27 Dresses 2008

     Two things stand out about Jane!!   She never says no to her friends!!  She's been a bridesmaid 27 times but always can be counted on to selflessly plan weddings for her friends!!  She’s in love with her boss, George.  She is also dreaming of a lovely, romantic wedding of her own!!  She meets Kevin, he is a cynical writer who finds her attractive.  That same week her flirtatious younger sister Tess comes to town.  Jane forces herself to silently watch George fall head-over-heels for Tess.  George doesn’t have any idea that Tess is actually a manipulative pretender??   Worse, Jane may have the unfortunate task to be called upon to plan their wedding!!!  Meanwhile, Kevin tries to get Jane's attention!!   His purpose is that Jane may be able to advance his career!!  Will Jane be able to see though this “attention” from Kevin?   Can Jane finally release her long bottled up feelings??  If she does, what will the fallout be like???

 
     To top off all of Jane's woes, a handsome reporter is very interested in her unusual romantic story.  What is his REAL motive for his story??  Fairly charming and no more objectionable, content-wise than most other Hollywood romantic comedies.  Watching this film you must fully embrace the standard rom-com cliches!!  A fairly liberal sprinkling of swear words and drinking.  The message sent to the audience is that women are not truly happy if they are constantly the bridesmaid and never the bride!!  Because this is a bit retro and frothy, it can possibly get away with this old fashioned way of thinking.  Definitely a chick flick!!!  Don’t worry about the ending, how could it be unhappy???  4* (I liked this movie)

111 min, Comedy directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna with Brian Kerwin, Charli Barcena, Peyton List, Jane Pfitsch, Katherine Heigl, Jennifer Lim, Brigitte Bourdeau, Judy Greer, Danielle Skraastad, Marilyn L. Costelllo, James Marsden, Michael Paul, Yetta Gottesman, Erin Fogel, Bern Cohen.

Note:  Imdb 6.1* out of 10* with 152,829 reviews, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, age 13+, 4* out of 5*, Rotten Tomatoes 41% with 153 critics 57% with 606,084 audience scores.

Special Note:  While Jane and Kevin are in the bar, a Josh Kelly song can be heard in the background.  In real life, Josh Kelley is married to Katherine Heigl. The wardrobe department reported that their initial designs for the dresses all looked too good on Katherine Heigl because of her figure??  They were almost unable to design bridesmaids dresses that would look bad on her!!!!  Katherine Heigl is just a few months younger than Malin Akerman, who played her younger sister supposedly by several years in this film.

Mistakes:  Right before Jane realizes she is yelling next to an ongoing 50th anniversary party, she is also flinging her clutch purse against the wall in anger??  Her mouth does not move as you hear her screaming, "why, why, why?”  The sound of the purse hitting the wall does not match the points where it hits??   And, the last two smacking sounds occur while she holds her purse in the air?  After she hits the wall, the purse is by her side??  If you can't get a purse scene right, what else can you not do????

The Holiday 2006

     The setting of this film is in London England.  Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and nurtures an unrequited love for her colleague Jasper Bloom.  Near Christmas, she is informed that Jasper is engaged to marry another colleague.  This surprising event causes her life to turn upside down.  In Los Angeles, Amanda Woods makes movie-trailers.  She has just split with her unfaithful boyfriend Ethan and she wants to forget him forever!!  Through a house exchange website, Amanda impulsively swaps her mansion for Iris' cottage in Surrey during the holiday period.  While in Surrey, Amanda meets Iris' brother and book editor Graham and they fall in love almost instantly!!  Meanwhile, Iris meets her new next door neighbor the ninety year old screenplay writer Arthur, who helps her retrieve some of her self-esteem.  Iris also meets the film composer Miles and she falls in love with him.

     This romcom will probably appeal to teens but they could get mixed messages from some of the characters' behaviors.  Several scenes focus on drinking and drunkenness, two of them lead to unplanned sexual encounters.  This unsafe behavior is presented as cute comedy??   Plus, a single father suggests that he sometimes gets drunk to "compartmentalize" his life?  He is dealing with his sadness over his losing his wife and the pressures of being a full time dad.  Characters frequently get very emotional.  A woman punches her cheating boyfriend so hard that he falls to the ground.  A couple of bad words and other minor language is included.  Of course, some of the actors don’t realize this (?) but in reality, they don’t have very much in common emotionally in their jobs??  4* (I liked this movie)

136 min, Comedy directed and written by Nancy Meyers with Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black Eli Wallach, Edward Burns, Rufus Sewell, Miffy Englefield, Emma Pritchard, Sarah Parish, Shannyn Sossamon, Bill Macy, Shelley Berman, Kathryn Hahn, John Krasinski.

Note:  Imdb 6.9* out of 120* with 240,392 reviews, Common Sense Media Cynthia Fuchs, age 13+, 3* out of 4*, 3* sex, language, consumerism and drinking, drugs, smoking, Metacritic 52 out of 100 with 31 critic reviews 8.6 out of 10 with 227 reviews, Letterboxd  3.3* out of 5* with 342 fans.

Special Note:  Written specifically with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black in mind!!  Kate Winslet and Rufus Sewell have previously been in a real-life romance.  The website Amanda and Iris use to exchange houses is the real website, homeexchange.com.  The house used for Arthur Abbot’s (Eli Wallach’s) residence belonged to actress Phyllis Diller at the time of shooting and it is located in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles California.  Iris' (Kate Winslet’s) tiny cottage is contrasted to Amanda's (Cameron Diaz's) stunning house but in reality, thanks to UK property prices, an unspoiled cottage like this in a good location could easily be worth £1 million, not far off $2 million. 

Mistakes:  When Amanda is searching for her holiday place, on the net appears a window with the countries' flags.  The old South African flag is used instead of the current flag, Peru's flag is used as Poland's and Union Jack is used as England's flag?  In the beginning of the movie when Miles is producing a song for a movie, he hits all the wrong keys even though the computer screen shows the correct notes?  When Amanda pours herself a glass of white wine, the pouring sound effect begins well before any wine starts entering the bottle?

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003

     This film is based on a novel written by Patrick O’Brian.  In April of 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, the H.M.S. Surprise, a British frigate is commanded by Captain Jack Aubrey.  The current orders for the Surprise and Aubrey are to track and capture or destroy a French privateer ship Acheron.  The Acheron is currently in the Atlantic off South America and she is headed toward the Pacific.  Napoleon is extending his reach of the war.  The Aubrey captain learns that the Acheron is a bigger and faster ship than the Surprise.  This puts the Surprise at a definite disadvantage.  The captain of the Aubrey has a single-mindedness in this impossible pursuit.  This idea puts him at odds with the doctor and naturalist Stephen Maturin on the Surprise.  Maturin is the Aubrey’s most trusted advisor on board and the closest friend of the captain.  Additionally, the Aubrey has faced other internal obstacles and they have resulted in a string of bad luck??  Fortunately, the Maturin’s scientific exploits are used to figure out a way to achieve the ship’s seemingly impossible goal.

  
     The captain’s orders are to sink, burn or take as a prize the Acheron.  Captain Aubrey treats the men with dignity, kindness and respect.  But, he realizes that the crew needs and requires him to be a strong leader.  He cannot be their friend, he must show discipline and maintain distance.  His nickname is Lucky Jack and the crew is counting on this!!  In this film, there are prolonged and intense battles with violence and graphic scenes of surgery, bloody wounds affecting both adults and children.  Crew members are shown being shot, whipped and committing suicide??  Drinking is frequent even among young officers.  Adults make cigars and pipes.  There are occasional, swear words and a few sexist remarks.  If you are interested in history, boats, naval operations and war strategy, this film is for you!!   4* (I liked this movie)  

138 min, Action directed and written by Peter Weir and also written by John Collee with Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D’Arcy, Edward Woodall, Chris Larkin, Max Pirkis, Jack Randall, Max Benitz, Lee Ingleby, Richard Pates, Robert Pugh, Richard McCabe, Ian Mercer, Tony Dolan, David Threlfall.

Note:  Imdb 7.4* out of 10* with 200,137 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes, 85% with 217 critics, 80% with 141,087 audience scores, empire online 4* Colin Kennedy, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, 4* out of 5*, age 13+, 3* positive, 2* role models, 4* violence, 1* sex, 2* language, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking, Amazon 4.& out of 5 with 83 reviews.

Special Note:  Russelll Crowe learned to play the violin for this film and referred to it as the hardest thing he’d ever done in a film!!!  The book is set in 1812 but the film is set 7 years earlier at 1805.  This allowed the writers to make the enemy of the peace not the United States but France and England instead.  England had declared war against Napoleon Bonaparte in this time period.  This film was supposed to be the first in a franchise.  Due to low box-office number, no sequels were made.  This film did receive critical acclaim and multiple Oscar nominations.  

Mistakes:  The captain and his dinner guests sing "Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate" (at around 59 mins), a song composed by Richard C. Saunders, an officer in the Royal Navy who was not born until 1809.  Dr. Stephen Maturin describes the iguana-like lizards that live in the Galápagos as "vegetarians", this is a word not coined until 1842.  Throughout the fighting, pistols are seen to function well.  During this time period, flintlock pistols failed to discharge up to 50% of the time and were considered a secondary weapon in close combat.
 

Evening 2007

     Overcome by the power of memory, Ann Lord reveals a long-held secret to her concerned daughters, Constance and Nina.  Constance is a contented wife and mother, Nina is a restless single woman.  There is a turning point within the family.  Constance and Nina are at Ann’s bedside when she calls out for the man she loved more than any other.  The women don’t know who Harris is and what is he to their mother?  Ann journeys in her mind back to a summer weekend fifty years before.  She was Ann Grant, a young woman in this time period of the 1940's.  She has traveled from New York City to be maid of honor at the high-society Newport wedding of her dearest college friend, Lila Wittenborn.  Harris Arden is a wedding guest, he is the man Ann loved and she has never stopped loving him??

     Both Constance and Nina are shocked about Ann’s revelation!!  Ann attended college with Lila and her younger brother Buddy.  Ann and Harris left a party together but Buddy was killed in a car accident when he chased after them?  Ann knew that Lila was in love with Harris, Ann and Harris parted ways but they still remained in love with each other.  

     Constance and Ann are struggling from the pressure and worry of looking after Ann.  Constance witnessed her mothers two failed marriages, her singing career and then her life as a suburban mom.  Nina is the younger sister and she became a drifter, never settling down in one relationship, unable to hold a steady job and now unsure of her future? 

     The feeling of this film is very sad!!  It is about mortality and pining for a long lost love.  The relationships are complex and unusually one character that is about to be married propositions another character on the eve of her wedding??  How does this set up the beginning of a new marriage??  Regret and also death hangs and hovers over this film like a blanket.  This could be tough for young viewers to process.  Plenty of drinking, smoking and some mild cursing.  This film does not follow the plot in the 1998 novel written by Susan Minot!!  3* (This movie is OK)   

117 min, Drama directed by Lajos Koltai and written by Susan Monot, Michael Cunningham with Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Natasha Richardson, Mamie Gummr, Eileen Atkins, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Barry Bostwick, David Furr, Sarah Clements, Cheryl Lynn Bowers.

Note:  Imdb 6.5* out of 10* with 12,932 reviews, Roger Ebert 1 1/2*, Rotten Tomatoes 27% with 129 critics a48% with 123,715 audience scores, The Guardian 2* out of 3* Andrew Pulver, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, age 15+, 3* violence, sex, 4* drinking, drugs & smoking.

 
Special Note:  There are some family relationships among the actors.  Claire Danes is married to Hugh Dancy and they first met during filming.  Vanessa Redgrave is the mother of Natasha Richardson, Meryl Streep is the mother of Mamie Gummer.

Mistakes:  Characters are getting ready to drive away from the mansion.  They are fastening their seat belts with shoulder strap.  These straps were not introduced until the mid 1950’s?  Ann and Buddy dance around the house and recording is playing a song by Michael Buble?  He was not born yet and could not have recorded this song??  Ann points out her star chosen by Buddy.  It is one of the Seven Sisters, Pleides.  This is a winter constellation and not seen in the summer sky?

Hero 2002

      Nameless is a defense officer.  He is summoned by the King of Qin because of his success in terminating three warriors.  They are the most notorious assassins in the land.  By this action, he has ensured the safety of the king.  Ancient China and the Qin Empire are out to conquer the six kingdoms.  Because of this effort, their king is a target for assassination.

     This film is a martial arts extravaganza with the fighting styles and lives of the fighters shown following the Chinese tradition.  There is more than just fighting to martial arts because it translates action and violence into poetry, ballet and philosophy.  The styles and lives of the fighters within Chinese tradition are like a mystery. They are told from more than one point of view.  5 1/2* (I really liked this movie)  

  
120 min, Action directed and written by Yimou Zhang and written by Feng Li, Yimou Zhang, Ben Lang with Jet Li, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang, Daoming Chen, Donnie Yen, Zhongyuan Liu, Tianyoung Zheng, Yan Qin, Chang Xiao Yang, Yakun Zhang.

Note:  Imdb 7.9* out of 10* with 172,968 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 95% with 208 critics 87% with 249,429 audience scores, Metacritic 85 out of 100 with 42 critic reviews 9 out of 10 with 473 user scores, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Steve Rose, Amazon 4.6 out of 5 with 1438 reviews.

Special Note:  All of the soldiers in the Qin army sequence as well as the palace sequences were acted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers.  Only the stunts are done by actors.  It is estimated that 18,000 soldiers were used as extras in this film.  The lake scenes took almost three weeks to film because director Imo Zhang insisted that the lake’s surface be perfectly still and only mirror-like.  The Qin Empire preferred the color black, even for horses.  Some of the horses needed to be temporarily colored black for the cavalry scenes.

Mistakes:  Nameless shows Sky’s broken spear to Broken Sword and Snow.  Nameless had asked them to meet at midnight, when he leaves it is clearly the middle of the day?  When Moon gives Nameless the sword as he is in the horse drawn cart, she approaches from the right but later she is seen to the left of the cart.

No Reservations 2007

      The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece.  Kate is a master chef and she runs her life like the upscale kitchen at 22 Bleecker Restaurant in Manhattan.  She has a no-nonsense attitude and an intensity that captivates or intimidates everyone around her?  She power through each hectic shift, coordinates hundred of meals, prepares delicate sauces, seasoning and simmering each dish to perfection.

     This film had the potential to be a great feel good and love story.  But, the story moves in a very predictable way?  The characters also have no depth?  We know that Kate is obsessed with her world but the remaining characters have unexplored and unexposed dimensions?  There appears to be too many reservations!!

     There are some serious themes such as the death of a single parent.  There is the perpetuation of the idea that ambitious, professionally successful woman all have lonely personal lives.  This is a typical odd-couple romantic movie with a young girl thrown into the pot.  3* (This movie is OK)

Note:  Rotten Tomatoes 42% with 162 critics 62% with 394,553 audience scores, Imdb 6.3* out of 10* with 70,165 reviews, Metacritic 50 out of 100 with 33 critics 6.6 out of 10 with 48 ratings, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5*, Common Sense Media 3* positive 3* language 3* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, The Guardian Peter Bradshaw 1* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Catherine Zeta-Jones worked for one evening as a server at a restaurant in New York Cit to prepare for her role.  Customers remarked about how much she resembled Catherine Zeta-Jones!!  She would reply in a fake American accent that, “she hears that all the time!!” Aaron Eckhart accidentally sliced off one of his fingernails while cutting onions??  He didn’t notice until Abigail Breslin screamed about the blood.  The restaurant at the end of the film is the ground floor of the apartment building used for the exterior shots in Friends.  

Mistakes:  When Zoe is eating Nick’s spaghetti in the restaurant kitchen, the bowl of spaghetti alternates between full and almost empty as the camera angles switch?  When Kate and Zoe are playing Monopoly, Catherine momentarily slips into her native British accent when she says, Park Place?  Cables and lighting are reflected in the heat lamp covers and other metallic surfaces in the kitchen?

The Phantom of the Opera 2004

      Christine is a young soprano and she becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House.  The opera ghost terrorizes the cast and crew of the French Opera House when Christine is being tutored.  He drives the lead soprano crazy so she will leave along with her friend.  Christine is able to sing the lead one night but the soprano doesn’t want lose her place in the show.  She decides to return but the ghost demands they keep giving his protege the lead roles.  Christine falls in love with the Vicomte de Chagny but the Phantom is in love with his student Christine.  The Phantom is extremely outraged that Christine is in love with the Vicomte!!  He kidnaps Christine to be his eternal bride and the Vicomte must try to stop this turn of events. 

     I saw a live presentation of this opera in person.  It is fabulous to see it live and the huge chandelier came up from the stage and across the audience.  I will never forget how it looked and how it felt to the audience.  The music is fantastic too and every enjoyable with the plot diving deeply into the characters.  I would absolutely see a live performance again plus I would also watch the film again.  The film is very good and the actors, plot and the music are very good.   Stunning!!!  5 1/2* (I really liked this movie) 

143 min, Drama directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Gaston Leroux novel), Andrew Lloyd Webber (book/screenplay), Joel Schumacher (screenplay) with Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciaran Hinds, Simon Callow, Victor McGuire, Jennifer Ellison, Murray Melvin, Kevin McNally, James Fleet, Imogen Bain, Miles Western, Judith Paris, Halcro Johnston, Paul Brooke, Oliver Chopping, Alison Skilbeck.

 
Note:  Imdb 7.2* out of 10* with 115,441 reviews, 33% with 171 critics 84% with 412,133 audience scores, Metacritc 40 out of 100 with 39 critic reviews 8.8 out of 10 with 369 ratings, reel views 2* James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert 3*, the guardian.com 1* out of 5*.

Special Note.  The doll in the Phantom’s lair is supposed to resemble Emmy Rossum but is not a wax mold as it seems.  Emmy Rossum is actually the mask.  Originally, a mask of her face was used on the mannequin but the fake eyes didn’t look like her?  She suggested that she would stand in as the mannequin instead.  She was made up with waxy makeup and she stands very still.  The Phantom speaks fourteen of his lines and sings the rest.  The chandelier weighted 2.2 tons and cost $1.3 million.  It was provided by Swarovski and a stunt double was used for riskier scenes.  There was also a third chandelier made that was equipped with electricity and lighting for the opening scene.  Raoul briefly enters a circular chamber full of mirrors.  This refers to the original Phantom of the Opera novel.  The Phantom used the mirrored chamber as a torture chamber to drive victims insane!!  There is a silent version of this film from 1925, when Christine takes off his mask, she was horrified and the audience was too!!

Pieces of April 2003

     April Burns and her boyfriend Bobby live in a very poor area of New York.  They are expecting April’s family for thanksgiving dinner for the first time.  Bobby tries to borrow a suit and April realizes that her stove is broken plus she doesn’t know how to cook.  She tries to find a neighbor that will let her cook the turkey.  As the eldest daughter, she doesn’t want to fail again with her family.  She has two younger siblings Beth and Timmy.  In a suburb of Pennsylvania, her dysfunctional family is preparing to travel to New York.  There is a lot of talking in the car about the relationship between the Burns family and their black-sheep daughter April?  The family consists of her father Jim, mother Joy, brother, sister and grandmother.

     There are flaws in this film but it also has joy and quirkiness.  There are lapses but flashes of human insight.  It doesn’t take long to figure out there is lots of humor in the family but there is friction too.  Holidays with relatives can be stressful even if they live in your area and you see them a lot.  Can one meal be the paste that can possibly put a family back together again? 

     There is some strong language, some off-screen violence, medicinal marijuana, some brief but graphic nudity.  This can be tough to watch since it involves stressful parent/child relationships and the topic of death.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

    
80 min, comedy directed and written by Peter Hedges with Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Allison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Alice Frummond, Viali Baganov, Lillias White, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez, Susan Bruce, Jamari Richardson, Leila Danette.

Note:  Imdb 7* out of 10* with 20,003 reviews, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 84% with 153 critics 73% with 29,490 audience scores, RollingStone 3* Peter Travers, empire online 4* out of 5* Natasha Aitken, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, 4* out of 5*, age 15+, 2* role models, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking.  

Special Note:  The title is from a Three Dog Night song.  Filmed in 16 days on a budget of $100,000,  Costs were kept low by the film company cutting a deal with the unions.  Peter Hedges was paid $10 to direct and another $10 to write it.  All the actors worked for $248 a day.  One inspiration for this movie was Peter Hedges hearing about a group of young adults who had borrowed an apartment so they could celebrate their first Thanksgiving in Manhattan together.  The oven didn’t work and they went door to door asking for a working oven to cook the turkey.  This film is dedicated to Peter Hedges’ mother, she died of cancer.  Patricia Clarkson was honored for her acting at Sundance 2003.  Peter Hedges also directed About a Boy and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

Mistakes:  The camera Timmy is using is a modern Nikon autofocus SLR and it has an electrically controlled self-timer that makes noise.  At the very end of the movie, the sound of an old manual self-time is inserted in the sound track.  April is shown with a bandage on her finger before she actually gets the cut?  Joy’s wig is wet after she rinses it in the sink.  A short time later, the wig is completely dry?

Virginia’s Run 2002

      Virginia is a teenage girl living in Massachusetts.  She is trying to come to grips with the death of her mother Deborah in a horse riding accident.  Her mother was riding Twister and this horse has a new foal.  Virginia begins to nurture Stormy, the foal of her mother’s horse.  Her older sister Caroline isn’t interested in horses and Virginia is obsessed with horses.  The horse Deborah was riding belonged to neighbor Blake Raines.  Caroline is dating Darrow, Blake’s hot-tempered son and jockey.  Darrow doesn’t like to lose, he’s willing to cheat, lie and mistreat his horse for a victory!!  At first, the foal Stormy is sold but her father buys Stormy back.  

     One reviewer has said this movie is okay for children or people who don’t know much about horses?  Because they knew a lot of horses, they laughed throughout the entire movie because of the ridiculousness of it??  It also seems that it would have been released in the late 80’s or early 90’s instead of 2002.  A positive note about this film is that the two sisters have an affectionate relationship with each other and also with their dad.  I don’t know much about horses but there is terrible and fairly dangerous riding plus cliches and bad sound effects.  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)    

103 min, Drama directed and written by Pewter Markel and also written by Valarie Trapp with Gabriel Byrne, Lindze Letherman, Rachel Skarsten, Joanne Whalley, Kevin Zegers, Robert Miranda, Jeremy Akerman, Jocelyn Cunningham, Adien Labrecque, John Dunsworth.    

 
Note:  Imb 6.2* out of 10* with 716 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 78% with 1749 audience scores, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 48 reviews, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*, Horse Nation 1/2 a Golden Horseshoe.
Special Note:  Filmed in Jordan Bay, Nova Scotia and Shelburne Canada.

Mistake:  When Virginia falls off her horse, you can clearly see the boots of someone riding Stormy back to her?

Mrs. Henderson Presents 2005

     This film is based on a book written by Sheila van Damm.  Laura Henderson buys an old London derelict theater and opens it up as the Windmill.  It is a performance hall and it goes down in history for an all-nude review?  Laura is recently widowed, she is wealthy and she is dissatisfied with the lifestyle of her fellow widow friends.  She persuades Vivian Van Damm to run the theater.  This could be a surprise combination because Laura and Vivian don’t get along??  Their idea of a non-strop revue is at first a great success.  But, other theaters copy their style and disaster looms ahead.  Laura suggests they put nudes in the show but Vivian says that Lord Chamberlain, Lord Rowland Baring and 2nd Earl of Cromer will likely have something to say about this?  These gentlemen license live shows in Britain and a go or no go is their decision?  Luckily, Laura has friends in high places!!  

     The actual Windmill was just like you see in this film but a little shabbier.  There were comics and song-and-dance acts plus dancing girls.  The lighting shifted and you could see nude models posed and moving in an artistic tableaux.  When the lighting shifted again, they disappeared.  In 1961 the Windmill was still in business but strip clubs opened up all over Soho and this club became old news.  As expected, a lot of nudity, profanity and adult themes.  3* (I liked this movie)        

103 min, comedy directed by Stephen Frears and written by David and Kathy Rose, Martin Sherman and Sheila van Dammn with Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Will Young, Christopher Guest, Kelly Reilly, Thelma Barlow, Anna Brewster, Rosalind Halstead, Sarah Solemani, Natalia Tena, Tomas Allen, Richard Syms, Ralph Nossek, Camille O’Sullivan, Doraly Rosen, Matthew Hart.

Note:  Imdb 7* out of 15,035 reviews, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 67% with 144 critics 72% with 50,196 audience scores, empire online 3* out of 5* Helen O’Hara, Common Sense Media Maria Llull, 4* out of 5*, age 16+, 3* violence, 5* sex, 5* language 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Noel Coward.

Special Note:  Dame Judi Dench plays Mrs. Henderson as the character dressed as a dancing polar bear.  There was a party before production started.  Many of the original Windmill girls attended.  They seemed to be older versions of the actresses playing Windmill girls!!  Many scenes such as portraits and the Wild West Show are re-creations from authentic photographs of the Windmill in its heyday.  

Mistakes:  Laura Henderson’s husband died in 1919, she purchased the Palais de Luxe and turned it into the Windmill Theatre in 1931.  She introduced the nude “tableaux vivant” in 1932.  This film depicts all these events as occurring after 1937.  Lord Cromer was Lord Chamberlain from 1922 to 1937 and was retired before the war.  Maureen ends up in a small river or canal during a rainstorm.  She is retrieved but she ever goes back for her bike or her purse?  Wouldn’t a lady go back for her purse?
 

The Secret: Dare to Dream 2020

     This film is based on a noel written by Rhonda Byrne.  A widow with three children is struggling to get by.  She meets a stranger named Bray and he believes in positive thinking.  A devastating hurricane brings an enormous challenge for a mom with no money to take care of repairs.  Bray says he can fix her house and it will just take some time and not very much money since he can do the work.  Suddenly, Miranda has hope again and she can feel compassion and gratitude.  Soon after, Miranda receives a marriage proposal from her boss.  She thought this would never happen?   Now Miranda needs to make a choice, what is best for her and her children?  She needs to get comfortable with being positive and not always being stressed.

     The focus here is on seeing life with a positive rather than negative viewpoint.  But, in the beginning, the main character is struggling financially!!  It's difficult to be positive when you can't pay your bills!!  The men seem to have more of the positive attitude?  Mild language, social drinking and light romance.  This film seems too much like a Hallmark movie.  Everything turns out perfect no matter how many mistakes the characters make in their lives??  3* (This movie is OK) 

     
     107 min, Drama directed and written by Andy Tennant and also written by Bekah Brunstetter, Rick Parks with Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas, Celia Weston, Jerry O’Connell, Sarah Hoffmeister, Aidan Pierce Brennan, Chloe Lee, Katrina Begin, Sydney Tennant, Yohance Myles, Jessie Terebonne, Rosenberg Salagdo, Samantha Beaulieu, Jeremy Warner, Han Soto.

     Note:  Imdb 6.4* out of 10* with 3,626 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 28% with 50 critics 77% with 187 audience scores, Common Sense Media Tara McNamara, 3* out of 5*, age 10+, 3* positive, 4* role models, 2* violence, 2* sex, 2* language, 3* consumerism, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking, Amazon 4.6* with 17,555 reviews, Metacritic 32 out of 100 with 11 critics reviews, 5.6* out of 1) with 9 user scores, dove.org 1* faith, sex, language, drugs, 2* violence, 5* integrity. 

     Special Note:  The book was influenced by a 1910 Wallace Wattle book titled The Science of Getting Rich and it is a self-help book.  Rhonda Byrne received this book from her daughter during a time of personal trauma in 2004.  Both the book and the film were released in March 2006.  Josh Lucas also worked with director Andy Tennant on Sweet Home Alabama.  

     Mistakes:  Bray is fixing Miranda’s car and he runs from the garage to the house in the hurricane.  When he enters the house, there is not one drop of water on his light blue t-shirt?  There are mistakes with Bray’s drink when he is talking to Missy.  It is up and down more times than a yo-yo?  Ice one second, gone the next and back again?  What kind of name is Bray for a character, isn't that the sound a donkey makes??

Across the Universe 2007

      This is a fictional love story set in the 1960’s during the turbulent years of anti-war protests.  There is also the struggle for free speech and civil rights.  Included are mind explorations and rock and roll.  The story goes from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  Moving on to Detroit riots, Columbia student riots, Vietnam, napalm and the draft to the dockyards of Liverpool.  There is a combination of live action and 3-D animation plus puppets.  Many songs are paired with the stories.

     There are a LOT of songs in this film and there is a good plot.  The characters are named after Beatles songs and most of what happens is an illustration of one of the songs.  Unfortunately, some of the contents is iffy for teens.  Characters drink and take drugs without any negative consequences.  A few nude scenes but artfully staged, does that make them better and more appropriate?  This film has powerful messages about the importance of friendships and the need to ask questions about authority when lives are at stake.  5* (I really liked this movie)

133 min, Drama directed and written by Julie Taylor and also written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais with Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, T.V. Carpio, Spencer Liff, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Nicholas Lumley, Michael Ryan, Erin Elliott.  

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 105,526 reviews, Roger Ebert 4*, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo 3* out of 5*, age 14+, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Rotten Tomatoes 53% with 179 critics 82% with 333,336 user ratings, RollingStone 2 1/2* out of 4* Peter Travers, empire online 4* Ian Nathan.

Special Note:  Director Julie Taymor watched the premier sitting next to Paul McCartney.  She was nervous about what he would think!!  She asked him at the conclusion, what he thought?  He said “What’s not to like?”  Paul sang along with the song All My Loving and this was a very moving moment for Taymor!!  Also, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney and Olivia Harrison praised the film after viewing.  Released on John Lennon’s birthday October 9th in the United States.

Mistakes:  Jude is packing up his stuff in his Liverpool bedroom after finishing on the docks.  We can see a Liverpool FC poster on the wall and the LFC crew design shown had not come into being in the 1960’s.  It would be more likely from the late 1980’s?  

Eastern Promises 2007

      Tatiana is Russian teenager, she is pregnant and she arrives in London.  She goes to a hospital and she is bleeding.  The doctor can only save her baby and Tatiana dies.  Midwife Anna Khitrova is also Russian.  She finds Tatiana’s diary written in Russian and she decides to find her family to let them know about the baby.  She takes the diary home and asks her uncle Stepan to translate.  Stepan refuses but Anna finds the card of a restaurant inside the diary.  She visits another Russian Semyon and she tries to find a lead to Tatiana’s family.  Semyon also refuses to translate the diary but Stepan agrees to translate.  Anna discovers that Semyon and his son Kirill raped Tatiana when she was fourteen years old and forced her to work as a prostitute in their brothel?  Semyon is also the dangerous boss of the Russian mafia and this could jeopardize the safety of Anna and her family?

     Of course, there is a LOT of violence in this film, both graphic and implied.  Children and teens are not the intended viewing audience.  Women are abused, men are murdered, babies kidnapped, sons betrayed, forced sexual acts with little or no emotion.  Smoking, drinking, strong language and nudity.  There is a complex story line and this is an intriguing film.  Even if you know all this information before viewing, you can still be stunned and appalled!!  5* (I really liked this movie)

100 min, Action directed by David Cronenberg and written by Steven Knight with Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Josef Altin, Mina E. Mina, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Lalita Ahmed, Badi Uzaman Dona Croll, Raza Jaffrey, Sinead Cusack, Vincent Cassel.

Note:  Imdb 7.6* out of 10* with 225,585 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 89% with 200 critics 83% with 149,254 audience scores, Metacritic 82 out of 100 with 35 critic reviews, 7.0 out of 10 with 308 user scores, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, 3* out of 5*, age 18+, 5* violence, 5* sex, 5* language, 3* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  After shooting, Viggo Mortensen went to a pub without removing his tattoos or changing his clothing.  Some of the patrons became very frightened of him because they assumed he was a real member of Vory v Zakone.  The tattoos on his ankles are Where are you going? and What to you Care in Russian?  Viggo thought it was very funny that one foot doesn’t respect the other!!  Armin Mueller-Stahl plays the violin for two little girls.  This was not dubbed and in real life Armin was a noted concert violinist in his youth!!  The characters who were members of the Vory v Zakone did not use a gun during filming.  The members of this group typically prefer to use knives instead of guns.  If questioned, the members could claim the knives were for linoleum cutting?

Mistake:  Anna leaves the Trans-Siberian for the second time.  Semyon kisses her goodbye once on each cheek.  Russians kiss three times, both cheeks, again on the first cheek for the last kiss.  Uncle Stepan spits in Nikolai’s face.  He says the Russian word mrakabes, this means obscurantist and doesn’t belong here?  It means the practice of deliberately presenting information in an imprecise, abstruse manner designed to limit further inquiry and understanding.

Scoop 2006

     The funeral of famous British journalist Joe Strombel is being held.  His colleagues and friends are recalling how obstinate he was while seeking a news scoop.  Strombel discloses the identity of the tarot card serial killer of London.  He cheats death and appears to an American student of journalism, Sondra Pransky.  She is on a stage in the middle of a magic show by magician Sidney Waterman.  He tells her that the murderer is the aristocrat Peter Lyman?  Sondra drags Sid into her investigation and they are seeking evidence to learn if Peter is the killer.  Sondra falls in love with Sid and she questions if Joe Strombel is right?

     This film has a LOT going on!!  Murder, suspense, humor, love and entertainment.  Also amusing bits about England, death, magic and journalism.  Plus, supernatural themes, jokes, psychoanalysis and philosophy.  Woody Allen films are usually shot in New York but this is across the pond in the UK!!  Another twist is that Woody possibly doesn’t get the girl!!  5* (I really liked this movie)    
     
96 min, Comedy directed and written by Woody Allen with Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman Jim Dunk, Robert Bathurst, Geoff Bell, Christopher Fulford, Nigel Lindsay, Ian McShane, Fenella Woolgar, Pete Mastin, Doreen Mantle, David Schneider, Meera Syal, Kevin McNally, Robyn Kerr, Richard Stirling. 

Note: Imdb 6.7* out of 10* with 80,060 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 41% with 149 critics 55% with 70,203 audience scores, Roger Ebert 2*, Rolling Stone 3* out of 4* Peter Travers, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 174 reviews, Reel Views 2* James Berardinelli.

Mistakes:  There were several scenes with Scarlett Johansson’s lapel mike radio frequency transmitter strapped on her waist behind her and it is visible.  In the end credit soundtrack section, the composer Edvard Grieg is misspelled as Edvard Greig.  Sondra tells Peter Lyman that her father is having sensitivity in tooth lower #7.  In the American tooth numbering system, number seven is always an upper tooth?  In the British tooth numbering system, there is no tooth number seven?

Jane Eyre 2011

     After a very bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess.  She has a new position at Thornfield Hall.  She meets the dark, cold and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Edward Rochester.  Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him.  Jane seems to finally have found happiness at last.  But she doesn’t know that Mr. Rochester has a terrible secret that could destroy everything she believes to be true?

     Unfortunately, there problems with this adaptation of the book.  There is no chemistry between Jane and Rochester.  There also isn’t any of the suspicious and eerie laughter from Grace Pole.  Rochester also has no charisma?  Not really any excitement except until they expose their love.  Mia’s expression and facial features don’t change unless she is in a dramatic scene with tears.  3* (I liked this movie)

     This is a haunting romantic drama without strong sexual content, foul language or graphic violence.  The story at is core is sill quite adult.  The film is often somber and sometimes spooky.  Some scenes depict how wayward children were treated in this time period and it can be in a cruel manner. 

120 min, Drama directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and written by Charlotte Bronte and Moira Buffini with Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Su Elliott, Holiday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Amelia Clarkson, Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Lizzie Hopley, Jayne Wisener, Freya Wilson, Emily Haigh, Simon McBurney, Sandy McDade, Freya Parks.

Note:  Imdb 7.3* out of 10* with  80,637, 84% with 167 critic reviews, 76% audience score with 33,318 reviews, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 76 out of 100 with 35 critics 7.4 out of 10 with 103 ratings, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robeldo, 4* out of 5*, age 13+, 2* positive 2* violence, 2* sex,18 drinking, drugs, smoking.

Special Note:  The majority of the book that is film is based on takes place in the 1830’s.  The novel by Charlotte Bronte was published in 1847.  Director Cary Joji Fukunaga changed the timeline so that most of this movie takes place a decade later.  He felt that the mid-1830’s fashions were very over-the-top and unflattering.  He wanted to dress Mrs. Reed in those styles rather than Jane Eyre.  The location of Mia’s cottage during filming was so isolated that there was no mobile phone reception.  A member of the crew had to be stationed in a nearby phone booth with a walkie talkie in case the crew needed anything.  He didn’t mind because the local residents brought him tea and biscuits throughout the day!!  Filming locations were in London and various locations in Derbyshire and the Derbyshire Dales plus Sheffield and Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire.  

Additional Note:  Remarkably there are films from 1910 to 1926, feature films from 1934 to 2011, radio programs 1938 to 2016, television 1949-2007, theater 1849 to 2016, sequels 1992 to 2017, reworking 1958 to2018, retellings 2007 - 2015, prequels 1966, spin-offs 2001-2012, retellings from another character’s point of view 1966-2011, other influences 1938.

Mistakes.  The teacup that Jane is drinking tea from is Belleek.  This porcelain was first produced in 1863 and was not widely available outside Ireland until the mid-1860’s.  The blue mark on Jane’s cup was first used in 1993.  Jane tells Adele to come with her and refers to Adele as Madame rather than the proper form of Mademoiselle which is used for a young and unmarried girl.

The Good Shepherd 2006

     Edward Wilson is the head of CIA covert operations during the Bay of Pigs.  The setting is Washington DC of 1946.  It is suspected that Fidel Castro has been tipped and Wilson looks for a leak.  As he investigates, he is recalling the death of his father, his student days at Yale, recruitment into OS, his affairs, a shotgun marriage, learning the spy craft in London, the distance from his son, the Cold War, relationships with the agency and also with British and Soviet counterparts.  His perpetual idealism is giving way to something different as he closes in on the finding the leak?

     This is not a film that everyone will like but the details are accurate.  It is very dark and murky and somewhat critical of the CIA.  It all boils down to the fact that emotions can color and undermine intelligence information.  It is interesting to see the actors in their younger years.  But, can you watch a spy movie that has no intrigue, no suspense, few characters but lots of parts with a lot of good actors to play them??  Unfortunately, Edward Wilson is a man with many secrets but no mysteries.  It is also a bummer that everyone should be able to spot the turncoat immediately without any hesitation!!!  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)

167 min, Drama directed by Robert De Niro and written by Eric Roth with Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, Tammy Blanchard, Billy Crudup, Keir Dullea, Michael Gambon, Martina Gedeck, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Mark Ivanier, Gabriel Macht.

Note:  Imdb 6.7* out of 10* with 97,728 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 55% with 171 critics 51% with 182,247 audience scores, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 1167 reviews, Metacritic 61 out of 100 with 33 critic reviews 6.6 out of 10 with 176 ratings, Letterboxd 3* out of 5*, The Guardian entertainment grade D-, history grade C-.

Special Note:  Edward Wilson is partly based upon James Jesus Angleton.  He was chief of the CIA Counterintelligence from 1954 to 1975.  The filming location is the Deer Island Club on Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks.  Great Camp Sagamore was built by William West Durant.  It was the summer retreat of the Vanderbilt family.  The inside proved to be too small and a replica was constructed in New York City.  There is a mistake with a Volkswagen in one of the scenes.  This car was first imported to the US in 1949.  A list in Dr. Fredericks’ briefcase is copied by Wilson but the list was made on a computer.  They was not available at this time period.  
 

Turquoise Rose 2007

     This film is a coming of age story about a Navajo girl from Arizona.  Her name is Turquoise Rose and she was raised in the suburbs of Phoenix.  She attends college and is interning as a photojournalist at a local newspaper.  She has saved her money and she bought a ticket to go on vacation in Europe for the summer with her roommate.  This all changes when her elderly grandmother requests that Turquoise come to the Navajo reservation to help her.  Of course, Turquoise is disappointed to not be going on her trip.  She does feel that the right thing for her to do is take care of her grandmother.  The road she is now traveling seems so out of focus from what she had planned for the summer.  She does learn that this is also an adventure but just of a different type.

     This is a very interesting story and it also gives insight into the lifestyles of the Navajo people still living on reservations.  Turquoise meets Henry and he is a big help to her.  He has family living on the reservation, he works with the elderly Navajo people and he is also a sculptor.  He gives Turquoise a tour of this unfamiliar area.  To thank him, she makes dinner for him and for her grandmother.  He invites her to a dance in the local town.  Turquoise leaves to go back to Arizona but she doesn’t get to say goodbye to Henry before she leaves?

     The scenery of this area is very beautiful and very much unlike small or big city life.  Everyone knows all the people and family members on the reservation.  There is a LOT of work to be done living in this area.  Pumping water to bring back to homes, taking care of livestock and earning a living.  Many of the young people of The Nation fall prey to drugs and alcohol plus they and lose their sense of history.  This simple type of lifestyle on the reservation has been the same for hundreds of years.  5 1/2* (I really liked this movie)

94 min, Drama directed and written by Travis Holt Hamilton and also written by Cara Rose Brown, Marjorie Coltrin Detiege and Jake Johnson with Deshava Apachee, Donavon G. Barney, Ethel Begay, Kathleen Benner, John Boomer, Jane, Renee and Warren Brown, Vincent Craig, Regis Dodson, Dacia Enos, Pyn Francisco, Carol Gibson, Audie Greybear, Dinzell James, Oreland C. Joe.

Note:  Imdb 7.7* out of 10* with 59 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 94% with 154 audience scores, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 70 ratings, Fandango 94% audience score, newspaper rock 7.5 out of 100 Russ Bates. 

Laws of Attraction 2004

     Two New York divorce attorneys are often competing against each other.  Somehow, they end up in a relationship.  When they get married, will they be able to avoid the same issues at home that cause people to divorce?  One of the central cases is the heavily-publicized divorce of a rock star from his wife.

     This movie has the feeling of the romantic screwball comedies from the 30's, 40's and 50’s.  It succeeds by following the humor, witty dialogs and pace that made the romantic comedies of old so good.  But, until the ending!!  The entire ending is a bust!!  It is copied and pasted from every other average romantic comedy today.  A good comedy but it needs a much better ending!!

     This movie portrays drinking, including drinking to excess, as evidence of machismo and as a way to bond with people.  Characters smoke, use strong language and have sex without knowing each other very well.  There is some crude humor, also many references to adultery, strippers, prostitutes and sexual addiction.  3* (This movie is OK)

Note:  Imdb 5.9* out of 10* with 21,992 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 18% with 148 critics 47% with 36,823 audience scores, empire online 3* out of 5* Simon Braund, Metacritic 38 out of 100 with 36 critics 5.8 out of 10 with 25 ratings, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 637 reviews, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, 1* out of 5*, age 14+, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  Frances Fisher is in the role as Julianne Moore’s mother.  She is only eight years older than Julianne in real life?  At the start of the film, Director Peter Howitt has the role of the husband in the divorce case.  A popular Dublin newspaper printed a full-page article on the day of the release of this film in Ireland.  The subject was how insulting this film is toward Irish people?  It depicts them as people with a fixed and oversimplified image or as a particular type of people?  Director Michael Caton-Jones left at the last minute, due to creative differences.

The Basket 1999

     The setting of this film is the rural Pacific Northwest.  The community of Waterville raises wheat and children in the midst of a nation reeling from fighting WWI.  There is pain and prejudice woven against a beautiful backdrop.  Can America triumph and remain hopeful as it is changing?  New school teacher Martin Conlon is from the east and he begins to make changes in the town.  He is playing opera and talking about the Germans that America is fighting.  He wants to teach life lessons such as to defend the mighty wall, each person must fight for something small.  He also introduces a new game called basketball.  All the boy begin practicing!!

     There is a basketball game against the Spokane Spartans.  Will this small-town team be able to beat a team from the big city?  There is money to be made and money to be lost.  The town is hoping to get money so they can get a new tractor for the harvest.  There are brief flashbacks to WWI battle scenes including the death of civilians.  A character has been injured after fighting in the war.  A young child has epilepsy and there are sad deaths.  Intense scenes of prejudice and cruelty between both children and adults.

    Filming was done from late September to early October in 1998.  There is a lot of history, music, basketball and a very good story-line.  Americans were against any German people coming to or living in this country.  Many enlisted men were fighting in the war with some permanently changed and others never coming home again.  Two German orphans, Helmut and his older sister Brigida are moved out of a wartime internment camp to this area.  They face hostility from some of the people in the town and acceptance from others.  5 1/2* (I really liked this movie)

105 min, Drama directed and written by Rich Cowan and also written by Don Caron with Peter Coyote, Karen Allen, Robert Burke, Amber Willenborg, Jock MacDonald, Eric Dane, Brian Skala, Casey Cowan, tony Lincoln, Patrick Treadway, Ellen and Joey Travolta, Jack Bannon, Elwon Bakly, Paul Hostetler.

Note:  Imdb 6.4* out of 10* with 487 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 44% with 18 critics 23% with 780 user ratings, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 66 ratings, Common Sense Media 4* out of 5* Nell Minow, age 10+, 2* violence, 1* sex. 

Special Note:  Betting on the point spread in a sporting event is a relatively modern invention and it was not in use during the time setting of this film.  The box office for this film was $609,042 and it was released in May of 2000.

Little Black Book 2004

     Stacy Holt is an associate producer for a daytime talk show.  Her boyfriend Derek is unwilling to talk his previous relationships?  Barb is Stacy’s co-worker and she eggs Stacy on to look at Derek’s personal digital organizer.  She sees the names and numbers of his previous girlfriends.  She sets up interviews with all of them!!!  She wants to be closer to Derek and she doesn’t think she can do this unless she knows more about his history?  Of course, this plan begins to unravel!!  Stacy does become friends with one of the women.

     Stacy’s mother is played by Holly Hunter and she thinks that the cure for all heartache is Carly Simon music?  Her dream is to work for Diane Sawyer??  Stacy goes through Derek’s PDA when he is away on a business  trip.  There is some strong language, sexual references and situations.  There is crude humor and a vibrator joke.  Disabilities are used as topics for comedy.  Jokes include eating disorders and people with dwarfism?  Even though this is a comedy, there are some sad moments.  In the reviews, there are both ups and downs.  5* (I really liked this movie)   

107 min, Comedy directed by Nick Hurran and written by Melissa Carter and Elisa Bell with Brittany Murphy, Ron Livingston, Holly Hunter, Kathy Bates, Julianne Nicholson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Kevin Sussman, Rashida Jones, Josie Maran, Jason Antoon, Gavin Rossdale, Cress Williams, Dave Annable, Yvette Nicole Brown.

Note:  Imdb 5.3* out of 10* with 17,237 reviews, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, 1* out of 5*, age 15+, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* consumerism, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 242 reviews, Roger Ebert 3*, Rotten Tomatoes 22% with 111 critics 37% with 65,772 ratings, Metacritic 36 out of 100 with 33 critics 9 out of 10 with 54 ratings, Slant Magazine 1/2* out of 4* Nick Schager.

Special Note:  This is the feature film acting debut of singer Gavin Rossdale with the band Bush.  Rossdale is also the former husband of Gwen Stefani and the father of their three sons.  Gwen is now in a relationship with singer Blake Shelton.  There is a mistake after the smashing of a phone with a hockey stick.  It can briefly be seen a few shots later reassembled on the desk.  It is askew but in one piece.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 1966

     The Peanuts gang are celebrating Halloween while Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin.  Autumn is in full swing, Linus and Lucy go to the local pumpkin patch to find a pumpkin.  Lucy selects the largest one they can find!!  Then, she makes Linus carry it back to their house.  He is dismayed when it turns out that Lucy is going to “kill” the pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern!!  On Halloween night, the gang goes trick-or-treating.  They stop at the pumpkin patch to jeer at Linus for missing the fun as usual.  Linus is convinced that the Great Pumpkin will come to his most sincere pumpkin patch!!  He persuades Sally to skip trick-or-treating and join him in the patch.

    All the kids get their goodies except Charlie Brown, he gets nothing but rocks?  They go back to the pumpkin patch to tease Linus and Sally.  Then the gang goes to Violet’s Halloween party.  Violet and Lucy ask Charlie Brown to serve as their model.  What they really want to do is use his bald head to diagram potential jack-o-lantern designs.  Snoopy is wearing his World War I flying ace costume and he has a fierce but losing battle with the unseen Red Baron.

     Linus and Sally are still in the pumpkin patch.  Sally becomes furious because Linus "made" her miss the Halloween festivities!!  Charlie Brown and the others come to the patch to get Sally.  Lucy realizes that Linus is not in his bed, she goes to get him and brings him home.  She takes off his shoes and puts him to bed.  Linus vows to Charlie Brown that the Great Pumpkin will come to his patch next year!!

     This film can be good for all ages and it includes many favorite American Halloween traditions.  Trick-or-treating, apple bobbing and the Great Pumpkin.  There is some of the usual Halloween imagery with ghosts, skeletons and this may alarm very young viewers?  Another aspect of this film is that the children treat each other poorly.  Name calling and putting each other down.  Lucy is horrible to everyone including her brother until the end of the movie.  Just because the kids are the cute Peanuts characters doesn’t make it right to degrade each other, put each other down, name call and think they are cute and funny.  (I have only slightly paid attention to this behavior?)  Possibly, there needs to be a newer and a more pleasant version of the Great Pumpkin?  But, there are other newer animated cartoons with a lot of noise, thoughtlessness, loudness, color-popping?  5* (I liked this movie)   

25 min, Animation, directed by Bill Melendez and written by Charles M. Schulz with the voices of Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Sally Dryer, Cathy Steinberg, Lisa DeFaria, Glenn Mendelson, Ann Altieri, Gabrielle DeFaria Ritter, Bill Melendez.

Note:  Imdb 8.2* out of 10* with 16,406 reviews, Common Sense Media Carrie R. Wheadon, 5* age 4+, 3* positive messages, 3* role models, 2* scariness, Amazon 4* with 2,633 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 94% with 17 critics 85% with 51,280 user ratings, Letterboxd 3.9* out of 5*.

The Lives of Others 2006

     This film begins in 1984.  Gerd Wiesler is an officer with the Stasi.  This is the East German secret police.  Wiesler attends a play written by Georg Dreyman.  Georg is considered by many to be the ultimate example of a loyal citizen.  Wiesler has a gut feeling that Dreyman can’t be as ideal as he seems?  He believes surveillance is needed?  The Minister of Culture agrees but later Wiesler learns that the Minister sees Dreyman as a rival.  The Minister is also very interested in Dreyman’s partner Christa-Maria.  Wielser continually listens in on the couple.  But, there is an unexpected consequence of his surveillance?  He begins to actually care about them??  He begins to protect them whenever it is possible!!  

     The setting of this film is the oppressive world of communist East Germany in the 1980’s.  There is relentless pursuit of enemies of the state and anyone who dares to think differently.  Psychological cruelty including interrogation tactics like sleep deprivation.  An unexpected and violent death.  A suicide and a discussion about the government’s efforts to cover up suicide rates in East Germany.  Characters smoke lots of cigarettes and drink lots of liquor.  A couple gets undressed and kisses and a man has an interlude with a prostitute.  A government official crudely gropes an uninterested woman.  This film is filled with hidden thoughts and secret desire.  5* (I really liked this movie)  

137 min, Drama directed and written by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck with Ulrich Muhe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Thieme, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Volkmar Kleinert, Matthias Brenner, Charly Hubner, Herbert Knaup, Bastian Trost, Marie Gruber, Volker Michalowski, Werner Daehn, Martin Brambach.

Note:  Imdb 8.4* out of 10* with 353,160 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 93% with 161 critics 96% with 121,680 user ratings, Common Sense Media Cynthia Fuchs, 4* out of 5*, age 17+, 3* violence, 5* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Roger Ebert 4*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, empire online 5* Alan Morrison, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 2,012 reviews.

Special Note:  One of the characters in this film is a government informer.  In real life, the actor Ulrich Muhe (in the role of Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler) discovered that his own wife was a Stasi informant? 

Elizabethtown 2005

      Shoe designer Drew Baylor has caused a loss of almost one billion dollars to his company.  He decides that his only recourse is to commit suicide.  Just as he is at his lowest and he has decided to die, he receives a phone call from his sister.  She tells him that his father has just died in Elizabethtown.  He travels on an empty red eye flight and meets the flight attendant Claire Colburn.  She changes his view and perspective of life and she is very chatty!!

 

     This film is about real people and how they react.  They laugh, cry, encounter despair but also have times of triumph.  Orlando Bloom tells his story with many facial expressions.  Sometimes these expressions can say more than words.  Kirsten Dunst brings some unreality but also needed charm.  Families can be weird but they can also find solutions and come together as a team. 

 
     There is contemplation of suicide, the death of a father, the grief of a mother and sister.  References to sexuality, sometimes romantically but also in rude contexts.  Drunken boy talk, women in scanty clothing.  Characters use mild language out of frustration, anger and occasional excitement.  Characters are visibly drunk during a weekend-long party.  5* (I really liked this movie)  

 

123 min, Comedy directed and written by Cameron Crowe with Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Bruice McGill Judy Greer, Jessica Biel, Paul Schneider, Loudon Wainwright III, Gaylord Sartain, Jed Rees, Paula Dean Dan diggers, Alice Marie Crowe.

Note:  Imdb 6.4* out of 10* with 66,892 reviews, 28% with 176 critics 66% with 352,622 audience scores, Roger Ebert 3*, Common Sense Media, Cynthia Fuchs, 2* out of 5*, age 14+, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, empire online 4* Simon Braund, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 637 reviews.

Special Note:  Judy Greer plays Orlando Bloom’s younger sister but she is two years older than Bloom.  During shooting a scene in a cemetery, filming was interrupted due to an unexpected rain storm.  Crowe suggested they shoot the scene anyway because it looked more beautiful and natural.  This film shows an American Airlines 747, this plane was discontinued and the last flight was on 12/29/94.  Recurring absent fathers have been a feature of Crowe's movies since his own father James Crowe died in July of 1989.

Junebug 2005

     George Johnsten is a successful Carolinian and he meets Chicago art gallery owner Madeleine at an electoral benefit art auction.  It is love at first sight!!,  Madeleine decides to meet a Southern original artist.  George seized the opportunity to come along and present her to his North Carolina parents Eugene and Peg.  Also in the family are drop-out brother Johny and his very pregnant wife Ashley.  It doesn’t take long for a can of worms to open up!!!  Emotions revive and emerge including admiration and jealousy!!!

     There is a meeting of opposites in this film because both director Angus McLachlan and Phil Morrison are both from North Carolina.  The heartland takes a journey into quiet, into the heart a small-town and family life.  This is a slice of the life in North Carolina with corn bread and red eye gravy.  

     This film is good to use to talk with mature teens about values, relationships and how we all come together at times.  When Amy Adams is onscreen, this film shines.  Her character is naive but very sweet.  You want to give her a hug after you see that her husband can be neglectful.  There are frequent laughs in the first half provided by Amy.  5* (I really liked this movie)

106 min, Comedy directed by Phil Morrison and written by Angus MacLachlan with Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, David Kuhn, Alicia Van Couvering, Jerry Minor, Matt Besser, Will Oldham, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Scott Wilson, Ben McKenzie, Celia Weston, Amy Adams.

Imdb 6.9* out of 10* with 22,041 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 86% with 136 critics 73% with 46,871 audience reviews, Metacritic 80 out of 100 with 34 critics 7.9 out of 1`0 with 100 ratings, Common Sense Media Cynthia Fuchs, 3* out of 5*, age 17+, 3* violence, 3* sex, 5* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 255 reviews. 

Special Note:  Two real houses in Winston-Salem were used for filming, one for the internal shots and the other for external shots.  The two houses were down the street from each other.  The external shots house was also used for the basement and garage scenes.  This house also housed the make-up department.  There is a mistake with Eugene’s Phillips head screw driver.  Through half of the movie he uses only one screw driver.  A woodworker and handy man like Eugene would have owned several Phillips head screw drivers in several sizes?  In the hospital room, Ashley’s hair repeatedly moves from being behind/not behind her ear between shots?  A saucer under the water pitcher appears and disappears between shots in the hospital room?

Stranger than Fiction 2006

     Everyone knows that your life is a story.  What if a story was your life instead?  Harold Crick is your average IRS Agent.  He is monotonous, boring and repetitive.  One day everything changes!!  Harold hears an author inside of his head narrating his life.  Everything he hears is accurate and Harold recognizes the voice as an esteemed author he saw on television?  This event begins to affect his entire life, his work, his love interest and his possibly his death?

      It is not a stretch to say that Harold is mentally unstable.  But, Harold must find the author of this story!!  He must convince this woman to change the ending of the story before it is too late!!  Harold makes a mistake when he tells Ana that she can deduct the bread she gives away to the homeless as a charitable contribution on her tax return?  In order to qualify as a deduction, the bread must be given to a qualified charitable organization and be properly documented.  If she gives the bread to the homeless it is not enough because there would be no way to prove that she actually gave the bread away!!  I never expected to be including IRS regulations in my blog!! 

   103 min, Comedy directed by Marc Forster  and written by Zach Helm with Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman,William Dick, Guy Massey, Martha Espinoza, T.J. Jagodowski, Peter Grosz, Ricky Adams, Christian Stolte, Denise Hughes, Peggy Roeder, Tonray Ho, Tony Hale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Danny Rhodes, Helen Young.

Note:  Imdb 7.5* out of 10* with 216,983 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 73% with 175 critics 85% audience score with 401,993 ratings, reelviews 3 1/2* James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert 3 1/2*, Common Sense Media, Jane Boursaw 4* out of 5*, age 13+, 2* positive 1* role models 3* violence, 2* sex, 3* language, 2* drinking, drugs, smoking, Metacritic 67 of 100 with 35 critics 8.7 of 10 with 356 ratings.  5* (I really liked this movie)

Special Note:  The title of this movie comes from a famous quote from Lord Byron's Don Juan.  There is a mistake when Harold meets Ana on the bus.  He gets off 27 blocks earlier than his stop.  After he realizes this, he starts walking in the direction the bus came from rather than the way it was going. 

Let Me In 2010

     The setting of this film is in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1983 and it is based on a book written by John Ajvide Lindqvist.  Originally this film was made in Sweden in 2008.  Owen is twelve years old, he is lonely and an outcast boy bullied in school.  Kenny is the bully at school and two other classmates bully him at home.  Owen becomes friends with a twelve year old neighbor girl Abby.  His dream is to avenge himself with the bullies!!  There is something unusual about Abby, she is only outside at night and at the playground of their building.  Owen and his family don't know that Abby's father is a wanted serial-killer who drains blood out of his victims to give to Abby!!!  She advises Owen to fight Kenny but he soon discovers that Abby is an ancient vampire.  He feels both fear and love for Abby??  A police officer is investigating the murder cases and he believes there is a satanic cult in the neighborhood??

     There are similarities in this film with Let the Right One In of 2008 with Lina Leandersson, Kare Hedebrant, Per Ragnar.  Directed by Tomas Alfredson, also written by John Ajvide Lindqvist and based on his novel.  The boy's name is Oskar and he is also 12 years old and bullied.  Eli is the girl and the setting is the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.     

     Even though this is obviously a strange movie, I liked it very much!!!  The mood is set right away of oppression and isolation.  Lighting and sound are used to create the gloomy world Owen is stranded in.  Mortez turns in a dark, subtle and convincing performance in her role as Abby.  She easily has a lovable innocence and an animalistic darkness.  Owen finally finds a spark of happiness when he is with Abby.  5* (I really liked this movie)  

116 min, Drama written and directed by Matt Reeves, also written by John Ajvide Lindqvist with Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Cara Buono, Elias Koteas, Sasha Barrese, Dylan Kenin, Chris Browning, Ritchie Coster, Dylan Minnette, Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak, Nicolai Dorian, Rebekah Wiggins, Seth Adkins, Aston Moio.

Note:  Imdb 7.1* out of 10* with 112,738 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 88% with 236 critics 76% with 66,908 audience scores, empireonline 4* Dan Jolin, Metacritic 79 out of 100 with 35 critic reviews, 8.5 out of 10 with 470 user scores, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* out of 4*, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson 3* out of 5*, age 18+, 4* violence, 3* sex, 4* language, 1* consumerism, 2* drinking, drugs, smoking.

Finding Nemo 2003

     A clown fish named Marlin lives in the Great Barrier Reef.  He accidentally loses his son Nemo after he ventures into the open sea.  Martin has constantly warned Nemo about the many dangers of the ocean.  Nemo is caught in a net and abducted by a boat.  He is sent to an aquarium  in the office of a dentist in Sydney Australia near Sydney Harbour.  Martin is desperate to find Nemo and he meets a fish named Dory.  She is a blue tang and she has short-term memory loss.  They travel together a great distance and they encounter other sea creatures along the way.  Sharks, anglerfish and jellyfish.  During the time Martin and Dory are looking for Nemo, the sea animals in the fish tank are plotting a way to return to the sea.  They want to be free and live their lives in the ocean again and not in an aquarium tank!!

     This film is very colorful and interesting.  The only small complaint I have is the Dory character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres is very annoying!!  There are some tense scenes with large creatures that have zillions of sharp teeth, possible death of a major character and many tense scenes with characters in danger.  The eggs that Nemo’s mother lays are all eaten by a predator except for Nemo’s egg.  Some potty humor but good messages of teamwork.  5* (I really liked this movie)

100 min, directed by and written Andrew Stanton with the voices of Albert Brooks, Alexander Gould, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Vicki Lewis,  Austin Pendleton, Stephen Root, Bob Peterson, Joe Ranft, Bob Peterson, Nicholas Bird, Elizabeth Perkins.

Note:  Imdb 8.1* out of 10 with 935,542 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 99% with 266 critics 86% with 33,356,856 audience scores, Common Sense Media Nell Minow 5*, age 5+, 2* educational, 4* positive, 4* role models, 3* scariness, Roger Ebert 4*, empire online 4* out of 5* Angie Errigo, Amazon 5* with 11,521 reviews, reel views 3 1/2*, Letterboxd 4.1* out of 5* 1.1K fans.

Special Note; Pixar developed a very realistic look for the surface of the water.  They needed to make it look more fake so people wouldn’t think it was real footage of the ocean surface.  Demand for tropical fish exploded right after the film’s release.  Especially for clown fish and blue tang.  Unfortunately, these fish need special care in an aquarium with controlled salinity and with 30-gallons of water . 

De-Lovely 2004

      This film is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter.  It is filled with his unforgettable songs and Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows.  It is about the people and events of his life transferred as the actors and action onstage.  There are elaborate production numbers and popular hits like Anything Goes, It’s De-Lovely and Night and day.  There is information about Porter’s elegant and excessive past. Including, his deeply complicated relationship with his wife and muse, Linda Lee Porter.

     The songs in this film are very beautiful as well as the clothing and hairstyles of this period.  There are more than 30 songs featured and they are sung by contemporary artists.  There are some long-obscured facts included.  4* (I really liked this movie)   

125 min, Bio directed by Irwin Winkler and written by Jay Cocks with Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin McNally, Sandra Nelson, Allan Corduner, Peter Polycarpou, Keith Allen, James Wilby, Kevin McKidd, Richard Dillane, Edward Bakr-Duly, Angie Hill, Harry Ditson, Taylor Hamilton.

Note:  Imdb 6.6* out of 10* with 10,781 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 48% with 156 critics 66% with 10,425 audience scores, empireonline.com 2* Angie Errigo, Metacritic 53 out of 100 with 33 critic reviews, 7 out of 10 with 25 ratings, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 809 reviews.

Special Noe:  The old style Cole Porter make-up took 54 hours to complete!!  Ashley Judd was almost not cast  because it was thought that she was beyond their budget.  Her agent told them that she was interested in playing the role of Linda Porter.  This is the final film of Natalie Cole.  Kevin Kline played himself at the piano.  There is a mistake when the Cole Porter musicals produced on Broadway in the 1930’s are shown.  African-American and white women are dancing together in the chorus lines.  Broadway chorus lines were not racially integrated until the 1970’s.  

The Glass House 2001

     Ruby Baker’s parents are killed in a car accident.  Ruby and her broth Rhett travel to Malibu to live with Terrence and Erin Glass.  The Glass’s are their former neighbors.  All seems to be going well at first.  Ruby is making new friends at school.  Rhett is getting more video games and flashy toys than he’s ever had in his life!!  Ruby speaks to her family’s estate lawyer and he tells her that their parents have left them 4 million dollars!!  Ruby begins to notice odd behavior from Terry one Erin?  Does it have anything to do with this large amount of money?

     The trailer is a comprehensive betrayal of the movie’s key secrets??  The first five or ten minutes have nothing to do with the rest of the story.  It is there to fool us with misleading footage.  There are the elements for a good film in this story but it doesn’t think that the audience can keep up with the film??  Consequently, it needs dumbing down or they won’t get it??  This film would probably appeal to teens but it is not for younger viewers.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

106 min, Crime directed by Daniel Sackheim and written by Wesley Strick with Diane Lane, Leelee Sobieski, Stellan Skarsgard, Bruce Dern, Kathy Baker, Trevor Morgan, Chris Noth, Michael O’Keefe, Vyto Ruginis, Gavin O’Connor, Carly Pope, China Shavers, Agnes Bruckner, Michael Paul Chan, Rachel Wilson.

Note:  Imdb 5.8* out of 10* with 32,741 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 21% with 86 critics, 39% with 53,218 audience scores, Roger Ebert 2*, Slant Magazine 2 1/2* out of 4* Ed Gonzalez, Common Sense Media Melissa Camacho, 2* out of 5*, age 14+, 2* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drug, smoking, Common Sense Media, Melissa Camacho, 2* out of 5*, age 15+, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking.

Special Note;  Leelee Sobieski’s salary for this film was 1 million dollars.  Rita Wilson chose to remain uncredited for her role of Grace Avery-Baker?  The original cut ran for almost 180 minutes before a large reduction in post-production.  The movie that Ruby and her friends are watching in the movie theater scene is not a real film.  It is footage specially created and it was called Prom Nightmare.  There is a Canadian horror franchise titled Prom Night.  This film opened at number two in its opening weekend along with Hardball with Diane Lane.  The Glass House grossed $18,150,259 and 5,469,350 overseas ($23,619,609).  The production budget was $30 million resulting in a loss.  

Revolutionary Road 2008

      This film is based on a novel by Richard Yates published in 1961 and the setting is 1955.  A young couple live in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950’s.  They struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.  They have also arrived at the “seven year itch” of their marriage.  They both realize that they are unhappy.  April has given up her dream of being an actress.  Frank hates his current job.  One day, April comes up with the idea that they move to Paris as a means to rejuvenate their lives?

     April and Frank Wheeler are a middle-class couple and they are approaching 30.  This was the post war period and beneath a placid and self-satisfied surface, adults in this time period had discontent with conformity, social manipulation, consumerism and the future of the world.  Their biggest worries were nuclear extinction and environmental pollution.  I really liked the clothing and hairstyles of this time period.  Everyone wears hats everywhere, on the train platform going to work and in Grand Central Station.  April feels stranded out in the split-level house with its picture window she once thought she had to have.  They drink too much, smoke without stopping to counter and reduce anxiety.  They are susceptible to cheating on their spouses because of their boredom.  In reality, they both are living a good life but they are reaching for that something better just out of reach!!  5* (I really liked this movie)

119 min, Drama directed by Sam Mendes and written by Justin Haythe and Richard Yates with Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christopher Fitzgerald, Jonathan Roumie, Neal Bledsoe, Marin Ireland, Samantha Soule, Heidi Armbruster, Sam Rosen, Maria Rusolo, Gena Oppenheim, Joe Komara, Allison Twyford, David Harbour.

Note:  Imdb 7.3* out of 10* with 193,781 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 67$ with 212 critics 71% with 106,938 user scores, Roger Ebert 4*, RollingStone 3 1/2* Peter Travers, Common Sense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo, 3* out of 5*, age 17+, violence 2*, sex 4*, language 4*, drinking, drugs & smoking 4*.

Special Note:  Leo and Kate have a close friendship and they were both excited to portray the more intense sequences of this film.  They knew that they could push each other as much as they possibly could.  This was possible because they knew that they had the best intentions for each other.  April is acting in a play and it is Robert E. Sherwood’s The Petrified Forrest written in 1935.  The female lead is Gabby and she dreams of living a humdrum existence in the US to move to France and this is also April’s dream.  The director Sam Mendes was married to Kate Winslet at the time of filming.  He opted to monitor the sex scene from another room.  The rights to adapt the book into a movie were purchased in 1967.  Ryan and Ty Simpkins play Frank and April’s children.  They are real-life siblings.  Filmed entirely in Connecticut but supposed to be New York.