Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Movie Review: ****^Superman (1978)

 Superman/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) is sent to earth by his parents (Marlon Brando and Susannah York) as his planet, Krypton is due to explode.  They send him to earth, where differences is gravity will give him super powers.  There he is adopted by the Kents (Glen Ford and Phyllis Thaxter).  When his father dies, he moves to New York and becomes a reporter.  There he works with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), photographer Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure) and his boss Perry White (Jackie Cooper).  Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) is a criminal boss and mastermind.  He is intent and igniting a nuclear bomb to create an earthquake so California with drop into the sea.  This will propel his properties in the desert to be seaside property.  

He figures out Superman.  He is from another planet, and vulnerable to kryptonite.  He uses this to incapacitate Superman and launch his two nuclear bombs.  However Luthor is betrayed by his girl (Valerie Perrine).  She released Superman, who in turn saves his friends and the world.  



John Wayne Movie Review: ****Island in the Sky (1953)

 John Wayne is the pilot of a Corsair C-47 transport in the northern country, when they become confused as to their location, and icing forces them down way north where temperatures are not in their favor.  Nor is it in the favor of those who would find them.  This makes for an interesting movie as they attempt to communicate their location, and survive.  

I enjoyed this movie.  It is very emotional.  One of the men dies when he decides to go hunting and becomes lost in the cold and dark; even though he is just steps away form the plane.  The planes get close, but do not see them

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

John Wayne Movie: ***^In Harms Way (1965)

 This is a John Wayne movie with lots of supporting stars.  Wayne portrays Admiral Rock.  He is on a destroyer and gets to sea after Pearl Harbor.  His son is Jere (Brandon de Wilde).  Eddington (Kirk Douglas) is Rock's best friend.  Patricia Neal portrays Maggie, who is Rock's new girlfriend.  Jill Haworth portrays Jere's girlfriend.  Jere is an interesting character as he startys the movie being a jerk and then repents.  As a result he is engaged to Jere.  However she goes out with Eddington who rapes her and as a result she suicides.  Eddington is remorseful so takes a dangerous mission, and is able to locate a Japanese fleet, before he is shot down.  

A big battleship is coming down a narrow water pass before the take over the island.  Admiral Rock throws everything at them, mines, PT boats which are decimated.  Rock's son Jere is on a PT boat.   Then they try to stop them with their own boats.  Rock's boat is sunk, but the overall battle turns out to be a victory.

At the Movie: ****^Truth & Treason (2025)

 This is a movie about a branch in Nazi Germany; more particularly a 16 year old youn man from the branch, Helmuth Hübener (Ewan Horrocks) and his pursuit of the truth and sharing that truth with his neighbors.  He writes leaflets and then distributes them to his neighbors, purring them in mail boxes, on cars, or just letting them go in the air.  He recruits two friends, Karl-Heinz Schnibbe (Ferdinand McKay) and Rudi Wobbe (Daf Thomas).  They do this because a fourth friend, who happened to be part Jew Soloman Schwarz (Nye Occomore)was taken and ends up in Auschwitz.  The Gestapo man who is hunting them down is Erwin Mussener (Rupert Evans).  He tortures people by day and loves his family by night which makes a stark contradiction.

Hübener wrote many tracks, which were distributed around Hamburg by he and his friends.  This goes on for almost six months before Hübener is caught and tortured into giving up the names of his friends.  He does this to protect a young woman he had befriended at work.  

I really enjoyed this movie based on a true story. The letter to his mother at the end was very poignant.



Monday, October 27, 2025

James Bond Movie: ***^ Never Say Never Again (1983)

 Sean Connery is back as James Bond, but many of the other characters have different actors.  Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo, Max Von Sydow as Blofeld, Barbara Carrera as Fatima Blush, Kim Basinger as Domino, Alec McCowen as Q, Edward Fox as M and Pamela Salem as Miss Moneypenny and Bernie Casey as Felix who is a spy helping Bond.

Blofeld is the leader of Spectre.  Largo is assigned to handle the theft of a couple nuclear bombs.  His girl is Domino, who wants to get away from Largo.  Fatima Blush is the woman who is trying to murder Bond.  The action isn't quite as intense as some other Bond movies.  

Tom Hanks Movie Review: ***Larry Crowne (2011)

Tom Hanks portrays Larry Crowne, a middle age man who has been let go from his job of over 20 years and is finding difficulty finding another job; so goes back to school.  Julia Robert portrays the speech professor, Cedric the Entertainer portrays his neighbor, Gorge Takei another professor and Gugu Mbatha-Raw a fellow student who eventually drops out of school to pursue her dream in clothing retail.  This is. aromantic comedy in which the professor falls for the student and vice versa.  For a great deal of the movie I wondered what's the point of this movie.  I found it mildly entertaining.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

At the Movie: ***Pets on a Train (2025)

 This is an animated movie to which I took Grand kids.  The Badger Hans (Frantz Conviac) betrays the Raccoon Falcon (Damien Ferrette) to get even with the police dog Rex (Hervé Jolly) is basically what happens.  Hans takes control of the train and sets it on a high speed collision course.  Inside of that there ar many animals challenging themselves to overcome.  Grandkids liked it overall, even Bronny who hadn't like the previous Pets movies.