Philomena

This movie based on the Martin Sixsmith book, "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee" stars the incomparable, Dame Judi Dench in the title role.  She is an amazing actress in ANY film that she acts.

Steve Coogan co-wrote the screenplay and stars as the reporter Martin Sixsmith.  He is a political journalist who doesn't write human interest stories but somehow gets intrigued about Philomena's story.

Philomena is a widow woman and devout catholic with a grown daughter who cannot stop thinking about her son that was taken from her when she was a young girl living in an Ireland convent.

The story is masterfully done with good comic bits and drama without being melodramatic.  The chemistry between Steve Coogan and Judi Dench was amazing to watch; they obviously are friends off-camera.  This movie really makes a person think about the power that the Catholic church has at orphanages and convents. The way the Catholic church arguably thinks more about making money than caring about the individual person and historically speaking, the lesser-class women of society makes for an interesting conversation to come out of seeing this movie.

I give this a one and a half thumb up in praise for all things Dench.

Honor Flight

What a great way to spend Veteran's Day, watching a documentary about the start-up of an honor flight in Milwaukee.  A lot of the World War 2 veterans, are dying off and a group of people join together to raise money to fly them free to Washington DC to see the WWII memorial before they pass.  This shows the dedication of the volunteers and the sacrifices of the servicemen and their families.

This was poorly publicized and therefore had a poor turnout.  This should have been a sell-out, as the least we could do for the men laying their lives and livelihood on the line for our freedom.

I was moved to tears more then once watching this film from 2012.  I appreciate more then I can express in words all of our veterans, especially my paternal uncle who was able to fly on the Badger honor flight on 5/18/13 in recognition for his service in the Korean War.

I whole-heartedly give this two thumbs up in honor, appreciation and love for all the serviceman and women (and their families) who make this country the great United States of America.

Jackass: Bad Grandpa

Yes, I paid money to watch this movie.  Yes, I actually have watched and enjoyed the other Jackass movies too.  I feel that watching these type of movies and the idiotic stunts that these "actors" put themselves through provide just as much entertainment as any of the so-called reality shows so prevalent on TV.

Bad Grandpa is different than the other Jackass movies in that this actually has a plot.  It follows a grandpa trying to get his grandson to the boy's father so that he can date after his wife dies.  OK, I never said the plot was great, just that there was one.

This movie has funny scenes and the typical Jackass crass scenes but it was an interesting way to film a movie with limited actors and mostly real people in fake situations.  Jackson Nicoll shows that he is an up and coming actor at the tender age of  10 even in scenes that are arguably too old for him.

I give this one thumb up for the IQ needed by the viewer to watch this movie.

The Shining

Twenty three years ago, Stanley Kubrick co-wrote and directed The Shining, based on the legendary horror author, Steven King's book.  I have not read the book nor seen the movie until now.  I typically do not watch horror movies.  The Shining seems to be on many top movie lists including one of the top movie quotes, "Heeere's Johnny!" so when Sundance offered a chance to watch this movie on the big screen, I couldn't pass it up.

When you are watching a movie and commenting about pay phones, cigarette machines and other items from 'way back in the 80's' instead of being sucked into the story of the movie, it does not bode well.  Jack Nicholson is a wonderful actor but Shelley Duvall is a better supporting actress (see the movie Roxanne) than lead actress as she is in this movie.  To digress, NOBODY could have played Olive Oyl better in the film Popeye the same year as The Shining, so I retract the comment about not being a good lead actress.  Danny Lloyd plays the son who famously utters another top movie quote, "redrum, redrum" is even a better actor.  Scatman Crothers plays arguably the best character in the film.

As supposed classics go, I didn't feel scared at the horror except perhaps the one scene (SPOILER) where Scatman dies.

I give this two half thumbs up to run to the library to grab the original book by Steven King to read instead of watching this movie.

Enough Said

This ended up being James Gandolfini's last film and what a film to conclude a too-shortened career. He stars with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a couple exploring a relationship.  I never watched Seinfeld nor The Sopranos so was not a huge fan of either actor.  They were both wonderful.  James was like a big teddy bear who can be gruff if pushed to the edge while dealing with an ex-wife and daughter about to go away to college.  Julia was not the comedian that I have come to expect but was lovely in her portrayal of a woman also about to enter the empty nest part of her life.  The supporting cast was wonderful except for the character of James' daughter, who was a b***h then tried to be nice too quickly and too late.

I give this a one and a half thumb up pointing to James in heaven, possibly being nominated for a posthumous Oscar?!!?