Old Man @ The Movies

Before I review one of the many films I saw during my sabbatical, I want to acknowledge the surprising number of you who wrote to me welcoming me back to the world of reviews. I was genuinely touched and thank you. Now on CRIME 101, which had a large number of actors whose names I know but really didn't recognize, including Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Nick Nolte and Halle Berry. This is the story of a daring criminal who successfully and singlehandedly robs a number of stores on the 101 Freeway in the Los Angeles area and has the police baffled. An insurance broker is pursuing him as well and it all comes to a head as he is involved in the final crime and the biggest one. It felt like it was shot in black and white but I honestly can't tell you if it was. It was okay and better than most of the films I've been seeing lately. Critics and audiences agreed with me, giving 88 and 85 percent thumbs up respectively to this 2 hour and 19 minute winner.   

At my age, I should know better than going to see a movie entitled PSYCHO KILLER  There is no question about its validity.  The film begins as a man with a deep voice is being detained by a state trooper on a highway. As they are talking, they're joined by the trooper's wife who is also a state trooper.  The driver shoots her husband and then drives off as she fires her gun futilely at the car. She subsequently decides to find the culprit and during her investigation discovers that he is a psycho already responsible for more than 40 deaths and you know what happens eventually. This one hour and 34 minute predictable film starring a bunch of nobodies obviously offended the critics because only 11% gave it a thumbs tip, along with 35% of audiences. I suggest you stay home and watch the endless array of reruns of once popular series like MASH and The Andy Griffith Show, either of which might prove to be more entertaining.

The movie I saw yesterday was as bad and as ridiculous as its title—GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE. I'll try to explain the bizarre plot. A strange looking man enters a diner in Los Angeles claiming he is from the future and takes patrons hostage saying they were going to save the world, I think. They wander around aimlessly and nothing really happens that I understood, and the movie ends. I'm incapable of telling you any more and look forward to one of you telling me what it was all about. I didn't recognize anyone in the so-called cast, so I'm at a  loss as to what to say next, other than it was an hour and 32 minutes too long. 12% of critics and 35% of audiences gave GOOD a thumbs up, so I guess I'm not too far off base.

I'm back!!! Sorry for my absence. In addition to rehab for my broken patella, my eyesight has been deteriorating (close up), and it was difficult to see what I was writing. I am now a client of Vision Corps, a state and federally funded organization helping the visually impaired with equipment and ideas to help.  So I'm back to writing and have a lot of films to catch up on--several  months worth if I can remember them. And I apologize in advance for any and all typos. My most recent film was WUTHERING HEIGHTS. I never read the book and don't recall seeing an earlier film version, but I seriously doubt if any female author including Emily Bronte wrote a book depicting the sexuality of this film in the mid-1800s. The movie is visually attractive as are the lead actors, Margot Robbie and some guy who portrays Heathcliffe, a laborer on the estate where she lives. Briefly, she rejects him, he leaves, she marries, he returns, mysteriously now wealthy, and they satisfy their sexu...