Man Up 2015

     Nancy is traveling by train across London to make a speech and a toast for her parent’s anniversary of 40 years.  Nancy is 34 years old and she feels like her best years are behind her with nothing to show for her years.  A woman sitting across from her on the train gives her a self-help book that she doesn’t want to read.  She can’t catch up with her at the station to give it back.  Nancy is standing under the station clock when Jack mistakes her for his blind date Jessica.  Nancy decides to play along although she does feel guilty about stealing Jessica’s date.  She usually would never be spontaneous like this?  Jack is 40 years old, recently divorced and he has just signed the divorce papers in his man-bag.  As the night progresses Nancy confesses she is not Jessica and they go their separate ways.  Nancy makes it to the party for her parents in time to give her speech but she wonders if Jack could’ve been the one?

     There are some really funny moments but some stressful ones too.  Is Jack going to find out after 20 questions that this isn’t Jessica?  Nancy runs into an old classmate who messes things up with Jack?  They didn’t get any contact information for each other?  Lake Bell does a good job in her role and with her British accent too. 3* (This movie is OK)

88 min, Comedy directed by Ben Palmer with Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Ophelia Lovibond, Olivia Williams, Rory Kinnear, Stephen Campbell Moore.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, 81% critic 70% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*.

Special Note:  Filmed Borehamwood, Hertforshire, Waterloo London and London England.

Where Hope Grows 2014

     Calvin Campbell used to play major league baseball but he had panic attacks at the plate and was let go.  Now he is an alcoholic without a job.  His teenage daughter Katie is the only person left in his life aside from his golfing buddy and some drinking buddies.  He spends a lot of time at a local grocery story buying liquor and he meets a young man with Down syndrome in the produce department.  Calvin doesn’t know his name so he calls him Produce.  Calvin has a job interview as a coach but he’s too drunk to make it on time.  Calvin is finally getting the idea he needs to do something else with his life after he starts meeting up with Produce.

     This is good and interesting.  Calvin has everything going for him but he’s letting it all go down the drain.  His daughter needs him because she's started to make mistakes in her own life.  Produce just wants to be selected as the employee of the month at the grocery store.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

95 min, Drama directed by Chris Dowling with Kristoffer Polaha, David DeSanctis, McKaley Miller, Kerr Smith, Brooke Burns, William Zabka, Alan Powell, Michael Grant, Clyde Jones.

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, 46% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 280 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Louisville, Centerfield and Middletown, Kentucky.

Fifty Shades of Grey 2015

     This film is based on a novel by E. L. James.  Anastasia Steele is a college literature student and she goes to interview the wealthy businessman Christian Grey.  She is doing this as a favor to her roommate Kate Kavanagh because Kate is sick and she can’t do the interview herself.  Anastasia doesn’t feel sure enough of herself or sophisticated enough for Christian to like her but she begins to like him.  She doesn’t know in the beginning that he finds her beautiful with an independent spirit.  He takes her on a date and they go on a helicopter ride over the city.  She goes to Georgia after her graduation to visit her mother and he comes to see her there later.  He takes her on a hang glider ride but he’s called back to the city with business problems.

     There are a few things to remember when you start to watch this film.  There are four books in the series and this film is continued.  There is a lot of fantasy made to look like reality but could this really go the way it’s portrayed in real life?  Would Ana be as attracted to Christian if he was in a low paying job, his idea of a great date was watching TV with a takeout burger and Anastasia paid for her meal???  When everything is outstanding, beautiful, exciting, brand new, never done before would you allow things to go a way you might not want to go?  Maybe swept off your feet?  Actually, this film is classy, dressed up porn with dominance and submissiveness.  Why is all the dominance on Christian's side?  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

25 min, Drama directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, Eloise Mumford, Victor Rasuk, Luke Grimes, Marcia Gay Harden, Rita Ora, Max Martini, Callum Keith Rennie.

Note:  Imdb 4.2 out of 10, 25% critic 41% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Vancouver and Gastown, British Columbia, Canada.

Run the Wild Fields 2000

     Opal Miller has the nickname of Pug after once having a Pug dog.  She lives on a farm in North Carolina with her mother, Ruby.  Her dad has been reported missing in WWII.  Pug discovers Tom by the road and his leg is bleeding.  She runs to get her mother and they help him to their farmhouse.  He has been bitten badly by one of the neighbor dogs and his leg is broken.  Once Tom is able to get around, Opal sends him on his way with some clothing belonging to her husband.  When she goes to town, she sees the Sheriff is interviewing Tom in his office.  He caught him trying to catch a train and he believes the clothing he has was stolen from Opal.  She talks to the Sheriff and she invites Tom back to the farm to help them plow the fields.

     This is interesting and good.  Everyone in the community believes Tom is a coward and a draft dodger since he’s not in the war.  Many of the men took farm deferments for the draft but they don’t think about that in the same way.  No one really knows Tom’s story because he doesn’t talk about his past.  3 ½* (I liked this movie.

101 min, TV Movie, Drama directed by Paul A. Kaufman with Joanne Whalley, Sean Patrick Flanery, Cotter Smith, Alexa PenaVega, Bill Lake, Christine Brubaker, Bradley Reid, Diane Douglass, Ron Payne.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 22 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Stouffville, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Wayward Pines 2015

     This series is based on the novels Pines, Wayward, The Last Town written by Blake Crouch.   Ethan Burke is a U.S. Secret Service agent and he has an accident when his partner runs their car into a semi truck.  Ethan has a concussion, broken ribs, blood on his brain stem and facial lacerations.  He leaves the hospital because he doesn’t want surgery to remove the blood from his brain, he doesn't trust the doctor and the nurse.  He meets a woman bartender and she makes him a hamburger even though he doesn’t have any money and can’t find his wallet or phone.  He’s hoping the sheriff has his belongings and he can find out what happened to his partner.  Ethan does find his partner with help from the bartender but he’s dead and not from the accident.  Ethan begins to see that Wayward Pines is not an ordinary town in Idaho?  Ethan is also looking for Kate Hewson, she is another missing U.S. Secret Service agent and a former partner.

     I wondered how much they would reveal in this series and I was surprised they gave more information than I expected.  There may be another season of the series in 2016 but I’m not sure.  There is a lot of surveillance of the inhabitants of this little town.  They have a lot of rules they must live by too.  They are not supposed to think about or talk about their past.  They are to live in the now and Sheriff Arnold Pope is always ready to enforce the rules.  There is a lot of ‘heavy’ material in this series but I don’t want to give spoilers.  4* (I really liked this series)

1 hour each episode, 12 episodes, run time 440 min, TV Series, Drama directed by Chad Hodge with Matt Dillon Carla Gugino, Shannyn, Sossamon, Toby Jones, Charlie Tahan, Mellissa Leo, Reed Diamond, Hope Davis, Siobhan Fallon Hogan.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 86% critic 82% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 28 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in British Columbia, Canada.

In the House (Dans la maison) 2012

     This movie is based on a play by Spanish writer Juan Mayorga.  Professor Germain is teaching a literature class in a French high school.  Claude is sixteen and has started writing installments of an interesting story that has caught the complete attention of Germain and his wife Jeanne.  Claude is the best friend of Rapha and Claude is very interested in everything about Rapha’s house.  His pretense for visiting is to help Rapha with his low math grades.  Claude wants to found out more about is mother, his father and their family secrets.  He is constantly lurking just outside doorways and he does a lot of snooping in the rooms.  Rapha and his parents don’t know they are Claude’s writing project.  Claude’s life is not at all like Rapha, his father is disabled and it’s just the two of them in their home.

     There are aspects of the story that are real and other happenings are imagination.  Claude is drawn to the family of Rapha because of the absence of his mother in his own family.  Germain and his wife become partners in Claude’s quest to learn more about another type of family.  Possibly a family life he wants for his own life?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

105 min, Drama directed by Francois Ozon with Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seignr, Denis Menochet, Bastien Ughetto.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 89% critic 84% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 28 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Val-de-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, Essonne, Yvelines, Hauts-de-Seine and Paris, France.

Aloft 2014

     Nana Kunning has two young boys.  The oldest boy has a falcon that he takes everywhere with him and his father was also a falconer.  She takes the boys to an isolated location to see the Architect and he is a renowned faith healer.  Her younger son, Gully has an inoperable brain tumor.  People are chosen by lottery from a long line of people.  Only those chosen will meet with the healer.  Ivan flies his falcon and the bird gets caught up in a large twig structure made by the Architect.  The Architect does his healing inside the structure and this event stops all meetings with the Architect.  Everyone waiting out in the cold is extremely disappointed.

     I wonder if there is the same amount of information left out of this film that is included?  Nothing is said about the location of the people and there are twenty years between the stories.  Almost everything you know has to be pieced together as you go slowly along in the film.  I think this had potential but could've been better if feelings had been explored?  3* (This movie is OK)

112 min, Drama directed by Claudia Llosa with Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy, Melanie Laurent, Oona Chaplin, Peter McRobbie, Ian Tracey.

Note:  Imdb 5.3 out of 10, 16% critic 24% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.1* out of 5* with 9 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Manitoba Canada and Madrid Spain.