How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 2019

     Hiccup finally fulfills his dream of creating a peaceful dragon utopia.  Toothless (Hiccups dragon) discovers an untamed Night Fury dragon like he is but she is white instead of black.  Danger begins to mount at home and Hiccups reign as village chief is tested.  Both Hiccup and Toothless must make immediate decisions to save his people and the dragons.

     Toothless may have met his match when he meets a lady Night Fury.  All he can think about is how beautiful she is!!  There is a positive message that men and women compliment each other.  Each gender has a unique role instead of pushing that one side is better than the other.  Also, there are moments teaching good values, courage and education.  There is great music and an engaging story line but a bit of slowness at times.  Some tense moments in the scenes of rescuing the dragons and the same dragons recaptured again.  Of course, a definite villain in the midst of all the action too.  4* (I really liked this movie) 

      

104 min, Animation directed by Dean DeBlois with the voices of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, F. Murray Abraham, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harington, Justin Rupple Robin Atkin Downes, Kieron Elliott, Julia Emelin, Gideon Emery.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 91% critic 87% audience, Roger Ebert 3 ½* Nell Minow, Metacritic 71% critic with 39 critics 8 out of 10 user scores with 340 reviews, cinemablend.com 4 ½* out of 5* Mike Reyes, Common Sense Media,Michael Ordona, age 7+, 2* education, 4* positive, 4* role models, 3* violence/scariness, 1* sex, 1* language, 1* consumerism, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1030 reviews .

Special Note:  In a poll conducted by Fandango, this film ranked as the second most anticipated animated movie of 2019, right under Toy Story 4.  This is DreamWorks Animation’s longest running film, besting the 102 run time of How to Train Your Dragon 2.  This film has a subtitle instead of being numbered.  This is the best opening film of this franchise with $55 million and 12 days to gross over $100 million domestically.  The fourth film series with three or more entries after Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda.  Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are the only actors to reprise their roles in both movies and a TV series.

Freddie Mercury & Queen DVD 2019

     Formed in London in 1970, Queen emerged almost fully formed.  They featured the classic line-up until the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991.  Others in the band were Brian May on lead guitar, Roger Taylor on drums and John Deacon on bass.  This band was unique in many ways because all the members contributed to the writing of the songs and the arrangements. It may have been the most democratic rock group ever.  In the beginning of their career in the 1970’s, they had their biggest hit, Bohemian Rhapsody.  A lot of rare film footage from the different periods of the band is shown  Also, archive interviews with band members and others pivotal to their success.  

     If you wanted to know everything Queen, this film has it all!!  Including, reviews about Queen from UK music critics and the different style of guitar playing by Brian May.  I thought this was interesting with a lot of depth.  4* (I really liked this film.)   

103 Min, release date June 7, 2019, Amazon 3* out of 5* with 5 reviews.

Note:  There is also another film with Rami Malek titled Bohemian Rhapsody 2918.  This film won four awards at the 91st Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound mixing. 

The Mustang 2019

      This movie is based on Laure de Clermont-Tonnerres short film Rabbit 2014.  In the short, a female prisoner is entrusted with an animal as part of a correctional facility’s ‘pet partnership' program.  This is the story of Roman Coleman.  He is in prison because he’s committed a violent crime.  He’s given the chance to participate in a rehabilitation therapy program.  The inmates that would like to work with wild mustangs can have this opportunity if they are chosen to work by Myles.  He’s heading up the program with the wild mustangs in this area.  A helicopter goes to the locations where the mustangs congregate and guides them to a paddock.  Some of them can handle the sudden confinement but others become agitated.  Roman has never worked with any horses but he’s drawn to one that’s confined to a separate enclosure and kicking the building.

     The character Tom is played by Thomas Smittle and he participated in the actual program while he was in prison.  He was in the program from 2019-2011.  His horse was the top selling horse in the history of the program.  The red roan gelding he worked with sold for $8500.00 at the auction held at the end of the program.  There is tension in this film about how the inmates will do in training the horses and how will the horses react.  These horses have not had close contact with humans and the inmates have to learn how to handle them.  There is an intense thunderstorm that causes the need for special handling of the horses because of their intense fear.  Working with any animal requires internal calmness and a lot of patience.  4* (I really liked this movie)

96 min, Drama directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre with Mattias Schoenaerts, Jason Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Gideon Adlon, Connie Britton, Josh Stewart, Thomas Smittle, Keith Johnson, Noel Gugliemi, James McFarland, Sean Patrick Bridges, George Schroeder, Gregory Williams, Joseph Bartlett.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 93% critic 76% audience, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* out of 4*, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers, Common Sense Media age 15+ 4* out of 5* (3* positive, 2* role, 4* violence, 1* sex, 4* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking), Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 103 reviews, IndieWire.com Grade B, SeattleTimes.com 3 ½* Soren Anderson.

Special Note:  This is the feature film directorial debut of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s.  Laure developed The Mustang through the Sundance Labs and received the Sundance Institute/NHK Award for the project in 2015.  Also, this is a co-operative film between France and Belgium with the release in France.   

A Dog’s Way Home DVD 2019

     This film is based on a novel by W. Bruce Cameron with the same title published in 2010.  A puppy has been living in a demolished house across the street from Lucas Ray in Denver, Colorado.  There is a mom cat and kittens living there too along with the puppy’s mother.  Animal control comes to the site and they take away the kittens and the puppy’s mother.  The mother cat starts feeding the puppy her milk.  Lucas and his girlfriend Olivia find the puppy and they name her Bella.  Animal control comes to visit Lucas and Olivia.  The officer determines that Bella is a pit bull and this breed is not allowed in the city of Denver.  If animal control spots Bella on the street, she can be taken in at any time.  Lucas trains Bella to go home in case she gets out of their home.  Despite her training, she is out on the street and officer Chuck takes her to the pound.  Lucas picks up Bella and they take Bella to live with Olivia’s aunt and uncle in Farmington, New Mexico.  Bella wants to be with Lucas and she jumps over their fence.  This starts her adventure to try to get home.

     I didn’t think Bella was a pure pit bull!!  The animal control officer is also over zealous in his enforcement of the town law!!  Many times this film is very up and down and you don’t know how it is going to turn out?  There are good messages about perseverance, empathy and the strong relationship between dogs and their humans.  4* (I really liked this movie)  

96 min, Adventure directed by Charles Martin Smith with Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer-King, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, Chris Bauer, Barry Watson, Motell Gyn Foster, Wes Studi, Bryce Dallas Howard, John Cassini, Brian Markinson, Patrick Gallagher, Brodus Mattison, Roland Boyce, Cesar De Leon.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 61% critic 72% audience, Roger Ebert 3* Tomris Laffly, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen age 1+, 3* out of 5* (4* positive, 4* role models, 3* violence, 1* sex, 1* language, 1* drinking, drugs & smoking), Amazon DVD 4.5* with 552 reviews, Metacritic 50 out of 100 with 14 critics user score 6 out of 10 with 21 reviews, Letterboxd 2.6* out of 5*.  Amazon gives the novel 4.8* out of 5* with 737 reviews.  

Special Note:  Bella is part pit bull but she also has German Shepherd and Rottweiler mixed in.  Her name is Shelby.  She was chosen from a shelter in Tennessee because she looked like the dog on the cover of the book that inspired this film.  It is not based on a true story.  This film grossed $42 million in the US and Canada and $34 million in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $76 million.  The budget was estimated to be $18 million.  The profit would be $58 million minus advertising costs.  There is another film titled A Dog’s Purpose 2017 and this film is not a sequel.  There is A Dog’s Journey 2019 too.  Filmed in Canada’s western province British Columbia; Denver, Durango and Gunnison, Colorado.   

Let the Sunshine In 2018

     This film is an adaptation of the novel A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments published in 1977 by Roland Barthes.  Isabelle is a Parisian artist and she’s looking for love in all the wrong places!!  She is middle aged and divorced from her husband.  She has been seeing banker Vincent off and on but he is married.  She begins seeing her ex-husband again but she picks a fight with him to end their relationship again.  She begins to see Marc and this may become a serious relationship.  Isabelle goes to see a psychic and he tells her that it will not work out with Marc but she should not give up on finding the right man for her. 

     I have to begin with saying I didn’t like this movie at all??  It just seems like the same scene over and over just with a different man??  How can Isabelle hope to meet someone and have a real relationship if she keeps selecting the wrong men all the time??  Isabelle has a 10-year-old daughter and does she think of her when while she’s making all these mistakes?  I liked the scenery of Paris and the countryside and that was much better than the film!!  I studied French two different times and I did enjoy picking out the words and their meaning.  1 ½* (I really didn’t like this movie) 

94 min, Drama directed by Claire Denis with Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katherine, Josiane Balasko, Sandrine Dumas, Nicolas Cuvauchelle, Alex Descas, Laurent Grevill, Bruno Podalydes, Paul Blain, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Gerard Depardieu, Schemci Lauth, Charles Pepin.

Note:  Imdb 6* out of 10*, Roger Ebert 4* Glenn Kenny, Metacritic 79 out of 100 with 33 critics 5.9 out of 10 with 26 user scores, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Wendy Ide,  86% critic 30% audience, The Washington Post 3* Ann Hornaday, The Telegraph 3* out of 5* Tim Robey, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*. 

Special Note:  Filmed in Paris and Creuse, France. 

The Kid Who Would Be King 2019

     Lance and Kaye are bullying Bedders at school.  Alex is starting a new term at school and he’s trying to adapt.  Bedders is Alex’s best friend and he knows he needs to stand up to the bullies!!  He doesn’t win even when he fights back!!  The principal is criticizing him and then his mother is lecturing him.  What’s the use of standing up for yourself or someone else??  Alex still thinks he’s just another nobody!!  On the way home, Alex comes across a sword in a stone at a construction site?  Alex wonders if he can pull it out and he can!!  He tells his friend Bedders what happened and he shows him a book his dad gave him about Merlin and the King of England.  Bedders doesn’t know if he can believe Alex??  One thing he knows is that Alex can pull the sword out of the stone and Bedders can’t!!  Alex and Bedders learn from a Young Merlin that there will be an eclipse in four days.  If Alex can’t defeat Morgana, she will take over the world and change everything.  She has been waiting many years to take back Excalibur and become the ture ruler of the world.  Now is her chance!!

     I was surprised that this film is two hours but it was a lot better than I thought it would be!!  This film is a modernized twist on the Arthurian legend of the sword in the stone and King Arthur.  Alex is a regular and relatable schoolboy.  He’s been chosen to wield Excalibur and save the world.  The villain Morgana and flaming skeletons riding flaming horses attack the kids.  On the positive side, there is teamwork, perseverance, courage, loyalty, changing bullies into friends and working as a team together.  4* (I really liked this movie)

    

120 min, Action directed by Joe Cornish with Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Denise Gough, Dean Dhaumoo, Tom Taylor, Rhianna Dorris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Noma Dumezweni, Rebecca Ferguson, Mark Bonnar, Angus Imrie, Louis Martin, Joey Ansah, Adam Leese, Alexandra Roach, Nick Mohammed, Patrick Stewart.

Note:  Imdb 6 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3* Simon Abrams, Rotten Tomatoes 89% critic 60% audience, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Simran Hans, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 216 reviews, Letterboxd average 3.1* out of 5*, Independent 3* out of 5* Geoffrey Macnab, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen age 10+ 4* out of 5*, 4* positive messages, 4* role models, 3* violence, 1* sex, 1* language, 1* consumerism, 1* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Tintagal, Devon; London and Davidstow Airfield, Devon, England, UK.  The names of Alex’s friends correspond with the Knights of the Round Table.  Lance is Sir Lancelot, Kaye is Sir Kay, Bedders is Sir Bedivere.  This film grossed $16.8 million in the US and Canada and another $15.4 million in other territories for a gross worldwide of $32.1 million.  The budget was estimated to be $59 million.  A loss for the studio was thought to be around $50 million due to high marketing costs.    

Breakthrough 2019

     Brilliant minds throughout history are responsible for the invention of cars, robots, airplanes, smart phones and telescopes.  This series is a journey through human history through the development of six iconic objects.  Modern people take these objects for granted daily.  Science, invention and technology built on one another to change the world we live in now.  There is added information on Imdb about the episode on Rockets.  Hydrogen is not the most common fuel for rockets.  Shown are rockets using Lox and RP1, a derivative of Kerosene?  There is more accurate information on Tim Dodds Everyday Astronaut. 

     I enjoyed some sections more than others.  There was a learning curve with flight.  The first people to fly sometimes took a beating on their bodies and others died.  The rocket section and the smartphone were also interesting.  I didn’t know that Hedy Lamarr worked with her friend pianist George Antheil to develop a device for preventing the jamming of radio-controlled torpedoes.  Their device was a frequency-hopping system and they received a patent.  The US Navy did not use this device in 1942 during WWII but later it was used in 1962 at the time of the Cuban missile crisis.  An updated version was installed on Navy ships.  4* (I really liked this series)  

5.5 hours on 2 discs, PBS TV Mini-Series 2019, directed by Ben Harding, Chris Riley, Stephen Mizelas, Nathan Williams, Nat Sharman, Sean Smith with presenter Jim Al-Khalili, Aeronautical Engineer Tiera Fletcher, narrated by Patrick Stewart.

Note:  Imdb 8* out of 10*, PBS 5* with one review, Rotten Tomatoes 100% audience, Amazon 5* with one review.

Special Note:  The different sections of this film are the telescope, airplane, robot, car, rocket, smart phone,

Woodstock 2019

     August 15-18, 1969, more than 500,000 people gathered at Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm in upstate Bethel, New York.  What happened was a LOT more than just a concert!!  This was a legendary event that defined a generation through the voices of the singers and those who were there.  This was a pivotal moment in popular music history as well as the nexus for the counterculture generation.  It was billed as ‘an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music.‘  Thirty-two acts performed outdoors despite heat and sporadic rain.

     Many events occurred in the United States prior to Woodstock.  Richard Nixon succeeded Lyndon Baines Johnson as president.  US troops numbered at 543,000 in Vietnam.  There were American draft dodgers living in Canada rather than support this war.  The troops were fighting an unpopular war that the US could not win.  The government published false information about the war and this was later leaked in the Pentagon Papers.  Three hundred students stormed and occupied Harvard University’s administration building in protest.  Charles Manson’s LSD crazed cult killed actress Sharon Tate and seven others including Tate’s unborn child.  In the autumn, the largest peaceful protest in US history happened on October 15 in Washington DC .  This was a time of more social and political upheaval than most Americans had witnessed before.  

     Putting this concert together was a very difficult process!!  The team was forced out of their first venue when the town of Wallkill, NY voted against the concert.  It was estimated that about 50,000 people would descend on the town?  Helicopters were used to find another location and it was mandatory because many tickets had already been sold.  The time span before the concert had now shrunk by five weeks.  There was crowd control provided by Wavy Gravy of Hog Farm??  No one knows what their credentials were??  It was estimated that 400,000 people were there the first day.  Second day attendance jumped by at least 100,000 people. Single day tickets were $6.50 and three-day passes were $18.  Many people didn’t have tickets and there wasn’t any way to get people to pay for tickets and also collect purchased tickets.               Fortunately, only two people died at the festival.  One person had a drug overdose, another person was sleeping in a sleeping bag under a tractor and he was run over.  I wonder if this type of event could be held today?

     There is supposed to be a Woodstock Festival this summer August 16-18 in Watkins Glen, New York.  Tickets will be around $450!!  It seems that today even small gatherings risk someone or a group coming in with automatic weapons!!   4* (I really liked this movie)

106 min, Doc directed by Barak Goodman and Jamila Ephron with Joan Baez, David Crosby, Richie Havens, Jimi Hendrix, Jon Jaboolian, Hugh Romney, Joel Rosenman, Stephen Stills, Max Yasgur.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 83% critic 85% audience, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 3 reviews, Indiewire.com Grade: B-, David Ehrlich, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 9 critics, Letterboxd average 3.5* out of 5*.  

Special Note:  This film won an Oscar for Best Documentary feature.  The assistant director on the original film was 27 year old Martin Scorsese.  

On The Basis of Sex 2018

     This film chronicles Ruth Bader Ginsburg from the time she started law school at Harvard.  She is in the first class of a small group of women admitted to study law.  Out of a class of 500 men there were nine women.  Ruth’s husband, Martin D. Ginsburg was diagnosed with cancer.  After this happened, Ruth attended her classes and also Martin’s classes.  She typed her Martin’s dictated papers and cared for their young daughter, Jane.  The focus of this film is the true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her struggles for equal rights.  She went to the Supreme Court with a case of gender discrimination.  A man was denied a tax credit for acting as a nurse for his elderly mother.  The tax law stated it was proper for a woman to take this tax credit but an unmarried man could not for doing the same work.

      I think this film has more information about Ruth in the beginning of her path to become a lawyer.  It also gives more details about her marriage and her family.  Ruth was born on March 15, 1993 in Brooklyn, New York.  She was the second daughter of Celia and Nathan Bader.  There was an older daughter Marylin but she died of meningitis at the age of six when Ruth was 14 months old.  Her mother Celia died of cancer the day before Ruth graduated from high school.   Ruth attended and graduated from Cornell University in 1954.  She married Martin one month after her graduation and their daughter was born in 1955.  They also have a son James Steven Ginsburg and he was born in 1965.  4* (I really liked this movie)

120 min, Bio directed by Mimi Leder and written by Daniel Stiepleman.  He is Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s nephew, with Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston, Kathy Bates, Cailee Spaeny, Jack Reynor, Stephen Root, Chris Mulkey, Gary Werntz, Francis X. McCarthy, Ben Carlson, Ronald Guttman, Wendy Crewson, John Ralston.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3 1`/2* Nell Minow, Rotten Tomatoes 74% critic 74% audience, Washington Post 2* out of 4* Mark Jenkins, RollingStone 3 ½* out of 5* Peter Travers, Metacritic 59 out of 100 with 40 critics 6.2 user scores with 45 reviews (27 positive, 10 mixed, 8 negative), Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 418 reviews.

Special Note:  filmed at 276 St-Jaques West, Old Montreal, Canada.  Natalie Portman was originally cast in the role of Ruth but after four years stuck in development, she dropped out of the project.  Received 17 votes on 2014’s Blacklist competition.  This list ranks the best unproduced scripts of that year.

Breaking Habits 2019

     A commune of activist nuns runs a cannabis farm in the town of Merced, CA.  Merced is one of two of the poorest towns in California.  They use it to make medicine that will not get people high but help them with illnesses and diseases.  The nuns are fighting against the authorities the local sheriff and local cartels.  Kate was in a corporate job, she was the money earner for the family and she lived in Wisconsin.  She learned that her husband of 17 years had not divorced his first wife?  Then she found out he had siphoned a major portion of the money she had earned.  She had three children and she took the children and not the money.  She was homeless and living on the street for a while and now she lives with a community of other women.

     Sister Kate and the other sisters provide only medicinal cannabis.  In the beginning, they sold their cannabis to clinics and they gave it to poor patients because they didn’t want them to suffer.  The Sheriff of Merced believes everyone that grows cannabis does it to get high.  He doesn’t believe the sisters are any different?  He doesn’t believe there are two types of cannabis?  He sends his deputies out to destroy any cannabis plants.  Kate and the sisters also need to protect their business from black market thieves.  Marijuana has been legal in California since 1996 and legalized for recreational use in 2016.    

87 min, Doc directed and written by Robert Ryan with Sister Kate.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 38% critic 58% audience, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Leslie Felperin, d.movies.org 4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  There are three major types of cannabis, indica, ruderalis and sativa.  Different varieties have been developed to intensify specific characteristics of the plant.  The specific characteristics can differentiate the strain for marketing purposes to to make it more effective as a drug.  Properties of the plants can also be different such as taste, color, smell or the origin of the variety.  The plants are usually divided as to their use, recreational or medicinal.  Plants for recreational use have a high percentage of cannabinoids.  Other varieties, also known as hemp have a very low cannabinoid content.

Gloria Bell 2018

     Arnold meets Gloria Bell at a nightclub in Los Angeles.  Gloria likes to dance and that’s why she often comes to this club.  Gloria is middle aged and divorced.  She lives alone and she has two children from her previous marriage.  Anne is a yoga instructor and Peter is a stay at home dad to his infant daughter while his wife is away.  Arnold is also divorced and he has two daughters and his ex-wife that he still supports financially.  Arnold owns a paintball arena and he introduces Gloria to this sport.  Gloria invites Arnold to her son’s birthday party.  The other people at the party are Gloria’s two children and her ex-husband Dustin.  The family starts to look at old photos and Arnold suddenly leaves after a call from his daughters?  He left so quietly that Gloria didn’t know he had left?  Arnold begins calling Gloria’s cell phone every five minutes but she doesn't answer??

     Arnold seems too connected to his family?  I wonder if he is really divorced?  His daughters are adults and they don’t work plus his ex wife doesn't work either?  It must be much easier to be supported by Arnold!!  He also doesn’t want his family to know that he is seeing Gloria?  He claims they will ridicule him?  I think all these items are red flags!!  Gloria has definitely moved on from her ex-husband so there are no problems on her side of the relationship.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

102 min, Drama directed by Sebastian Lelio with Julianne Moore, John Rurturro, Caren Pistorius, Michael Cera, Brad Garrett, Holland Taylor, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Rita Wilson, Chris Mulkey, Cassi Thomson, Tyson Ritter, Jesse Erwin, Chopper Bernet, Gerard Sanders, Sam Behrens.

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 91% critic 44% audience, Roger Ebert 3* Sheila O’Malley, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Independent 4* out of 5* Adam White, Washington Post 3* out of 4* Ann Hornaday, Irish Times 4* out of 5* Donald Clarke, Amazon 2.9* out of 80 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas Nevada.  Arnold reads a very moving poem to Gloria and it is called “For a Young Friend Who Tried to Take His Own Life” by Chilean poet Claudio Bertoni.

Hotel Mumbai 2018

     This film is the true story of the 2008 siege of the famed Taj Hotel.  The hotel was stormed by a group of terrorists in Mumbai, India.  Man of the dedicated hotel staff chose to risk their lives to protect their guests.  Among them were renowned chef Hermant Oberoir and waiter Arjun.  The world is watching what is going on at this Hotel.  A desperate couple are forced to made unthinkable sacrifices to protect their newborn child.

     Many of the scenes are uneasy and unnerving, a tough film to shake!!  There are other ways to tell this story without a focus on the body count?  Very little insights are given from any political perspectives?  This film does serve as a reminder that heroism can come to the forefront during very stressful and extreme situations.  Since the emphasis is on extreme bad instances of the attack, I did not enjoy watching this film!!  1 1/2* (I did not like this film)

  

123 min, Drama directed by Anthony Maras with Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Amandeep Singh, Suhail Nayyar, Manoj Mehra, Dinesh Kumar, Amriptal Singh, Kapil Kumar Netra, Adithi Kalkunte, Alex Pinder, Vipin Sharma, Tilda Cobham-Hervey.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 77% critic 85% audience, Metacritic 64 out of 100 with 30 critics 7.4* user score with 60 reviews (positive 47, mixed 10, negative 3), Roger Ebert 2 ½* Tomris Laffly, RollingStone 3* out of 5* Peter Travers, The Washington Post 3* out of 4* Michael O’Sullivan, Letterboxd average 3.7* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 185 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Adelaide Studios Glenside and Adelaide, South Australia; Mumbai, Maharastra, India and St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India.  The filmmakers were given access to the original transcripts of the intercepted cell phone calls between the ten terrorists and their handlers.  Actual television footage is also featured in this film.  Dev Patel danced on a particular train platform for the film Slumdog Millionaire.  A month after Slumdog was in theaters, Dev saw a terrorist attack on the same platform.  When scripts were circulated telling the story of the attack, he knew he wanted to be a part of it.  These are the spoken languages in this film, English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Russian, Persian, Greek Marathi and Arabic.  A memorial monument was erected in the lobby at the Taj Palace Hotel in 2010 to commemorate the victims and fatalities.

Glass 2019

     This film is the third part of an intense trilogy that began with Unbreakable 2000 and Split of 2017.  David Dunn has been pursuing Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities that are within him.  David finds himself locked in a mental hospital alongside his enemy Elijah Price.  Dunn will have to contend with a psychiatrist.  The doctor is out to prove the three men do not actually possess superhuman abilities.

     This film is not a superhero movie but it is a psychological thriller.  The story line focuses on the existence of super-beings and what that might actually mean for the world.  The colors chosen for each character was very important.  Green was for David Dunn because of his life giving properties.  Ochre or mustard was for The Beast because this color is associated with religious ceremonies, Hindu and Buddhist.  Purple for Mr. Glass because this color is associated with royalty and majestic qualities.  There is strong violence with lots of fighting, punching, smashing, slamming and crushing!!  Characters are killed with throat slashing, drowning, bullets and other methods.  There are flaws in this film but fans of this type of genre will enjoy watching.  Since I am NOT a fan of the violence and the killings, I did not enjoy this film!!  1 1/2* (I really didn't like this movie)

129 min, Drama directed by M. Night Shyamalan with James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samule L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard, Luke Kirby, Adam David Thompson, Shannon Detiny Ryan, Diana Silvers, Nina Wisner, Kyli Zion, Serge Didenko.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 37% critic 70% audience, Roger Ebert 2* Brian Tallerico, RollingStone 3* out of 5* David Fear, Metacritic 43 out of 100 with 53 critics 6.7 out of 10 with 470 reviews (285 positive, 127 mixed, 58 negative), The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Indiewire.com Grade: C-, Amazon Video 3.7* out of 5* with 1082 reviews, DVD 4.2* out of 5* with 244 reviews, Letterboxd average 3.1* out of 5*, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson age 14+ 3* out of 5* (1* positive 2* role models, 4* violence, 1* sex, 3* language).

Special Note:  Filmed in Allentown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Porto Alegre, Brazil.  Samuel L. Jackson said watching and having an argument with four different people with one person in front of you is pretty amazing.  Flashback scenes are unseen footage from Unbreakable 2000 featuring younger versions of David and Joseph.  James McAvoy based one of his 23 personalities on a young Saoirse Ronan, his Atonement 2007 costar.  Disney owns the rights to Unbreakable 2000, Shyamalan retained the rights to any potential sequels.  He did not want a sequel to be made without his involvement.  He co-financed Glass by mortgaging his house.  The original cut was nearly three and a half hours.  Three of Kevin Crumb’s personalities were cut to shorten the length.

Bumblebee 2018

     B-127 (Bumblebee) is a young scout transformer and he is sent to Earth.  He must set up a base of operations for the Autobots to regroup.  Optimus Prime is leading the Autobots but they are on the verge of losing the Great Cybertronian War to the Decepticons.  B-127 reaches Earth alone in 1987.  Charlie Watson is a teenage girl and she is still traumatized by the death of her father.  She finds a Volkswagen Beetle in a scrap yard.  Charlie asks the owner Hank about the Beetle and she wants to know who the owner is?  Hank gives it to that day Charlie for her 18^th birthday.  She accidentally activates a homing signal that causes two Decepticons to come to earth in response.  When Charlie begins to work on the Beetle, it transforms into B-127 and she nicknames him Bumblebee.  Charlie and Bumblebee begin to work together along with Charles’s friend Memo.

     Charlie lives with her mother, her younger brother and her mother’s boyfriend Ron in Brighton Falls somewhere near San Francisco, California.  Her mother has moved on after her husband's death with Ron.  Charlie misses her father every day of her life.  She’s trying to restore her Dad’s car but it’s taking a long time.  She’s very happy when she finds the Beetle.  Charlie gets into a LOT of hot water when Bumblebee goes into her house and destroys almost everything!!  What can she tell her parents about any of this?  I thought this was good.   

     There is a LOT of action and the characters are believable except for John Cena!!  Cena is a former professional wrestler and he has been an actor for five years.  He has acted in Bumblebee, The Wall (6.2 out of 10), Sisters (6 out of 10), Blockers (6.2 out of 10) and Trainwreck 6.2 out of 10).  4* (I really liked this movie)  

104 min, Action directed by Travis Knight with Hailee Steinfgeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena, Jason Drucker, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, Ricardo Hoyos, John Ortiz, Glynn Turman, Len Cariou, Kollin Holtz, Gracie Dzienny, Fred Dryer, Isabelle Ellingson, Mika Kubo.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 93% critic 74% audience, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, RollingStone 3* out of 5*, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 39 critics 7 out of 10 with 456 user scores (positive 318, mixed 83, negative 55), Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 1276 reviews.

Special Note:  This is the sixth film in the Transformers film series.  Filmed in Santa Cruz, Felton, Vallejo, Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mount Tamalpais, San Rafael, Mare Island, Los Angeles and Mount Hollywood Dr Tunnel, Los Angeles, California.  The budget was $102-128 million and this is the least expensive Transformer movie to date.  The worldwide gross was $468 million.

Mrs. Parkington 1944

     This film is based on a book by Louis Bromfield first published in 1942.  Mrs. Parkington recounts the story of her life.  She had humble beginnings as a hotel maid in frontier Nevada.  Mine owner and financier Augustus Parkington swept off her feet and they married.  They moved to New York and he establishes her as society woman.  He makes their home among the wealthiest of New York’s high society.  Mrs. Parkington guides us in flashbacks through the rises and falls of the family fortunes.

     Greer Garson ages from a young lady to a family matriarch in her 80’s.  Garson and Pidgeon have good chemistry and Agnes Moorehead is very good in her role.  She speaks with a French accent?  There are very elaborate costumes and the story goes from tragic to tremendous.  4* (I really liked this movie) 

124 min, Drama directed by Tay Garnett with Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper, Frances Rafferty, Tom Drake, Peter Lawford, Dan Duryea, Hugh Marlowe, Selena Royle, Fortunio Bonanova, Lee Patrick.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 72 reviews, rotten Tomatoes 77% audience, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*, TCM Leonard Maltin 2.5* out of 4* average user rating 5*.

Goodreads gives the book 3.58 out of 5* with 152 ratings and 19 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed on Morrison Ranch, Agoura; MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  In a move unusual for a film even today, it was shot in chronological order.  Greer Garson was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar but she lost to Ingrid Bergman for her role in Gaslight.  Release prints in Europe included characters not in the American version?  Hugo Haas played Edward, Prince of Wales and Tala Birell appeared as a countess.  There is a mistake in the scene where the newlywed couple arrive at the hotel in New York. The chambermaid leaves the room twice?

Father’s Little Dividend 1951

     This film is a sequel to Father of the Bride 1950.  Stanley Banks learns his daughter Kay is going to have a baby.  He’s not very happy because she has just graduated and he wanted to her wait to get married.  Stanley’s wife Ellie is so happy and she has to tell everyone she knows right away.  The parents of son-in-law Buckley are very happy too.  Stanley is also worried how Buckley is going to afford a baby?  There is competition between Kay’s parents and Buckley’s parents over redecorating their new home.  Ellie is worried that they will be pushed aside by Buckley’s parents?

     There is a lot of back and forth action in this film.  Pressing for position by the parents.  There is also the anxiety and the fearfulness of having a child.  Plus, there is the newness of marriage thrown into the mix.   Sometimes everything is just too much for the grandparents and the parents.  Names for the baby are a big consideration.  Is the doctor good enough for Kay?  Are new methods better?  So many questions!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

 

82 min, Comedy directed by Vincente Minnelli with Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, Moroni Olsen, Richard Rober, Marietta Canty, Russ Tamblyn, Tom Irish, Hayden Rorke.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 100% audience 61% critic, Three Movie Buffs average 3* out of 4*, Amazon 4 1/2* out of 5* with 99 reviews, Letterboxd average 3.1* out of 5*, TVGuide 3* out of 5*, weegiemidget.wordpress.com weeper 3*/10 handsqueeze rating 3*/10.

Special Note:  Filmed in MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  Elizabeth Taylor was suffering greatly because of her physically abusive marriage to Conrad Hilton Jr.  Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, he beat her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach.  This provoked a miscarriage.  The plot of this film proved to be difficult because of the subject of having a baby.  Shooting was completed in 22 days.  Minnelli was in pre-production for An American in Paris 1951.  He shot this film while the sets were being built.  The baby’s nursery is decorated with characters from The Wizard of Oz 1939.  Billie Burke played Glinda the Good Witch.  This film was a big hit at the box office for MGM, earning a profit of $2,025,000 ($19M in 2017). 

Vice 2018

     Dick Cheney is working as the CEO of Halliburton Co and he is selected to be the running mate of Governor George W. Bush in the 2000 Presidential Election.  Cheney has had jobs as White House Chief of Staff, House Minority Whip and Defense Secretary.  George Bush wins by a narrow margin and Cheney is delighted by his newfound power as the VEEP.  He wants to reshape the country and the world!!  He will start by the invasion of Iraq by the United States. 

     There is a LOT of information in this film!!  A lot of it is bad because the characters are shady and they do underhanded things!!  The truth doesn’t matter and they want the country to go their way or the highway!!  Much of the information released to the American people after the destruction of the towers in New York was false!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie.  

       

132 min, Bio directed and written by Adam McKay with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Alison Pill, Eddie Marsan, Justin Kirk, LsaGay Hamilton, Jesse Plemons, Bill Camp, Don McManus, Lily Rabe, Shea Whigham, Stephen Adley Guirgis, Tyler Perry, Josh Latzer.

Note:  Roger Ebert 1 ½*, Rotten Tomatoes 66% critic 58% audience, Washington Post 2 ½* Ann Hornaday, Metacritic 61 out of 100 with 54 critics 6.5 out of 10 with 238 reviews (136 positive, mixed 64, negative 38), Amazon 3.3* out of 5* with 714 reviews.

Special Note:  Christian Bale in the role of Cheney said he had to do more research for this film than any other film he’s done.  Director Adam McKay uses an improvisational style of directing.  Bale also gained 45 pounds, shaved his head, bleached his eyebrows and exercised to thicken his neck!!  He ate a lot of pies!!  Director Adam McKay suffered a mild heart attack during post-production.  He used some black-and-white footage of the procedure to insert the stent in his heart in this film.  Amy Adams stayed in character during filming for the first time!!  Sam Rockwell wore a prosthetic in his mouth and a prosthetic nose.  Filmed in Kern River and Santa Clarita, California.

Little Women 1949

      This film is based on the novel written by Louisa May Alcott published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869.  The March family is living in New England and their father is away fighting in the Civil War.  Aunt March has nothing but bad things to say about him joining the war effort!!  Left behind are Mrs. March and her daughters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy.  The family is struggling to make ends meet during these harsh times.  They meet their neighbors Laurie and his father Mr. Laurence.  There is an intense bond between the sisters and they are growing up into beautiful young ladies.  Each young woman has different ambitions for their future lives. 

     This may be the best version of Little Women!!  I felt the sting of tears several times about the way different events turned out.  Aunt March can be a really bad relative at times and she doesn’t even seem to notice!!  How her decisions affect her relatives doesn't enter her mind??  The family is generous and they deeply care about each other and their feelings.  All the actors are very good in their roles.  5* (I really liked this film!) 

 

122 min, Drama directed by Mervyn LeRoy with June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O’Brien, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Rosanno Brazzi, Mary Astor, Lucile Watson, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Leon Ames, Harry Davenport, Richard Wyler, Connie Gilchrist, Ellen Corby.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 83% critic 83% audience, Letterboxd average 3.5* out of 5*, 4.5* out of 5* with 334 reviews, Common Sense Media age 9+, 4* out of 5* (4* positive, 4* role models, 1* violence, 1* sex), Metacritic 87 out of 100 with 23 critics 8 out 10 with 43 reviews (35 positive, 7 mixed, 1 negative) Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 334 reviews.

Special Note:  Jo is played by June Allyson, Beth by Margaret O’Brien, Amy by Elizabeth Taylor, Meg by Janet Leigh and Laurie by Peter Lawford.  The novel has 4.06* with 1,474,929 ratings.  The different versions of Little Women are ranked as #1 1944, #2 2018 miniseries, #3 1933, #4 1949 and #5 1978 miniseries.  There is a new Little Women film by Greta Gerwig that has not been produced yet.  It will star Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Florence Pugh as the sisters.  Timothee Chalamett as Laurie and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.   

Cold Pursuit 2019

     Nels Coxman has a very important job in a resort town in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  He keeps the winter roads clear of snow with his huge plow.  Nels lives with his wife Grace in a nice cabin away from the tourists.  He has been awarded “Citizen of the Year” by the community.  Nels and Grace have a teen son Kyle and he works with luggage at the local airport.  He is found dead of a heroin overdose?  Nels and Grace do not believe their son was using drugs?  Nels learns that Kyle was killed by one of the men working for a powerful drug lord in town.  Grace is mentally and physically broken and she moves out of the cabin.  Nels is out for vengeance and he has nothing to lose!!  Nels has hunting skills he puts to good use and he ignites a war between gangster Viking and a rival gang boss.
     I wondered while I was watching this film what the body count would be?  It is 25 but there are more in other films!!  The top movie for the highest body count is Return of the King 2003 with 836.  And I thought 25 was a high number??   Liam Neeson takes action and he doesn’t bother to take names, the movie does that for him!!  I really liked the size of the snow plow and what Neeson does with it's power!!  There are times when you have to laugh but it’s really not funny!!  4* (I really liked this movie) 

119 min, Action directed by Hans Petter Moland with Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Micheal Richardson, Michael Eklund, Bradley Stryker, Wesley MacInnes, Tom Bateman, Domenich Lombardozzi, Nicholas Holmes, Jim Shield, Aleks Paunovic, Glenn Ennis, John Doman, Emmy Rossum.

Note:  Imdb 6.2 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 70% critic 52% audience, Roger Ebert 2 ½* Matt Zoller Seitz, Metascore 57 out of 100 with 39 critics 6 out of 10 user scores with 100 reviews (49 positive, 37 mixed, 14 negative), The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 540 reviews, EmpireOnline.com 4* out of 5* Ian Freer, Letterboxd average 2.9* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Fernie, Vancouver, Empress Hotel, British Columbia, Canada; Kananaskis County (Fortress Mountain) Alberta, Canada.  This film is a remake of In Order of Disappearance 2014 also directed by Hans Petter Moland.  Liam Neeson has stated that this will be his final action movie role?  A permit to film in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada was denied in early 2017.  Parks Canada objected because antagonist of the film is an aboriginal Canadian.  Even this actor Tom Jackson could not sway the government agency’s opinion and production was moved away from the park.