Spies of Warsaw: Season One 2013

     This film is an adaptation of a novel by Alan Furst.  The setting is Poland, Paris and Berlin starting in 1937.  Jean-Francois Mercier is a military attaché working at the French embassy but he’s really a spy.  He is drawn into the secret world of abduction, betrayal and intrigue in the days before the German invasion of Warsaw, Poland.

     This film is from BBC and it has all the right elements but it seems bland and boring?  I could not get drawn into any of the characters or the stories.  It just made me feel “oh, well” about everything happening?  Maybe the problem is too much information condensed into this short format?  It could also be that there are too many characters, too many places and too many years.  The only part I liked was the ending.  2 * (I didn’t like this movie)

120 min, Action directed by with David Tennant, Janet Montgomery, Marcin Dorocinski, Miroslaw Zbrojewicz, Burn Gorman, Radoslaw Kaim, Linda Bassett, Allan Corduner, Anton Lesser, Jan Pohl, Richard Lintern. 

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, 60% critic 50% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Metascore 65/100 with 10 critic, 6.7 user score with 6 ratings, TV Guide 80/100, The New York Times 70/100, Variety 40/100.

Wild River 1960

     This film is set in the early 1930’s.  Two novels, Mud on the Stars by William Bradford Huie and Dunbar’s Cove by Borden Deal were used as source material.  The Tennessee River has claimed a lot of lives because of its flooding.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt has formed the TVA to oversee the building of a dam to tame the river.  Everyone owning property on the land to be flooded has sold except Ella Garth.  She owns an island and it’s been in her family for a very long time.  She is refusing to sell and refusing to leave.  Chuck Glover comes to try to convince her to sell.  He’s one of several people sent to try to solve this problem.  He finds an ally in Ella's granddaughter.

     During this time, there was a separation of the races and they did not mix.  There was also a difference in the pay for a day’s work, $5 for one group and $2 for the other.  The local men are not shy about forcing their methods and views on other people who don’t think the same way.  You can understand why Ella Garth doesn’t want to move, she loves the land and it’s all she’s ever had or known.  I thought it was interesting that none of the people who have already sold their land give their opinion on having sold.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

110 min, Drama directed by Elia Kazan with Montgomry Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Salmi, Jay C. Flippen, James Westerfield, Barbara Loden, Frank Overton, Malcolm Atterbury.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 100% critic 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 45 reviews.

Devil's Knot 2013

     This film is based on the true story of the murder of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993.  The local police were under pressure to bring in the killers as soon as possible.  Mistakes were made in handling the case and the three teens charged with the crimes may or may not be guilty.  The locals believe they must be guilty because they are devil worshipers, they listen to loud heavy metal music and they don’t look like the other teens.  Ron Lax is a private investigator and he feels he must try to find the truth.  He doesn’t want to see the loss of three more young people if they are not guilty. 

     As I viewed this movie, I wondered if anything was true in the trial against the defendants?  It seems like they are on a railway train with everything working against them to get them to a destination they don’t want to go.  Because the case is so bungled by the police, vital information is missing.  There seems to be no satisfaction, only loss and more loss in this film.  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

114 min, Bio directed by Atom Egoyan with Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Alessandro Nivola, James Hamrick, Seth Meriwether, Kristopher Higgins, Amy Ryan, Robert Baker, Collette Wolfe.

Note:  Imdb 5.9 out 10, 23% critic 38% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Light in the Piazza 1962

     This film is based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer.  Meg Johnson and her twenty-six year old daughter Clara are traveling in Italy.  As a child, Clara suffered an injury to her brain that resulted in her remaining like a ten year old.  Meg and Clara meet twenty-three year old Fabrizio Naccarelli in Florence.  In the beginning, Meg doesn’t want Clara to get attached to Fabrizio because she has a difficult time letting people go.  Meg doesn't know what will happen with Clara when they leave Florence to go to Rome?

     Meg Johnson only wants the best for her daughter and she worries about her constantly.  She doesn’t know anything about Fabrizio until she begins to meet his family.  She begins to think there might be a chance for a relationship for them?  The situation with Clara has caused stress on Meg's marriage.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

102 min, Drama directed by Guy Green with Olivia de Havilland, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Rossano Brazzi, Isabel Dean, Moultrie Kelsall.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 77% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 10 reviews.

Spy Game 2001

     It’s the last day on the job for CIA operative Nathan Muir.  He learns his specially trained protégé Tom Bishop has been arrested in Beijing China for spying.  Muir knows he will have to use all the skills he’s honed at the CIA to get Tom out of this mess.  Muir is called into a meeting that is being recorded and filmed about the Tom Bishop problem.  They don’t seem to mind that Tom could be killed in China by 8AM in the morning.

     I thought this was good and interesting plus it doesn’t seem to have aged.  Redford’s character warns Pitt to put money aside and never touch it for any reason.  Luckily Redford doesn’t follow his own advice.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

126 min, Action directed by Tony Scott with Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Matthew Marsh, Todd Boyce, Michael Paul Chan.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 66% critic 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Metascore 63/100 with 29 critics 7.2/10 user score with 50 ratings.

Special Note:  I’m not sure if it’s improved technology in televisions or the filming of the movie?  In the beginning scenes, I could really see the facial completions of Redford and Pitt.  These scenes did not do them any favors and I wondered why they look so beat up with rough looking skin?

A Coffee in Berlin 2012

     This black and white film features one day in the life of Niko Fischer, he lives in Berlin and he’s 20-something years old.  Niko has been collecting money each month placed in his bank account by his father for his expenses in law school.  What his father doesn’t know is that Niko dropped out of school two years ago.  He lost his driver’s license due to 0.7 on an alcohol test.  He went to a psychologist to try to get the license back but he was unable to pass the interview tests.  Nico gradually begins to view himself as an outsider and he needs to face the fact that he’s a slacker.

     The title is A Coffee in Berlin but Niko never seems to be able to get a cup of coffee?  He doesn’t have enough money, the coffee thermos is empty, they are out of coffee, etc.  He goes with a friend to see a play that I am so glad I did not really have to watch.  He doesn’t have money for the train and the “train police” want him to pay 40 Euros for not having a ticket.  This film may have a lot of “insight” and feature “profoundness” but I found it to be very slow and boring.  Nothing is happening in Nido’s life so how can nothing be exciting and entertaining?  2* (I didn’t like this film)

83 min, Drama directed by Jan Ole Gerster with Tom Schilling, Katharina Schuttler, Justus von Dohnanyi, Andreas Schroders, Katharina Hauck.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 72% critic 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Metascore 63/100, Variety 80/100, Washington Post 75/100, The Hollywood Reporter 70/100, Village Voice 60/1, New York Observer 25/100.

The Haunting 1963

     This film is based on a book by Brandt Sponseller.  Dr. John Markway has permission to investigate ghosts in an eerie mansion with a bad history of death and insanity.  He assembles a team to observe and fill out reports of what they see and experience.  Eleanor experienced rocks pelting her home when she was a child.  She feels the spirits living in the old mansion.  Theodora is a clairvoyant and she can tell what people are thinking.  Luke is next in line to inherit the old home, he wants to see what they are doing and find out what he can about the place.  Eleanor and Theodora are the ones most touched by the house but John and Luke hear the pounding in the night.  Luke almost falls from the spiral staircase.

     I’ve seen this film before so I could watch it without being nervous about what was going to happen.  I was still glad to watch during the daylight too.  The house itself and what is going on inside it are the stars of this film.  The choice of filming in black and white adds to the mystery.  I don’t think it has aged but still can how to be eerie after 51 years.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

112 min, Horror directed by Robert Wise with Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Fay Compton, Rosalie Crutchley, Lois Maxwell.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 86% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 594 reviews.