Tom Jones (1963)

This was easily the latest Academy Best Picture I hadn't seen. Partly I'd put it off because it's not so popular as Best Pictures go. It also took a long time to come to DVD. This edition, at least, was released within the last year.

No, it has nothing to do with the singer of the same name. Based on an 18th-century novel, the story follows a literal bastard of questionable heritage (played by Albert Finney in adulthood) nevertheless raised as a lord's son. He becomes quite the Don Juan, tho he does have an eye toward one woman in particular, Sophie (Susannah York), against her father's permission. The era of duels is not a relatively safe time for one such as Tom....

Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema (2017)

This may be the most obscure film I've ever reviewed. It presently has no Wikipedia entry and only seven votes on IMDb. But since I usually like documentaries about the industry, I gave it higher priority than other entries in the local Jewish film festival that had my dad interested. (The few docs directed by Danny Ben-Moshe that don't have a Jewish focus are even more obscure.)

As you probably knew, Jews make up such a small percentage of the Indian population that most lists of religions in India lump them under "other." But in the second most populous nation, that still allows several thousand -- more than enough to leave a significant impact on Bollywood. In particular, they've had the advantage of a relatively permissive faith with regard to depictions on screen. Here's a hint: The poster shows dancing cartoon women.

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

Fifteen years ago, I did a project on films about mental disorders. That was when I first learned of this one. Despite its honorable rating on IMDb, I decided not to include it among the 20 I would watch, because it sounded too intense. Even this week, the thought of it gave me pause. But then I considered all the disturbing fare I'd seen since 2003. I could probably handle this and might just enjoy it.

The protagonist, aptly enough, is Jacob (Tim Robbins), whom we first see as a Vietnam War soldier in a scene that quickly goes from quiet to confusingly hectic. This then appears to be a flashback, with him now a New York City postal worker. He has his peaceful times thereafter, but by and by, he finds a lot of details not adding up. At worse moments, he perceives seemingly random malevolence from strangers or even the presence of monsters. The bulk of the plot involves him figuring out what to make of it all.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

It's finally happened: My dad has had his fill of superhero movies, for now at least. Black Panther was only two months ago, after all. I think it's just as well that he didn't come to this one, partly because it's hard to sit through 150+ minutes without a break (I barely made it myself -- good thing the credits ran long enough to let me catch the scene afterward) and partly because he doesn't retain as much memory of prior Marvel Cinematic Universe entries as I do. This one does hark back to several.

Previously lurking in the periphery of the series was brawny alien Thanos (Josh Brolin), now all the more powerful for having acquired one of the six artifacts known as Infinity Stones. Some Guardians of the Galaxy already had the misfortune of knowing him, but only when he defeats the Asgardians at the start of this movie do any of the (ex-)Avengers learn of him. He's out for more Stones, two of them on Earth, and plans to use them to kill half the universe, not counting the many people he and his army have already killed. Thus, Earth's mightiest heroes reluctantly put aside their Civil War rift to combat him, while the Guardians respond belatedly to Asgard's distress signal. I think the only living MCU action heroes who don't play a part this time are Hawkeye and Ant-Man, off on some other business and presumably out of contact.

Unfaithfully Yours (1948)

I have now seen 8 of the 13 movies directed by Preston Sturges -- and I'm not sure why. His humor hasn't aged that well, has it? The only one I've really liked is Sullivan's Travels, primarily for balancing with its serious side. And here I was checking out what Netflix described as a "pitch-black comedy" from him, starring Blithe Spirit's Rex Harrison and having had little commercial success in its day. Sounded like it would be still less my thing. But perhaps I was intrigued at what sounded significantly different from the norm for Sturges.

Celebrated orchestral conductor Alfred de Carter dotes on his wife, Daphne. Because of a miscommunication of his wishes, his brother-in-law has had her tailed during Alfred's absence. Alfred is too furious at this news to listen to the findings right away, but then he learns of evidence of her spending a suspicious amount of time with his secretary, Tony. During the three pieces of his concert that night, he entertains three vivid ideas of how to respond, each of them disregarding a detective's advice to give Daphne the benefit of the doubt. Two of them lethal. After the concert, however, he discovers quite a few differences between his fantasies and his reality.

The Jungle Book (2016)

Being between disc deliveries and aware that this movie would stop streaming soon, I gave it priority. I hadn't been sure I would ever see it, since I'm not keen on Disney (re-)remaking its own classics. But it does get online ratings to rival if not best the 1967 full animation, and it didn't look like a total retread in ads.

Not that it's much if any closer to the Rudyard Kipling story collection either. The focus remains on pre-adolescent "man cub" Mowgli (Neel Sethi) living among wolves until semi-guardian panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) compels him to leave for a village before misanthropic tiger Shere Khan (Disney favorite Idris Elba), thought to be a match for the entire pack, can hunt him down. After some trouble separates Mowgli from Bagheera, he meets sloth bear Baloo (Bill Murray), who wants him to stay in the jungle as a comrade, lest he become just like other humans. Further complicating the question of what to do is Shere Khan's threat to the wolf pack if Mowgli should escape for good.

The Longest Yard (1974)

Long-time readers know I'm not big on sports flicks. Football appeals to me even less than most sports. Offhand, the only fully serious football movie I've seen is Rudy; the rest are at least partly comedic. But this one has Robert Aldrich at the helm, and I like the other four films of his that I've seen, so I gave it a try.

Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Burt Reynolds) was an esteemed pro quarterback until he took a dive. Now a drunken burnout, he commits several crimes in rapid succession and goes to prison. As it happens, warden Rudolph Hazen (Eddie Albert) cares inordinately about football, particularly as it concerns his guards' underperforming semi-pro team. He and Captain Knauer (Ed Lauter) coerce Crewe to assemble a team of inmates, the idea being that victory against the inmates will pave the way for a championship. But for all the trouble he has finding decent talent, Crewe might just want his team to win for the sake of hurting and embarrassing the prison staff.

I Killed My Mother (2009)

No, it's not a new take on Psycho or Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. There is no literal death in this Quebecois drama based largely on the life of director, writer, and lead actor Xavier Dolan. Instead, 16-year-old protagonist Hubert tells a teacher that his divorced mom, Chantale, is dead so that he won't have to bring her into a presentation. It suggests that he half-wishes she'd die for real.

Netflix mentions in the first sentence of its summary that Hubert is gay. While that does have some importance to the plot, it is far from central to the main conflict. Hubert and Chantale lock horns quite enough before she has any idea of his orientation. When she finds out about his squeeze Antonin, she gets disappointed primarily because Hubert didn't trust her enough to tell her. She shouldn't be surprised, tho; pretty much the only time he welcomes her into his life is when he wants a ride to school, and even then he gets angry.

The Cider House Rules (1999)

I had expected not to write this review. It's not that I don't care strongly about this movie. It just features an extremely controversial subject that may very well make or break your opinion of and/or desire to watch it, and I'd hate to ostracize a good chunk of my readership by indicating my own position. Maybe that's why I never heard anyone talk about the movie outside the context of the 71st Annual Academy Awards. Still, it got me thinking, and those who haven't seen it ought to make an informed decision.

Based on a John Irving book, the story follows one Homer Wells from his infancy in a rural Maine orphanage to his young adulthood (when he's played by Tobey Maguire), ending shortly after World War II. He never gets adopted or formally educated, instead becoming an unofficial apprentice to orphanage director Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine), who also serves as an obstetrician -- and abortionist. Tired of this claustrophobic life, he leaves with two friendly customers, Wally (Paul Rudd) and Candy (Charlize Theron), who help him gain employment as the only White laborer at a cider house. When Wally goes off to war, Candy strays toward Homer. But Dr. Larch won't accept that Homer will stay away for good.

Ready Player One (2018)

Despite Steven Spielberg at the helm, my dad watched the preview and decided he'd probably skip this. He enjoyed Wreck-It Ralph, but that more clearly had something for the non-gamers, if only lush animation. His decision had nothing to do with the Ernest Cline book haters' backlash that predated RPO's release. Me, I recalled that even popular books can become middling Spielberg fare, but I still wanted to give it a try in a theater.

The year is 2045. The physical place is Columbus, Ohio, shabby home to teen Wade and evil megacorporation IOI. The virtual place, where the camera goes more than half the time, is a network of simulated worlds called the OASIS. Five years ago, the main creator of the OASIS died and left a message that his unprecedented filthy riches would go to whoever found the Easter egg. Most of the searchers outside of IOI have given up, but not Wade and his online buddies. His luck starts to change when he virtually meets and crushes on the legendary "Art3mis," who drops helpful hints. It's not immediately known what game she's playing; she claims to give the highest priority to depriving IOI President Sorrento of the grand prize, but main Wade companion Aech thinks she (or he) is just using Wade to a less noble end.