Movie - Stillwater

R (2:19)

Wide release 7/30/2021

Viewed 8/8/2021 at Regal Harrisburg

IMBd: 6.9/10

RT Critic: 74   Audience:  72

Critic's Consensus:  Stillwater isn't perfect, but its thoughtful approach to intelligent themes -- and strong performances from its leads -- give this timely drama a steadily building power. 

Cag:   5/Loved it 

Directed by Tom McCarthy

setting:  mostly Marseilles, France

Actors: Matt Damon, Camille Cottin, Abigail Breslin

My comments:  First movie-in-a-theater in a year and a half!! Super exciting!  And this was a good choice. Very interesting piece of storytelling.  Equally the story of a father doing anything to keep his daughter happy and a character study of the part that Matt Damon plays. It's about the characters and their relationships, what drives them, what makes them do the things they've done in their lives.  Can we be predisposed to be a fuck up?  I think that's the actual theme of the movie, which I really liked a lot.  Matt Damon was really wonderful (side note:  it looked like he put on a few pounds for this part).  What I saw of the setting, Marseilles, was nothing like what I have e er pictured Marseilles to be like.  I loved the way he learned to speak French and I loved the relationship between him and the nine-year-old girl, Maya.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Unemployed roughneck Bill Baker (Academy Award® winner Matt Damon) travels from Oklahoma to Marseilles to visit his estranged daughter Allison (Academy Award® nominee Abigail Breslin). Imprisoned for a murder she claims she did not commit. Allison seizes on a new tip that could exonerate her and presses Bill to engage her legal team But Bill eager to prove his worth and regain his daughters trust, takes matters into his own hands. He is quickly stymied by language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system until he meets French actress Virginie (Camille Cottin), mother to eight-year-old Maya (Lilou Siauvaud). Together, these unlikely allies embark on a journey of discovery, truth, love and liberation.

MOVIE - Avengers: Infinity War

PG-13 (2:36)

Wide release 4/27/18

Viewed 8/5/18, the last week on the big screen, at the cheap theater in Harrisburg (Colonial Four, I think)
IMBd:  

RT Critic:  83    Audience:  91
Critic's Consensus:  Avengers: Infinity War ably juggles a dizzying array of MCU heroes in the fight against their gravest threat yet, and the result is a thrilling, emotionally resonant blockbuster that (mostly) realizes its gargantuan ambitions.

Cag:  4.5 It was really, really good

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Walt Disney Pictures

Robert Downey, Jr; Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson; Benedict Cumberbash, Don Cheadle; Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Josh Brolin; Paul Bettany, Peter Dinklage

My comments:    A REALLY good movie, though I'm not sure how to take the ending.  What will come next?  What CAN come next?  So much humor, and of course a lot of action.  The special effects were quite amazing, and I loved seeing so many of the Marvel characters making an appearance (it must have cost a small fortune to make).  How do you make a movie like this?  The list of credits was incredible - I wonder how many people it took to create this?  Names just roll and roll.....and so much of the audience stays because they know there'll be some sort of scene at the very end of them.  And there was.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  The mad titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) begins his hunt for the most powerful objects in the universe, the Infinity Stones, in Marvel Studios' highly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War. With the Space Stone, given by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and the Power Stone, Thanos sends (Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian to retrieve the Time Strone from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), sends Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive) to retrieve the Mind Stone from Vision (Paul Bettany). Meanwhile, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) meets up with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and sorcerers Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong). With help from Peter Parker (Tom Holland), A.K.A. Spider-Man, Stark and Strange join forces together and agree to stop Thanos. In space, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) also joins forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the daughter of Thanos who warns Thor of his power. Thor travels away to defeat Thanos with Rocket and Groot while the other Guardians join forces with Stark, Strange, and Parker. In Wakanda, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his team, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Bruce Banner to protect Vision and the Mind Stone in his forehead. With protection given from King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), A.K.A. Black Panther, and his Wakandan army, Thanos will come for everyone to destroy half the universe.

MOVIE - The Shape of Water

R (1:59)

Wide release 12/22/18 (again, hard to find locally)

Viewed January 22, 2018
IMBd: 7.4

RT Critic:  92  Audience:  73
Critic's Consensus:  The Shape of Water finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best -- and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance.

Cag:  6/Awesome  

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer

My comments:  Oh my goodness, I didn't take notes about my thoughts and reactions after seeing this movie other than that it looks like it takes place in the late 50s.  Oh brother!  I loved it, it was wonderful science fiction with a spectacular ending.  Six months later and I still remember many (MANY) parts of it clearly, which is really unusual for me in recent years....

RT/ IMDb Summary:  From master story teller, Guillermo del Toro, comes THE SHAPE OF WATER - an other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa's life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Rounding out the cast are Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones and Michael Stuhlbarg.

2016 Oscars

Best Picture
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Best Director 
Adam McKay for The Big Short
George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Inarriut for The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson for Room
Tom McCarthy for Spotlight

Best Actor
Bryant Cranston - Trumbo
Matt Damon - The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Brie Larson - Room
Jennifer Lawrence - Joy
Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Tom Hardy - The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo - Spotlight
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

Best Foreign Language Film
Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)
Mustang (France)
Hungary (Son of Saul)
Theeb (Jordan)
A War (Denmark)

Best Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out - saw it, but didn't review
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There

MOVIE - Spotlight

R (2:07)

Limited release 11/6/15

Viewed 122/10 at ElCon with Sheila

RT Critic:  98  Audience:  96
Critics Consensus: Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact-based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes, resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real-life subjects.

Cag:  6  Wonderful movie, superbly done

Directed by Tom McCarthy (who also co-wrote)

Open Road Films

Based on the book by

Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schrieber, John Slattery,

My comments: I'm beginning to realize that my favorite movies are the ones that tell a true story.  Perhaps it's the actors that take on these stories?  Whatever the reason, this ensemble cast and clear, un-boring telling of how a huge coverup was detected was super-interesting from beginning to end.  The acting?  Superb!

RT Summary:  The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

MOVIE - The Spectacular Now

R (1:35)

Limited release 8-2-2013

El Con 9-6-13

RT Critic: 91 Audience: 85

Cag: 5 Loved it 

Directed by James Ponsoldt

Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Fandango Summary:   Tim Tharp's unsentimental tale of adolescent frustration comes to the screen in this comedy-drama following the story of a sociable high-school senior whose self-delusion shattered by his emerging friendship with an unpopular classmate. Sutter Keely is one of the most popular kids in his class. Outgoing and fun-loving, he's completely oblivious as to what awaits him beyond high school. Lately, however, his drinking has started to become a problem. So when Sutter's girlfriend breaks things off, he reaches for the bottle without hesitation. Awakening in the grass under the gaze of studious, practical-minded sci-fi nerd Aimee Finicky, he isn't quite sure how he got into such a predicament. Over time, however, the two teens who couldn't be any more different on the surface realize they have more in common than either ever suspected..

My comments:  I thought this was a particularly good movie. Miles Teller reminded me greatly of John Cusack....and Shailene Woodley pulled off her part beautifully.  This was a really believable story - and even with all the drinking and self-doubt, I left the movie feeling optimistic.  I'd see it again.  It wasn't fluff.

MOVIE - Zero Dark Thirty

R (2:37)

Wide Release 1-11-13

at El Con Monday, Jan. 28, 2103 (alone)

RT Critic:  93 Audience:  85

Cag: 4.5/Liked it a whole lot

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Columbia Pictures

Jessica Chastain plays the lead, is up for an academy award for her performance......

From Fandango:  Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden becomes one of the most-wanted men on the planet. The worldwide manhunt for the terrorist leader occupies the resources and attention of two U.S. presidential administrations. Ultimately, it is the work of a dedicated female operative (Jessica Chastain) that proves instrumental in finally locating bin Laden. In May 2011, elite Navy SEALs launch a nighttime strike against bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, killing him.