Netflix Friday - Volume 89

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: 47 Ronin (2013)
A band of samurai set out to avenge the death and dishonor of their master at the hands of a ruthless shogun.
 

Drama: Changeling (2008)
Grief-stricken mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) takes on the L.A.P.D. to her own detriment when it tries to pass off an obvious imposter as her child.
 

Comedy: Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
After a humiliating performance at The Kennedy Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.
 

Animation: The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The quiet life of a terrier named Max (Louis C.K.) is upended when his owner takes in Duke (Eric Stonestreet), a stray whom Max instantly dislikes.  
 

Romance: The Prince & Me (2004)
At college Paige (Julia Stiles) meets Eddie (Luke Mably), a fellow student from Denmark, whom she first dislikes but later accepts, likes, and loves; he proves to be Crown Prince Edward. Paige follows him to Copenhagen, and he follows her back to school with a plan.
 

Horror: Mama (2013)
After a young couple (Jessica Chastain, Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) take in their two nieces, they suspect that a supernatural spirit named Mama has latched onto their family.
 

Science Fiction: 2012 (2009)
A frustrated writer (John Cusack) struggles to keep his family alive when a series of global catastrophes threatens to annihilate mankind.
 

Crime: The Accountant (2016)
As a math savant (Ben Affleck) uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, and the body count starts to rise.
 

Thriller: First Reformed (2017)
A minister (Ethan Hawke) of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.
 

Documentary: Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017)
Tis documentary goes behind the scenes with pop provocateur Lady gaga as she releases a bold new album and prepares for her Super Bowl halftime show.
 

Family: Charlie and the Chocolate  Factory (2005)
A young boy (Freddie Highmore) wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world’s most unusual candy maker (Johnny Depp)

Netflix Friday - Volume 17

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.

Action: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
In 1935, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) arrives in India, still part of the British Empire, and is asked to find a mystical stone. He then stumbles upon a secret cult committing enslavement and human sacrifices in the catacombs of an ancient palace.

Drama: Elizabeth (1998)
The early years of the reign of Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.

Comedy: The Blues Brothers (1980)
Jake Blues (John Belushi), just released from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) were raised.

Animation: Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
Dracula (Adam Sandler) and his friends try to bring out the monster in his half human, half vampire grandson in order to keep Mavis (Selena Gomez) from leaving the hotel.

Romance: A Star is Romance (2018)
A musician (Bradley Cooper) helps a young singer (Lady Gaga) find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Horror: Hush (2016)
A deaf and mute writer (Kate Siegel) who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.

Science Fiction: Back to the Future 2 (1989)
After visiting 2015, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes in 1985… without interfering with his first trip.

Crime: Public Enemies (2009)
The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.

Thriller: Changeling (2008)
Grief-stricken mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) takes on the L.A.P.D. to her own detriment when it tries to pass off an obvious imposter as her missing child.

Documentary: Let There Be Light (1946)
A group of mentally traumatized veteran patients is followed as they go through psychiatric treatment.

Family: Little Woman (1994)
The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil Wat America.

Five to Watch - Movies About Missing Persons

“Searching” is in theaters now and I’m going to see it myself tonight. So this brought me to this theme. I selected five films, where people are reported missing, that I think are worth watching or are somehow overlooked

In the Valley of Elah
A retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son’s disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq. The movies does an excellent job of showing that post-traumatic stress syndrome is not an oddity, but rather a growing problem in an army of young men whose job requires to be quick on the trigger. The movie belongs to Tommy Lee Jones, as the grieving father. And Charlize Theron as the determined detective. Both turn in outstanding performances. Jones shines, playing a man who has spent his life holding in his emotions and can’t change now, even as his world is falling apart. Theron radiates strength as a woman trying to survive in a sexist police department where all her male colleagues are certain she slept her way into her detective’s job.

Changeling
A grief-stricken mother takes on the LAPD to her own detriment when it tries to pass off an obvious imposter as her missing child. It’s a terrific story based on true events, has outstanding performances and is very well directed by Clint Eastwood. Angelina Jolie is great as her character fights, what seems to be at first a lost fight, for her son in a world vontrolled by men.

The Vanishing (Spoorloos)
Dutch couple, Rex and Saskia, stop at a service station to refuel. Saskia never returns. Three years later, Rex’s obsessice quest to find her is taken to unprecedented mania, when he starts to receive taunting letters from her abductor. The cat-and-mouse game between the two men ratchets up unbearable tension. There is also an American version, with Kiefer Sutherland, Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges, but it’s not as good as the Dutch version.

Breakdown
A man searches for his missing wife, after his car breaks down in the middle of the desert. It’s a great thriller that keeps you second guessing until the end. And it’s fast paced. Very much underrated.

The Texas Killing Fields
In the Texas bayous, a local homicide detective teams up with a cop from New York City to investigate a series of unsolved murders. This film might never find its audience, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great film. I did like it, a lot. And think it’s underrated and much overlooked as well. I loved Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in this film.