On Chesil Beach 2017

     This film is based on a best selling novel by Ian McEwan.  The setting is England of 1962.  Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting have very different backgrounds but they fall in love at first sight.  There have a wonderful courtship and they families are happy that they want to get married.  They have the wedding that everyone would want and they go to a seaside hotel afterwards.  Their only complication is societal pressure and physical intimacy.
       The scenery is very beautiful and this is a time capsule of the period of the 60's.  I didn't know how this was going to conclude?  Edward is planning to take a job with Florence's father.  Florence is a violinist in an ensemble group.   3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

110 min, Drama directed by Dominic Cooke with Billy Howle, Saoirse Ronan, Andy Burse, Rasmus Hardiker, Anne-Marie Duff, Adrian Scarborough, Mia Burgess, Emily Watson, Bebe Cave, Samuel West, John Ramm, Barney Iley, Mark Donald.

Note:  Imdb 6.3 out of 10, Roger Ebert 2 1/2*, 68% critic 65% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian Simran Hans 3* out of 5*, Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips 2*, Rolling Stone Peter Travers 2 1/2* out of 4*, The Telegraph Tim Robey 2* out of 5*, Amazon DVD 3.6 out of 5*, Book 3.8 out of 5* with 483 reviews. 
 
Special Note:  Filmed on Chesil Beach, Dorset, England, UK.  Also filmed in London, Oxford and Pinewood Studios, England, UK.  This Saoirse Ronan's second role in a film bases on an adaptation of a novel by Ian McEwan.  The movie was Atonement 2007.  Originally, Carey Mulligan was to star in the lead role of Florence.  This is the feature directorial debut for Dominic Cooke and the first screenplay of his own work by Ian McEwan.
Other Films based on Ian McEwan novels: Enduring Love 2004, The Innocent 1995, The Comfort of Strangers 1991, The Cement Garden 1994, Atonement 2007.  

Mission: Impossible - Fallout 2018

     This film is a sequel to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.  Ethan Hunt successfully captured Solomon Lane two years ago.  The remnants of his Syndicate have reformed into another organization called the Apostles.  Under the leadership of John Lark, the Apostles plan to acquire three plutonium cores.  Ethan and his team are sent to Berlin to intercept the cores.  The mission fails when Ethan saves Luther and the Apostles escape with the cores.  CIA agent August Walker has also joined Ethan’s team.  The team must find the cores before they are detonated resulting in massive destruction.

     This is the sixth installment of the Mission franchise.  This is a complicated film with a lot of characters.  There are so many twists and turns and episodes of imminent danger that they are difficult to take in??  All the stunts are real and CGI is not an element.  It seems ‘impossible’ that Tom Cruise does all these stunts himself.  Much of the scenery is very beautiful.  There are a LOT of expensive BMW motorcycles, expensive BMW cars including a 1986 5 Series 2^nd-gen E28 model, three helicopters and a LOT of chase scenes.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)  

           

147 min, Action directed by Christopher McQuarrie with Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan, Wes Bentley, Frederick Schmidt, Alec Baldwin, Liang Yang, Kristoffer Joner, Wolf Blitzer.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 97% critic 88% audience, Roger Ebert 4*, Metacritic 86 out of 100 with 60 reviews 8.2 out of 10 with 709 reviews, Rolling Stone Peter Travers 4* out of 5*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Simran Hans, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 1094 reviews.

Special Note:  The budget was estimated at $178 million and worldwide gross was $791,107,538 for a profit of $613,107,538.  There will be another Mission:Impossible because this film finished with a profit.  Tom Cruise trained for an entire year to perform the HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) stunt in this film.  This sequence was a distance of 7 km / 25000 feet, traveling at the speed of 265 – 320 km/h and it required a year of planning to perfect.  Cruise was injured in a stunt jumping from one building to another.  His ankle fractured and shooting was delayed for 8 weeks.  This is the longest Mission film at 2 hours and 27 minutes. 

Where Is Kyra 2017

    This film is also titled Deceit.  Kyra is living with her elderly mother in an apartment in Brooklyn, New York.  Her marriage has dissolved, she loses her job and she struggles to make ends meet on her mother’s income.  Her mother passes away and the wrong social security number is on the death certificate.  Kyra doesn’t have the money to correct the certificate.  She starts posing as her mother to cash her mother's pension checks at the bank.  She is setting herself up on a risky path!!  She meets a former friend Doug at a bar and he’s trying to help her.

     There are a LOT of dark scenes in this film?  It’s not just the plot but many shots are muddy and dark.  It’s difficult to clearly see what is happening?  In the beginning, I didn’t know if Kyra was actually posing as her mother?  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)

 

98 min, Drama directed by Andrew Dosunmu with Michelle Pfeiffer, Kiefer Sutherland, Suzanne Shepherd, Anthony Okungbowa, Babs Olusanmokun, Stella Schnabel, Angela Pietropinto, Elizabeth Evans, Sam Robards, Rutanya Alda, Henry Yuk, Bradley W. Anderson.

Note  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, 81% critic 55% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Metacritic 72 out of 100 with 20 critics 7 out of 10 with 10 reviews, Rolling Stone 3 ½ out of 4*, Amazon 2.8* out of 5* with 42 reviews.

Special Note:  This film was shot in 18 days.  The original title was Beat-Up Little Seagull.  This is a lyric taken from the Nina Simone song Baltimore.  Partially filmed on location at Gotham Thrift Shop in Ridgewood Queens, New York.  Usually Pfeiffer is a blonde but she appears as a brunette in this film.  She was also a brunette in Married to the Mob 1988, Up Close and Personal 1996 and New Year's Eve 2011. 

The Beast of the City 1932

     Police Chief Jim Fitzpatrick is fighting gangster Sam Belmonte.  His department runs in the thugs that work for Belmonte but they get bailed out right away.  Fittz’s thinks his dishonest brother Ed is involved with Belmonte.  Fitz asks Ed to keep an eye on Daisy Stevens.  She’s Belmonte’s moll.  Instead Ed becomes involved with Daisy and he forgets about his surveillance job!!

     It’s interesting to see life from this time period!!  This is also in black and white.  According to the film, there were a lot of bleached blondes and they used peroxide to become blonde.  There is a trial and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the defense attorney lead the witness and jury with such abandon.  The judge is disgusted by the verdict!!  Later there is a shoot out between the gang and the police.  It’s more like a shootout in a western movie?  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

86 min, Crime directed by Charles Brabin with Walter Huston Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford, Jean Hersholt, Dorothy Peterson, Tully Marshall, John Miljan, Emmett Corigan, Warner Richmond, Sandy Roth, J. Carrol Naish.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* average user rating 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 11 reviews, Three Movie Buffs 3* out of 4*.

Special Note:  Filmed at MGM Studios, Culver City, California.  The working title was City Sentinels.  Mickey Rooney is 11 years old and he plays Fitz’s youngest son.  This is Rooney’s first full-length sound feature film.  His only line is, “Say, those don’t look like pancakes!”  His twin sisters in the film have made pancakes by themselves for the family breakfast.  This film originated from a conversation between President Herbert Hoover and MGM head Louis B. Mayer.  Hoover thought the public needed to have greater respect for the police and law enforcement.  There were many gangster pictures coming out at this time and they glorified the gangsters.  There is a prologue by Hoover on the opening screen.  Later this information was edited out and it disappeared?

Pre-Code:  This film is pre-code and you can tell because there is a police call for a nude woman running around.  Someone has the nickname of ‘Easy Stevens.’  In the dialogue is ‘Hey you son of a ….!’  Criminals murder a child and are acquitted at trial.  Jean Harlow has a risqué dance scene and she says she doesn’t mind ‘the rough stuff.’   It wasn’t shown in New York City because Pre-Code films were not shown.  

The Yellow Rolls-Royce 1965

     This film is three stories about the lives and loves of people who owned a 1930 yellow Rolls-Royce.  The Marquess of Frinton is the first owner and he purchased the car for his wife as a belated anniversary present.  Later, the Marchiness sells the car in disgust?  Gangster Paolo Maltese’s moll Mae thinks the Rolls is a ‘classy’ car.  She plans use the car to tour Paolo’s home-town in Italy.  She also enjoys the company of a handsome Italian photographer while Paolo is away in America.  By the outbreak of WWII, the car now belongs to socialite Gerda Millet.  On her way to visit Yugoslavian royalty, Gerda and the Rolls become participants in the Yugoslavian fight.

      In the beginning of this film, it's a little slow and then it picks up as it goes along.  Much of the scenery is very beautiful and it shows the changes in lifestyles from 1930 through 1940.  There are another film collaborations by the team of Director Anthony Asquith and British Playwright Terence Rattigan.  The Browning Version, The Winslow Boy and The V.I.P.'s.  The Rolls is the main star of the film and it is a beautiful automobile.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie. 

122 min, Comedy directed by Anthony Asquith with Terence Rattigan and Ingrid Bergman, Rex Harrison, Shirley MacLaine, Jeanne Moreau, George C. Scott, Omar Sharif, Alain Delon, Art Carney, Joyce Grenfell, Edmund Purdom, Michael Hordern, Lance Percival, Roland Culver, Moira Lister, Harold Scott.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 59% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 128 reviews, TCM average user rating 4.3* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Tuscany, Florence, Naples, Italy.  Austria.  MGM Studios, London, Hertfordshire, England, UK.  Originally the 1930 Phantom II Sedanca de Ville was a pale blue color.  MGM covered the car with twenty coats of yellow paint and a few coats of black were add to the top of the hood, roof and wings.  The winding mountain road in Yugoslavia was also the location for the race between James Bond’s Aston-Martin and a red Mustang in Goldfinger.  The film grossed $5.4 million at the US box office and among the top ten films in receipts for 1965.  In October 2003, the Chicago Tribune reported the Rolls is owned by Neal Kirkham of Saratoga, California.     

The Clock 1945

     Soldier Joe Allen is on a two-day leave (48 hours) in New York.  He meets Alice and she agrees to show him the sights.  They spend the day together and they find themselves falling in love.  They decide to get married before Joe must to return to camp.

     In the beginning, there is a wonderful panorama of New York City as it was in the spring of 1945.  Once the couple meet, they are together almost constantly excepts for some glitches.  They visit various landmarks and attractions in New York like regular tourists. Alice has an apartment but she goes back there alone and she talks to her girlfriend roommate.  Her roommate tells her that she shouldn’t fool with military guys??  They will tell you anything!!  Some people have found this film boring?  This is what people wanted to see because during this period because they were war-weary!!  They were tired of blood, guts and strict rationing!! 

    

90 min Drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, Fred Zinnemann with Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucile Gleason, Ruth Brady, E.J. Schwartz.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 100% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* average user rating 4.7* out of 5*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 79 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Holly wood, Los Angeles and Culver City, California.  Real footage of Pennsylvania Station was used for this film. The scene between Judy Garland and Robert Walker was filmed on a recreation at an MGM sound stage.  Alice loses her shoe heel on an escalator in Penn Station.  It isn't a real escalator and it has unusually high sides to disguise the fact that it wasn’t real.  This film, Judgment at Nuremberg of 1961 and A Child is Waiting 1963 are July Garland’s only non-singing movies.  Milkman Al Henry gives Joe and Alice a lift in his milk truck.  He doesn’t bother to look at the road for a full 24 seconds!!  MGM paid $50,000 for the rights to the original story.  The budget was estimated at $1,324,000 and the gross was $2,783,000.  During WWII, it was extremely difficult to get hotel reservations.  The couple is shown in a nice hotel room but in reality a soldier was probably booked at the YMCA.  Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation on January 28, 1946 with Judy Garland reprising her film role.  Judy Garland was born June 10, 1922 and she died June 22, 1969.  The film was released in May of 1945 and she was 23 the next month.  She was married to Director Minnelli from June 15, 1945 to March 29, 1951.  They had one child Liza May born in 1946.  Robert Walker was recently divorced from Jennifer Jones prior to filming.         

Oceans Eight 2018

     Debbie Oceans is the estranged sister of Danny Ocean and he has passed away.  She has just been released from prison and she has an idea for a major heist.  She’s been planning for five years, eight months and 12 days!!  She gathers a perfect all female crew to pull off the heist of the century.  The team includes Debbie, Lou, Rose, Daphne Luger, Nine Ball, Tammy Amita and Constance.  A robbery will take place at the famous New York City’s star-studded annual Met Gala.  Their target is a one-of-a-kind $150 million diamond Cartier necklace.  The necklace has not been out of the vault for 50 years!!

     If you thought Debbie was going straight, you thought wrong!! She begins her freedom with a spectacular bit of high-dollar shoplifting in Bergdorf Goodman.  No need to visit a less expensive store when you can go to Bergdorf!!  Everything about this film is constantly stylized and slick?  All the actors need to be perfectly dressed and groomed in every scene?  Somehow, that gets a little tiresome over 110 minutes?  What the women use to their utmost advantage is that the ‘him’ gets noticed and the ‘her’ gets ignored.  Being ignored during the entire Gala is their goal!!  The city of New York is also used as a character in this film.

110 min, Action directed by Gary Ross with Sandra Bullock, Griffin Dunne, Deidre Goodwin, Daniella Rabbani, Brian J. Carter, Gemma Forbes, Katherine Hozier-Adams, Freddy J. Davila, Francesca Calo, Cate Blanchett, Midori Francis, Elliott Gould, Richard Armitage, Charlotte Kirk, Anne Hathaway.

Note:   Imdb 6.2 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3*, 69% critic 44% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian 3* out of 5*, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 448 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in New York City, Staten Island and Los Angeles, California.  The Met event is a real annual gala sponsored and hosted by Anna Wintour.  She is the editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Vogue.  She also plays herself in the film.  Debbie Ocean speaks German as part of her cover.  Sandra Bullock spent most of her childhood in Nuremberg, Germany and she is fluent in the language.  She also holds dual citizenship in both German and the United States.  Originally, Jennifer Lawrence was included in this film but she was replaced with Anne Hathaway.  Lawrence replaced Hathaway in Silver Linings Playbook of 2012.  Elizabeth Banks was also approached for a role but had to drop out.  Eight of the main cast members have won four Oscars, two Emmys, nine Grammys, six Golden Globes, five BAFTAs and 10 SAGs combined.