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Movies, DVDs, and Theater
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What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART EIGHT - 2015) (ongoing thread)
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Jackie
(last edited Jan 07, 2015 01:53PM)
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Jan 07, 2015 01:53PM

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http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-g...
I feel better now! lol

Glad you agree, Jackie! :)


Yes, Werner, I had the same thought.
However, I went to Wiki and struggled through the summary there. I was able to pick out the main storyline from all the details. If I watched it again (which I won't), I'd probably understand it better. One of the problems is that they throw so many characters into the movie, that it's difficult to keep them straight. The names "Gustave" and "Moustafa" roll around in your head and the dialogue is delivered so quickly that it doesn't give you a chance to remember who is who, among all the other characters coming and going, most of whom are famous actors with small parts.
The very detailed Wiki summary is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gran...

“GBH” is a featherweight screwball comedy that, trying mightily to be cosmopolitan, feels awfully provincial, desperately touristy.
FROM: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-g...
More from the same link:
"Meh, the film is interesting, and it's fun to see so many stars in one film. But it falls short in the laughs department. It's silly, and cute, and oh so clever, but left me a bit bored. I have a feeling some of the high reviews are from folks who are pleased with hollywood taking them a little more seriously. However, for me it was a bit dull."
"Just an awful movie. Not funny, weirdly directed, repetitive, featuring horrible florid set design, senseless celebrity cameo appearances, and some of the most boring dialogue ever. Hard for me to say how much I hated this movie. I know I'm in the minority, but I know I'm right too. Most people who say they like this movie probably secretly hated it."
However, I must say that most of the reviews were favorable.

"Ida" (2013) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2718492/?...
and
"Remembrance" (2011) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1728620/?...
I gave them both 4 stars. They held my attention throughout. They are both serious movies.
"Ida" is spoken in Polish but the English subtitles are enough for understanding the plot.

At Netflix, Downton Abbey is available on DVD only. I've only subscribed to the "streaming" part of Netflix where you can't get "Downton". Seems all the GOOD shows require subscribing to the DVD section of Netflix. It's too expensive to subscribe to both streaming and DVD. Am mulling my choices over. Meanwhile, I'm using the public library which requires travel.

I always try the library first. The only problem with that is it often takes quite a while for the library to get the desired films.

As for going to the library, sometimes that's inconvenient, especially in the winter. Well, today I picked up 7 items at the library. I feel like a kid in a candy store!
Right now I'm going to begin watching a DVD of "I Heart Huckabees" (2004).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356721/?...
I hope I will enjoy it. Looks like a good cast.


See Berardinelli's full review at: http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_t...
See Roger Ebert's review at: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-h...
Ebert said: "I went to see "I Heart Huckabees" at the Toronto Film Festival. It was on the screen, and I was in my chair, and nothing was happening between us. There was clearly a movie being shown, but what was its purpose and why were the characters so inexplicable?"

Hans Christian Anderson, of course, with the average state of knowledge a 19th-century city dweller would have had, wouldn't have known any better. Of course, I'm not sure if that particular scene simply reflects Anderson's original story, or was introduced by the scriptwriters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837703/?...
"A dramatic thriller based on real events that reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organization."
I mainly wanted to see Benedict Cumberbatch in this movie where he uses an Australian accent. The movie is adapted from the book. He plays the role of Julian Assange.
"Based on books by former Assange collaborators Daniel Domscheit-Berg, David Leigh and Luke Harding, “The Fifth Estate” focuses on Assange’s relationship with Domscheit-Berg (played in the film by “Rush” star Daniel Bruhl), a computer programmer in Germany who meets the snow-haired Australian at a hackers’ conference and quickly warms to his calls for “a whole new form of social justice” by way of using encryption to protect whistleblowers."
FROM: http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingou...

=============================================
"Summary: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg team up to become underground watchdogs of the very powerful. They create a platform that allows whistleblowers to anonymously leak covert data. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society, and what are the costs of exposing them? "
=================================================

"The Fifth Estate is a 2013 thriller film directed by Bill Condon, about the news-leaking website WikiLeaks. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as its editor-in-chief and founder Julian Assange, and Daniel Brühl as its former spokesperson Daniel Domscheit-Berg.
Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Alicia Vikander, Stanley Tucci, and Laura Linney are featured in supporting roles.
The film's screenplay was written by Josh Singer based in-part on Domscheit-Berg's book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World's Most Dangerous Website (2011), as well as WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy (2011) by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding. The film's name is a term used to describe the people who operate in the manner of journalists outside the normal constraints imposed on the mainstream media."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fift...
The books mentioned above:
WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy by David Leigh, Luke Harding
or
WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy by Luke Harding, David Leigh
Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg



BTW, thanks for the You-Tube link about wolves! The description there says: "For Centuries. Wolves have been characterized as bloodthirsty beasts and the bane of helpless livestock. determined to overcome this misconception, filmakers Jamie and Jim Dutcher-creators of the Emmy Award Winning Wolves at Our Door, spean six years in a tented camp in the wilderness of Idaho-living with a pack of wolves!"
FROM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd3d-...

And even from just from a monetary standpoint, where there are wolves there's lot of tourists, millions of dollars in annual revenue and that would do our area good.


It beat the following:
-Birdman
-Into the Woods
-Pride
-St. Vincent
I'll never understand that choice.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/gol...
"Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or TV movie":
Winner: Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey!
Hurray!

"The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life" (2014)
It is an Academy Award-winning documentary (2014). So inspiring!
IMDb:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2924484/?...
Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70302...
"Czech pianist and holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer describes how music enabled her to survive one of the darkest chapters in human history."
I was looking around for something to watch and I randomly found this film. It's very short, only 39 minutes, but it's worth watching, if only for the music alone. Beautiful! I LOVE piano music. Alice Herz-Sommer plays so many classical pieces FROM MEMORY! She lived a long life and played piano even when she was over 100 years old!
The film credits mention this book: A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor
FROM THE GOODREADS PAGE:
"An inspiring story of resilience and the power of optimism—the true story of Alice Herz-Sommer, the world’s oldest living Holocaust survivor."
"A Century of Wisdom is the remarkable and inspiring story of one woman’s lifelong determination—in the face of some of the worst evils known to man—to find goodness in life. It is a testament to the bonds of friendship, the power of music, and the importance of leading a life of material simplicity, intellectual curiosity, and never-ending optimism."
There seems to be several related books. You can access FREE SAMPLES of the books here:
SEE LINKS BELOW:
"A Century of Wisdom, Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor":
https://play.google.com/store/books/d...
"Alice's Piano":
https://play.google.com/store/books/d...

"Everything is a Present: The Wonder & Grace of Alice Sommer Hertz"
Alice Sommer Herz (Actor), Gigi Sommer (Actor), Christopher Nupen (Director) Format: DVD
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Pres...
Also see the following Goodreads pages::
Alice's Piano by Herz-Sommer
Alice's Piano by Melissa Muller and Reinhard Piechocki

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039583/?...
If you like a good old-fashioned suspense story, full of drama, mystery, and dark atmosphere, this is for you! I'm not usually drawn to this type of movie but this one drew me almost from the beginning.
There are more details at my GR review at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044364/?...
http://www.amazon.com/Another-Mans-Po...
It holds your attention and keeps you watching!
One of the Amazon customer reviews commented:
"The story was fresh and the dialogue was sharp, NOBODY CAN DELIVER A LINE LIKE BETTE DAVIS!!! She plays the evil dame with such grace and finnesse that you cant help wanting her to triumph in the end! So sit back, turn off the lights, and enjoy Bette Davis being so bad she's good!!!"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203230/?...
It won "Movie of the Year" at the AFI Awards, USA 2001. See other nominations and awards at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203230/a...
This movie held my attention right to the end. AFI comments:
==============================================
"In YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, writer/director Kenneth Lonergan surprises time and again with his affecting story of a complicated, funny and emotional sister/brother relationship. Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo create heart-breakingly real characters in this underexplored thematic territory."
================================================
At first I thought that they could have come up with a better title, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

All the talk in this film is "heart-breakingly real", as the blurb says.
At first I didn't like Mark Ruffalo's character, but after a while he became more appealing. Wish he'd comb his hair! LOL
As for Laura Linney, she played the role well. It's the first time I really liked her. Before this, she usually bored me in films.
The little boy is precious. A real little boy, no cutesy stuff.
PS-The Crandall Library has the movie, "You Can Count on Me" on DVD.
http://pac.sals.edu/polaris/search/ti...

"Night Train to Lisbon" (2013)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1654523/?...
I had trouble following the plot. There were a lot of flashbacks. I couldn't keep the characters straight. There were too many of them.
The characters:
1. Raimund Gregorius (Jeremy Irons), a Swiss professor
2. Amadeu do Prado - a doctor and writer of a a small book, a memoir of sorts
3. the writer's sister Adriana (Charlotte Rampling).
4. local optician, Mariana (Martina Gedeck),
5. optician's uncle João Eça, who knew Amadeu
6. Jorge O'Kelly, friend of Amadeu, a pharmacist
7. Estefânia (Mélanie Laurent), a beautiful woman who helped the resistance by memorizing people's names and contact information (girlfriend of Amadeu)
8. older Estefania (Lena Olin)
9. woman on the bridge
10. several others
I couldn't figure how the woman on the bridge fit into the plot. Turns out she wasn't very important to the real plot even though in the beginnning I got the impression that she was.
The somber atmosphere of the movie gave it a sense of suspense, and Jeremy Irons was impressive, even though I couldn't figure out the plot, Not very satisfying, IMO.
The plot is explained fairly well by user Claudio Carvalho at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1654523/p...

http://www.history.com/shows/sons-of-.... I love this period of our history, we were never greater than in these years. I highly recommend the series.

http://www.history.com/shows/sons-of-.... I love this period of our history, we were..."
Thanks, Jackie. I'll check it out. Seems I can stream the episodes from the History Channel website which you linked above. http://www.history.com/shows/sons-of-...

"Sons of Liberty": "A Dangerous Game"" (Episode 1)
(85 min)
"In Boston, Sam Adams–brilliant but deeply in debt–incites the anger of the British crown after accidentally provoking the destruction of the royal governor's mansion.
With the British authorities on his tail, Sam is forced to turn to a wealthy socialite–John Hancock–for help.
But when their association ruins Hancock's British business connections, together, Sam and Hancock establish an ingenious black market smuggling operation only to have it swiftly shut down by the royal governor.
Once again, riots consume the streets of Boston. Sam engineers a protest of loyalist businesses, but when a young boy is murdered by a British supporter, the conflict with the British goes from a dispute about money and taxation to a fight for freedom."
FROM:http://www.history.com/shows/sons-of-...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3845302/?...
PS-Episode 2 is called "The Uprising".
http://www.history.com/shows/sons-of-...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3845306/?...
Episode 3 is called "Independence".
http://www.history.com/shows/sons-of-...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3845308/?...

Thérèse (2012) (in French with English subtitles)
"Thérèse Desqueyroux" (original title)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1654829/?...
"An unhappily married woman struggles to break free from social pressures."
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/702425...
"Bored by an arranged marriage to a dull but well-meaning husband, a young wife in rural France in the 1920s seeks a drastic solution to her problems."
It was adapted from the book, Therese Desqueyroux & Het einde van de nachtTherese Desqueyroux & Het einde van de nacht by François Mauriac.
It kept my attention but I didn't particularly enjoy it because there were too many unanswered questions in my mind about motivations.

============================================
"Visually rich but somehow doesn't come off. Quite a few reviews blame [Audrey] Tatou. I thought her taut, grim expression was pretty good -- subtle, and in keeping with the overall style of the narration and the straight-laced characters around her.
"The whole project tries to be subtle -- her response to repression, boredom, constraint is not cliched; it is only very lightly suggested that she needs more scope or has more talent or spirit than others in her world; her husband's response to her crime is surprising and interesting.
"But all these features wind up merely blurred, uncertain. The sister-in-law's misadventure in love just kind of evaporates. The handsome Jewish potential lover just kind of evaporates. Therese's guilt just kind of evaporates. The fire happens and its effects just kind of evaporate. The consequences of things are so nuanced they barely exist. It's interesting, and I think visually arresting enough to keep one watching, but not a success."
FROM: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/702425...
I think the review above says it well. Situations in the story seem to evaporate as the film goes on to other situations. Also, I would have liked to have seen more of the sister-in-law's experiences. The ending is so nuanced that I had to read a review to understand what it meant.
A user-review at IMDb used the term "hanging subplots". That's a good way to put it.
I got tired of seeing the same taut, grim expression on Theresa's face, actually expressionless. It hardly ever seemed to change.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110598/?...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006...
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/783045...
"A misfit escapes life by listening to ABBA ditties and dreaming about marriage, but when she leaves her hometown, her fantasy starts to come to life."

Amazon lists it as: "Masterpiece: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481459/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D...
I really have to complain about 2 things which are very annoying.
First of all, the camera constantly swings across the scenes as if it's being hand-held. It almost causes a "sea-sick" feeling because the picture isn't steady; instead it "sweeps" across the room to get to other characters.
Second of all, the background music, in trying to create suspense, has a continual deep sound of what sounds like drums or thunder, underneath the other music. It's annoying to listen to.
I found via a Google search, an interesting (and amusing) NY Times review of the series at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/art...
The title of the review is: "Such an Unhappy Sex Life? But Such a Glorious Reign"
EXCERPT:
==========================================
""The Virgin Queen," a four-hour examination on "Masterpiece Theater" of Elizabeth's more than 50-year reign, seems deeply invested in its effort to unravel the mysteries of Elizabeth the woman - Elizabeth the singleton who would not fall prey to lust - refusing to acknowledge that the "mysteries" don't require all the keys in a locksmith's arsenal.
"The production prods and pokes at the young queen, laboring relentlessly, and without much success, to draw some sort of grand conclusion about her ...
"The Virgin Queen" is a hodgepodge treatise on sexual frustration. Spending 240 minutes with a woman who wants men to desire her, but not really, well, maybe sometimes, but only in the abstract - this has the effect of making you want to dust the baseboards.
"Anne-Marie Duff plays the queen as if directed to imagine a dieter angrily trying to extinguish all thoughts of the menu at Friendly's from her head."
=================================================
Not sure I'll go back to it. I watched it for 15 minutes and it has an hour and 40 minutes to go!
Well, anyway, at least I found the amusing NY Times review.

She reprises the role in Elizabeth: The Golden Years http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414055/?...

http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Golde...
http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Cate-...
I'll think about it.

The library has it: http://pac.sals.edu/polaris/search/ti...
That's LG library catalog, you'll be able to find it at the GF library catalog.

I suppose I should be willing to spend three or four dollars to watch films, but after a while all those dollars add up!
I often wonder if it would be worth paying for the films individually rather than subscribing to Netflix or Amazon Prime. But with Amazon Prime I get lots of free shipping and with Netflix I get the ability to see lists of various category choices as well as a history of what I've watched with my "star" evaluations.

I would think individually would add up quickly. $2.99 for an old movie seems like a lot to me. I wonder what they want for a new movie, more than I'm willing to pay I'm sure.
Even one movie a week at that price is more than Netflix for the month. I don't know what Amazon Prime charges but it has to be better than individually.


What annoyed me most about the dramatization is Doctor Warren and General Gage's wife having an affair. It is irrelevant in every way possible.
I still enjoy anything to do with the American Revolution. I'm just glad there is a program on it, since most people in this country know nothing about it. Maybe it'll spark their interest and get them learning.
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