The Hateful Eight 2015

     After the Civil War, a stagecoach with six horses and two passengers travels through the snowy Wyoming countryside.  Bounty hunter John Ruth is taking Daisy Domergue to Red Rock where she will be hanged.  Along the road, they encounter Major Marquis Warren and he is stranded after his horse dies.  They give him a ride after much persuasion.  They also meet up with Chris Mannix and he claims to be the new sheriff of Red Rock.  The group stops at Minnie’s Haberdashery to get out of a snow blizzard right behind them.  Bob claims he’s taking care of the place in Minnie’s absence, Oswaldo Mobray says he’s the hangman of Red Rock, Joe Gage is a cowpuncher and elderly Sanford Smithers is a former Confederate General.

     This is a LONG movie and it’s filled with a lot of talking, killing, blood and nailing the door shut.  That sums up the action.  The scenery is nice with wide vistas.  There is a racial slur mentioned over and over.  Fifty theaters were retrofitted with projectors to display Ultra Panavision 70.  The film was released on 12/25/15 as a road show presentation in the analog film format theaters.  Later there was a wide release in digital theaters.  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

3 hours 7 min, Crime directed by Quentin Tarantino with Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 75% critic 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 3.3* out of 5* with 1902 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, Telluride, California and San Miguel Mountains, Colorado.  The script was leaked online and Tarantino didn’t want to make the film.  There was a short reading of the script in LA and Jackson convinced him to make the picture.

American Heart 1992

     Jack Kelson has just been released from jail in Seattle and he will be on parole for a period of time.  If his parole officer feels it’s justified, he can send Jack back to jail.  He rents a small apartment and takes a job as a window washer.  He wants his son Nick to have a better life.  Jack wants Nick to go and live on his aunt’s farm but he doesn’t want to leave his father.  Jack has determined to go straight but a former partner in crime steps back into Jack’s life.

     Jack and his son both have a lot of disadvantages in their lives.  Jack dreams of a new life in Alaska but he’s having a tough time restarting his life in Seattle.  Nick is supposed to be going to school and his Dad thinks he is but he’s hanging out on the streets.  He was required to bring a grade transcript and immunization paperwork for enrollment so he just walked away.  He does get a job delivering newspapers.  The ending is different than I expected.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

113 min, Crime directed by Martin Bell with Jeff Bridges, Edward Furlong, John Boylan, Greg Sevigny, Jayne Entwistle, Willie Williams, Roosevelt Franklin, Melvyn Hayward, Don Harvey, Kit McDonough.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, 73% critic 68% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 34 reviews.

Special Note:  Actually filmed in Seattle, Washington.  The character Freddie was based on a real street kid, Lulu.  She was featured in the documentary Streetwise and she protected other street kids.  CNN paid for her funeral after she was stabbed and over 200 people were at her funeral.  Edward Furlong as Nick started acting in 1984 in The Terminator.  His most recent film is Aftermath of 2014.

Love the Coopers 2015

     It’s time for another Christmas Eve celebration by four generations of the Cooper clan.  This year there are complications within the family.  Parents Sam and Charlotte are contemplating getting a divorce after forty years of marriage.  Charlotte's Father is upset because his favorite person, a waitress at the local cafe, is leaving town to have a change in her life.  Charlotte's sister, Emma is arrested for stealing a piece of jewelry from a store.  She wanted the tackiest thing she could find for Charlotte's Christmas gift.  Hank, their son, is recently divorced and he’s lost his job at Sears as a family photographer.  Their daughter Eleanor asks an Army soldier she meets at the airport to pose as her boyfriend at the family table.  She’s tired of their sympathy about her single status.

     Sometimes I get really tired of all the constant family arguments in this kind of family movie!!  There are too many scenes that are supposed to be funny but they fall like bricks!!  The only thing nice about this film is the scenery in Pittsburgh with the snow and Christmas decorations.  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)  

107 min, Comedy directed by Jessie Nelson with Steve Martin Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Alex Borstein, Timothee Chalamet, Maxwell Simkins, Blake Baumgartner, Amanda Seyfried, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, Dorothy Silver, Olivia Wilde.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, 19% critic 36% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, Amazon 3*out of 5* with 500 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Annette Bening was originally cast for the role played by Marisa Tomei.  Private Bailey, the fake boyfriend, wears his rank strip upside down until it’s finally corrected at the dinner table.  There is supposed to be a comma in the title after the word love.

Suffragette 2015

     This is a historical drama from 1911-13 about women in the United Kingdom campaigning to get the vote.  The women came from the all the layers of society, the working classes and the educated classes.  They really expected the government to vote yes on their petition to vote but they were denied.  When they protested the ruling, the police beat them, knocked them down and kicked them.  The more outspoken women were taken to jail.  The conditions surrounding their endeavors didn’t improve but continued to get worse.  Women lost their low paying jobs, their homes, husbands, children and their lives. 

     The men during this time period were widely devoid of sympathy for this cause both on the street and in government.  There was the thinking that women didn’t have the intellect to be able to vote?  There was a lot of fighting between 1911 and 1913 but there was a turning point in 1913.  On June 8, 1913, King George’s horse struck Emily Wilding Davison on Derby day and she died four days later.  She sacrificed herself totally for the cause including giving her life.  She was arrested nine times and force-fed 49 times due to hunger strikes.  Thousands of suffragettes walked with the coffin and tens of thousands of people lined the streets of London.  The women finally received voting rights for Parliament in 1918 and the same rights as men in 1928.  I wasn’t aware of this history and I was surprised at the callous treatment of the women.  4* (I really liked this movie)

106 min, Bio directed by Sarah Gavron with Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Grace Stottor, Geoff Bell, Amanda Lawrence Shelly Longworth, Adam Michael Dodd, Ben Whishaw.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, 73% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 394 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Kent, London, England, UK.  

Born to Win 2014

     This film is based on the true story of Leon Terblance.  He was a teacher at a school for disabled children.  As a child he lived with his mother and stepfather until they couldn’t take the abuse of the stepfather/husband anymore.  They left and went to live with his mother’s first husband.  They were doing very well but his mother decided to return to the abusive husband.  His father was very upset and he decided to leave too.  The housekeeper took Leon to live with her and he became good friends with her son.  Police officers came to take him away because this was in South Africa and white people were not allowed to live in a black neighborhood.  Leon married and had a daughter but he never felt worthy of them.

     This film had a lot of promise but it seems to hit you over the head with the message instead of letting the story win you over.  Some of the dialog is slightly difficult to understand with the strong accents of the actors.  2 ½* (This movie is OK)

104 min, Drama directed by Frans Conje, with Annalize Adams, Merline Balie, Russell Barends, Nadia Beukes, Dumisa Bizani, Lafras Boesak.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 67% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 49 reviews.

Room 2015

     This film is based on a novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue and published in 2010.  Jack has just turned 5-years-old and Ma has made a birthday cake.  He’s just a little upset because there aren’t any candles but he’s hoping for them next year.  Jack and Ma live in Room, it’s a 10x10 foot space where are unable to leave and it’s really a garden shed.  Ma was 17-year-old teenager Joy Newsome and she was kidnapped on the way home from school.  She has been a prisoner in Room for 7 years.  Ma does her best see that Jack has what he needs.  She’s getting more desperate now that she is 24-years-old and Jack is getting older.  She needs to think of a way to safely get them out of Room?  Some days Ma needs a down day where she stays in bed and Jack needs to find ways to be entertained without her.

     This is a very surprising film with some tense moments!!  There are just two characters for much of the story and “Old Nick,” the unwanted kidnapper intruder.  Ma is teaching Jack every day and the only thing he doesn’t know is how big the world outside really is.  The acting and the story are very good.  4* (I really liked this movie)

118 min, Drama directed by Lenny Abrahamson with Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, Matt Gordon.  Tom McCamus.

Note:  Imdb 8.3 out of 10, 94% critic 93% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 2489 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Etobicoke and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  Mia Wasikowska auditioned for the role of Ma.  Brie Larson has been in The Spectacular Now, The Gambler, Digging for Fire and Trainwreck.

Awards:  Brie Larson won an Academy Award, Critic’s Choice Award, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe for Best Actress.  Nine Canadian Screen Awards were won for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress.

Creed 2015

     Donnie Johnson has been living as an orphan in a Los Angeles youth facility.  He goes by this name but his real name is Adonis Creed and his father was former heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed.  Donnie has never known his father because he died before he was born.  Donnie would like to follow in his father’s footsteps but on his own terms and not because his name is Creed.  He travels to Philadelphia to try to get in touch with his father’s old friend and rival Rocky Balboa.  He’d like Rocky to train him so he can move up in the boxing world.

     I thought this movie was good and it brings out a lot of the past from the Rocky series.  I respect those who go into boxing for a living but it’s a tough game and can leave the participants with lasting physical damage.  Ali is a perfect example, in his later years he had Parkinson’s syndrome and his doctors attributed this to boxing 

related brain trauma.  The story is good with good acting.  4* (I really liked this movie)

133 min, Drama directed by Ryan Coogler with Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Andre Ward, Tony Bellew, Ritchie Coster, Jacob Duran, Graham McTavish, Malik Bazille.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 94% critic 90% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 3492 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Philadelphia, Chester, Pennsylvania; Las Vegas, Nevada; Liverpool, London, Merseyside, England.  Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler worked together on Fruitvale Station of 2013.  This film was released on the fortieth anniversary of the opening scene in Rocky of 1976.