What classics did you see last week ? (27 Oct - 02 Nov 2019)

Crimson Peak (2015).



Housebound (2014).



Django Unchained (2012).



Descendants 2 (2017).



It (2017).



Hocus Pocus (1993).

Hi everyone. My viewings :


'Westwood : Punk, Icon, Activist' (2018, Documentary - Lorna Tucker)

Profile of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.


Thanks.

Thanks again for stepping up, tele.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / Gordon Douglas (1950). William Cagney Production. James Cagney, wanting to get away from the tough guy roles he was assigned at Warner, formed his own independent company with his brother to produce movies, some starring himself, some not. The films were not all that successful. The Cagney company racked up a million dollars in debt. So Cagney found himself back at Warner who promised to pay him a big salary and take care of the debt. Of course, he had to play a gangster. The resulting film, “White Heat,” was a monster hit with audiences and critics alike. So, his own company, with Warner as distributor, fell back on the gangster genre that he had hoped to get out of. In KTG, he plays another crazed killer except, unlike Cody Jarrett in “White Heat,” Ralph Cotter was a lot more thoughtful and a lot less impulsive. After a violent jail break which left three guards and Cotter’s break-out partner dead, he turns to his late colleague’s sister Holiday Carleton (Barbara Payton) for a hide-out and new identity. Cotter keeps several irons in the fire by planning several capers to get money including hold-ups, blackmailing a tough homicide cop (Ward Bond), and marrying into a rich family. While this is no “White Heat” it is still an interesting, creative, and entertaining film. It is also more violent than most crime films of the day. Cagney throws himself into the role with his usual energy, not showing any signs of wanting to be somewhere else. A solid cast of supporting players back him up: Steve Brodie, Barton MacLane, Rhys Williams, Luther Adler, Neville Brand, and Kenneth Tobey among them.



Ward Bond, Luther Adler, James Cagney


Barbara Peyton, Cagney



The File On Thelma Jordan / Robert Siodmak (1950). Paramount Pictures. Assistant District Attorney Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) is a married man with kids but doesn’t want to go home because his hated father-in-law is coming to dinner. He is getting drunk at his desk when he meets his fate. Thelma Jordan (Barbara Stanwyck) enters his life. Thelma has come to report an attempted break-in at the home of her elderly rich aunt who Thelma is caring for. Cleve and Thelma begin a passionate affair which requires surreptitious meeting and furtive phone calls. Their romantic melodrama goes on for almost a third of the runtime and I was wondering how far it would go when a murder is committed and director Robert Siodmak and his cinematographer George Barnes (Two Hitchcock’s, Spellbound and Rebecca which won him an Oscar) swing into action and do what they do best which is to plunge into a twisty noir world of lies, betrayals, and slippery motives. The story and script by Marty Holland and Ketti Frings keep us on our toes waiting for the next rug to be pulled out from under us. Some bravura scenes. What could have been a routine moment showing Thelma being escorted from the jail to the courthouse becomes an exciting and thrilling event. The musical score by Victor Young should be mentioned at this point. Barbara Stanwyck cements her reputation as a film noir icon. Wendell Corey seems a little weak, but then that is the point of the character he is playing. Paul Kelly is Cleve’s boss in the D.A.’s office. Richard Rober plays a man from Thelma’s past who seems to be stalking her and Joan Tetzel is Cleve’s heartbroken wife. Highly recommended.




Barbara Stanwyck and Paul Kelly (seated), Wendel Corey (standing in back between them)




Thelma drives a 1946 Chrysler Town and Country



Walk East On Beacon! / Alfred L. Werker (1952). Columbia Pictures. Another docu-drama lauding a federal government law enforcement agency narrated by a loud bass voice speaking in a declamatory style. The heroes of this exercise are the agents of the FBI and their attempts to thwart nefarious Commie plots. George Murphy is the head investigator in charge of protecting the secrets of a U.S. scientific development of a new computer. He often speaks to The Chief (Hoover is shown in archive footage). Professor Albert Kafer (vet Scots actor Finlay Currie) is the head scientist of the project. His grown son, another scientist, is being held by the Communists in East Berlin to force Kafer to turn over his calculations. Kafer gets in touch with the FBI and they lay plans to round up the Communist cell operating in Boston (lots of Boston location shooting). Kafer is first approached by Millie Zalenko (Virginia Gilmore). Millie and her husband hide their espionage work behind a camera shop. Gilmore is an interesting figure, unfairly most well-known as the wife for almost 14 years of Yul Brynner. Her biography is well worth exploring. There is an action ending with a rescue at sea and a couple of satisfying moments when the FBI plan comes together. “Walk East” is mildly entertaining, often for Finlay Currie, but has to be counted as one of the least of the docu-drama sub-genre. It and other films portraying American Communism as the ultimate evil were no doubt released to try to placate the government blacklisters who were themselves evil.



George Murphy and Finlay Currie



The Narrow Margin / Richard Fleischer (1952). RKO Radio Pictures. Often described with names like “The Perfect ‘B’,” The Narrow Margin was led by producer Stanley Rubin (River Of No Return, Destry, The Girl Most Likely) for RKO in 1950. RKO was under Howard Hughes at that time and Hughes often jumped in to “improve” other people’s films to everybody’s horror. Hughes held up “The Narrow Margin” for two years, deciding at last to reshoot some scenes or even bump it up to a “A” with Robert Mitchum. Director Richard Fleischer talked his boss out of doing too much harm by agreeing to reshoot scenes that Hughes wanted for another film (“His Kind Of Woman”). Two L.A. cops, Brown (Charles McGraw) and Forbes (Don Beddoe) arrive by train in Chicago on a cold, rainy night to pick up a witness being held in protection from mob hitmen. Mrs. Frankie Neall (Marie Windsor), the widow of a high ranking hoodlum, is set to testify in Los Angeles. Before they can even get her out of her boarding house, assassins strike and kill Forbes. Even though grieving for his partner, Brown hustles her out and gets her on the return train. Except for maybe one minute at the end, the entire rest of the film takes place on the train. Fleischer makes great use of the narrowness and limited movements allowed on a passenger train. We know that at least two of the other passengers work for the underworld, but who else? The attractive blonde lady with the young son? The very large man (he says, “No one likes a fat man except his grocer and his tailor”) who is always lurking in the background? Charles McGraw with his rough face and gravely voice was often cast as killers and gangsters, but he could also be excellent as a tough cop with a touch job to do. Playing Mrs. Neall is the peerless Marie Windsor who cops an attitude and hectors Brown throughout the movie about how incompetent he is in keeping her safe. This is a quintessential Windsor performance. She specialized in gaudy “dames” and here she is at her best. This is a perfect nailbiter. Only one flaw that has always bothered me: near the end, one important character is shot to death but is then never mentioned again – as if it never happened. However, “The Narrow Margin” is not to be missed. An essential in the film noir universe.



Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor




Domino / Brian De Palma (2019). Slack spy thriller from a popular director whose films I have never really liked. Nothing changed after this one. It opens in Copenhagen where two city cops, Christian (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau-Game of Thrones) and Lars (Søren Malling) get a call to look into a domestic dispute. Lars has something on his mind so tells Christian he will talk about it at the end of their shift. Now, anyone who has seen as many as three movies in their life knows that when a cop says anything about the future, he has five minutes to live, max. (This is what starts the plot going so not a Spoiler.) Christian, because of this, goes all rogue cop, and, along with partner Alex Boe (Carice van Houten), chases the terrorist responsible for Lars’ death to Brussels and then to southern Spain for a climax at a bull fight. My pulse didn’t pound a single time.

teleadm

you're not wrong....Van Helsing is TERRIBLE.

Horror Challenge 2019 - Final Week - Repeats 37/ FTV 23 - Final Total = 60 


49. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0076009/reference - FTV

Review > Pending 2/10 - As bad as I had heard it was. Though it's the first time I have ever found Louise Fletcher sexually appealing!  





50. Stir of Echoes (1999) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0164181/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2686736/?ref_=tt_urv 8.5/10





51. Dead Silence (2007) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0455760/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2580795/?ref_=tt_urv 7/10





52. The Legend of Hell House (1973) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0070294/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2698942/?ref_=tt_urv 8/10





53. The Fog (1980) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0080749/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2686755/?ref_=tt_urv 9/10





54. The Changeling (1980) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0080516/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2505353/?ref_=tt_urv 9/10





55. To the Devil a Daughter (1976) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0075334/reference - FTV

Review > Pending 5/10 - What a waste of a great cast as Hammer try to grab the zeitgeist laid down by Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist.



56. Insidious (2010) - www.imdb.com/title/tt1591095/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2684558/?ref_=tt_urv 8/10





57. Carnival of Souls (1962) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0055830/reference - Repeat Viewing (FTV of the colour cut though...) 
Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw1877766/?ref_=rw_urv 8/10





58. The Howling (1981) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0082533/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw3347819/?ref_=tt_urv 9/10





59. Dead Birds (2004) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0377749/reference - Repeat Viewing

Review > www.imdb.com/review/rw2799847/?ref_=tt_urv 8/10





60. Torture Garden (1967) - www.imdb.com/title/tt0062384/reference - FTV

Review > Pending 5/10 - One of the weakest horror anthology pics of the era, nice watching Palance, Cushing and Meredith together though.

I second that emotion.

Hi all,I hope everyone had a good weekend,and I finally did a Noir triple bill I've been looking forward to (I now need to get the book!)

The origins:



The original- A Bibi Andersson Nordic Noir which had no IMDb review,& hardly any pics online!




Think of a Number (1969) 10

Calculating from learning of a bank heist to take place on how he can steal a Christmas bonus for himself, writer/ director Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt & cinematographer Claus Loof bank on a meticulous Film Noir atmosphere, sliding the camera under the table towards Borck folding notes for himself whilst pretending to give the robber the full amount.

Spreading X-Mas cheer decorations across the walls of the bank,Kjærulff- Schmidt wraps Borck in crisp winter blues and early dark nights,which crackles with paranoia from long tracking shots of the robber wanting to collect Borck's bonus, that Borck finds himself unable to escape in a blistering evil under the sun lingering doubt final. Realising a robbery is to take place later in the day as the bank opens up, Palle Kjærulff- Schmidt's adaptation of Anders Bodelsen's novel brilliantly dissects Borck using the professional image he's built to take a layer of the soon to be stolen cash, off for himself, tensely checked in clipped dialogue of Borck attempting to keep his fellow staff out of the loop on the exchange.

Merrily leaving the bank with a bonus in his back pocket, Kjærulff-Schmidt's thrillingly unveils to Noir loner Borck that someone's got his number, whose ringing to the home/workplace sets Borck off the dial with a Femme Fatale for a jet-set life, which Kjærulff-Schmidt's tightens the screws to a sharp open ending. Getting his number down from their first encounter, Bibi Andersson gives a excellent, mysteriously alluring turn as Jane Merrild / Alice Badram, whose motives Andersson holds in a vagueness which hook Borck in with a seductive Femme Fatale sting. Scuttling round being polite to fellow staff whilst his hand is in the till, Henning Moritzen gives a outstanding performance as Borck, thanks to Moritzen's chipping away at his meekness to primal Film Noir fear, leaving Borck with no other choice but to think of a number.

The remake:



The Silent Partner (1978) 8

The second adaptation of Anders Bodelsen's novel Think of a Number, directors Daryl Duke and un- credited Curtis Hanson, (who replaced the sacked Duke to film more violent scenes demanded by the producers) & cinematographer Billy Williams bank on the strict sterile world of high-street banking, reflecting the Christmas lights from the outdoors onto the windows of the isolated cubicles. The lone film he scored, Oscar Peterson unrolls a rich Jazzy Blues Film Noir score, bringing out a jagged edge to Duke/Hanson's long hanging shadows tracking shots on Cullen attempting to pass a note by Reikle's sight.

Originally hoping to direct it but being told no by the producers (who ended up hiring him to direct later!) Curtis Hanson's playful adaptation spends the first hour close to the lively pace and cynical Film Noir dialogue of Anders Bodelsen's novel, but wisely expands the base, giving Cullen more time to lace his under the table plan. Curling Cullen's relationship with Elaine as a divide in going off the page, linking Cullen and Reikle in a relationship of outplaying each other for the cash, until the tense opening of a final bank statement, containing a sadly misjudged up-beat coda.

Fidgeting at his desk whilst attempting to take a chunk of the soon to be stolen cash for himself, Elliott Gould gives a amazing turn as Cullen, who uses the concentration of his banking mind-set to stay cool under pressure to hand his share back. Rolling into a bank robbery dressed as Santa,Christopher Plummer gives a blistering turn as Reikle, whose limited words are punched by Plummer with a Noir menace making sure everyone knows who the silent partner is.

The clear major inspiration for both versions:



Cash on Demand (1962) 9

Setting the watch from the moment Hepburn enters the bank, director Quentin Lawrence & cinematographer Arthur Grant click a real-time Film Noir with masterful procession,drilling Hepburn's detailed outline of the heist plan he tells Fordyce with match cuts to Hepburn following a section of the plan,(such as Hepburn giving Fordyce orders to enact a part of it in 5 minutes, which then plays out 5 minutes later into the run-time.) Not even offering humbugs to staff as a X-Mas gift, Lawrence superbly uses snow on the windows and winter clothes to enhance the icy Hammer Noir atmosphere, snowing it down in graceful long panning shots from the frosty window of Fordyce's "Chamber Piece" office to close-ups on Hepburn sitting in a chair keeping Fordyce walking on thin ice.

Banking on Jacques Gillies's original play, David T. Chantler and Lewis Greifer's adaptation wonderfully pays out to A Christmas Carol, as Fordyce tuts at each staff member getting into the holiday season, until he discovers the Christmas spirit himself, when it's all too late. Giving his lone warm greeting to Hepburn due to how redefined he looks, the writers brilliantly turn Fordyce's beliefs inside out with cracking slow-burn Film Noir dialogue tearing the towering power he displays in front of his workers strip by strip, into the hands of the quietly confident, calculating Hepburn.

Spending the whole film with just one other person, Morell gives a incredibly layered turn as Hepburn. Rumbling in as a puffed-up little Colonel, Morell bursts the bubble with a striking underlying menaced, carried in Morell having Hepburn hand out orders and threats to Fordyce with a strict master thief professionalism. Spending almost the whole movie just with Morell, Peter Cushing gives a exceptional, measured turn as Fordyce, whose Scrooge complexities Cushing delicately unwinds to icy fear from Hepburn asking for cash on demand.

Cinema of Latin America:



Ratas de la ciudad (1986) 7


Tearing dad Pedro and his son Pedrolito apart in the first scene, co-writer/(with Gilberto de Anda)director/ lead actor Valentin Trujillo & cinematographer Antonio de Anda go down to the real late night side streets and bustling roads of Mexico to track the years lost for this family in a gritty, earthy atmosphere of long tracking shots running along with Pedrolito and his fellow street kids gang stealing in dark alleyways, curving to Pedro scrambling on the streets to find his son. Linking dad and son up with ultra-stylised zoom-in dissolves on their faces,which burn down on explosive action and a eyeful of skin, Trujillo attempts to roll in a odd comedic Melodrama side during Pedro's early days of freedom, that utterly stands out in being at odds with the tone.

Desperate to find his son, the screenplay by Trujillo and Anda tear the care-free mind of Pedro into toughened state, whose fists strike those who ruined his family. Whilst straying into Grindhouse thrills via the vicious beat downs, killings and car burning of the street gang, Anda and Trujillo (who gives a terrific, passionate turn as Pedro) keenly weigh this up equally, with a thoughtful message on how Pedrolito and other homeless child gang members lose their childhood innocence brutally, in the city of rats.



My intro to the "pornochachadas" genre (sooo classy!) Violence & Flesh (1981) 8

Delivering the one-two punch of robbers setting a car on fire which the camera lingers a little too long on, (gotta get every penny out of it!) cutting to a lesbian couple having softcore sex due to one of them being troubled by a dream. "Composer"/writer/ director Alfredo Sternheim gleefully lays the sleaze on thick, heightened by a fantastical telenovela soap opera atmosphere, spray-painted on Sternheim stealing music pieces from other movies (such as Bernard Herrmann's theme for Obsession (1976-also reviewed) played as a back drop to the steamy, boobage galore sex scenes, (which includes straight, lesbian,and gay sequences) that grind to the Grindhouse shots of dusty beat-downs and blunt killings.

Storming in on a cabin with filled with aspiring Adult lads and ladies, the screenplay by Sternheim cheerfully hits every morally wrong, utterly odd note possible,thanks to the robbers raiding the cabin of the sex-crazed residences with plans to hold them all hostage and commit rapes, which become laced with peculiar dialogue which jumps from "pornochachadas" drama, to Kafka being casually referenced in conversations, all done without a attempt for the changes in dialogue to spread evenly! Possessing a touch of Edwige Fenech glamour, Helena Ramos gives a enticing, raunchy turn as Jesse, who finds herself in the middle of violence and flesh.



Rooms for Tourists (2004) 6

Dropping the five women off in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, co-writer/(with Ramiro Garcia Bogliano) director Adrian Garcia Bogliano treats all the pals to a warm Southern Gothic hospitality greeting in thick black and white, giving the flick a rough dirt under the fingernails mood when catching lingering glances from the local, who soon hand out killings dripping in treacle blood. Filmed over 4 years, the screenplay by the Bogliano's bares the marks of the stop/start filming, darting from suspicions of outsiders, to Slasher killing and a left-field twist ending, at a speed which leaves them all half-bake, due to each thread being just randomly dropped, instead of being built up to make rooms for tourists.



36 Steps (2006) 2

Made on a micro budget of $5000 (leading to the crew having to also act in the film) co-writer/(with Ramiro Garcia Bogliano and Honorio Galarza) director Adrian Garcia Bogliano & cinematographer Sergio Fleischer step towards the fittie ladies with washed out, bone dry,low-res digital video, which jabs at the viewer in shaky hand-held camera moves, that also leave potentially interesting detours (such as into animation and gory chops) to be ruined by blending in to the same flat appearance as the rest of the movie. Matching the look of the flick, the sparks for indie creativity in the revelation that appearances can be deceiving in the laid-back lives of the ladies,is sadly left untouched by plodding dialogue which gives little to distinguish any of the cast,and causes every twist to land with a tied whimper on each of the 36 steps.

Horror duo:



Jean Rollin's The Night of the Hunted (1980) 10.

Taking his distinctive dream-logic into the future, writer/directing auteur Jean Rollin & cinematographer Jean-Claude Couty weave Rollin's Gothic Horror motifs with a superbly clinical Sci-Fi edge, landing in long, icy shots down metallic high-rise buildings surrounded by sparse sign of humanity on the ground.

Filmed in just 2 weeks, Rollin skilfully keeps signs of production limitations off-screen when looking into the unblinking eyes of Elysabeth in ravishing close-ups, melting to Rollin's and Couty's beautifully composed wide-shots drawing a rich melancholy atmosphere from the white gown wearing (but in a rare case, vampire free) Elysabeth walking silently towards a misty, fading horizon. Somehow taking just one day to write (!) the screenplay by Rollin displays little sign of its short creation, with a impeccable character study of Elysabeth. Introducing Elysabeth being on the run from mysterious figures, Rollin continues his major theme of women being the leads, in this case taking a delicate approach to studying Elysabeth's fragile mental state.

Gradually revealing a government cover-up powered by a haunting industrial hum, Rollin lays out the horrifying state of Elysabeth's mind, whose encounter with lover Robert when on the run, and even reuniting with her long-term "flatmate" Veronique, being memories which neither of them can hold, due to the memory loss-illness that they have no control over (similar to Catherine having no control on her blood lust in Rollin's The Living Dead Girl (1982-also reviewed.) Enchanted with a excellent Dominique Journet as broken eggshell Veronique,Rollin regular Brigitte Lahaie gives a hypnotic performance as Elysabeth, whose clipped dialogue is given depth by Lahaie's brittle, daydream body language and wide started eyes looking out into the night of the hunted.



Norman J. Warren's Terror (1978) 7

Backed by new interviews with the cast/crew, Indicator present a outstanding new 2K transfer, where the audio remains crisps, and unlike the old VHS days, the vibrant colours shimmer on the print. Teasing the audience with a fake film within a film opening lit with the spirit of Hammer Horror, directing auteur Norman J. Warren continues to build on his themes of bringing the Gothic of Hammer Horror into modern settings, crossed with the ultra-stylisation of Italian Horror.

Hypnotising some pretty young things at a post-screening party, Warren & cinematographer Les Young (who also co-wrote the script) underline the Horror shocks with a raw, grounded atmosphere of long panning shots delving into the cramped locations where the supernatural happenings awaken. While inspired by Dario Argento, Warren and Young bring out enough of their own style to make their own creation stand out, including a dazzling pane glass set-pieces Argento himself appears to have been inspired by, along with sawn- off tracking shots of the mysterious killer clouded in colours striking their next victim, backed by Ivor Slaney's brooding dark synch score. Working with Warren again, David McGillivray is here joined by Les and Moira Young in conjuring a neat script spell casting dream-logic on the foggy family history of the Garrick's to the terror.

No, this is the only one of hers I remember seeing.

The action scenes were astounding. A completely naked women dealing death and mayhem on teams of tough guys is something you don't see every day. She was not restricted to elegant poses while fighting which is also impressive. Very bloody.

After a while you begin noticing the Japanese ban on glimpsing pubic hair, which makes for some inventive camera work, but that becomes a little comic.

The background spy and politics plot was not as interesting and I'm not sure I followed it all. I had the same reaction to the Lady Snowblood movies.

Two oldies:

Marjorie Morningstar (1958)--overlong soap opera about young woman from a middle-class Jewish family who is expected to marry "well" (mission: find dull rich guy, and he'd better be Jewish, too) who falls for an enigmatic, moody summer theater director who sneers at her family's ambitions and is also a non-observant Jew. Natalie Wood is okay as the daughter who rebels against her family's wishes to pursue the director, played by--Gene Kelly? The studio reportedly tried to get Paul Newman for the part, who probably would have been terrific as the smoldering would-be artist who lashes out at crowd-pleasing producers who don't understand him. Kelly, unfortunately, just can't manage smoldering in this role, and instead comes off as peevish and dull. The result is a sad lack of chemistry between the two stars, and the movie just drags on and on. The most interesting thing about the movie is the end credits--instead of a list of the cast, it's just a list of "Dresses by....," "Shoes by...", "Gene Kelly's shirts by....", and the weirdest of all, "Perfumes by...", as if the movie audiences could appreciate the perfumes worn by the actresses. Maybe the producers were anticipating a possible release  of the film in "smellovision"?

The Cyclops (1957)--the 1950s produced many horror movies about giant monsters, some with decent special effects, and some with execrable ones. This
one is definitely in the latter category. Gloria Talbott stars as the loyal wife who insists on leading a search party for her husband, who crash-landed in a deserted valley full of radioactive material which causes unrestrained growth in all sorts of creatures. These creatures show up to terrorize the search party--a giant tarantula, a snake, and a couple of giant lizards who fight with each other (picture two little kids play-fighting with their rubber toy lizards to visualize how real this appears in the film). Talbott finds her husband, played by actor Duncan Parkin, who appeared in two films, this one and War of the Colossal Beast). In both, he appears as a grossly disfigured, violent bald giant--after which he was hopelessly typecast, I guess, so no romantic leads or sitcom dad roles were in his future. The makeup job on the giant would be nightmare-inducing for small children, but the weird giant eye in the deformed face looks hokey. The giant is badly projected on the background so that he looks translucent, and his "lines" consist only of him constantly growling "RAWWWWRRR!!" (his voice is provided by voiceover artist Paul Frees) over and over again. James Craig is Talbott's companion and probable love interest; Tom ("I left MGM for this?!")Drake plays a guide, and Lon Chaney, Jr. hams it up as a hysterical pilot.  Watch if you have a high tolerance for Ed Wood-type horror films.

Two recent films:

The Mustang (2019)--a convict with a violent past enters a rehabilitation program at his prison which involves taming and training wild mustangs. He works with one horse in particular, a mustang with a similarly violent nature. Bruce Dern co-stars as a crusty old trainer who mentors the convicts. This 
might sound like a typical sentimental family film--the convict reforms, the horse is turned into a pet, and the convict and his adult daughter reconcile and she forgives him for everything. Not quite--this isn't a Hallmark movie, and it refuses to take the easy way out. While the story ends on a somewhat positive conclusion, there are some disturbing, violent events, and this isn't for kids or for anyone expecting a tacked-on happy ending. A tough watch, but worth a look.

Yesterday (2019)--a massive worldwide power failure knocks the Earth into an alternate reality in which all existence of the Beatles has been erased--except for one struggling musician who still recalls their music and decides to pass it off as his own. Enjoyable "what if" fantasy/romantic comedy with some decent music.