Movie #1738 "When They See Us" is a powerful documentary on the Central Park Five kids who were railroaded into confessing to beating up and raping a jogger in Central Park after being questioned for hours and hours with no food or breaks. The film is divided into 4 parts. Part I concerned the arrest and interrogation and coerced confessions of these 5 kids (2 were fourteen, 2 were fifteen, and the 5th was sixteen years old and eventually sent to Attica). Part II took place mostly in the courtroom, Part III shows the struggle these kids went through in the prison and the homecoming for Raymond, Kevin, Antron, and Yusef . And Part IV (the worst one to watch, for me) follows Korey, the oldest one who is in the adult penal system, who has to ask to be in solitary just so he isn't beaten to death every day in the prison --- it is so hard to watch. But if you make it through that part of the story, you will be rewarded (somewhat) by an uplifting ending when the kids find out that someone has confessed to the crime that the kids paid several years of their lives for. What a story and what a beautifully done film It is filmed beautifully, the acting is amazing (so many are nominated for emmy's to be given out in September, ,and the show was quite enlightening to watch. I highly recommend it and give it 5 stars out of 5. (this suitable is not recommended for kids under 17)
Creator: Ava DuVernay
Cast: Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Jharrel Jerome, Marquis Rodriguez, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Justin Cunningham, Freddy Miyares, Michael Kenneth Williams, Marcha Stephanie Blake, Kylie Burbury, Aunjanue Ellis, Vera Farmiga, Felicity Huffman, John Leguizamo, Nice Nash.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Movie #1737 ........................"The Tenth Circle"
Movie # 1737 "The Tenth Circle" is a movie based on the Jodi Piccoult book of the same title. That book was not one of my favorite of Piccoult's books so I wasn't expecting a lot from the movie. And so the film's mediocrity was not a surprise --- the story was a formula Lifetime film --- young girl says she was raped, parents are totally surprised and as evidence mounts, it goes back and forth if she is telling the truth or not and then something happens to the possible rapist --- then, guess who gets the blame? The parents are kind of blah and don't get a lot to day --- not much backstory, but in the book they do, so the script gives them very little to do. However, the lead girl, Trixie, played well by Brit Robertson kept me watching. This girl is very very talented (saw her first in "Dan in Real Life" (a far better film) and capable of getting across all the angst this girl has to go through to play this part --- and so I am glad I got to see it for her because she does the part well. I also like the coldness of the weather and the location (should be in Maine) --- most everything about Alaska was missing in movie, so if you read the book you know that I am talking about quite a bit --- Dad's part is reduced immensely from the book. The title comes from Dante's "Inferno" --- the tenth circle of hell that becomes a symbol for the catastrophic results that the rape throws this family into. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 ---- as far as a recommendation, maybe? If you read the book, maybe you'd like to see it played out here; maybe if you like high school angst, you might like it; maybe if you are interested in the relationships between parents and kids, you might find this a good watch. It just depends.
"THE TENTH CIRCLE" 1 hour 29 minutes 2008
"THE TENTH CIRCLE" 1 hour 29 minutes 2008
In this made-for-TV drama based on the novel by Jodi Picoult, the seemingly idyllic lives of Daniel (Ron Eldard) and Laura Stone (Kelly Preston) are torn apart when their teenage daughter, Trixie (Brittany Robertson), alleges that her ex-boyfriend, Jason (Jamie Johnston), raped her. When Jason later turns up dead -- the victim of an apparent suicide -- the Stones find themselves thrust into the center of a disturbing investigation.
Movie #1736 ........................."The Promised Land"
Movie #1736 "The Promised Land" was a fictional film about frakking --- It was written by John Krasinski from "Then Office" and starring him and Matt Damon. Damon and his veteran partner McDormand come to this small town to buy drilling rights from the townspeople --- Damon is new at this so he makes several mistakes, but he comes across very sincere, so some people want to believe him. Krasinski is the guy with integrity that wants to stop the BIG company. The dynamics between Damon and Krasinski and McDormand were strong, but I wish the film would have explained more about fracking --- I have seen a documentary on it, but I'd appreciate even more info on the topic --- I just remember seeing people turn on their faucets and see fire --- that visual was very effective in the documentary. This way, we had to trust that the big bad companies are in the wrong and the small farmer sometimes has very little choice --- Script offered a few surprises, but otherwise, it pretty much followed the storyline these agenda films tend to follow. I would give it 3.5 because I was right in the middle on this one --- didn't have to see it, but liked the acting and the subject matter.
"THE PROMISED LAND rated R 1 hour and 46n mins
"THE PROMISED LAND rated R 1 hour and 46n mins
Taking advantage of hard economic times, two salespeople for a natural gas company come to a small town to buy drilling rights from the residents. To their surprise, a local schoolteacher mobilizes a campaign aimed at blocking the company's plans.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Movie #1735 ........................."Solo: A Star Wars Story"
Movie #1735 "Solo" is one we missed in the movie theatre (how dare we? being star wars fans) so we watched it up here at the lake on the bigger screen ( rather than the smallish one at home). We found it very much fun to watch --- disclaimer: I am not a true true true stick- to- the- books kind of star wars fan, so I don't know how much they changed or deviated from the "plan" (whatever that is) , but I can judge it as a film and I would recommend it. Why? I thought it got back the spirit of the originals --- and the young guy playing Han had that smug sense of humor that we have come to be used to with the Solo character --- it was nice since the actor playing "chewy" died this year to see a meet -cute scene with Chewbaca in this version. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for its entertainment value.
"SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" 2018 PG-13 2 hours and 15 mins
"SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" 2018 PG-13 2 hours and 15 mins
Set in the years before the events of the original "Star Wars" trilogy, this intergalactic prequel chronicles the early exploits of roguish young Han Solo and his shaggy sidekick, Chewbacca.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Movie #1734 ........................."Masters of Sex" 4 seasons
#1734 "Masters of Sex" 4 seasons --- finally got through all of them, by going through renting discs from netflix (some were available from the library, too, but they are not streamable episodes yet). Anyway, this show was recommended to us from friends, but I found out later, they only watched about 2 of the seasons, and we went in for the long haul. First thing that needs to be said: there is quite a bit of nudity, discussions of sex in detail, etc. So this is hugely rated R. Second, as with other shows, it follows the storyline of a book for only maybe one season, and the rest is more an historical fictional account of the major points of Masters and Johnson's relationship and their studies on sex. This was made quite clear, since there was a disclaimer on each of the episodes saying that the children were fictionalized and not based on the true lives of the kids. The positives I have to say about this show? I like the chances it took ---- for example, one whole episode just took place in a motel room. Another went ahead in time, and then went backwards --- so it played with time. I also like how it went back and forth between three, sometimes 4 stories, so that if you didn't like one line of the story, the scenes were short enough to bring you to the next one quite swiftly. In addition, the acting was superb, and the characters and their stories quite intriguing. Special kudos to Allison Janney and Beau Bridges, who played a couple who brought their marital problems to Masters and Johnson, and Janney ended up winning an emmy for her gut- wrenching rendition of a wife spurned by a gay husband. But the character I esp. enjoyed watching episode after episode was Betty, Played by the superb broadway talent Annaleigh Ashford. This character was something else --- hysterically funny, honest, heartwarming and caring --- she has a relationship with the inimitable Sarah Silverman that would break your heart. Most of that is in Season 3. Little Johnny Masters, loosely based on a son of Dr. Masters and his wife Libby, was played by Jaeden Martell (St. Vincent, It, Book of Henry), and we looked forward to seeing him every time he appeared on this show as well. I found the show quite eye-opening, and I came away from it with respect for the work these two people did in the area of sex therapy and sex education. The negatives? The way the show was edited , the camera would move from one scene to the next in the middle of discussions, and I oftentimes wanted them to stay on the one discussion and see where it led to.... as a result, you sometimes didn't know if other parties were privy to the same information the audience was getting from the scene. Another negative is one I have for many of these shows....... the secondary characters usually have better storylines than the leads, because what happens to the leads (in this case Caplan and Sheen) is that they are on one big roller coaster ride to keep us interested in their characters --- their characters did some reprehensible things back and forth, that made it tough to like the two leads. And I find this happens in a lot of the shows these days --- perhaps this would have been better as a miniseries? That being said, Season 1 was the best, followed by the 3rd. But each of the seasons had standout shows, I felt. And you came out experiencing what it was like to live in the times (1950s/1960s) So the moon landing is in the background, Kennedy's assassination, the Viet Nam war, the sexual revolution (which they were a major part of, possibly the biggest leaders of--- I give this series a 4 out of 5, not recommended to everyone because it is quite provocative.
P.S. I was a bit upset that the show never got a chance to finish out. After the last show in Season 4, it was cancelled, so that episode didn't leave everything up in the air, but left some of them unfinished --- like Betty's. And since she was a favorite character, I am still wondering what happened to her, but then I have to remind myself that she was just a character on a show and I shouldn't care so much. Hah! But they should have been allowed to have one last show to finish loose ends up!
"MASTERS OF SEX" 2013-2016, 4 seasons, each episode approximately 55-60 minutes, approximately 9 or 10 shows per season.
P.S. I was a bit upset that the show never got a chance to finish out. After the last show in Season 4, it was cancelled, so that episode didn't leave everything up in the air, but left some of them unfinished --- like Betty's. And since she was a favorite character, I am still wondering what happened to her, but then I have to remind myself that she was just a character on a show and I shouldn't care so much. Hah! But they should have been allowed to have one last show to finish loose ends up!
"MASTERS OF SEX" 2013-2016, 4 seasons, each episode approximately 55-60 minutes, approximately 9 or 10 shows per season.
Based on the lives and work of human sexuality pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, this drama series explores the researchers' unconventional lifestyles, pop culture relevance and the sexual revolution ignited by their findings.
Creator: Michelle Ashford
Friday, July 5, 2019
Movie #1733 ........................."Always Be My Maybe"
Movie #1733 "Always Be My Maybe" was recommended to me to see so four of us streamed it on netflix last night to watch it together. Yesterday we were talking about Keanu Reeves and how funny he was in Toy Story 4, "and then this movie was mentioned as a "have to see" so that's why we ended up watching it. It does have a funny 20 minutes or so starring Keanu Reeves playing himself, but the rest is pretty much one notch above a Hallmark film. The notch up is because it is a tad better written over all. And generally, it takes more chances than a Hallmark would. But like many rom coms, the plot is easily guessed, but then it's sailing along and into the picture comes the Keanu Reeves character, like out of left field. So I guess I liked that it took chances like that, and the characters are terribly honest and those lines are oftentimes funny, but the ending has a (to me) cringeworthy moment that occurs many times in rom coms --- the declaration of love ...in front of a crowd of people. It rarely works for me, no matter how well it is written --- whether it is over an intercom (like in American Sweetheart) or any other way --- I dislike this particular cliche moment, and don't believe it for one minute. "Nottinghill" had the infamous press conference, but he just asked questions that hinted at the outcome, and "Maid in Manhattan" also had a press conference, but Fiennes made sure he was behind a locked door with her and her son to make his declaration. In "Sweet Home Alabama" that was one exception for me because of the way Patrick Dempsey took the jilting at the altar moment, and then the film undercut the announcement by putting humor into it (with a punch in the jaw for Candice Bergen -- who wouldn't want to hit her at that point?!) still the moment of declaration was between just the two of the lovers.... Those are just a couple of examples of rom coms that work for me and that I don't mind seeing over and over again. But this film was a one-time watch, and I don't need to say much more about it. I'd give it 3.5, for some silly moments, and that declaration of love. Otherwise, it is funny in a lot of spots because it takes chances. (bonus: female director)
"ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE" 2019 PG-13 1 hour and 41 minutes
"ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE" 2019 PG-13 1 hour and 41 minutes
A pair of childhood friends end up falling for each other when they grow up.
Director:
Nahnatchka KhanMovie #1732 ........................"Yesterday"
Movie #1732 "Yesterday" was a fun movie and one highly recommended. If you enjoy an underdog picture, this is it; if you enjoy listening to beatles songs one after another, this is it. If you want a good love story, this is it; if you are looking for some humor in your films, this is it; if you are looking for a movie that points out what life would be like without the Beatles, this is it! Danny Boyle, the director ("Slumdog Millionaire" and the great film "Millions") says he did the film because he thinks the Beatles are the "Crucible of everything that influenced the past century" -- music, clothes, styles etc. And what a great time to offer a film up re-introducing them to the next generations...... and the script is written by Richard Curtis ("love actually," "Nottinghill," "Pirate Radio," 4 Weddings and a Funeral," "Vicar of Dibley, " "As Time Goes By" ) the writer who has done many of the films I have enjoyed the past 20 years. So needless to say, this is a winner --- the leads are very well cast , including Ed Sheeran and Kate McKinnon, in big secondary roles! It's just a fun, feel good movie that I highly recommend -- 4.5 out of 5. (could have been even funnier, I thought, and the only reason it wasn't quite a 5 for me).
While he's still looking for his big break, musician Jack Malik gets hit by a bus during a global blackout. But when he wakes up to find he's the lone person on Earth who knows of the Beatles and their songbook, Jack has a huge chance at stardom.
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