Army of Shadows 1969

     The title of this film in French is L’Armee des ombres and the setting is in France of 1942.  The country is under German occupation during the WWII period.  Philippe Gerbier is a civil engineer and also a French Resistance commandant.  A French collaborator tells the Germans who he is, what he's doing and he taken to a concentration camp.  He escapes and rejoins his network in Marseille and he has the collaborator with the Germans executed.  Life was rigorous and austere during the French Resistance.  They were under constant threat of arrest by the Gestapo.

     It takes a certain kind of person to live under the intense pressure of possible discovery and death.  They must move invisibly and quietly like shadows.  They have to forget about being cold, hungry, desperate and they cannot call attention to themselves.  They use false names and they have no addresses.  They can be betrayed at any moment and they will probably die.  If they see a man or woman they have worked with arrested, they must look away and they cannot become involved.  If the Nazis are entering a place where there is someone they know working, they cannot go inside and alert them.  If they let someone escape that the Nazis are searching for, they must take a cyanide pill or they will be tortured when they are captured and then killed.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

 

145 min, Drama directed by Jean-Pierre Melville with Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann,Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbierf, Serge Reggiani, Andre Dewaverin, Alain Dekok, Alain Mottet, Alain Libolt, Jean-Marie Robain, Albert Michel.

Note:  Imdb 8.2 out of 10, 97% critic 94% audience, Roger Ebert 4*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 88 reviews, Metacritic 99 out of 100 with 24 critics 8 out of 10 with 89 reviews, Slant Magazine 4* out of 4*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Yvelines, Paris, Versailles, Bouches-du-Rhone, Val d’Oise, Rhone-Alpes, Hauts-de-Seine, France and London, England, UK.  Director Melville was a member of the Resistance and he lived this life.  Included on Roger Ebert’s Great Movies list.  Simone Signoret was 48 during filming and she seems much younger?  There is a mistake in London with the double yellow lines on the road.  They were introduced in the UK in 1956 and didn’t become common until the 1960’s.  The submarine used is a French Navy Arethuse-class submarine.  It was launched on 12 October 1958, more than 15 years after this film was produced.  When Gerbier is taken to the concentration camp, rain is only falling in front of the camera and directly on the van.  Just a few feet away, there are no raindrops.

On Moonlight Bay 1951

     This film is based on Life with Father of 1947, Meet Me in St. Louis of 1944 and Booth Tarkington’s Penrod stories.  The Winfield family moves into a new house in the small town of Milburn (this is a fictional name) in Indiana of 1917 prior to WWI. Their daughter Marjorie is a tomboy but she begins a romance with William Sherman from across the street.  Marjorie is now interested in learning how to dance and act like a young lady instead of a tomboy.  Unfortunately, William has unconventional ideas.  He doesn’t believe in marriage or money.  Marjorie’s father George Winfield is the local bank vice president and he really believes in money?  He’s married to Alice, Marjorie’s mother so he believes in marriage too?  Ideas about marriage and money cause some friction between George and William!!

     Many times I don’t like musicals and especially if there is also dancing.  I did like this movie?  It must be because the story is good and the characters are believable.  Also, because this was a more gentle time with parents involved with their children, their community and neighbors.  Crime was down, children played outside with their friends and doors didn’t need to be locked.  Mary Wilks plays the housekeeper Stella.  She has a tough time bringing food into the dining room because of two doors.  Someone is always opening the door and causing the tray of dishes and food to fall all over the floor!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

95 min, Musical directed by Roy Del Ruth with Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Jack Smith, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp Mary Wickes, Ellen Corby, Billy Gray, Henry East, Jeffrey Stevens, Eddie Marr.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 100% critic 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 161 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 2.5 out of 4* average user rating 3.75* out of 5*, Letterboxd 3.3* of 5*.

Special Note:  This film was so popular that the studio immediately filmed By the Light of the Silvery Moon of 1953.  This is a sequel with all the actors playing the same characters and that was unusual at this time.  Doris Day has said that By the Light of the Silvery Moon and Calamity Jane are her personal favorites of her films.  In this film plus the two others, Doris Day plays a tomboyish character blossoming into a pretty young lady.  Carol Burnett recalled working at the theater on Hollywood Boulevard where this film was playing its premiere engagement in 1951.  She earned 75 cents an hour answering the phone in a sing-son voice and stating: “Pantages Theater – Doris Day and Gordon MacRae On Moonlight Bay!”  There is a mistake with the song Ain’t We Got Fun because it wasn’t written until 1920.  Billy Gray as Wesley played Bud Anderson in the TV series Father Knows Best from 1954-1960.

The Unsuspected 1947

     This film noir is the based on a novel written by Charlotte Armstrong.  Roslyn Wright is the secretary of radio personality Victor Grandison.  She is found hanged in the posh mansion occupied by Grandison.  It’s believed she committed suicide.  Victor also recently lost his niece Matilda Frazer in a boating accident.  Later, Victor’s other niece Althea is hosting a surprise birthday party for Victor.  Steven Howard visits the mansion and he says that he and Matilda married before her disappearance?  Victor asks Detective Donovan to investigate Howard's background.  He doesn’t believe Matilda is married to Steven?  Soon afterward, Matilda arrives at the airport and she comes to the house.  She doesn’t remember getting married, she didn't drown and she was rescued from the water.

     I thought this was good.  I wasn’t sure if Matilda was married to Steven or not?  She could’ve had amnesia from her near drowning experience and trauma?  I liked the styling of the cars and the hairstyles and clothing of the women.  I didn’t know how this was going to end??  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

103 min, Drama directed by Michael Curtiz with Claude Rains, Joan Caulfield, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennett, Hurd Hatfield, Ted North, Fred Clark, Harry Lewis, Jack Lambert, Ray Walker, Nana Bryant, Water Baldwin. 

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM overall rating 4 ½* out of 5*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 46 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Grand Central Station, Manhattan, New York City, New York and Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California. Bess Meredyth wrote the screenplay and she is the wife of director Michael Curtiz.  The Unsuspected was originally a magazine serial and then published as a novel in January of 1946.  Warner Brothers bought the film rights prior to the magazine publication.  This film is considered to be impressive because of its emphasis on the noir style.  I noticed a mistake in this film.  A man is driving a grey car and he runs off the road because Victor cut the brake line.  When he drives up an embankment, the car is the right color but when he runs off the road on the opposite side, the car is black.  It must be that the first car was an expensive model and the second car was just an inexpensive heap??

Breakheart Pass 1975

     This film is based on a novel by Alistair McLean.  He is also the author of When Eagles Dare and the Guns of Navarone.  A special express train is traveling through the Rocky Mountains to Fort Humboldt.  The train is carrying medical supplies and a small U.S. Army unit.   It’s urgent that the train arrive as soon as possible at the Fort.  Many of the men there are suffering through a diphtheria epidemic.  On the train are the territory governor, a priest, a doctor and a U.S. Marshall with his prisoner.  John Deakin is the prisoner and he’s a notorious outlaw with a reward on his head of $2000.

     I thought this was a good western.  It has everything you need, a mystery about who are the good guys and the bad guys, stolen rifles, boxes of dynamite, people on the train randomly killed and an Indian attack.  Bronson is tough and he has the wrinkles to prove it!!  He’s not letting anything happen to Jill Ireland either!!  She has the role of Marica is she's Bronson’s wife in real life.  The $2000 reward money would be about $45,000 today.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)    

  

95 min, Western directed by Tom Gries with Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, Jill Ireland, Charles Durning, Ed Lauter, Bill McKinney, David Huddleston, Roy Jenson, Rayford Barnes, Scott Newman, Robert Tessier, Joe Kapp, Archie Moore, Sally Kirkland.

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, 73% critic 59% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 83 reviews, The Action Elite 3* out of 5*, Leterboxd average rating 3.33* out of 5*,

Special Note:  Filmed in Lewiston, Idaho, Williams and Kaibab National Forest, Arizona but the setting is Nevada.  Archie Moore and Charles Bronson have a fight scene on the top of the moving train.  They did not use stunt doubles.  Moore is a former light heavyweight prizefighting boxing champ turned actor.  Bronson is known as a movie tough guy and he was 53 years old when he made this film.  The railway scenes were shot on the Camas Prairie Railroad around Lewiston, Idaho and there is snow on the ground.  The train is the Great Western Railway 2-8-0 Consolidated Steam Locomotive #75.  Breakheart Pass is a location in Nevada’s Rocky Mountains.  Bronson made a string of westerns in the 1970’s.  Red Sun 1971, Chato’s Land 1972, Chino 1973, From Noon Till Three 1976 and White Buffalo 1977.  Bronson was paid $1 million plus 10% of the gross for his role.  A limited edition CD soundtrack was released featuring the music of Jerry Goldsmith.

Only the Brave 2017

     This film is based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and a GQ article titled No Exit by Sean Flynn.  This group is a highly trained and elite group of firefighters.  They will risk everything to protect a town in the path of a forest fire.  In 2007 Prescott, Arizona Eric Marsh is working to get his team of firefighters certified ad Hotshots.  Marsh is frustrated over the time this is taking and because another Hotshot crew overrules his operations suggestions and a town is devoured by fire.  Marsh needs new recruits and he hires Bendan McDonough.  Brendan has just been bailed out of jail, he’s on probation and he has a record.  Brendan has a baby daughter and he’s determined to make sure he supports and sees his daughter.  He doesn’t want her to be raised like he was raised.  The fire they are fighting is the Yarnell Hill Fire of June 2013.

     Northern California has dealt with devastating fires in this summer of 2018.  I thought about those fires and the deaths as I was watching this movie.  Eric Marsh is tough on new recruit Brendan but he needs it to turn his life around.  He starts from square one to build up his mental and physical strength.  Just running is too much for him.  I'm not sure why but he's given the nickname "Donut?"  3 1/2* (I liked this movie.    
           

134 min, Bio directed by Joseph Kosinski with Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly, James Badge Dale, Taylor Kitsch, Andie MacDowell, Geoff Stults, Alex Russell, Thad Luckinbill, Ben Hardy, Scott Haze, Jake Picking, Scott Foxx, Dylan Kenin.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 87% critic 91% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Metacritic 72 out of 100 with critics 7.4 out of 10 with 95 reviews, Common Sense Media 3* out of 5*, age 13+, positive 4*, role models 4*, violence 3*, sex 2*, language 3*, drinking, drugs, smoking 3*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Alamos, Pecos and Santa Fe, New Mexico and Prescott, Arizona.  Jennifer Connelly spent time with Amanda Marsh to prepare for her role.  She also wore Amanda’s boots in this film.  Brandon Bunch portrays his friend and fellow hotshot Garret Zuppiger.  Bunch left the Hotshot team 2 weeks before they fought the fire in this film.  His wife was almost ready to deliver their third son.  There is a mistake when a helicopter refills its water bucket from a swimming pool.  When the water is released, it comes out muddy.  (I thought there was something wrong with the water in this scene.) Wildland or forest firefighters employed by the Federal Government are payed an average of $49,690 a year.  Smoke jumpers earn about $16 per our and a foreman earns about $24.  They aren't paid extra for parachute jumps but receive hazard pay of 25% of their base pay.

The Glass Castle 2017

     This film is based on a biographic novel by Jeannette Walls.  It’s the story of her life and of her siblings growing up in a vagabond family.  Rose Mary Walls is an eccentric artist and she doesn’t ask for very much.  Rex Walls is alcoholic and many times he’s fired from jobs.  One thing he does for his family is to stir their imaginations.  The family moves many times, they shirk any medical bills, they are on the run from government intervention and once they don’t have anything but butter and sugar to eat.  Jeannette is the oldest and she tells the younger children that they will need to study in school and try to pull themselves up from poverty.

     Everything gets solved and tied up very simply in this film.  What about the lasting damage of the treatment the children received from their parents.  They did learn to make their own way in the world without help.  I can’t believe they don’t look back on some of their memories with regret and anger?  The family returned to Welch, West Virginia when they were totally broke and without any prospects.  The truth about Welsh in the Appalachians is that even today there is a LOT of poverty.  Neither parent is raising about 52% of the children.  Many homes are dilapidated structures and many buildings are empty with broken windows.  The population has reduced by nearly 80% in the last 25 years.  Nearly four of every five homes are abandoned.  There is a terrible opioid crisis creating an unbearable burden on the health care system.  The life expectancy is ten years shorter than it was 35 years ago.  The water system relies on 100-year-old wooden pipes and visitors are told to drink only bottled water.  This was once Democratic and the poorest community in the nation and three of four voters recently supported Trump.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) (I also liked the book)  

127 min, Bio directed by Destin Daniel Cretton with Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Ella Anderson, Chandler Head, Max Greenfield, Josh Caras, Charlie Shotwell, Iain Armitage, Sarah Snook, Sadie Sink, Olivia Kate Rice, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Shree Crooks, Eden Grace Redfield.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 50% critic 73% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Metacritic 56 out of 100 with 40 critics 6.4 out of 10 with 47 reviews, Common Sense Media 3* out of 5*, viewer age 14+, 1* positive messages, 3* role models, 3* violence, 2* sex, 3* language, 4* drinking, drugs & smoking.

Special Note:  Filmed in Welch, West Virginia.  The title refers to the plans Rex is always working on to build a glass castle for the family.  Originally, Jennifer Lawrence was to star and Gary Ross to direct but they dropped out.  Mark Ruffalo and Claire Danes were to play Rex and Rose Walls.  There is a mistake when Jeannette chooses the star she wants and she picks Venus.  This wouldn’t’ be possible because Venus is only seen in the early morning in the east and not early evening in the west.   

Fathers & Daughters 2015

     Jake Davis is a husband and the father of Katie.  Jake is also a novelist and he’s won a Pulitzer Prize.  Jake and his wife get into a bitter argument in their car, Jake is speeding and they get in an accident.  Jake has head injuries and his wife is killed.  Later, Jake checks into a hospital for treatment of seizures caused by his head injuries. He’s there for a year and he’s receiving electro-shock therapy.  Katie goes to live with her mother’s sister, her husband and their two sons.  Katie is grief stricken when her father leaves to go into the hospital.  Elizabeth and her husband William talk to Jake after he returns from his treatments.  They want Katie to live with them and since they are very wealthy, they can do a LOT more for Katie than her penniless father can!!  They also want to adopt Katie!!

     This film depicts Katie as a young girl in flashbacks and in the now as an adult woman at 27 years of age.  Despite his treatments, Jake is still having seizures and he can’t control them or keep them from happening.  Katie has a lot of emotional and judgment issues.  She has lived with the wealthiest people in the world and mourned the absence of both her mother and father.   Katie is a Ph.D. student studying psychology, she working with a young girl but she can’t use any of her knowledge with her own problems?  There is a LOT of drama and star power but this could’ve been a Hallmark Movie??  3* (This movie is OK) 

  

116 min, Drama directed by Gabriele Muccino with Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Dinae Kruger, Quvenzhane Wallis, Bruce Greenwood, Janet McTeer, Kylie Rogers, Jane Fonda, Octavia Spencer, Jenny Vos, Brendan Griffin, Ryan Eggold, Chris Douglass, Jake Scheib. 

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 28% critic 57% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, Metacritic 31 out of 100 with 17 critics 6.3 out of 10 with 18 reviews, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 279 reviews, Common Sense Media 3* positive, 2* role models, 2* violence, 4* sex, 4* language 3* drinking, drugs and smoking, age 16+ and 3* of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  There is a mistake with an aerial view of Manhattan showing the Twin Towers.  The film has Katie's mother passing around 1989-1990 and this scene is supposed to be 27 years later?