Old Man @ The Movies

On Saturday I saw a movie that affected me physically. I felt cold throughout the entire film because it took place in winter, with lots of snow, and I think it was in Minnesota, not that I have anything against Minnesota. THE DEAD OF WINTER stars Emma Thompson, a fine actress and Academy Award winner, in the unusual role of a heroine in a thrilling chiller. She is Barb, a widow, in the wilderness, planning to ice fish on a frozen lake like she used to do with her husband. She inadvertently stumbles on the kidnapping of a young girl by a married couple in which the wife is clearly the instigator, the leader and the most evil. I confess I was never quite clear on why they were kidnapping the girl, but am sure the reason was revealed. Barb is persistent in attempting to foil the two and gets into real trouble without cell service and any means to get help in her frigid surroundings. It was well acted and kept my attention despite the bone chilling atmosphere that never ended. Critics gav...

Ugh! What a terrible movie I saw yesterday. And I usually like movies about sports. This one failed in every aspect, starting with the plot and going downhill from there. Can you imagine a sports movie ending up as a horror film? And a bad one at that? HIM in one hour and 36 miserable minutes set the film business back to the silent movie era. The star here is Cam Cade, a great quarterback prospect, who suffers a brain trauma when he is attacked by a crazy fan. When things look darkest for him, he is contacted by his hero, a multi-times championship quarterback, Isaiah, who proposes to train him to regain his superior stuff. Training methods at Isaiah's isolated facility are bizarre, but seem to be working until Isaiah stops being Mr. Nice guy and turns into a monster. And there it goers from bad to worse with mayhem and beheading snd stabbing and lots of blood by Cam and others. Only 36% of critics and 68% of audiences gave Him a thumbs up. My vote is 👎. 

I may have revealed in other reviews, and if I'm repeating myself forgive me, but I am an incurable romantic. Lead me to a film about love and romance and I turn into putty. The movie I saw today, A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY, starring two of the better actors in these times, Margot Robbie as Sarah and Colin Farrell as David, I rate them better because I recognize their names and most times know what they look like. But beware. This is not a traditional romantic film. I'd call it a romantic fantasy and it is bizarre. David and Sarah meet at a mutual friend's wedding held outdoors and in the rain and don't seem to like each other. David (and ultimately Sarah) rent a car from a weird car rental firm, and while he is driving in the rain (it rains a lot in this one), the car's GPS begins to speak to him, asking if he wants to go on a big bold beautiful journey, and he answers yes. She answers yes to the same question in her rental car, and they find themselves parked si...

Yesterday I saw another movie, THE HISTORY OF SOUND, that I didn't understand and whose message I could not comprehend—if it had a message. This boring, endless two hour and 7 minute movie takes place in the early 1900s and follows the life of a young man living on a farm in the wilds of Kentucky, who has a marvelous and unique singing voice. Somehow he is discovered and receives a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music, where he meets a piano player playing the folk music he loves.  They bond and that night become lovers. The piano player enlists in the army when WWI starts and is sent overseas. The singer quits school and goes back to Kentucky where he is contacted by the friend, now on the faculty of the Conservatory, who invites him to join him on a school project, wandering the remote areas of Maine recording the songs of the folk singers they find on a device that uses wax rollers. They part but somehow meet again in Italy where both are employed in some aspect ...