MOVIE - Disobedience

R (1:54)

Limited release 4/27/2018

Viewed Thursday, June 21, 2018 at Majestic in Gettysburg
IMBd:  6.8/10

T Critic:  84  Audience: 80
Critic's Consensus:  Disobedience explores a variety of thought-provoking themes, bolstered by gripping work from leads Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and Alessandro Nivola.

Cag: 5 It was really wonderful

Directed by Sebastian Lelio

Bleecker Street

Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola

My comments:  Another powerful movie with exceptional performances.  Whoa, being gay in an Orthodox Jewish community!  Totally impossible, "Disobedience" showed a depth of humanity and love in the Orthodox Jewish community which, as much as I'd love to believe might happen, truly can't imagine that it would.  For most of the movie you get "typical" reactions from people.  Yes, my heart broke for a young woman of faith who was definitely not heterosexual, choosing to follow the beliefs she was raised with and marry a man she did care about but was not attracted to.  My heart broke even more for her husband, who ended up being an incredibly honest, loving, spiritual man.  The kind of spiritual leader that I could definitely believe in myself, and would help to heal our world.  Oh yes, I shed some tears, and I walked out of the theater thinking, "what could possible be the next step in a story like this one?"  Well done, well done.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  From Sebastián Lelio, the director of the Academy Award-winning A Fantastic Woman, the film follows a woman as she returns to the community that shunned her decades earlier for an attraction to a childhood friend. Once back, their passions reignite as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality. Written by Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz and based on Naomi Alderman's book, the film stars Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola.

MOVIE - Doctor Strange

PG-13 (2:10)

Wide Release 11/4/16

Viewed 11/15/16 at Century Park Place

RT Critic: 91   Audience: 90
Critic's Consensus:  Doctor Strange artfully balances its outré source material against the blockbuster constraints of the MCU, delivering a thoroughly entertaining superhero origin story in the bargain.

Cag: 5/Loved it

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Walt Disney Studios

Based on the Marvel Comic

Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swanton, Chiwetel Ejiofor

My comments:  Wow, loved this movie!  Not your "typical" Marvel/comic movie at all!  Not an overwhelming amount of fighting/action scenes, lots of incredible effects, a fantastic story, and WONDERFUL acting by Benedict Cumberbatch.  I think I'd like to see this in 3-D, although I don't usually like wearing the glasses, I bet this would be awesome!  Easy to go see again, too.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  A disgraced former surgeon named Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) becomes a powerful sorcerer under the tutelage of a mystic known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, and Chiwetel Ejiofor co-star in this entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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 - A Most Wanted Man

R (2:01)
Limited release 7/25/2014
El Con with Sheila First Day of School 8/7/2014
RT Critic:  90    Audience:  71
cag: 5.5 - Hard to say you "love" such a sad story, but it was amazingly done
Directed by Anton Corbijn
Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions
based on a book by John leCarre

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Defoe, Robin Wright, Grigory Dobrygin

My thoughts:  As I was watching the amazing Philip Seymour Hoffman, I kept remembering that this was his last film.  He was brilliant; nonstop smoking, drinking, thinking...caring.  It was the kind of story that unfolds, makes you attend carefully so that you can figure out what's going on.  You begin to see into each of the characters; their motivations, their stories.  It was amazingly done.  I don't know much about directing and exactly what it is that a director does to make this sort of characterization jump out at you, but this amateur movie-watcher is guessing that Mr. Corbijn did a terrific job.

RT Summary:  When a half-Chechen, half-Russian, brutally tortured immigrant turns up in Hamburg's Islamic community, laying claim to his father's ill-gotten fortune, both German and US security agencies take a close interest: as the clock ticks down and the stakes rise, the race is on to establish this most wanted man's true identity - oppressed victim or destruction-bent extremist?