Movie Review: ***Going In Style (2017)

Going In Style (2017)

What do you do when you are old, and medical and other bills are eating your retirement.  Rob a  bank of course.  And in this case it is the bank that stole your retirement.  This is a remake of a 1979 movie of the same name.  How do three old people rob a bank.  They get the idea when one of them is at the bank during a previous hold up.  The three old gentleman are played by Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.  There is some funny stuff with old men getting ready to heist a bank.  Christopher Lloyd, and almost senile old man at the senior center.  They together volunteer for senior Center bazaar as an alibi, and the alibis hold.  One uses the restroom—he has a problem and has to go for a long time.  He sneaks out the back side.  Another is singing with Ann-Margaret and makes it look like he doesn’t leave the party they are catering.  The other is helping in a group, of all yellow shirts and is lost in the crowd. 

They wear masks of the Rat-Pack.  Everything hinges though on a witness at the bank.  Morgan Freeman has an anxiety issue, and has difficulty breathing.  A little girl helps him, and sees his distinctive watch.  However, she doesn’t turn him in.  They restore their pension with over $two million from the bank.

If I could condone bank robbing I would give this movie higher marks; but I cannot.

Musical Movie Review; ****^Anastasia (1997)

This is one of my favorite animated musicals.   This film boasts an all star cast.  Meg Ryan portrays Anastasia, and Kirsten Dunst plays the girl Anastasia.  However they do not provide the singing parts.  Liz Callaway sings for Anastasia.  John Cusack and Kelsey Grammer plan the two who discover her.  Christopher Lloyd plays the evil Rasputin.  Bernadette Peters plays the grandmother's cohort, and Angela Lansbury the Queen mother, or Anastasia's grand mother.  I love the song "Once Upon a December."  "Journey to the Past" is also wonderful.  And the story of finding yourself, and then maybe that is not the thing you really want to do.  I think the Rasputin character may be over done.  He is always falling apart and putting himself back together, and it gets old after a time.

Movie Review: Back to the Future III

This movie gets the story back on track.  Doc has been transported back to 1885.  Marty is going back to save him, as in the past, Doc Brown was killed by Buford Mad Dog Tannen.  The plot has several twists, and Marty finally learns a lesson.  It doesn't matter if an "ass-hole" calls you names, you don't have to respond.    Doc meets the new school teacher, keeping her from a fall that should have killed her, and fall madly in love with her.  And Marty puts himself in the way of the gun fight with Mad Dog which was intended for the doctor.  Will they ever get back, because they need 88 mies per hour, and trains can barely go that fast.
Several cast members play multiple roles, including Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and his great-great grandfather, And Lea Thompson as both Marty's mother and great-great grandmother.  Lastly Thomas F. Wilson plays Mad Dog and Biff.  Christopher Lloyd recreates Doctor Brown.  New cast member Mary Steenburgen plays Clara.  Three cameo people in the par are played by Pat Buttram, Harry Carrey Jr. and Bub Taylor.  James Tolkan plays the Marshal, while he was the vice-principle in other films.

Movie Review: ***^Back to the Future II (1989)

The Back to the Future series is classic, and Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are key.  They continue their sparks in this presentation as Marty McFly and Doctor Brown.   The plot gets overwhelmed with going forward in time, and then back again, and trying to fix things in the future, which really doesn't fix anything at all and just makes it worse.   And they have to put Marty's girlfriend to sleep to make the whole thing work.  However she still wakes up.  However the major think, keeping his son and daughter from jail, they are able to accomplish by putting Marty into his son's place.
The idea of past and future is really well done, and the overlapping of the same characters in different timelines makes for interesting entertainment.

Movie Review: *****Back to the Future (1985)

Talk about a fun movie.  This is one of the best.  Christopher Lloyd is so good as Doctor Brown.  I especially like his demonstration of pride after they get the DeLorean back.  His reaction is classic acting.
If figure the story line is well enough known to most people, but this involves Marty (Michael J. Fox) accidentally sending himself back in time.  He seeks out Dr. Brown (Christopher Lloyd) to help him get back to his own time, as he made the time machine in what is his future now.  Marty meets his parents, and in fact interferes with their meeting.  This is setting up an alternative future in which he and his siblings are not born.  Marty's parents (Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover) are quite a pair in their high school days.  (Speaking of acting, this two actors have to portray their character in two different times, 30 years apart.  They actually do a great job.)  The other actor who has they same task is Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) who is father's nemesis.
Some highlights of this film are Marty getting to play guitar at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance and the actual time machine build in a DeLorean.  The Mr. Fusion is pretty cool too.
This is a great family film with lots of fun action and intriguing nuances with the use of time.  Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale should be given note as the writers.

TV Review: Granite Flats, Season 3

This is a series that just keeps getting better and better.  This season is intriguing because of the spying genre, figuring who the "Plumber" might be, and the intricate relationships.  Christopher Lloyd does an excellent job as the professor.  There is a nice love triangle, marital strife, and personal growth.  Check this series out on Netflix or BYUtv.  Season 1; Season 2.

TV Review: Granite Flats Season 2

This is the second year the BYUtv has sponsored this series.  It just keeps getting better and better, with more and more spies involved.  This year we have CIA vs FBI vs KGB vs out trio of young people, and perhaps even more intrigue.  Arthur Milligan (Jonathan Morgan Heit) goes off on his own with his investigation of the local spy ring, because Madeline (Malia Tyler) and Tim Sanders (Charlie Plummer) develop a romance, and seem less interested.  They become more interested in a different mystery, the real story of Madeline's adoption.  Mrs. Milligan (Annie Tedesco) is working with a behavior experiment on people using drugs and hypnosis.  She works with Madeline's parents.  Tim's father (Richard Gunn) is the chief of police, and active in the hunt for the spies.
There are two new characters this year, teacher Professor Hargraves (Christopher Lloyd) and CIA spy Ashmeade (Cary Elwes)

This is a good time with this series.  It keeps you entertained and has enough suspense.  It seems every episode there is a new problem to solve; and sometimes old issues are resolved.  I also like it because it reminds me of my youth.  Great fun.  You can still see seasons 1 and 2 through BYUtv.  Season 3 has been announced.
http://www.byutv.org/show/0aea4804-47dc-470f-b80a-35c8f23d0f27/granite-flats