Call the Midwife: Season Four 2015

     This series is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth.  In this new season, Sister Evangelina has health problems and the vicar Tom proposes to Trixie.  A family is living in squalor with a ten-year-old in charge.  Sister Evangelina goes on sick leave and a new midwife arrives.  Dysentery spreads through the area and Trixie organizes the Rose of Poplar contest.  Sister Mary Cynthia returns to Nonnatus House.  Phyllis is helping a young pregnant diabetic woman. Two school friends surprisingly rediscover each other in the delivery room.  Trixie and Sister Mary Cynitha help a woman who uses sign language.  During the Christmas season, a measles outbreak occurs.

     I really like this series and especially because realistic actors are used in the roles.  This isn’t a group of models delivering babies in couture gowns.  The situations are interesting and a lot of times complicated.  This is not an easy life for the sisters or the midwives.  4* (I really liked this series)

60 min, TV Series, Drama created by Heidi Thomas with Vanessa Redgrave, Helen George, Jenny Agutter, Laura Main, Judy Parfitt, Cliff Parisi, Stephen McGann, Pam Ferris, Bryony Hannah, Ben Caplan, Victoria Yeates, Emeral Fennell, Miranda Hart, Max Macmillan.

Note:  Imdb 8.4 out of 10, 100% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 508 reviews.

Special Note:  This series is filmed in Kent, Surrey and London, England, UK.  Nonnatus House is named after St. Raymond Nonnatus and Nonnatus is the Latin word for not born.  He was born by Cesarean section and is the patron saint of pregnant women and childbirth.

Diamonds are Forever 1971

     The mission for Bond is to find out who has been smuggling diamonds out of the mining countries.  The catch is that the miners are inspected for any stolen diamonds and the diamonds disappear after they are out of the country.  Bond takes on the identity of Peter Franks and he kills Franks in an elevator before Franks can expose the switch.  Bond as Franks joins up with Tiffany Case and pretends he is smuggling the diamonds.  There are also other forces out there interested in the diamonds.  An example is Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, they are extremely dangerous and they don’t hesitate to kill.  Bond's ultimate enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld has changed his looks but he could be involved? 

     One of the interesting things about Sean Connery as the character Bond is that he never seems to be disturbed by what is happening to him?  In this film, he is inside a locked coffin and the coffin has been moved into the crematorium with the flames burning at their highest level?  Wouldn't that be slightly disconcerting and I wondered how he could possibly accomplish an escape?  He flips a Mustang onto two wheels to go through a narrow space while evading police cars?  The plot in this film is very complicated with a lot of characters, some of the plot lines and the individuals are difficult to keep in line?  Jill St. John is very beautiful and she is 31 years old at the time of filming.  3* (This movie is OK)

120 min, Action directed by Guy Hamilton with Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean, Bruce Cabot, Putter Smith, Bruce Glover, Norman Burton, Joseph Furst, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 67% critic 59% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in France, Germany, Netherlands, England, Nevada, California and Illinois.  Some of the scenes were shot at the Landmark casino and it has been demolished.  

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.