Ordeal by Innocence 2018

     The setting of this film is Christmas of 1954 in the UK and it is based on a novel published in 1958 by Agatha Christie.  Rachel Argyll is a wealthy philanthropist and she has been murdered at Sunny Point, her family estate.  Rachel and her husband Egyptologist Leo Argyll have adopted five children, three girls and two boys.  Jack is the disturbed black sheep.  Mickey Is troubled, he has many tattoos and he was in WWII.  Mary Argyll Durrant is married to Philip and he is in a wheelchair from a car accident.  Mary is very serious, the first one adopted and she thought she should have been the only one adopted.  Tina doesn’t seem to fit in and teen boys in town taunt her.  Hester is also very serious.  Kirsten is the housekeeper.  Jack Argyll has been arrested for her murder but he claims he got a ride in a car on the road.  He adamantly protests his innocence and he says he was away from the estate.  Unfortunately, his fingerprints are found at the scene of the crime?

     The main complaints about this series are the length and the number of flashbacks!!   The adopted children each have a young actor playing them in the early years and an adult actor for this time period.  I thought this was very good and I enjoyed watching it very much.  I thought the acting was good.  There are many choices for who is the murderer.  There is also a why was Rachel murdered. See if you can unravel the puzzles before the final episode?   4 ½* (I really liked this series)

TV Mini-Series, 3 episodes, 60 min each, Drama directed by with Morven Christie, Anthony Boyle, Christian Cooke, Bill Nighy, Matthew Goode, Luke Treadaway, Anna Chancellor, Crystal Clarke, Ella Purnell, Eleanor Tomlinson, Luke Murray, Catriona McNicoll, Abigail Conteh, Rhy Lambert, Hayden Robertson, Brian McCardie, Alice Eve, Frances Grey, Sandy Welch. 

 

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, Amazon Video Season 1, 4* out of 5* with 810 reviews, 94% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon gives the hardcover book 4.3* out of 5* with 126 reviews, Indiewire.com B- Steve Greene, The Guardian 5* out of 5* Lucy Mangan, Metacritic 71 out of 100 with 10 critics 5.9 out of 10 with 12 user ratings.

Special Note:  Catherine Keener was cast to play Rachael Argyll but Anna Chancellor took the role.  The adaptation differs from the novel in the conclusion.   Originally the series was filmed with Ed Westwick playing Mickey Argyll and it was scheduled to air the Christmas season of 2017.  In November 2017, the BBC announced it would not broadcast the series while a police investigation of Westwick was on going.  In January 2018, re-shoots began with Christian Cooke replacing Westwick.  There were problems with the re-shoots because the seasons were different.  The original scenes were filmed in the Summer of 2017 but the re-shot scenes were not taking place over 12 days in January 2018.  The entire re-shoot cost the BBC in excess of 2 million pounds.  Bill Nighy has Duputren’s Contracture.  This is a degenerative muscular condition.  It causes the ring and little fingers to become permanently folded in towards the palm.  It normally affects males over the age of 50. 

Somm III 2018

     This is the third installment of a documentary series on wine tasting.  Three of the greatest legends in wine meet in this film.  They will drink the most rare bottles of their careers.  Also, the best blind tasters of today gather to settle an age-old argument.  The results could change the world of wine forever?

     I have not seen the films Somm and Somm II.  I did find this film interesting and I am not a wine expert.  There is drinking wine, comparing wines at a tasting, talking/writing about wine and these can be three different things.  It is a fact that ordinary people will probably not ever be able to taste rare old bottles of wine?  Isn’t a nice drinkable wine that pares with the food good enough?  Obviously not!!  3* (This movie is OK)

78 min, Doc directed by Jason Wise with Ian Cauble, Fred Dame, Paul Draper, Laura Fiorvanti, Jay Fletcher, Becky Wsserman Hone, Steve Matthiasson, Brian McClintic, Carole Meredith, Rajat Parr, Dlynn Proctor.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 64 reviews, Letterboxd 3.4 out of 5*, hudin.com 28 out of 5*.

Special Note:  An exclusive early screen of this film took place at Nolita Hall, Little Italy San Diego on November 13^th, 2018.

Bernie the Dolphin 2019

     The setting of this film is St. Augustine, Florida.  Holly and Kevin Ryan are a sister and brother and they become friends with the dolphins in their area.  A speedboat comes by their kayak going at a fast speed.  Both Holly and Kevin are dumped into the water.  Ryan comes right back up to the surface but Holly is rescued by one of the dolphins.  In the excitement, the dolphin group becomes separated and one of the members beaches at the shore.  This dolphin gets a very bad sunburn and is taken to the local marine life rescue center.  Holly and Ryan are very worried about Bernie until they find out he is at the center and he will be released as soon as he is fully recovered.  Holly and Ryan want to make sure Bernie is reunited with his pod.

     There are a LOT of complications with Holly and Ryan’s dad Patrick.  He’s upset and grounds them after the incident with the speedboat.  His boss Winston Mills is up to something shady and Holly can feel this deep in her gut.  Their mother Abby is more on-board with Holly and Ryan but she still has to enforce the grounding.  Holly and Ryan do manage to upset the sneaky plans of Winston Mills and the Major!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

88 min, Action directed by Kirk Harris with Lola Sultan, Logan Allen, Kevin Sorbo, Stelio Savante, Jimel Atkins, Sean Michael Gloria, Patrick Muldoon Dahlia Legault, Sam and Braeden Sorbo, Lily Cardone, Stacey Spong, Owen Harn, Vincent De Paul Darla Delgado.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, 67% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 5* with 5 reviews, Facebook 3.6 out of 5 with 41 reviews, Common Sense Media 2* out of 5* age 6+, Dove.org 1* faith, 4* integrity 1* sex, language and violence 1*, other (stealing) 1*.

Finding Rin Tin Tin 2007

     This film is based on the true story of a German Shepherd puppy found by American pilot Lee Duncun in France during WWI.  He was rescued from a basement along with his mother and two siblings.  Owners were found for the mother and the other two puppies.  Duncun was able to get permission to keep Rin Tin Tin because he didn’t have a home.  One condition was that the dog received training.  Duncun was able to arrange for one of the POWs, a German dog trainer Nikolaus Egger to work on training.  Later, Rin Tin Tin became the most famous animal star in Hollywood history.

     I thought this was interesting and good.  Rin Tin Tin was untrained in the beginning and he would not have been able to stay with the soldiers without changes being made.  He was waking the men up when they tried to sleep, he drank liquor from a soldier’s bottle and it made him drunk.  His training made all the difference and he became an asset to the men.  There is a young orphan boy working in the kitchen and the becomes friends with the dog.  It really helps the boy during a trying time for him being without his parents.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

90 min, Family directed by Danny Lerner with Tyler Jensen, Ben Cross, Gregory Gudgeon, Steven O’Donnell, William Hope, Todd Jensen, Ivan Rankov, Ian Porter, Garrick Hagon, Michal Yannai, Wesley Stiller, Vlado Mihailov, Atanas Srebrev, Johnathan Sparcino, James Graves.

Note:  Imdb 5.1 out of 10, 48% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.8* out of 5* with 102 reviews, Letterboxd .5* out of 5* Dennis Reardon.

Special Note:  Filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria.  There is a mistake with the type of rifles.  The rifles carried by the US soldiers are English Number 4, Mark 1.  This is a type of rifle introduced to the English Army twenty years later in WW2.  US soldiers would have carried either Model 1903 Springfield or more likely Model 1917 rifles.  CPL Lee Duncan found Rin Tin Tin but he was not a pilot.  He was an aerial observer.  He sat in the back of the plane and he was armed with machine gun.  He was not a trained pilot and could not fly the plane alone.  If Rin Tin Tin was actually barking during flight, you would not be able to hear barking over the wind and the motor noise.  The name Rin Tin Tin comes from the name of a toy that French children commonly gave to soldiers around the turn of the century.  Duncun was able to get permission for Rin Tin Tin to come to America on one of the ships carrying returning soldiers.  His movie career started with 14 features from 1920-31.  Rin Tin Tin was his original name given to him by Duncan.

Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery 1935

     This is a 12-episode serial shown in movie theaters.  Each week there was another episode and each episode had a cliffhanger at the end.  Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells and time bombs.  He foils the plans by corrupt businessmen profiteers that want to steal an island’s oil reserves.  Manue Casmetto and Horace Raymore have come up with a scheme to make fast money.  Tommy and his fellow pilots get help from news reporter Milt Howe.

     The series is based on the adventure comic strip Tailspin Tommy that was syndicated to newspapers from 1928 to 1942.  It was the first aviation-related strip to appear after Charles Lindbergh’s historic solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1927.  The one complaint about this film is that it's very low budget.  A LOT of the background scenes are repeated so they didn't need to be filmed again.  Some scenes are very funny now.  3 1/2* (I liked this series)

3 hours 56 min, Action directed by Ray Taylor with Clark Williams, Jean Rogers, Noah Berry Jr., Delphine Drew, Bryant Washburn, Pat J. O’Brien, Herbert Heywood, Matthew Betz, Paul Ellis, Harry Worth, Manuel Lopez, Charles A. Browne, James P. Burtis, Helen Brown, Frank Mayo.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, The Digital Bits Film B, Video B+, Audio B+, Extras F, Blue-ray.com 3 1/2* out of 5* 1 rating, Amazon 3* out of 5* with one review, Letterboxd average 2.5* out of 5*.

Special Note:  The aircraft carrier shown in some scenes is the USS Lexington (DV-2) nicknamed “Lady Lex.”  It is the 96^th of 137 serials released by Universal Pictures and the 28^th with sound.  In the first Episode, Wreck of the Dirigible, Tommy is flying out to the airship Fleet model 2, s/n 374, registration NC792V.  This plane also appears in Ace Drummond 1936, Sky Parade 1936 and Legion of Lost Flyers 1939.

Chapter Titles:  Wreck of the Dirigible, Roaring Fire God, Hurled From the Skies, Bolt From the Blue, The Torrent, Crash in the Clouds, Flying Death, Crossed and Double-Crossed, Wings of Disaster, The Dungeon of Doom, Desperate Chances and The Last Stand.  

Mary Poppins Returns 2018

     The setting of the film is in London during the era of the depression.  Jane and Michael Banks along with Michael’s three children are in danger of losing their home to the bank.  Unfortunately, the children’s mother has also passed away.  Mary Poppins and her friend Jack visit the family.  Mary helps them all rediscover the joy and wonder that has been missing in their lives.

     I didn’t know what to expect from this new film but I enjoyed it very much!!  I would like to see the original film again to compare it with this new release.  I thought Emily Blunt was perfect at Mary Poppins.  This is a different role for Ben Whishaw since he is now acting as the new Q in the Bond films.  He is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service.  Lin-Manuel Miranda played Alexander Hamilton in the very popular Hamilton play.  I thought it was a great idea to have Dick Van Dyke return in this film, he played Bert in the first film.  4* (I really liked this movie) 

    

130 min, Comedy directed by Rob Marshall with Emily Blunt, Ln-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Jeremy Swift, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Jim Norton, Noma Dumezweni.

Note:  Imdb 7 out of 10, 1 ½* Roger Ebert, 79% critic 68% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, RollingStone 3* out of 5* (too many spoonfuls of sugar), The Guardian 4* out of 5* Mark Kermode, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 54 critics 6.8 out of 10 with 176 reviews, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 267 reviews.

Special Note:  The estimated budget was $130 million and the worldwide gross was $307,822,494 million.  Walt Disney offered the lead role to Julie Andrews.  She told him she was pregnant and the production was postponed until after the birth.  The same thing happened to Emily Blunt with this film.  Andrews was asked to appear at the balloon lady but she thought it would be too distracting.  Angela Lansbury accepted the role and she had been considered for the role of Mary Poppins in the original film.  Dick Van Dyke looks younger than his 93 years and makeup was used to make him look older.  Director Rob Marshall wanted to use hand-drawn animation but Disney wanted to use computer animation.  Rob argued for the hand-drawn and it was allowed.  The music in the background contains melodies from the original film.  The Perfect Nanny, Let’s Go Fly a Kite, Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, The Life I Lead and Spoonful of Sugar.  The Sherman Brothers wrote the music in 1963-64.  This film was released 54 years after the release of the first Mary Poppins in 1964.  This sets a new record as the longest gap between a live-action film and its sequel.

Fahrenheit 11/9 2018

     Filmmaker Michael Moore examines the current state of American Politics.  He is particularly interested in the Donald Trump presidency, the elections, gun violence and grassroots democratic movements.

     This film brings up incidents that I would like to read about and get further information.  What did the Bush administration really know about Iraq?  Also, why the switch from Lake Huron water in Flint Michigan to the polluted water from the Flint River?  Why did President Obama come to Flint allegedly to help the people but he drank the water as if there wasn’t anything wrong?  I would like to know more about the election between Trump and Clinton too.  The one thing this film does is give you the determination to learn more!!  4* (I really liked this movie) 

   

128 min Doc directed and written by Michael Moore with Jim Acosta, Roger Ailels, Brooke Baldwin, Ashleigh Banfield, Stephen K. Bannon, Roseanne Barr, Joy Behar, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Joe Biden, Wolf Blitzer, John Behner, John Bolton, Barbara Bush, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Clooney.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3*, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, 81% critic 59% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, The Washington Post 2 ½* out of 4*, Michael O’Sullivan, Metacritic 69 out of 100 with 46 critics 4.6 out of 10 with 89 reviews, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 1362 reviews.

Special Note:  The title is a play on the title for Moore’s other film about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.  It also refers to the fact that Trump was projected to be the next President at 2:29AM on November 9, 2016.  Originally, Moore was working with producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein in May 2017.  The funding fell through and allegations emerged the following October about Harvey.  The crew was laid off and the production shut down.  Moore bean to focus on a Broadway shoe, The Terms of My Surrender and it ran for 12 weeks.