Category Archives: Uncategorized

Movie Review: Farewell, Mr. Haffmann

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In the history of movies, there has never been a more produced and written about subject than World War II. Some of these movies have been war movies, others about the Hallocaust and others stories like this one about the plight of so many ordinary people in the path of a huge world war, started by Nazi Germany in 1938.

The story of the new French movie “Farewell, Mr. Haffmann” is about a Jewish jeweler in Paris France who is hidden in the basement of one of his employees and his wife when the Germans take over France. The hope is once the conflict subsides, he can escape France and be with his wife who is living in another country. The sub story has to do with the couple unable to have children, and then blackmailing the jeweler to get his wife pregnant. It is this part of the overall story that for me did not work and had no place in a story that was all about the persecution of the Jews during World War II, leading to the Hallocaust.

Due to this strange screenplay idea, I was surprised at the 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, about a mostly forgettable World War II story. The IMDB rating for this film is a much more correct 70%, with my rating also 70% and a moderate recommendation mostly for the acting and not for a mostly bad story.

Movie Review: Monkey Man

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The new movie “Monkey Man” is one of those mistakenly highly rated Rotten Tomatoes movies that fools too many of us to see a new film that we would never see were it not for the high rating.

Monkey Man is about an Indian man in his 30s who is so far down on his luck, within the slums of Mumbai India that he tries to make money by being beaten up in boxing matches where he is wearing a monkey mask. One could argue that no main character within any voilent action movie takes more punches to the face than Kid, played by Dev Patel. What does not make sense is why the damage to his face and body is not much worse than shown in scenes that immediately follow.

The story is about the lives of the corrupt and extremely rich and the poor within the run down depressing and dark city of Mumbai India. This dark and depressing contrast is portrayed very well in this story.

This film is a revenge/martial arts/extremely voilent action movie that has several good action scenes, but way too many of these 2+ hours are unnecessarily boring – this entire movie could easily be 90 minutes rather than 2 hours.

Actor Dev Patel directed starred and co-wrote this film and Patel also played the lead role in “Slumdog Millionaire”, released in 2008 and won the Academy Awards for best picture that year – a decision I did not agree with.

The Rotten Tomatoes for this movie are a way too high 85%, with my rating only 68% and a solid pass, due to the too many boring scenes.

The Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Review: Someone Like You

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The new movie “Someone Like You” is from the best-selling book with the same title, written by Karen Kinsbury. This is a tear-jerker type of film that we have all seen before, and most of what happens is predictable, but it is performed and told well enough to receive a solid recommendation. The other reason to like this film is because of the cast, starting with relative newcomer Sarah Fisher, who plays London Quin. Fischer has a face and a radiant smile that is so likeable and relatable that her appearance on screen alone, practically steals this entire movie.

The premise of this story is both highly unusual and complex, involving invitro fertilization and a woman who provides two eggs to a fertilization facility, using only one of them. The other egg was implanted into another woman who lives in another city. Some 24 years later, there is a tragedy that starts the somewhat far-fetched events that follow that at least for me, was told well and included very likable characters making this mostly run-of-the-mill tear-jerker very enjoyable. There are several well-performed scenes involving emotional situations that are very well performed that ultimately made this a good film.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this movie are once again too low at 60%, with my rating a solid 80% and a recommendation.