Movie #3493 ........................"The Studio" (Apple)Season 1

 Moie #3493 "The Studio" (Apple) Season 1:    This shows truly the hectic way (that I think is somewhat true) that shows and movies are put together in the entertainment industry.... lots of fast talking, screaming (like the "Bear" for long periods of time).  It took a while to get used to the rapid patter of interrupting dialogue this show offers, but there were a few really really good , funny comic moments --- but I'm not sure I would recommend it --- pretty foulmouth, mean-spiritedness abounds.  (the two episodes that were esp good to me were the casting (episode 7)  of the kool aid kid  and the golden globe show (episode 8).  I think this show is an acquired taste --- if you are willing to put up  with some industry shenanigans  and narcissistic characters, you might like it.  For me?  not sure if I need to see a second season.  (warning:  last two episodes are way over-the-top to me)  3.5 out of 5

"THE STUDIO"     2025      tv season 1       1 hour, 9 minutes each episode, 11 episodes

Follows a legacy Hollywood movie studio striving to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and business to live together.

Creators:  Evan Goldberg, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck

Actors:  Seth Rogen, Catherine O'Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, Kathryn Hahn

Movie #3492........................"Freakier Friday" (theatre)

 Movie #3492 "Freakier Friday" (theatre)  I saw this a while ago and  thought I had written a blog, but I can't seem to find it, so here goes.  We really enjoyed this sequel, even though the first one wasn't memorable really to us at all.  I think I liked it because it is funnier than the first one (from what I recall).  There was a lot more subterfuge because 4 people exchanged characters --- the daughter becomes the mom and the mom becomes the daughter --- so that's fun to watch (as it was in the first one) the actors mimic their counterpart --- and this can get pretty mean because we are dealing with an older mom now with her young daughter in high school --- and we know how that can be in those h.s. years.  Both Lindsay Lohan and the young girl from "American Housewife" (Julia Butters)  are excellent in those roles.  But then you have Jamie Lee Curtis, always fun to watch, play a young teenager - her granddaughter's soon -to-be- stepsister , and that girl playing the  grandmother.....confused?  well,  watching it gets confusing.  I had to constantly remind myself who was talking to whom, according to what they were saying (not their looks!)  Dave washed his hands of it and said it was too difficult to follow --- so many of you might react the same way --- this film you really need to concentrate somewhat on what is going on --- esp. when it goes fast, which is does many times.  However, it was cool to see the two soon-to-be- stepsisters who have hated each other in the school bond (in different bodies --- and it ended up  to be Lindsay Lohan (as the daughter) and Jamie Lee Curtis (as the step sister ) --- together again, (like in the first movie) and that's when it gets good because those two work so well together --- I'm sure the movie set up that particular swap on purpose so we'd see them together again.  The only complaint is the switch back to normal --- missed what was happening..... some hocus hocus about "two hearts become one" which meant two hearts of mom and daughter, I guess.... and voila, they change --- dumb! however the denouement worked out really well --- nice closure.   Good movie -- I needed to see something like this to laugh at and enjoy  while we are experiencing so much nastiness to human beings we share the planet with during these times!     I'd give this a 4.5 out of 5 and highly recommend it for fun and silliness.  And lots of female leads in this one --- a mother/daughter, friend/friend story, for sure!

"FREAKIER FRIDAY"     2025     PG     1 hour and 50 mins       theatre

22 years after Tess and Anna endured an identity crisis, Anna now has a daughter and a soon-to-be stepdaughter.  As they navigate the challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might strike twice.

Director:  Nisha Ganatra

Writers:  Jordan Weiss, Elyse Hollander, Mary Rodgers

Actors:  James Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters

Movie #3491 ........................."The Man with the Golden Arm" (TCM)

Movie #3491 "The Man with the Golden Arm" (TCM) I have wanted to watch this for a long time -- heard a lot about this Frank Sinatra/Otto Preminger film, and I'm glad I watched it.  The obviously manufactured set and drops used to set the story in a busy city with lots of drug stuff around, dates the movie, but boy it gets down and dirty when it comes to show the effects of "using."  In fact, the Hayes Production would not clear this film when it first came out, so Preminger sent it out any way, with no Production okay (Hays went out of business shortly after)  Sinatra was nominated for an Oscar for this (eventually won one for "From Here to Eternity"), and I thought he was pretty good (esp. in the scenes toward the end, but I felt the two women were even better --- Kim Novak and nice dance hall woman he is friends with, and Eleanor Parker, his wheel-chair bound wife (the story reveals he feels guilty and stays with her to care for her because he put her in there - car accident?)  Film is brutal, clunky in parts, good acting, and great music (another Oscar nod) and very raw on the subject of drugs and drug dealing.  Eye opening.  I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

"THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM"     1955      1 hour and 59 mins  (on prime video, TCM(

A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.

Director:  Otto Premiunger

Writers:  Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer, Nelson Algren

Actors:  Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, Eleanor Parker

 

Movie #3490 ........................."The Lost Valentine" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3490 "The Lost Valentine" (Hallmark)  This is a Jennifer Love Hewitt production  with Betty White at her best, I think.  This is a great story, a tearjerker , coming out of WWII.  Hewitt plays a journalist searching for a story and think she finds one in this grandma, who visits a train terminal every Valentine's Day since her husband was labelled "missing" in the war --- she waits for him to come home.  This truly is a 66 year-old love story long waiting to be told.  It brought me to tears at the end.  I give it 4.5 out of 5.

"THE LOST VALENTINE"         2011     1 hour and 27 mins   Hallmark

Lucan Thomas's grandmother Caroline returns every Valentine's Day to the station where, at their first wedding anniversary, she waved off to the Pacific Theater of War in 1944 her husband Neill, a US navy pilot who is still officially missing in action.  Lucas, a former baseball star and reputable physiotherapist about to publish, tells the story to a station manager who assigns the item to Susan Allison.  She gets involved and befriends Caroline, but resists her crush on Lucas on account of an already soulless engagement with international reporter Andrew Hawthorne.   Caroline's mild cardiac crisis seems to run everything.

Director:  Darnell Martin

Writers:  James Michael Pratt, Maryann Ridini Spencer, Barton Taney

Actors:  Jennifer Love Hewitt, Betty White, Sean Faris 

Movie# 3489 ........................."The Real West" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3489 "The Real West" (Hallmark) Kim, one of my favorite Hallmark women, did a great job with this one because I wouldn't have stuck with it, otherwise.  Besides Kim, this one seemed a bit different for Hallmark, because it all took place on a ranch, and it made it feel like the audience was being introduced to a stay there (I wouldn't want to do all the stage business they did, but they made it look like fun!)  And the guy running the activities was from "Desperate Housewives" and was good to look at (James Denton).

"THE REAL WEST"      Hallmark   2024    1 hour and 24 mins.  

A family vacation to a working ranch introduces Professor Rebecca to Jake West.  Rebecca is a widow chasing tenure and Jake is a handsome cowboy who never settled down.

Director:  Terry Ingram

Writer:  Lara Olsen

Actors:  Kimberley Sustad, Lucas Bryant Marlie Collins 

Movie #3488 ........................."The Last Rifleman" (Prime Video/tubi)

Movie #3488 "The Last Rifleman" (Prime Video/tubi)  Pierce  Brosnan, one of my favorite actors, is very very quiet in this one -- he doesn't say much, and what he comes out is stilted (due to age he is playing?)  There was some war violence involved in his back story so that made this a tough story to watch.  I'd give it 3.8 out of 5 --- a quiet (for the most part) war story (with PTSD).

" THE LAST RIFLEMAN"         prime video/tubi    PG-13   1 hour 35 mins     2023 

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

Director:  Terry Loane

Writer:  Kevin Fitzpatrick

Actors:  Pierce Brosnan, Clemence Poesy, JohnAmos  

Movie #3487 ........................."A wish Come True" (Hallmark)

Movie #3487 "A wish come True" (Hallmark)   Cute couple, nice storyline with interesting stage business --- not your usual.  Of course, the story is in the subgenera of Love could be in your own backyard (or your best friend), but there's some fantasy involved here that gives it a twisty turn of events.  I'd give it 4.5 out of 5.

"A WISH COME TRUE"      Hallmark     2015   1 hour and 25 mins

On the night of her 30th birthday, Lindsay Corwin, an unlucky environmentalist with a string of bad relationships, decides to make the ultimate wish:  for all 0of her birthday wishes to come true.  

Director:  Mark Rosman

Writer:  Mark Rosman

Actors:  Megan Park, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Anthony Lemke