in a notebook for a long time and he shows the book to his doctor at appointments.  The doctor runs tests for things that Calvin doesn’t have plus his family can't spare the money for the unnecessary tests?  He meets British teenager Maisie and she is sick with terminal cancer.  They become friends and Maisie has a bucket list she would like to complete before she dies.  Helping Maisie seems to stabilize Calvin and he doesn’t focus as much on his own health and imagined illnesses.

     Cancers before or during the very early years of the life of a teen lead to a very high rate of mortality.  It’s also very tough to look different than other teens at a time when fitting in is very important.  There are also many life milestones that won’t be attainable.  Maisie is an only child and it will be even more difficult for her parents to let her go.  Maisie is taking one day at a time. 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)  

         

97 min, Drama directed by Peter Hutchings with Asa Butterfield, Maisie Williams, Nina Dobrev, Ken Jeong, Tyler Hoechin, David Koechner, Peyton List, Tituss Burgess, Sonya Walger, Margot Bingham, Colin Moss, Briana Venskus, Ron Simons, Angel Valle, Jr. 

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 58% critic, Roger Ebert 1*, Metacritic 44 out of 100 with 7 critics, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 21 reviews, Common Sense Media 3* out of 5*, age 13+. 

Special Note:  Some airport scenes were filmed at Albany International Airport in New York.  A hot towel shaver was filmed in Pugsly’s Barbershop.  This is a popular barbershop in the uptown district of Kingston, New York. 

Indivisible 2018

     This film is based on a true story and it’s about Army Chaplain Darren Turner and his wife Heather.  After Chaplain Turner finishes seminary and basic training, he moves with his family to Fort Stewart.  This Army Base is in Liberty and Bryan counties, 41 miles southwest of Savannah, Georgia.  The Turners have not unpacked anything in their new house and Darren is deployed to Iraq.  They have three young children and now the family duties and serving the families of the other deployed solders is Heather's responsibility.  The Battalion’s deployment becomes extended and many times war gets in the way of staying connected with families. Every day, those left behind dread any knock on their front door!!  

     There isn’t any way that the soldiers can avoid PTSD from what they are doing, experiencing and seeing in this war zone.  The  detachment and separation from their families also causes feelings of hopelessness and loss.  Chaplain Darren is trying to reinforce that there can be healing and restoration. Soldiers and families can choose to stay constantly traumatized or they can get help to work through their feelings and then move on to help others.  Any military chaplain has a load on their shoulders and it can be easier to help others with their pain more than they can help themselves.

119 min, Drama written and directed by David G. Evans with Sarah Drew, Justin Bruening, Jason George, Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Skye P. Marshall, Tanner Stine, Madeline Carroll, Eric Close, Michael O’Neill, Lucas Shane, Samara Lee, Eddie Kaulukukui, Hannah Franchesca and Naomi Noel Samuel, Michael Higgenbottom.

Note:  Imdb 5.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 72% critic 87% audience, Metacritic 53 out of 100 with 6 critics, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 188 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California; Germantown, Tennessee.  Justin Bruening, Sarah Drew, Jason Goerge and Michael O’Neill were also on Grey’s Anatomy.  Sarah and Jason were series regulars and Justin was a regular guest star in multiple episodes.  Michael O’Neill was the shooter Gary Clark.  Samara Lee is a military dependent in real life. 

A Letter to Three Wives 1949

     This film is based on a John Klemner Cosmopolitan Magazine novel, A Letter to Five Wives.  Two wives were lost in the transition to the screen?   Lora May is a girl who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.  Actually, she lived with her mother and sister and they lived right next to the tracks.  She starts dating Porter Hollingsway and he believes she is just a gold digger but they get married.  It isn’t true that she's after his money because she loves him?  Rita Phipps makes more money writing radio scripts at night than her schoolteacher husband George.  Sometimes there is friction between them over money.  Deborah Bishop was in the Navy during WWI but she believes she will never fit into the Country Club set with her husband Brad.

     Lora May, Rita and Deborah are preparing to board a boat filled with children going on a picnic.  A bicycle messenger gives them a letter addressed to all three just prior to boarding.  The letter says that Addie Green has surprisingly just left town.  The real information is that she has left with Porter, George or Brad?  Now, all during the boat ride and picnic plus their journeys home the women try to decide in their minds who will not have a husband when they get home?  Addie is supposed to be beautiful and she has created a near breakdown for the women!!  4 (I really liked this movie) 

103 min, Drama directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz with Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas, Barbara Lawrence, Jeffrey Lynn, Connie Gilchrist, Florence Bates, Hobart Cavanaugh.   

    

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 94% critic 86% audience, DVD Talk Excellent Glenn Erickson, EmpireOnline 4* out of 5* Kim Newman, Rate Your Music 3.58* out of 5* with 205 ratings, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* average user review 3.85* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 211 reviews. 

Special Note:  Filmed in Lake Mahopac, Cold Spring, Hook Mountain, New York; Beverly Hills, 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, California.  Originally the film was titled “A Letter to Four Wives.” Darryl F. Zanuck and Joseph L. Mankiewicz agreed that the script was too long.  Anne Baxter would’ve been the fourth wife.  The picture on the piano that is supposed to be of Addie Green is really of Otto Preminger.  Preminger gave Linda Darnell a hard time on the set of Forever Amber of 1947.  Celeste Holm supplied the voice-over conversation of Addie.  There were contests around the country where moviegoers could guess Holm’s name as Addie’s voice.  This is one of Thelma Ritter’s first films.  In this time period, she was not credited because she was not yet famous? 

Boy Erased DVD 2019

     This film is based on a memoir by Garrard Conley published in 2016.  Marshall Eamons is a Baptist Preacher and he is married to Nancy.  They have son David and they are worried that he might be gay?  Jared seems well adjusted and happy but he has broken up with his girlfriend after starting college.  Marshall and Nancy send David to a church-supported gay conversion program called Love in Action.  They are hoping this program will “save” their son!!  The Chief therapist Victor Sykes tells the group of young men that their sexuality is a choice influenced by poor parenting?  They need to perform harsh “moral inventories” of themselves and their families.  All of the participants are warned not to tell anyone what is said and done during the therapy sessions.  Nancy has rented a room in a motel for them to stay during the assessment program.  Jared discovers that the therapy has no set end point and he may be required to forgo college and move into an on-campus home nearby.  This all depends on Jared convincing Sykes that he has become straight?

     Marshall and Nancy are very worried about Jared and his future!!  When Nancy learns that Jared wants to come home and that Sykes doesn’t want him to go, she becomes very angry.  As she begins to side with Jared, it causes friction between her and Marshall.  Many of the people involved as leaders of conversion therapy have no education or degrees on this subject.  Also, these psychological or spiritual intervention methods have been shown to be dangerous and they have become discredited practices.  Some of the shaming techniques have caused participants to commit suicide.  Sixteen states have banned conversion therapy but 34 states still allow this practice to continue.  I may have given this film a better review if it had not been so much like The Miseducation of Cameron Post 2018?  3* (This movie is OK) 

      

115 min, Bio, written and directed by Joel Edgerton with Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, Madelyn Clilne, Victor McCay, David Joseph Craig, Troye, Sivan, Emily Hinkler, Devin Michael, Matt Burke, Lindsey Moser, Jesse LaTourette, Britton Sear, David Ditmore, William Ngo.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3*, The Guardian3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 69 out of 100 with 48 critics 7.1 out of 10 with 79 user scores, EmpireOnline 3*out of 5* Ben Travis, Independent 3* out of 5* Geoffrey Macnab, Washington Post 2 ½* out of 4* Mark Jenkins, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 260 reviews.

Special Note:  Three out of the four top-billed cast are Australian or Kiwi.  Five of the other cast members are Australian, two others are British and two are French or French-Canadian.  Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe have been long time friends and this is the first film with them working together.  Garrard Conley, the author,  appears as a staff member on Jared’s first day of therapy.  This film received primarily positive reviews and grossed over $11.4 million worldwide.  

First Man DVD 2019

     This film follows the career of legendary American Astronaut Neil Armstrong from 1961-1969.  He is the first human to walk on the moon.  There were many costs, pressures and sacrifices for the United States and Neil himself plus the other astronauts to accomplish this mission.  In the history of space travel, this mission was one of the most dangerous.  Armstrong and all the others involved with the space missions of this time period were very shaken when Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee died inside the capsule.  This happened during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy, Florida.  Everyone wondered what would happen to Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they were strapped into Apollo 11?

     This film makes you feel like you have walked million miles in Neil Armstrong’s shoes!!  There are so many instances where he walks away from near death in the space program!!  Armstrong and Aldrin had to focus on the right now at every moment.  The two men relied on their previous rigorous training and experience to accomplish a never-done-before mission. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” is what really happened.  4* (I really liked this movie) 

   

141 min, Bio directed by Damien Chazelle with Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Coirey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Ciaran Hinds, Olivia Hamilton, Pablo Schreiber, Shea Whigham, Lukas Haas, Ethan Embry, Brian d’Arcy James, Cory Michael Smith.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 87% critic 66% audience, Roger Ebert 3* Matt Zoller Seitz, RollingStone 4 ½* out of 5* Peter Travers, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Mark Kermode, Metacritic 84 out of 100 with 56 critics 7.4 out of 10 with 482 reviews, The Washington Post 3 ½* out of 4* Ann Hornaday, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 823 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Atlanta, Roswell, Tyler Perry Studios, Georgia; Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Mark and Rick Armstrong (the sons of Neil) said that this film was the most accurate portrayal of their father and their mother Janet.  It was important to avoid common errors during filming.  The sun must be at the same angle and always light the earth and the moon.  No clouds appear at high altitudes and no ambient sound in the vacuum of space.  There is also the paradoxical nature of accelerating and braking rockets in orbit.  They must at every moment be the same velocity and remain displaced one from the other by a fixed distance.  Armstrong’s daughter Karen was born April 13, 1959.   She was diagnosed with a malignant tumor of the middle part of her brain stem in June 4, 1961.  X-ray treatments slowed its growth but her health deteriorated to the point where she could no longer walk or talk.  She died of pneumonia related to her weakened condition on January 28, 1962 at the age of 2 years old.  His son Eric was born in 1957 and his son Mark was born in 1963.  

Rebel Without A Cause 1955

     Jim Stark is the new kid in town.  His family has moved several times because Jim gets into trouble and they want him to start over each time this happens.  Jim feels his mother browbeats his father and his father doesn’t stand up for himself?  Jim meets Judy and he hopes he can find the love in Judy that he feels he doesn’t get from his family.  He also feels a form of love in Plato’s adulation and the concern that Ray has for him.

     In the beginning of watching I couldn't see the lasting attraction over time for this film?  It did improve over time as I continued to watch.  This film was the inspiration for other films such as, Grease 1978, The Outsiders 1983 and Footloose 1984.  James Dean was at the beginning of his career and it was cut very short.  Dean was in many TV programs and his filmography includes Fixed Bayonets! 1951, Imdb 7*, Sailor Beware 1952 6.5, Deadline - U.S.A. 7.2, 1952, Has Anybody Seen My Gal? 1953 7.1*, East of Eden 1955 8*, Rebel Without a Cause 1955 7.8 and Giant 1956 7.7*.

111 min, Drama directed by Nicholas Ray with James Dean Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, Rochelle Hudson, Dennis Hopper, Edward Platt, Steffi Sidney, Maretta Canty, Virginia Brissac, Beverly Long, Ian Wolfe.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, Roger Ebert 4*, Rotten Tomatoes 96% critic 88% audience, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* out of 4* average user rating 3.6* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 479 reviews, Metacritic 87 out of 100 with 14 critics 8.2 out of 10 with 16 reviews, Slant Magazine 4* out of 5* Dan Callahan.

Special Note:  Filmed in Griffith Observatory, Getty Mansion, Griffith Park, John Marshall High School, Santa Monica High School, 7529 Franklin Avenue, Calabasas, Midtown, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, South Citrus Ave., Crystal Springs Drive, Los Feliz, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.  James Dean became angry with Nicolas Ray when he stopped the knife fight scene.  Nicholas noticed that Dean had a cut on his ear and he was bleeding.  Dean said, “Don’t you ever cut a scene while I’m having a real moment.”  Dean died on September 30, 1955, nearly a month before this film was released.  Dean died in an accident with his silver Porsche 550 Spyder.  His friends thought it was too high-powered and just days before he died.  Alec Guinness had a premonition that Dean would die behind the Spyder’s wheel.  The characters sit in an empty pool to discuss their lives.  It first appeared in Sunset Boulevard 1950.  All three lead actors, James Dean, Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood all died prematurely under tragic circumstances.  Mineo was stabbed on February 12, 1976.  Wood drowned in the late autumn of 1981.  Also, Edward Platt committed suicide in 1974 and Dennis Hopper became suddenly ill in the fall of 2009 and he died five months later.  He died from advanced prostate cancer and it had metastasized to his bones.       

Colette 2018

    Gabrielle Collette is very happy that she has married Parisian writer Henry Gauthier-Villars, known by his friends as Willy.  He is fourteen years older than his new wife.  She moves away from her childhood home in rural France to Paris.  This is a bit of a shock to her and she misses the countryside.  She’s also angry with Willy for some of his behavior.  Willy has writer’s block and he convinces Collette to ghostwrite for him.  She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about country girl Claudine.  The novel becomes a bestseller and a cultural sensation with every young woman wanting to be Claudine.  The adventures in Paris of Willy and Collette inspire more novels about Claudine.  Collette begins to feel constrained by Willy and she would like France to know that she has written the Claudine novels

     Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born 28 January 1873 and she died 3 August 1954.  She was a French author and woman of letters nominated for the Noble Prize in Literature in 1948.  Willy was born in 1859 and he died in 1931.  Collette’s first four novels, the four Claudine stories, Claudine a l’ecole (school) 1900, Claudine a Paris 1901, Claudine en ménage (married) 1902 and Claudine es’enva (and Annie) appeared under Willy’s name.  They are about Claudine from the age of 15 in a Burgundina village to a doyenne (most respected or prominent person in a particular field) of the literary salons of turn-of-the-century Paris.  Willy and Colette separated in 1906 and their divorce was final in 1910.  Collette did not receive the sizeable earnings of the Claudine books since the copyright belonged to Willy.  Collette married Henry de Jouvenel, the editor of Le Matin.  She had a daughter Colette de Jouvenel in 1913.  During WWI Colette devoted herself to journalism.  I thought this film was very good.  4 ½* (I really liked this movie)         

111 min, Bio directed by Wash Westmoreland with Keira Knightley, Fiona Shaw, Dominic West, Robert Pugh, Sloan Thompson, Arabella Weir, Mate Haumann, Ray Panthaki, Al, Weaver, Virag Barany, Dickie Beau, Kylie Watt, Janine Harouni, Jake Graf, Joe Geary.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 87% critic 70% audience, Roger Ebert 3*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Mark Kermode, EmpireOnline 4* out of 5* Helen O’hara, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers,  Metacritic 74 out of 100 with 40 critics 7 out of 10 with 50 user scores, The Telegraph 4* out of 5* Tim Robey.

Special Note:  Filmed in Budapest and Kecskemet, Hungary; Cogges Manor Farm, Witney, Oxfordshire, England, UK.  There were times at the Budapest location shoot that Dominic West wore a water vest inside his heavy costume.  It was like a car radiator and circulated cool water around his upper body.  John C. Reilly used this vest while acting as Oliver Hardy in Stan & Ollie 2018.  It was illegal for women to wear men’s clothing in France during this time period.  There was a scandal over Collette’s choice to wear pants.  Colette wrote the novella Gigi published in 1944 and it was the basis for the stage production 1973 and 1958 film of the same title.  Some shooting was done in Budapest because of the cost to shoot in Paris.  The French countryside was reconstructed in the regions of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. 

After Auschwitz 2017

     This film follows six women after the Holocaust.  The Jewish people housed in the concentration camp at Auschwitz are told, “You’re free. Go home.”  They were being liberated because Germany is defeated in WWII but what do they do now?  Their bodies are so emaciated that they can barely hold down any nourishment.  Their properties have been destroyed and their relatives are all dead.  What is there to go back to?

     This movie is good and very interesting.  There is so much heartbreak for the people who have managed to survive being in this concentration camp.  Another important point is that this was not the only camp for Jewish people.  There are 68 camps listed on Wikipedia!!  This list doesn’t include the Ghettos in German-occupied Europe and they are on a different list.  The people who lived in these camps never forget their experiences and they also never forget the family members they lost.  4 ½* (I really liked this movie)   

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 100% critic 86% audience, The Washington Post 2.5* out of 5* Michael O’Sullivan, Metacritic 74 out of 100 with 8 critics, Amazon Video 4 ½* with 3 reviews.

Beyond the Farthest Star 2015

      This film is based on a novel written by Brock Thoene. When a nativity scene in front of a church is burned, this event brings the national spotlight to this forgotten Texas town.  Pastor Adam Wells was once a famous preacher as a young boy but he hasn’t reached these heights as an adult.  He feels he now has an opportunity to regain his former glory.  He also has one last chance to restore his fractured family.  Adam is married to Maurene and they met in high school when they were chosen to represent a married couple in class.  They are now having problems in their marriage.  They have a teenage daughter Anne and she is into everything Goth, dark lipstick, clothing, attitude and music.  She doesn’t want to call Adam her dad and she calls him Adam instead to show her disrespect of him.  Adam may need to make a choice?  To be the father to Anne that he needs to be or regain the glory he feels he has lost?

     This a broken family that needs help to change.  Adam is struggling and Maurene is also struggling.  She doesn’t want Adam to know that she has an bottle alcohol hidden away.  She sips from the bottle when there are low points in her life.  She wants to write her own speeches when she’s called to talk to the women of the church.  She doesn’t want Adam to write them for her.  Anne is even more lost than her mother.  She is hurting deeply inside and she would like to be released from her pain but she doesn’t know how.  She hurts others first before they can hurt her.  This is her automatic defense.  There is a little bit of confusion in this film unless you follow the plot closely.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

 

119 min, Drama directed by Andrew Librizzi with Renee O’Connor, Todd Terry, Cherami Leigh, William McNamara, Andrew Prine, Barry Corbin, Tyler Corie, Shawn Roe, Lou Beatty Jr., Jorgan Walker Ross, Andrew Sensening, Benjamin Dane, Jodie Moore, Gail Cronauer.

Note:  Goodreads gives the book 3.84* with 365 ratings, Imdb 7.4 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 100% audience, The Independent Critic 3.5* out of 5* Richard Propes.

Special Note:  Filmed in Leonard and Dallas Texas.  Actress Cherami Leigh in the role of Goth teen Anne Wells has voiced over 50 Anime characters.  The filming schedule for this film had to be reworked to allow her to attend a Megacon panel including a new Anime series.  She was also a Radio Disney DJ starting at 8 years old.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web 2018

     This film is based on the fourth book in a series but David Lagercrantz wrote this novel and not Stieg Larsson.  Stieg had planned to write ten books about Lizbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist but he passed away in 2004.  Lisbeth Salander is a vigilante hacker in Stockholm, Sweden.  She is hired by computer programmer Frans Balder to retrieve Firefall.  This is a program able to access the world’s nuclear codes.  Balder developed these codes for the National Security Agency.  He now believes the codes are too dangerous to exist.  Lisbeth successfully retrieves Firefall from the NSA servers but she is unable to unlock the program.  Agent Edwin Needham is aware that Lisbeth has obtained th program.  Mercenaries led by Jan Holster steal the program and they attempt to kill Lisbeth.  Balder believes Llisbeth decided to keep Firefall for herself when she doesn’t meet him at their rendezvous site.  He contacts Gabrelle Grane, she is the deputy director of the Swedish Security Service.  Gabrelle moves Balder and his young son August to a safe house.  Needham tracks the login to Stockholm and now he’s looking for Lisbeth and the program.  

     There is a LOT going on in this film and sometimes it’s difficult to keep track of the people involved in the spy world!!  Even if you can follow the characters, they can suddenly change sides on you?  I don't think Claire Foy is as much of a heavyweight in this role as Noomi Rapce?  She is the previous actress in the role of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 2009, The Girl Who Played with Fire 2009 and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?  Noomi is a triple threat and she was certainly tough enough but it's also questionable about Rooney Mara?   

117 min, Action directed by Fede Alvarez with Claire Foy, Beau Gadsdon, Sverrir Gudnason, LaKeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, Carlotta von Falkenhayn, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Convery, Claes Bang, Synnove Macody Lund, Cameron Britton, Vicky Krieps, Andreja Pejic. 

Note:  Goodreads gives the book 3.76* out of 5* with 114,688 ratings and 12,148 reviews, Imdb 6.1 out of 10, Roger Ebert 1 1/2* out of 5*, Rotten Tomatoes 40% critic 36% audience, RollingStone 3 ½* out of 5* Peter Travers, EmpireOnline 3* out of 5* Alex Godfrey, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 466 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Stockholm and Leipzig/Halle Airport, Sweden; Berlin and Hamburg, Germany.  Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara were upset the casting for this film.  They were fully committed to a sequel but their last film was a box office disappointment.  Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson were originally considered for the film prior to this one and were in talks for this film.  Felicity Jones and Alicia Vikander were also considered.  The budget was $43 million and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo of 2011 had a $90 million budget.  One of the reasons given for the financial failure of the previous film was the overblown budget?  This film still flopped even with a much small production budget.  Claire Foy was inspired to get a few real tattoos of her own after sporting Lisbeth’s tattoos.  

Operation Avalanche DVD 2017

     The setting of this film is the height of the Cold War in 1967.  The CIA believes there is a Russian mole inside of NASA.  The intent of the mole is to sabotage the Apollo Program.  Two young agents are sent inside the CIA to go undercover.  They are posing as documentary filmmakers working on capturing NASA’s race to the moon on film.  Their real mission is to use their access and technology to hunt down the leak.  What they really discover is more shocking than a Soviet spy!!  The US government may be hiding a secret about Apollo that could define this decade!!  The White House will stop at nothing to silence anyone who learns about what is really going on at NASA!! 

     This film is supposed to prove that young film making CIA agents were responsible for faking Apollo 11’s landing on the moon!!  What the film really does is show that it would be impossible to fake the landing on the moon??  They come off as buffoons that can’t find their way out of an elevator with the doors open??  I thought this film was terrible and ridiculous from the first moment to the last!!  1* (I hated this movie) (I rarely give this low of a rating)     

94 min, Drama directed by Matt Johnson with Owen Williams, Andrew Appelle, Matt Johnson, Jared Raab, Josh Boles, Ray James, Sharon Belle, Krista Madison, Joe Thomas, John Henry Robson, Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Tom Bolton, John Osmokrovic, Chris Gonsalves.

Note:  Imdb 6 out of 10, Roger Ebert 2*, 69% critic 53% audience, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Jordan Hoffman, Metacritic 69 out of 100 with 18 critics 6.8 out of 10 with 16 user scores, Amazon 3.2* out of 5* with 50 reviews.  

Special Note:  Filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas; Shepperton Studios, London, England, UK.  This film is director Matt Johnson’s thesis for college.  Filmed on DV and then printed onto 16 mm film to give the grainy film look.  Matt Johnson dragged the print on the ground to artificially age the footage.  Matt and Andrew have ID cards with their titles of Director and Camera.  This is their real life status as Director and Cinematographer.   

Double Indemnity DVD 1973

     There is another film with the same title and plot from 1944 based on a novel by James M. Cain published in 1943.  The novel was based on the true story of Ruth Snyder and she was the subject of a notorious 1920’s murder trial.  Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson plan to murder Phyllis’s husband and collect on a double indemnity insurance policy.  They think they can pass this scam over on Neff’s boss Barton Keyes. 

     I watched and reviewed the 1944 film first.  I think it has a lot more punch than this film.  Imdb gives the 1944 film 8.3 out of 10, that’s 3.6* higher than this film.  I’m not sure what the difference is?  It must be the cast because the plot is almost exactly the same?  3* (This movie is OK)

75 min, Crime directed by Jack Smight with Richard Crenna, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Webber, Samantha Eggar, Arch Johnson, Kathleen Cody, John Fielder, John Elerick, Joan Pringle, Gene Dynarski, Ken, Renard, Joyce Cunning.

Note:  Imdb 4.7 out of 10, Letterboxd 2.7* out of 5*, Slant Magazine 3* out of 5* Dan Callahan.  

Special Note:  Filed at Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California.  Billy Wilder and Barbara Stanwyck worked on the 1944 version and they watched this broadcast in their homes.  Wilder phone Stanwyck and he said, “Missy, they just didn’t get right,” and he hung up!!

Mrs. Dalloway 1997

     This film is based on a novel by Virginia Woolf.  The setting is London in the summer of 1923.  Clarissa is married to MP Richard Dalloway.  Peter, Clarissa’s former suitor, stops by to let her know that he has returned from India.  Peter wanted to marry Clarissa but she felt he was too demanding?  She invites him to her party in the evening but she doesn’t know if he will come?  She sets out on a beautiful morning to shop for flowers for her special party.  She passes by Septimus Warren Smith and his wife Rezia.  Septimus is suffering from delayed onset shell shock from WWI.  As Clarissa is preparing for her party, she remembers her friendship with Sally and the days of her youth before her marriage.  Later, she thinks about Septimus. 

     This film is beautifully made and there is a lot of attention to period details.  Many people have a moment in their lives where they make a choice between one path or another.  In this case, Clarissa had to choose to marry Peter or Richard?  She has known Peter for a long time but he seems a risk and dangerous but alive.  Instead, she decides to marry the safe and sound Richard.  She feels known as Mrs. Dalloway by almost everybody, what happened to Clarissa?  Did she fade away or did she blend into her marriage?  She is also not a young woman anymore, she is now in her 60’s and growing old is another of life’s challenges.  4* (I really liked this movie)     

      

97 min, Drama directed by Marleen Gorris with Vanessa Redgrave, Natascha McElhone, Michael Kitchen, Alan Cox, Sarah Badel, Lena Headey, John Standing, Robert Portal, Oliver Ford Davies, Hal Cruttenden, Rupert Graves, Amelia Bullmore, Margaret Tyzack.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Rotten Tomatoes 71% critic 57% audience, EmpireOnline 3* out of 5* Angie Errigo, Amazon 3.6* out of 5* with 86 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Duke of York Column and St. James’s Park, St. James’s, London, England, UK. The date of the party is June 13, 1923.  The dress Clarissa wears in her youth during a boat outing is a replica of the dress in the John Singer Sargent Painting “Lady Agnew of Lochnaw."  Executive producer (the late) Bill Shepherd and his wife the actress Eileen Atkins (the writer of the screenplay) invested their own money in this film.  They only narrowly avoided personal bankruptcy when it flopped at the box office!!  Eileen Atkins will be 85 in June and Vanessa Redgrave is 82 years old.  Virginia Woolf was born in 1882 and she died in 1941 at the age of 59 from suicide by drowning.

Double Indemnity 1944

     This film is based on a novel by James M. Cain and the setting is in 1938.  Walter Neff is an experienced salesman for the Pacific All Risk Insurance Co.  He stops by the house of Mr. Dietrichson, he is one of their auto insurance clients.  Mr. Dietrichson is not home but his wife says he will be home that evening and Walter makes an appointment to come back.  The insurance policy for two of their cars has lapsed and they are not currently covered by a policy.  Phyllis Dietrichson is very attractive and Walter begins an affair with her.  Phyllis takes out an insurance policy to receive twice the amount of the policy if her husband has an accident.  This is known in insurance language as double indemnity.  Soon afterwards, Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on a train track.  The police believe it is accidental death.  Insurance analyst and Walter’s best friend Barton Keyes believes that Phyllis has murdered her husband with the help of another man?

     Walter didn’t have his head on straight the minute after he met femme fatale Phyllis.  He believes any plan will work as long as he and Phyllis get money and get rid of her husband.  He also believes Phyllis fell madly in love with him the minute she saw Walter!!  Barton Keyes has been in the insurance business for a long time and he’s seen every type of scam to claim insurance money!!  Can Keyes be fooled this time by Walter and Phyllis?  4* (I really liked this movie)  

        

107 min, Crime directed by Billy Wilder, screenwriters Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Poter Hall, Jean Heather, Tom Powers, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, Fortunio Bonanova, John Philliber.

Note:  Imdb 8.3 out of 10, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* out of 4* average user rating 4.4* out of 5*, Roger Ebert 4*, Rotten Tomatoes 97% critic 95% audience, EmpireOnline Rob Fraser 5*, The Telegraph 5* Marc Lee, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 570 reviews.  

Special Note:  Filmed on 6301 Quebec Drive, 1825 N. Kingsley Drive, La Golondrina Café, Producers Studios, Burbank Southern Pacific Station, Paramount Studios, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Venice Canals, Hollywood Hills, Palos Verdes, Bryson Apartments, California.  Billy Wilder added the scene at the railroad tracks where the car won’t start after his car wouldn’t start at the end of a shooting day.  Author James M. Cain admitted later that if he had come up with some of the solutions to the plot that the screenwriters did, he would have used them in his novel.  Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did not get along during writing the script.  There were many arguments between the two men.  Barbara Stanwyck was originally unnerved when she learned the role was of a ruthless killer.  Wilder asked her, “Are you a mouse or an actress?”  Stanwyck is wearing a blond wig.  There is another film with the same plot and title from 1973.

Cry Danger 1951

     After serving 5 years of a life sentence for armed robbery, Rocky Mulloy is back in town.  He is hoping to clear his friend Danny Morgan who’s still in prison for the same crime.  A witness came forward to say that Rocky wasn’t involved but the witness says Danny is guilty.  Nancy is Danny’s glamorous wife and she lives in a sleazy trailer court.  Gus Cob is a cop and he just wants to stir the waters to see if the missing $100,000 will come to the surface? 

     Rocky is going to give it his all to find out who took 5 years of his life away!!  He also wants to clear Danny but he doesn’t want to jeopardize the parole hearing coming up for him.  Rocky was in love with Nancy but she married Danny.  Rocky gets a tip to bet on a horse that’s sure to win.  When Rocky gets his payout for the win, the money is some of the stolen money?  Gus Cob doesn’t believe anything Rocky says after nothing checks out?  I liked this movie with the attitudes, the double crosses, tough guys, the women and especially the cars!!  These were heavy cars but they didn’t have any safety features!!  4* (I really liked this movie)  

              

79 min, Crime directed by Robert Parrish with Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, William Conrad, Regis Toomey, Jean Porter, Joan Banks, Jay Adler, Renny McEvoy, Lou Lubin, Benny Burt, Hy Averback, Gloria Saunders.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 82% audience, Amazon 4 ½* with 130 reviews, Letterboxd 3.75* out of 5*, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user rating 4.35* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in the New Grand Hotel, Los Amigos, 644-700 N. Hill Place, Bunker Hill, Union Station, General Service Studios, Republic Studios, Motion Picture Center Studios, Las Angeles, California.  Tom Weaver interviewed Jean Porter and she said Dick Powell directed the film but he wasn’t give director credit.  Powell gave the credit to Parrish.  Richard Erdman’s car is a uni-body two-door 1950 Nash Statesman 600.  It features the one-year-only uniscope instrument pod.  The car belonged to Jean Porter and it was a gift from her husband Edward Dmytryk.  When Robert Parrish first saw the car on the set, he thought it would be perfect for Erdman’s character.  Filming was delayed one week because Rhonda Fleming had to undergo emergency appendectomy surgery.  The $100,000 in 1946 (the time of the theft) is equal to about $1,284,850 in 2018.  $100,000 in 1951 (the time period of the movie) is equal to about $963,640.

Bohemian Rhapsody 2018

      Farrokh Bulsara likes to go to clubs for the music in the 1970’s in London.  He meets a band that’s just lost their lead singer.  Farrokh asks if he can be the singer?  One of the band members replies, “Not with those teeth.”  They change their minds when they hear Farrokh sing.  Inside Farrokh is a shy kid and his parents want him to get a respectable job.  Farrokh does work as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport.  Farrokh changes his name to Freddie Mercury and everything about his life and the band changes. During their first performance, they just get one catcall, “Paki.”  Freddie is an Indian Parsi refugee from Aanzibar.  Suddenly they are now Queen and they are touring the world. 

     Freddie has a friend and her name is Mary, they wanted to get married but things changed.  Mary remained his one true friend throughout Freddie’s career.  Later, after he broke up the band, he had hangers on that wanted the touch of fame and a free meal ticket.  Freddie had a fantastic voice range and boundless energy.  Freddie was a real genius but this film wants to skirt around Freddie being gay?  Freddie loved Elvis, Opera, music halls, costumes, Victorian England and men.  He also loved Mary, his one true love!!   I thought this film was fabulous and I really loved the music!!!   5* (I really loved this movie)

134 min, Bio directed by Bryan Singer with Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, Mike Myers, Aaron McCusker, Meneka Das, Ace Bhatti, Priya Blackburn, Dermot Murphy, Dickie Beau.

Note:  Imdb 8.1 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 61% critic 86% audience, Metacritic 49 out of 100 with 50 critics 7.8 out of 10 with 902 reviews, Roger Ebert 1* Sheila O’Malley, RollingStone 3* out of 5* Peter Travers, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Steve Rose, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 3806 reviews. 

Special Note:  British choreographer and movement coach Polly Bennett worked closely with Rami to perfect every nuance of Freddie’s mannerisms.  Rami Malek was fitted with special prosthetic teeth to recreate Freddie’s prominent overbite.  Rami kept the teeth as a memento and he had them cast in gold.  Freddie had two extra incisor teeth and that gave him a larger mouth and a higher voice range.  Canadian singer Marc Martel does the singing as Freddie.  A seamless mix of Marc’s voice and Freddie’s together on top of Rami Malek’s voice was used for the vocals.    

Can You Ever Forgive Me 2018

     This film is an adaptation of a memoir written by Lee Israel published in 2008.  The setting is in the 1970-80’s in New York.  Lee Israel was a writer but she’s fallen on hard times and she’s been fired from her current job.  Her publisher tells her than no one is interested at this time in a Lee Israel book?  If Lee would stop being so obnoxious, stop drinking and being constantly disheveled, someone might be interested in a novel.  Lee is doing research for a novel on Fanny Bryce and she discovers a letter in a book written by Fanny Bryce.  She learns it wouldn’t bring much money as is but if she tweaks it a little she can sell the letter.  Lee is behind on her rent and all her bills and this can be an income source?

     Lee Israel began a career as a freelance writer in the 1960’s.  She had a profile piece in Esquire magazine of 1967 about Katharine Hepburn shortly before Spencer Tracy died.  Her magazine career continued into the 1970’s.  Also in the 1970’s, she published biographies of actress Tallulah Bankhead, game-show panelist Dorothy Kilgallen and cosmetics tycoon Estee Lauder.  The Kilgallen piece was well received and was on The New York Times Best Seller List.  By 1992, her career as a writer of books and magazine articles had ended.  She tried to earn money from wage jobs but she failed.

     This film has received many awards for Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Director Marielle Heller and the Screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty.  McCarthy has put herself out there with her very frumpy appearance and bad attitude.  She only loves her cat and not any other people.  There is not much to like about Lee either!!  Maybe her best friend is alcohol?  Some of Israel’s favorite songs play in the background.  I had never heard of Lee Israel before watching this film.  There is a different edge and angle to this film.  There is also the jarring fact that Israel was able to profit from her crimes later when she wrote a novel about her cons?  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

106 min, Bio directed by Marielle Heller with Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Gregory Korostishevsky, Jane Curtin, Stephen Spinella, Christian Navarro, Pun Bandhu, Erik LaRay Havery, Brandon Scott Jones, Shae D‘lyn, Rosal Colon, Anna Deavere Smith, Marc Evan Jackson.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Mark Kermode, EmpireOnline 4* out of 5* Ian Freer, Metacritic 87 out of 100 with 53 critics 7.4 out of 10 with 109 user scores, Independent 5* Geoffrey Macnab, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 446 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed on West 1th Street, West 81^st Street, East 59^th Street, 126 Crosby Street, 99 St. Mark’s Place, Central Park, New York City, New York.  Automobiles from the 21-century are sometimes in the background of some scenes?  Richard E. Grant portrays an alcoholic but he’s allergic to alcohol.  Originally Sam Rockwell and Chris O’Dowd were cast in the role played by Richard E. Grant as Jack Hock.  Ben Falcone, the husband of Melissa McCarthy is in the role of Alan Schmidt. 

At Eternity’s Gate 2018

     Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh goes to Aries and Auvers-Sur-Oise, France for self-imposed exile.  While he is there, he develops his unique, colorful style of painting.  Also, he is working through his feelings about religion, mental illness and his chaotic friendship with French artist Paul Gauguin.  Vincent begins to focus on his relationship with eternity rather than thinking about the pain his art causes him at this time in his life.  Other people don’t seem to see nature the same way that he does?  They don’t seem to understand his paintings and his style?  Some think his work is ugly?   

     Van Gogh believes paintings should be done quickly with heavy strokes of paint.  Paul Gauguin believes just the opposite.  Paintings should be done slowly, with much thought and less paint.  Their relationship begins to sour and Gauguin announces that he will soon depart.  This news is crushing to Vincent and he feels an artistic allegiance to Gauguin.  Vincent spends time in hospitals and mental hospitals.  He is released from a mental hospital after a talk with a sympathetic supervising pastor.  He goes to Auvers-Sur-Oise near Paris to paint and draw local landscapes.  I thought this was good and very interesting.  This film really gives insights into this time period and way of life.  It also shows that Van Gogh’s work was not for the people at this date but for a later age.  Somehow, Van Gogh knew this and this knowledge kept him going despite his critics.  4* (I really liked this movie)     

           

111 min, Bio directed by Julian Schnabel with Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Niels Arestrup, Anne Consigny, Amirea Casar, Vincent Perez, Lolita Chammah, Stells Schnabel, Vladimir Consigny, Arthur Jacquin.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 80% critic 61% audience, Metacritic 76 out of 100 with 34 critics 6.9 out of 10 with 61 user scores, Slant Magazine 2* out of 4* Greg Cwik, EmpireOnline 4* out of 5* Ian Freer, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Wendy Ide, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 118 reviews. 

Special Note:  Filmed in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhone and Auvers-sure-Oise, Vad-d’Oizse, France.  The only Best Actor Oscar nominated performance of the year in a film not nominated for Best Picture.  Willem Dafoe is the second actor to be nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards for playing Vincent Van Gogh.  Kirk Douglas played Van Gogh in Lust for Life 1956.  Dafoe was born William but changed his name to Willem.  This is the Dutch version of the name.  Van Gogh is Dutch.  Mads Mikkelsen and Mathieu Amalric have both played Bond villains in films with Daniel Craig as Bond.  Three actors in this film have also played Marvel Comics villains.  Dafoe as Green Goblin, Isaac as Apocalypse and Mikkelsen as Kaecilius.  Dafoe was 62 when this film was released, 25 years older than Van Gogh who died at age 37.  There is controversy over Van Gogh’s bullet in his stomach wound?  It was assumed that he shot himself but he could have been accidentally shot by a friend’s 16-year-old brother?