Aquaman 2019

     This film is a DC/Justice League adventure.  Queen Atlanna was in an abusive marriage with King Orm and she left her underwater home.  She met Tom Curry when she came out of the ocean and into his home.  She was injured and bleeding, he helped her recover and they fell in love.  Arthur Curry is their son but Atlanna had to return to the ocean.  Arthur would rather live on land than in the ocean.  His half-brother King Orm plots a war against humanity and Arthur is forced to fight.  Their battle will determine which man will be the King of the Atlantean throne. 

     There is a LOT of color and action in this film plus a LOT of CGI.  It’s also long with a LOT stuffed into it.  On the plus side, there is emphasis on the value of courage, perseverance, loyalty and responsibility.  But, there are a LOT of scenes with weapons such as blaster and tridents along with violence.  On the minus side, there are also stereotypes with men taking charge, women need to be sexy and mothers.  Black people are the bad guys?  3 /1* I liked this movie.   

143 min, Action directed by James Wan with Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Ludi Lin, Michael Beach, Randall Park, Graham McTavish, Leigh Whannell, Tainui and Tamor Kirkwood.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3* out of 4* Matt Zoller Seitz, Rotten Tomatoes 65% critic 75% audience, RollingStone 2 ½* out of 5* Peter Travers, Washington Post 1 ½* out of 4* Michael O’Sullivan, Metacritic 55 out of 100 with 50 critics 7 out of 10 with 1894 reviews (positive 759, mixed 230, negative 146), Common Sense Ordona age 11+ 3* out of 5* (3* positive, 3* role models, 3* violence 1* sex, 3* language, 1* consumerism 2*, drinking, drugs, smoking) Media Michael.

Special Note:  Filmed in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; Village Roadshow Studios, Main Beach Southport, Oxenford, Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia; Erice, 91016 Province of Trapani, Italy; Erfoud, Morocco.  The budget for this film was an estimated $160 million and the worldwide gross was $1,147,961,807.  Kidman immediately accepted the role when the director said she could wear Mother-of-Pearl and be a Mermaid Warrior!!  A number of underwater waterfalls are seen in this film.  This is an actual phenomenon.  The ocean is made up of two different layers of water,  warm, light water and cold, dense water.  The difference in densities means the layers are separate and causes the heavier cold water to fall as a waterfall.  There is a mistake in this film with the words Bandit and Bogey.   The term for a confirmed hostile aircraft is Bandit and a Bogey is the term for an unknown aircraft.  An aircraft shooting at you is a definite hostile!!

The Kiss 2003

     Cara Thompson has been newly promoted to book editor.  She discovers a potential best-seller manuscript but it’s unfinished.  The story was in her predecessor’s office and it was submitted 20 years ago.  Cara is moved by the passionate love story and she sees parallels in her own life.  She must and she needs to find the author!!  She can’t publish the novel without the writer’s permission and she needs the ending.  She travels to meet the possible author and he was never able to finish the story?  He is still struggling to cope with the death of his wife Claire twenty years ago.  Cara forms a friendship with the author Philip Naudet.  They both draw wisdom and strength from each other and Philip is able to write the final chapter.

     There are complaints about ‘flaws’ in this film?  Other reviewers, have needed tissues as the story unfolded?  Cara received a marriage proposal and she gave the ring back.  This is the same thing that happened with Philip and his wife Claire.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

90 min, Drama directed by Gorman Bechard with Terence Stamp, Francoise Surel, Eliza Dushku, Billy Zane, Illeana Douglas, Steven Gilborn, William Mapother, Jossie Thacker, Steven Houska, Patty McCormack, Senta Moses Mikan, Gary Bullock, Gerry McIntyre. 

Note:  Imdb 5.6* out of 10*, Rotten Tomatoes 33% audience, Amazon 3.3* out of 5* with 34 reviews.

Special Note:  This film is based on Robert Doisneau’s famous 1950 photograph “Kiss by the Hotel de Ville.”  There is also a sculpture of The Kiss.  I was amazed at how thin the lead actress is, the camera is supposed to add pounds but not in this instance?  Francoise Surel’s performance earned her the Best Actress award at the 2003 San Diego Film Festival.

Ocean’s 11 1960

     A group of soldier friends from the 82^nd airborne regroup 15 years after their time in the service.  They are planning to rob millions of dollars from five Las Vegas casinos.  The future stepfather of one of the men learns who did this job.  Now they must find a way to smuggle the loot out of town unless they want to give half the money away to silence a possible snitch??

     If you like the actors in this film and the rat pack, then you will like this movie.  There isn’t much of a plot and it’s all interaction between the actors.  I thought it got a little dull as time passed.  Unusually, this film got its beginnings from a gas station attendant handing Frank Sinatra his screenplay?  What are the odds of this happening?  

127 min, Comedy directed by Lewis Milestone with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martinm, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, Patrice Wymore, Joey Bishop Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase, Buddy Lester, Richard Benedict, Jean Willes.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 348 reviews, Common Sense Media Charles Cassady Jr. age 12+, 2* out of 5* (2* violence, 5* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada and Southern, California.  Sammy Davis Jr. was required to stay at a hotel for people of his race only.  Las Vegas would only allow whites at the Sands Hotel.  This changed with Frank Sinatra confronted the casino owners on Sammy’s behalf.  Shirley MacLaine has a cameo performance and it was reported that she received a new car from Warner Brothers as compensation.  Many of the scenes with between the major characters were ad-libbed.  This was because the actors knew each other so well and their lines were better than the script.  Most of the filming was completed early in the morning before sunrise.  Most of the actors had shows in Las Vegas that they performed nightly.  They would wake up in the afternoon and do one or two shows in the evening.  Then they went through make-up and arrived at the shooting locations.  The shooting location was set  up in advance so minimal time would be taken when the actors arrived.

Genesis 2.0 2018

      Hunters travel to the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean.  They are searching for the tusks of extinct mammoths.  The thawing permafrost releases the precious ivory.  The hunters do find tusks and they find a surprisingly well-preserved mammoth carcass.  High-tech genetic scientists are on the lookout for DNA from a mammoth.  They would like to clone this extinct animal.  They believe resurrecting the mammoth is the first manifestation of the next great technological revolution.  This film is also about the secrets and mysteries hidden within nature.  There is the fundamental difference of creation and the role of man in a technical creation?

      There are ethical concerns and sustainability issues in bringing back an extinct animal!!  Personally, I wonder about the repercussions about recreating an extinct animal as large as this one?  A mammoth could be reintroduced into Russia where it may have a positive impact on Siberian permafrost.  Climate change is causing receding of this area.  Scientists as a group think that time and money should be spent on keeping the animals we have from extinction.  Researcher George Church has successfully constructed functioning Asian elephant cells with mammoth DNA inserted in them.  Genes associated with cold resistance including hairiness, ear size, subcutaneous fat and hemoglobin were prioritized.  I found all this information very interesting!!  The bottom line of this film (I suspected this fact already) is that the hunters only receive a couple of hundred dollars for their dangerous work in an inhospitable location!!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

112 min, Doc directed by Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev with Peter and Semyon Grigoriev, Woo Suk Hwang, Maxdim Arbugaev, Christian Frei.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, Roger Ebert Simon Abrams 1*, Rotten Tomatoes 77% critic 82% audience, Metacritic 60 out of 100 with 5 critics 6.4 out of 10 with 5 reviews (2 positive, 3 mixed), Slant Magazine 2* out of 4* Chuck Bowen, The Epoch Times.com 3.5* Joe Bendel. 

Special Note:  Filmed in China, South Korea and Boston, Massachusetts; New Siberian Island and Yalutsk, Russia.  Woolly mammoths lived during the Pleistocene epoch (about 5 million years ago) and became extinct in the early Holocene epoch (about 4,000 years ago).  Various species existed in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.  It is legal to sell mammoth ivory and it looks nearly identical to elephant ivory to the untrained eye.  Elephant ivory has been banned since 1990.

Heaven Can Wait 1943

     Henry Van Cleve arrives at the gates of Hell and he finds out that he needs to be vetted on his qualifications for entry?  Henry is surprised and he thought there would not be any questions about his suitability?  He begins to recount his life and the women he has known starting with his mother.  He concentrates on talking about his twenty-five years of marriage to Martha.

      I thought this was good and didn't know until the end of Henry Van Cleve was going to stay in hell or he would be released and sent to heaven instead?  The clothing, hairstyles and social ethics of this time period is very interesting too.  Henry's parents are very doting and Henry carries that forward with his own son.  Martha's parents were not supposed to be funny but they were!!  I have also seen the 1978 version and I think this one is better.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

112 min, Comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch with Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn, Marjorie Main, Laird Cregar, Spring Byington, Allyn Joslyn, Eugene Pallette, Signe Hasso, Louis Calhern, Helene Reynolds, Aubrey Mather, Tod Andrews.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 92% critic 76% audience, Amazon 4.7 out of 5* with 44 reviews, Slant Magazine 4* out of 5* Jake Cole, Leterboxd average 3.6* out of 5*.

Special Note:  There is another film with the same title from 1978 with Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and James Mason.  Filmed on Stage 3, 20^th Century Fox Studios, Century City, Los Angeles, California.  Don Ameche said this movie was his favorite of all the films he worked on.  Originally, the lead was written for Fredric March or Rex Harrison.  Lubitsch was disappointed when 20^th Century Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck insisted on casting Don Ameche for commercial reasons.  Later, Lubitsch changed his mind about Ameche because of his dedication and professionalism.  Gene Tierney said that Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors and one scene took from noon until five PM to finish.  There was a LOT of shouting and Tierney talked to him about the shouting!!  This is Lubitsch’s only completed film in Technicolor.  Marjorie Main as Mrs. Strabel, Martha’s mother, has been in many films from 1929 until 1958, she is best known as Ma Kettle and Pa Kettle was played by Percy Kilbride.

Passage to Marseille 1944

     The setting of this film is WWII.  French bomber crews prepare for an air raid over Germany from a base in England.  During the daylight hours, the planes and everything else in camouflaged in cow barns.  After sunset, the cows go back into the barns and the planes and crew emerge.  French journalist Matrac opposed the Munich Pact.  He was framed for murder and sent to Devil’s Island.  Matrac and four other men were helped to escape from the Island.  They are on board a ship the Ville de Nancy bound for Marseilles when France surrenders and fascist sympathizer Major Duval tries to seize the ship for Vichy.

     I thought this film was interesting and it seems very realistic for the war scenes and the time period.  This is one of the few films to use a flashback within a flashback within a flashback.  This effect is often seen as an attempt to recapture the magic of Casablanca of 1942.  At times the flashbacks would go five deep!!  Much of the cast is also from Casablanca because that film won a Best Picture Oscar the previous year. 

109 min, Adventure directed by Michael Curtiz with Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michele Morgan, Philip Dorn, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, George Tobias, Helmut Dantine, John Loder, Victor Francen, Vladimir Sokoloff, Eduardo Ciannelli, Corinna Mura.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 57% audience, Letterboxd average 3.3* out of 5*, Rate Your Music.com 3.03* out of 5* with 64 ratings, ranked #72 for 1944, TheAceBlackBloc.com 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 62 reviews. 

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, Arcadia also Victorville and Warner Bros. Burbank Studios, California.  Warner Bros. built a full-scale Merchant Marine ship in three months and it was modeled after the French ship Ville de Nancy.  During filming, Lauren Bacall was visited the set to gauge her chemistry with Bogart.  She would soon be co-starring with him in To Have and Have Not 1944.  This was their first meeting and their romance began months later.  They were married from May 21, 1945 until he passed away in January 14, 1957 and they had two children. Previously, he was married to Mayo Methot 1938-1945, Mary Philips 1928 to 1938, Helen Menken 1926 to 1927.   

Say Her Name 2018

     Sandra Bland was pulled over for a traffic violation on July 10, 2015.  Her mistake was not putting on her turn signal for a lane change in Waller County, Texas.  The exchange between Sandra and State Trooper Brian Encinia escalated and Sandra was arrested and taken to jail.  Shortly after being taken to her jail cell, Sandra was found dead from hanging and she was 28 years old.  Recordings were made at the traffic stop by the dash cam, by a bystander’s cell phone and Bland’s own phone.  Sandra’s family does not believe Sandra would kill herself?  She had gone to Texas for a job interview by her Alma Mater and she had been hired for a position that she wanted.

     Sandra was from Naperville, Illinois and this is a suburb of Chicago.  She was one of five sisters and she graduated from Prairie View A&M University just outside of Hempstead in Waller County, Texas.  She graduated in 2009 with a degree in agriculture.  What I specifically noticed on the phone and camera footage is how combative Sandra was at the time she was pulled over?  She had lived in this County during her college years and she must have known the attitude of this area?  She might still be alive if she had not been so belligerent against being stopped and the officer.  I know she did not deserve any of the treatment she received!!!!  4* (I really liked this movie)             

105 min, Doc directed by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner with Sandra Bland, Robert E. Brzezinski, Brian Encinia, Cannon Lambert, Elton Mathis, Shante Needham, J. Thomas Rhodes III, Larry Rogers Jr., Glenn Smith.

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 100% critic 50% audience, Metacritic 76% out of 100 critic with 4 positive scores, Amazon 5* with 2 reviews.

Special Note:  I thought about this film a LOT after viewing!!  I really felt terrible for Sandra's mother and the other four sisters!!  Their loss and time will not take that away either.  

The Green Book 2018

     The setting of this film is in the fall of 1962.  Tony “Tony Lip” Vallegonga is a tough Italian bouncer in a night club.  He’s looking for work because his nightclub is closed for renovations.  His most promising offer is to drive for the classical pianist Dr. Don Shirley.  Don is traveling for a concert tour into the Deep South states.  Tony accepts the job but he’s not trilled!!  They start out on their trek with the Green Book.  This is a travel guide for safe travel through America’s racially segregated south.  Don is a snobbish pianist and Tony is crudely practical.  Their clashing attitudes about life and their ideals cause them to barely get along!!  As they begin to witness and endure injustices on the journey, they have a new respect for their talents.  A friendship and understanding emerged that would change both their lives.

     I knew right away there would be problems when Don Shirley ventured into the Deep South because of race relationships.  I didn’t know until a heard about this film that there was a Green Book?  It was first published in 1936 and the last publication date was 1966.  It is one of the best known of the travel guides.  Written by Victor H. Green, a WWI veteran from New York City.  He worked as a mail carrier and later as a travel agent.  His intention for publishing the book was to keep people from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make a trip more enjoyable.  In this time period, there were many whites only establishments.  Tony is a funny character but he’s great to have around when there is any kind of trouble!!  4 ½* (I really liked this movie)

 

130 min, Bio directed by Peter Farrelly with Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, Mike Hatton, P.J. Byrne, Joe Cortese, Maggin Nixon, Von Lewis, Jon Sortland, Don Stark Anthony Mangano, Paul Sloan, Quinn Duffy.

Note:  Imdb 8.2 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 78% critic 91% audience, Roger Ebert 3* Christy Lemire, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Wendy Ide, Empire Online 4* out of 5* John Nugent, Metacritic 69 out of 100 with 52 critics (37 positive, 13 mixed, 2 negative), Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 2328 reviews, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen age 13+ 4* out of 5*, 4* positive, 3* role, 3* violence, 2* sex, 4* language, 1* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Burnside, Madeville, New Orleans, Hammond, Metairie, Amite, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Awards:  Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Original Screenplay; BAFTA Best Supporting; Critics’ Choice Best Supporting, Golden Globe Best Picture, Best Supporting and Best Screenplay; Screen Actors Outstanding Performance for Male Actor; AACTA Best Supporting; Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award for Peter Farrelly; Producer Guild for Best Theatrical Motion Picture to Nick Vallelonga, Peter Farrelly, Brian Currie; National Board of Review for Best Film.

I’m With Lucy 2002

     Lucy will be getting married in one hour.  Her best friend wants to hear all about what led up to this moment.  Lucy tells her about five men she had blind dates with over the past year.  She started blind dating after her boyfriend broke up with her loudly and embarrassingly in an elevator full of people!!  She thought he was the one and they would last in their relationship??  She dated Doug, Gabriel, Bobby, Barry and Luke.  There were many ups and downs in her new relationships.  Some dates start of terribly and end well.  Others are just the opposite, start out well and end terribly.  The big question is, which one of the five men will Lucy marry?

     I didn’t know which man Lucy would choose?  I thought her original boyfriend was pompous, unfeeling, egotistical and socially inept!!  Lucy or any other woman didn’t deserve that kind of a breakup.  This film made me very GLAD that my life is not anything like Lucy’s life!!  It was funny that Lucy’s parents don’t have filters and they talk about her as a child and teenager.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)    

  

90 min, Comedy directed by Jon Sherman with Monica Potter, Craig Bierko, Linda Halaska, Julianne Nicholson, Flora Martinez, Afemo Omilami, John Hannah, Gael Garcia Bernal, Anthony LaPaglia, John Tormey, Jeff Norris, Henry Thomas, David Boreanaz, Henry Yuk.

Note:  Imdb 6* out of 10*, Rotten Tomatoes 45% audience, Eye For Film 3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 58 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Miami, Florida and Manhattan, New York.  There are some mistakes in this film.  Barry unbuttons the top few buttons of his shirt, in the next scene they’re all buttoned again?  In a cab ride, Jo is riding in the middle but she climbs out last, behind both other women?  Doug is proposing a toast and Lucy is holding her glass, the next scene the glass in on the table and Lucy reaches for it.  Lucy and Luke are riding in Luke’s car after he picks her up.  In the shot from the front, her hair is blowing straight back.  In a scene from the side of inside the car, her hair is not blowing at all.  Lucy threw several darts at the board when she is playing with Bobby in a bar.  When the dart board is shown, only one dart is on the board?

Red Headed Woman 1932

     Lil Andrews works for the Legendre Company and she’s very interested in the boss Bill.  She arranges to deliver mail to his home and she makes a pass at him.  His wife has been away and Bill doesn’t answer when she calls.  When Irene Legendre gets home, she’s heartbroken and very disappointed to find Bill with Lil!!  She decides to divorce Bill and that leaves Lil a direct path to marrying Bill.  She’s moving up the financial and romantic ladders at the same time.  She spends a LOT of Bill’s money but then she meets Charles B. Gaerste.  He has more money and influence than Bill!!  Maybe she will move up another rung on the ladder.  She divorces Bill and she’s going to marry Charles until he is shown some pictures of Lil kissing the French chauffeur Albert.  Maybe it’s time to move further up the status and money ladder?

     Over time this film loses the comedy and Lil becomes a gold digger!!  Irene should’ve stood her ground and refused to divorce Bill!!  Then Lil would’ve just moved on up the ladder to someone else.  Somehow I didn’t see the comedy in this film but just the trail of hurting people she left behind her??  3* (This movie is OK)

    

79 min, Romance directed by Jack Conway with Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Leila Hyams, Una Merkel, Henry Stephenson, May Robson, Charles Boyer, Harvey Clark. 

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 69% audience, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 87 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user rating 2.7* out of 5*.

Special Note:  This film was banned from public showings in Great Britain at the original release.  King George V had a personal copy and later the film finally passed uncut with an A certificate in 1965.  F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the original screenplay but it was rejected by producer Irving Thalberg.  He thought the story was too serious.  Ania Loos was called in to do a complete rewrite with a lighter and more comical tone.  Jean Harlow wore a red wig and her makeup was more dramatic to highlight the nature of her character.  This was the ninth most popular movie at the US box office for 1932. 

The Mule 2018

     Based on The New York Times article, The Sinaola Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule by Sam Dolnichg.  Earl Stone is a man in his 80’s.  He’s not a happy man because he is broke, alone and facing foreclosure of his horticultural business.  Internet sales instead of orders have become the norm for his flowers.  He’s offered a job that simply requires him to drive?  This can’t be difficult, he knows how to drive, he hasn’t had any tickets, he has a license and he has an old truck.  What Earl doesn’t realize is that he is working for a Mexican cartel and he’s carrying larger and larger amounts of drugs each time he drives.  He has also come up on the radar of DEA agent Colin Bates.  Earl’s money problems become an old problem.  Now, he begins to regret the mistakes he has made in the past.  He has wronged everyone in his family!! 

     Is it possible that Earl doesn't really know what he is carrying in the back of his truck?  How could he earn so much money for doing so little if this was legal?  Not one member of his family has any good feelings for him.  They expect the worst from Earl and that's what they have always been given.  I wonder if Eastwood is really acting or is he playing himself in this role?  All the characters conveniently and exactly fit into their predetermined stereotypes?  3* (This movie is OK)

       

116 min, Crime directed by Clint Eastwood with Bradley Cooper, Michael Pena, Andy Garcia, Patrick L. Reyes, Cesar De Leon, Clint Eastwood, Gustavo Munoz, Jackie Prucha, Richard Herd, Adam Drescher, Christi McClintock, Keith Flippen, Alison Eastwood, Dianne Wiest, Joe Knezevich, Megan Leahy, Taissa Farmiga.

Note:  Imdb 7.1* out of 10, Roger Ebert 2* Christy Lemire, Rotten Tomatoes 70% critic 66% audience, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Indie Wire B+ David Ehrlich, Metacritic 58 out of 100 with 37 critics 6.9 out of 10 with 118 reviews (positive 76, mixed 35, negative 7), Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 1624 reviews, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson age 16+ 4* out of 5* positive 3*, role 1*, violence 3*, sex 4*, language 4* consumerism 1*, drinking, drugs, smoking 3*.

Special Note: This film is inspired by the story of Leo Sharp.  He was a WWII veteran in his 80’s who became the world’s oldest and most prolific drug mule for the Sinaloa Cartel.  Filmed in Augusta, McDonough, Decatur, Atlanta, Canton, Norcross, Jonesboro, Georgia and Las Cruces, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.  Andy Garcia said he would have accepted any role because he wanted to do a movie with Clint Eastwood.  Alison Eastwood is Clint’s daughter!!  She was born in Santa Monica California on May 22, 1972 and her mother is Maggie Johnson also know as Margaret.  She has appeared in Mannix and Ironside both of 1967.  Alison has recently focused on production and directing and she was surprised that her father asked her to play alongside him in this film as Iris, Earl’s daughter.  Clifton Collins Jr., I the role of Gustavo is Clint Eastwood’s real life ex-son-in-law.

Personal Property 1937

     This film is based on a play that opened in London on January 22, 1930 and on Broadway on November 1, 1930.  Raymond Dabney was in trouble with the police and he has returned to his family.  He served some time and he was away for a while.  His mother tells him that his brother Claude is engaged.  Raymond later meets Claude’s fiancé widow Crystal Wetherby and she is in debt.  The Bailiff comes to her house and Raymond convinces him to give him a job watching the house.  The Bailiff wants to make sure that Crystal doesn’t leave or sell anything from the house to pay the debt.  Raymond doesn’t know at this point that Crystal is engaged to his brother?  Crystal is giving a dinner party the next evening and Raymond asks to be the butler.  He’s not allowed to leave the house until Crystal pays the Bailiff.  This is a reason to explain why he is there.  When Raymond learns that the Dabney family will be guests at the dinner party, it does present another problem.  Claude, Cosgrove and Mrs. Cosgrove Dabney surely will notice that Raymond is the butler?

     There is a LOT of back and forth in this film.  The only reason Crystal wants to marry Claude is to pay off her debts.  Claude wants to marry Crystal because Claude and his father want her money to boost their women’s lingerie business.  The only person that knows both sides of the Crystal/Claude relationship is Raymond.  He doesn’t think she should marry for money?  3* (This movie is OK)   

84 min, Comedy directed by W.S. Van Dyke with Jean Harlow, Robert Taylor, Reginald Owen, Una O’Connor, Henrietta Crosman, E.E. Clive, Cora Witherspoon, Marla Shelton, Forrester Harvey, Lionel Braham, Barnett Parker.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 52% audience, Three Movie Buffs average 3* out of 4*, Letterboxd average 3.3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 18 reviews.

Special Note:  Jean Harlow wears a massive 152-carat star sapphire ring surrounded with diamonds throughout the film.  Her then boyfriend William Powell gave the ring to her.  It was for their engagement and sapphire rings were very popular in Hollywood during this era.  Her ring was said to be the biggest sapphire owned by any film star!!  Unfortunately, the sapphire was not gem quality because Powell was tightfisted with money.  No one knows what happened to the ring and it wasn’t expensive?  Reginald Owen played Claude Dabney both is this film and in the 1931 version titled The Man in Possession with Irene Purcell and Robert Montgomery.  This film was a huge success for MGM with a profit of $872,000 ($143.6M in 2016 dollars).  This is the final completed film with Jean Harlow.  She collapsed on the set of her next project, Saratoga of 1937.  She was born March 3, 1911 in Kansas City, Missouri and she died June 7, 1937 at the age of 26 in Los Angeles, California.  She died from uremic poisoning and kidney failure possibly due to the aftereffects of scarlet fever at the age of 15 in 1926. Powell and Harlow did not marry before she died.      

Mr. & Mrs. Smith 1941

     David and Ann Smith have been married for three years.  They have been very happy during their marriage.  Suddenly, they are both told individually that due to a technicality, their marriage is not valid.  Ann decides that she is not going to marry David a second time?  David is an attorney and he starts staying in town at his club.  Ann goes about her life as a single woman and she takes back her maiden name Krausheimer.  David does whatever he can to win Ann back.  This turns out to be more difficult than he thought because Ann has started to date other men??  She is now dating David’s law partner and best friend??

     This film has a LOT of funny moments!!  David didn’t have any idea that Ann would take the stance of not marrying him again?  He thought it was a cinch that they would get married right away?  David is also very surprised that Ann is dating Jeff!!  His wife and his best friend are dating??  How could they both stoop this low!!  4* (I really liked this movie)

95 min, Comedy directed by Alfred Hitchcock with Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson, Philip Merivale, Lucile Watson, William Tracy, Charles Halton, Esther Dale, Emma Dunn, Betty Compson, Patricia Farr, William Edmunds, Pamela Blake.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 65% critic 49% audience, Letterboxd 3* out of 5*, Views from the Sofa 2 1/2* out of 5*, Three Movie Buffs average 3* out of 4*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 151 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed at RKO Radio Pictures.  Carole Lombard directed Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo appearance.  She made him do repeated takes!!  This is the only comedy directed by Hitchcock and he was talked into directing by Lombard.  RKO files indicate that Hitchcock actually pursued the project?  This was the first Hitchcock film to be shown on US network television.  This was also the first American movie to feature a pizzeria.  Lombard was a Democrat and Montgomery was a Republican.  During filming breaks, Lombard ran into the studio parking lot and placed election bumper stickers asking for the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt on Montgomery’s car!!  Originally, Cary Grant was chosen for the role of David.

Extra Special Note:  There is another version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith from 2005 but the plot is entirely different.  This 2005 film stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.  After this film was completed, Pitt left his wife Jennifer Aniston and married Jolie.   Aniston and Pitt were married in 1998 and divorced 2005.  Jolie and Pitt began their relationship in 2005 and married in 2014.  

No Date, No Signature 2017

     Dr. Kaveh Nariman is a forensic pathologist.  He has a minor car accident on a busy highway with a motorcyclist but the father refuses his help.  Riding the cycle were the husband, wife and their two children, a son and daughter.  Dr. Naiman offers to take them to a hospital for a checkup but they refuse.  He also recommends

     Dr. Kaveh Nariman is a forensic pathologist.  He has a minor car accident on a busy highway with a motorcyclist but the father refuses his help.  Riding the cycle were the husband wife and their two children.  Dr. Naiman offers to take them to a hospital for a check but they refuse.  He also recommends that they stop by a clinic that is nearby.  They don’t stop but continue on despite his flashing his lights and honking his horn?  Two days later, Dr. Naiman learns that the son has been brought in for an autopsy after a suspicious death.  Dr. Naiman is very worried that the child had an injury after the accident that was left untreated?  Dr. Sayeh Behbahani did the autopsy and she said the child died of food poisoning?  Dr. Naiman can’t let the matter rest until he knows the truth.

     One additional problem that Dr. Naiman is facing is that his insurance had expired.  That is why he didn’t call any authorities after the accident.  Leila, the mother and Musa are very worried that their son died because Musa bought chicken that may have been spoiled?  Their marriage begins to disintegrate over their grief and the possibility of poisoning.  Careful attention must be used watching this film because of the pace and the subtitles.  Everything is very serious and the outcomes are also serious.  The colors are browns and grays and there is a mood of constant worry.  3* (This movie is OK)

104 min, Drama directed by Vahid Jalilvand with Navid Mohammadzadeh, Amir Aghaee, Hediyeh Tehrani, Zakieh Behbahani, Saeed Dakh, Alireza Ostadi.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3 ½* Godfrey Cheshire, Slant Magazine 2* out of 4* Chuck Bowen, Rotten Tomatoes 95% critic 93% audience, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 2 reviews, Chili Movie 7.3*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Tehran, Iran.  This is Vahid Jalilvand second feature film.  Official submission of Iran for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 91^st Academy Awards in 2019. 

China Seas 1935

     Alan Gaskell is the Captain of a ship bound from Hong Kong to Singapore.  Alan wants to turn over a new leaf and leave behind his hard-drinking lifestyle.  He had been seeing Dolly and she likes this life-style?  He has reunited with Sybil Barclay on the ship, she’s from England and her husband passed away.  She has been traveling to ease her pain and she is Alan's friend.  She is a refined lady and Dolly is just the opposite but extremely beautiful.  Dolly leaves Alan behind and she starts drinking with fellow passenger Jamesey MacArdle.  Dolly learns some information about Jamesey but she must keep it to herself!! 

     There is gold aboard the ship and the ship is temporarily taken over by Asian pirates.  They maim the legs of Dawson and they put Alan’s ankle in a Maylay boot.  They want information from Alan!!  This boot has been widely used in the Middle Ages and it has a screw press that is slowly tightened.  It can crush the bones and the ankle will be unusable.  I thought this film was good!!  I knew that certain scenes were fudged and not real-time action.  4* (I really liked this movie)   

    

97 min, Action directed by Tay Garnett with Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Rosalind Russell, Dudley Digges, C. Aubrey Smith, Robert Benchley, William Henry, Live De Maigret, Lilian Bond, Edward Brophy, Soo Young, Carole Ann Beery, Akim Tamiroff. 

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 72% audience, Three Movie Buffs average 3 ½* out of 4*, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*, The Motion Pictures 3.5* out of 5* Lindsey, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 43 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  Harlow wears a wig for this film because she had cut her hair shorter and was letting her natural color grow in.  When she becomes soaked by the storm, she isn’t wearing the wig and you can see for a few seconds that her hair is shorter and a different color.  Two stuntmen were nearly killed as they were washed away by 50 tons of water!!  This film was a great success for MGM and earned a profit of $653,000 ($11.5M in 2016 dollars).  The shipment of gold was 34,488.95 ounces and would be worth almost $46.9M in 2016.  This film was banned in Malaya and Singapore.

Broadway Danny Rose 1984

     Danny Rose is a not very successful manager of artists in New York during 1969.  On the plus side, he does go out of his way to help his acts.  Lou Canova is a singer with a chance to make a comeback.  Lou needs Danny to help him with his wife, his mistress Tina and a drinking problem!!  Danny wants Tina to be at all his concerts and he feels he can’t perform without her in the audience.  This is a problem because his wife also attends the concerts?  Danny gets more than he bargained for when two mobsters come looking for Tina and also the guy who has hurt their brother by taking Tina away?    

     This is classic Woody Allen!!  Danny Rose is a salesman and he’s always trying to make a sale.  He’s not selling merchandise but he’s selling performers.  He’s always looking for the next great performer and getting the greatest money deal.  Allen movies usually have a message and this film conveys forgiveness, acceptance, love and loss.  The acts that Danny handles are a one-armed juggler, a blind xylophone player, a parrot wearing clothes and singing “I gotta be me”, a one-legged tap dancer, a balloon folding act, a stuttering ventriloquist??  Actually Danny won’t manage the ventriloquist because even he can’t figure out this act??  This movie nails this time period and many people from New York went to the Catskills for vacations and to see the acts.  The film Dirty Dancing of 1987 with 7* out of 10* is about a young woman visitor (Baby played by Jennifer Grey) with her parents and a dancer Johnny Castle played by Patrick Swayze.  4* (I really liked this movie)           

84 min, Comedy directed, written by and starring Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Sandy Baron, Corbett Monica, Jackie Gayle, Morty Gunty, Will Jordan, Howard Storm, Jack Rollins, Milton Berle, Craig Vandenburgh, Herb Reynolds, Paul Greco, Frank Renzulli.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Rotten Tomatoes 100% critic 84% audience, Metacritic 80 out of 100 with 14 critics, Empire Online 4* Ian Nathan, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 218 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in New York and New Jersey.  This is Nick Apollo Forte’s only film appearance.  Mia Farrow wears sunglasses during most of her scenes.  Allen felt she could pass herself off more as a tough Italian “broad” with the glasses.  It would also make her seem more sultry and mysterious?  Weinstein’s Majestic Bungalow Colony resort in the Catskills is mentioned in the film.  Allen got his start in show business at the Colony performing magic tricks at the age of sixteen.  Allen’s manager and producer Jack Rollins was the inspiration for the Rose character and he also appears in this film as himself.  This is one of Allen’s favorite films and the others in order are Match Point, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Stardust Memories, Manhattan Murder Mystery.

Arsenic and Old Lace 1944

     This film is based on a play with the same title by Joseph Kesselring.  Mortimer Brewster is a newspaperman and he is well known for his rants against marriage.  In the opening scene, he is getting married at city hall?  Mortimer and his new bride go to his home to tell Mortimer’s two maiden aunts about this important event.  Mortimer is trying to tell the aunts about the wedding.  Instead, he learns that the hobby of his aunts is to kill lonely old men and bury them in the cellar?  How can this be true?  Soon after Mortimer’s discovery, his brother and a doctor show up at their home.  His brother looks like Frankenstein and the doctor may not be sane?

      There is a LOT of frantic action in this film and there is also comedy.  Mortimer can’t handle the fact that he just got married and also the secrets he learns about his aunts.  His bride lives next door and he asks her to go to her house instead of going on their honeymoon?  Mortimer is very surprised that his brother and the doctor have come to the house?  His older brother was not very kind to Mortimer when they were growing up!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

118 min, Comedy directed by Frank Capra with Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, Peter Lorre, James Cleason, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, John Alexander, Grant Mitchell, Edward McNamara, Garry Owen, John Ridgely, Vaughan Glaser.

Note:  Imdb 8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes, 88% critic 92% audience, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1313 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* average user rating 4.5* out of 5*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in 1941 because Cary Grant was available at this time.  It was released in 1944 and the original stage version had finished its run on Broadway.  Filmed at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, California.  Cary Grant considered this to be his least favorite of all his movies.  He thought his acting was horribly over the top?  Twenty years before filming, Jean Adair helped nurse a very sick vaudeville performer named Archie Leach.  Adair and Leach became good friends and Leach changed his name to Cary Grant.  Originally, the role of Mortimer was for Bob Hope but he couldn’t be released from his Paramount Pictures contract.

Monsters and Men 2018

     The setting of this film is in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn.  Manny Ortega is an ordinary person out in the evening.  He was at the scene and he filmed the wrongful death of a street hustler in the neighborhood.  He has two choices, release the video and expose himself or keep the video private and be a part of the injustice?  The man was a friend of Manny's and he always had a dollar to give to a child or a friend.      

     In this film, the option was with the plot to follow three main characters to get different perspectives on the same events.  The individual characters rarely interact with each other but each has a clear role with their message.  There are also permanently issues that are unresolved and they are key components.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

 

96 min, Crime directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green with John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chante Adams, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Nicole Beharie, Rob Morgan, Cara Buono, Grant Jaeger, Joshiah Gabriel, Emilia Allen, Brian Pollock, Joe Tippett, J.w. Cortes, Giuseppe Ardizzone.   

Note:  Imdb 5.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 85% critic 78% audience, Roger Ebert 3* Nick Allen, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers, CommonSenseMedia.org age 15+, 5* (3* positive, 4* role models, 2* violence, 1* sex, 4* language, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking) Michael Ordona, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 18 reviews.

Special Note:  This is the third film of 2018 with John David Washington playing a policeman.  The other films were BlacKkKlansman and The Old Man & the Gun.  The plot for this film is a direct mirroring of the real-life murders of Mike Brown, Laquan Macdonald, Botham Jean, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd, Stpehon Clark, and many others.