White Squall - 1996

You know I love it when a dramatic film is based on a true story. Here is one that stuck with me from the mid-1990s.


The film is based on the fate of the brigantine Albatross, which sank on 2 May 1961, allegedly because of a white squall. The film relates the ill-fated school sailing trip led by Dr. Christopher B. Sheldon (Jeff Bridges), whom the boys call "Skipper". He is tough and teaches them discipline. He forms a close connection with all-American Chuck Gieg (Scott Wolf), troubled rich kid Frank Beaumont (Jeremy Sisto), shy Gil Martin (Ryan Phillippe) and bad-boy Dean Preston (Eric Michael Cole). When a white squall threatens their ship, the boys must use what Skipper has taught them to survive the horrific ordeal.

Die Hard - 1988

"Welcome to the party, pal."

I love action and this film is one of my favorites in that genre. A funny and thrilling battle between the good guys and the bad guys. This was based on a book by Roderick Thorp entitled "Nothing Lasts Forever" - a sequel to another book entitled "The Detective", which in 1968 was made into a film starring Frank Sinatra.

Bruce Willis was the sixth choice for the main character. It originally went to Arnold Schwarzenegger, then Sylvester Stallone, then Burt Reynolds, then Richard Gere, then Harrison Ford, then Mel Gibson before Willis got it.

NYPD cop John McClane's (Bruce Willis) plan to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), is thrown for a serious loop when minutes after he arrives at her office, the entire building is overtaken by a group of pitiless terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down. This classic John McTiernan actioner launched Willis into superstardom.

The Exorcist - 1973

You will find no horror movies in my personal collection and this movie is why. Often called the scariest movie ever made, it is the ultimate tale of good vs. evil. Deeply disturbing, Christian evangelist Billy Graham claimed an actual demon was living in the celluloid reels of this movie.

Upon its initial theatrical release the film affected many audiences so strongly that at many theaters, paramedics were called to treat people who fainted and others who went into hysterics.

Made for $10.5 million and grossing $350 million worldwide, this film, if adjusted for inflation would be the top grossing R-rated film of all time.

When movie actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) begins to suspect that an evil spirit is possessing her young daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), she calls in two priests (Max von Sydow and Jason Miller) to try and exorcise the demon against frightening and formidable odds. Writer William Peter Blatty scored an Academy Award for his big-screen adaptation of his own novel; the film also won an Oscar for Best Sound.

The Godfather - 1972

No Best in Film blog could be complete without The Godfather. An unmatched cast. An incredible story. Consistently in the top 10 movies of all time.

When organized crime family patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge. Francis Ford Coppola brings Mario Puzo's multigenerational crime saga to life in this Oscar-winning epic that also spawned Best Actor honors for Brando, who refused the prize for political reasons.

The early buzz on the film was so positive that a sequel was planned before the film was finished filming.

With a budget of only 6 million, the film grossed over 245 million worldwide.

The line "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" was selected by the American Film Institute on it's list as one of the top 100 movie quotes, it was at #2 right behind "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" from Gone with the Wind (1939).

According to Francis Ford Coppola, the film took 62 days to shoot.

The Usual Suspects - 1995

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

"Keaton always said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze." Verbal

"Who is Keyser Soze?" Find out in one of my favorite twisted plot films with an amazing cast. Shot on a budget of $6 million over a period of 35 days this movie is a must see.

When five unacquainted scalawags are hauled into a police station to appear in a criminal lineup, they decide to pull off a heist together. The plan gets complicated, however, when they intermix with an underworld kingpin named Keyser Söze. Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Baldwin and Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey star in this intricately plotted, critically acclaimed thriller that won another Oscar for Best Screenplay.

Christopher McQuarrie's inspiration for the character of Keyser Soze was a real-life murderer by the name of John List, who murdered his family and then disappeared for 17 years.

Kevin Spacey had to read the script twice when he first received it to make sure he fully understood it.

All the actors were encouraged to ad lib perplexed reactions to Benicio Del Toro's oddball vocal stylings.

Black Book - 2006

"We will kill that girl! However, wherever, whenever."

Based on true events, this epic drama from writer-director Paul Verhoeven stars Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein, a beautiful Jewish woman who averts Nazi capture, then assumes a new Aryan identity and joins the Dutch resistance movement. A local leader persuades her to seduce a Nazi commander and take down the enemy from within. But leading a double life takes its toll -- especially when both sides turn against her.

Director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Gerard Soeteman got the idea for the movie while doing research for Soldaat van Oranje (1977). Instead of simply working the controversies surrounding the Dutch Resistance into the already top-heavy screenplay of Soldaat van Oranje, they decided to make a separate movie out of it. Verhoeven and Soeteman wrote the screenplay over a period of almost 20 years, and they finally solved many script problems by making the main character a woman.

With a budget of approx. 16 million euros, this is the most expensive Dutch movie to date.

Charade - 1963

A very cool Hitchcockesque thriller, Charade was one of the last films by Cary Grant as a romantic lead in the early sixties. Celebrating his 59th birthday during filming, he decided it was time to stop playing the romantic lead after reviews focused on the 26-year age difference between him and Audrey Hepburn, who was only 33 when the movie was made.

Cary Grant stars as Peter, who may or may not be a flimflam man who aids the recently widowed Regina (Audrey Hepburn) in her mission to recover a fortune hidden by her late husband. But three sinister crooks (Walter Matthau, James Coburn and George Kennedy) -- who'll stop at nothing -- also covet the loot. A cast of legendary stars has chemistry to burn in director Stanley Donen's suave comedy with an Oscar-nominated score by Henry Mancini.

Due to the suspense, the stars, and the frequent plot twists, many people believe that this is an Alfred Hitchcock film. He was not involved in the making of the film at all. This confusion has prompted fans of the film to call it "the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made".

Moliere - 2007

Based loosely on two of his plays, 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme' and 'Tartuffe', Moliere is just fun.

In 1658, playwright/actor Molière, having been given a theater in the capital by the King, is back in Paris after touring the kingdom of France with his company of players. One day, a young lady asks him to follow her to the deathbed of her mother... Thirteen years earlier, Molière already runs a troupe but goes broke and is thrown to prison. Fortunately (?) his debt is covered by Monsieur Jourdain, a rich man who wants him to help him rehearse a one-act play he has written with a view to seducing a beautiful bright young widow, Célimène. As Jourdain is married to Elmire, and is the "respectable" father of two daughters his design must remain secret so Molière is introduced into the house as Tartuffe, an austere priest...

Though the story is not historically correct, for no one really knows the true events in the missing portion of Molière's life, this version is plausible and thought provoking.

Brotherhood of the Wolf - 2001

Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French film directed by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos, and written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel. Its original French title is Le Pacte des loups, which literally means "the pact of the wolves."

The film is loosely based on the book L'Innocence des loups ("The Innocence of the Wolves"), by the French zoologist Michel Louis, a study about a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century and the famous legend around the Beast of Gévaudan. Parts of the film were shot at Château de Roquetaillade. Being a historical drama film, it has anachronistic martial arts fight sequences; it also contains elements of erotica, mystery, horror, politics, romance, and fantasy.

This $29 million-budgeted film was an international box office success, grossing over $70 million in worldwide theatrical release. In the United States of America, the film also enjoyed commercial success; Universal Pictures paid $2 million to acquire the film's United States distribution rights and this film went on grossing $11,260,096 in limited theatrical release in the United States, making it the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades (this film also did brisk video and DVD sales in the United States).

Scent of a Woman - 1992

"Just call me Frank. Call me Mr. Slade. Call me... Colonel, if you must. Just don't call me "Sir.""

As a huge fan of Al Pacino I have to include this movie. A very young Chris O'Donnell joins him in a funny and heartfelt film about the characters and their relationship. Also look for a very young Philip Seymour Hoffman as a fellow student of O'Donnell.

Hoping to earn some extra cash during the Thanksgiving holiday, poor prep-school student Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell) agrees to look after blind -- and cantankerous -- Lt. Col. Frank Slade (Al Pacino, in a tour-de-force performance). Though the callow student and jaded colonel are mismatched, their relationship grows as Simms follows Slade around Manhattan on a string of wild escapades, and Slade is unmasked as a sentimental romantic.

Frank's bizarre habit of yelling "hoo-wah!" is an actual United States Army battlecry, although he is saying it wrong. He places far too much of a "W" sound on the second syllable. The real version is closer to "hoo-ah!"

"Hoo-wah" is a military acronym (usually yelled by Drill Sargents to Boots) from the acronym "HUA" which is often pronounced "hoo-ah" or in this case "hoo-wah." HUA stands for "Heard, Understood, Acknowledged." Over the years, in the US Army this phrase has taken on many meanings including "Understood?" "yes" or as a general exclamation of "I'm motivated!"

Elling - 2001

When his mother, who has sheltered him his entire 40 years, dies, Elling, a sensitive, would-be poet, is sent to live in a state institution. There he meets Kjell Bjarne, a gentle giant and female-obsessed virgin in his 40s. After two years, the men are released and provided with a state-funded apartment and stipend with the hope they will be able to live on their own. Initially, the simple act of going around the corner for groceries is a challenge. Through a friendship born of desperate dependence, the skittish Elling and the boisterous, would-be lover of women, Kjell Bjarne, discover they can not only survive on the outside, they can thrive. But as their courage grows, the two find oddball ways to cope with society, striking up the most peculiar friendships in the most unlikely places.

The plot is less important than the relationship between the two men, which is frequently very moving (such as the scene when they discover that, although the flat has two bedrooms, they'd still rather share with each other as before) and very funny - Elling’s attempts to use the phone and their eventual method of ‘practice’ are a definite highlight.

There's an awful lot to enjoy here, with some hilarious scenes, perhaps the funniest of which is an outburst at the Poetry Night that Elling plucks up the courage to attend. Also, budding unpublished poets may want to take note of Elling’s unorthodox but effective method of self-publishing…

To sum up, Elling is an enjoyable, moving and frequently funny film that deserves to find as wide an audience as possible. Highly recommended.

Paris Je T'aime - 2006

Paris, Je t'aime (Paris, I love you) is a 2006 film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements. The 22 directors include Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gérard Depardieu, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Nobuhiro Suwa, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, Walter Salles and Gus Van Sant. Some stories are better than others but this gives you an ideal look into the 'feeling of Paris'.

Initially, twenty short films representing the twenty arrondissements of Paris were planned, but two of them (the XVe arrondissement, directed by Christoffer Boe, and the XIe arrondissement, by Raphaël Nadjari) were not included in the final film because they could not be properly integrated into it. Each arrondissement is followed by a few images of Paris; these transition sequences were written by Emmanuel Benbihy and directed by Benbihy with Frédéric Auburtin. Including Benbihy, there were 22 directors involved in the finished film.

The 18 arrondissements are:
Montmartre (XVIIIe arrondissement) — by French writer-director Bruno Podalydès. A man (played by Podalydès himself) parks his car on a Montmartre street and muses about how the women passing by his car all seem to be "taken". Then a woman passerby (Florence Muller) faints near his car, and he comes to her aid.

Quais de Seine (Ve arrondissement) — made by the husband-and-wife team of Japanese-American screenwriter Paul Mayeda Berges and Indian-British director Gurinder Chadha. A young man (Cyril Descours), hanging out with two friends who taunt all women who walk by, strikes up a friendship with a young Muslim woman (Leïla Bekhti).

Le Marais (IVe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Gus Van Sant. A young male customer (Gaspard Ulliel) finds himself attracted to a young printshop worker (Elias McConnell) and tries to explain that he believes the man to be his soulmate, not realizing that he speaks little French. Marianne Faithfull also appears briefly in the film.

Tuileries (Ier arrondissement) — by American writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen. A comic film in which an American tourist (Steve Buscemi) waiting at the Tuileries station becomes involved in the conflict between a young couple (Axel Kiener and Julie Bataille) after he breaks the cardinal rule of avoiding eye contact with people on the Paris Metro.

Loin du 16e (XVIe arrondissement; literally: "far from the 16th") — by Brazilian writer-directors Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas. A young immigrant woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno) sings a Spanish lullaby ("Qué Linda Manita") to her baby before leaving it in a daycare. She then takes an extremely long commute to the home of her wealthy employer (whose face is not seen), where she sings the same lullaby to her employer's baby.

Porte de Choisy (XIIIe arrondissement) — directed by Australian director Christopher Doyle and written by Doyle with Gabrielle Keng and Kathy Li. A comic film in which a beauty products salesman (Barbet Schroeder) makes a call on a Chinatown salon run by a woman (Li Xin) who proves to be a tough customer.

Bastille (XIIe arrondissement) — by Spanish writer-director Isabel Coixet. Prepared to leave his marriage for a much younger lover, Marie Christine (Leonor Watling), a man named Sergio (Sergio Castellitto) instead decides to stay with his wife (Miranda Richardson) after she reveals a terminal illness - and he rediscovers the love he once felt for her.

Place des Victoires (IIe arrondissement) — by Japanese writer-director Nobuhiro Suwa. A mother (Juliette Binoche), grieving over the death of her little boy (Martin Combes), is comforted by a magical cowboy (Willem Dafoe).

Tour Eiffel (VIIe arrondissement) — written and directed by French animator Sylvain Chomet. A boy tells how his parents, both mime artists (Paul Putner and Yolande Moreau), meet in prison and fall in love.

Parc Monceau (XVIIe arrondissement) — by Mexican writer-director Alfonso Cuarón. An older man (Nick Nolte) and younger woman (Ludivine Sagnier) meet for an arrangement that a third person ('Gaspard'), who is close to the woman, may not approve of. It is eventually revealed that the young woman is his daughter, and Gaspard is her baby. The film was shot in a single continuous shot. When the characters walk by a video store, several posters of movies by the other directors of Paris, je t'aime are visible in the window.

Quartier des Enfants Rouges (IIIe arrondissement) — by French writer-director Olivier Assayas. An American actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) procures some exceptionally strong hashish from a dealer (Lionel Dray) whom she gets a crush on.

Place des fêtes (XIXe arrondissement) — by South African writer-director Oliver Schmitz. A Nigerian man (Seydou Boro), dying from a stab wound in the Place des fêtes asks a woman paramedic (Aïssa Maïga) for a cup of coffee. It is then revealed that he had fallen in love at first sight with her some time previously. By the time she remembers him, and has received the coffee, he has died.

Pigalle (IXe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Richard LaGravenese. An aging couple (Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant) act out a fantasy argument for a prostitute in order to keep the spark in their relationship.

Quartier de la Madeleine (VIIIe arrondissement) — by Canadian writer-director Vincenzo Natali. A young backpacker tourist (Elijah Wood) falls in love with a vampiress (Olga Kurylenko).

Père-Lachaise (XXe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Wes Craven. While visiting Père Lachaise Cemetery, a young woman (Emily Mortimer) breaks up with her fiancé (Rufus Sewell), who then redeems himself with the aid of advice from the ghost of Oscar Wilde (Alexander Payne).

Faubourg Saint-Denis (Xe arrondissement) — by German writer-director Tom Tykwer. After mistakenly believing that his girlfriend, a struggling actress (Natalie Portman), has broken up with him, a young blind man (Melchior Beslon) reflects on the growth and seeming decline of their relationship.

Quartier Latin (VIe arrondissement) — written by American actress Gena Rowlands, directed by French actor Gérard Depardieu and French director Frédéric Auburtin. A separated couple (Ben Gazzara and Rowlands) meet at a bar (run by Depardieu) for one last drink before the two officially divorce.

14e arrondissement (XIVe arrondissement) — written and directed by Alexander Payne. Carol (Margo Martindale), a letter carrier from Denver, Colorado on her first European holiday, recites in rough French what she loves about Paris.

Days Of Wine and Roses - 1962

My dad, Joe Nelson Armijo, loved this movie. I watched it with him as an early teen and was quite amazed by the perfromances and storyline. It's an excellent and very intense film.

It was directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay (from 1958) of the same name. The movie was produced by Martin Manulis, with music by Henry Mancini, and features Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford and Jack Klugman. The film depicts the downward spiral of two average Americans who succumb to alcoholism and attempt to deal with their problem.

An Academy Award went to the film's theme music, composed by Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film received four other Oscar nominations, including ones for Best Actor and Best Actress.

Ma Vie En Rose - 1997

This is an extraordinary film about tolerance and how someone who happens to be a little 'different' is looked upon negatively, harshly and with much prejudice. "Ma vie en rose" (English translation: My Life in Pink) is a 1997 Belgian film directed by Alain Berliner. It tells the story of Ludovic (Georges du Fresne), a child who was born male but consistently insists that she is supposed to be a girl. The film shows the struggle over the gender identity she and her family experience.


I remember going to a theater in San Francisco in 1997 with my mom and two of my nieces to see this one. I'm glad we saw it together as there were so many messages in this film about the horrors of hate. It's a very heartfelt story.


In the United States the film received an R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, an unusual decision because the film has minimal sexual content, minimal violence, and mild language. Those opposed to the rating believe that the rating was the result of trans-gender phobia.


The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Graduate - 1967

The Graduate is a 1967 American romantic-comedy motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel "The Graduate" by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder Willingham.


The film tells the story of Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman), a recent university graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then proceeds to fall in love with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross). In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It ranked as the seventh greatest film of all time on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies.


Adjusted for inflation, the film is #19 on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada. Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, and Katharine Ross earned Oscar nominations for their performances.

Character - 1997

Netflix recommended this film to me based on my love of another and I was pleasantly surprised. Winner of the 1998 Best Foreign Language Film and filmed beautifully this Dutch-Belgian film definitely is one I would watch again.

Dreverhaven (Jan Decleir), the city's most feared bailiff, is discovered with a knife through his heart, and a young, self-taught lawyer (Fedja van Huet) who just passed his exams was the last person to see the man alive. But what was his connection to the dead man? The police are mighty interested to know, and the young barrister is ready to tell the story of a lifetime.

J.W. Katadreuffe is the son of Joba Katadreuffe and A.B. Drevenhaven. Though fully neglected by Joba, Dreverhaven ensures the succesfull career of his son. Mostly unseen, though he sues his son a few times. The son Katadreuffe succeeds, but at great costs.

Joba: Why don't you leave our boy in peace?
Dreverhaven: I'll strangle him for nine-tenths, and the last tenth will make him strong.

Cypher - 2002

Nothing is as it seems in this film. I loved it. Jeremy Northam gives a fantastic performance.


Cypher (also known as Brainstorm), is a 2002 science fiction thriller film starring Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu. The film was written by Brian King and directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film was shown in limited release in theaters in the USA, and released on DVD on August 2nd 2005.


The film received mixed to positive reviews. Derek Elley of Variety called the film "consistently intriguing" and "100% plot driven" with excellent performances from the cast. This film may not be for everyone but it keeps you wondering. I love the futuristic and suspenseful feel of it.

De-Lovely - 2004

De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death. It is the second biopic about the composer, following Night and Day.


Although Porter was a passable singer at best, director Irwin Winkler cast Kevin Kline, winner of two Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards for his musical performances on Broadway, as the composer. He stayed in character by limiting his vocal range. Most of his singing was recorded live on the set, and the actor played the piano himself in the scenes where Porter plays.


According to Winkler's commentary on the DVD release of the film, he had considered numerous actresses for the role of Linda when Ashley Judd's agent advised him she was interested in the part. Winkler was certain her salary demand would exceed that allowed by the budget, but the actress was so anxious to portray Linda she was willing to lower her usual asking price. Judd is twenty years younger than Kline, although the composer's wife was eight years older than he. Filming locations included Chiswick House and Luton Hoo.

Run Lola Run - 1998

Run Lola Run (German: Lola rennt, literally Lola Runs) is a 1998 German crime thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 German marks in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film depicts three scenarios that make it seem like you're watching three different versions of the same film.

In his review of the film, Roger Ebert noted how the film's structure was very similar to that of a video game. Ebert mentioned the kinetic style of the film and commented that the "heroine is like the avatar in a video game -- Lara Croft made flesh." The narrative itself evokes the typical video game. Just like a character in a video game, Lola dies once and sees Manni die once before figuring out how to "beat the level." The opening of the film sets the film up as a game, albeit a football game, however the point remains. Just like somebody who must replay a level in a video game and learn from their mistakes, Lola is given several more chances to successfully complete her mission.

Throughout the film, Lola bumps into people, talks to them, or simply passes them by, and the sound of a camera flash warming up can be heard. Their resulting futures are then conveyed in a series of still frames. The futures are widely divergent from encounter to encounter. In one scenario, a woman whom Lola accidentally bumps into remains poor and kidnaps an unattended baby after her child was taken away by social workers. In another scenario the woman wins the lottery and becomes rich. In the third scenario, the woman experiences a religious conversion. The sound of the camera flash warming up is repeated a final time at the end of the film, when Lola smiles at Manni's question about what's in her bag.

The Long, Hot Summer - 1958

I only saw this a few years ago and I just loved it. Once you see it you can see how/why Paul Newman ended up marrying Joanne Woodward in 'real-life'. It is based on stories by William Faulkner, primarily "The Hamlet," but completely removes the Snopes family.


The film was entered into the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, with Newman winning the award for Best Actor in the role of 'Ben Quick'. I remember feeling the actual 'hotness' of the summer while watching this film. Not many movies can actually make you feel the climate. A great film...

Where the Lilies Bloom - 1975

I was 9 when this film came out and I still remember the first time I went to the movies to watch it. Growing up without money I could relate to the way these kids lived. It wasn't until I got older and seen it again that I understood what these kids were really surviving.

A sincere and unglamourized look at the backwoods Appalachians has four children left parentless when their father dies. They refuse to let his death be known to the proper authorities for fear of being separated and placed in an orphanage. Mary Call ( Julie Gholson), though not the eldest of the brood, takes on the parent-figure role, protecting the kids from the frightful world of adults, especially landlord Kiser Pease (Harry Dean Stanton). Pacing and plot development are very slow but effectively detail the changes the children undergo as they grow and learn to accept Stanton as a friend. The latter gives a strong performance as a crusty gent who is really pretty cool.

Based on the novel written by Bill and Vera Cleaver (Nominee, 1970 National Book Award for Children's Literature; Notable Children's Books of 1969 (ALA); Best Books of 1969 (SLJ); Outstanding Children's Books of 1969 (NYT)).

John Adams - 2008

In the mood for some history? Here is a classic that you'll love. Don't be fooled just because it's an HBO Television mini-series. I watched it over a couple of days while I was 'under the weather'. It's a GREAT movie.


The miniseries chronicles most of President John Adams's political life and his role in the founding of the United States. Paul Giamatti portrays John Adams. The miniseries was directed by Tom Hooper. Kirk Ellis wrote the screenplay based on the book John Adams by David McCullough.


The biopic of John Adams and the story of the first fifty years of the United States was broadcast in seven parts by HBO between March 16 and April 20, 2008. John Adams received generally positive reviews, and many prestigious awards. As of 2011, the show has won more Emmy awards than any other miniseries, and four Golden Globe awards.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - 2008

Woody Allen finally came to his senses and didn't get in front of the camera. Instead, he chose the unlikely Rebecca Hall (actress) to be the female version of him. I loved the lines and overall romance, drama and comedy in this one. It takes you away to Western Europe, too.


The plot centers on two American women, Vicky and Cristina, spending a summer in Barcelona, where they meet an artist who is attracted to both of them while still enamored of his mentally and emotionally unstable ex-wife María Elena. The film was shot in Avilés, Barcelona, and Oviedo, and was Allen's fourth consecutive film shot outside of the United States.


As of July 2009, the film has grossed $96,408,652 worldwide; in relation to its $15 million budget, it is one of Allen's most profitable films.

August Rush - 2007

In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented:
"August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry."


The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing:
"The story is about musicians and how music connects people, so the movie's score and songs, created by composers Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer, give poetic whimsy to an implausible tale."


I loved everything about this film...it's a favorite.

The Greatest Game Ever Played - 2005

This is a 2005 biographical sports film based on the early life of golf champion Francis Ouimet. The film was directed by Bill Paxton. Shia LaBeouf plays the role of Ouimet. It is distributed by Walt Disney Studios. The film's screenplay was adapted by Mark Frost from his book, "The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf". It was shot in Montreal, Quebec, with the Kanawaki Golf Club being the site of golf sequences.


The story is set mainly in 1913 and takes you back to this period. I really loved this one. It's not just about winning.

IL POSTINO - 1994

Il Postino is a 1994 Italian film directed by Michael Radford. The film tells a fictional story in which the real life Chilean poet Pablo Neruda forms a relationship with a simple postman who learns to love poetry. It stars Philippe Noiret, Massimo Troisi, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

Writer/star Massimo Troisi postponed heart surgery so that he could complete the film. The day after filming was completed, he suffered a fatal heart attack.

The soundtrack from the film is equally as beautiful as the film. In 1994 to promote the film, Miramax published The Postman (Il Postino): Music From The Miramax Motion Picture, which besides the film's score, composed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov, includes Neruda's poems recited by many celebrities. There are a total of 31 tracks. The album won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.