Movie #3022 ........................."Dating the Delaneys" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3022 "Dating the Delaneys" (Hallmark) this does cover  3 generations, The lead woman's mom and her daughter --- all of them start doing about the same time.  Rachel Boston is very new at it after all of these years and she is befriended by paul Campbell, who is a widow, still dealing with moving on.  So they make  deal to "fake date' and critique each other when it is over ---- the idea was cute, the couple is cute and they are very easy going with each other. I'd give this a 4.  

'DATING THE DELANEYS"      Hallmark    2022   1 hour and 24 mins

Follows three generations of Delaney women as they explore the highs and downs of modern-day dating, discovering that love and romance can b found at any age, and even where you least expect it.

Director:  Allan Harmon

Writer:  Jennifer Barrow

Actors:  Rachel Boston, paul Campbell, Zoe Christie   

Movie #3021 ........................."Argengtina. 1985" ( Amazon Prime)

 Movie #3021 "Argentina 1985" (Amazon Prime) I watched this mostly because it was an Oscar-nominated foreign film, knowing, however , that probably "All Quiet on the Western Front" would probably win, since it had so many nominations.  Why?  I don't know because I thought this film was wonderfully interesting and very informative on this problem in Argentina in 1985.  The very best prosecutor in the country is called upon to prosecute the government that is trying to stay in power for war crimes.  For that reason it is very topical, since this is what should be happening with Russia' s Putin, and hopefully, will in the coming months. But it shows just how difficult it is to find people who will be witnesses to the war crimes, knowing full well, they would be on a watch list possibly to be killed if they take the stand.  I wish I was smart enough to follow every detail , but I was able to follow along fairly well, and I found this most intriguing --- 3/4's of it is a trial, and it's amazing how it keeps the interest up through the whole ordeal.  Yes, it could have been a documentary, but the filmmakers decided to cast actors in the parts and I'm glad they did --- it was much more interesting for me to watch, and then at the end, they showed us the real people, and that was effective, as well.  It's somewhat of a feel-good film showing you people with integrity trying to make  this terrorist government be accountable.  It shows the power of words, and it underlines the importance of our insurrection trials we had over last summer.   I'd give this a 4.5 and recommend it - I found it very watchable and intriguing.

"ARGENTINA: 1985"  2022      2 hours and 20 mins     rated R

A team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship during the 1980s in a battle against odds and a race against time.

Director:  Santiago Mitre

Writers:  Mariano lines, Martin mauregui, Santiago Mitre

Actors:  Ricardo Darin, Gina Mastronicola, Francisco Bertin

Movie #3020 ........................."To Leslie" (Amazon Prime)

"Movie #3020 "To Leslie" (Amazon Prime)  This is it!  The Last best actor/actress nominee for 2023 --- this is a bit of a controversial one because it was the one actress  that seemed to slide in because several high- powered women in Hollywood pushed for her nomination  --- the result?  Well, to me, it was watching the actress play a drug-addicted alcoholic for the first hour  -- and it was a hard watch.  She really never came out of it --- she plays a lottery winner in a small town who goes through all the winnings   on drugs and alcohol, and had left the town (and her son behind to be raised by someone one else), and now she returns to try to make amends, but only having hit the lowest of low times, with no food and sleeping in the street for days...... until someone gives her a break and gives her a job that she finds hard to do (cleaning motel rooms) because she is always high.  Unfortunately, I have seen movies on this subject before, some even better..... but the last 50 minutes are the redeeming part of the film (kind of her move to redemption is  juxtaposed with the film's redemption, in my eyes) .  This is where the actress shines and is probably the reason she got nominated.  I give the film 3.5 -- and not watchable to everyone.

"TO LESLIE"   2022       R      1 hour, 59 mins

Inspired by true events, A West Texas single mother wins the lottery and squanders it just as fast, leaving behind a world of heartbreak.  Years later, with her charm running out and nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life and find redemption.

Director:  Michael Moris

Writer:  Ryan Binaco

Actors:  Andrea Riseborough, Drew Youngblood, Tom Virtue

Movie #3019 ........................."All That Breathes" (HBO)

 Movie #3019 "All That Breathes" (HBO)  I'll make this short and sweet.  I was trying to watch this because it is nominated for an academy award for Documentary feature this year.  I watched it for about an hour and then turned it off.  I decided life is way too short to waste my time watching a badly edited film.  I had better things to do with my time than to watch long passages of people staring at each other or at birds that aren't doing anything but flying  in the sky.  One of the characters complained through the whole film, and he was so annoying and one-dimensional that I turned it off.  It got some award at the Cannes Festival, and  I'm still wondering why --- I am thinking the crop of movies is just really bad this year?  This is a 2 out of 5 --- there were maybe two or three shots that were worth taking a second look at.  This is a nope for me.  

"ALL THAT BREATHES"  2022    1 hour and 37 mins

Amidst the darkening backdrop of Delhi's apocalyptic air and escalating violence, two brothers devote their lives to protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the Black Kite.

Director:  Shank Sen

Actors:  Saluki Rehman, Mohammad Saud, Nadeem Shehzad

Movie #3016 ........................."Triangle of Sadness" (Amazon Prime)

 Movie #3016 "Triangle of Sadness" (Amazon Prime) This one is nominated for best picture , and probably has the least chance of getting it.  Why?  Many people will not have seen it, and it is the first time this director's work has been honored with an oscar nomination, and the other couple of films he has done in the recent past, is considered better by most critics.  I have seen the other 2-- "The Square," and  "Force Majeure"  --- where did I see them?  At film festivals, and this director is well respected and known for doing "out of the box" type of films.  In fact, Will Ferrel and Julia Louise Dreyfuss did an American Version of "Force Majeure" , and although I didn't see it yet, I'm guessing it didn't do well as a comedy because  this director finds comedy in tragedy --- dark dark dark humor.  He usually takes a big grouping of people --- like the art world, or people at a ski lodge, or a big business dinner, or in this case, a cruise with tons of rich people, and makes fun at their expense.  I must warn you that if you are planning to go on a cruise, you might not want to see this one because there ends up to be a lot of vomiting and diarrhea involved..    I don't want to say much more because the best part of seeing this man's work is to try to guess where he will take the story next.  His films are always worth discussing after watching, so if you see this one, please make some comments below so we can get even more out of the experience.  I would give this 3.8.  It was quite the adventure, but not sure why it won the Palm d'Orr at Cannes this year.  It isn't a film everyone will like at all.  

"TRIANGLE OF SADNESS"       2022 R    2 hours, 27 mins      

A fashion model celebrity couple join an eventful cruise for the super-rich.

Director:  Ruben Ostlund

Writer:  Ruben Ostlund

Actors:  Harris Dickinson ( from "Where the Crawdads sing'), Charibi Dean (who died unexpectedly before the film was released), Dolly de Leon 

Movie #3018 ........................."Color My World With Love" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3018 "Color My World With Love" (Hallmark) Now for something completely different and a very brave subject to do a film on --- a woman who has been looking out for her down syndrome daughter for 22 years is having problems letting her go out on her own, including okaying a relationship with a boyfriend and possible husband.  Meanwhile, a handsome, nice man, about her age, is watching over the boy with down syndrome who loves the woman's daughter....and they become closer as they deal with this relationship between the two young people who are taking their first steps into adulthood, but who  want to do it with little guidance.  I'd give this a 4 out of 5.

"COLOR MY WORLD WITH LOVE"    2022   1 hour and 24 mins

Emma's daughter Kendall becomes engaged, but Emma is concerned as Kendall and her fiancé have Down Syndrome and Emma worries she's not ready to take this step.

Director:  Peter Benson

Writers:  Charlie Shahnaian, Shari Simpson, Pamela Wallace

Actors:  Benjamin Ayres, Yoshie Bancroft, David DeSanctis, Lily D. Moore

Movie #3017 ........................."A Royal Runaway Romance" (Hallmark)

Movie #3017 "A Royal Runaway Romance "(Hallmark) I know, another Hallmark movie with royalty?  But this one was a bit different from the others in that, everyone knows she's a princess from the get go --- the one guy she is going to America to see is an artist whom she thinks she has fallen in love with when he did her portrait.  But, you'll never guess this one!  Her body guard opens up a whole new world to her when he is assigned to escort her to meet up with that guy in Colorado.  Being a princess is a given and not the conflict point, which makes it a reversal of the normal storyline for these royalty hallmark films.  The triangle of lovers was good, and there are some good shots of mid USA, which is introduced to her on her journey through the U.S. with the bodyguard.  I'd give this a 4 out of 5.

"A ROYAL RUNAWAY ROMANCE"    Hallmark    2022    1 hr and 24 min

Princess Amelia of Bundbury travels across American to explore a budding romance with an artist, only to fall in love with her bodyguard Grady.

Director:  David Weaver

Writer:  Jake Helgren

Actors:  Philippa Northeast, Brant Daugherty, Sarah-Jane Redmond