The Man in the Moon 1991

     The setting of this film is in rural Louisiana in the summer of 1957.  Dani Trant is 14 years old and she lives in a farmhouse on acreage outside a small country town.  She lives with her parents Matthew and Abigail plus her sisters, 17 year-old Maureen and her younger sister Missy.  Dani is supposed to be helping her mother because she’s having another baby.  Dani likes to swim in the lake near her house on another property.  She’s surprised when Court Foster comes to swim while she’s there.  She tells him he needs to leave because this isn't his property.  He explains he’s moved back to the farm with his widowed mother Marie and his two younger brothers.  Dani’s in love with Court, everything changes about her and she even takes down her wall dedicated to Elvis Presley.  Surprises are in store for Dani, her family and the Foster family.

     This is the first time Dani has ever been in love!!  She’s never even thought about it before?  There is something about Court that draws her to him.  He likes Dani but he’s not sure since he is three years older.  His family is struggling living back on the farm since his father passed away.  He has to run the tractor and do a lot of the work.  He feels like he doesn’t have any time for fun.  Maureen is going to college but she's not sure what she wants to do with her life?  4* (I really liked this movie) 

99 min, Drama directed by Robert Mulligan with Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Gail Strickland, Reese Witherspoon, Jason London, Emily Warfield, Bentley Mitchum, Ernie Lively, Dennis Letts, Earleen Bergeron.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 89% critic 85% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 539 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Kisatchie, Natchitoches and Robeline, Louisiana.  Reese Witherspoon answered an open casting call in Nashville, Tennessee for extras.  She debuted as the lead and she was 14 years old.  The staff of this production had a difficult time casting extras.  The producers of Steel Magnolias treated a lot of the local people badly three years earlier in 1989.  Jason London has a twin brother Jeremy and he filled in for some of the scenes.  Natchitoches is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Territory.  

The Path: Season Two 2017

     Meyerism is a fictional movement founded by the character Dr. Stephen Meyer on October 28, 1974.  He said he climbed a ladder of burning light to receive messages of universal truth.  He wrote the first book of Meyerism and it is called the Ladder.  There are rungs to the ladder labeled 1R to 10R.  Dr. Meyer is supposed to be writing the next three rungs of the ladder in Peru.  They believe all people are damaged by the world and with spiritual development they can help themselves and others.  Supposedly there are 6000 members and locations in San Diego, California and Parksdale, New York with a retreat in Cusco, Peru.

     Eddie Lane has been labeled a denier and he is forced to leave the compound of The Path in New York.  Deniers are shunned, cannot see other members of the group or even their families still in the group.  He’s renting a house outside the compound and he has a job.  Sarah is Eddie’s wife and still works with Cal as the two spiritual leaders of the group.  They are working on a lot of causes but there are a lot of schisms within the causes and also between the members of the group.  Fundamentally, the group wants to grow within and without but their spiritual beliefs don’t seem to be binding enough?  Many of the members tend to go their own way whether right or wrong?  There were many times when I wanted to hit Cal because he’s always putting himself and his needs first?  He has no moral compass or sense of right or wrong but he's supposed to be teaching and leading others?  3 ½* (I liked this series)

60 min, 13 episodes, Hulu TV Drama, created by Jessica Goldberg with Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan, Emma Greenwell, Hugh Dancy, Rockmond Dunbar, Kyle Allen, Paul Egan, Peter Friedman, Deirdre O’Connell, Ali Ahn, Patch Darragh, Aimee Laurence, Clark Middleton, Stephanie Hsu, Amy Forsyth, Britne Oldford, Adriane Lenox.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 75% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 38 reviews on Amazon Video, Metacritic 64 out of 100 with 8 critics 7.4 out of 10 user score with 14 ratings.

Special Note:  Filmed in Nyack, New York.  Originally the title of this series was The Way.  The reason was that it was changed is because The Way too closely resembled the real ministry The Way International.  Michelle Monaghan and Aaron Paul are married in this series but they played sister and brother in Mission: Impossible III of 2006.  Idris Elba was considered in the beginning to play Cal but Hugh Dancy was chosen.  The Path has been renewed for a third season.

American Crime 2017

     This third season is divided into stories about different groups of people being exploited in the United States.  An undocumented worker from Mexico comes to an agricultural community to find out what happened to his teenage son.  He finds workers have died living in small over crowded trailers that caught fire.  Jeannette feels the farm should be doing more to protect and help these workers.  Her sister-in-law, her husband and her brother-in-law are not in agreement with her ideas and they have more power with the farm.  Kimara is a social worker trying to help young teens being exploited by pimps and webcam houses.  Clair hires a nanny from Haiti to help her with her young son Nicky.  Her husband is not in favor of this arrangement and he’s struggling with the profitability of their furniture business.  He takes his bitterness out on Clair. 

     It’s difficult to watch workers, teens, married and single parent women with children struggle.  Kimara is doing all she can but she is hindered by the lack of places for teens to stay and the limited budget for these services.  Jeanette tries to get a job after years out of the workforce but it’s much more difficult than she imagined.  Her sister has a low paying job and she struggles with providing for her two daughters.  Her sister also has a problem with staying off of drugs and she’s on probation.  I like that each character and story is developed so the viewers feel a connection with them and their particular situation.  4* (I really liked this series)

42 min each episode, 8 episodes, TV Drama, created by John Ridley with Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Timothy Hutton, Lili Taylor, Jessica Yu, Julie Hebert, Steph Green, Tanya Hamilton, So Yong Kim, John Krokidas, Victoria Mahoney, Ramsey Nickell, Richard Cabral.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 97% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon Video 4.7* out of 5* with 12 reviews, Metacritic 90 out of 100 with 26 critics 8.2 out of 10 with 26 ratings.  The third season has received more acclaim from critics than the first two seasons.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 2016

     This film is based on a book by American author Ransom Riggs.  Abe Morton has spent years telling stories to his grandson Jake.  Abe calls Jake in the night for help and when he arrives he finds Abe dying.  Abe tells Jake to go to the loop of September 3, 1943 and the falcon will tell him everything?  Jake travels with his father to Cairnholm to find the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children that Abe talked about.  At first, he finds the entire property is destroyed during a Luftwaffe raid in WWII and he doesn’t think there is anyone there.  When he enters the house, he meets some of the children from Abe’s stories.  They take him to a portal in a cave and he emerges in the year 1943 with the house still standing.  This is the September 3, 1943 portal that Abe was talking about.

     There is a LOT going on in this film, a LOT of unusual characters with time travel and looping added!!  It’s intended for young adults from 12-16 years old.  Jason learns that Miss Peregrine and the children have a lot of enemies.  He helps them fight these enemies using their special powers and abilities.  I have to say that I am not a fan of Tim Burton film’s and especially the ones with Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp.  It seems that his films get tiresome really quickly and you still have three-fourths of the movie left to watch?  I am more of a realist and the films also seem to be manic with a whirlwind pace?  All of this leaves me not wanting to pay attention?  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

127 min, Adventure directed by Tim Burton with Eva Green Asa Butterfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Allison Janney, Chris O’Dowd, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell, Finlay MacMillan, Lauren McCrostie. 

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 64% critic 61% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, Amazon 4.0* out of 5* with 2550 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Flanders, Belgium; Lancashire, Cornwall, England, UK; Sun City Center, St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay, Largo, Gibsonton, Treasure Island, Florida. Some items in the book were changed in the film.  The ages of Olive and Bronwyn and the abilities of Olive and Emma are switched.  Olive is one of the youngest girls and has the ability to float.  Bronwyn is inhumanly strong and around the same age as Jake and Emma.  Emma controls fire and gains the ability to control air.

Running Forever 2015

     Tyler is 17 years old and she has been living with her dad’s brother and his wife.  Her mother was killed in one of the 9/11 attacks.  She loves her uncle but he recently passed away.  Her aunt is struggling with the loss of her husband and she’s not had time to mourn her loss.  Tyler is in the same position because she hasn’t mourned the loss of her mother or her uncle.  Her aunt decides to send Tyler to live with her father and his wife.  She tells Tyler she can come back if things don’t work out.  Tyler’s father is struggling with alcoholism and he’s had a very difficult time staying sober.  His wife puts Tyler to work on their farm right away taking care of the horses.

     The horses begin to save Tyler because they are always there for her and they never judge you or complain about your feelings.  Tyler begins to understand that the world doesn’t center on her and her father has also struggled.  The family begins to understand that they need to appreciate each other in the now.  Making the same mistake over and over doesn’t solve problems or lead to a different outcome.  Reviews are split between loving and hating this film?  I was surprised only 13 people have seen this film on Amazon since it’s from 2015?

 

88 min, Family directed by Mike Mayhall with Martin Kove, Leticia Jimenez, Mike Mayhall, Jaimie Steck Krista Kelley, Dan Arias.

Note:  Imdb 8.6 out of 10, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 13 reviews.

The Edge of Seventeen 2016

     High school junior Nadine has been having a difficult time with growing up and it’s become harder since her father died.  Now it’s just mom, Nadine and her older brother Darian.  She begins to think she might be able to handle this but Darian starts to date Nadine’s best friend Krista.  The one thing Nadine feels about this is infuriated!!  She tries to convince Krista to stop seeing Darian and she tries to convince Darian to stop seeing Krista.  When none of her threats work for Nadine or Darian, she turns her back on both of them.  Nadine’s mom Mona wonders if it’s worth the multiplication of their struggles for Darian to date Krista?  Darian feels he has finally found someone who gets him?

     The biggest problem about the breakup of the friendship between Nadine and Krista is that Nadine has NO other friends.  The only person she can seem to communicate with his her teacher Mr. Bruner.  He seems to be immune to Nadine’s awkwardness and turmoil?  There are a lot of illustrations of life as a teen in high school!!  3* (This movie is OK)

104 min, Comedy/Drama directed by Kelly Fremon Craig with Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Kyra Sedgwick, Woody Harrelson, Hayden Szeto, Alexander Calvert, Erick Keenleyside.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 95% critic 84% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 243 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Surrey, Vancouver, Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada and Anaheim, California.  Lakewood High School is actually Guildford Park Secondary in Surrey.  Blake Jenner is not a child of Bruce Jenner, he was previously on Glee.  Hayden Szeto plays the character Erwin and he is actually 11 years older than Hailee Steinfeld.  He is 31 and she is 20.

Time Lapse 2014

     Callie, Finn and Jasper live together in an apartment complex where Finn is the Super.  Mr. Bezzerides hasn’t paid his rent and Callie goes to check on him.  There are a lot of newspapers at his front door and his car has several tickets.  Callie has the master key and she announces she’s going into the apartment.  She finds Mr. Bezzerides dead and there is an unusual large camera in the room.  They don't know how Mr. Bezzerides died?  They learn that the camera takes a picture every evening through their front living room window.  What is unusual about this is that the picture is the living room of the next evening and not the current evening?  They begin to use the camera to win race bets until disturbing images begin to be filmed by the camera?

     The filmmakers self-financed this movie and they wrote the script to fit their limited budget.  The plot is similar to a Twilight Zone story from Season Two of 1961 with the title A Most Unusual Camera.  In this story thieves stole a camera from a curio shop and they discover it takes pictures of the future.  They used their knowledge to win money on horse racing bets.  There is another similar plot in the Bollywood Movie Aa Dekhen Zara with a disc jockey using a camera with the ability to take future pictures for personal gain.  I thought the plot was an unusual idea but I learned that this has been a repetitive theme?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

104 min, Sci-Fi directed by Bradley King with Danielle Panabaker, Matt O’Leary, George Finn, John Rhys-Davies, Amin Joseph, Jason Spisak, Sharon Maughan, David Figlioli, Judith Drake, Mark C. Hanson.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 73% critic 64% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 189 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, California.  An unusual element of this film is that the decision was made for the camera to be a Polaroid.  But, Polaroid film is no longer available.  The Art department had to fake the pictures by shooting them in digital and color correcting in Photoshop.  They cut out the insides of old Polaroid photos they purchased on Ebay.  Then they would slide the printed digital pictures into the instant film sleeves.  There is another movie from 2001 with the same title but a different plot.