Atonement 2007

     This film is based on a book by Ian McEwan.  The setting of this film is England of 1935.  Robbie Turner is the son of a family servant for the Tallis family.  The family paid for Robbie to go to college at Cambridge.  He plans to go on to medical school.  Briony Tallis is 13 years-old and she sees her older sister Cecilia and Robbie together at the fountain in front of the family estate.  Briony reads a letter intended for Cecilia written by Robbie.  Briony learns that an unfortunate event has happened to Briony’s cousin Lola.  The police are investigating and Briony tells them Robbie was involved?

     This is one of my favorite movies.  Briony is a very imaginative but naïve child.  Her comments to the police have profound meaning for the lives of Robbie and Cecilia.  Briony tries to atone for what she has said but some comments can’t be retracted.  4* (I really liked this movie)     

123 min, Drama directed by Joe Wright with Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronana, Ailidh Mackay, Julia West, Harriet Walter, Juno Temple, Felix and Charlie von Simson, Alfie Allen, Patrick Kennedy, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, Roger Ebert 4*, 83% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Empire Online 5* out of 5* Helen O’hara, RollingStone 4* Peter Travers, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 604 reviews, Amazon gives the paperback book published in Feb, 2003 4* out of 5* with 1167 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Shropshire, Redcar and Cleveland, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Northumberland, East Sussex, London, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, England, UK.  Only eight UK military ambulances from WWII remain and all were used in this film.  Shooting the five-minute Dunkirk beach scene was the toughest portion of filming.  Plus, the scene needed to be completed in two days with 1000 extras.  To achieve the film’s visual style, Christian Dior stockings were stretched over the camera lens for a soft focus.  Ronan was 12 years-old at the beginning of production and she was 13 when she received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.  She was also nominated by the British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Film Critic Awards.

Zootopia 2016

     The city of Zootopia is a mammal metropolis with various animals living and thriving together.  Judy Hopps was born on a farm and she’s the first rabbit to joint the police force.  She has high ambitions but the force sees her has a meter maid??  She determined to move beyond this position whatever it takes.  Soon after her arrival, she meets Nick Wilde.  He is a sly and wily fox and he is determined to make her job even more difficult.

     I’ve seen this film twice and I think it’s very good.  I think it’s interesting and fun to try to guess who is voicing each character.  The animals in Zootopia are able to live side-by-side both predator and prey.  But, it really isn’t a utopia because it is still necessary to enforce law and order.  Real issues are shown such as sexism, prejudice, stereotyping and the need for cultural diversity.  The animation is very good as well.  4* (I really liked this movie)

108 min Animation directed by Bryon Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush with Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira, Raymond S. Persi, Della Saba, Maurice LaMarche, Fuschia.

Note:  Imdb 8 out of 10, 97% critic 92% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, PluggedIn 4* out of 5*, Metacritic 78 out of 100 with 43 critics positive 39, mixed 4, RollingStone 3.5* out of 4* Peter Travers, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 8599 reviews,

Special Note:  Filmed at Walt Disney Feature Animation, 500 S., Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California and Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2100 Riverside Drive, Burbank, California.  Originally, the main star of this film was Nick Wilde but test audiences said they didn’t connect with him?  They found themselves drawn to Judy Hopps.  There was a debate about Judy’s eye color.  Should they be purple because the rest of her is gray?  Purple was chosen because of her energetic and optimistic personality. 

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.