Eating You Alive 2018

     This film explores how and why what we eat is the cause of the chronic diseases that are killing us.  We need to change what we eat and save our lives one bite at a time.  Most physicians receive very little education in medical school about diets and nutrition.

     A vegan or whole-food and plant-based diet is promoted by the people interviewed for this film.  They are doctors and patients that have had diseases.  I have seen other films on this same subject.  3* (This movie is OK)   

108 min, Doc directed by Paul David Kennamer Jr. with Suzy Amis, Neal Barnard, James Cameron, T. Colin Campbell, Jarik Conrad, Adrea and Jimmy Conway, Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., Andrew Freeman, Joel Fuhrman, Jeff and Jeffrey Garrett, Brooke Goldner, Michael Greger, Samuel L. Jackson.

Note:  Imdb 8.3 out of 10, Amazon 3.8* out of 5* with 52 reviews, 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Facebook 4.9 out of 5 with 164 votes.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, California; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Denver, Colorado; Part City, Utah; Houston, Texas; New York City, New York; Washington, District of Columbia; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan.

Unbroken: A Path to Redemption 2018

     This film is based on a best selling book by Laura Hillenbrand and it is a sequel to the previous film Unbroken.  WWII has ended and this film is about the peacetime battle by Louis Zamperini to fit into everyday society.  Louis was shot down over the Pacific and he survived 47 days on a raft.  He was captured held fro two years as a prisoner of war in Japanese prison camp.  He was reported as dead to the US Army Air Force and to his family. 

     Louis was a high school track star and he competed in the 1939 Berlin Olympics.   He didn’t finish college but enlisted in the military and he became a bombardier.  He was treated horribly in the prison camp but he was with other military personnel to support him.  Now, he feels really at sea.  The Army asks him to tour, tell his story and sell wart bonds.  He begins to drink, it seems the only way to sleep and forget the terrible memories.  He meets Cynthia in Miami and they marry.  He can’t find a job and his psychological symptoms and drinking intensify.  Nothing begins to change but it gets worse until 1949.  Louis was born January 26, 1917 in Olean, New York.  He died July 2, 2014 in Los Angeles from pneumonia.  His wife Julia Applewhite was born in 1946 and she died in 2001 from cancer.  Their two children were Cissy and Luke.  4* (I really liked this movie)

98 min, Bio directed by Harold Cronk with Samuel Hunt, Merritt Patterson, Bobby Campo, David Sakurai, Vincenzo Amato, Maddalena Ischiale, Gianna Simone, Ali Eagle, Will Graham, Andrew Caldwell, Gary Cole, Bob Gunton, Donald Martin Stark, David De Luise, Scott Subiono.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, Roger Ebert 2*, 36% critic 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic 39% with 7 critics 4.3 out of 10 with 8 reviews, Chicago Tribune 2* Katie Walsh, Amazon 4.6 out of 10 with 194 reviews, the paperback book published in 2014 has 4.8* out of 5* with 27,807 reviews.

Special Note:  Billy Graham’s grandson Will Graham portrays the Evangelist.  Some of the actors from the first film did not return to this sequel.  Alex Russell or Jack O’Connell as Louis.  The replacements are Bobby Camp as Peter and Samuel Hunt as Louie.  Angelina Jolie was also not involved as director.  Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures were not distributors. Harold Cronk replaces Jolie and Pure Flix Entertainment was the distributor.  Cronk was also the director of God Bless The Broken Road 2018 and it was released one week earlier than this film.  The budget was estimated at $6 million and the film grossed $6.2 million. 

Arthur Newman 2012

     Wallace Avery isn't happy in his marriage, his relationship with his son or his current life.  He decides to fake his death and start new life with a new identity.  Right away he encounters Charlotte Fitzgerald but she is called Mike.  She is drunk, in an altercation with a man and the police arrive.  Wallace Avery is now Arthur Newman and he finds her sleeping in a pool chair by his hotel.  He takes her to the hospital and he learns she has swallowed two bottles of cough medicine?  The doctor pumps her stomach and starts an IV drip.  Mike asks Arthur not to leave so he spend the night in her hospital room.  They team up and start on a road trip together.
       Mike catches on right away that Arthur is someone else for some reason?  Mike is also trying to leave her past behind.  They break into houses along the way instead of staying in hotels or motels?  Sometimes they get caught by the real owners or renters.  Maybe this improves their road trip with a little extra excitement?  3* (This movie is OK)

93 min Drama directed by Dante Ariola with Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche, Lucas Hedges, M. Emmet Walsh,Kristin Lehman, Phillip Troy Linger, Devon Woods, Sterling Beaumon, Natalia Volkodaeva, Autumn Dial, Anthony Reynolds, Ron Prather.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, 20% critic 25% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.5* out of 5* with 68 reviews, Metacritic 42 out of 100 with 23 critics 7.4 out of 10 with 18 reviews.
Special Note:  Filmed in Raleigh, Graham, Lumberton, Durham, Currie, Wallace, Kure Beach, Carolina Beach and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Nana 2016

     Serena Dykman is the granddaughter of Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant.  Serena filmed this movie about her grandmother’s survival in Auschwitz.  Maryla doesn’t know why she was able to live and others were not?  Her name and tattoo number were on the gas chamber list twice but somehow they were removed?  Random events allowed to survive?  Not because she was smarter or braver than anyone else!  She spent the rest of her life fighting against intolerance and the Holocaust deniers.  She wanted new generations to know what happened and pass this information on to the next generation.  She worried that the events of the Holocaust could be repeated.  Alice Michalowski is also in the film and she is Serena’s mother.

    This is a powerful movie and Maryla doesn’t shy away from any of the facts from her experiences in the concentration camp.  Her daughter and granddaughter have heard this information before.   It’s still difficult for them to hear and process these details during filming.  Maryla was extremely fortunate to live and she her daughter and granddaughter grow to be adults.  Maryal was born in 1920 and she died in 2003.  4* (I really liked this movie)  

  

100 min Doc directed by Serena Dykman with Maryla Michalowski-Dyamant, Alice Michalowski.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 60% critic on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 1 review, Slant Magazine 2 ½* out of 4*,

Special Note:  Filmed in Brussels, Belgium; Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolski, Poland; Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland; Bedzin, Slaskie, Poland.

Boundaries 2018

     Laura is a single mom and she is raising her 14 year-old son Henry.  She gets phone calls from her father Jack but she usually doesn’t answer.  When she does answer, he tells her that he’s being kicked out of his current nursing home?  She plans to fly him from the nursing home to her home.  She learns that he plans for them to drive across country in his car? 

     This film seems like a waste of the talents of the actors?  The story is not very interesting and it seems like it’s been done many times before.  There is a LOT of arguing between Laura and Jack.  Really, a lot of Laura arguing with everyone!!  This film runs out of gas before reaching it’s destination.   2* (I didn’t like this movie)

104 min, Comedy directed and written by Shana Feste with Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, Lewis MacDouogall, Christopher Lloyd, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Kristen Schaal, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Fonda, Dolly Wells, Ryan Robbins, Maxine Miller, Terence Kelly, BJ Harrison.

Note:  4.6 out of 10, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, 52% critic 57% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, 50% critic with 24 critics 4.8 out of 10 with 18 reviews, Amazon 3.9 out of 5* with 29 reviews, RollingStone 3* out of 4*,

Special Note:  Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Filmed in May 2016 but not released until early 2018.  Peter Fonda made comments on twitter about President Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron.  There was a call for a boycott of this film but Fonda has only a minor role?  The worldwide box office was $755,235 and the estimated video sales were $42,955.

A Simple Favor 2018

     This film is based on a debut novel by Darcey Bell.  Stephanie Smothers is a widowed Single mom with a young son Miles.  Her husband was killed in a car accident.  She becomes friends with Emily and she has a son Nicky the same age as Miles.  The boys attend the same elementary school.  The boys are really happy to have play dates together.  The mom's are totally different.  Stephanie runs a blog with craft ideas and recipes.  Emily is a busy working mother.  She is a PR director for a fashion company.  Stephanie has to worry about money because her husband's life insurance payment will run out.  Emily has a much more expensive lifestyle but they are in debt.  Her husband Sean is an English professor and a former writer with a published novel.  Emily asks Stephanie to babysit Nicky because she is having a work crisis and Sean is in London.  Two days pass and Stephanie contacts Emily's employer for information about Emily.
      This movie is a thriller with twists and turns that you don't see coming?  I didn't know how it was going to end either?  Stephanie and Emily are total opposites and maybe that's why they get along?  Stephanie cooks, bakes and shares her recipes on her blog.  Emily may not be able to successfully boil and egg?  Stephane misses having her husband and Emily chides her husband for his inability to create another novel.  4* (I really liked this movie)

117 min, Crime directed by Paul Feig with Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Ian Ho, Joshua Satine, Glenda Braganza, Andrew Rannells, Kelly McCormack, Aparna Nancherla, Jiah Mavji, Ava LaFramoise, Dustin Milligan, Danielle Bougon, Gisa Sandhu, Lila Yee.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, 85% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 748 reviews, Roger Ebert 3*, Metacritic 67 out of 100 with 41 critics 7 out of 10 with 168 reviews, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Wendy Ide, RollingStone 3 1/2* out of 5* Peter Travers.
Special Note:  Filmed in Unionville, Mississquga, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and New York City, New York.  The gin used in the martinis shared by Stephanie and Emily is Aviation (American) Gin.  This is a company owned by Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively's husband.  Stephanie was able to put up with a lot of abuse from Emily because it replaced her loneliness.  Blake Lively wanted her character Emily to wear suits in sharp contrast to the mom look worn by Stephanie.  Blake's style was inspired by the looks of Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Madonna.  Some items like the dickie and the French cuffs were custom made.  The film rights were purchased before the book was published. 

Waitress 2007

     Jenny is married but she’s unhappy.  She's saving her money and hoping to win a pie-baking contest to get more money.  If she can save enough, she will be able to leave her husband Earl.  She learns she is pregnant and that creates big turnaround for her plans!!  Jenny works at Joe’s diner and she bakes phenomenal pies.  She’s not happy at Joe’s either.  She listens to the wisdom of old Joe and she tolerates her sour boss Cal.  Her fellow waitresses Dawn and Beck are her friends.  There is also a mutual attraction with the new doctor in town but he’s married?  Life begins to seem less able to manage!!

     The pies!!  I wanted make pies, eat pies and go out and buy pies!!  So many looked like they would taste really good!!  This is a funny, quirky and good movie.  It’s about friendships and believing in yourself.  This is a very different role for Keri Russell than the Russian spy killing everyone in the series The Americans.  She had the role of Elizabeth Jennings.  Her co-star was her husband Matthew Rhys.  This series ran for six seasons between 2013 and 2018.  4* (I really liked this movie)

108 min, Comedy directed by Adrienne Shelly with Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith, Adrienne Shelly, Eddie Jemison, Lew Temple, Darby Stanchfield, Heidi Sulzman, Lauri Johnson, Sarah Hunley.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 90% critic 74% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian 1* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 75 out of 100 with 34 critics 7.1 out of 10 with 117 reviews, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 586 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Halfway House Café, Santa Clarita and Sleepy Valley Ranch, Agua Dulce, California.  The little girl Lulu in the final scenes is Director Adrienne Shelly’s daughter Sophie Ostroy.  Unfortunately, Shelly was killed in her apartment by a nineteen year old construction worker shortly after filming.  Shelly received a Best Screenplay nomination at the 23^rd Independent Spirit Awards.  Andy Griffith acted in this film and one more as his final acting roles.