Secrets of the Manor House: Secrets of Highclere Castle

Movie Title-- Secrets of the Manor House:  Secrets of Highclere Castle

Release Year--  2013

Running Time--  54 Minutes

Director--  Vicky Matthews

Cast--  Samuel West

The story and secrets of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, home to Earl and Countess Carnarvon.

This film is a documnetary about Highclere Castle, lived in and owned by the Carnarvon family since 1679.  This documentary follows George and Fiona Carnarvon, the current Earl and Countess of the estate, through a tour of what has become a world famous estate.  They talk about the history of the Carnarvon family, the details of the estate and the plans to keep Highclere a working and well established Manor Home.

I was really dreading doing a documentary, I just felt like I wasn't quite ready to spend a few hours watching something potientally educational.  I picked this because it was very short and it seemed like it could be interesting.  I do have to say that it was pretty interesting although at times it could get a feel a little dry and at a few points it even seemed a little slow but overall it was worth the watch.  There are really only two things that I want to point out in this film.

Number 1--If you ever passed a history class, you should recoginze the Earl and Countess' last name; Carnarvon.  Yes, the current Earl of Highclere Castle is the great grandson of Lord Carnarvon; the man that funded the expedition that uncovered King Tutankhumun's tomb.  They say in the film that after the current Earl's grandfather died, his father and their butler went through one of the previously untouched rooms and found real Egyptian treasure hidden in the walls.

Number 2--This is the current filming location of "Downton Abbey".  If you have never heard of Downton Abbey, it is a great series that airs on PBS here in America.  If you have heard of Downton Abbey and don't watch, I highly recommend it, I think that the series is just awesome.

Those two reasons alone are the best reasons to watch this documentary, not to mention all the history this beautiful estate home has.  I think that if you are looking for something short and educational, this is a good one to pick up.  Go learn something new today and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Bernie

Movie Title--  Bernie

Running Time--  1 Hour and 39 Minutes

Director--  Richard Linklater

Cast--  Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey, Brady Coleman

Based on a true story, this is the story about Bernie Tiede, an assistant funeral director in Carthage, Texas.  He becomes very close friends with a widow who is estranged from her family and has no friends but when she writes him into her will, she begins to treat him like a piece of her property and not a human.  One day he snaps and shoots her in the back, then covers up the murder.

Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is a mild mannered assistant funeral director working in Carthage, Texas.  Everyone in the town loves Bernie; he is the kind of man that would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.  Bernie tended to be in debt a lot but was always donating  something to someone, always looking out for other before caring for himself.  Bernie meets a mean old widow, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), at the funeral of her late husband and befriends her, constantly checking in on her to make sure she is coping alright with her husband's passing.  They soon develop a close friendship and he becomes her constant companion.  

After Marjorie rewrites her will, leaving everything to Bernie, she becomes possesive and starts to treat him like he is her property instead of like a person.  One day Bernie snaps and shoots her in the back four times.  Instead of going to the police he hides her in a deep freeze and when she is finally discovered, the Carthage D.A. Danny Buck (Matthew McConaughey) asks the judge to hold the trial in a different jurisdiction because the jury pool was so bias toward Bernie.

Alright, so for this movie I have to thank Max.  Who is Max you ask?  Max is this little guy that lives in my Netflix.  All joking aside, I logged into Netflix, not really sure what I wanted to watch, so there is this option called "Max" and he (I say he because they use a man's voice) presented me with this movie based off what I felt like watching and what I had rated a few other movies I had seen.  "Bernie" was Max's pick, so I decided to give it a try.

"Bernie" is probably not a movie I would have picked on my own and honestly, it wasn't the best movie I have ever seen but it was funny in a dark way.  First and foremost, it is based off a true story.  The story of Bernie Tiede, mortician and nice guy that one day snaps and kills his constant companion is completely true, the killing happened in 1996.  At his trial he testified that Marjorie was abusive to him and he snapped.  He put her in the freezer because he wanted to preserve her so one day he could give her a proper burial. 

Jack Black plays Bernie and I have to say, I thought his performance was pretty good.  He sings throughout the movie and it is mostly serious, gospel type music, which anyone knows from watching a Jack Black film, that is not typical of him.  He helps transform this story that would otherwise be tragic for both parties, into a story that is amusing and light-hearted, that is before the murder anyway.  Shirley MacLaine plays Marjorie and at first the viewer is thinking although she is much older than Bernie, perhaps this could work out for them.  Then she flips the switch from a sometimes grumpy old lady who likes spending time with this man to a complete, control driven bitch.  The person that shocked me the most was Matthew McConaughey.  If I didn't know what his voice sounded like, I probably would have never known who the actor playing D.A. Danny Buck was.  He looks nothing like himself in this part and he puts on a pretty good performance.  

The last thing I want to leave you with is this: this movie is not set up in a typical fashion.  The whole thing is done like a documentary with paid actors instead of actually being a documentary.  They had actors portraying the people of the town and giving on screen interviews as if the film crew was actually going around the town getting the interviews.  It was an odd way of story telling but I think it helped move the film along some.

This film isn't a typical pick but I would say if you are looking for a dark comedy and you like Jack Black, this may be a pretty good pick for you.  Just remember that this is not really a film that everyone is going to watch but for the few people out there that is looking for something a little different and you need a little dark comedy in your life, this one is a good one for you.  Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Mud

Movie Title--  Mud

Release Year--  2012

Director--  Jeff Nichols

Cast--  Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard, Sarah Paulson, Ray McKinnon

Two boys find a boat in a tree and upon examining it, they find that someone is living there.  Soon after they encounter a strange man named Mud and one of the boys soon develop a friendship with him.  When the Boy learns that Mud is a fugitive of the law, he confronts him and finds out that Mud has come back for the love of his life.  The boy decides to help reunite the two lovers while his own life is dissolving around him.

Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) sail down the Mississippi River to a small island to explore a boat stuck in a tree.  They soon realize that someone is living in the boat and when they get back to the beach they see the man standing there.  The man asks for food in exchange for the boat when he is finished with it.  Neckbone is reluctant about it but Ellis decides to take him some food.  Once back on the beach he finds out the man is called Mud (Matthew McConaughey) and Ellis befriends him.  Ellis soon learns that Mud is a fugitive from the law and demands to know why.  Mud tells him the reason and that he is only there to meet up with the love of his life, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon)  and they would leave together.  Ellis decides it is the right thing to do to help Mud and Juniper reunite and wants to help them, although he has to deal with his own problems.  He is dealing with his parents (Sarah Paulson and Ray McKinnon) and their dissolving marriage while having his own personal problems with the girl he likes May Pearl (Bonnie Sturdivant).  

Ever hear the old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover"?  That is how I feel about this movie.  For some reason I saw this film and decided that I was not going to watch it.  I just flat out refused to watch a movie called "Mud" and it didn't matter that it has Matthew McConaughey in it, I wasn't going to watch it.  So a few days ago I was watching something on Netflix and it popped up "You watched this movie, you may like these movies too" and "Mud" happened to be on the list.  This has happened more than once, so, I finally broke down and watched it.  Can I say, I was NOT disappointed.

McConaughey plays Mud, a man on the run that has a way of expanding the truth.  His stories are all based on truth but are made up of lies to make the story bigger than it really is.  McConaughey does a great job of playing this character and really portrays the spirit of a man that would do anything for the woman he loves.  Ty Sheridan who plays the character of Ellis was really fun to watch too.  He is young but I think that as long as the parts are available he will be one to watch for the future.  

I would recommend this movie to anyone that is in a McConaughey kind of mood.  The story was very interesting and the acting was excellent.  Don't expect to hear his trademark "Alright, alright, alright" or you will be dissapointed because it doesn't show up in this film.   If you decided  to have a McConaughey movie marathon night (surely I am not the only person that picks an actor I like and have a movie marathon), add this movie to the list.  I hope you enjoy this film and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Transcendence

Movie Title-- Transcendence

Release Year-- 2014

Running Time--  2 Hours

Production Company--  Alcon Entertainment

Director--  Wally Pfister

Cast--  Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara

A scientist and his wife face dangerous consequences when his consciousness is uploaded into the self aware machine that he has created. 

Scientist Dr. Will Castor is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence.  He has labored to create the first self aware, sentient machine that is able to combine human emotions with the intelligence of everything ever known.  He has become famous for his research, experiments and work on the subject amd that makes him a target for the anti technology group "RIFT" (Revolutionary Independence From Technology) whom try to assassinate him.  Although he does not die when he is shot, the bullet is laced with radiation, giving Dr. Castor radiation poison and a short time to live.  In his last weeks his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) with the help of their good friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany) help Dr. Castor integrate into the consciousness of his own sentient machine.

Max realizes as soon as Will has transcended that this is not a good idea but Evelyn, dealing with the loss of her husband, feels like she has gotten him back and is blind to the big picture.  Max leaves and is kidnapped by "RIFT" and they are soon after Evelyn.  She helps Will upload to the internet and he soon has her away and secure, telling her that they need to find a place to rebuild.  She finds the town of Brightwater and they begin to build their facility there.  After a few years, the building that houses the machine has grown and the research that Will is gathering has helped him to build nano bots that help to heal people however every person that is injected with the bots are able to be manipulated by Will conscious...  

OK, so I have to stop there because any further and I will give the rest of the movie away and here at Don't Forget the Popcorn we are VERY against spoilers.  I will say that the part I have not really said much about (which begins after where I stopped typing) is the best part of the movie, for a while.  All in all, this movie was a little bit boring.  Some parts were tedious and drug on forever.  Once the film seemed to hit a pretty good stride something would hit a snag somewhere and then it would be back to dragging the story out or muddling through the plot lines.  

Don't get me wrong, I REALLY wanted to see this film in the theaters earlier this year.  With a cast like Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy, there was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be a pretty good film.  Now that I have seen it, I am glad I did not go waste my money to see it in the theater.  Perhaps if this film was shortened some, with some of the muddy parts cut out to move the story along a little faster and a little bit more explanation of what they are trying to achieve as the story progresses, it would have been better.  The material gets a little bit confusing and even lost from time to time, leaving the viewer bored and under impressed with what is going on on the screen.  

I love Johnny Depp but this film just did nothing for me.  I come out of this movie wondering why I wasted the time to watch it.  The lesson here is great; it is a lesson in humanity and it is trying to push people to look at what they are achieving in technology so they can ask themselves if what they are doing is morally right or if they are going to far, it was just presented in a way that made people just not care much about what they were seeing.  If you are sitting down to watch this movie because you are a Depp fan, I suggest that you skip this film pick one of his older, better ones and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

12 Years a Slave

Movie Title-- 12 Years a Slave

Release Year-- 2013

Running Time-- 2 Hours and 14 Minutes

Production Company-- River Road Entertainment

Cast-- Chiwetel Ejofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt

The account of a free man of color living in Saratoga, New York that is persuaded to go as a traveling entertainer to Washington D.C. where he is kidnapped and sold into slavery.

This is the story of Soloman Northup (Chiwetel Ejofor), a free black man living in Saratoga, New York with his wife and two children.  He is presauded by two con men to accompany them to Washington D.C. where he will earn wages being an entertainer.  When they arrive in the capitol, they drug Soloman and sell him into slavery.  From there he is sent with a group of other kidnapping victims to New Orleans where Mr. Freeman (Paul Giamatti) sells Soloman, who is now known by his slave name Platt, and one of his fellow travelers, Eliza to a man named Mr. Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch).  Ford proves to be a nice master but after Soloman gets in some trouble, Ford is forced to give his lease to another plantation owner, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).

Edwin proves to be a very harsh and very cruel master, whipping slaves for not meeting their cotton qouta and repeatedly raping and showing unwanted affections to a young field slave, Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o).  This unwanted attention toward Patsey makes Edwin's wife, the Mistress Epps (Sarah Paulson), very jealous and along with having Edwin beat her regularly, she very often throws things in Patsey's face and belittles her.  

A man from Canada, Mr. Bass (Brad Pitt) is paid to come to the plantation and complete a building on the property.  Soloman, overhearing Mr. Bass' antislavery views, shares with him that he is not really a  slave but a free man that had been kidnapped and sold into slavery.  Soloman also asks Bass if he will get a letter to his friends in New York and Bass, feeling like it is part of his duty to help a fellow man out, agrees to send the letters for him, although it could possibly be a great personal risk to him.  It is not long after the letters have been sent that someone is sent to take him back home to New York to be a free man once again after 12 years as a slave.

Before all else, a few things have to be stated about this film;  first is that it is based on a true story and second being that it won 3 Oscars, including "Best Picture".  That being said, I have mixed feelings about this movie.  I mean I enjoyed it, as much as one can enjoy a movie about cruelty during one of the darkest times in America's history.  I thought that the writing was done really well and I thought that EjoFor and Fassbender's roles were great.  Fassbender really does a great job at convincing the audience of Edwin Epp's cruelty and he even makes the viewer loathe him as a person.  Ejofor holds the viewer's attention and really portrays the hard times and the raw emotion that Soloman carried with him his 12 years in slavery.

What I didn't like about the movie was the story telling in the first hour or so of the movie.  To me, the beginning jumped too abruptly into scenes or flashbacks without any kind of transition.  For example, there is a scene that shows Soloman and his fellow captives being roused and forced to form a line and then it jumps to a horse drawn cart pulling underneath the camera's view and the captives being forced out of the cart.  It is almost as if there had been a whole scene cut out and another piece of movie they happened to want to use dropped into the first piece's place.  I understand that they are trying to process a lot of information at one time to hurry the story along and not make it any longer than it has to be, while also having enough time for the bulk of the movie to play out, I just think they could have found a better way to portray that.

It is also good to note that although I posted Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch and Brad Pitt to the cast list, they do not have very much screen time, Cumberbatch having the most out of the three.  The roles these three men play are very important to the story, Giamatti being Mr. Freeman the man that sold Soloman as a slave, Cumberbatch being Mr. Ford Soloman's first owner and Pitt being Mr. Bass the man that helps Soloman return to freedom but the reason these men don't get much screen time is because the bulk of the film is dedicated to cruelty that Soloman and the other slaves on the plantation endure at the hand of Edwin Epps and Soloman's struggle to become free and get back to his family.

I say that this film is worth the Oscar nods that it received.  Be aware that if you view this film you may be in for a very emotional ride, depending on what kind of movie watcher you tend to be.  You may want to bring along the tissues for this one and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

The Ledge

Movie Title--The Ledge

Release Year-- 2011

Running Time-- 1 Hour and 41 Minutes

Production Company-- VIP Media Group Ltd

Director-- Matthew Chapman

Cast-- Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Christopher Gorham


A detective is sent to a high rise building to talk down a young man that has been sent there by his lover's husband to contemplate a fateful decision.  The detective, having received some shocking news himself, is distracted by his own troubles but stays to listen to the story of how the young man ended up on the ledge and try to talk him down.

The movie opens to an industrial scene at dawn and brightens as the credits roll, signaling the day coming in; a new and fresh beginning.  Voices soon come in and the scene changes to Detective Hollis Lucetti talking nervously to a doctor and he finds out some very bad news.  Then it cuts to Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) climbing onto the ledge of a high rise building and glancing over the side.  Detective Hollis is sent to the site to talk Gavin down but very quickly realizes that Gavin has not climbed onto this ledge by his own doing but rather he has been forced out onto it.  Gavin tells Hollis that he was sent there to think and then at noon he is to jump.  

The movie then goes into a flashback where we meet the main players of our movie:  The gay roommate Chris (Christopher Gorham) and the married couple Shanna (Liv Tyler) and Joe Harris (Patrick Wilson).  Joe and Shanna come to Chris and Gavin's apartment to introduce themselves and invite them to dinner.  The dinner turns disastrous for Gavin when Joe, an unwavering christian, asks to pray for them.  Joe asks God to "forgive these two men for being abominable in his eyes", which offends Gavin, not because of what Joe says but the fact that Joe is judging the two of them "in God's eyes".  While Joe is an all believing type of christian, Gavin has strong beliefs and principles of his own but it has nothing to do with faith.  This will be the underlying tension between these two men throughout the rest of the movie.  New problems will present themselves but this God vs. no God argument will be at the heart of every problem for the rest of the movie.  

It is with this prayer at dinner that Gavin decides to "liberate" Shanna from her husband.  He gets friendlier with her and then starts making suggestive comments to her, trying to make sure that he is constantly on her mind.  After a while, the flirting and suggestive talk turns into an affair.  Shanna decides to leave Joe and that is what puts the wheels in motion, ending with Joe sending Gavin out on the ledge to make the biggest decision of his life.

The movie goes back and forth between Gavin and Hollis on the ledge to flashbacks, all while weaving Hollis' story in at the same time.  The scenes with Gavin and Hollis are meant to hurry the movie along, leaving the meatier parts of the story to the flashback scenes and also helping the viewer distinguish the time lapses in the story without having to actually portray it on screen.  This movie was distributed by IFC Films, so it has a very Indie feel to it, which I happen to be a fan of (although, sometimes this style of movie tends to turn people off) and it is also the kind of movie that I personally refer to as a "talkie" kind of film because there is no fighting, no car chases and no explosions; just people taking and arguing about their differences.

I found this movie when I was at the end of a six season "Sons of Anarchy" marathon; I was on a Charlie Hunnam high and was looking for my next fix.  The synopsis that I read for this movie was much shorter than the one that I wrote, so I decided to give it a try, since as I said previously, I was looking my next Charlie fix.  I thought the script was very well written and at times I found myself laughing at some of Hunnam's dialogue, while at other times not believing some of the things that were coming out of his mouth.  The tension and chemistry between Hunnam and Tyler is great; even when they are not talking to each other you can just feel the electricity hanging in the air between them.  That tension, coupled with the very overbearing nature of Wilson's character, helped to give the movie the right kind of push that a film of this type needs to have to be able to handle all the dialogue it has.

I suggest watching the end of the movie a second time after you have watched it all the way through the first time.  Start at 1 hour and 19 minutes when Joe invites Gavin into his apartment.  There is a very low buzzing sound as Joe starts to speak and suddenly at 1 hour and 21 minutes the music that has been building very slightly is evident.  Listen to the music as Joe is speaking, it helps to give a much deeper effect to his speech.  The music will continue to grow soft and then loud again, crescendoing at 1 hour and 29 minutes, then again at 1 hour and 31 minutes (after this scene, you can turn the movie off, the music will abruptly stop).  Actually being aware of the music during these scenes changes them slightly, causing them to be a bit more dramatic but it also makes you aware of how you are reacting to the scenes.  Being aware of the music  means being aware that your chest is tightening a little with dread as you try to predict the outcome that is going to befall these characters.

All in all, I think it was a pretty good movie but I don't think it is for everyone (rottentomatoes.com critics score gives is 14% YIKES!).  Go into this movie knowing that it may not exactly be the right kind of movie for you and Don't Forget the Popcorn!




P.S.--Not all of my synopsis and reviews will be this long but this movie has several different layers to it and it was hard not to review it without touching on everything.

Blowing the Dust Out of the Popcorn Bucket...

Wow movie buffs, it has been quite a while; 4 years and 32 days to be exact (but who's counting?).  I was surfing around on Netflix the other day and found a movie that I thought sounded interesting, so I watched it.  When I was done I said to myself "I really enjoyed that movie.  I wish I knew someone that I could talk about it with.".  That got me thinking about this blog and how much I used to enjoy it.  Once the gears were grinding, I looked up this old blog here that I used to write and was surprised to see that even though I have not written in a long while, I still seem to be getting heavy traffic to this blog.  With that, I have decided to make my grand re entrance to the movie world by blowing the dust out of the popcorn bowl and I welcome you to join me.

I will start by saying, a lot has changed in 4 years (and are blogs even still popular?) but one thing I know that hasn't changed and it is the love people have for the movies.  The movies are an escape for most people; a few hours that a person can spend not having to think about what is going on with what is happening to them personally and immerse themselves into whatever world it is they choose to step into.  I also know that time is precious, so I am here to help steer you away from the bad ones and maybe even open your eyes to something new, maybe a genre that you wouldn't typically pick.  

What I plan to do is very similar to what I did before.  The layout for the movies will be the same:  Title, run time, release year, production company, director, cast, movie synopsis and lastly my own opinion on the movie.  I am also going to try to do a documentary every week like before as well, HOWEVER, I am sure I will NOT be posting a movie a day, so the weeks that the posts seem a little light, I plan on skipping the documentary.  I do have a small child now, so every once in a while, you may find an unexpected feature length cartoon movie review.

I do like feedback, it doesn't matter if the feedback is good or bad, feedback means someone is nice enough to give me their own opinion, so please feel free to comment on any post you see here (existing ones or the ones that are to come in the future).  Also, feel free to recommend movies for me to review and I will do my best to review them right away.  Thanks for the interest and I hope that I can help you steer your way through the good, the bad and the ugly that is the silver screen.  Oh yeah and Don't Forget the Popcorn!