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45 Years (2015)
45 Years (2015)
2015 | Drama
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: 45 Years starts as we meet the Mercer’s, Kate (Rampling) Geoff (Courtenay) a married couple preparing for their 45th wedding anniversary, Kate does most of the planning and does extra caring for Geoff because of his memory starting to go. They are respected through the whole town with most of the people looking forward to the party.

When Geoff starts remembering the story of a woman he met before Kate, it puts Kate’s feelings in a frenzy and she wants to learn where she really stands in his life after all these years.

 

Thoughts on 45 Years

 

Characters – Kate is the former teacher (I think) who has been married for 45 years in what she believed was a perfect marriage, until she learns about a woman before they met, she goes through the questions of just where she stands in his life, even after all these years. Geoff is her husband, his memory isn’t what it used to be and it is his memory of his former love that puts the story on the rocks. Everyone else we meet are people from the town, friends who have known them for years.

Performances – Charlotte Rampling got an Oscar nomination for this role, you can see why she is fantastic as we see how she must try to hold in her emotions through the struggle. Tom Courtenay is also fantastic as the elderly man that can’t keep everything together like he once did. The rest of the cast doesn’t get too much screen time which is fine because it is our couple story.

Story – The story follows a couple of soon to be 45 years preparing for their anniversary, only for a moment to throw the years or marriage out the window through the eyes of one of the couple. We only follow the week leading up to the event which is great because we know how happy their marriage was before the events. It shows how one moment could change how everything seems which is reality many people would have in life and it also shows how important love can be for a couple even if at times things could be questioned.

Romance – The romance in this film shows just what the two would have been through with the years of marriage, how they must learn to stay loyal to each other no matter what.

Settings – The film keeps us in the singular town setting, it gives the film an authentic feeling of just where the couple have been for years and never look out of place here.


Scene of the Movie – The party.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is never fully explained is Geoff is just getting old or ill with his memory issues.

Final Thoughts – This is one of those dramas you can see why it got the Oscars attention, but it won’t be something for the casual film fans to be going to watch and it does show how a real long-term relationship goes.


https://moviesreview101.com/2018/09/27/abc-film-challenge-romance-45-years-2015/
  
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
2007 | Action, Animation, Family
8
7.4 (31 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The magicians at Disney have done it again in crafting one of the most enjoyable family films in recent memory. In Meet the Robinsons, audiences are introduced to Lewis, a young orphan who spends his time between adoption interviews tinkering away with all manner of strange inventions.

Lewis is approaching his 13th Birthday, and has given up hope of being adopted, after 150+ adoption interviews have failed to find him a family. In a desire to learn why his mother put him up for adoption, Lewis crafts a new invention that he hopes will not only answer this question, but also win him a prize at the school science fair.

As Lewis is preparing his memory scanner for the show, he is approached by a boy named Wilbur Robinson who tells him to watch out for a man in a bowler hat, as he has designs on the memory scanner.

Lewis and Wilbur are unaware that the Man in the Bowler Hat has indeed already arrived, and has sabotaged the memory scanner causing Lewis to be humiliated when his experiment goes horribly wrong.

Unknown to Lewis, a dastardly plan is underway and while Lewis attempts to make sense of his misfortune and lack of a family, Wilbur whisks Lewis into the future via a time machine in an effort to thwart the Bowler Hat Guy from changing the future for the worse.

During the arrival in the future, the time machine is damaged, and since it is one of only two known to exist, Lewis is forced to make repairs to the ship in order to return to his own time.

It is learned that Wilbur’s father has invented the time machines, and when the Man in the Bowler Hat stole one of the machines, Wilbur took the other one in an attempt to set things right, and is not able to ask for help from his father, less he suffer punishment.

With the very future he knows in danger, Wilbur agrees to help Lewis see his real mother if he is able to fix the time machine, but they both have to deal with The Man in the Bowler Hat and Wilbur’s quirky family if they are to save the day.

The film is a real joy, and the amazing animation was made even better by seeing the film in Direct 3D. I highly suggest seeing the film in this format if there is a theater near you showing the film in 3D.

Many family films strive to offer something that viewers of all ages can enjoy, but few have done as well as “Robinsons“ as the laughs were easily enjoyed by all ages, without being cutesy or forced.

My wife and I really enjoyed the T-Rex character, and hope that should there be future installments of this series, that he gets a larger part in the future.

The film was well paced and never seemed to drag or have a lull in rich visuals to feast your eyes upon while you enjoy a well rounded story and interesting characters.

My advice, put the Robinsons in your future.
  
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The Black Book
The Black Book
James Patterson | 2018 | Crime, Thriller
8
7.6 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Detective Billy Harney comes from a family of cops. His dad is a cop, the head of detectives and his twin sister is a cop. Billy likes to play by the rules, he's a good cop. When he takes down a brothel in the middle of Chicago filled with the city's most prominent people, the mayor, the arch bishop, etc., he is faced with a few difficult situations to get him through this arrest and trial. With the help from Goldie, a family friend and the head of Internal Affairs, Billy will get to the bottom of this case one way or another. But then those involved in the case end up dead, including himself, briefly, and his memory leading up to the trial is erased. Will he be able to find his memory before he is charged with the deaths?

James Patterson has long been on of my go-to authors. His books may be long(100+ chapters), but they are always a quick read. I've been making my way through his standalone books this year and I have to say that his is one of the best he's written in a long time as well as one of the best I've read this year.

This book had me on the edge of my seat and as soon as I though I knew who did what, I quickly found out I was wrong. The end was unpredictable and enjoyable.

I hope James Patterson continues to give us books like this.