Movies, 2018

MOVIES 2018

Amazing Hotels. Life Beyond The Lobby
Fogo Island Inn
A remarkable memory recreated telling the story of this very special Inn. Humorous and folksy and filled with Islander stories.

Mark Twain's Journey to Jerusalem
A special documentary of his trip, filled with his written observations and details of a 6 month journey to the HolyLand when it was neither much of a land, nor Holy. It was a huge disappointment.

Phantom Thread
Set in the glamour of 1950’s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutantes and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love. With his latest film, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Boogie Nights) paints an illuminating portrait both of an artist on a creative journey, and the women who keep his world running. Phantom Thread is Paul Thomas Anderson’s eighth movie, and his second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis. Presented in 70mm!
This was a highly stylized, and wonderful acted film that kept me utterly absorbed and engaged. I loved how the darkness of the individual character manipulates to the point of near death to get exactly what she needs and wants. The acting was done through acting and not through excessive dialogue and over-dramatization. It reminded me of the House of Chanel. I loved it. Lewis deserves his third Oscar. 

On Body and Soul
Foreign Best Film Entry fro Hungary and I thought that it was one of the worst. Butcher plant. Weird girl and man that shared the same dream of deer in a forest. 

Mad Men
The best TV series of 2007. I watched all 13 seasons. It was phenomenal. However, I did not like the ending of Donald Drapper. 

Live Action Shorts for Oscars, 2018
The Silent Child was my favorite. 
Emerate my Nephew showed the blacks in the hey day of the civil rights movement. They are shown as victims to the rednecks to lynch and hang. 
The Muslim one will win because it was preachy and PC and you have to ask yourself, would anyone of them defended the Christians had they been Jews?

Live Animation, 2018
My two favorites were the Bully in the schoolyard
All the fairytales, by Rahl, woven through Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, this was fantastic and so clever. 

15:17 To Paris
Director: Clint Eastwood. This had to be his worst film ever. It took two hours to tell a 5 minute story. It was badly edited, 1/3 of it spent as a kid, and he used the real guys instead of actors, and these real life young men, cannot act and it hurt the film. I found it a total waste of money. 

Nostalgia
A mosaic of stories about love and loss, Nostalgia explores our relationships to the objects, artifacts and memories that shape our lives. A film of rare insight and sensitivity, filled with characters as real and recognizable as your friends and neighbors, it’s a profoundly moving drama about our collective need to find meaning in these objects we hold so dear. All-star cast includes Jon Hamm, Ellen Burstyn, Catherine Keener, Bruce Dern, John Ortiz, Nick Offerman, James Le Gros, Amber Tamblyn, Annalise Basso, Mikey Madison, Jennifer Mudge, Patton Oswalt and Chris Marquette. Directed by Mark Pellington (The Last Word, Arlington Road). The movie was a meditative, thoughtful and exquisitely written with marvelous dialogue film about death, and dying and loss and the material and literal pieces and people and places that we leave behind and why and why fore and the reason on. It was slow and easy but heavy, so heavy and dark. 


Abacus:  Small Enough to Jail
Academy Nominated film for Best Documentary. I found it very legalistic and had a hard time following it. I felt the mother was the most accessible and real. It carried a political bent. What I did enjoy was that it was nuance, there were no good buys and bad ones. I felt each had a point-of-view that was believable and hard working. 

Red Sparrow
In the suspense thriller Red Sparrow, Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is many things. A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs. A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit. A master of seductive and manipulative combat. When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust. Also starring Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons. Directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire). Yael hated the film. She said the only semblance to the book was the Title of the movie. Everything was wrong. They made up a entire new book. The casting was wrong. I enjoyed it, though I found the torture scenes grizzly and too hard to view. Since, I did not read the book, I had no point of reference. 

Girl Trip, 2017

You must watch this movie. Yael came over last night and we watched it together. Cary had to walk out of the room. Yael and I were laughing so hard, that I thought I was going to pee in my pants. It is absolutely hilarious. You must watch it with the girls, especially Lauren. It is about these 4 black friends who go to New Orleans and have a raucous fabulous time. It is so black, so hilarious, full of sexual jokes and humor and sexual innuendo and funny! I loved it. It was the best medicine. 

Young Winston, 1972
Richard Attenborough directed this chronicle of the youthful Winston Churchill. It stars Anne Bancroft and Simon Ward. I found the war scenes went on a little bit long and the interviews actually I found the most interesting and wish they had been more developed. These interviews moved the story forward and the voice over added and weighted the film giving it is gravitas. 

The Bag of Marbles
This exceptional and marvelous film about the Holocaust is not to be missed. It is one of the most inspirational films I have seen regarding this subject. A true story told though the eyes and experience of two young children, brothers, it takes place in Paris and the environs. Their survival is through sheer instinct and luck and the kindness of strangers and angels. It is a miracle how anyone truly survived. And, it put faith back into me regarding the goodness and kindness of strangers. 

The Opera House
This is about the building of the Metropolitan opera house from its beginning to its new location at The Lincoln Center and what went on behind the scenes. The interviews were all of the cast of characters that are still alive, now into their 90's. I thought I would hear a lot more singing than I did so I was disappointed by that. It was a documentary that had 5 people in the audience and I could understand why. The only scene I wound poignant was seeing the lines in the 40's and the crowds of people trying to get in to see an opera as they stood in line for the standing room only tickets. One was a woman that they interviewed on the street, wearing a worn wool coat, and the old fashioned glasses and how she lived for opera. This archival film showed that even poetry and hardship of life, people are desperate to see and hear beauty to stir their souls from their realities of daily living. 

Journey's End
An extraordinary film of life in the trenches six months before the end of the war, March 21, 1918. The acting is superb and one is kept on the edge of their seat. It is a terrible useless war, and the idiocy of it is brought to light in vivid darkness through a few characters and a little background. I feel it is one of the finest war films I have seen. War in all of its horror through the short lives it the soldiers who fought. 

Lean on Pete
From acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Weekend), and based on the beloved novel by Willy Vlautin, comes Lean on Pete—a deeply moving story about love, loneliness, family, and friendship, told through the unique prism of one boy’s connection to a very special racehorse. Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer, All the Money in the World) arrives in Portland, Oregon with his single father Ray (Travis Fimmel), both of them eager for a fresh start after a series of hard knocks. While Ray descends into personal turmoil, Charley finds acceptance and camaraderie at a local racetrack where he lands a job caring for an aging Quarter Horse named Lean On Pete. The horse’s gruff owner Del Montgomery (Steve Buscemi) and his seasoned jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny) help Charley fill the void of his father’s absence—until he discovers that Pete is bound for slaughter, prompting him to take extreme measures to spare his new friend’s life. Charley and Pete head out into the great unknown, embarking on an odyssey across the new American frontier in search of a loving aunt Charley hasn’t seen in years. They experience adventure and heartbreak in equal measure, but never lose their irrepressible hope and resiliency as they pursue their dream of finding a place they can call home. Lean on Pete is a compassionate and heartrending look at the desire for love, family, and acceptance that drives all of us. This marvelous sleeper of a film was wonderfully done, with a marvelous sensitive young man who plays Charley. The movie could go in so many different directions and it keeps you utterly absorbed. Marvelous, marvelous film. 

Beruit

"A U.S. diplomat (Jon Hamm, Baby Driver, “Mad Men”) flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by a CIA operative (Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl, 7 Days in Entebbe) to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind. Written by Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Trilogy) and directed by Brad Anderson (Transsiberian, The Machinist), Beirut joins the tradition of politically savvy, smart international thrillers like Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, The Year of Living Dangerously, The Debt and Eye in the Sky." I have always loved Jon Hamm after his role in Mad Men. So I knew that I would enjoy this tense thriller. Much of it did not make sense. Why was the PLO holding the bad brother terrorist when he did their dirty work in Munich? I did love how Israel was portrayed, tough, to be feared, cagey and powerful and strong and not to be messed with!" It was not a bad Israeli film portraying Israel in a bad light at all. Wonderful!

Shelter
"Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent is sent to Germany to protect Mona, a Lebanese informant recovering from plastic surgery to assume her new identity. Together for two weeks in a quiet apartment in Hamburg, the relationship that develops between the two women is soon exposed to the threat of terror that is engulfing the world It is a game of deception, beliefs that are questions and choices that are made. It is the relationship which develops between these two women and how an agent only needs to know the information that he needs to know even if this betrays him in the deepest way. Great film!

Chappaquiddick
"Chappaquiddick recounts the tragic events of the 1969 car accident involving U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) and a young female campaign worker who died at the scene. Kennedy left the scene of the accident and didn’t alert authorities for ten hours. What happens over the ensuing days reveals how one of the most powerful and influential political family dynasties in U.S. history orchestrated the truth behind the death of Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara). Their efforts to control the story in the press, run damage control and preserve the family’s legacy is an extraordinary story of the powerful and the untouchable. The infamous incident will become a defining moment in Ted Kennedy’s career, as he wrestles with his own moral compass, and ultimately puts his future in the hands of the American people. Also starring Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan, Clancy Brown, Olivia Thirlby and Bruce Dern. Directed by John Curran (Tracks, The Painted Veil)." I thought that this was an extremely well done picture of Ted Kennedy. I lived through it and remember it well and how obsessed the entire nation was by it. The idea that a walk for help was literally only 15 second away and he walked past it, is horrifying. His character was despicable and full of lies. They say he spent the rest of his life in retribution for taking the life of a young beautiful woman. She was also the only child of decent people who lost everything. The clean-up was disgusting. 

The House of Tomorrow
Ellen Burstyn. Honestly, this is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It was simply awful. Utterly miscast with terrible acting and storyline and plot and it was stupid and tedious and boring. How do films like this even get made!!!

Little Pink House
Another boring and predictable film of Private Domain of how the government is able to seize your house if there is something that they want to build like a road. In this case, it was a private business and Susette Kelo fought back and her case went all the way to the Supreme Court. I found it tedious dull. 

The Rider
This was a phenomenal film of a cowboy who was hurt in the rodeo and how he comes to terms with the fact that he will never be able to ride or train again. It is truly a remarkable and powerful and moving film. And, all true and the cowboy and his friend are the characters in real life that they play in the film. "Talented young rodeo rider and horse trainer Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) suffered a severe head wound when a horse badly crushed his skull at a rodeo and put him in a three-day coma. His doctors have told him he must quit riding, at the risk of his life, but as Brady recuperates at his family’s rundown ranch he wrestles with whether or not he can give up riding, the thing he loves most, that defines his life. In an attempt to regain control of his fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity, trying to redefine his idea of what it means to be a man in the heartland of America. Quiet and rugged, newcomer Jandreau is a magnetic screen presence. The beautiful wide-open South Dakota landscape is lovingly photographed by Joshua James Richards, cinematographer of God’s Own Country.Writer/director Chloé Zhao (Songs My Brother Taught Me) has based the heartfelt, emotionally powerful story on Jandreau’s own life, casting other members of the Jandreau family (father Tim and little sister Lilly) playing versions of themselves. Nominated for 5 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture. Winner of the CICAE Art Cinema Award at the Cannes Film Festival."

Hope and Glory
"John Boorman's autobiographical film, is a nostalgic and gently comic remembrance of England during the Blitz as seen through the his eyes as a 10 year old boy. It is considered one of the finest films of war on a daily living family made. I found it outstanding in how war affects a family as they live through their life trying to adapt and adjust to their new surrounds and unexpected bombings.

Disobedience
"Love is an act of defiance in the tender romantic drama Disobedience. Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)stars as a woman who returns to the orthodox Jewish community that shunned her for decades earlier because of her attraction to a childhood friend (Rachel McAdams, Spotlight). Once back, passions between the two women reignite as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality. Alessandro Nivola co-stars. Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Ida) and director Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman, Gloria), based on Naomi Alderman’s book." I thought this was a wonderful nuance film that showed the religious life with respect and honor, pious and kind. I thought the husband was a marvelous sympathetic character. It was really about people and their choices and their instinctive biological systems and the conflicts and trauma they are forced to make. 

The Seagull
Saoirse Ronan. I will see any movie that she is in. She plays an innocent young girl who falls in love with her "hero" and how crushed and destroyed she is by the end of the story. The film was marvelous. Anton Chekov translates into wonderful film with rich and meaningful dialogue. In this story everyone is dealing with unrequited love, where everyone is in love with someone else. It is a penetrating and profound psychological human drama and genuine human emotion.

I Feel Pretty 
For its genre and kind of film, this light chic comedy is perfect. I so enjoyed it and had lots of laughs. It had a singular message which I found important for young girls to feel and to understand. "In Amy Schumer’s new comedy I Feel Pretty, an ordinary woman who struggles with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy on a daily basis wakes from a fall believing she is suddenly the most beautiful and capable woman on the planet. With this newfound confidence she is empowered to live her life fearlessly and flawlessly, but what will happen when she realizes her appearance never changed? Co-starring Michelle Williams, Rory Scovel, Emily Ratajkowski, Aidy Bryant, Busy Phillips and Tom Hopper, with Naomi Campbell and Lauren Hutton.  Written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein (screenwriters of He’s Just Not That Into You, How to Be Single, Never Been Kissed and The Vow)."

Chesil Beach
by director Dominic Cooke

"When I first read the script to On Chesil Beach I was immediately compelled by its honest, tender picture of two young people on the cusp of adulthood. Florence and Edward are 22 years old, charming, intelligent and talented. They love one another deeply but seem to have been born in the wrong time and place. England in 1962 is stuffy and uptight. The social and cultural revolution of the sixties has yet to kick in and, like most young people brought up in austere post-war England, they have been taught to neglect, ignore and repress their feelings. This leaves them emotionally unprepared for their wedding night, woefully ignorant about sex and unable to share their fears. The results of this are devastating. 

On Chesil Beach was originally a novel by one of our greatest living writers, Ian McEwan, who’s brilliantly adapted it for the screen. In all his work, Ian anatomizes the darker and more unresolved sides of our natures with astonishing accuracy. But he balances this with tenderness and compassion for his characters, who are vivid and complex. His writing also has a clear sense of place. For him, place, time, class, culture and history shape our identity at a very deep level. This is a view that I share; I have always believed that we’re shaped very deeply by the values we absorb from the first moment we’re born. I’m also fascinated by which parts of us are innate versus which are conditioned by our upbringing. In this movie, two young people struggle to make sense of their instinctive natures within the narrow, conformist expectations of the times they live in. The film is very much on their side, willing them to transcend their difficulties but the story is also realistic about how hard it is for any of us to go beyond our social conditioning and the pressures society layers onto us.

In addition to depicting a specific time and place, the film grapples with the universal situation of a couple’s first night together. Having screened the movie across the world, it’s been fascinating how people from very different cultures identify with Florence and Edward’s situation. The anxiety around physical intimacy is something many people privately feel whatever their background and culture. Although we live in a different era to Edward and Florence’s, sadly the expectations young people feel around their sex lives, largely due to the centrality of the internet in their lives, are as loaded and unrealistic as ever. 

Great scripts attract great talent and I was very lucky to have two extremely smart, sensitive and talented actors at the center of this story with Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle. They were a joy to work with and brought insight, charisma and a rare maturity to their roles. They are supported by some remarkable actors. Emily Watson, Samuel West, Adrian Scarborough, and Anne-Marie Duff, who play Florence and Edward’s parents, are among Britain’s finest. Between them they depict a generation completely out of touch with the values and sensibilities of their children, staring at them uncomprehendingly across an abyss. I also loved working with a remarkable team of designers, editor, composer and the renowned cinematographer Sean Bobbitt to create a very distinctive visual world in which we show Edward and Florence as outsiders in an outdated world." This extraordinary film left me in tears. There was such a repressed and raw honestly and sensitivity and allusions to early trauma that made Florence unavailable. Edward is such a kind and sensitive young man who is shattered by what happens to him. 

After Auschwitz - 
One War ends. Another begins.
A post holocaust documentary that follows six women as they describe how they lived after the war with this unbearable tragedy and trauma. They embraced life but the trauma was with them always. 

Overboard
A remake of the original with Goldie Hawn. That was feels dated but this 2018 version, with the pampered spoiled man who has to live the life of the ordinary citizen, feels relevant and hilarious. For its genre, just to be entertained and amused, it was delightful.

The Commuter
Laim Neilson. Neilson has resorted to these thrillers of the everyday man who gets sucked into big complicated horrors while trying to live his simple life getting by. This is like Taken but everything takes place on the train where he is forced to settle a corrupt cop and cover-up by the corrupt cop who happens to be his friend. It is very suspenseful and good. 

Summer, 2017
This Oscar Award nominee for Best Foreign Picture from Spain covers the summer of an eight-year-old child whose mother dies and she goes and lives with her uncle and wife and 3 year-old first cousin. How her grief unfolds and expresses itself is quite real and heartbreaking and sad as she tires to cope with her new life situation and loss. 

Let The Sunshine In
Juliette Binoche plays a divorced single mom Parisian painter who is searching for love as she goes from one man to the next, one loser to the next, as they drift in and out of her life. The loneliness and isolation and desperation are intense and hard to inhale. It is a slow moving and sad film. 

Book Club  
Jane Fonda (80) Candice Bergan (73) This film is about four women, one is single, divorced, married, never married. It is Sex In The City for the old crowd. The film had some funny lines but it felt forced and silly and ridiculous. There is no discussion of health issues, trauma, loss. It is all about sex. Diane Keaton is a lesbian with zero sexuality and dresses always in trousers with the sweater over her shoulders. There is some thing clawing about her that gives me the willys. Even as she relates to her two daughters, it feels contrived and unreal. 

Beast
Moll (Jessie Buckley, “Taboo”) is 27 and still living at home, stifled by the small island community around her and too beholden to her family to break away. When she meets Pascal (Johnny Flynn, “Lovesick”), a free-spirited stranger, a whole new world opens up to her and she begins to feel alive for the first time, falling madly in love. Finally breaking free from her family, Moll moves in with Pascal to start a new life. But when he is arrested as the key suspect in a series of brutal murders, she is left isolated and afraid. Choosing to stand with him against the suspicions of the community, Moll finds herself forced to make choices that will impact her life forever. Written and directed by Michael Pearce, making his feature debut. This was an awful movie, with little purpose or meaning to its existence. It left me feeling dirty afterwards. I hated it. I wished I had stayed home and watched great TV

Adrift
Shailene Woodley (Tami Oldham) and Sam Chaflin (Richard Sharp) Chaflin is one of my favorite actors. It takes place in 1983. It is a true story. Two sailors set out to journey across the ocean from Tahiti to San Diego. They could not anticipate that they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly injured and their boat is in ruins. With no hope for rescue, Tami must find the strength and determination to save herself and the only man she has ever loved. It is about resilience and the human spirit and the transcendent power of love. I thought the movie was excellent. It captures the suspense and hardship and is clever in its execution in that Richard has not survived the storm at all and at the end you see that she has been utterly alone at sea for 41 days. 

Atonement, 2007
This marvelous film that I saw years ago, I saw again on the TV. How profoundly sad and lost and destroyed loved lives became because of a liar that was told out of revenge, malice, jealously and innocence, and of not understanding the complete picture and story. This 13 year old child destroyed her world and for the rest of her life she sought Atonement. She never received it and she never found peace.

Coco, 2017
This Academy Award winning Spanish animated film was simply wonderful. It explained the Mexican holiday to me, The Celebration of the Dead. It shared values and principles and meaning to a person's life as told and experienced through a child. It was simply fabulous. I loved it. 

Identical Twins
The acclaimed documentary Three Identical Strangers is the most amazing, incredible, remarkable true story ever told. Three strangers are reunited by astonishing coincidence after being born identical triplets, separated at birth, and adopted by three different families. Their jaw-dropping, feel-good story instantly becomes a global sensation complete with fame and celebrity. However, the fairy-tale reunion sets in motion a series of events that unearth an unimaginable secret––a secret with radical repercussions for us all. Winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Award, Three Identical Strangers is an exuberant celebration of family that transforms into a thriller with colossal implications and proof that life is truly stranger than fiction. "This was an extraordinary documentary. Nuture or Nature. It created fascinating questions and showed the base of human nature and how they played with other human beings.

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Annette Bening. Jamie Bell. Julie Walters. Legendary feme fatale G;loria Grahame begins an affair with a 28 year old man. But as their relationship deepens, events soon spiral beyond their control. This film showed to me how people use each other and play with the other for their own needs and narcissistic desires. It was a good film.

Damascus  Cover

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot
The last day Portland slacker John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix) is able to walk, he wakes up without a hangover—because he’s still drunk from the night before. That night at a wild party he meets a wisecracking drinking buddy (Jack Black), who insists they leave for an even better party he knows about. But when his new friend dozes off at the wheel, John wakes up confined to a wheelchair with only partial use of his arms. Though he initially has no intention of getting sober, he reluctantly attends a 12-step meeting run by a charismatic and dedicated sponsor named Donnie (Jonah Hill) and reconnects with Annu (Rooney Mara), a therapist he met at the hospital. With their encouragement, John finds that love is not beyond his reach and discovers a hidden talent for drawing, channeling his playful personality into crude, politically incorrect—and often hilarious—cartoons, which develop a national following. Based on a true story, this poignant, insightful, funny drama about redemption, forgiveness and the healing power of art is adapted from Callahan’s autobiography and directed by two-time Oscar nominee Gus Van Sant (Milk, Good Will Hunting).

Love, Cecil.
Director and Producer: Lisa Immordino Vreeland. Narrator by Rupert Everett
This marvelous documentary was about a terribly gay man in England who was a masterful and brilliant writer, set designer, costume designer, photographer. He was world famous and full of snobbery and anti-Semitism and wanting desperately and always to escape his outside status by his class and his homosexuality. His obsession for beauty created magnificent beauty that still stands strong today. It was a remarkable biography. 


Mamma Mia. Here We Go Again
Get ready to sing and dance, laugh and love all over again. Ten years after Mamma Mia! The Movie, you are invited to return to the magical Greek island of Kalokairi in an all-new original musical based on the songs of ABBA. Reprising their roles from the original film are Meryl Streep as Donna, Julie Walters as Rosie and Christine Baranski as Tanya. Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper reunite as Sophie and Sky, while Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård and Colin Firth return to play Sophie’s three possible dads: Sam, Bill and Harry. As the film goes back and forth in time to show how relationships forged in the past resonate in the present, Lily James plays the role of Young Donna. Filling the roles of Young Rosie and Young Tanya are Alexa Davies and Jessica Keenan Wynn. Young Sam is played by Jeremy Irvine, while Young Bill is Josh Dylan and Young Harry is Hugh Skinner. Also starring Cher and Andy Garcia, the musical comedy is written and directed by Ol Parker, screenwriter of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Cher.. Lilly James. Some of the actors were great. The story, plot, dialogue, film itself was awful, but the music and plain sheer entertainment was terrific. The critics destroyed this film. But the movie is laughing all the way to the bank. It is sold out. Every show!

Magic Music Movie.
Director-Writer. Lee Aronsohn.  This remarkable documentary about the band that no one knows about, never cut a record and was pretty much forgotten and all the musicians went their separate ways, was reborn through our narrator, who heard them at college, fell in love with the group and always wondered what happened to them.
He spent years researching, writing, discovering and achieving. You see what happened to their lives over time, the humor, the living in the moment, the price that paid, the drugs, and divorces, deaths and loss. Making no money. Only one of the group made it. The film was as much as a quest and drive and unrelenting story for the Director that it shows through perseverance and determination, and finance, anything is possible. I loved it.

Puzzles
Puzzle is a closely observed portrait of Agnes (Kelly Macdonald), who has reached her early 40s without ever venturing far from home, family or the tight-knit immigrant community in which she was raised by her widowed father. That begins to change in a quietly dramatic fashion when Agnes receives a jigsaw puzzle as a birthday gift and experiences the heady thrill of not only doing something she enjoys, but being very, very good at it. Taken for granted as a suburban mother, her new passion unexpectedly draws her into a new world—where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined. Also starring Irrfan Khan and David Denman. I found this tedious movie boring, clique, and not about puzzles at all. This was the item used to bring two people together. She did not go with boyfriend nor her husband who was a nice and decent guy. She wrecked her marriage to find herself. Her sons did not look like they belonged in the family at all. It was a happy enough family, until a puzzle intersected with her life and took her down a different path. Honestly, I could have cared less. The movie was a misrepresentation!

The Cakemaker
Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, a married Israeli man who makes frequent business trips to Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking answers about his death. Under a fabricated Identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover's widow., who owns a small cafe in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her and soon finds himself involved in her life in a way far beyond his anticipation. 

This was a Masterpiece on so many levels Yael. I left weeping. The pace and dialogue and development of storyline. The nuances and details were really perfection. The respect for individual boundaries and the understanding that this is what creates intimacy and closeness and connection and not the revealing of everything at the first Hello. I thought this is one of the finest films that I have seen in years. It unfolded like the food was revealed after mixing ingredients and bringing it to its conclusion. The entire film unfolded naturally and easily and believably and as it should and would have, if true. 

Did you notice at the end when she was traveling to Germany and they passed the Great Synagogue from the window? It has still not been repaired from the outside. Like relationships.
The Baker reminded me so much of my father as what I imagine he was like as a young man. His gentleness and not intrusive nature and crossing of boundaries. One felt safe in his presence because he was not going to intrude on you land demand more than you want to give, like Anita. I thought the way trust was built up was natural and sincere and as it should. 

The characters were marvelous from the grandmother to the wife to the baker and to the son and even Moti played his protective Israeli brother-in-law role well. There was a deep abiding respect. 

But the way loss and grief were handled and dealt with I thought was profound and devastating. Each person was dealing with the grief of the husband, son, brother, father, lover in his own way. 
One must continue while never really getting over it. Just getting through each day the best they could. 

Our baker felt closer to his lover when he inhabited his public life and tried to reconnect to him this way. I think when he learned that the husband was leaving his wife for him was more than he could bear. Wasn’t he a marvelous actor? He was so alone as each of them were in their own way and in their own world. Loss and Grief was such a profound character in this film. I thought it caught on a micro level the macro level of the Jewish Experience. I loved how it took the rain to let him inhabit the husband’s clothes. I loved how he remember his lover’s descriptions in how he made love to his wife and how he remembered this and did the way as he.

I thought it captured Israel in such a real way. From how noisy the country is when the baker was in his apartment and the windows were open. From the customers tasting the cookies and with only a nod showed their appreciation.  It was wonderful to see the city of Jerusalem unfold in front of my eyes. It all felt so familiar. I loved how they referred to him as The German with all the connections that label implied. 

I could not stop crying when it was over. It was a Classic in film.

What Will People Say?
"Sixteen-year-old Nisha lives a double life. When out with her friends, she's a normal Norwegian teenager. At home with her family, she is the perfect Pakistani Daughter. But when her father catches her alone with her boyfriend in her room, Nisha's two worlds brutally collide. Her parents send Nisha against her will to a small town in Pakistan to live extended family. There, in an unfamiliar country surrounded by people she bare knows, Nisha must adapt to a rigid culture that denies her the freedoms she once enjoyed" This extraordinary film left me on the edge of my seat and stunned by the reality of the clash of these two cultures. This powerful and gripping film is remarkable because it captures perfectly the split, the impact, and the horror of what is required and demanded of family obligation, rules and a woman's role and place. 

Juliet, Naked
Annie (Rose Byrne) is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd)—an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke). When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s hit record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to a life-changing encounter with the elusive rocker himself. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy), Juliet, Naked is a smart and charming romantic comedy about life’s second chances. Featuring new music written by Ryan Adams, Robyn Hitchcock, Nathan Larson and Conor Oberst. Directed by Jesse Peretz (Our Idiot Brother, “Girls”).  This is a highly entertaining and fresh comedy of modern contemporary life and values. It was thoroughly enjoyable and Rose Byrne was wonderful. Unfortunately, she kept hooking up with real losers. 

BLACKKKLANSMAN

I have rarely been as enraged as I was when I left this film. I feel it was the most manipulative, dishonest, sleight of hand, film I have seen in many many years. Spike Lee, at 64 years old, is a highly experienced, angry, filmmaker who knows exactly what messaging he is trying to communicate. And the audience, accepting everything at face value and not bothering to be particularly astute, can easily be mobbed swayed by his messaging. I would never recommend this film. 

His use of Jews was underhanded. He tried to show that there are good cops and bad cops; that Jews are as vulnerable and can be seen as victims to the KKK people, just like blacks. But through sleight of hand, Lee is able to speak out loud every possible anti-Semitic trope, thought, word and gesture. He uses the ruse of showing Jews ”sympathetically.” It is a very clever tool trick. Shame to the Jew who plays the Shadow Cop. He rejects his identity, heritage, religion and identification. It is only through this KKK experience in going undercover that for the first time he begins thinking about his heritage. Really? This is what it takes for him to think about his Tribe and Race? What a character Spike Lee has drummed up. It is Lee’s ultimate wet dream.

  

Lee could easily have created a Jewish character that is a Jew who is comfortable in his own skin. This Jew could even have been a proud Jew. But, not Lee. He created a Jew that was utterly uninvolved, detached and disengaged and could care less about being a Jew. This is significant. Code: If Jews feel this way, why do we blacks care so much? If Jews have so much indifference and contempt for themselves, why should we not feel the same toward them? Hey. We have suffered so much because of the Jew and look how they feel about themselves. They hate themselves as much as we hate them.

Lee created this character. He is the Director of the film. This is significant. These characters are his voice. I know exactly what he was trying to communicate. Not to the Jews of course, but to the Blacks. 

As a child and teenager I lived among black people. The community back then was very different then it is today. This new Generation is seething with hatred and jealousy and envy. The contrast between how I grew up and today’s Black Community is intense and tragic. I grew up with Dr. Martin Luther King who loved and respected Jews and Israel. The new Generation admires Malcolm X. Black Lives Matter, Muslims and the Poor Palestinians. 

Lee brought the Jew and Black together in the way he did so this film would pass under the radar to Hollywood Jewish producers. Lee knew that Hollywood would boycott his film, not that they care about their Jewishness, but they publicly do. Even they have red lines. Think what Hollywood did to Mel Gibson with his anti-Semitic rants. This would be ditto. This is what I meant by sleight of hand. Listen to every trope Lee pulls out of the garbage to speak about the Jew. He uses the voices of the KKK but do not deceive yourself. It is Lee’s voice. And, Lee’s voice alone.

  Lee has a long history of virulent anti-Semitism and Jew Hatred. He is very clever. Think about it. He has long verbal and visual extensions of the meanness, viciousness and cruelty of whites toward blacks. Lee could have had the same extensions by the KKK toward the Jew. He could have shown how Jews have suffered and been abused and despised. But Lee does not add even one long winding lecture, not one tortuous visual. Nothing. He lets all these Jew Hatred Tropes be spoken without any response. He plants them out there. He lets them simply be absorbed.

Superficially, it appears that Lee is trying to create sympathy toward the Jew. Actually, he is doing just the opposite,. He is giving the Black man his reason for Jew Hatred today. I do not think there is one stereotype or characterization or clique or anti-Jewish comment that Spike Lee does not endorse or reinforce. Of course, Lee does it through using the evil KKK but that is the head fake. He communicates loud and clear his own personal messaging and viewpoint of the world to Blacks. In many ways, Lee himself is no different then the KKK when it comes to how he feels about Jews and in reverse from the KKK, in how he feels about whites.

And the preachiness of Belafonte! And the Black Panther, Stokey Carmichel, God! Could he make their speeches any longer? In fact, Carmichael quotes Hillel with the most famous quotation from Hillel but gives Hillel no credit. He acts like he wrote it himself! The film reeks of white hatred and white power and white supremacy. Blacks hold on to their victim status.

  To me,there is not Institutional Racism no mater how much Lee wanted to preach it. We have had a Black President, Attorney General, Black Politicians and Chiefs in every rank, file and order. But, if Blacks want to keep feeling the victim to white power they will always stay down.

The KKK started 100 miles from where I grew up. Its impact in America is really in the first few decades of the 20th century. Its power has waned. In fact, in Colorado where this movie takes place, the local KKK Chapter is very small and marginalized. Lee makes it seem as if the KKK is gripping the country, as if ithas morphed into something far more dangerous. Read the Charter of Black Lives Matter. This group is far more dangerous.

I despised how he played Trump. He is so convinced that Trump is a Racist. Trump is NOT a racist. But, it is a Narrative that the Left will not let go. Just like Trump is not Islamphobic, hates women, (he loves women) homophobic, he is not a racist. You say it long enough and people believe it. Throughout the film, Lee is trashing Trump, speaking in code so the audience will applaud. By the end, I was ready to stand up and protest the film! He aligns Trump with David Duke so that the visual blend will be complete. Lee firmly plants his agenda and image in everyone’s mind. Trump is no different then David Duke! What kind of crap is this? Trump supports the KKK! Come on man. You loose all credibility.

Charlottesville and The Live Footage. When Trump said that there is evil on both sides, he was right. The Left instigated this confrontation, brought the media in. And who were the Left? They were representatives from Black Lives Matter and from Antifada! Two of the most white hating, Jew hating, Muslim loving, groups in the country! These were two extremists batting in each other’s heads. Lee portrayed America as if nothing has changed from the 1960’s! This is a downright victimhood lie, it simply is not true. There is no one who knows this better than me! I grew up with Jim Crow Laws firmly in place. I lived in the black community during high school. Today, the world is utterly different. There is no comparison.

When Lee closed the film displaying the American flag inside down, he showed utter disrespect, like the blacks taking a knee during the National Anthem. I was enraged. And, everyone in the audience applauded.

Lee trashed America as a great nation and America exceptionalism throughout the film. He trashed Trump. He trashed Jews in the most manipulative and sleight of hand imaginable.
He is very very clever and knew exactly what he was doing. He played the American Jew like a violin and was able to bypass Hollywood with his manipulative tricks and tactics.

  

  This movie is a disgrace.

Shame on Spike Lee. Pox on his House. May Spike Lee rot in hell.

  Hallie Lerman

Christopher Robbin 
 A lovely sweet film, perfect for a 10-year-old. It mixes story line with animation. I loved Poor Bear. He was so expressive. The kids loved Madeline. The conclusion was socialism idealism so his idea would not work in capitalism. But, that is Hollywood. It is a movie for all. Amazing that there have been thee Christopher Robbin related films within a year. Disney is milking this book for all it is worth. They first had a complete animation which was wonderful. The second was a serious drama of the effect of fame, that this book created for Christopher Robbin in real life. And, then this film. A totally fictionalized movie about Christopher Robbin as an adult and how he needs to find the child within him in order to return to a life of family and attention so he ends up revisiting his old friends.

Memoir of War
A French film taken from a book by Marguerite Duras, from The Lover, her most internationally famed novel. This book is about a woman, cold and non-relatable who works for the Resistance and throughout the entire film is grieving desperately for her husband. He does finally return at the end of the film where he was in Dachau and she divorces him! It was long and tedious with little emotion and identification. 

Operation Finale
This is the story of the capture of Eichmann. The book "Searching For Eichmann" by Neal Bascomb, of course, is far better and suspenseful. They had to compress details and eliminate others to put it into two hours but it was extremely well done. The entire audience was Jewish. 

Bel Canto
A predictable and somewhat boring story with Julianne Moore. I cannot stand watching her on screen. Her profile is hideous and I do not understand why she became as famous as an actress as she has. There are too many PC qualities in this film.


The Children's Act
Emma Thompson. Stanley Tucci. The film was well done and interesting but not exceptional nor would I recommend it.
There were too many loose pieces.

The Bookshop
I love Emily Mortimer, have always been a fan of hers. The film was old film making and theme and plot and character development and for these reasons I enjoyed it. It also emphasized the love and care of books and what they are.


Remember
Christopher Plummer. Martin Landau. This wonderful film is about an old man who searches for the Nazis that murdered his family and who has survived these long years living hiding in the US. It is very, very good
Crazy Rich Aliens
An entertaining film of the rich and famous, a Pretty Girl kind of theme where it all ends happily and where in reality, it would never happen. The wealth is obscene and decadent and true. Thank goodness that it is about Asians.


Tully
An interesting film starred by Charlieze Terron. It is really an hallucination and profound post partam depression and how it expresses itself in her descent into loneliness and being overwhelmed.


Pick Of The Litter
This shows how dogs for the blind are born and raised and trained and finally given to their new owners. It is inspirational and generous and I was stunned to see the two year process, the enormous investment in what it takes to train these dogs.


93 Queen
"This is a story of a group of Hassidic women in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn who defied the patriarchal status quo to establish Ezras Nashim, women for women, the first all female volunteer ambulance service in New York City. It follows founder Rachel "Ruchie" Freier, who is really the mover and shaker behind bringing this to creation. She was just elected to be the FirstHasidic woman to hold elected office as a judge in the United States." This is a very well done straight forward documentary.


Colette
"After marrying a successful Parisian writer known commonly as “Willy” (Dominic West), Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendor of Paris. Soon after, Willy convinces Colette to ghostwrite for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about a witty and brazen country girl named Claudine, sparking a bestseller and a cultural sensation. After its success, Colette and Willy become the talk of Paris and their adventures inspire additional Claudine novels. Colette’s fight over creative ownership and gender roles drives her to overcome societal constraints, revolutionizing literature, fashion and sexual expression. Based on a true story. Directed and co-written by Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice, Quinceañera)." I found it slow and PC and relevant to todays world but skeptical about its Truth telling. I would not recommend it. 


Searching
This remarkable film, done all on screen, is original and fresh. It is about a father searching for his missing daughter.
It is brilliant and sharp and every parent and teenager should see this movie.

The Happy Prince
An extraordinary film of the last two years of Oscar Wilde's life. I could not stop crying behind my eyes. I kept thinking of how a society and world destroyed one of their greatest genius's and he had only just begun his greatness. The failing of the film is that if you do not know all there is to know about Wilde and his total disgrace and destruction, you would not really understand the film at all. "You Always Kill The Thing you Know."

A Star is Born
"A Star Is Born stars four-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook) and award-winning, Oscar-nominated music superstar Lady Gaga, in her first leading role. In this new take on the tragic love story, he plays seasoned musician Jackson Maine, who discovers—and falls in love with—struggling artist Ally (Gaga). She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer… until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally’s career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons. Cast also includes Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle and Sam Elliott. Directed and co-written by Bradley Cooper." I thought the film captured the life of two competitive starts in the music business well. Their drugged filled lives, or enabling ones, the pressures of fame and celebrity without having the personal resources to deal with it, the hunger to be heard, the love that comes from desperation and not familiarity. All the ingredients are there to make this 2018 version contemporary. 

Can You Ever Forgive Me?
"In Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer (and cat lover) who made her living in the 1970s and ’80s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen.  When Lee found herself unable to get published because she had fallen out of step with the marketplace, she turned her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E. Grant)." I hated the film. I could not stand the characters, loathed them actually and found them acting like teenagers, instead of adults. I had no patience for their terrible behavior, no excuse. I hated the political correctness that we were supposed to "forgive" and show compassion as they lied and cheated and stole and took advantage and treated people horribly and badly and were narcissistic and took advantage of people's good intentions. I spent two hours in their company and it became insufferable. 

Maria by Callas - In Her Own Words
One of the finest documentaries I have seen from the greatest opera singer of the 20th Century. Her pure and profoundly emotional voice of depth and range and nuance and beauty was in a class by herself. It left me weeping with Madame Butterfly. She reminded me of Jackie Kennedy, elegant and stylish and beautiful and classy and refined and kept herself in check. She appeared always as a lady. Remote. Removed. She sacrificed everything for her heart and her work and Ari.

Black Honey:  The Life and Poetry of Avraham Sutskever
One of the most marvelous straight forward without special effects the life of a poet that I have never heard of. Narrated by Ruth Weiss, who is a Tour De Force, she brought his poetry of brilliance and beauty and astounding poetry and meaning of life and sensitivity and beautiful metaphors and survival to life. I was transported, brought to tears and saw it twice. I only wished that it had gone on longer.

Shoelaces
Heavily recommended by a friend in Israel, I hated the movie. The 38 year old retarded man who acted like a 12 year old had the wisdom of a man, the knowledge of life of an adult, whom everyone was kind to and doted upon, who never experienced bullying or cruelty, the whole thing was unreal and surreal and became tedious and sentimental.

Support The Girls
A Hooters Bar Sisterhood with low class clients and boss to deal with and they come out the winners. One of the worst films that I have seen.The reviewers called it remarkable and easily one of the best films. Who are they kidding?

Roma
A remarkable black and white film shot in mid century Mexico and told through the eyes of the maid as she takes care of a middle class family. The film is about the cultural and class differences and the roles and parallels of each other's lives.
It is a tour de force and will win Best Foreign Film of the Year.

The Green Book
"Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises, Captain Fantastic, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) star in Green Book, inspired by a true friendship that transcended race, class and the 1962 Mason-Dixon line. When Tony Lip (Mortensen), a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Ali), a world-class Black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South, they must rely on “The Green Book” to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African-Americans. Confronted with racism, danger—as well as unexpected humanity and humor—they are forced to set aside differences to survive and thrive on the journey of a lifetime. Linda Cardellini (The Founder) co-stars. The film marks Peter Farrelly’s first foray into powerfully dramatic work as a feature director." This marvelous movie, character driven and wonderful story of racism and growth and change, was filled with dialogue and little action. There were two scenes: one when they stopped along the road and came face to face with cotton pickers and the other scene was being in the stuffy club where he could not be served and they went to the honky tonk party and partied and partied. Everyone wanted to be there! I loved this film. Mortensen should win best supporting actor and it will be nominated for Best Picture.

Shoplifting
The Palm D Ore Winner for Best Picture in Cannes. I hated it and would have walked out but did not have the strength to push over the aisle of people seated. It was tedious and boring and Japanese and too much was missed in translation. 


The 12th Man

Never Look Away
Inspired by real events and spanning three eras of German history, it tells the story of a young art student, Kurt who falls in love with a fellow student. Elie (Paula Beer) and Elies' father, Professor Seeband (Sebastian Koch) a famous doctor is dismayed at his daughters choice of boyfriend and view to destroy the relationship. What neither of them knows is that their lives are already connected through a terrific crime that Seeband committed decades earlier." This movie was extraordinary. I felt as if I just got done reading Let Miz!! It was that absorbing and engaging and extraordinary. The sound track alone was magnificent. Most of the music was created in the studio but the classical music used was Handel. There was a true story, character and plot driven, picture. It possessed everything. Everything.

I am still reeling from this movie. It is an absolute must see. I actually like it much more than Roma. Roma is a vey fine film indeed but I was never brought to tears and there was an emotional detachment for me. And there was so much to cry about too but I was never moved in that direction. Never Look Away was emotionally utterly gratifying. There was not a false note. The Director was the one who did The Lives Of Others which one the German Best Foreign Picture. 

Never Look Away takes place over three generations and three decades during and after the war. It is a pure German film. Extraordinary. Pure German. I am still reeling from it. I utterly lost myself in it. I forgot about my watch, time, and in many ways, even the fact that I was watching a film.  

Bohemian Rhapsody

However, the best thing that I have seen hands down is Bohemian Rhapsody. This was extraordinary. I thought that it was going to be another typical musician film, tedious and boring and repetitive with the same ole same old story but this was with an entirely new take. Best Picture Hands Down Best Actor. Hands down. Nothing comes close to this film. Queen was confident without arrogance. Under the trashy, flamboyant and exotic, drama queen persona, he possessed a kindness, he gave credit where credit was due, he made all the right decisions except for the ones made in excess, his music is sensational and he fought for his vision and his dream. It was really a remarkable film, done discreetly and not in your face. I adored it. "Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”). Freddie defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound. They reach unparalleled success, but in an unexpected turn Freddie, surrounded by darker influences, shuns Queen in pursuit of his solo career. Having suffered greatly without the collaboration of Queen, Freddie manages to reunite with his bandmates just in time for Live Aid. While bravely facing a recent AIDS diagnosis, Freddie leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. Queen cements a legacy that continues to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day. Directed by Bryan Singer (the X-Men series, The Usual Suspects)."

If Beale Street Could Talk

"In early 1970s Harlem, daughter and wife-to-be Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together, but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit." Movie taken from the story by James Baldwin. I hated this movie. Pollyannish and stereotype characters. Goody goody. Bad cops. Typical story.

Stan & Olie

"Affectionately known as Laurel & Hardy, skinny Englishman Stan Laurel and portly American Oliver Hardy are widely regarded as the greatest comedy partnership in movie history, defining the notion of the double act with infectious chemistry and hilarious routines that seemed effortless but were honed down to the finest detail. In Stan & Ollie, set in the twilight of their career together, the duo are magnificently embodied by Steve Coogan (The Trip, Philomena) as Stan and John C. Reilly (The Sisters Brothers, Chicago) as Ollie. In 1953, unable to get work in Hollywood, they set out on a tour of seedy British variety halls. Despite their waning powers the charm and beauty of their performances shine through, and they reconnect with their adoring fans, turning the tour into a surprise hit. But the pair can’t shake the specter of Laurel & Hardy’s past; the long-buried ghosts, coupled with Oliver’s failing health, start to threaten their precious partnership. Co-starring Nina Arianda, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston and Rufus Jones. Written by Jeff Pope (Philomena) and directed by Jon S. Baird." I loved this film. I found it touching and poignant, I felt that John C. Reily was fabulous. I fact, I like it more than when we came home and watched the original stars and their film. This I found not funny, slapstick, dated. I liked the newer version of them!