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The Union (2024)
The usual Netflix
Meanwhile, my understanding is that you can't even get a meeting there if you have a decent script.
Netflix produces these action adventure films by the carload. This one stars Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg. She kidnaps him so he can join an underground good guys group, the Union.
Good stunts, car chases, motorcycle races, and explosions make up the bulk of the film.
The story is the usual get something from the enemy.
Halle Berry sports a short haircut, brunette, with the top overlaid with I guess white. A distraction. Like just about everything else in your house or on your phone that takes you away from The Union.
The best thing about it? The end promises a sequel. Wowsville.
Riddled with Deceit: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (2020)
Okay
This series isn't the best Hallmark has to offer, but it's okay.
This one is the second in the series.
This story concerns a family emerald broach worth a fortune. Jeff (Jesse Metcalfe) keeps being dragged out of law enforcement retirement, this time to help protect the broach and its wearer Britt (Sunita Prasad) who has presented it and is wearing it to a special event.
Though she wants to take it with her, Jeff convinces her to lock it in the high tech safe for the night. However, when she arrives home, she is attacked and is only saved by Jeff and Zee (Sarah Lind). And the emerald broach is gone from the safe.
Murder follows.
I've never been overwhelmed by Jesse Metcalfe even in his Desperate Housewives days. It was hard for me to warm up to the story or the characters.
The Cases of Mystery Lane: Death Is Listening (2024)
A couple of crazy kids
Silly, a little over the top - and delightfully entertaining!
Good to see that Hallmark will be continuing with this one. There have been a couple that have tried my patience.
The crazy detective couple, Birdie and Aiden, portrayed by Aimee Garcia and Paul Campbell, are adorable as they enjoy snickerdoodles at a suspect's home, build elaborate mousetraps, salsa dance through a nursing home, and drive the officer in charge of the latest murder case (Matt Hamilton) insane.
Lots of fun and so superior to some of Hallmark's offerings. Right up there with Hannah Swenson, a series I also enjoy in its various incarnations.
Light entertainment.
Coma (1978)
Excellent, suspenseful film
Coma from 1978 stars Makes Chanel Douglas, Genevieve Bujold, Rip Torn, Richard Widmark, Lois Chiles, Elizabeth Ashley, and a young Tom Selleck in a tiny role.
The story, from the book by Robin Cook, concerns a hospital where the coma rate of surgical patients is way too high. Among the victims (Chiles) is a friend of Dr. Susan Wheeler (Bujold), a resident. She becomes determined to find out what is happening to these patients, though her ambitious boyfriend, Dr. Bellows (Douglas) is skeptical.
Her investigation leads her to a facility, The Jefferson Institute, which Wheeler tours, and sees the bodies suspended in midair - no bedsores that way.
"Someone," the terrified woman tells Douglas, "is putting people into comas."
Such a fantastic film, one of my favorites, with terrific acting and a plot that will hold your interest.
Monsters (2022)
Inaccurate
I followed this case closely in the '90s.
Leave it to Ryan Murphy to fill this with inaccuracies and fillers when perhaps two segments would have been fine. Lots of boring scenes.
That being said, the acting is magnificent all around, no even mediocre performances.
Lyle was played by General Hospital alumnus Nick Chavez. Did someone say soap opera actors cannot act? He was fabulous portraying Lyle as an angry, amoral brat with a trigger temper. Cooper Koch's subtle portrayal of Erik was perfect as the kid dominated by his brother and needing his father's love.
Javier Bardem as Jose will scare the hell out of you, and Nathan Lane as Dominick Dunne will break your heart.
Though I feel with that hair and overt personality, Leslie Abramson wouldn't be that hard to capture. Amy Gravnor was nevertheless amazing.
Chloe Sevigney captured the pathetic, alcoholic Kitty.
See it for the acting. Read what the real Erik has to say and research the case.
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
Sumptuous
Perhaps I was simply not in the mood, but for me, The Scarlet Empress was one big, overblown von Sternberg production.
Opulent, with amazing set pieces and costumes, the film stars, the great Marlene Dietrich as Catherine the great. Dietrich's own daughter, Maria Riva, plays Sophie, renamed Catherine, as a child.
Sophie was 15 when she was sent to Russia to become the bride of Peter II and give Russia an heir to the throne. Peter was a half wit, and evidently their marriage was not consummated for several years.
Sam Jaffe, the baby boomer Dr. Zorba Casey, is Peter, with a big idiotic smile. You can imagine how beautiful Sophie felt meeting this guy. Not only that, but having to deal with his dictatorial mother, played by Louise Dresser.
Dietrich was 33 at the time of this film. In the beginning, she is wide-eyed and speaks in a near whisper. Later, with hairstyles, different makeup, and a mature attitude and voice, she really transforms into a sexual seductress. This is the Marlene we knew.
However, other than the spectacle - and there was plenty - there isn't much to this film, the story told mostly with title cards.
Of interest, the hunky Alexi was played by John Lodge, related to Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, ultimately entered politics.
Vertigo (1958)
Hitchcock at his best
My favorite Hitchcock film.
This is a fabulous story about total obsession that an ex-detective, Scottie (James Stewart) has for a woman who doesn't exist. He believes her to be the wife (Kim Novak) of the man who hired him to follow her. She is a woman of mystery, who sits staring at a portrait in a museum, remembers a mission with a bell and stables, rents a room in an old house under the name Valdes (the figure in the painting), and whom he saves from suicide.
Due to his vertigo, Scottie can't save her a second time and suffers a psychotic break.
Then he sees her again. What could be her....
Hitchcock described Scottie waiting for Judy to emerge from the bathroom as Madelyn as a man with an erection waiting to make love.
Judy (Kim Novak) is so desperate for his love that she transforms herself into Madelyn. "Scottie, I was safe when you found me." But too late.
Scottie's last moment, arms slightly outstretched as he stands at the top of the tower and looks down is beautiful to look at - making it all the more horrible.
A story of illusion brought on by the manipulation by a man with power and money -a phrase repeated twice in the film. An illusion that clashed with reality - vertigo.
Tipline Mysteries: Dial 1 for Murder (2024)
Okay, given that it's a Hallmark Mystery
This is typical Hallmark - the cute amateur and the cop who doesn't want her help but gets it anyway.
This one is cute , with likable characters. Maddie (Holland Roden) is a hotel concierge by day and works the tipline at the Detroit Free Press as a second job.
When she receives a tip about a jewelry heist about to happen, there is not enough info for detective Beeks (Stephen McNally) to act on it. When the heist happens, his boss isn't thrilled.
Holland Roden is a young Cameron Bure type. She's vivacious, bold, and irreverent. She and McNally play off one another well.
I'm ignoring "reconcilable differences" as I think it was a transcription mistake.
Hope to see more.
Calling Paul Temple (1948)
British postwar mystery
I'm giving this a 6 because I like British mysteries. I was not familiar with the actors, except perhaps Dinah Sheridan. I was interested to read that the lead actors all lived into their nineties. Wow.
This film apparently is part of a series of B movies based on a radio show. Paul Temple is a dlfictiin writer of detective stories who is attempting to learn the identity of "Rex," a person who has killed several women.
In this film nearly everyone is a suspect. The most interesting thing about the film is the trip to Canterbury, which was fascinating. I'm not sure the cast was really there, but the footage was great.
In the end, not knowing any of the actors, I had a tough time telling the men apart. Therefore after sitting through this I don't know who Rex was. Good luck.
Numb (2015)
Not uplifting
I only watched Numb because of my deep love for Jamie Bamber. He has been in some good productions, such as Law & Order UK
This wasn't one of them.
Numb is like a fourth rate Treasure of the Sierra Madre but with snow. And no expense was spared to show how freezing it was.
A down and out couple pick up two hitchhikers and a nearly frozen man who dies. He has the GPS coordinates for stolen gold on his person. The four decide to find it.
The only problem is they're idiots. They are not dressed for the weather, nor do they have the proper tools and supplies for such an endeavor. And does anyone think gee, if we find $4 million in gold, how do we carry it?
The acting is just fine but this movie is such a downer, though for me it's a fitting way to end the year. Tomorrow I'll watch A Night at the Opera and cheer myself up.
Port of New York (1949)
pretty good
Like so many late '40s police/FBI type films, Port of New York was filmed as a semi-documentary, narrated by none other than Chet Huntley.
Detectives attempt to close in on a huge drug shipment that has come into New York, and find the head man. Lots of location shots.
I had to chuckle a bit in the beginning as the film demonstrated how people smuggled drugs through customs. One way was a small hole hidden underneath a shoe heel. If it was a huge shipment of shoes, okay. But one shoe? A chihuahua couldn't get high on that amount.
It's fairly obvious in the beginning that the girlfriend of the big boss (Yul Brynner in his debut) is not long for this world after she threatens to turn him in.
Brynner is cold, smooth, and dangerous- and so young you can't believe it.
People who saw Scott Brady on TV in the '80s couldn't believe he was ever a hunk with a fan club, but he was - well built and handsome. Here he is one of the detectives on the case.
Routine but not uninteresting.
The Good Nurse (2022)
true story
Two terrific actors, Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne star in The Good Nurse from 2022.
This is the true story of a serial killer Charles Cullen (Redmayne) who was allowed to keep working in hospitals, continuing to put insulin and digoxin in IV bags to kill patients.
Hospitals would become suspicious and fire him, basically doing nothing so as to avoid liability. For sixteen years.
A nurse in his latest hospital (Chastain) who has befriended Charles secretly helps the police get evidence against him.
Chastain gives a subtle, underplayed performance as an ill but courageous woman who has to keep going until her health insurance kicks in and she can have surgery.
Redmayne is excellent as a nice guy who wants to help Chastain with her patients and family, who in reality is a murderer.
Good, absorbing film, not big on action and fireworks but will keep you interested.
A tragic story of money being more important than human life - in hospitals. Par for the course, I guess.
Visa to Canton (1960)
Blah
What a big fat nothing of a movie.
Richard Basehart plays a travel agent living in Hong Kong. A friend of his has piloted a plane with a courier in it, and the government wants his help in finding the courier; Basehart wants to clear the pilot's name, as the man is like a brother to him.
I really like Richard Basehart but even filmed in color this film had nothing to it except some beautiful location shots. I will say Basehart's relationship with the man's family was lovely.
Eric Pohlmann plays a bad guy, and Athene Seyler does a good job as the matriarch of the pilot's family.
It sort of reminded me of a bad Elvis movie - a travelogue, this time in another country.
One interesting thing - the last part concerns a real event, Massacre of the Sparrows (sounds gross, and it is), which was stopped the year this film was released.
The Shadow on the Window (1957)
Lots of recognizable faces
What a cast - Drew Barrymore's father, Edith Bunker's neighbor, the Beave, and Asa Buchanan on One Life to Live: John Drew Barrymore, Betty Garrett, Jerry Mathers, and Phil Carey.
Garrett plays a stenographer who is working for an elderly man at his house when intruders kill him and take the stenographer hostage.
Her little boy playing outside sees the violence, goes into shock, and runs away. When finally reunited with his police detective dad, he's catatonic and can't tell them anything.
My mom loved Phil Carey, a handsome, well built actor who later had success in TV. Betty Garrett, a Broadway actress and singer, has an emotional role and does it well.
John Drew Barrymore was handsome and menacing, but I gather his role as a ruthless killer wasn't much of a stretch.
Jerry Mathers I think had two lines.
I actually kind of liked this film's tension, and the fact that you really cared about Garrett. This home invasion type film is routine but involving.
Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Enola is back
Enola Holmes is now a private detective and is hired by a young girl who works in a match factory to find her sister.
Enola was about to close her agency when this woman shows up. Since this is her first and only job, Enola takes it.
It turns out to be daunting, as Enola investigates in music halls, factories, even integrating upper class society and, finally, asking Sherlock for help.
As the sparks of a deadly conspiracy ignite, Enola must call upon the help of friends - and Sherlock himself - to unravel her mystery. The game, it seems, has found its feet again.
The search leads to a case Sherlock is involved in, a reconnection with Lord Tewksberry, and some help from mom.
Very enjoyable, and the chemistry between Enola and Sherlock is great.
Wonderful production values and atmosphere, a lovely cast, exciting scenes - can't ask for much more than that.
But this case proves to be far more puzzling than expected, as Enola is thrown into a dangerous new world - from London's sinister factories and colorful music halls, to the highest echelons of society and 221B Baker Street itself. Finally, Enola relies upon guidance from her mother, and she actually meets up with Lord Tewksbury again.
Very enjoyable, and the chemistry between Enola and Sherlock is great.
Wonderful production values and atmosphere, a lovely cast, exciting scenes - can't ask for much more than that.
Inside Man (2022)
comedy? drama? satire? I don't know
Certainly interesting as well as convoluted, Inside Man stars David Tennant as a vicar with a big problem.
His son's math coach inadvertently opens a jump drive with child pornography on it and comes to a wrong conclusion.
Another plot concerns a reporter looking for a missing woman. She seeks out the help of a Doctor of Criminology now on Death Row, who is often consulted on cases.
These stories converge.
I had a major problem due to the way this was directed, not to mention the absurd way the vicar tried to solve his dilemma.
The child porn was given to the vicar by a disturbed parishoner. The math coach thinks it's his or his son's. The vicar knows once she leaves she is going to the police. He detains her, hoping to get a recorded confession from the parishioner.
In the awful direction department, we have Tennant acting guilty as sin and changing his story more than once.
How about - "this was given to me by one of my parishoners to handle, and I am dealing with it. As their vicar, that is all I can say."
Oh heck no.
I won't go into what he does.
He could have dumped that hard drive. The police show up, he says 1) I don't know what she's talking about; 2) I am aware of it but am bound as a vicar to let my parishoner come forward. The police would have done forensics on all the computers in the house. And guess what they would have found - zippo.
Consequently I couldn't buy into any of it. The moral of the story? We can all be bad people if the circumstances call for it. I prefer, We can all be stupid people if the circumstances call for it.
The Unusual Suspects (2021)
Fun from Down Under
Funny Australian comedy about women attempting to steal a $16 million necklace.
Miranda Otto is a scream as Sara, a major Internet influencer who has gone through all her family money. She is desperate to sell to an American company; however, her ex-boyfriend, a horrendous artist, is about to ruin that.
Sara's maid is Evie (Aina Dumlao), who left her daughter behind in the Phillipines in the hope of making enough money to return home, get away from her husband, and move to a new home with her daughter.
Sara can no longer pay her.
Evie's friend Amy works for the well-known Roxanne Waters (Michele Vergara Moore) and has had her pension stolen due to Roxanne's husband's ponzi scheme. Both Amy and Roxanne want out.
Roxanne receives the necklace from her husband which actually belongs to his mother from hell. The women decide to steal it, setting up an elaborate plan that involves a carnival, a rock band, a drill, and a mannequin.
Very enjoyable. The cast is terrific.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
Wonderful acting by Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet is Mare of Easttown, a police detective with personal and professional problems.
Nothing new there, but Winslet's multilayered performance, as well as Jean Smart as her mother and Guy Pearce as a potential suitor really raise this up several levels.
Mare comes off as tough, angry, and abrupt, but we soon see why. In uniform, with her hair pulled back and unmade-up, she can be intimidating. Out for the evening, she is very beautiful.
That's all on the outside. She's a grieving woman in denial and so terrified of her grandson's mother getting custody that she is driven to desperate measures.
She is also facing criticism for not solving a young woman's disappearance a year earlier - this comes to the fore again with another disappearance and a murder.
Atmospheric, absorbing, with a few surprises, Mare of Easttown is a little too long, but poignant and satisfying.
Emily the Criminal (2022)
A different Emily from the one in Paris
Etflix has a rougher, tougher Emily than Emily in Paris. As portrayed by Aubrey Plaza, this Emily is down in her luck woman with heavy debts, unable to find a job because she's a felon.
Emily becomes involved with an Armenian gang dealing in credit card fraud. When two people attempt to rip her off, she shows what she's made of.
Turns out she's made of a little bit more than her boyfriend (Theo Rossi) whose hopes of owning an apartment building are dashed when the rest of the gang steals everything he has.
Emily insists that they go after it.
I don't know if this film was cheaply done, but the feel of it was somewhat improvisational. Aubrey Plaza is very good - in fact, the whole cast is strong.
Most interesting was seeing Emily with more successful- and honest - friends. She clearly didn't belong.
Netflix doesn't always have decent product, but this was pretty good.
Rope of Sand (1949)
Some people from Casablanca populate this film
This is an action film that was probably meant to bring in audiences because of a few cast members from "Casablanca."
The story concerns a hunting guide, Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) whose client trespassed on land owned by a diamond company and found diamonds - lots of them. For this, Mike is nearly killed by the company manager, Paul Vogel (Paul Henried), who wants the location of the diamonds, but doesn't get it.
Mike has now returned to South Africa, and the head of the diamond cartel, Martingale (Claude Rains) decides on a better way to find out where the diamonds are - by using a beautiful woman (Corinne Calvet) to attract Mike and get the information. Then, of course, he plans to dismiss Davis. But as Vogel learned, and Martingale is about to, Mike is a tough cookie, and Suzanne is his match as she practices her wiles on all three men - then falls in love with Davis.
This is an ordinary adventure-type film, Calvet's debut. She tells a story in her autobiography about Tyrone Power chasing her around a party until Lana Turner stuck a hot pewter coffee pot in her arm and asked if anyone wanted coffee. Ouch.
Enjoyable for the cast.
Frieda (1947)
A young woman tries to assimilate
Mai Zetterling, David Farrar, Flora Robson, and Glynis Johns star in Frieda from 1947.
Farrar is a pilot who brings his fiancé, a German woman, home to England, after she helps him escape.
The war is still going on, and she is not welcome. Farrah's sister (Robson) is running for office. When asked about the presence of Frieda, she says that just by virtue of Frieda being German, she bears the same sins as the Nazis.
Meanwhile, Robson encourages her brother's widow (Johns) to try to get Farrar away from Frieda.
Once the war ends, things become easier for Frieda, and she is accepted by the community.
One day her brother (Albert Levein) appears. He gives her a necklace with a swastika on it.
Good story of facing prejudice and coming to terms, for Frieda, of the horrible events that took place in her country.
Very good performances as some harsh realizations come to light for all involved.
Air (2023)
Michael Jordan drives a hard bargain
Ben Affleck has again proven himself a wonderful director.
What could have been a big yawn is a funny, absorbing, and well-paced film. It's the story of a loser basketball show manufacturer, Nike, and one man's determination to land Michael Jordan as a product endorser.
We know Jordan signed and came up with the Air Jordan shoe. What I liked about this film was that knowing what was going to happen did not make it less suspenseful - we see what Sonny Vacarro (Matt Damon) went through was impressive, not only at the company but with the Jordan family.
I loved the humor - I will watch Jason Bateman in anything. He's great here, as are Chris Tucker, Ben Affleck, and Dave Messina.
Highly recommended for the story and the performances.
The Change-Up (2011)
Worse than you could imagine
Man was this bad.
You would think two of my favorite actors, Bateman and Reynolds, would have gotten me through this. But no.
This was a very unfortunate script about two men, one married and a father, the other a swinging actor. Gross humor, targeted to the lowest common denominator in existence.
This switching lives story has been told a thousand times. We didn't need this iteration. It's been done so much better in the past. There was no reason to make this film.
I will say that because they are such marvelous actors, Reynolds and Bateman were able to wring one or two realistic character emotions at the end
Disappointing.
The Misfits (2021)
Not very good
Mindless entertainment starring Pierce Brosnan and Tim Roth.
Gold to be used to fund terrorism attacks is the target of the latest heist by a group of Robin Hoods called The Misfits.
This is a special job, so a real non Robin Hood type is needed. Enter Pierce Brosnan, the father of one of the team members who believes he's the man for the job.
It's clever especially if you just want to chill and watch something that won't tax any part of you.
It's set up to be an Oceans 11 type thing, with sequels, but with the reviews I saw I doubt there's another one coming soon.
I wouldn't pay money to see this.
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Disappointing
I have no idea why I keep watching these newer Agatha Christie Poirot films. What makes Kennth Branagh think he can play this part is beyond me.
What I really resent is all the backgrounds the Christie characters are given. Poirot had an old girlfriend and some secret sorrow; in another film he grows that ridiculous mustache to hide scars from the war. Miss Marple has an old beau in her past too.
Well, Kenneth Branagh is no David Suchet.
Poirot, in retirement, is dragged by his friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) to a supposedly haunted palazzo to see if he can figure out whether or not a medium is fake.
Good atmosphere and great palazzo along with the lovely Kelly Reilly and Camille Cottin.
The film moves slowly as people are murdered.
My final quibble. Ariadne Oliver was always a good friend of Poirot's. What is done to you that character and their relationship is an abomination.
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