Tumbledown 2015

     Hannah is starting to move on with her life after the death of her husband.  He was an acclaimed musician and she has been trying to write a biography about him.  She decides she can’t do justice to the material and she hires Andrew McDonnell to write the book that she can’t.  Andrew is an assistant professor in American studies at Hofstra University.  He is also writer from New York and he has a different take on the book and her husband’s life.  Andrew thinks Hannah’s husband committed suicide but Hannah doesn’t believe this to be true?

     Hannah is holding onto her grief and she has been unable to move forward in her life.  She writes for the local paper in her small New England town but she can’t seem to put on paper what she wants to say about the life of her husband.  Hannah and Andrew are also opposites, she lives in the snow of Maine and he’s in the skyscraper territory.  This film is a little slow, not a lot of sparkle to the plot but it is interesting with a good ending.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

    

105 min, Romance directed by Sean Mewshaw from a script written by Desiree Van Til with Rebecca Hall, Jason Sudeikis, Blythe Danner, Griffin Dunne, Richard Masur, Maggie Castle, Pepper Binkley, Alex Quijano, Bates Wilder, Mary-Bonner Baker, Zachariah Supka, Gabe Gibbs, Melanie Ehrlich.

Note:  Imdb 6.2 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3* Sheila O’Malley, Rotten Tomatoes 70% critic 61% audience, Rollingstone 3* out of 4* Peter Travers, Commonsense Media S. Jhoanna Robledo Age 15+ 3* out of 5*, 3* positive, 3* role models, 1* violence, 4* sex, 4* language, 2* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Letterboxd average 3*.

 

Special Note:  Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Stow, Leominster, Bull Run Restaurant, Devens, Concord, Princeton, Groton, Shirley, Massachusetts; Farmington, Maine.  Rose Byrne was cast in the role of Hannah but she dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.  Hannah’s red truck broke down frequently and for at least one scene, had to be pushed down the street by crew members.  This was a top To Watch film for Tribeca 2015 and also premiered at Tribeca where it was well received.  Massachusetts filming was done because there is a program offering filmmakers who spend more than $50,000 in the state a 25% tax credit to offset the costs of payroll, set building and other expenses.  This is one of the more competitive film incentive programs in the county.

Chernobyl 2019

     On April 26, 1986 an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes one of the world’s worst man-made catastrophes.  The Number 4 reactor had a nuclear accident and it is one of only two nuclear energy disasters rated at seven, the maximum severity.  The other disaster was in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.  A safety test was being run as a simulation of an electrical power outage.  It was to aid the development of a safety procedure for maintaining cooling water circulation until the back-up generators could provide power.  The test supervisor failed to follow procedure and he created unstable operating conditions.  There were also design falls with the RBMK reactor.  The intentional disabling of several nuclear reactor safety systems resulted in an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction.  A large amount of energy was suddenly released.  This caused the super-heated cooling water to evaporate.  The reactor core was ruptured in a highly destructive steam explosion.  There was an open-air reactor core fire that released considerable airborne radioactive contamination for about nine days!!  The accident was not contained until May 4, 1986.   

     The details portrayed in this film have been exhaustively researched.  Some liberties were taken for dramatic purposes.  People who have lived in the Soviet Union have made comments that the set detail, the way the hierarchy functioned, the denial and secrecy surrounding the disaster are very authentic.  I found that the first option of the Soviet leadership was to lie!!  This series has you on the edge of your seat every minute!!  What is going to happen next and what will be the result?  5* (I really liked this series)

   

TV Series with 5 episodes, total time is 5 hours 30 minutes, Drama, directed by Craig Mazin with Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Adam Nagaitis, Emily Watson, Paul Ritter, Robert Emms, Sam Troughton, Karl Davies, Michael Socha, Laura Elphinstone, Jan Ricica, Alan Williams, Adrian Rawlins, Con O’Neill, Douggie McMeekin, Nadia Clifford, David Dencik, Gerard Kearns, Adam Lundgren, Mark Lewis Jones, Jamie Sives.

Note:  Imdb 9.5 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes, 95% critic 98% audience, Amazon Video 4.8* out of 5* with 689 reviews, Letterboxd average 4.5* out of 5* with 152 reviews, Common Sense Media age 18+,4* out of 5*, positive messages, positive role models, violence & scariness. Drinking, drugs & Smoking and some sex, The Guardian 5*. 

Special Note:  Initial filming started on May 13, 2018 in Fabijoniskes.  This is a residential district in Vilnius, LIthuanai.  Then at the end of March, production moved to Visaginas, Lithuania.  Shooting was done inside and outside of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.  This is a decommissioned nuclear power station that is sometime referred to as Chernobyl’s sister.  The visual resemblance and the nuclear reactor design are the same.  The accurate number of deaths caused by Chernobyl will never be known.  A decree ion 1988 from the Kremlin prevented doctors from citing radiation as a cause of death or illness.  Pro-Kremlin media continues to deny the extent of the disaster saying it has been exaggerated, there are myths such as this caused large numbers of leukemia?

Braven 2018

     Joe Braven lives in Canada and he is a logging company owner.  His father Linden is suffering from dementia.  Joe Linden mistakes a woman in a bar for his wife.  This causes a barroom brawl that lands Linden in the hospital.  Joe and his family decide to take a break at their secluded log cabin.  They run into trouble with a drug dealer.  He wants to use Joe’s business as a front for his cocaine operation.

     This is an action movie like almost every other so-so action movie.  Fill in all the gaps with a lot of brutality, okay performances, some tension, terrible dialogue and a minimal plot.  It gets more mind numbing as it moves along!!  There are a LOT of weapons, sniper rifles, knives, axes, fireplace tongs, arrows, smashed bottles and pitchers.  I really don’t like films with the main theme of violence.  I just get tired of watching!!  I’d rather count paperclips, match socks and perform other tasks not requiring any thinking!!   2* (I didn’t like this movie)

   

94 min, Action directed by Lin Oeding with Jason Momoa, Garret Dillahunt, Jill Wagner, Stephen Lang, Sasha Rossof, Sala Baker, Fraser Aitcheson, Teach Grant, Glenn Ennis, Todd Scott, Zahn McClarnon, Brendan Fletcher, James Harvey Ward, Steve O’Connell, Tye Alexander.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 77% critic 78% audience, Roger Ebert Nick Allen 2 ½*, Metacritic 61 out of 100 with 10 critics (7 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative) 5.7 out of 10 user scores with 30 ratings (9 positive, 18 mixed, 3 negative), Slant Magazine Derek Smith 2 ½* out of 4*, Common Sense Media Brian Costello age 17+, 5* violence, 1* sex, 4* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Amazon Video 3.7* out of 5* with 1271 reviews.  

Special Note:  Jason Momoa was also in Aquaman.  Filmed in Newfoundland, Canada.  Two of the henchmen are named Ridley and Essington.  These are the names of two towns in South Eastern Pennsylvania.  They are located in Delaware County just south of the Philadelphia International Airport.

Mistakes:  Joe has a bad bruise under his right eye from the fight in the bar but it quickly disappears.  Weston and Hallett have an accident with a truck in the night.  When they get to the cabin, it’s daylight.  When they return to the accident, it should not be night again?  The sequence happens all in the same night?  When Jason Mamoa hides his daughter in a small compartment, he lights and electric lamp in the compartment.  Supposedly, there is no electricity in the cabin?  Braven’s shoes are completely different at 1:20 when he runs after the bad guy from the garage where he picked up a rope.  An actor supposedly, dead has a very noticeable full body shiver? 

Come What May 2015

     The setting of this film is May 1940 and German troops begin to enter France.  The people of the small village of Pas-de-Calasi vote to go on the road with whatever belongings they can take with them.  Paul is the village mayor and he is leading the group.  Among the travelers are, Mado, Paul’s wife, Suzanne, a young village teacher and Max a German boy 8 years old.  The Germans arrested his father Hans after war was declared.  Hans and Max are Germans but they left Germany in 1939 because Hans was an anti-Nazi activist.  Max is leaving notes for his father on blackboards of schools that they pass on their journey.  Max doesn’t know but his father was released from prison and he is following the notes to find him.  Hans is traveling with Percy, they met along the way and his entire military unit died from German bullets.

     The families are uprooted with nearly everything they own left behind.  They are using their very large and strong horses to pull the carts with whatever they have been able to take with them.  The teacher Suzanne is often asked to ride her bicycle ahead to see what to expect on the road.  Sometimes the news is terrible!!  Travelers are being shot down by the German planes flying overhead.  The scenes of the countryside are very beautiful but the times are very difficult.  Staying in the village or leaving is really a catch 22 decision about what is the best?  4 1/2* (I really liked this movie)

104 min, Drama directed by Christian Carion with August Diehl, Olivier Gourmet, Mathilde Seigner, Alice Isaaz, Matthew Rhys, Joshio Marlon, Thomas Schumauser, Laurent Gerra, Jacques Bonnaffe, Francois Godart, Florence Masuree, Rose Lemaire, Simon Ferrante, Axelle Bossard, Franck Andrieux.

Note:  Imdb 6.7 out of 10, Roger Ebert 2* Odie Henderson, Rotten Tomatoes 45% critic 53% audience, Slant Magazine 1* out of 4* Clayton Dillard, Letterboxd average rating 3.3*, Amazon 3.9* with 14 reviews.

Special Note:  There are some interesting mistakes in this film?  Tanks depicted rolling on the wheat field are German Pz III Ausf D.  This is correct for the date but alongside them are Some StuG III Ausf G tank destroyers.  They were not produced until late 1942.  This is more than two years after the invasion of France.  The StuG III are at least three generations more advanced than the early tanks available in 1940.   

Greta 2018

     Frances Cullen finds a designer woman’s handbag on the New York subway.  She takes it home and she’s thinking about returning the bag to the owner.  The owner’s name, address and phone number are inside the purse.  Erica Penn is living in a loft that her wealthy father bought for her when she graduated.  Erica and Frances are roommates.  Erica advises Frances to keep the bag?  Frances does return the bag to Greta and she learns that Greta is very lonely.  Frances’ mother has recently passed away and she feels the loss of her mother very deeply.  Frances and Greta begin to bond over their losses but Greta begins to take things too far. 

     The setting of this film is in New York but it was actually filmed in Ireland.  There were many times I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!!  There are a LOT of twists and turns and suspense.  Most of the plot has been seen before but the direction and performances set it slightly above the norm.  4* (I really liked this movie) 

98 min, Drama directed by Neil Jordan with Isabelle Huppert, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Jane Perry, Jeff Hiller, Parker Sawyers, Brandon Lee Sears, Arthur Lee, Rosa Escoda, Jessica Preddy, Thaddeus Daniels, Raven Dauda, Colm Feore, Zawe Ashton, Nagisa Morimoto.

Note:  Imdb 6* out of 10*, Rotten Tomatoes 60% critic 41% audience, Roger Ebert 2 ½* Matt Zoller Seitz, The Guardian 3* out of 5* Simran Hans, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson, age 15+ 3* out of 5*, 1* positive 4* violence, 1* sex, 3* language, 1* consumerism, 1* drinking drugs, smoking, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 319 reviews, Letterboxd average rating 2.9* out of 5*, Metacritic 54 out of 100 with 42 critics ( 19 positive, 18 mixed, 5 negative) 5.8 out of 19 user scores with 66 reviews (26 positive, 30 mixed, 10 negative.  

Special Note:  Filmed in Dublin, Ireland; Toronto, Ontario, Canada and New York City, New York.  Greta’s last name is Hideg and this is Hungarian for cold.  Focus Features bought the distribution rights at the Toronto International Film Festival for $6 million.  The original title was to be The Window.  This is the second time Isabelle Huppert has played a piano teacher in a psychological thriller.  She was also in The Piano Teacher 2001.  The restaurant scenes were shot over a period of one week.  By the end of this week, the smell of fish was so bad on set that people were forced to leave early.  This film has grossed over $15.5 million worldwide.

Added Note:  During the 1980’s and 1990’s, many thrillers of this type were in theaters.  Some examples are Fatal Attraction, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Unlawful Entry, Cape Fear and Basic Instinct.  They are about regular normal people menaced by others that are not what they seem to be.  They have sympathetic aspects in their lives but there is much more going on under the surface. 

The Upside 2017

     Philip Lacasse is a very wealthy man and he is interviewing people to fill the job of personal assistant.  Philip was paralyzed in a paragliding accident and he is in a wheelchair.  Everyone applying for the job appears to be qualified and capable except for Dell Scott?  Dell is only applying so he can get a signature showing that he applied for the job.  Philip wants someone different in his life and he selects Dell.  Philip’s secretary Yvonne Pendleton challenges Philip’s decision but Philip doesn’t back down on his choice.  Dell gets the job done and Philip is happy but there are some snags along the way.

     As soon as I started viewing this film, I knew it was the same plot as a French film I had watched previously titled The Intouchables.  In the beginning, I thought the French film was better but then I started to warm up to the portrayal of the characters by Hart, Cranston and Kidman.  I think both movies are very good but just different interpretations.  I could watch both of them again for further comparison of what is the same and what is changed.  This is just a wonderful story in any language.  5* (I really liked this movie) 

126 min, Drama directed by Neil Burger with Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Aja Naomi King, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Genevieve Angelson, Golshifteh Farahani, Tate Donovan, Julianna Marguilies, Suzanne Savoy, Michael Quinlan, James Georgiades, Rachel Christopher, Diego Aguirre, Fernando Mateo Jr. 

Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 41% critic 82% audience, Roger Ebert 1 1/2* Christy Lemire, Rollingstone 2* David Fear, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Wendy Ide, Metacritic 46 out of 100 with 40 critics (11 positive, 23 mixed, 6 negative) 5.9 out of 10 with 84 user scores (42 positive 24 mixed, 18 negative), Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 376 reviews.  (Most of the negative reviews are related to Kevin Hart as an actor and not about the film?)

Special Note:  Chris Tucker, Jamie Foxx, Chris Rock and Idris Elba were considered for the role of Dell Scott.  Filmed on Gilham Street, The Kimmel Center, XIX Restaurant, East Allegheny Avenue, Sun Center Studios, Center for Architecture and Design, Kensington Avenue, 1900 JFK Boulevard, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Eckville; Black Bass Hotel, Lumberville, Pennsylvania and New York City, New York.  The French film The Intouchables of 2011 has 8.5* out of 10* on Imdb.  In Germany and The Netherlands, The Intouchables was the most successful French film in history.  The same story has also been filmed in Argentina as Inseparables 2016.  The real-life relationship between Phillippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou was depicted in the documentary La vie comme un roman: A la vie, a la mort of 2003.

The Shootist 1976

     The aging gunfighter John Books visits a doctor that he knows for a second opinion.  He has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  This doctor confirms his condition and John was sure that he would.  Books is a famous gunslinger and he starts using an alias to hide his identity.  He takes a room at a local boarding house but the son of the woman owner recognizes him.  He tells his mother and she talks to Books right away about not wanting his “kind” in her home.  She allows him to remain when he explains his condition.  The word gets around town who he really is.  All of the other gunslingers in town and the surrounding area want to try their luck with drawing against Books.

     This is full of top rated actors and the plot is good as well.  Ron Howard is very young plus he looks younger than he is.  He was 22 years old at the film’s release.  The world of the gunslingers is on its way out and the west is becoming more populated and civilized.  The typical western genre is going by the wayside and this film is more of a human drama with western people.  At this time, Eastwood and Leone were filming an entirely different type of western movie.  Books doesn’t want a book to be written about him filled with untrue information about his life.  He doesn’t want the local newspaper to write about his life as a gunman either.  He wants to go out his own way and be done with it!!  4* (I really liked this movie)  

   

100 min, Western directed by Don Siegel with John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone, Hugh O’Brian, Bill McKinney, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Sheree North, Rick Lenz, Scatman Crothers, Gregg Palmer, Alfred Dennis, Dick Winslow.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Metacritic 77 out of 100 with 10 critics (8 positive, 2 mixed), empire online 4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 513 reviews, dove.org 1* sex, 4* language, 3* violence, 2* drugs, other 2* (disrespect for authority, lying, cheating, stealing, illegal activity, frightening scenes), Letterboxd average 3.6* out of 5*.

Special Note:  James Stewart only agreed to play a role in this film because John Wayne specifically requested him.  Stewart had hearing difficulties and his career ended several years before.  Director Don Siegel accused Stewart and Wayne of not trying hard enough with their lines?  The acoustics were bad on the huge, hollow sound stages and this worsened his hearing difficulties.  Stewart knew his lines but he couldn’t hear his cues.  He was only paid $50,000 for his part.  Wayne and Steward worked together on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in 1962, 14 years before this film.  Wayne did not have cancer when he made this film.  His left lung and several ribs were removed by surgery in 1964 and 1969.  He was declared cancer-free.  He had stomach cancer in 1975 but it was in remission before filming.  In 1979, his cancer returned.