License to Kill 1989

     Felix Leiter is a good friend of James Bond.  Drug baron Franz Sanchez leaves Leiter in a near death state and Leiter's new bride is killed.  Bond sets off on a manhunt for Sanchez and not everyone in the British Secret Service is happy with this mission.  MI6 feels Sanchez is not their problem and they remove Bond’s license to kill.  The result is that Bond is even more dangerous without the constraints and oversight of MI6.  Bond persuades a friend of Sanchez, Pam Bouvier to help him sneak into the drug factories owned by Sanchez.  The question is, will Bond be able to keep his identity and intentions a secret from Sanchez.

     It was nice to have a different actor in the role of Bond for a fresh perspective.  There is a LOT of action in this film and some action in the final scenes is spectacular.  The plot doesn’t seem to have as many twists and turns with a straightforward approach instead.  Pam Bouvier has a lot of talents including either carrying a big gun or at least two on her person plus she can fly a plane.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

133 min, Action directed by John Glen with Timothy Dalton, Robert Davi, Carey Lowell, Talisa Soto, Anthony Zerbe, Frank McRae, David Hedison, Wayne Newton, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Starke, Everett McGill, Grand L. Bush.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 77% critic 60% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 409 reviews, Roger Ebert 3 ½*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in England, Mexico and Florida.  Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush are reunited one year after they were FBI agents Big Johnson and Little Johnson in Die Hard of 1988.  The special edition provides widescreen picture, clearer sound and special features.  Carey Lowell was married to Richard Gere for ten years but they are now separated.

Dark Places 2015

     This movie is based on a novel by Gillian Flynn, the writer of Gone Girl.  Libby Day is eight years old and she lives with her family on a farm in rural Kansas.  The farm has been in her family for a long time and she lives there with her mother Patty, brother Ben and sisters Michelle, Debby and Magda.  Runner is their dad and he comes around when he needs money.  The family is struggling and Patty’s sister helps them out by bringing food.  Ben is starting to get into trouble with his girlfriend Diondra.  Diondra and her friend Trey are into drugs.  Ben is accused of a crime and Patty believes they will need to get a lawyer for him.  She doesn’t know where she will get the money and even without the expense of a lawyer she may lose the farm.

      Even though Gone Girl was very popular, I have to say that the novel and the movie were not my favorites?  There was potential to make this movie a good one but that didn’t happen.  I’m surprised that Theron, Hendricks and Moretz took roles and I see why Morton probably dropped out at the last minute.  Maybe they thought this film would be as successful as Gone Girl?  Theron is supposed to be a sympathetic character but she seems more like a loser?  The subject is very depressing and it doesn’t get better?  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

113 min, Drama directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner with Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks, Sterling Jerins, Corey Stoll, Tye Sheridan, Andrea Roth, Chole Grace Moretz, Sean Bridgers, J. LaRose.

Note:  Imdb 6.2 out of 10, 25% critic 35% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1 ½*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Originally, Samantha Morton was cast as Patty Day but she dropped out just before the start of filming.  There is another movie with the same title but a different subject, it was released in 1977 and it has 0% on Rotten Tomatoes!

Goldfinger 1964

     The mission for Bond is to become friends with Auric Goldfinger.  The purpose of the friendship is to learn what scheme Auric is working on.  Bond discovers the plan is to raid Fort Knox and devastate the world economy.  Goldfinger likes gold and he would like to have a LOT of it.  Bond will need to dodge Oddjob and his hat tricks, the many henchmen Auric has hired plus pilot Pussy Galore.

     This film is not as exciting and memorable as I thought it was on my first viewing ages ago.  I thought it was super fantastic about a woman being painted with gold paint but now not so much.   I thought Auric Goldfinger was frightening but he seems tamer now.  3* (This movie is OK)

110 min, Action directed by Guy Hamilton with Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Harold Dakata, Bernard Lee.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 96% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 651 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Florida, Kentucky, Washington DC, Switzerland and England.  The Goldfinger song by Shirley Bassey was the first Bond title song to rise to #8 on the Billboard Top 10 in 2/1965.  I really liked the Aston-Martin DB5 sports car and it’s destructive wheel pop outs like gladiator chariots.

The First Season 2012

     This film chronicles their first year dairy farming in upstate New York for Paul and Phyllis van Amburg.  The family has three children plus a baby on the way.  The farm they purchased is a no longer functioning dairy farm.  They will need to make some modifications before they can start their milk collection and sale.  Paul and Phyllis believe farm life is the best way to raise their children and also leave a lasting legacy for them.  This is not an easy life with always another job left to do.         

      Paul and Phyllis have a lot of debt and their only source of income is selling the milk at the current price.  A lot of variables affect the quantity of milk they can produce including heat and rainfall numbers.  There can be sickness among the cows or their offspring too.  There is a lot of hard work but it is a good life for families.  3 ½* ( I liked this movie)

 

83 min, Doc directed by Rudd Simmons with Paul and Phyllis van Amburg.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 9 reviews.

Special Note:  Rudd Simmons produced High Fidelity, The Royal Tennenbaums and Boardwalk Empire.

You Only Live Twice 1967

     This film is the fifth in the Bond series.  The Americans believe the Russians have taken an American space capsule aboard their own spaceship.  This action nearly causes the start of World War 3.  The British are mediating between America and Russia and they think SPECTRE is involved because the ship was lost over Japan.  Bond is sent to find out what happened to the ship and the motives of those involved.  Time is of the essence because of the current verbal hostilities between the America and the Russians.

     The scenes of the spaceship doing the capturing don't seem real?  The unknown spaceship seems more like a shark with unusual jaws?  The volcano set was a large expense but it’s not that great either.  I thought the disguise of the volcano where it’s located was interesting.  This film must have seemed to be cutting edge technology in 1967?  3* (This movie is OK) 

117 min, Action directed by Lewis Gilbert with Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tetsuro Tanba, Teru Shimada, Karin Dor, Donald Pleasence, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell. Desmond Llewelyn, Charles Gray.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, 72% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 416 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Japan, Spain, Bermuda, Gibraltar, China, Norway, England, Scotland and Florida.  As one of the screenwriters, Roald Dahl was able to do everything his own way except for the character of Bond and the Bond girl formula.  Nancy Sinatra sings the theme song.  Ken Adams created the volcano set and the cost was 1 million dollars.  Different versions were used in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

Friends for Life

     Jim Crawford was an attorney with a busy practice in the city.  Pam, his wife became ill, they moved to the country and he quit his practice.  They hoped Pam would be able to heal but she passed away.  Jim doesn’t know what to do with this life now.  The house is big, empty and everything reminds him of her.  Pam had been feeding a wolf as one of her projects and he ignores her when she comes for food.  Then he finds blood in the backyard and he goes to search for her.  He finds she has been shot and she has four pups.  He doesn’t have a choice, he’s seen enough dying, he takes the pups home.  He has a barn where he can keep them contained inside and he puts up a wire fence outside of the barn.  When they have grown enough to want to be out on their own, he reluctantly releases them back to the forest.  Soon after, he learns his neighbors are having trouble with a company building a golf course nearby.  It’s time to be an attorney again but with an office in a downtown café.

     The wolf cubs repay Jim later in a big way for his care and kindness.  He finds a purpose in life and learns he will always have Pam in his heart but just not here with him.  I thought this film was good and interesting.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

92 min, Drama directed by Michael Spence with Michael Flynn, Jimmy Chunga, Tayva Patch, David Nibley, Tim Shoemaker, Emily Moffat, Bruce Akerman.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Amazon 4.3* out of 5*.

Saratoga Trunk 1945

     This movie is based on a novel published in 1941 by Edna Ferber and Stuart M. Rosen about the romantic era of 1875 New Orleans.  Clio Dulaine has been living in Paris until the death of her mother.  Clio travels to her mother’s hometown of New Orleans.  She plans to reopen her mother’s French Quarter house, clean and restore everything there.  She also plans to seek revenge for the humiliation her mother received from her father’s family.  She wants to marry a rich man because she wants the status and respectability never provided for her mother.  She has her maid/companion Angelique with her and Cupidon is her jack-of-all-trades.  She meets Colonel Clint Maroon and she starts to really like him but he doesn’t fit her qualifications.  He’s from Texas and he’s not wealthy.  She follows him to Saratoga Springs to seek her millionaire there.

     This is a different time period filled with traditions and social requirements.  Step out of the norm and you can become an outcast.  A woman on her own doesn’t have any status but she has a everything when she’s married to a wealthy man.  Clio needs to think about her mother, her father’s family, Angelique and Cupidon too.  What she does with her life matters to them.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

135 min, Drama directed by Sam Wood with Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Flora Robson, Jerry Austin, John Warburton, Florence Bates, Curt Bois.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 58% critic on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 58 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 1.5* out of 4*, average user rating 4.17* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Warner Bros. wanted Lena Horne from MGM for the role of Clio but the studio refused to loan her to them for the role.