The Singing Nun (1966)

Storyline :   Young and inexperienced Sister Ann has just arrived at her next posting at Samaritan House, a Dominican order located in a disreputable neighborhood of Ghent, Belgium. Sister Ann is enthusiastic, progressive but naive, all which irks one of the senior sisters, Sister Cluny, especially the fact that Sister Ann has a prized material possession, a guitar she's named Adele. Sister Ann considers Adele and her music to be her friends. Contrary to Sister Cluny, the Mother Prioress believes Sister Ann will be a welcome addition to their order. This posting is to be the training ground for Sister Ann and others to become missionaries in Africa. Sister Ann's path takes a detour when the order's Father Clementi hears Sister Ann sing. He believes Sister Ann should record her music and as a favor asks Robert Gerarde of Primavera Records for recording time. Unknown at the time the request is made, Robert and Sister Ann are old friends who attended the Paris Conservatory of Music together five years...

Stars :  Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban, Greer Garson, Agnes Moorehead, Ed Sullivan, Katharine Ross, Chad Everett, Juanita Moore

Read More

• Share

Born Free (1966)

Storyline :  Married couple George Adamson and Joy Adamson have long lived in northern Kenya for George's work as the senior game warden of the region. One of George's primary responsibilities is to deal with dangerous animals that may be chronically threatening to humans, livestock and/or crops. It is in this vein that George and his staff end up killing a man eating lion and its lioness, resulting in their three young female cubs being orphaned. Although difficult to begin, George and Joy are able to wean and take care of the three cubs, who they adopt as pets. But soon, they know they have to provide a more suitable environment for the cubs, namely sending them to Rotterdam Zoo... that is except for the smallest, who they have named Elsa and to who Joy in particular has become attached as the emotional fighter among the three. As Elsa grows into lioness maturity, George and Joy provide her with greater freedom away from their property, which may get her into trouble as a largely tame animal. ...

Stars :  Virginia McKenna,  Bill Travers,  Geoffrey Keen,  Peter Lukoye,  Omar Chambati, Bill Godden,  Robert S. Young,  Bryan Epsom,  Robert Cheetham,  Geoffrey Best

Read More

• Share

Return to Oz (1985)

Storyline :  Dorothy Gale has recently come home to Kansas from the Land of Oz is now almost back to perfect health since the incident of the tornado, only she cannot get that wonderful place out of her head. She frequently talks about it and cannot get any sleep at night. Aunt Em worries about her health/well-being. Thinking that she is suffering delusional depression and acute insomnia, she decides to take her to see a special doctor in another town. While he tries to treat her with electro-shock treatment and take those nasty dreams away from her head, she is rescued by a mysterious girl who leads her back to Oz for a new adventure.

Stars :  Fairuza Balk,  Nicol Williamson,  Jean Marsh,  Piper Laurie,  Matt Clark, Michael Sundin

Read More

• Share

Alexander & The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Starring: Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould, & Bella Thorne

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

When something fresh and successful comes along, everyone wants a piece of it. Shortly following the films release, a number of copycats emerge and to be honest most of them are terrible. Maybe it's because we tend to compare it to the original or maybe it's because the scripts are rushed and just aren't that good. In any case, after the release of the Wimpy Kid series, we saw a lot of these family comedies, centering on the not so popular kids, and as expected, most of them were awful, with one notable exception. Alexander's bad day focuses on a young man whose birthday coincides with his first day of middle school, which doesn't go so well. After receiving no sympathy from his family, Alexander wishes that they all had their own bad day, and the results were hilarious. This isn't the typical PG family comedy you see from Disney, as it was quite raunchy for them and really pushes the boundary of that PG rating. Ed Oxenbould stars as Alexander and fits the role like a glove. Oxenbould looks and sounds kind of awkward, after all it is a strange age, but watching him gave the feeling that he's not all that unfamiliar with being unpopular. Possibly playing on real life experience, he rivals Alex Gordon with a performance that was not only believable, but it was also very funny. Another advantage this film has over the Wimpy Kid series is that the young cast has help from some of Hollywood's elite, as co-stars include Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. The pair give a lot of support and the producers use them to break-up the middle school monotony that would has surely ensued. While not my usual genre, I loved the Wimpy kid series, but Alexander's bad day is more than an adequate alternative for those who are looking for something a little bit different.

Read More

• Share

Unaccompanied Minors

Starring: Dyllan Christopher, Quinn Shephard, & Lewis Black

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

For decades, A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life have been the standard templates for holiday films, until a third choice came along in 1990. Ever since, there have been a whole slew of films that have tried to be the next Home Alone. None have come close to being as good, but perhaps the best attempt came from Unaccompanied Minors. The Davenport kids are flying to seeing their father for the holidays when they are stuck in Cleveland by a massive snow storm. When they get there, they discover they are just two of dozens of kids who are stuck at the same airport, trapped in a conference room under the watchful eye of the airports ruthless administrator, (Lewis Black) who's not all that fond of children. Together with some of the more unique personalities, the Davenports stage an escape and wreck havoc on the airport, determined to have fun during the holidays, even if it is in a snowed in airport. Yes, this is a kids movie with all the cheesy jokes and kid stuff that comes along with it, but what makes it unique is all the different personalities. The six kids are from all different parts of the country and are all from different family structures and different socioeconomic backgrounds, meaning they all had very different lives and very different ideas on what the definition of fun is. The culmination of the different personalities and how they all come together is what makes this film unique and quite frankly pretty special. The young cast is pretty talented as well, featuring Brett Kelly from Bad Santa as well as Tyler Williams from Everybody Hates Chris. The young cast also gets help from veteran comedians Lewis Black, Wilmer Valderrama, and Rob Corddry. The combination of young comedians and veteran comedians adds another dynamic similar to the one set up by the characters in the film. As well as the mixing of characters personalities, you're also getting a wide variety of comedic styles in the film. The bottom line, Unaccompanied Minors may be a kids Christmas movie, but there is a whole lot to like about it, from the writing, to the in depth character development, the mixing of different comedic styles, and even the unique settings. It's not quite Home Alone, but as close as anyone's come since 1990.

Read More

• Share