Tina's January 2018 Movies

Welcome back, followers.  Every month you will find a list of the movies (and a few special TV series) that I watched along with my personal opinions of each.  Movies are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna fish, with 5 being at the top of the scale.  Movies I had not seen previously are marked with an asterisk*.  I hope you find something good to watch.

1.  Coffee Shop* (2014) – Donovan Turner (Laura Vandervoort) is renowned for her ability to match the perfect blend of coffee for customers in her charming coffee shop, but she isn’t quite as good at finding a match for her own love life.  When her boyfriend moved to Chicago, she passed up the chance to leave her hometown and the shop she started at age 19 to stay home and serve the eclectic group of regulars.  She prepares for dates by studying her potential mate, but to no avail.  Then cute playwright Ben (Cory Grant) walks into her shop and orders a cup of tea.  They immediately clash, which is always a sign that a couple is destined for each other.  Donovan’s business isn’t much better than her love life, as the new banker in town is about to foreclose on her property.  Then the old boyfriend shows up and things get complicated.  This little trifle, which I watched on Netflix, is my idea of a Lifetime movie – attractive actors, pretty setting, no violence – and not much worth recommending.  My quality of movies can only go up from here!  2 cans.
2.  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel* (2017) – This Amazon TV series is just as its title exclaims: Marvelous.  Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is a young housewife and mother living on the upper West Side of NY with her businessman husband Joel (Michel Zegen), an aspiring stand-up comedian.  She is so supportive of his sideline venture that she makes briskets to bribe the Gaslight Club manager Susie (Alex Borstein) into giving him a better timeslot.  They live the good life, with a great apartment in a building with a doorman and an elevator operator, where her parents also reside, and there is nothing but bliss destined for their future.  Until, that is, when Joel – who steals Bob Newhart’s material and is nowhere near as good in delivering it – becomes the ultimate cliché, dumping Midge for his bland secretary.  Midge goes to the Gaslight and rants about him and a star is born.  This absolutely delightful series is a tour de force for Brosnahan, and, not surprisingly (based on the speed with which the dialog is delivered), is created by Amy Sherman Palladino of “Gilmore Girls” fame.  The action takes place in the late 50s and has an authentic look and feel, helped immeasurably by the sets, the pointy bras, and the wonderful casting (Tony Shaloub as Abe, Midge’s father, and Marin Hinckle as her very proper Jewish mother).  Was Miriam really destined to be content serving spectacular Yom Kippur dinners or is comedy her destiny?  I will definitely be sticking around to find out.  4½ cans.
3.  Castaway (2007) – I have to see this movie at least once a year, and what better time to watch than on a freezing cold day in January?  Tom Hanks is Chuck Nolan, loyal FedEx employee whose plane goes down somewhere in the Pacific, and he spends the next four years on an isolated island, learning to make fire, provide for all of his sustenance, and, remarkably, somehow wearing the tattered, last threads of his pants.  Hanks, with minimal dialog on the island beyond his conversations with Wilson, the volleyball he adopts as his BFF, gives a memorable performance.  What keeps him alive aside from his ability to capture fish and eat coconuts is his love for his girlfriend, Kelly (Helen Hunt).  Will he ever get off that island, and will love conquer all?  I love this movie, their relationship and Chuck’s sheer will to survive.  Great movie.  5 cans.
4.  The Post* (2017) – Today’s headline: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg support freedom of the press.  Katherine Graham (Streep), real-life publisher of The Washington Post, is in a bind in 1971.  Her newspaper, the family business passed from her father to her husband Philip and onto Katherine upon her husband’s suicide, is about to go public.  At the same time, editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) senses that his rival, The New York Times, is working on a major story and he refuses to get aced out.  The story is major, alright:  It is the Times’ publishing of “The Pentagon Papers,” a voluminous government-sponsored report on the history of US involvement in the Vietnam war, revealing secrets and lies by US government officials all the way back to Harry S Truman.  The government, now headed by President Richard Nixon, is furious when the report’s author, Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys), divulges the contents, and the feds sue the Times, potentially preventing all other newspapers from publishing the story without risking jail time.  When Bradlees’ reporters get a copy of the Pentagon Papers, they are ready and eager to publish, but it is up to Graham to pull the trigger.  Will she risk the government’s wrath, the unraveling of her deal to issue an initial public offering to recapitalize the paper, AND her close friendship with former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara by letting Bradlee’s bunch proceed?  This movie speaks to the often contentious relationship between the government and the media at a particularly appropriate time in our current history, when the media is decried and labeled fake by the president.  The media is portrayed here as heroic, and perhaps a little sanctimonious, but, as President John Kennedy said, “Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn't write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn't any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.”  4 cans.
5.  God’s Pocket* (2014) – With a box office take of just $1 million, I think it is safe to say that virtually NO ONE saw this independent film.  The action takes place in a close knit section of Philadelphia called God’s Pocket, where the locals trust no one not born and raised in their very lower class neighborhood.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is Mick, a guy who earns a living collecting debts and scraping by.  The guy doesn’t have much luck to begin with, and things only get worse when the low-life nut job son of his wife Jeannie (Christina Hendricks) dies in an industrial accident – or at least that’s what the foreman tells the cops called to investigate.  But Jeannie isn’t buying it.  Mick has to come up with enough dough to pay for the funeral but he doesn’t help his own cause when he takes the money collected at the local watering hole and blows it on a horse that doesn’t finish in the money.  Meanwhile, a local reporter (Richard Jenkins), who is a good writer but too lazy to do any real work, finds out that the death may not have been an accident and starts his research by bedding the grieving mother.  Huh?  There are vague attempts at humor here, and the acting is quite good, but the misery is relentless for Mick and nobody in this neck of the woods is going to have a happy ending.  If this were really God’s pocket, He would be better off emptying it.  2 cans, mostly for Hoffman’s fine work.
6.  Phantom Thread* (2018) – Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day Lewis) is a fastidious man who presides over his house of dressmaking in a brooding and meticulous manner.  Anything that upsets his routine can set him off – an unexpected appointment request, buttering bread with excessive sound, someone else chewing.  Yet, when he sees awkward waitress Alma (Vicky Krieps) at work, he is smitten and he drafts her to be his muse.  He then alternately adores and ignores her, always giving priority to his work.  His business partner is his taciturn sister (Leslie Manville), who is accustomed to his eccentricities, even if she has the audacity to ask him for a schedule change as he eats his breakfast.  His business is a well-oiled machine, staffed by loyal and dedicated seamstresses who silently deliver on his creations to keep the rich and important people looking well turned out.  But Alma chafes at being overlooked. She wants to be Reynolds’ partner in life, and she devises a clever and dangerous way to avoid being ignored and achieve her ambitions.  Yes, he sews messages into the garments, but that  is just a way to demonstrate his attention to detail.  This is a sumptuous feast for the eyes and ears and provides a story unlike any other I have seen.  I can’t say I loved the clothes, but the movie rates 4 cans.  Just don’t eat the mushrooms. 
7.   Kinsey* (2002) – I don’t know what on earth I was thinking when I selected this movie about renowned sex researcher Albert Kinsey (Liam Neeson).  It was graphic enough to make me uncomfortable, but maybe that’s the point – that people would rather practice sex than talk about it.  Kinsey set about collecting detailed information about the sexual habits of man, asking for all kinds of data to support his research.  Just as I wouldn’t want to ride on a train with Neeson, I sure wouldn’t want to take his test.  1 can.
8.  Venus & Serena* (2012) – This documentary takes a look at the Williams sisters, certainly the most celebrated siblings in their – and maybe any other – sport.  Footage shows the competitive duo as kids up through 2012.  Venus, the older sister, comes across as less intense than Serena, who is done no favors by the inclusion of several incidents where she harshly berates officials.  Both women are 5-time Wimbledon champions, but this is not just about winning.  It is about what it takes to get there, with plenty of tough training, facing illnesses (Venus with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease, and Serena with blood clots on her lungs). To be the best you have to face challenges, and to stay on top is more difficult that you can imagine.  These two support each other, set records for doubles victories, and have won every major tennis tournament.  It is said that Serena is not only the best female tennis player in history, but certainly one of the best players period, and Venus is not far behind.  A fascinating study of two champions.  3½ cans.
9.  Mudbound* (2018) – Of all the movies I have seen recently, this film ranks as one of the best.  The characters here are quite literally stuck in the mud, farming in Mississippi, where the rain can wash out the crops, roads and bridges.  Laura McAllan (Carey Mulligan) is stuck in a marriage to Henry (Jason Clarke), an unappealing guy who isn’t smart enough to make a good living as a farmer.  He relies on Hap Jackson (Rob Morgan), a proud black pastor, and his stoic wife Florence (Mary G. Blige, who has been nominated for an Oscar) to sharecrop the fields.  Henry’s brother Jamie (Garrett Hedlund) goes off to fight in WWII, as does Ronsel (Jason Mitchell), son of Hap and Florence.  Ronsel is a pilot, a decorated hero, who becomes fast friends with Jamie when the vets return to their families.  But this is still the era of Jim Crow, and when some low-life white person demands that Ronsel exit a store through the back door, the young war hero isn’t about to exchange pleasantries.  Ronsel is hunted by McAllan patriarch Pappy (Jonathan Banks) and his sheet-wearing friends just because of the color of his skin.  This is not an easy movie to watch, and, while it is not quite up to the level of last year’s Oscar-winner, “Moonlight,” it evoked similar themes about society, discrimination and class.  There is terror and there is kindness; there is empathy and hatred.  This film is primarily available on Netflix, and only in a few theaters, so grab a seat on the couch and be prepared for its ugliness and its beauty.  4 cans.
10.  A United Kingdom* (2017) – This movie is about a kingdom that is not at all united.  Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) is the nephew of the current ruler of Botswana and has been preparing for his ascension to the throne by continuing his education in Great Britain.  There he meets the lovely Ruth (Rosamund Pike), and the two fall in love and marry, much to the consternation of her white family and his black, African family, as well as the British authorities who rule over the country.  And the people of his country will have to accept a white, British woman as their queen.  They move to his native country, but the Brits set him up to return to England and to be banished from his homeland.  His wife is accepted by the people and declares that she plans to stay in Botswana, while Seretse pursues diplomatic means to return and become the ruler.  The Brits in authority are smug and uncooperative, until Seretse discovers that his native land may be a rich repository for diamonds.  Can he get back to his homeland and succeed his uncle as the ruler? This movie, based on a true story, shows the issues with apartheid, problems with developing countries and foreign rule.  3 cans.
11.  The Young Victoria (2009) – Since I am currently watching season 2 of the PBS series “Victoria,” I thought I’d stay immersed in 19th century British Royalty with this drama about the ascension of the teenaged Victoria (Emily Blunt, looking strikingly regal) to the throne.  Her biggest obstacle is her age as she prepares to succeed her childless uncle, the King.  Her domineering mother and her advisor treat her like a child, even forbidding her from walking down a staircase without taking the hand of her mother or governess.  When Victoria’s “promotion” comes through, she relies heavily on the advice of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany) to guide her.  She grows into the role, defying the wishes of her family by falling for her German cousin Albert (Rupert Friend) instead of marrying her cousin George (and what’s with all these kissing cousins?).  The PBS series as more detail and depth, but this film more than adequately covers an interesting period in the monarchy.  4 cans.
12.  Private Benjamin (1980) – Can it be 38 years since Goldie Hawn burst onto the scene as spoiled Judy Benjamin?  The film opens with the lavish wedding of 28-year old Judy and her lawyer husband Yale (Albert Brooks), followed almost immediately by his funeral following a lethal heart attack suffered on their wedding night.  Distraught and snookered by a clever Army recruiter, Judy signs up for active duty, but her perception of the Army is not quite the reality.  This movie needs no plot summary.  Suffice to say that Hawn is engaging and adorable, there are hilarious lines my friends and I still quote to this day, and the scene of Private Benjamin and her squad dancing in the barracks to Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” is reason enough to watch it.  Kudos to Eileen Brennan for her role as the tough drill sergeant who tries to get Benjamin to go home to Mom and Dad.  4 cans.

An Eye Opening Experience

Warning – if you are squeamish, you may want to skip this month’s entry!

The next time you hear someone say they have to do something and you are certain you could NEVER do the same thing, stop.  Never say never.  You really don’t know what you can do when you have no choice.  It might be taking care of a relative who needs your help or dealing with a personal fear or delicate situation.  You think you can’t, but I’m here to tell you that I thought so, too, until I realized that I could.

In my case, that means that every month I go to a retina center and get injections in my eyes.

INJECTIONS?  Needles in my eyes?  Oh, hell, no, I can’t do that!  Or so I thought.

Let’s start with some background.  Last fall, after noticing some obstruction in the vision in my right eye, along with flashes, I went to the eye doctor.  After some tests – in particular the one where I was asked to read the lowest line I could see on the chart and I responded with “What chart?” – I was diagnosed as having wet macular degeneration.  I knew I had had dry macular degeneration, but my eye doctor was "keeping an eye" on it, so to speak, and I was taking special eye vitamins designed to ward off the advancement of wet macular degeneration. 

Some clinical info here:  The macula is the part of the retina responsible for central vision and enables you to see color and fine details and to read.  Having an obstruction there causes your sight to deteriorate significantly.  In wet macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels in the area swell and leak, which causes the obstruction.  In my case, the obstruction in my right eye – which, for me, is the eye that reads (the left sees distance only) – was so bad that I could not see, no less read, the chart.  And so, the doctor said, I would have to have monthly injections in my right eye.

Oh, hell no, was my first thought.

The next thought was that they would have to knock me out or tie me down before I could stay still enough for a shot in my eye.

But off I went to a retina center, where they do this stuff all of the time.  The doctor there told me that had this situation happened 20 years ago, I might have lost my vision.  We agreed that I was lucky to have it discovered now, so I could have a series of injections that are designed to stabilize the eye, and, if I am really lucky, to improve my sight.

After more tests, dilating both eyes and taking pictures of them (accompanied by the instructions from the tech, “Don’t blink, don’t blink, don’t blink.  OK, blink,” which is way harder that you’d think), it was determined that I have wet macular degeneration in BOTH eyes!  That meant I would have to endure monthly injections in each eye – one week in my right eye and the next week in my left eye – for the foreseeable (no pun intended) future.  Oh, joy.

For someone who is a photography buff and prides herself on being able to spot a typographical error at 50 feet away (“Is that an extra space between the second and third words?”) this struck me as a real disaster.  I read and write constantly, and the idea that my vision could get worse was terrifying.

Soon, I found myself in THE CHAIR, where they put numbing drops in my right eye and left me – otherwise unanaesthetized – alone for the next five minutes, contemplating my escape route, unable to see much of anything, while the drops went to work.  How can you tell when your eye is numb?  It’s not like going to the dentist and getting that GIGANTIC injection in your jaw to numb you.  It’s not like feeling your mouth fall asleep and slurring your words.  It’s your EYE, and you have NO IDEA if this shot is going to hurt.

I pictured a needle the size of a bazooka coming at me for the shot.  But first, they inserted something in my eye to keep it open.  The fact that I couldn’t feel that device was a good sign, but even better was the fact that my vision from my right eye was so bad that I actually couldn’t see the needle, either.   And so the doctor approached, said, “Take a deep breath,” and it was over.  Fast, painlessly, over.  Definitely not as bad as I thought.  But not something I would recommend.

I wish I could say the procedure is flawless each time, but it isn’t.  Once I really did feel the shot, so now I get a numbing shot before the actual shot along with the numbing drops.  I don’t at all understand how a shot before the shot will stop the second shot from hurting.  What about pain from the first shot?  Again, it’s good that I can’t really see these weapons of destruction coming at me, or I might bolt from the chair.

Sometimes after a shot I feel grit that seems as large as a boulder in the eye.  My eye tears, and I have to use warm compresses.  And I can't plan to go anywhere after the injection since I can't see well enough to drive or even to be driven.  Then, the last time I had the injection in my left eye, the doctor nicked a blood vessel.  The white of my eye immediately filled with blood, making me look like the children of the damned, with the bright green of my eye completely surrounded by red.  I wore a patch to Weight Watchers so I wouldn’t gross out anyone and was immediately teased about being a pirate! It took nearly a full week for the red to disappear and for my eye to look normal again.

I have emerged more than once from the injection to go to the waiting room, where someone is waiting to pick me up, only to realize that I can’t identify them because I can’t see.  And then I have to go to the desk to make another appointment, when checking my calendar in my phone is akin to reading the missing eye chart.

But the good news is that my each of my eyes is not just stabilizing but actually improving, at least according to the pictures.  I now know how to use my peripheral vision to see the chart, where I can identify some of the letters, even though they seem to be moving all around (straight lines are no longer straight to me because of the obstruction).  But at least now I can see the chart and can read some of the letters.  Meanwhile, my very stable left eye, which was caught so very early, aces the test every time.  I still have to go every month, but the doctor says that eventually that span may be lengthened.  And I am improving, which is the main thing. 

The points of this story are simple.  First, don’t think you CAN’T do something, because when you have to, you really can.  Second, the anticipation is always worse than the actual event.  Third, don’t ask me to thread any needles these days, although, let’s face it, I couldn’t see well enough before to do that, either.  Fourth, if you find more typos in my emails, texts and social media posts, let’s just attribute those errors to my currently poor eyesight (although I can see distance, so I am OK to drive).  And finally, I’m lucky that I can afford the treatments (which cost $3000 per injection, thankfully covered largely by insurance) and that there are treatments at all.  As the doctor initially told me, 20 years ago there was nothing available to treat this condition, and I would have lost at least some, if not all, of my eyesight.  So I am lucky to go once a month and get shot.

See?

Tina's December 2017 Movies and Favorites for the Year

I ended the year on quite a run, adding 22 movies to the year's list, bringing the total watched to 152.  Not all of these were new, and not all of them were movies, but most were worth reviewing, even the bad ones I warned you not to watch.  First, let's start with the list of movies/shows that I liked the most in 2017, followed by first the December list and then the entire compilation.  As always, movies are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna fish, with 5 being the highest rating.  Movies marked with an asterisk were ones I had not previously seen.  Let's hope for a great year and great movies in 2018.

My 12 Favorite or Best 2017 Movies/Programs (including the number on the list so you can read my review):

12.  Lion
18.  The Florida Project
20.  Moonlight
37.  Newtown
60.  The Keepers
67.  Churchill
76.  Wonder Woman
126.  Wonder
133.  Lady Bird
134.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
142.  I, Tonya
148.  The Crown

December Movies
131.  Newspaperman – The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee* (2017) – If you remember Watergate, you’ll recognize the name Ben Bradlee.  As executive editor of The Washington Post, Bradlee presided over the newsroom and the reporters (notably Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) who doggedly pursued the story later presented as the movie “All the President’s Men.”  Bradlee was a tough, no-nonsense guy who insisted on having the facts to tell the story.  A veteran reporter and foreign correspondent, he stayed at the Post for 29 years.  This HBO documentary recounts the stories of his career and his life, revealing some things I didn’t know (his 3 marriages) and some things I had forgotten (the Post scandal over the fraudulent reporting of Janet Cooke).  Well done.  4 cans.
132.  Final Vision* (2017) – Not to be confused with “Fatal Vision,” this movie is the story of Joe McGuiness, author of the aforementioned book on the Jeffrey McDonald case.  McDonald was a Green Beret, a doctor, whose young wife and children were murdered in their North Carolina apartment by what the Colonel insisted were hippie intruders.  McDonald was eventually charged with their murders and convicted of the crime.  Here, Scott Foley plays McGuiness, the author drafted by McDonald to tell his side of the story.  And in the beginning, McGuiness feels sure McDonald is innocent.  Given complete access to the doctor and all of his files, the author researchers the case thoroughly, and begins to have his doubts.  I guess you could say this was a story about a story.  The original book and TV movie (as was this film) with Gary Cole as McDonald, is far superior.  3 cans.
133.  Lady Bird* (2017) – If you thought this movie had anything to do with Lyndon Johnson’s wife, you would be wrong.  Christine (Saorise Ronan) has declared herself “Lady Bird,” calling it her given name since she gave it to herself.  A high school student in Sacramento, she sees things just a little differently from her domineering (and annoying but means well) mother (Laurie Metcalf) and father (Tracy Letts).  She needs to grow, to get out of her small environment and move to a larger stage.  This is surely a coming-of-age film, with the young woman going through all the usual teenage experiences with boys, sex, friends (notably her BFF, played with a real sparkle by Beanie Feldman), parents and college applications.  Though this path has been trodden before in many movies, Lady Bird brings a fresh approach and exemplary acting by all.  3½ cans, though I could be persuaded to go to 4.
134.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* (2017) – Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is angry.  Her daughter was raped and killed and no one in the police department in her small town seems to be doing anything to solve the crime.  Rather than adopt the vigilante route, Mildred decides to harass the local chief of police, William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) to force him to reopen the case.  She rents three billboards on a little used road to remind people of the crime and excoriate Willoughby.  Working on the case is the immature and volatile Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), who is part Momma’s boy and part gun-toting nut case.  As one character says, “Anger begets anger,” and Mildred’s anger, Willoughby’s inability to solve the case and Dixon’s penchant towards beating up anyone in his way leads to bloodshed and death.  People turn on each other, new alliances are formed, and the movie moves along unpredictably.  There is a violent crime drama here, yet there is a degree of humor that is unexpected.  McDormand gives another great performance, showing loss, anger, resolve, revenge and every now and then, a real heart.  I really liked this crazy story.  4 cans.
135.  The Only Living Boy in New York* (2017) – It is a challenge to explain this movie without giving away the plotline.  Thomas Webb (Callum Turner), looking a bit like a young Richard Gere (but a more nerdy version), lives in Brooklyn and is trying to make his way in the world.  The girl he adores is with someone else, his parents’ (Pierce Brosnan and Cynthia Nixon) marriage is on life support and he is afraid his mother will crack and his father is sneaking around with an attractive, seductive woman (Kate Beckinsale).  Jeff Bridges plays his whiskey-drinking, world-weary but wise new neighbor, who takes the young man under his wing and becomes his confidant and sounding board.  You have to see how this all ties together.  So much of this movie reminded me of my all-time favorite movie, “The Graduate,” with Simon and Garfunkel music, a scene shot in the rain, a bedroom scene that reminded me of Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, and even a scene when Thomas has to run down the streets of New York.  I found this one on Amazon, not in the movies, so if you have Prime, watch it.  4 cans.
136.  A Christmas Story Live* (2017) – Let’s face it, these live, televised productions of old favorites (“The Sound of Music,” “Grease,” Peter Pan,” etc.), while admirable in their zeal to capture a classic, always come up short.  In this case, I am thankful that I never shelled out money to see the Broadway production of one of my favorite Christmas movies, stuffed with forgettable music and translated to the stage.  This telecast delivered that stage musical, and while the most memorable moments were included (the leg lamp, Ralphie and his determination to get that Red Ryder rifle, the tongue frozen to a metal pipe, among many others), I found the musical numbers to be a distraction.  With a running time of 3 hours (including the commercials I skipped by wisely recording the program and watching it from the DVR commercial-free), it seemed interminable.  When I watch the 1983 movie version on Christmas Eve, which I always do, I will appreciate it even more.  The one thing I can say I enjoyed in this otherwise valiant but failed version was Jane Krakowski’s tap dance number with kids.  That had to be challenging to pull off on live TV.  Kudos to the cast and crew, but I thought this version was more dead than alive. 2 cans.
137.  Singing in the Rain (1952) – Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.  Need I say more?  Whether they are dancing or singing or acting, these three bring plenty of star power to the screen in this classic musical pastiche celebrating the end of the silent movie era and the start of “talkies.”  Kudos to Cyd Charisse for a dance number with Kelly that has nothing to do with the plot (but everything to do with Kelly’s power as a star and choreographer), and to Jean Hagen for her part as the actress with a voice that sounds like the brakes on a train.  The music is memorable and the dancing sublime.  Considering that Debbie Reynolds was 19 and had no real dance experience, the outcome of this movie is truly amazing.  Kelly brings athleticism and grace to the screen, and he is matched by O’Connor.  One of the best Hollywood musicals in the history of film.  4½ cans.
138.  Love Story (1970) – “What can you say about a 25-year-old girl who died?”  Since that is the opening line in the movie, it’s not like I can spoil it for any of you who somehow have missed seeing this classic tear-jerker (stop reading now if you haven’t seen it but plan to watch one day!).  Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) falls in love with fellow Harvard student Jenny Cavalieri.  He is from a rich family, she is from a poor family, she loves her father, he has nothing but contempt for his father, they graduate, get married, live a poor life as he goes to law school and she gives up her dream of going to Paris to study music.  When they try to have kids she suddenly comes down with a fatal bout of movie star disease and, well, if you read that first line…O’Neal and McGraw are gorgeous together, so attractive that you can’t take your eyes off them as they frolic in the snow and everywhere else, but neither of them can act.  You may find this movie beyond sappy, or you may cry every time you see it.  For me, having seen it as an emotional 20-year-old college student, it conjures up lots of memories, and I fall somewhere in between.  If I did spoil it for you, remember that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”  4 cans and a box of tissues. 
139.  The Zookeeper’s Wife* (2017) – As the Germans begin their takeover of Poland in 1939, Jews living in Warsaw are being rounded up by the Nazis.  The local zoo, run by Antonia and Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenberg), becomes a refuge for the escaped Jews, whom Jan helps bring to the basement of their home on the zoo grounds and where Antonia cares for them, along with her own son.  As reality closes in, it becomes impossible for the Jews to leave the country forcing Antonia to use her supposed friendship with a Nazi officer to buy them time.  Like any movie that I have ever seen about the Holocaust, I know I can only watch this story once.  Daniel Bruhl is excellent playing the unctuous Nazi whose mind is not always on der Fuhrer or animal husbandry.  Lots of tension, especially because we know this is based on a true story.  4 cans.
140.  A Christmas Story (1983) – The real deal.  I’ll take Ralphie nearly shooting his eye out by his Red Ryder Rifle any day in this original version over that disastrous live version listed above.  There are so many funny lines, crazy scenes and warm memories.  I know this is not everyone’s favorite, but I look forward to seeing it every year.  4 cans.
141.  All the Right Moves (1983) – Stef Djordjevic (an early Tom Cruise role) is a big-time football player in a small, Pennsylvania steel town, and he knows that his only ticket out of this place is to get a football scholarship.  But Stef and his coach (Craig T. Nelson) butt heads, with the Coach holding the cards on the kid’s future.  Cruise went on to play similar angry, earnest young men in several other films.  Lea Thompson is his high school girlfriend, who just wants to love Stef and study music.  Much of this movie reminded me of one of my favorite TV series, “Friday Night Lights,” since both this movie and TV show revolve around high school football, where teenagers become gods in their small towns, playing football, getting the cute girls, drinking and counting on football and football alone to secure their futures.  Even Stef’s number, 33, is the one worn by bad boy Tim Riggins in the TV show.  3 cans.
142.  I, Tonya* (2017) – And now for a completely different kind of Christmas movie, here is the dramatic version of the story of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), who made headlines when her estranged husband, Jeff Gilhooly (Sebastian Stan) masterminded a plot to take out Tonya’s skating rival, Nancy Kerrigan just before the 1992 Winter Olympics.  Mastermind is probably an overstatement, since Jeff counted on moronic “bodyguard” Shawn, who hired an equally inept henchman who bashed Kerrigan in the knee.  Harding is one of those people who cannot get a break.  Her foulmouthed mother Lavona (Allison Janney in a terrific performance) bullies and beats her, claiming that every cent she makes goes for Harding’s expenses (from age 4 on).  Tonya marries Gilhooly just to get out of the house, and he beats her, too.  Harding is clearly gifted on the ice, where she can do a jump no one else in the world can do, but she lacks the grace and style we demand of our skating icons (think Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill).  The movie is told “mocumentary-style” (not quite on the level of “Spinal Tap,” but of that ilk), with the actor “characters” today reflecting back on the events and Harding hard life.  As a fan of Olympic skating, I remember the whole Harding-Kerrigan rivalry and the attack on Kerrigan well.  She eventually healed from her injuries, but Harding lapsed into a life-long sentence of notoriety that she will never overcome.  I just want to know if Robbie really skated some of those routines.  Greatly entertaining film.  4 cans.
143.  The Holiday (2006) – Let’s start with the fact that Jude Law has NEVER looked better than he does in this charmer.  Amanda (Cameron Diaz) has thrown out her live-in boyfriend in LA, while a continent away, perpetually sad Iris (Kate Winslet) learns that her erstwhile boyfriend is engaged to someone else.  Amanda finds that Iris’ cozy cottage in Surry, England, is available for a house swap, and, before you can say, “Where’s my passport?” the two women are trying out living in a new place and hoping to find their own peace.  Amanda gets the best part of the swap when Iris’ older brother Graham (Jude Law) drops in, not knowing his sister is in LA.  Meanwhile, at Amanda’s sprawling Hollywood home, Iris is happy to swim in the pool, make friends with the elderly screenwriter next door (Eli Wallach) and meet Miles (Jack Black), a colleague of Amanda’s.  This movie is a Christmas rom-com at its best, with appealing characters, a plot good enough to keep me interested, and an inevitable ending that just made me smile.  4 cans.
144.  Love, Actually (2003) – Who ISN’T in this British movie?  There’s Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy…only missing British actors were Helen Mirren and Dame Judi Dench.  This is a conglomeration of overlapping love stories, with Neeson trying to recover from his wife’s death, Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister with a crush on a staff assistant, Rickman flirting with an affair…no point in trying to name them or all the plotlines.  Just see it and enjoy it and remember that love is all around.  4½ cans.
145.  The Darkest Hour* (2017) – Winston Churchill is making quite a comeback of late, appearing in this account of the German invasion threat to Britain in 1940 as well as “Dunkirk” from earlier in the year, and a triumphant first season on Netflix’s “The Crown” (thanks to a great performance by John Lithgow). Here Gary Oldham takes on the glowering Prime Minister, who, at the beginning of the movie is not the favored candidate for the job.  He becomes the PM because of his perceived ability to work in collaboration with the two parties in the British House of Lords, and, despite some genuine doubts about him (he naps during the day and drinks much more than he should), he fronts a formidable posture and determination that will not permit the Brits to negotiate with Germany or give up fighting even with the odds against them.  This movie moved a little slowly for me, but the warm touches throughout (at one point Churchill notes that all babies look like him, which I’ve always believed was true!) bring in some humor in an otherwise serious story.  Oldham’s make-up is remarkable and should earn some recognition in the upcoming awards season, as should the actor himself.  3 cans.
146.  Marjorie Morningstar (1958) – A favorite film from my teenage years, this melodrama stars Natalie Wood as Marjorie Morgenstern, a Jewish girl who aspires to be an actress.  At a summer resort, she meets much older Noel Airman (Gene Kelly), a charismatic performer who captures her under his spell.  Her parents don’t approve of him or of her falling in love with him, and Noel, while much older, is smitten with the beautiful young woman.  Marjorie comes from a wealthy family and is accustomed to getting what she wants, and she wants Noel, whose height of success seems to be stuck at South Wind, the summer camp where they met.  When his former assistant, Wally (Martin Milner) scores big on Broadway, Noel feels even more pressure to have a hit show.  Will he change his life, marry Marjorie, and will she become a successful actress?  This movie captivated me as a teenager and still held my interest, corny though it may be.  My only real complaint is that they play the theme song, “A Very Precious Love,” about every 10 minutes.  3 cans.
147.  Call Me By Your Name* (2017) – It’s summer, it’s Italy, and young Elio (Timothee Chalomet) gets to lounge around his family’s gorgeous estate, playing and studying music in a magical setting.  And then Oliver (Armie Hammer) turns up, a strapping, impossibly handsome American who is there to work with Elio’s father, an archaeology professor.  Everyone immediately loves the confident, easygoing Oliver, who is charming, wise and friendly.  And Elio, who is exploring the boundaries of his sexuality with a local girl, is drawn to the 20-something (who, to me, looked at least late 20s) in a way I’m not sure he expected.  As the intern to the father, Oliver initially resists the 17-year old’s advances, but he is interested.  There is a lot of cinematic foreplay before these two take the plunge – and I don’t mean in a nearby pond.  Oliver is old enough to deal with the budding relationship, while Elio’s feelings are stronger and less realistic.  The sensuality of their relationship and the lushness of the settings give the story a languorous sense that makes you feel a little voyeuristic.  The two men seem much less desperate about their nascent affair than the lovers did in “Brokeback Mountain,” but this film is more of a coming of age story.  Beautifully shot and sensitively presented.  3½ cans.
148.  The Crown* (2017) – No, it is not a movie, but this 10-episode second season of the Netflix series remains  worthy of inclusion and recommendation.  Last year we watched as the young Elizabeth (Claire Foy)ascended to the throne and had to learn about being the sovereign with some on-the-job training by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and others.  This year she has her sea legs and can stand on her own, dealing with political crises, a succession of Prime Ministers, the wandering eye of her husband, Phillip, the occasional embarrassments of her sister Margaret, and the birth and development of her children.  There was much here that I did not know, especially about Prince Phillip (Matt Smith), and it is handled deftly.  While The Crown is not quite up to the standards of the late, great Downton Abbey, it is smart, lavish and wonderful to watch.  Thanks, Netflix, for my new British obsession. 4 cans.
149.  Spencer’s Mountain (1962) – Henry Fonda stars in this warm family drama written by Earl Hamner, the creator of the Waltons.  He heads a large family, living modestly (at best) but full of love and fun.  James MacArthur plays his son, Clayboy (and similarities with the TV version John Boy are purely intentional), who does not want to stay on the mountain only to end up working at the local quarry with his father and passel of uncles.  He qualifies to go to college, but will there be money to send him (this point qualifies as suspense in this movie).  Honestly, I wouldn’t have watched this movie but I got it mixed up with “Shenandoah,” with James Stewart, and should have watched that one.  Oh, well.  3 cans.
150.  New Year’s Eve* (2011) – Taking the formula of the much superior “Love Actually,” this film boasts a bunch of familiar faces in small roles as everyone in the film is counting down to New Year’s Eve in New York.  There are overlapping stories and characters in multiple vignettes, including a rock star and a chef (Jon Bob Jovi and Kathryn Heigel), a nurse and an elderly patient (Holly Berry and Robert DeNiro), a man looking for his dream girl (Josh Duhmel), a TV producer hoping the ball will work (Hillary Swank), a young man helping an older woman live out some dreams (Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer)…too many others to mention.  This was a pleasant diversion on a snowy day and appropriate for the day before NYE.  3 cans.
151.  Stronger* (2017) – Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is just an average guy from Boston who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Going to see his on-again, off-again girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany) run in the 2013 Boston Marathon, he is near the finish line when a bomb explodes, severely injuring his legs. Bauman is the epitome of the stereotype we associate with guys from Boston – a guy who loves his Red Sox, drinking with his boys and hanging with his family.  When his legs are amputated because of the injuries, he must go through the grueling process of rehab, and he needs all of the help and support he can get.  Because he was close enough to the bomber to describe him to authorities, Bauman becomes a reluctant hero, but he suffers from flashbacks and would just as soon be left alone.  The movie does an excellent job of showing the everyday challenges he must endure doing the activities of daily living that we all take for granted.  I’m not sure how they shot this movie to make it appear that Gyllenhaal had no legs below his knee, but that effect was very convincing, as was Gyllenhaal as the angry, bitter victim.  3 cans.
152.  Goodbye, Columbus (1969) – Before she played a Harvard student from a poor family, Ali McGraw played Brenda, a Radcliffe girl from a rich family who has a fling with Neil (Richard Benjamin), a nice enough Jewish boy but not the kind you take home to your Patimkin parents.  He’s from the Bronx, she’s from Westchester, the daughter of a hard-working father (Jack Klugman, who is terrific) who earned his way into the upper class and delights in spoiling his children.  This movie is much more than a “love story;” it is an indictment of the values of the nouveau rich, the way they judge and treat others they perceive as not in their class.  She is infatuated, is gorgeous and adventurous, which Neil finds attractive even though he knows her family frowns on his job as a librarian and his lack of ambition.  Neil is equally judgmental, taking measure of everything they do or say, but he is too smitten to give her up.  There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, with the best being the wedding of Brenda’s meathead (but nice) brother.  If you’ve never seen a horde of people storm a buffet table and scoop the head off a rooster made of the chopped liver, you will here.  I hadn’t seen this movie in years and I had forgotten the specifics of the social commentary, which is accurately depicted.  4 cans and a big scoop of chopped liver. 

The Full 2017 List:

JANUARY

 1.  Hidden Figures* (2016) – Who knew a movie about math could be so engrossing?  Not since “A Beautiful Mind” and “Apollo 13” has Hollywood paid this much attention to mathematics or to the US Space Program.  Here, NASA is preparing for the launch of the first manned spacecraft, and all those white men in white shirts are in charge of the important, smart stuff.  Except there is a separate building that houses a bunch of really smart Black women who do the behind-the-scenes calculations that will ultimately enable John Glenn to orbit the earth.  Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) is the de facto supervisor; she runs the unit but without the official title of supervisor, and she can figure out how to get a computer running without a manual.  Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) is the math genius who is asked to join the white male math nerds, and she can put those men to shame.  That is when she isn’t literally running a half mile back to her old building so she can use the bathroom designated for “colored women.”  Their friend and co-worker Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) has the temerity to dream of being an engineer.  There are lots of examples of the routine discrimination exercised by her white cohorts, both men and women.  This movie is based on the true story of these brilliant, unsung heroes, without whom the race to space would have been lost.  The outrage is why this story went untold for decades!  4 cans.

2.  Bright Lights* (2016) – HBO’s portrait of Hollywood mainstay Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher went from interesting to poignant with the December deaths – within 24 hours – of first Carrie and then her mother.  Debbie was Hollywood royalty, co-starring with the legendary Gene Kelly in “Singing in the Rain” at age 19, and continuing to perform until just before her death at 84.  Her brilliant, witty daughter Carrie, best known for her star turn as iconic Princess Leia in “Star Wars, her sardonic wit and her battle with mental illness, lived next door in Beverly Hills and maintained a close relationship with her mother after many rocky years.  But this documentary doesn’t reexamine their careers as much as it presents their lives, each worried about and caring for the other.  Carrie tended to her mother’s frailties, but after her many years of substance abuse, the younger Carrie wasn’t in great shape herself.  Older here, cigarette in one hand, Coca Cola in the other, she spends a lot of time caring for her mother, and even manages a visit to her father, renowned crooner Eddie Fisher.  Just the Debbie Reynolds-Eddie Fisher-Elizabeth Taylor conundrum could occupy a documentary, but this one is broader than that.  There’s no people like show people.  They smile when they are low, and all of these folks have their rock bottom moments.  Nevertheless, the show must go on, so Debbie dons the sparkles, spangles and beads and hits the stage while Carrie makes sure there is a place for her mother to rest.  The fact that they died within 24 hours of each other is testament to their bond.  This is a moving program and very revealing about show business and a special mother-daughter relationship.  4 cans.

3.  The Founder* (2016) – I’ve never been much of a McDonald’s fan, and, after seeing this movie, my disdain for the fast food franchise remains intact.  The McDonald Brothers started a fast food business – not a chain, at least not yet – with a few “restaurants” (their term) in the San Bernardino, California, area in the 1950s.  Traveling salesman Ray Croc finds out about them when they order an unprecedented 8 milkshake machines from him, and, after a tour of their restaurant by the brothers, he is hooked, both on the food itself and the potential for this business as a franchise.  The food is fast but it is good under the McDonalds, who insist on high standards, cleanliness and real milk in the milk shakes.  Where they stress quality, Croc is more interested in the growth potential of the modest enterprise.  They strike a deal with Croc, who proceeds to find more and more franchisees to expand the business, but whose money issues slow down his efforts to conquer the hamburger world.  Michael Keaton dominates the movie as the persistent, indefatigable and scheming Kroc.  Soon he realizes that the profits are in the real estate, and he flips the franchise model, angering the original owners and consigning them to non-founder status.  I’m not going to tell you how it ends, but Keaton portrays Kroc as a shyster with little integrity, lots of brashness and considerable smarts.  I’ll give this one 3½ burgers and a side of fries.

4.  Gleason* (2016) – You may never have heard of Steve Gleason, a former NFL football player who was stricken with ALS.  This documentary on his life as an athlete with a big heart and an undersized frame starts before he gets his diagnosis.  He is a free spirit, in love with his wife, and retired from football when he starts to exhibit signs of a neurological problem that leads to his ALS diagnosis.  Most successful sports movies contain a heavy dose of tragedy, but in many of them, it is overcome by our hero.  Not here.  Team Gleason was his charity, set up to fund equipment – such as voice systems activated by eye movement – for ALS patients, who, like Gleason, eventually lose their ability to speak.  But the heart of this movie rests with Gleason’s attempts to build a lasting relationship with his baby son before he is just a memory.  He works diligently at communicating with his son via a series of video journals recorded while he can still speak, and, after that ability is gone, he plays with his son and makes memories he hopes will be lasting.  This movie is painful and powerful.  There is still so much to be done to combat this dreaded disease, and Gleason will be remembered for fighting the good fight when his time is done.  3½ cans.

5.  Beaches* (2017) – When Bette Midler stomped through the part of CC Bloom in the original version of his chick flick about two long-time friends, you probably felt she was born to play the part and that no one else should ever attempt to tackle that role.  And you would be right.  This new Lifetime TV version, starring Idina Menzel as CC and Nia Long as Hillary (the part originated by Barbara Hershey) has a tall order and comes up short.  Menzel can sing – she can belt out “Wind Beneath My Wings” with conviction – but Bette is one-of-a-kind.  This remake isn’t as bad as I feared it would be, but it made me think about the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  Go watch the original.  3 boxes of tissues.

6.  Is OJ Innocent?* (2016) – I have now completed the OJ Simpson trifecta, having previously watched the documentary series about him and the American Crime dramatization (as if it had to be dramatized) that aired last year.  This investigative miniseries speculates that OJ may be innocent of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman and that his son Jason is the actual killer.  Several investigators examine evidence that was not included in the criminal case and use footage from the civil case brought by the families where OJ was convicted.  There’s plenty of blood evidence, a knife, a purported eyewitness, a time card and plenty of other items to once again stir the pot.  The producers urge the viewers to come to their own conclusions all while offering some credible and some not-so-credible facts and theories.  In the end, you either believe he did it or you don’t.  I believe he did it.  Two bloody gloves.

7.  Patriots’ Day* (2017) – It is always a challenge to make a movie that is suspenseful when everyone is familiar with the real-life story on which it is based.  Director Peter Berg takes on the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon and makes it engrossing.  The footage tends to be graphic at times, which lends to the authenticity of the tragic event.  There is plenty of blood, two determined but not so smart bombers and the tough as nails police department and residents of the greater Boston area, who are justifiably proud of their community for its support.  Mark Wahlberg is Tommy, a cop with an attitude about authority but a man devoted to his work.  Kevin Bacon plays the FBI agent assigned to the case and John Goodman is the police commissioner.  There are lots of bombs and gunfire and plenty of help from the people whose city has been attacked.  A little too much violence to suit me, but considering the topic, it is to be expected.  3½ cans.

8.  20^th Century Women* (2016) – When you go to a movie with a friend and you stop at ShopRite to pick up a few things afterwards and the shopping is the highlight of your trip, that doesn’t speak well for the movie.  Annette Benning plays an eccentric single mother in her 50s who doesn’t mind writing creative notes to excuse her 15-year old son from school.  A child of the Depression, she isn’t sure she can teach Jamie everything she thinks he needs to know in the feminist 70s, so she enlists the aid of a punk artist (Greta Gerwig) and Jamie’s 17-year old best girlfriend (Elle Fanning) to teach him all about women – as if these two flakey women have cornered the market on wisdom.  There are uncomfortable scenes where a dinner party is interrupted with a discussion on menstruation, where Jamie gets beaten up by a friend while discussing the female anatomy, and more too numerous to mention.  The movie is based on the real life of screenwriter/director Mike Mills.  I wish we had stayed strangers.  While it is good to see another perspective on parenthood and feminism, all I could think about was when this movie would finally end.  Can you tell I didn’t like it?  1 can.

FEBRUARY

9.  The Notebook (2004) – I haven’t watched this movie in a long time, and you know that I love me some Ryan Gosling.  I’m not going to give you the story, because who doesn’t already know it?  This romance is so heartwarming, so romantic, and oh, that kiss in the rain with Rachel McAdams!  Also aboard are James Garner and Gena Rowlands.  Good story, great cast, and did I mention Ryan Gosling?  4½ kisses in the rain.

10.  Becoming Warren Buffett* – Warren Buffett is not your average octogenarian multi-billionaire.  The so-called “Oracle of Omaha” is a fairly average guy, just one who is much smarter and more patient than most people when it comes to investing.  His wealth came from his management of Berkshire Hathaway, and his philosophy has been simple and consistent:  Buffett believes in compounding.  Invest a dollar and let it grow.  That’s why his BH stock has gone up so much, without stock splits and without rapid turnover.  He lives his life in the same way, constantly reading about the financial markets, retaining the same core group of employees (about 25 of them have been with him for decades), operating out of the same office building and living in the first house he purchased.  If the market is up, he allows himself the more expensive McDonald’s breakfast on his way to work.  It is a formula that has succeeded, as evidenced by his estimated $67 billion net worth.  Friends like fellow billionaire Bill Gates set the standard for philanthropy, and they have inspired Buffett to leave the bulk of his fortune to the Gates Foundation, where his money will help millions of people around the world.  This is an engrossing story about a fascinating man and well worth investing 90 minutes to watch on HBO.  4 cans.

11.  Fracture (2007) – It looks like a slam dunk case of attempted murder for assistant prosecutor Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling; yes, I’m on a Gosling roll this month).  Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is arrested in his own house for the shooting of his now-comatose wife.  The authorities have his signed confession and there is a witness who heard the shot.  But the murder weapon can’t be found and the arresting officer was having an affair with the victim.  And then there is the accused, a brilliant, manipulative man who decides to act as his own attorney.  Willy catches this case a week before he is scheduled to leave the prosecutor’s office for a much more prestigious and lucrative job in a big, cushy law firm.  What could happen?  This movie is suspenseful, intriguing and arresting (in a sense…).  Watch it carefully because you won’t see the twists and turns coming.  4 cans.

12.  Lion* (2016) – Remember “The Girl on the Train?”  Well, this movie is “The Kid on the Train.”  In a desperately poor region of India, five-year old Saroo tags along with his older brother as Guddu attempts to find some money-making activity.  He leaves Saroo on a bench in the train station until he can return, but Saroo awakes, finds himself all alone, and disobeys his brother’s instructions.  He boards an out-of-service train that takes off for a long journey with this poor lost child.  Living on the street in an area thousands of miles from home – and where the people speak a different language – he uses an incredibly astute sense of danger to protect himself.  Eventually, he winds up in an orphanage with many other lost or abandoned children.  But Saroo is one of the lucky ones, as he is adopted by a loving couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham) who take him to Tasmania to live.  He grows up (played by Dev Patel) haunted by his past and yearning to reunite with his birth family.  But how can he find them, so many years later?  This film is heartwarming and harrowing at the same time.  The little boy (Sunny Pawar) who plays young Saroo is a revelation.  This movie is based on a true story, which is amazing.  4 cans.

13.  The Nice Guys* (2016) – Even watching Ryan Gosling on a snow day couldn’t save this movie.  Gosling and Russell Crowe team up – when they aren’t beating each other up – as private investigators in search of an actress who may or may not be dead and a porn movie that may or may not exist.  This film is supposed to be of the “film noire” genre, which I believe is the French phrase for “everything is dark and hard to see.”  When they are not engaged in machine gun fights and falling off balconies and other mayhem, the two leads do have a good degree of chemistry, but you could have left this one in the chem lab.  Sorry, Ryan, you were good, but the movie?  Not so nice.  2 cans.

14.  The Good Guy* (2010) – This contemporary drama looks at the lives of some young, hip New Yorkers.  Tommy (Scott Porter) is always under pressure at the Wall Street bank where he works, and Daniel (Bryan Greenburg), a genuinely nice guy (no relation to the movie listed above) is hired to be a replacement for one of the guys on Tommy’s team.  These guys are young, rich, aggressive and misogynistic when it comes to women.  Tommy’s very nice girlfriend, Beth (Alexis Bledel) believes him and believes in him – and she shouldn’t, because Tommy is a cheating, lying scumbag.  In my opinion, of course.  Daniel, on the other hand, is not, and you root for him NOT to become like the guys in the office.  Not a great movie (not even a good title), and proof again that Alexis Bledel will never exceed the limited acting ability she demonstrated in “Gilmore Girls.”  3 cans, at best.

15.   The Impossible* (2012) – The Impossible would be “The Improbable” if I didn’t already know that this movie about the deadly 2004 tsunami in Thailand was true.  Kudos to the director, J. A. Bayona, and the tech crew for a terrifying reenactment of the tsunami hitting a hotel where Henry and Maria (Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts) are vacationing with their three young children.  Maria is swept away but manages to stay with her oldest son, who turns into the caretaker for his seriously injured mother.  The audience doesn’t know initially whether she will survive or whether the rest of the family has been killed.  The aftermath of the tsunami is equally harrowing, as people desperately search for their loved ones.  This film is a celebration of the human spirit, not just among the injured, but also among those who love them and help each other.  3 cans.

16.  The Great Santini (1979) – Bull Meechum (Robert Duvall) is neither great nor is he named Santini.  But the Marine fighter pilot is the alpha male to his squadron, the first one to gather the guys for drinks and pull outrageous stunts, to defy authority even while he enforces it menacingly at home.  He demands respect from his wife (Blythe Danner) and kids, the oldest of whom is a teenager coming of age and beginning to question his father’s authority.  Bull is relentless, whether he is moving his military family from place to pace or playing any kind of game with the kids.  He sees himself always as a winner.  There is a famous scene where his son (Michael O’Keefe) beats him in basketball for the first time ever, despite Bull’s attempt to change the rules to slither out of the loss.  When the son won’t comply, Bull starts throwing the ball at his son’s head, as if to shake a change of mind out of him.  The action takes place in the South, and there are subplots regarding racism and white supremacy that help show that O’Keefe’s character has somehow developed the empathy his father lacks.  Duvall is at his military best here, prepping for his part in “Apocalypse Now” to some extent.  Not a fun movie to watch, but well made from a novel by Pat Conroy.  3½ cans.

17.  Catch Me If You Can (2002) – As the Sinatra song goes, “I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king.”  Frank Abagnale Jr. wasn’t quite ALL of those things, but substitute in airline pilot, doctor and lawyer and you get the background of a very young man who bluffed his way through multiple careers while cashing in on check fraud, eluding the frantic attempts of his personal Jauvert, an FBI agent named Carl Hanratty (trusty Tom Hanks), to capture him.  Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an earnest and charming teenager when he figures out how to dupe older and less wise adults, talking himself into jobs, passing the bar and posing at a pilot.  He studies his craft, gleaning information from people in his chosen professions who are all too willing to share.  And he proves himself to be a more-than-worthy opponent to the FBI as he dupes Hanratty the first time they face off.  This movie is based on the true story of Abagnale, who was a clever and cunning con man.  Catch it if you can.  4 cans.

18.  Paterson* (2017) – I asked a friend of mine who had already seen this movie whether it was good.  She described it as “a week in the life of a bus driver,” and that pretty accurately sums it up.  Adam Driver plays a pleasant guy who wakes up early every morning, kisses his wife (Golshifteh Farahani), eats his Cheerios, grabs his Stanley lunch pail and walks to the bus depot to start driving passengers around Paterson, NJ.  If you didn’t know anything about Paterson before, it is more than just the spectacular Great Falls.  It is the home of poet William Carlos Williams, a man much admired by Paterson the bus driver, himself a poet.  The driver comes home each night for dinner, dutifully walks his dog and heads to the local bar for one beer.  His supportive wife encourages him with his poetry and fancies herself a bit of an artist, always painting designs on the furniture and her clothing.  I hope I didn’t ruin the plot, because that is essentially the entire movie.  It is a quiet, sweet little story, the kind of movie where if you happen to fall asleep for a few minutes, you won’t miss much.  Roses are red, violets are blue, the most tuna cans I can give this movie is 2.

19.  Hell or High Water* (2016) – This buddy movie/road movie/chase movie/cops vs. bank robbers movie is not your typical good guys vs. bad guys story.  In some ways, the bad guys are actually good guys, but to reveal more wouldn’t be fair to the screenwriter or the viewer.  Let’s just say that Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), a crusty old Texas Ranger who is about to retire, catches this case and in his laconic but experienced way he sets out to capture the crooks, brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster).  They are clever enough to elude him at first, but this IS his last go-around, which gives him more motivation.  The dialog here is sparse but meaningful.  You get the picture of the economics in these dusty Texas towns, where robbing a bank this easily hasn’t been done since Bonnie and Clyde.  I definitely had not seen this story before, but it was worth the $5.99 rental to keep me busy on a Saturday night.  4 cans.

20.  Moonlight* (2016) – This movie is a powerful look at a very lonely man, taunted for his homosexuality as a boy, who grew up poor, neglected and very much alone in life.  Mahershala Ali plays Juan, a local drug dealer who finds young Chiron as he hides from taunting bullies.  Chiron is so quiet that Juan isn’t sure whether he can actually speak.  Juan becomes a friend to the boy, teaching him to swim and introducing him to his girlfriend Teresa, who becomes a lifeline for him when he needs to flee from his drug addict mother and just find peace somewhere.  We see Chiron as a young boy, then a high school student, and finally, as an adult.  His life is consumed with loneliness, the only respite coming from a brief sexual encounter in high school with Kevin, a macho classmate who hides his homosexuality.  This heartbreaking film is not easy to watch but it is a sobering look at isolation, forcing the viewer to experience the pain of not being able to acknowledge one’s own identity.  Chiron is trapped in a world without relief from suffering, where he is tagged as gay and traumatized throughout his formative years.  4 cans.

21.  Three Days of the Condor (1975) – Joe Turner (Robert Redford) reads books for a living.  His employer?  The CIA.  He and the others in his non-descript office become targets when he uncovers a terrorism plot that the CIA does not want disclosed.  Luckily for Turner, he is out to lunch (literally) when intruders invade the office and murder all of his co-workers.  The look on Redford’s face throughout most of the film is one of fear and confusion, as he tries to figure out what happened and why, and while he has to protect himself from a paid assassin (Max von Sydow).  He drafts a random woman (Faye Dunaway) to assist him, threatening her with a gun and holding her captive.  Personally, I would have gone with him willingly, but I’m not in the movie.  This movie offers plenty of suspense and a commentary on government agencies and their abuse of power.   It may be old, but it remains timely. 3½ cans.

22.  The Armstrong Lie (2013) – We’ve seen great examples lately of people telling lies so loudly, so often and so vehemently that their falsehoods almost sound true.  This was the case with revered cyclist Lance Armstrong, who suffered a huge fall from grace when he finally admitted that his Tour de France victories were achieved at least in part because he was using banned substances, doping, whatever you want to call it.  He cheated.  Only he doesn’t think so, because so did all of his competitors, which is borne out by evidence.  It was a question of keeping the playing field even, according to Armstrong.  OK, big deal, right?  Except it was, because Armstrong duped the public, the cycling leadership and the US government, who paid him through the sponsorship provided by the USPS.  He made enough money to fly private jets, live a lavish lifestyle and employ a well-known doctor who created a “program” intended to keep Armstrong fit and healthy, with a little help from his pharmacological friends.  And he got away with it for a long time, demanding acquiescence by his teammates and outfoxing (with the help of his doctor) all available tests designed to detect banned substances.  Yes, he raised millions for cancer through his Livestrong Foundation (remember those ubiquitous yellow rubber wristbands?), and yes, he persevered and overcame cancer to win the Tour 7 times.  But now, those titles have been stripped from him, his sponsors have dropped him, and he cannot compete in any sport where the Anti-Doping Agency has jurisdiction.  This is a hard look at an impossibly driven and arrogant guy who wanted to win at any cost, who defamed others in the course of protecting himself, and whose rise was followed by the inevitable fall.  I see a parallel here. 4 cans.

MARCH

23.  At All Costs* (2015) – As a sports fan, it pains me to think about the business aspects of athletics, but that is the reality of athletics at ANY level.  This documentary about boys’ AAU basketball gives an inside look at “amateur” athletics, where basketball players as young as pre-teens are tracked and rated.  But the all-consuming monsters here are the AAU teams and leagues, funded generously by shoe companies and headed by well-meaning coaches who preside over their young charges with authoritarianism and the promoting the dream of a D-1 scholarship and an NBA career.  The coaches establish a rapport with the players and their families, but their altruism is tempered by their need to win, thus insuring future financial support.  The players criss-cross the country to play in showcase tournaments, elevate their visibility and garner that scholarship.  Gone are the days where allegiance to the hometown high school team was enough of a motivator.  According to this movie, the high school coach is a minor influence, supplanted by the AAU coach and organization.  Yes, some good can come of this in the form of educational opportunities, but with that comes more games and more chances to blow out a knee and miss out on a future so fervently desired.  Such are the demands of the meat market that is college athletics.  3½ basketballs.

24.  The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms* (2015) – Let me start by saying that math is not my forte. So why on earth would I be drawn to a documentary on algorithms?  Well, I like anything logical, that shows how things work, and algorithms – which are a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer – are behind much of what we demand in today’s society.  That includes everything from internet searches to calculating directions to managing warehouse operations to on-line dating, where algorithms work behind the scenes to match and sort huge volumes of data very quickly to provide answers.  Google was built on a search algorithm.  The host of this BBC documentary does a masterful job of illustrating how algorithms work for us and highlighting how they help get information we depend on for everyday life.  I can’t explain algorithms in much detail, but I’m happy they are around, and I’m happy I stumbled on this demonstration of their importance.  3 cans.  PS – I know few people who would watch this movie but many people who would question my sanity and interest in it.

25.  Don Jon* (2013) – I thought I was watching an episode of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” with this movie.  Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also wrote and directed), is a “player,” an Italian stud whose mission in life is to score with the hot ladies and keep his apartment, car and himself clean and tidy in between sexual conquests.  He goes to church and the gym, works out religiously while chanting his Hail Marys as penance for the porn obsession that he confesses each week to his priest.  That’s until he’s hit with the thunderbolt that is Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a gum-chewing Jersey girl with all the physical requirements he demands.  Yet no one and nothing can match the fantasies of the thrills he gets from watching porn.  When Barbara discovers that Jon’s sex life often does not need her, she dumps him.  After mourning for at least a few minutes, he strikes up a relationship with pot-smoking Esther (Julianne Moore), a much older classmate, who leads him into a better kind of existence.  Jon seems like a self-centered meathead who will never be satisfied with an actual woman and who will continue to indulge himself.  The only reason I watched this movie is that I couldn’t find anything else on a snowy day and that I like Gordon-Levitt (no relation) – but not so much here.  2 cans.

26.  The Railway Man* (2013) – The movie is based on the true story of British WWII veteran Eric Lomax (Colin Firth), a man who loves railroads.  He meets a young woman Patti (Nicole Kidman) while riding the train, and they get married quickly – before she really gets a chance to know him.  Soon she finds out that while serving as an officer in the British Army in Japan, Lomax was taken as a prisoner of war and tortured.  Ironically, he and his cohorts are forced into the hard labor of building a railroad line.  Years later, he feels drawn to return to the place where he was captured and to confront his torturer, a man named Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada).  This is a moving tale of a man trying to reconcile his past and his present.  3½ cans.

27.  Mr. Church* (2016) – This quiet little melodrama stars Eddie Murphy in a role diametrically opposed to his more well-known turns in “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Trading Places.”  Here he is a man hired to cook for a little girl and her mother, a young woman who is dying of breast cancer.  He is a great cook, and soon becomes a treasured part of the family, but in a dignified, proper way, always called “Mr. Church” by his employer and her daughter Charlie.  Although the dying woman only has 6 months to live, she far exceeds her grim prognosis, and Mr. Church is always there for her and Charlie.  The movie builds through their unconventional relationship, which lasts for years.  It’s not possible to say more her without giving away the story.  There are numerous plot holes and a bit of maudlin play.  This movie reminded me in a way of “Driving Miss Daisy,” depicting caring black people in subservient roles, but Mr. Church himself kowtows to no one.  3 cans.

28.  Sunset Boulevard (1950) – Picture it: Faded silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) easing down that long staircase and sneering into the camera.  “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.”  Now try NOT to picture Carol Burnett in the role, which she did as a memorable send-up on her hilarious TV show.  In this, the classic Billy Wilder film, Norma is desperate to regain her position as the Queen of Hollywood, a part she hasn’t played since silent movies became extinct.  She is holed up in a decaying mansion on, yes, Sunset Boulevard, reliving her glory days as her faithful servant Max caters to her every whim.  Then along comes screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden), who accidentally arrives there and is almost immediately drawn into the hands of the manipulative and exceedingly generous Madame Desmond.  But they are manipulating each other, he because he needs the work she offers (and doesn’t mind her lavish gifts) and she because she is used to being in charge.  Will Joe ever reclaim his real life?  Will Norma once again shine on screen?  There are signs of dementia as the increasingly demanding and desperate Norma tries to romance the much younger writer, who is torn between helping himself and saving her.  I watched as a pre-requisite to the Broadway musical with Glenn Close that I saw the next day.  The movie gets 4 cans.  The Broadway show was outstanding and gets 5 cans.

29.  Nights in Rodanthe (2008) – I guess if I were going to watch a movie with two of my favorite actors as the leads (Richard Gere and Diane Lane), I should have picked their much superior co-starring stint in “Unfaithful.”  This is your typical Nicholas Sparks story of two great-looking people in North Carolina.  They meet by accident and fall madly in love during a nasty storm.  Adrienne Willis has a troubled marriage.  Dr. Paul Flanner is divorced, estranged from his son, and, oh, by the way, a local resident died on his operating table and the family wants to sue him.  She’s tending her friend’s inn and getting away from her errant husband, and Flanner, the only guest, is in town to apologize to the family of the woman who died.  It rains – hard – and they have to batten down the hatches before they can fall in love.  This is a trite and manipulative story that I cannot reveal more of without giving away the ending.  Their attraction is immediate and their love is sudden; it rains and he goes away.  Watch it to find out the whole story.  One bonus – Viola Davis plays Adrienne’s BFF.  2½ cans.

30.  More Than a Game* (2008) – I admire people who are prescient enough to seize opportunities to record events and news before they become significant.  In this case, the filmmakers tracked the athletic success of a basketball team in Akron, Ohio, BEFORE its members were even in high school, when they played in an old community center.  And, as good fortune would have it, one of the members of that team became NBA superstar LeBron James.  James even as an adolescent was clearly a superior talent.  Together with several of his childhood friends and dedicated coaches, the kids had a chance to win a championship.  It took them until James’ senior year to move to the top of the national high school rankings and become the national champions, playing all-comers and flying around the country to do so.  As a basketball fan, I find this stuff fascinating.  James often looked like a man among boys, his body maturing faster and his strength evident while at least one of his teammates hadn’t cracked five feet tall yet.  I think this documentary also shows the influence that dedicated coaches have not just on developing winning teams, but also on the development of boys to men, and good men.  The young men in the movies remain LeBron’s best friends even today, while he was gone on to a career that puts him among the elite players in the game.  3 ½ cans.

31.  Redwood Highway* (2013) – Shirley Knight is one of those actresses who always come across as believable, effortless.  Here she escapes her assisted living facility to hit the highway – on foot – determined to spite her interfering son and walk 80 miles to attend her granddaughter’s wedding.  Along the way she is lucky enough to encounter people who help her on her mission, providing food, tips and even medical help when needed.  That’s where the story – to me – begins to unravel a bit.  She walks through a redwood forest to get to Oregon, where many years back she married her late husband, a man killed at a young age while in the Service.  She fantasizes a bit and demonstrates some possible signs of dementia, but she is determined and stubborn.  Nothing explodes, nobody gets hurt, and this is a bittersweet little movie worth seeing if only for Knight’s performance.  3 cans.

32.  Woman in Gold (2015) – I am intrigued by the premise here, so much so that I have seen two other movies on this theme and have visited the museum where the painting of the title is on display.  The superb documentary “The Rape of Europa” covered the seizure of art from Jews by the Nazis in the period leading up to and during WWII.  George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men” tried to inject some humor in the story of a team of men trying to recapture these treasures and return them to their rightful owners.  That’s where this story picks up, with Maria, having moved to the United Sates to flee Austria during the war, trying to reclaim the “Woman in Gold” painting of her aunt by the famous artist Gustav Klimpt.  But the Austria Museum where the painting has long resided claims its ownership, so Maria (Helen Mirren, terrific as always) teams up with a young attorney whose family she knows (underplayed beautifully by Ryan Reynolds) to bring a lawsuit first in Austria and then in the US to get the painting back.  The odds are long and the legal angles can be a little hard to follow, but this pair is ready to pull out all the stops.  4 cans

33.  Return to Me (2000) – This endearing movie is about a broken heart.  Grace (Minnie Driver) has lived her whole life with a bad heart and is failing when she is the lucky recipient of the heart of a woman killed in a car accident. The victim’s loving husband, Bob (David Duchovny) is devastated, until he meets Grace, having no idea that her good health is thanks to his wife’s heart.  When she figures it out, can she tell him, and will it change things between them?  Grace is surrounded by family and friends (including Bonnie Hunt, Carroll O’Connor as her grandfather, Jim Belushi) and has plenty of love and support, but can she give her heart of Bob once she knows it once belonged to him?  If I could pick someone to be friends with, Bonnie Hunt, who co-wrote and directed this charming gem, would be high up on my list.  This movie is charming and will make you smile.  Let’s just say it has a lot of heart.  4 cans.

34.  Custody* (2015) – Sorry, Viola Davis, but if I see that you are in a movie, I expect a very high standard.  Not that Davis’ performance is anything other than stellar, but the movie?  The only real reason to watch it is Davis herself, playing a stoic judge who runs a tight family courtroom and presides over a case with Sara, a young mother (Catalina Sandino Moreno) who is in trouble with the law but fighting desperately to retain custody of her two young children.  Davis may control her courtroom, but in real life, her marriage is falling apart and there are issues with her college student son.  Meanwhile, Sara’s public defender Ally (Hayden Panetierre) has her own issues – personally and professionally.  Too much time is spent on the arcane rulings of the court and not enough on the problems faced by these women, each of a different socio-economic class and each facing stereotypes.  Well done, but I wanted better.  3½ cans.

35.  Driving Lessons* (2006) – Not to be confused with “Learning to Drive,” this British movie is about 17-year old Ben (Rupert Grint), a socially awkward boy living with his religious parents and ready to break free.  He takes a job (at his mother’s urging; his mother is Laura Linney) as an assistant to Evie, an elderly actress (Julie Walters) who is as eccentric as you expect of older actresses in this kind of movie.  Although he’s not quite sure how to assist Evie and he’s not all that resourceful, he soon becomes essential to her existence.  This is a coming of age movies, as Ben must learn to drive and to deal with the demands of the women in his life.  Some of the situations are far-fetched, but the relationship between the demanding actress and her young charge is mostly heartwarming.  3 cans.

36.  The Loving Story* (2011) – Love is love, right?  Well, not in Virginia in 1958, when Richard Loving, a white man, married Mildred Jeter, a woman of black and Cherokee heritage, in Washington, DC.  After the wedding, the young couple returned to their home state to live.  Several weeks later, they were arrested, charged and convicted pf miscegenation, a law designed to prohibit the mixing of races.  Virginia was one of 21 states with miscegenation laws on the books then.  The Lovings had no idea they were violating the law and moved to Washington to avoid jail.  But their respective families lived in Virginia and they wanted their kids to grow up there, so they wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, asking for his help.  He recommended they contact the American Civil Liberties Union, which they did.  The Lovings were not activists, and they were not looking to end up in front of the Supreme Court to make their case.  They just wanted to enjoy their married lives together in their home state.  I missed the dramatization of this case in the move that came out in 2016 (“Loving”), but this HBO documentary covers the ground in a factual, low-key way.  It is truly abhorrent to remember that there were laws like this around as recently as 2000, when Alabama became the last state to drop its.  You can’t help but think about the irony of the name of this film – Loving – which well reflects the couple’s devotion to each other, to their families and to the State of Virginia at a time when state governments made it illegal for them to do just that.  4 cans.

APRIL

37.  Newtown* (2017) – This devastating documentary aired on PBS’ Independent Lens series.  It recounts the grim story of the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, where 20 innocent 6-7 year old children were killed along with 6 adults – including teachers and the mother of the deranged shooter.  Much of the film focuses on the parents of just a few of the children.  The shared not only their memories of the loves they lost but also their hopes to ban assault weapons from private use.  Why anyone needs an assault weapon is not within my realm to understand.  I find it ironic, however, that under the current administration, the new secretary of Education thinks that weapons should be allowed in schools in case of an attack by a bear.  Let’s count the 26 lives lost on that fateful day and compare that number to all of the lives ever lost to an incident in a school caused by a bear.  This tragedy should NEVER be forgotten or repeated.  Those poor kids and teachers died for no reason, and others will, too, until we come to our senses in this country and enact real gun control.  And bear in mind, that once funding for public television disappears, you won’t find programs like this one available again.  26 cans.

38.  Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery* (2017) – The only real mystery in this documentary miniseries is why Casey Anthony was not convicted of killing her two-year-old daughter, Kaylee.  Back in 2008, the young Florida mother admitted that her daughter had been missing for 30-days but insisted she was abducted by her nanny.  She proceeded to lead the authorities down countless blind alleys while her parents and the rest of the country sat back amazed by her audacity and prayed for Kaylee’s return.  You might remember the details – the abandoned car with the stench of a dead body coming from the trunk, the images of Casey partying while no one knew her daughter was missing, her computer searches for chloroform, courthouse visits between Casey and her parents – all recorded and played out on national TV (thank you, Nancy Grace).  All this and more details turn up in this examination, and all of the evidence points straight to Casey, portrayed as a young, pathological liar who must be the murderer.  But the one smart thing she did was hire an attorney who deflected the attention everywhere else.  In the end, Casey apparently got away with murder.  But while she is not in an actual prison, the erstwhile “Tot Mom” will never escape the notoriety and disdain of the American public.  Truth is stranger than fiction.  4 cans.

39.  The Wedding Singer (1998) – I’m not much of an Adam Sandler fan, but this lighthearted story about Robby (Sandler), a wedding singer who falls for Julia, a waitress (Drew Barrymore), even though she is engaged to another guy – a creepy womanizer (Matthew Glave) -- is sweet in its simplicity.  Robby is engaged, too, but he is left at the altar by his fiancée and becomes friends with Julia and helps her with her wedding plans.  Of course they fall in love, but she’s engaged, he’s honorable, and what happens is as unlikely as it is predictable.  And I was charmed anyway.  3 cans.

40.  Bull Durham and 41.  For Love of the Game (1999) – As baseball season arrives, what better doubleheader to see than two Kevin Costner movies about life on and off the diamond?  In Bull Durham, Kevin play Crash Davis, a career minor-league catcher whose highlight was a brief “cup of coffee” in the Major Leagues – or, as he calls it, “the show.”  Crash is signed by the Bulls mainly to tutor young pitching phenom Calvin “Nuke” Laloosh, a kid with plenty of potential but who doesn’t understand or respect the game the way Crash does.  His tutoring extends beyond the mound to Nuke’s budding relationship with baseball groupie Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), who has reached home plate with many a ball player in her time.  She finds Crash appealing, he finds her intriguing, but she has committed her summer of love to studly young Nuke.  This wonderful, funny movie captures minor league life on the road, the platitudes of baseball, the camaraderie of the clubhouse, and the difference between a relationship with a boy and with a man.  In For Love of the Game, Costner is Billy Chapel, 40-year old renowned pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, a future Hall of Famer who is still performing well on the field but facing a future without baseball.  The Tigers are in New York to play the Yankees often enough for Billy to meet and court Jane (Kelly Preston), a writer with a teenaged daughter.  Most of the action takes place off the field, focusing on the relationship between Billy and Jane, until Billy has the unique chance at pitching a perfect game.  And what good is fame and fortunate when there is no one beside you to enjoy it?  Bull gets 4 baseballs and Love gets 3½.  Bring on “Field of Dreams!”

42.  Gifted* (2017) – I get all the various actors named Chris confused – Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans – and I do like them all.  Here, Chris Evans is Frank Adler, the uncle/caregiver of an enormously bright little girl, the daughter of his late sister.  Little Mary (McKenna Grace, the owner of the longest eyelashes this side of Christine from “Flip or Flop”) is 7 and has never gone to school, having been taught by her uncle.  But he wants Mary to be a real kid, to make friends and to do what other kids do, so he enrolls her in the local elementary school.  Bored by the simple math problems her teacher gives the class (“How much is one and one?”), she immediately dazzles Ms. Stevenson by calculating a tough multiplication problem in her head – and adding the square root.  What 7-year old can do this?  Mary is offered a spot at a prestigious school for advanced students, but neither she nor Frank wants her to go.  Frank’s British mother, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), herself an accomplished mathematician, disagrees and sues for custody.  I won’t reveal the case, but the central themes are the strong bond between Frank and Mary (and her one-eyed cat, Fred) and the concern of everyone: What’s best for this brilliant little girl?  Octavia Spencer has a small part as the landlady in Frank’s community who doubles as a friend/mother figure to Mary.  The movie is predictable in parts but full of love and very touching.  3½ cans.

43.  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks* (2017) -- Oprah Winfrey produced and stars in this screen version of the best-selling book by Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne) about Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose cancer cells were harvested and used without her knowledge or permission (she wasn’t asked).  Winfrey plays Debra, Henrietta’s daughter, a woman desperate to know more about her mother who agrees to help Skloot uncover the mystery behind her mother’s cells.  A poor woman, Henrietta is treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1951.  All we glean from the movie version of the much more detailed book is that Henrietta died, but her cells lived on and helped medical researchers in their work on a variety of diseases.  Debra, who seems to suffer from some form of mental illness, sometimes reluctantly and sometimes enthusiastically works with “her reporter” – as she refers to Skloot – to find out what really happened.  There is a good deal of resentment by the family for not being informed about her mother’s cells or medical records.  This movie, while interesting, is not nearly as engrossing as the book.  I never thought I’d hear myself saying that I needed more science, but that’s what the book provided that the movie lacks – so to speak.  Oprah does a credible job in her role, but she is so much larger than life that it is difficult to separate the celebrity from the actress.  Byrne brings a little too much enthusiasm to the part.  I loved the book – which spent years on the best-seller list – much more than the movie.  3½ cells.

44.  Castaway (2000) – What can I say about this movie that I haven’t said before?  There are vast periods of utter silence, as Chuck Noland (the redoubtable Tom Hanks) finds a way to survive alone on an island after drifting ashore following the crash of his FedEx plane.  Chuck leaves behind his beloved girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) to take the ill-fated flight, with only her picture in an heirloom locket giving him strength to survive.  His only company is Wilson, a volleyball that becomes his BFF.  But the part I love the most is that he does survive and he gets to see Kelly again, and she tells him, “You are the love of my life.”  The lump in my throat is bigger than Wilson the volleyball.  The only other thing I’d say is never to travel with Tom Hanks.  “Castaway,” “Apollo 13,” “Sully” and “Captain Phillips” prove that he could be dangerous to your health.  5 cans.

45.   Hello Dolly (1969) – Budding superstar Barbra Streisand was just 25 when she was tapped for the title role in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical made famous by Carol Channing’s iconic performance.  Let’s face it – this is NOT a great movie.  There is a lot of slapstick silliness, and we are induced to believe some sort of romance between Streisand’s Dolly Levi, matchmaker extraordinaire and young widow, and the much older and completely irascible Horace Vandergelder, played by Walter Matthau with more than a tad of reluctance.  Presumably he cheered up when the check cleared.  The story is simple: She’s a matchmaker, looking for a wife for the grumpy old man, and decides she is the best candidate for the job.  All she has to do is convince him, which takes us through innumerable musical numbers and extraneous characters.  This movie is an overblown pastiche of a musical, despite a few memorable songs and one dynamite cameo by Louis Armstrong himself.  So why watch?  Because this week I am going to see the Broadway revival, starring the Devine Miss M herself, Bette Midler.  The whole point of the show is to provide an actress like Channing, Streisand or brassy Bette with a star turn, and I have no doubt Bette will more than hold her own.  As for this production?  You can let this parade pass you by.  2½ cans.

46. Parenthood (1989) – This Steve Martin comedy became the loose basis of a TV show I loved, and although the movie can only cover so much ground in two hours compared to a TV series that lasted for about 7 years, the movie is nonetheless entertaining.  Although I don’t have kids, I certainly laughed my way through some of the trials and travails of the Buckman family.  Martin is Gil, the main character, trying his best with wife Karen (Mary Steenbergen) to be a good father.  When Cowboy Dan doesn’t show up for his son’s birthday, Gil fashions a cowboy outfit complete with “chaps” made from the bathroom throw rugs.  Meanwhile, his sister Helen (Dianne Wiest) is flummoxed by her daughter Julie (Martha Plimpton) and her choice of boyfriend, or, as she calls him, “that Tod” (Keanu Reeves in a part essentially similar to his role in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”)  When mom accidentally gets Julie’s pictures from the local Fotomat (this movie is OLD), she is amused and outraged by the casual sex between the two young lovers.  “You can almost see his face in this one,” she says.  Parenthood is a tough job, and this movie reminds the viewer of much of the joy, some of the disappointment and all of the fun.  3½ cans.

47.  My Blue Heaven (1990) – In a completely different role, here Steve Martin is mobster Vinnie Antonelli, a fish completely out of water as a native New Yorker forced to move to San Diego as part of the witness protection program.  He only stands out from the neighbors in his new community when he mows the grass in his sharkskin suit, teaches his FBI agent Barney (Rick Moranis) how to merengue and tips everyone in sight.  Martin’s trademark white hair may be gone, but his smile and silliness are intact.  Barney is charged with the job of keeping Vinnie alive and making him fit in while awaiting his testimony in a New York mob case.  But trying to get Vinnie to keep a low profile – and alive – is a real challenge.  Nothing earthshaking here, but good for a few grins.  Martin is terrific.  3 cans.

MAY

48.  Legally Blonde (2001) – Reese Witherspoon bursts onto the screen in this movie about a sorority girl who decides to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School and enroll to win him back.  Blessed with a 4.0 average and a way to win over recruiters, her Elle Woods has no problem gaining admission.  Getting adjusted is a bit more of a challenge, but Elle is more than just adorable.  She is plenty resourceful and smarter than even she knows.  Will she win the boyfriend back, and does she really want to settle for someone who dumped her because she is “too blonde?”  There is nothing profound here, but it is great fun to watch Elle Woods in action.  3½ cans.

49.  Harry Benson: Shoot First* – Imagine being on the scene, armed with a camera, at some of the most memorable moments in history.  Harry Benson was a photojournalist who became a celebrity photographer – not one of the unpopular paparazzi, but an invited guest brought in to record history in the making.  From his pictures of the Beatles landing in the US to his photos of President Nixon waving from the helicopter as he departs the White House to his shot of Senator Bobby Kennedy on lying shot on the floor of a hotel in California, where he was assassinated, Benson was there, adding his skill to capture the moment memorably and build our collective retrospective of iconic moments.  He took pictures of every famous person you can name, from chess master Bobby Fischer to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, with the great Muhammad Ali, and all four of the Beatles fooling around together.  These are legendary photos of legendary people taken by one of the most legendary photographers of his time.  4 cans of film.

50.  Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer* (2017)  -- Richard Gere is the title character, Norman, a “fixer” – more like a fixer-upper, really – whose work is to forge connections between people of influence.  In this case, Norman somehow aligns himself with the man who a few years later becomes the Prime Minister of Israel, closing the deal on their friendship by buying him a pair of very expensive shoes.  Norman is not above stalking his prey on the street where they live or where they run, all trying to broker relationships and deals between them.  He overplays and overstates his own importance, so when his synagogue needs $14 million to save its building from destruction, he “seems” to have an anonymous donor for half the needed funds.  It’s hard to pin Norman down, to have him explain exactly what he does as a businessman/consultant.  I found him brash and desperate, not quite on the “Glengarry Glen Ross” scale, but clearly losing his influence or unable to reach the people he needs to keep playing the game.  At least here, Gere is no longer the sexy young man or the handsome, silver fox.  He appears smaller and with much less charm and power than ever before.  Maybe it is my distaste for power brokers and people who seem to generate nothing of real value, but I found the movie unduly complex and somewhat annoying.  Bring back that gorgeous Gere I used to love.  2½ cans.

51.  The Great Gilly Hopkins* (2015) – Sometimes she is a sullen teenager, and other times she is a feisty but caring young woman truly lost in life.  Gilly (Sophie Nelisse) never knew her mother and has bounced around foster homes, so she is naturally suspicious and withdrawn when she arrives on the doorstep of the relentlessly cheerful and devout Mrs. Trotter (Kathy Bates), a veteran foster mother who already has a young boy living in her house.  Gilly can be nasty and she certainly doesn’t take any guff.  Her goal is to find her birth mother, and she sends a note disparaging her current living situation as she runs away to reunite with her long-missing mom.  When her grandmother (Glen Close) arrives to reclaim her, she realizes that the Trotter house is her home and these people (including the blind next door neighbor who comes for dinner every night) are the family she craves.  Gilly is a tough kid to love, and she has faced so much adversity in her short life.  Will she be able to stay with the people who love her?  I liked this movie despite its sometimes overwrought moments.  3 cans.

52.  The Bridges of Madison County (1995) – Every now and then, I just HAVE to see this perfect little movie.  The plot is simple:  A photographer (Clint Eastwood) passing through Iowa to take pictures of bridges meets housewife and mother Francesca (the glorious Meryl Streep) and over a four-day period, they fall deeply in love.  But she can’t abandon her family (which is conveniently out of town when they meet) any more than she will ever forget that brief interlude when she stopped being a mother/wife and reclaimed her status as a woman.  Beautifully shot, this movie is all about subtlety – a small hand gesture here, a bowed head there.  As her grown children go through Francesca’s belongings after her death, they learn about this unknown chapter in their mother’s life and it forces them to not only reconsider her but to reexamine their own lives and relationships.  Meryl can do no wrong. 5 cans.

53.  The Color of Money (1986) – Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) isn’t quite so fast anymore.  The former pool shark now shills for other players, and Vincent (Tom Cruise) is his prodigy.  But Vincent has an ego as big as his towering head of hair, and he doesn’t want to lose, despite Eddie’s advice that you have to lose sometimes in order to set up the next score and win big.  In pool, it is all about the con, the hustle and the dump to raise the stakes for a better payoff.  Eddie’s wisdom faces off against Vincent’s braggadocio, and who will really be the hustler here?  The coolest thing about this movie is the range of pool shots these guys make.  How’d they do that?  3½ cans.   

54.  Passengers* (2016) – I’ll admit right up front that I have trouble suspending my sense of reality (I could barely tolerate watching “Gilligan’s Island”), so watching this science fiction film seems like an unlikely choice for me.  However, Chris Pratt is one of the Chris stars I like, and Jennifer Lawrence is everywhere these days, so I decided to give it a try.  The premise is that a contingent of passengers have left earth to travel on a spaceship bound for a new home.  They are in suspended animation during the trip, which is scheduled to take decades.  But the sleep pod containing Pratt’s Jim malfunctions, and he wakes up 90 years early (I feel ya, man).  Alone on the ship, surrounded by other humans in their sleep pods, he makes friends with the automaton bartender (Michael Sheen) and tries to keep himself busy.  But the sleeping beauty Aurora (Lawrence) is too tempting, so he finds a way to interrupt her beauty sleep and, as you can guess, they bond.  The spaceship is pretty cool, and somehow is stocked with all of the clothes (and, in Aurora’s case, make-up and jewelry) that one would need during interstellar travel.  I won’t give anything away, except to say that despite my inability to suspend my sense of reality, I found this view of life in space a blast.  3½ cans.

55.  A Walk on the Moon (1999) – Start with Diane Lane, an actress that I love.  She plays Pearl Kantrowitz, and she, her mother-in-law (Tovah Feldshah) and her kids are spending the summer of 1969 at a very modest camp/resort in the Catskills while hubby Marty (Liev Schreiber) schelps back and forth to the city to his job repairing TV sets.  Pregnant at a very early age, Pearl now feels bored and trapped in her role as wife and mother, so when the Blouse Man (Viggo Mortensen) shows up in his magic bus, she’s receptive to flirting.  She is living at a time when feminism is making women rethink their roles, a time when Neil Armstrong lands on the moon, and when the Woodstock music festival is taking place nearby.  Both Pearl and her teenage daughter are curious about what else there is for them as women and eager to stretch their wings.  I love this movie, with its authenticity about the era, the sexual awakening of the two women, the fear of growth and of loss.  I love the announcements about the arrival of the knish man (voiced by Julie Kavner, of Marge Simpson and “Rhoda” fame), I love the acting and seeing the characters watch in awe as Armstrong takes that giant leap for mankind (and Pearl takes a pretty major step of her own).   What a time in history, and what a way to combine that era and these characters!  4 cans.

56.  The Wizard of Lies* (2017) – This HBO dramatization of the real story of disgraced investment mogul Bernie Madoff doesn’t break new ground, but it provides a deservedly harsh look at a man whose Ponzi scheme cost his investors millions of dollars.  For years, Madoff (Robert DeNiro) persuaded people to give him their money so he could invest it for them.  His firm employed his own sons, who were unaware of the fact that the trades, the statements – everything – were lies.  His elaborate fraud went undetected for years, as investors enjoyed better than average returns, never realizing that he was using the new money to pay off the earlier investors.  Madoff was a genius when it came to making people beg him to take their money.  The many victims here lost their life savings thanks to his greed and hubris – he did not want to lose – ever.  In the end, he lost it all.  And even as he pleaded guilty, he maintained that the investor themselves were responsible at least in part because of their own greed.  He destroyed lives, including that of his family, and ended up in jail, where he will finish his days alone.  Well done, Bernie.  4 cans. 

57.  About Alex* (2015) – A cast of 20-somethings attempts to recreate the angst and vibe of the classic “The Big Chill” here but comes up short.  A group of college friends with varying relationships gathers after the suicide attempt of one of their own.  Alex (Jason Ritter) – the same name as the successful suicide friend in TBC – is lonely and needs his friends, all of whom show up when his attempt to kill himself doesn’t work.  There are couples and would-be couples and plenty of history between and among the group here, none of whom are as established as the crew in “The Big Chill.”  They aren’t as interesting, either.  And the soundtrack from “The Big Chill” stands alone.  Sorry, but I found it impossible to watch this movie without referring back to a much better and previous telling of a very similar story.  That one gets 4 cans.  This one?  2 cans.

58.  Princess Diana – Her Life, Her Death and the Truth* (2017) – It is hard to believe that nearly 20 years have passed since the shocking death of Princess Diana of Great Britain.  This CBS program examines her less-than-charmed life, marrying England’s most eligible bachelor, Prince Charles, having two sons, and enduring the humiliation of his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.  But the heart of this program is the examination of Diana’s death, along with the man she was dating at the time, Dodi El-Fayed, in a suspicious crash in a tunnel in Paris.  Fleeing paparazzi and traveling far above the speed limit, their car sideswiped a vehicle as it entered the tunnel and crashed into a barrier, killing Diana and Dodi along with their driver Henri Paul.  Tests later proved that Paul was drinking drunk, and that the accident was not a conspiracy by the Royals who forsook Diana after her divorce from Charles.  The show looks at her life, her relationships, how she became a Princess, her ancestral home, and her kindness and generosity to the afflicted and underprivileged, traits that are continued by her sons.  I forgot how simply beautiful she was, and how unhappy.  3½ cans.

59.  Dirty Dancing* (2017) – The big question here is why.  Why remake a classic?  Why make us endure it for three hours?  And why cast someone (Abigail Breslin) so completely unsuited for this role?  Breslin plays the Jennifer Grey part of “Baby” Houseman, a bright but unworldly girl who falls in love with Johnny Castle (Cole Prattes), the dance instructor at Kellerman’s Catskills resort.  The appalling casting casts a pall over the entire movie because there is no chemistry between the leads, because she looks much younger than 18 (and is dressed in such dowdy clothes that her wardrobe looks 45) and because his falling for her is about as likely as Ryan Gosling actually being my next husband.  There are a few differences in the plot here, which we all know so well.  Baby’s parents (Bruce Greenwood and Debra Messing) have meatier roles than the parents in the original and they are going through marital troubles.  And Johnny himself turns out to have gotten into enough trouble as a youth that he ended up doing jail time.  The characters also get to sing some of the songs.  The dancing overall is OK, but Prattes is no Patrick Swayze and Breslin?  Decorum prevents me from truthfully commenting on her lack of dance prowess.  And I cannot neglect to mention the most egregious faux pas of all, when the waiter in the dining room of Kellermans’s offers Baby’s father a pastrami sandwich, which he says they serve with cole slaw and mayo.  Mayo?  On a pastrami sandwich?  No respectable Jewish joint would EVER serve pastrami with mayo.  Sacrilegious!  The only saving grace here was that I watched it with a friend, and together we had the time of our lives.  We just didn’t do the lift.  And when Baby and Johnny do it, she looked like she was about to bowl him over and flatten him.  This movie wasn’t as good as “Sharknado,” no less the original Dirty Dancing.  1 can.

60.  The Keepers* (2017) – This engrossing series comes from Netflix, the folks who offered up an equally compelling documentary last year, “The Making of a Murder.”  Like the earlier series, this 7-part program tackles a murder.  In 1969, a young nun teaching at Archbishop Keogh High School near Baltimore goes missing and two months later her murdered body is found.  The case remains unsolved, but two of the now-grown women who were students at the school, Abbie Schaub and Gemma Hoskins), join forces to examine the case.  They sort through newspaper articles and TV clips, determined to unearth the truth.  They interview anyone involved with the victim and the school.  It turns out that the attractive young woman, Sister Cathy Cesnick, might have been about to blow the whistle on the school counselor, a priest named Father Maskell, who was abusing a number of the girls in the school.  For years, the murder went unsolved, and Maskell continued his horrifying acts with young Catholic girls who were too afraid and too ashamed to come forward.  This documentary covers the case and their stories in great detail – almost too much detail.  It wasn’t until years later, in the 1990, that one of the young victims of the abuse starts to recall the memories of the trauma she suffered and, along with another victim, turns to the courts.  Old crimes are hard enough to prove, but given the power of the Catholic Church in Baltimore, this case was almost impossible.  The amateur investigators start a Facebook page that ultimately opens the door to many other former students who suffered at the hands of the abusive priest.  As in the Oscar-winning movie “Spotlight,” the list grows, and so does the cover-up by the Archdiocese.  Meanwhile, the crime, and any justice for Sister Cathy, begins to fade.  This is a fascinating and disturbing tale of morally reprehensible people who are allowed to continue to have access to children and who get away with their abuse by terrorizing them into silence.  I thought this program would move along better if there had been a voiceover narrator rather than using so many long set-up shots, but the number and depth of the interviews with the principals in the story carries the narrative well.  Not for the faint of heart.  4 cans.

61.  Broken Flowers* (2005) – I always thought that no one can do nothing better than me, but Bill Murray comes in a close second.  Here he is Don Johnston, a computer mogul who doesn’t own a computer and who is content to sit on his couch listening to music and doing, well, nothing.  One day he receives an unsigned letter from a former girlfriend – of whom there are many – letting him know that after they broke up, she discovered she was pregnant.  She never told him, and she raised the son on her own.  Now, she says, she thinks her son might be looking for his father.  Don is hardly flummoxed by this news.  He is so unmoved that you’d think the letter said there was a Macy’s One Day Sale.  But his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright) is captivated by the news and plots out an itinerary for Don to visit each of his former girlfriends who might be the author of the mysterious letter.  Don visits each one, crossing all but one off the list of potential mothers.  In small parts, they are Sharon Stone, Julie Delphy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton, each with her own life, some of which are modestly amusing (Lange is an “animal communicator”).  With his deadpan expression and less dialog than Tom Hanks while stranded on that deserted island in “Cast Away,” Murray is the perfect actor for this understated role.  Which doesn’t mean I liked or recommend the movie – unless you are a huge Bill Murray fan.  I liked him better in “St. Vincent,” where he was equally unmoved, a bit of a reprobate, but ultimately a good guy.  3 cans.  Barely.

62.  The Lovers* (2017) – Michael (Tracey Letts) is a philandering husband, constantly contacting his aggrieved wife Mary (a hardly-recognizable Debra Winger) with excuses so he can spend time with his paramour Lucy (Melora Walters).  But Mary seems relieved, because she is involved in an extramarital affair of her own, with younger and hunkier Robert (Aidan Gillen).  Although Michael and Mary reside in the same house, their paths barely cross, and both of them know this sham of a marriage is nearing an end.  They – and their partners – are just waiting for their son Joel (Tyler Ross) to come home for a visit so they can tell him in person.  But somewhere along the way to resolution, Michael and Mary find each other again and start a fervent romance, with each lying to their other lover to spend time together.  What exactly IS fidelity anyway, you might ask.  Is it cheating if you are secretly having an “affair” with your own spouse?  There were people chuckling in the theater, but the movie never elicited that response from me.  It was a story I had never seen or considered before, and I felt real sadness for the characters (particularly Winger as Mary, with lines of anguish etched into her face).  Different isn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t necessarily good, either.  3 cans.

63.  The Great Escape (1963) – No, this is NOT a vacation flick.  It is about a group of military prisoners of war at a German prison camp in WWII who bond together and dig their way out.  Back in the day, films used to be made that included large casts of notable names.  Here we have James Garner (his war movie “36 Hours” is even better than this one), Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and many more as the imprisoned men who cleverly manage to dig their way out of the camp and back into society.  But will their escape stand?  Or will their new identities hold up?  This movie is based on a true story and brings humor and humanity to an otherwise life-threatening and dismal situation.  Great performance all around.  3½ cans.

JUNE

64.  If You’re Not in the Obits, Eat Breakfast* (2017) – Actor, writer, director, raconteur and nonagenarian Carl Reiner takes center stage in this clever documentary about growing old but not extinct.  Reiner, who created (with manic Mel Brooks) “The 2000 Year Old Man,” is still – like Brooks himself – writing, performing and keeping the world laughing.  Reiner is joined here by other comic entertainers, like the still-spry Dick Van Dyke, Golden Girl Betty White, and TV and movie producer and legend Norman Lear, who insists that he gets applause just for showing up alive.  This film is a tribute not just to longevity, but to a lifetime of laughter.  When it comes to Reiner, I’ll have what he’s having.  3½ cans.

65.  Blood Ties: The Mendendez Brothers* (2017) – If you were alive in the early 1990s, you will recall the “trial of the century” (which it remained until the OJ Simpson trial came along).  Brief summary:  Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez grow up overindulged in Beverly Hills and, thinking they will be cut off by their wealthy parents, they brutally kill their father and mother in their own home.  Their defense for this heinous crime?  They both claim they were sexually molested by their father, and they simply snapped.  That is, of course, after one brother writes a movie script depicting the same scenario AND after they buy guns.  This story was all over the news at the time, with the two clean-cut looking young men telling their tale to a packed courtroom as America watched on the fledgling Court TV channel.   I had forgotten much of the detail, but it has been 25 years!  Whether or not the “boys” (as they were referred to in court and in the press) told the truth about their motive cannot be proven, but the film recounts the details of the case in a two-hour documentary for which there is an unending supply of footage.  Later this year an eight-part series is coming our way, so now I have finished the prerequisite for that course.  It remains as compelling a case now as it was back then.  3½ cans.

66.  Shop Girl* (2005) – This Steve Martin story is billed as a comedy, and, while it has its moments, I thought it was a sad and underplayed movie.  Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is a lonely young woman who enjoys creating art but who supports herself by working as a clerk in the glove department at Saks in LA.  She begins dating two completely different types of men at almost the same time.  Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) is young and sloppy and unpolished.  Ray Porter (Martin) is his opposite – poised, classy, wealthy and unable to commit to a relationship.  Mirabelle seems all too eager and willing to give herself to either of these men.  And though Ray is clear that he isn’t looking for a permanent relationship, she can’t help falling for him.  Martin is far from the manic guy we are used to seeing, bursting with physicality.  He so underplays the role that I wondered what – besides his money – drew Mirabelle to him.  No more plot points.  I know this movie is based on a short novel of Martin’s, and I always wanted to see it, but it did not live up to my expectations.  3 cans.

67.  Churchill* (2017) – It is three days before D-Day in 1944, and the invasion of Normandy is ready to go under the Allied command of American General Dwight Eisenhower.  Not so fast, says British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Bryan Cox in an Oscar-worthy performance).  Fearful of repeating the disaster that resulted in significant loss of life in Gallipoli in 1915, Churchill first counsels against the plan and then insists that he be on the first ship to land.  As history shows, the plan went ahead (with Churchill on terra ferma), enabling the Allied forces to drive the Germans out of France and win World War II (if you can actually “win” a war…).  Stooped over, shoulders hunched and surrounded by a cloud of cigar smoke, Churchill is at once intimating yet feeble.  The war and his duty have worn him down.  With his wife getting the brunt of his brooding, he needs support and strength.  He looks defeated before the invasion starts.  But as a leader, Churchill knows he needs to rally himself and be strong for his country.  This movie is an excellent character study and a reminder that war is hell.  4 cans.

68.  Danny Collins* (2015)  -- Al Pacino plays aging rocker Danny Collins, a world-weary music headliner who spends too much time with younger women and too much money on drugs.  Once a prodigy who claimed to be influenced by John Lennon, Danny is surprised when his manager gives him a letter he uncovered that Lennon wrote to Danny years before that Danny never received.  Just seeing that letter is enough to make Danny reconsider his choices and attempt to reconnect with the now-grown son he never knew (Bobby Canavale).  Danny alternates between bombastic and charming, especially as he roosts at a New Jersey hotel and tries to win over its manager (Annette Bening in a part not really worthy of her skills as an actress).  Danny is trying to be a dad and a grandfather but in reality, he’s an old rich guy whose groupies are as old as he is (hey, take a look at the crowd at a Rolling Stones concert sometime).  Pacino hasn’t been a favorite of mine since “The Godfather,” but he plays this part well.  3 cans.

69.  Definitely Maybe* (2008) – Ryan Reynolds is Will Hayes, a political consultant with a precocious 11-year old daughter (Abigail Breslin) who wants to know whether her mother Emily  (Elizabeth Banks) is really her mother since Mom and Dad are divorcing.  With some reluctance, Dad starts to share the story of the great loves of his life, all of whom came along at the wrong time or were the wrong people for him.  Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher are his past girlfriends, both of whom he loved enough to marry but didn’t.  This romantic comedy gets its juice from Reynolds’ extreme likeability.  Very enjoyable for a light movie.  3½ cans.

70.  The Book of Henry* (2017) – Talk about precocious kids (see above):  Henry (Jayden Lieberher) is an 11-year old with more smarts and wisdom than most of the adults around him, including his loving but somewhat ditzy mother (Naomi Watts), a video game-playing waitress who wisely lets Henry manage her money.  Henry and his younger brother (played by the adorable Jacob Tremblay, who was so memorable in “Room”) are good kids, but when Henry suspects that his friend next door (Maddie Ziegler) is being abused by her stepfather, he feels compelled to act.  But who is going to take the word of a kid, especially when the suspect is a cop?  This is a family story that slips into an unexpected suspense thriller with Henry’s plotting every move.  More than one plot point was hard to believe, but the story held my attention and the acting was terrific.  3½ cans.

71.  Fracture (2007) – I’ve written about this movie previously, but if you want to see a taut thriller with plenty of twists and turns, try this one.  Willie Beachum (Ryan Gosling), an LA assistant prosecutor, has one foot out the door, headed to a cushy job at a prestigious law firm, when he catches the case of a man who has just been arrested for shooting his wife.  The police have his signed confession and the murder weapon, so the case should be a quick and easy one for young Mr. Beachum, except that maybe they don’t.  Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a clever and sinister guy who has plotted out his cheating wife’s shooting and has enough smarts and moxie to derail the case against him.  If you want to spend time watching a riveting movie – really watching, not playing Candy Crush on your phone – this is the movie for you.  Plus, did I mention Ryan Gosling?  4½ cans.

72.  The Departed (2006) – This intense drama is not for the feint of heart, and you had better pay attention when you watch it, because the action is fast and furious (oops, that’s a different movie…).  Matt Damon is a cop who is really a mobster planted in the police department to give the inside dope (info, not drugs!) to the mob boss played by Jack Nicholson.  Leonardo DiCaprio is also a cop but recruited by the higher ups for a secret mission that puts him in tight with the mob so he can rat out their activities to the cops.  Lost yet?  Both sides are sure there is a mole among them, and whom can you trust?  DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan even does a stint in jail to make his background authentic enough to be trusted by the mob.  Every time someone appears to be cornered and about to have his identity revealed, they somehow slither out of it.  This is a Martin Scorsese movie, the man who gave us “Goodfellas,” so there is the requisite violence, shooting, bleeding and murder, along with the most frequent use of the “F” word that I can ever recall.  Excellent cast, in addition to Damon and DiCaprio, with Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg.  Tough to watch but worth the time.  4 cans.

73.  The Wolf of Wall Street* (2013) – And speaking of Leonardo DiCaprio, he gives an absolutely stunning performance again, here as Wall Street broker Jordan Belfort, a broker with a real edge.  Jordan builds a business by hiring his childhood friends, all of whom favor bilking small investors and practicing non-stop debauchery.  And the use of the F word proliferates here, too.  Jonah Hill is Jordan’s right hand man, empowered to hire, fire and exploit staff or whomever is within shouting distance.  I watched this movie because it was recommended by a friend, but I found the entire thing completely repugnant.  The sets, the fast delivery of dialog and the acting here were all outstanding, but I absolutely hated the milieu depicted.  For once, I could not even finish the movie, so my rating will be an incomplete. 

74.  Sleepless in Seattle (1994) -- The sequel to this movie is “Sleepless in Somerset,” which accounts for why I was up at 5 AM one morning watching this great rom-com.  The fabulous Tom Hanks is Sam, a widower with a young son, Jonah (Ross Malinger).  When Jonah calls a radio station about his lonely and grieving father, women all over the country hear dear old dad and fall instantly in love.  That includes Annie (Meg Ryan, when she looked like Meg Ryan), a Baltimore-based news writer engaged to a boring fiancée (Bill Pullman) who is intrigued by the man who proclaims he is sleepless in Seattle.  The story takes its cue from the great Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr romance, “An Affair to Remember,” with its main characters promising to meet at New York’s Empire State Building.  Hollywood has largely abandoned the romantic comedy in favor of the “franchise” movies, from “The Hunger Games” to all those “Star Wars” sequels and prequels, but I miss them!  I’m not desperate enough to watch Lifetime or Hallmark movies of this ilk, because the classics, like this one, “While You Were Sleeping,” “When Harry Met Sally,” etc., were absolute charmers that continue to bring a smile to my face.  Plus, this one has Hanks.  4 cans. And a nap, because I really am sleepless in Somerset.

75.  The Bodyguard (1992) – It is impossible to see this movie and not feel a profound sense of loss over the premature death of star Whitney Houston.  She was such a beautiful, talented and troubled woman, and seeing her here, lighting up the screen as fictional actress-singer Rachel Marron, reminded me of her extraordinary voice and promise.  Rachel is being stalked so she hires former Secret Service agent Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) to protect her.  He’s all business, which annoys Rachel and her entourage as he tries to set up the level of protection he feels she needs.  And then he falls for Rachel.  He is after a stalker who seems just a little too professional, and with Rachel up for an Oscar, protecting her in a public venue will be a challenge even for Frank.  Not a great movie, but good chemistry between Costner and Houston.  And that voice!  3½ cans.

76.  Wonder Woman* (2017) – Holy smokes, Batman!  There’s a new sheriff in town, and her name is Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot).  Descended from the badass Amazons on an island with no men, Diana is trained as a princess warrior, and if you catch one look at Gal Gadot, you will know why.  She’s tough and fierce and absolutely stunning.  She rescues American spy Steve (Chris Pine), who tells her about the raging World War he is trying to end and she’s ready to leave the island behind and roll right along with him.  Along the way she demonstrates female empowerment, smarts, athleticism, naiveté and damn fine skills with a shield and a sword.  Loud, violent (though not bloody in the least), inspiring, witty in parts and completely unbelievable, this movie is everything I hate about action movies – except that I loved it!  I was cheering out loud even while I scoffed at Wonder Woman’s quick change from a formal dress to her WW ensemble, complete with bullet-rejecting wrist bands.  Rock on with your bad self, Diana.  I’m totally down for the sequel(s).  4 cans.

77.  Lifeguard (1975) – Rick Carlson (Sam Elliott) has a great life: Lifeguard on the beach in South California by day, partying with stewardesses (this was the era before flight attendants), nurses and all measure of attractive young women at night, tooling around in his ‘Vette.  He loves his job and takes it seriously, watching the beach, saving swimmers (he boasts a rate of “3 out of 5” when asked if he has saved anyone today), breaking up fights, and just taking time to think.  But what is enough for Rick, now 15 years removed from his high school graduation, isn’t enough for other people.  His friend Larry wants him to work in his car dealership, selling Porsches.  And when he reconnects with his high school girlfriend Cathy (Anne Archer) at their Reunion, his “career” comes into question.  Will he give up the surf and the sand and get a “real” job?  Is his just being Rick Carlson enough for Cathy, a divorcee with a young son?  I first saw this movie years ago and immediately loved it.  Elliott is the perfect Rick, and when Archer looks at him, you see that she regrets the years they have been apart and wants him to be part of a happy life with her.  Kathleen Quinlan plays Wendy, a lonely 17-year old with a major crush on Rick, and you feel her pain.  What is adulting anyway?  I picture Rick staying at the beach for a very long time to come.  4 cans.

78.  Orange Is the New Black (2017) – OK, I know this isn’t a movie, but my readers have told me that they want to see more of my reviews, so I thought I would include season 5 of OITNB here.  The new season picks up exactly where season 4 ended, with a riot among the inmates at Litchfield Prison, and the prisoners have the upper hand.  There’s a gun and a shooting and major shifts in power.  The main character in OITNB started out as Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), but she has lost much of her relevance as the story arcs of other characters have dominated the series.  It seems to me they have to find things to incorporate her into the plotlines. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but I can tell you that the entire season takes place in just a few days this time around, and there are new alliances, revelatory looks back on what happened to these women to get them to this awful place, and plenty of drama and humor.  There is humanity and violence, caring and anger, all of which is reflective of our society as a whole.  The season is perfectly set up for whole new characters and plots in Season 6 – but we have to wait a year to get there!  Special plaudits for this year’s acting, especially to Danielle Brooks as Tastee and Uzo Aduba as Suzanne.  If it were up to me, these characters would be in Litchfield for life, because I can’t get enough.  5 cans.

JULY

79.  Speak* (2006) – Kristen Stewart seldom speaks in this movie about a quiet, pained teenager starting high school.  She is distanced from her well-meaning but somewhat inept parents, doesn’t associate with other kids in school very well and barely answers questions in class.  But she has a good reason for her reluctance to verbalize her thoughts.  At a party prior to the start of high school she was raped by an upperclassman, a popular boy who turned a deaf ear to her strident pleas as he satisfied himself with her in a parked car.  She called the police but when they arrived to mass chaos at the party, she chickened out, not revealing the crime to them or to anyone – friends, family, counselors.  She wants it to just go away, but it hangs over her like a heavy overcoat.  She is wounded, nearly paralyzed by her experience, and it determines all of her relationships, fears and reluctance.  The story is a good one and timely, as rape culture is prevalent in high schools and across college campuses.  You want her to confide in someone, but will anyone take her seriously?  Stewart was well cast in a part where resignation and vulnerability reign supreme.  3 cans.

80.  Primal Fear* (1996) – Richard Gere plays attorney Martin Vail in this legal drama about the murder of a monsignor in Chicago.  Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) is a 19-year old altar boy who had access to the victim’s bedroom and is captured with blood all over him.  Although the evidence seems to point directly at this innocent looking kid, Marty, a prominent defense attorney who once worked for the prosecution, eagerly volunteers to take the case and add to his reputation as the best defender in Chicago.  Should he have the kid plead innocent by virtue of insanity?  How will his opposing counsel, a woman he once dated (Laura Linney) and who knows his many tricks, stake out her case opposing him?  This legal drama had plenty of suspense, and although I was close to figuring out the twists and turns by the end, I enjoyed it anyway.  3½ cans.

81.  The Big Sick* (2017) – Whether it is a big Jewish family in “Goodbye Columbus” or a big Greek family in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” or here, a Pakistani family, there are always parents with expectations and always kids there to disappoint them.  Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) drives for Uber when he’s not doing standup and dreaming of the bigtime as a comic.   He comes from a traditional Pakistani family and is expected to agree to an arranged marriage, and his overbearing mother has no shortage of young, attractive Pakistani women who just happen to “drop by” the house when he is there for dinner.  But Kumail, who has been raised in the US, doesn’t see his future arranged.  And when he meets pretty Caucasian Emily (Zoe Kazan), a grad student, they hit it off immediately despite their cultural differences.  He knows that being with her will alienate him from his family.  And then she gets sick.  Movie star sick.  Her parents (the always feisty Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) come to town to manage her care and meet Kumail for the first time.  This movie stresses the opposites attract vibe, but it is tasteful, intelligent and different from the pure comedy movies mentioned above.  Kumail based the story on his own true-life experience, and it is a story worth telling.  3½ cans. 

82.  The Breakfast Club (1985) – The brilliant John Hughes delivered such classic high school movies as “Pretty in Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles” and this one, all centered around teenagers who are neglected and worse by their rarely-seen parents.  (Of course, in “Home Alone,” the parents accidentally abandon their young son, who is left to fend for himself and endures hilarious hijinks.)  Here we are at Shermer High, where high school stereotypes meet for Saturday detention.  They are a delinquent (Judd Nelson), a princess (Molly Ringwald), a geek (Anthony Michael Hall), a jock (Emelio Estevez) and a misfit who barely speaks (Ally Sheedy), there to remain silent and endure the oversight of teacher Mr. Vernon (Paul Gleason).  Over the course of the day the unlikely quintet with seemingly nothing in common scream at each other, defy authority, smoke the weed stashed in Nelson’s character’s locker and come to understand that despite their outward differences, they actually have plenty in common.  When Nelson walks away at the end with his fist raised in defiance, the 80s generation finds a new hero.  Hughes also was the force behind two of my favorite comedies, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and “Mr. Mom,” two films outside the teen angst arena.  It is a shame he died so prematurely, or we likely would have been treated to many more memorable comedies.  Don’t worry, John, as the Simple Minds song goes, “Don’t you forget about me.”  We won’t. 3½ cans.

83.  Carole King in Concert* (2017) – After more than a decade of co-writing such pop hits as “The Locomotion,” “One Fine Day,” and “Up on the Roof” with lyricist and then-husband Gerry Goffin, Carole King went out on her own in the early 1970s and created the classic “Tapestry,” an album of such depth and beauty that it remained the best-selling album of all time until Michael Jackson came along with Thriller a generation later.  Here she poignantly reminds us to “Wake up every morning with a smile on your face;” laments the end of a romance in “It’s Too Late;” wonders aloud, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” and commits to the longevity of a relationship in “You’ve Got a Friend.”  I have never seen her perform live, so I went happily to experience her wondrous music nearly first-hand.  It was her first time performing the entire album, and when it was done, she gave us a medley of some of the hits listed above.  She pounds that piano, displays some mad guitar licks and enthralls the 65,000 people singing every word on a beautiful London night.  “Tapestry” to me was a life-changing album that is still selling today.  Carole is 74 now, her voice a bit thinner, but her music provides meaning to generations of fans from 40 years ago until today.  I promise, Carole, I will still love you tomorrow.  4½ cans.

84.  August Rush* (2007) – Rock musician Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meets cello player Lyla (Keri Russell) and their instant, one night chemistry leads to the birth of a son.  But Lyla’s controlling father prevents the relationship from progressing beyond the one night stand and tells her in the hospital that she has lost the baby.  Fast forward to an 11-year old Evan (Freddie Highmore), growing up in an orphanage and convinced he will find his parents.  Musically gifted, the young prodigy escapes and meets “the Wizard,” a Fagen-like character (played by Robin Williams) who aims to exploit the boy’s talent and deny him the chance of reuniting with his parents.  Love (and music) is a strong force, however, and no one here is about to give up.  Highmore turns in a stunning performance in a heart-warming movie.  3½ cans.

85.  Dunkirk* (2017) – War is hell, and if you don’t believe that adage, go and see this epic movie about Allied Forces trapped on the beach in France in 1940.  Producer/director Christopher Nolan has perfectly captured the action in the air and on the seas as English soldiers wait on the beach for transport by any and all vessels available.  It is harrowing, as the boats are targeted by bombardiers and the men aboard them literally jump ship in an effort to survive.  I’m not typically a fan of the war movie genre, but this one is captivating enough to move swiftly through the story.  Kudos to the cast (Mark Rylance, Fionn Whitehead, Thomas Hardy, Kenneth Branaugh, Harry Styles) for their fortitude in overcoming challenging conditions throughout the filming.  3½ cans.

86.  Maudie* (2017) – This movie is the opposite of “Dunkirk.”  It is quiet, eschewing bombings and aerial dogfights in favor of establishing the relationship between a woman forsaken by her family who takes a menial job as a housekeeper to a taciturn fishmonger.  The house is barely a shack, but Maudie (Sally Hawkins in a performance sure to garner an Oscar nomination) brightens up the interior with her paintings.  Although she is arthritic, she is able to create cheery scenes on the walls of the modest home she shares with Everett (Ethan Hawke).  The house is so small that there is only one bed, and Maudie is forced to share it with her employer.  One thing leads to another, and the inevitable relationship is born.  He is a very private man and begins to resent the attention Maudie gets when her story is told on Canadian TV.  Cold and unaccepting, Everett begins to understand he has real feelings for Maude.  I don’t want to ruin the plot – which is based on a true story – but if you yearn for the anti-blockbuster and don’t mind a wonder woman without superpowers, this might be the movie for you.  3½ cans.

87.  Driving Miss Daisy (1989) – Morgan Freeman has starred in two of my favorite movies, this one and “Shawshank Redemption.”  Here he is Hoke, the man hired by a wealthy businessman (Dan Ackroyd) in Atlanta to drive around his irascible mother.  Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy, in a wondrous performance), an elderly Jewish widow who remembers her modest upbringing and is more than reluctant to have Hoke’s services.  It takes him days just to get her in the car to go to the supermarket.  But over the years, the two form an unconventional friendship amid the changing times in the South.  The mutual respect and bond they share is the soul of this heartwarming movie.  4½ cans.

88.  Diana, Our Mother – Her Life and Legacy* (2017) – Incredibly, we are approaching the 20^th anniversary of the tragic death of Britain’s Princess Diana, an occasion marked by this documentary of comments made by her now-grown sons – Princes William and Harry – as well as by her friends and the people whose lives she affected with her charitable work.  Her sons admit that dealing with her death, while appropriate to do after all of these years, is still painful.  They depict her as warm, loving and funny and say with great conviction that she was the best mother in the world.  The program gives background on her marriage as well as her divorce from Prince Charles and demonstrates how harrowing her existence was as someone constantly hunted down by the press.  Her sons come across as genuine and respectful, with William saying he talks about his mother to his own children so will know they had another grandmother besides their maternal one.  When the light shines so brightly on someone, it takes a long time for it to dim – if it ever does.  Diana was a gracious woman whose work with homeless people and AIDS patients reflected her kindness and empathy, traits she appears to have passed down to her sons.  It would have been nice to see how her life progressed had she not died in that horrible automobile accident in August of 1997.  3 cans.

AUGUST

89.  Diana: Treason or Tragedy?* (2017) – The salutes to the late Princess Diana continue with this overly-long documentary that skips back and forth between her childhood, her marriage to Prince Charles and her tragic death in Paris 20 years ago.  The film explains Charles’ need to find a suitable wife, and the 19-year old Lady Diana Spencer fit the bill.  They had been out together barely a dozen times before getting engaged and then married in the “wedding of the century.”  But as the fairytale progressed, it did not have a happy ending, and they eventually divorced.  Was Diana too famous to suit the Royal Family?  The theory posited here is that the British agency equivalent to the FBI may have played a role in the accident that claimed her life.  More important is the life she led as a warm and loving mother to Princes William and Harry, to her charitable work and to the legacy she left behind.  If this program had been two hours, I probably would have liked it more, because the entire treason section was without much merit.  3 cans.

90.  Get Out* (2017) – If Rob Serling and Chris Rock did a remake of “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” it would be this movie.  But this one has director Jordan Peele, who uses just the right combination of genuine creepiness, humor and social commentary to make a whole new type of film.  Daniel Kaluuya is Chris, an African American man dating Rose (Allison Williams), a young white woman.  It is time to meet the parents, so she takes him to her folks’ beautiful suburban spread, where Mom and Dad are immediately overly friendly and a bit too accepting of the relationship.  Her mother is a therapist, and, before long, she is tapping on her teacup and hypnotizing Chris, though we don’t yet know why.  We just know this situation is getting increasingly creepy, and we all want to yell, “Get out.”  All of the parents’ friends are white, and the few African Americans around the estate appear to be robotic in their demeanor and appearance.  If Chris hangs around long enough, will he become an automaton, too?  This movie’s commentary on white privilege and racism from people who swear they aren’t racists (the father boasts that he would have voted for President Obama for a third term) is witty and sly, but there is no mistaking it, since we can see it as shown from the African American point of view.  This film was sold to me as a scary movie, but it is more harrowing to consider the reality of marginalizing an entire race of people to exploit for nefarious means.  That’s the true horror.  3½ cans, mostly because I just a wuss when it comes to anything scary.

91.  The Outsiders (1983) – If you were a young actor in Hollywood in 1983 and you were NOT in this movie, ask yourself what the hell happened (and did you fire your agent?).  Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Rob Lowe (among others) star in this S. E. Hinton story about two rival factions of young guys in an Oklahoma town who just don’t like each other.  Ponyboy (Howell) and Johnny (Machio), under the influence of the intense and combative Dallas (Dillon), are among the economically deprived Greasers who rumble with the more upscale Socials.  Bodily harm ensues, there’s a death and a couple of guys are on the lam.  These kids are aimless, with no adults in their lives, just trying to hang on.  This is the Oklahoma version of West Side Story, of the Capulets and the Montagues – minus the romance aspect (though there are strong overtones of homosexuality throughout, unless I’m reading that wrong…).  Stay gold, everyone, stay gold.  3½ cans.

92.  My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) – BFFs Julianne and Michael (Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney) make a pact to marry each other if they haven’t found life partners by the time they are 28, but Michael foils the plan by falling for young, vivacious Kimmy (a very cheery Cameron Diaz) just short of the deadline.  It takes Michael’s announcement that he is getting married to make Jules understand that Michael is really her own true love and that she needs to put a halt to the wedding.  So we spend the next hour and a half waiting for her to say something to him, as her other BFF, George (Rupert Everett), urges her to do.  But she can’t, or she won’t, not so much because she doesn’t want to ruin the wedding – clearly, she’s desperate to stop it from happening – but she can’t pull the trigger.  Meanwhile, Kimmy, who has known her for about 8 minutes, asks her to be her maid of honor (as if Kimmy wouldn’t have a host of friends willing to serve in that role), bringing her even more into the inner workings of the big day – and maybe that’s Kimmy’s intention.  So will she (Jules) or won’t she?  Will she step back and allow her best friend to marry the woman of his dreams – even if that is not her?  Maybe Billy Crystal’s Harry was right when he said to Sally in “When Harry Met Sally” that men and women can never be friends.  Michael comes across as a bit of a dolt, not recognizing the unrequited love in Jules. Diaz is exuberant and charming in her part, while Roberts has the toughest role – to remain likeable even as she plots to undermine her best friend’s wedding.  3½ cans.

93.  Because I Said So* (2007) – The title of this movie is a lame excuse to justify someone’s commands and, considering the lightweight and annoying script for this film, the title seems particularly appropriate here.  Despite a cast full of engaging actors (Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore and Lauren Graham among them), there is little to like or invest in here.  Keaton is Daphne, mother of three grown women, who is determined to match Moore’s character up with a suitable man for marriage.  She takes out a lengthy ad on an internet dating site and proceeds to screen the applicants.  There is the expected parade of losers, but one guy (Tom Everett Scott) turns out to be a good looking architect whom one would think wouldn’t be swiping right to attract attention from women.  Daphne helps them “meet cute” and they are quickly smitten with each other.  But Mom also meets a musician and music teacher (Gabriel Macht) who sees the scheme unfold and wants to be under consideration for the job.  Everyone here has his/her shortcomings, and this movie just tries too hard to make you love it.  All told, it’s just not a good match.  Don’t bother to watch it – because I said so.  2 cans.

94.  A Bronx Tale (1993) – It’s the mob in the Bronx, complete with straight up shootings, plenty of violence, and cool guys in suits who rule the neighborhood.  For young Calogero, the man to watch and emulate is not his honest father (Robert DeNiro, who also directed), a bus driver who eschews the Mob.  Instead the kid grows to idolize neighborhood Mafioso Sonny (Chazz Palminteri, who wrote the story).  The kid (Lillo Brancato) enters what in essence is a mob training program, making himself useful to the gangsters with the idea of entering the profession himself when the time is right.  As the teenaged Calogero, Brancato looks just like a young DeNiro and handles his part with cool and confusion.  His father is the moral compass of the story, but will his example be enough to dissuade young “C” not to become a wiseguy?  This Bronx tale is well told.  4 cans.

95. Memories of Me (1988) – Abbie (Billy Crystal) is a successful New York cardiologist who has a heart attack and a change of heart about his father (Alan King), an “actor” from whom he’s been estranged.  Abe, who works as an extra on the sets of films, TV shows and commercials, is a lively and popular man about Tinsel Town.  He loves what he does, even if Abbie frowns on his father’s chosen profession.  “Any schmuck can get a speaking part,” he insists.  Instead, he’s King of the Extras, presiding over a coterie actors who line up every day, hoping to be cast in the background of restaurant scenes, play jurors and don lobster outfits for a commercial or two.  These are Abe’s people and he fits in with them much better than with his uptight and disapproving son.  Abbie can’t quite wrest his father’s attention, until Abe demonstrates signs of early dementia and Abbie has to step in.  This movie reminds me of another one that I like better, “Nothing in Common,” with Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason.  In both, the sons can barely tolerate the fathers they disapprove of, though here Abe is an amiable guy and much admired by his fellow extras.  He is utterly charming with Abbie’s girlfriend Lisa (JoBeth Williams).  Will Abbie and Abe find common ground?  Or is it too late?  3 cans.

96.  The Glass Castle* (2017) – I hadn’t read this book, so I didn’t go to see this movie with any preconceived notions about its content.  It is Jeannette Walls’ true story of her ragtag family, an unconventional group headed by her frighteningly erratic father, Rex (Woody Harrelson).  Along with two sisters and a brother, the bright young Jeannette (Brie Larsen) and her perennially sunny mother (Naomi Watts) are terrified of the family patriarch.  A brilliant but disturbed man, Rex is a dreamer.  When he drinks, he loses all of his sanity, uprooting the family from whatever temporary housing (including being squatters) in which they reside and taking them on the road in the middle of the night.  The kids don’t go to school, since Rex claims they can learn more about life from living it.  The movie switches back and forth from the young girl Jeannette to her adult life in the 1980s, where she has somehow managed to extricate herself from the squalor under which she lived as a child.  The chaos of her existence doesn’t seem to be quite gritty enough considering the conditions, and how she transitions into a sophisticated New Yorker isn’t quite clear.  I had to keep reminding myself that the story was real, and Jeannette herself wrote the book on which the film is based.  The children band together, knowing they cannot rely on their phlegmatic father for their safety and security.  And yet, Rex truly loves them in his own, mentally disturbed way.  Harrelson gives an award-worthy performance.  I’m sure the book went into more detail, but what is on the screen is difficult enough to watch – yet worth seeing.  The human drive to survive is truly an amazing thing.  3½ cans.

97.  Whitney Houston: Can I Be Me* (2017) – The obvious answer to this Showtime documentary about the life and death of the transcendently talented singer is NO.  This painful program is peppered with plenty of interviews with the people who surrounded Whitney Houston, including her mother, assistants, family, back-up singers and hangers-on.  But the most prominent person to appear – besides her eventual husband, singer and fellow drug user Bobby Brown – is her best friend, Robyn Crawford.  Robyn loved the signer, protected her, and traveled with her from her days in Newark through her triumphs as a world-renowned vocalist and star.  But was their relationship more than a friendship?  And why was that a matter of such high security?  The documentary never gives you a definite conclusion, but the friction between Robyn and Bobby Brown, both fighting for Houston’s attention and devotion, is very clear.  It seemed Whitney might still have a chance to overcome her love of cocaine and pot, if only Robyn wasn’t ousted by Bobby and others in the Houston camp.  After Robyn’s departure, it was a fairly quick demise for Houston, a woman with a memorable voice, a radiant smile, and a fate so tragic.  3½ cans.

SEPTEMBER

98.  Nightcrawler* (2014) – An emaciated Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou, a man living by his wits, not averse to theft or any other means to survive.  When he witnesses an accident, he notices a phalanx of the news people who descend on the scene to shoot video and he is fascinated by their ability to get up close to the blood and gore and sell their footage.  A fast talker (who sounds like he has attended one too many business seminars), he gets himself some video equipment and starts listening to a police scanner so he can arrive early on the scene of grisly accidents and crimes and capture footage worthy of the ratings-starved local news, a lucrative way to make money.  But that’s not enough.  Instead of merely recording what he sees, he ventures out at night, even initiating action to make a grittier piece to sell at a higher price, ignoring the opportunity to make a 911 call to help the victims in favor of recording them in their dying moments.  Gyllenhaal plays Lou as fast and loose, desperate, slimy and a true opportunist, in an excellent performance.  Rene Russo is the woman who buys his news footage – and more.  The only lighthearted part of this movie is Lou’s relationship with the “intern” he hires, Rick (Riz Ahmed), whom he promises to pay once he completes the “internship” that gets Lou his services for free.  There is plenty of tension and suspense to go with shootings, blood and gore.  3½ cans.

99.  Miracles from Heaven* (2016) – Jennifer Garner plays Christy Beam, the mother of a terminally ill 10-year old, Anna (Kylie Rogers) with a rare intestinal illness that at first defies the doctors.  She can’t get an appointment with the specialist in Boston but flies there from Texas anyway, hoping to get him to diagnose and treat her daughter.  Of course, this movie being about miracles, he does.  Queen Latifah got a day’s work on the set playing a waitress who befriends the mother-daughter and shows them around her hometown (my favorite line in the movie is when she shows them tony Beacon Hill and says that’s where her boyfriend, Tom Brady, lives).  Garner’s part requires constant consternation, the family is going broke, the father (Martin Henderson) is left to care for Anna’s two sisters, and despite the family’s being active in the local church, there is nary a fundraiser or contribution provided for them.  And then comes the miracle, which I won’t spoil.  This treacly tale is actually true, so if you believe in miracles, feel free to watch for yourself.  The real miracle here is that I watched this movie to the end – despite falling asleep three times and having to rewind it to see where I left off!  2 cans.

100.  Mean Girls (2004) – Before Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried hit it big with other projects, they teamed to torture each other in this movie about the bullying ways of teenaged girls.  Lohan is Cady, a former homeschooled student entering high school after living in South Africa, and what she doesn’t know about her classmates is dangerous.  McAdams is Regina, the ringleader of “The Plastics,” the popular, unapproachable girl who thinks nothing of randomly having sex with guys while dating Aaron, the BMOC (Jonathan Bennett).  Quickly, good girl and mathlete Cady is caught up in the power struggle, going after Mr. Popularity while dumbing down her math prowess.  This movie, adapted by the clever and acerbic Tina Fey from a book, is a primer for all things teenagers do that you wish they wouldn’t.  It is an indictment of white privilege, of spoiling your kids (see Amy Pohler’s part) and how NOT to behave – in school and life.  If you can stand being part of this world for 90 minutes or so, it is a good lesson, but definitely not within everyone’s tolerance level.  It just isn’t so fetch.  3 cans.

101.  Staying Alive (1993) – Tony Manero (John Travolta, who never looked better) still has that strut, that swagger, years after leaving Brooklyn to hit Manhattan and seek a life as a dancer on Broadway (in what looks like a show sure to close on opening night).  Tony vacillates between his steady girl friend Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes) and the lead in the show, Laura (Fionula Hughes), a haughty, rich star who toys with his emotions and psyche.  Tony works hard for the money and displays much more charm here than when he was hanging with the boys from Brooklyn in “Saturday Night Fever,” where he ruled the disco dance floor.  Again, his determination to make it is admirable, even if he looks a little lost among real dancers.  Will he get the part, the lead, the girl?  Well, he’s still staying alive.  It amazes me that this movie was directed by Sylvester Stallone, who knows more about the underdog coming out on top than hoofing in a Broadway musical.   3 cans.

102.  Top Gun (186) – Once upon a time, watching Tom Cruise zoom around on a motorcycle and fly jet fighters thrilled me.  Now, after jumping on Oprah’s couch and espousing Scientology, he just doesn’t have the same effect on me.  Still, watching him as “Maverick,” a naval pilot at Top Gun School, flying missions with his buddy Goose (Anthony Edwards, married to Meg Ryan in a bit part), playing volleyball on the beach and romancing instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis) for the first time in a very long time managed to put a smile on my face.  These pilots are highly trained, but apart from their skills, they have to have a boatload of braggadocio, enough to make each one feel like he is the alpha male in a competitive squad.  The plot here is simple – Maverick is sure he is the Top Gun and is out to show up anyone else vying for the top dog status.  In between chomping on gum and going after McGillis, he flies dangerous missions where people get killed.  This movie is a cross between John Wayne and a recruitment film for the Navy, with a little romance thrown in.  I liked it – and Cruise – much more 30 years ago.  3 cans. 

103.  The Disappearance of Natalie Holloway* (2017) – Teenager Natalie Holloway famously disappeared on the island of Aruba in 2008, making international headlines.  Last seen in the company of local playboy Joran van der Sloot, Natalie was celebrating her high school graduation with friends when she vanished.  Although all signs pointed to van der Sloot as the culprit, the authorities could never find the body or pin him directly to the crime.  Enter Dave Holloway, Natalie’s father, with a team of investigators, now primarily focused on what happened to the body, according to a local man who may have been in on the cover-up.  At the time of the incident, Dave stayed largely in the background as Natalie’s mother Beth, his ex-wife, made the on-camera pleas for information about her daughter.  But here Dave is the man behind this excruciating look into John and a friend, Gabriel, who claims he can tie John to the exhumation of Natalie’s remains.  This documentary, airing on the Oxygen Channel – which is now reestablishing itself as a law and order outlet -- is repetitive, detailed, and, frankly, boring.  I think we all want to know what happened and feel sorry for Dave, but this story, full of false leads and sketchy characters, could have been told in 2 hours instead of multiple episodes.  Natalie deserved better.  2 cans.

104.  The Sinner* (2017) – This multipart drama is one of those compelling stories that, once you start watching, you are hooked.  Jessica Beil plays Cora, a young wife and mother who one day seemingly snaps for no reason, viciously attacking and killing a man on a beach in broad daylight and with a plethora of witnesses.  She immediately admits her culpability and is ready to plead guilty.  But this is an 8-part series, so you know it can’t be wrapped up in episode one.  Bill Pullman plays a seasoned, dubious cop who wants to understand why Cora committed the crime, and he works on her behalf to investigate.  There is plenty of strange, even kinky stuff in his background as well as Cora’s, but it is tough to outguess the writers of this drama.  Beil is commanding in her role as Cora, a woman lost in her own past and unsure of what she did and why.  It only takes 8 episodes to understand the truth.  As this series continued, I liked it less and less, but I stuck with it.  I already knew whodunit, but I wanted to know why.  3½ cans. 

105.  American Experience – Walt Disney* (2017) – I realize this is the third consecutive non-theatrical program I am reviewing, but each is longer than a movie and as worthy of the attention as any film.  PBS takes a long and detailed look at the rise of ambitious Walt Disney, from his earliest days as a creator of cartoons to his establishment of the mighty Walt Disney empire.  What impressed me here was the inventiveness of this man.  If you have grown up with Disney – watching “The Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday nights, going to Disney movies yourself or with your kids, or taking family vacations at Disneyland or Disney World – you can take for granted the man’s incredible gift of creativity.  He was the first person to meld animation with music, to create long-form, animated movies like “Snow White,” “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia” – complete with famed conductor Leopold Stokowski leading the orchestra.  He and his brother Roy practically invented licensing of merchandise, which today often earns more than the movies themselves.  Disney was clever, and despite early business setbacks that threatened to put him out of business, once he and his team of talented artists created Mickey Mouse, they were on the road to iconic stature.  In part one we get through the early part of his career and through “Snow White.”  Part two is all about expansion, including the creation of his Disney parks, TV programs and non-animated movies.  I found it fascinating, even though I personally think we have “disneyfied” our world a bit too much.  4 cans.

106.  The Heart of the Game (2005) – Every now and then, I just have to watch this documentary about Bill Ressler, the girls’ basketball coach at Washington High School in Seattle.  Whether he is exhorting his charges to rip out the opponents’ hearts or look into their eyes, Ressler cajoles, supports and teaches these young woman life lessons that go far beyond the court.  Filmed over seven years by Ward Serrill, the film focuses particularly on the immensely talented Darnelia Russell, who comes into the gym ready to take on Ressler and the world, which is good, because she has to.  This movie has everything good and bad about sports, and to me, it is the equivalent of the landmark “Hoop Dreams.”  4½ cans.

107.  Welcome to Kutsher’s* (2012) – Hot town, summer in the city, and for years people who were crowded into the confines of NYC traveled 90 miles upstate to get some country air.  But Jews were frequently banned from the resorts and country clubs, so enterprising Jewish hoteliers established places like Kutsher’s, Grossingers and the Concord to cater to them.  And cater, they did, with an abundance of activities, food, entertainment and sports.  The hotel you saw in “Dirty Dancing” exemplified Kutsher’s Resort and Country Club, which stuck around for 100 years.  This documentary is a loving look at that era and this resort, which ended this century as it couldn’t compete with the casinos of Atlantic City and Las Vegas, the Poconos and cruise ships – which essentially built on the Borscht Belt model established by Kutsher’s and others.  My parents used to go to what we referred to as “the Jewish Alps,” once a year when I was a teenager and in my 20s, and my father had but one complaint:  Too much food.  Ah, those were the days.  3 cans and a heaping helping of chopped liver.

108.   The Edge of 17* (2016) – This stage of life is certainly not the edge of glory for awkward high school junior Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld).  Nadine lives with her widowed mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and her perfect brother Darian (Blake Jenner) as she muddles through her angst-ridden teenage years. She is smart and attractive but she doesn’t fit in.  She gets by thanks to her devoted childhood best friend, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) – until, that is, Krista starts dating Darian.  Feeling betrayed, angry and lost, Nadine begins sparring with teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson) – a relationship that thankfully does not go down the path I feared it might.  The sardonic Mr. Bruner has just the right amount of cynicism to deal effectively with Nadine.  She also strikes up a friendship with low-key classmate Erwin (Hayden Szeto), who clearly has a crush on the otherwise miserable teen.  This being a contemporary movie, there is a predictable social media gaffe that almost sends Nadine in the wrong direction.  Steinfeld has just the right approach to her character, who you can love/like one minute and can’t stand the next.  3½ cans.

OCTOBER

109.  Spielberg* (2017) – This HBO documentary chronicles the extraordinary career of film maker Steven Spielberg, but it is far from a mere listing of his movies.  Smitten with movies from an early age, Spielberg has used film as a writer uses prose, to express his innocence, his character, his fears and his virtues.  From a young TV director and his landmark TV film “Duel,” Spielberg has delivered some of the most popular, important and revered movies of all time.  You can admire the blockbusters like “ET,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and his first big hit, “Jaws,” or you can partake in more intellectual fare with his epics “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.”  The list is endless and rich in visual creativity, storytelling and innovation (see “Jurassic Park” for one of the first forays into live action blended with animation). Steven Spielberg lives to make movies, and the rest of us are better for it.  4 cans.

110.  Beaches (1988) -- I’m not sure I have any friends who have not seen this movie, designed to celebrate the emotional, warm, feisty friendship between singer CC Bloom (Better Midler) and rich girl Hillary Whitney (Barbara Hershey).  They meet on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City as kids and sustain a friendship for decades that endures strains and misunderstandings, bouts of selfishness and jealousy, but in the end, love wins.  Hershey has it tough here, standing in the shadow of larger-than-life Midler, but she handles herself with a kind of patrician pride.  We all know what’s coming, but we cry anyway.  This is a chick flick that I just need to see every few years (the TV version broadcast last year was forgettable) as a reminder of the power of movies and of friendship.  4 cans.

110.  The Art of the Steal (2009) – This documentary is one I like to view every few years.  It is about what happened to one of the best art collections in the world, mostly post-Impressionist art, accumulated by the late Dr. Albert Barnes, who built his own museum to display his collection outside of Philadelphia.  Scoffed at initially by the art establishment, Barnes vowed never to allow his vast collection to move, travel or become part of the Philadelphia Art Museum.  His death, with no direct heirs, greatly compromised his desires, and the film focuses on the fight over Barnes’ wishes and the greed of the art community who wished to annex his works.  I’m sorry that I never made it to his original museum, but I have seen his collection on display – in the very place he abhorred.  Let’s not forget for a minute that art is commerce, and that those who can profit from it will always try to find a way to do just that.  This is a fascinating movie that I have recommended to many people, all of whom loved it.  I caught it on STARZ this time around.  4½ cans.

111. Crazy, stupid, love (2011) – Ryan Gosling has never looked better than in this part as a cool player who schools separated Dad Cal (Steve Carell) about women in this clever comedy brought to you by the guys responsible for TV’s “This is Us.”  There are plenty of plot twists I cannot reveal, as Cal tries to recover from his wife’s (Julianne Moore) sudden decision to dump him for her co-worker David Lindenhof (Kevin Bacon).  There are precocious kids and Emma Stone.  If you have NEVER seen this movie, stop reading right NOW and go watch it.  It is one of my faves.  4½ cans.

112.  Battle of the Sexes* (2017) – It was Mother’s Day, 1973, and regal Margaret Court, the number one women’s tennis player in the world, took on aging tennis hustler Bobby Riggs, who was out to prove that women could never compete with men.  They called it “The Mother’s Day Massacre,” as Court dropped the match, in essence forcing Billie Jean King, women’s tennis pioneer and champion, to agree to play Riggs herself and defend all women athletes.  King never contended that women were better athletes or tennis players than men.  She just wanted equal pay and treatment from the tennis establishment, and she, with the help of other top players, set up their own tour.  Riggs was in this mix as a publicity stunt and for the money, and he and Billie Jean King squared off at the Houston Astrodome on September 20 of that year to great fanfare and big ratings.  But this movie, with Emma Stone admirably playing King and Steve Carell looking startlingly like Bobby Riggs, takes on more than just the match and the nascent women’s movement.  It is also the story of King’s first romance with another woman, her first realization that, while she loved her husband, she was actually gay.  A hairdresser who came into her life, Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough), helped her understand her true self.  As for the tennis, I won’t reveal who won the match for anyone who wasn’t alive at that time, but the movie gives a very real portrayal of this huge sporting event that helped women’s tennis grow and thrive.  BJK has always been one of my heroes, and this movie makes her heroic and human.  3½ cans.

113.  The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) – The coolest actors around in 1968 were Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and here they team in a white collar crime drama perpetrated by McQueen’s title character.  A wealthy banking executive, he pulls off a multimillion dollar heist – not that he needs the money – seemingly just for the sport of it.  Dunaway is the insurance investigator out to get him – in more ways than one.  If you thought the famous pottery scene in “Ghost” was sexy, check out the chess game as foreplay here.  McQueen was the chillest of actors, one who could dominate a scene with a mere glance or raised eyebrow.  Dunaway matches him nicely in this movie, which is much more about style than substance.  3½ cans.

114.  Jaws (1975) – Having watched the “Spielberg” documentary (see #109) this month, I thought it was a good time to revisit the first Spielberg blockbuster, “Jaws.”  This time around I felt a little less terrified, but every time the John Williams score amps up, I wanted to scream at the screen, “Get out of the water.”  Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw go shark hunting to capture the huge animal snacking on swimmers in Amityville, much to the dismay of the Mayor (Murray Hamilton), who wants to promote tourism, not terrorism, on the beach.  The trio goes after the great white like Hemingway’s hero in “The Old Man and the Sea,” testing their guile and will against a powerful creature.  I have to admit that this time around – after seeing the “Sharknado” series – I saw more campiness and humor than in my initial viewing, many years ago.  Still, with “Bruce,” the mechanical shark stalking the swimmers, and the taut direction of a very young Spielberg, this movie has to be considered a classic in its genre and the appropriate launch of a director’s long and storied career.  3½ cans.

115.  Victoria and Abdul* (2017) – Queen Victoria ruled the United Kingdom for more than 6 decades around the turn of the last century, and in this movie, she’s really had enough.  Her many servants get her up in the morning, get her dressed, drag her off to royal galas and dinners (where she occasionally falls asleep) and generally bore her to pieces.  Judi Dench plays the Queen (of course) as a woman who is physically frail and in a chronically bad mood.  Then along comes Abdul (Ali Fazal), an emissary sent from his native India, a British Colony, who is called upon to present a gift to the Queen.  He is to have no eye contact, and, together with another man drafted for this momentary mission, is to be in and out in no time.  But Abdul shows kindness and understanding to the Queen, who is almost instantly smitten.  She finds ways to keep him around, but her people think she has gone off the deep end when she proposes to grant him a knighthood.  Though from distinctly different backgrounds, the elderly royal and the lower class man from India develop a special rapport and friendship.  Based on a true story, this movie has plenty of charm and humor, but at its core are the antiquated ways of the royals and how tough it is to be a mere mortal among them.  You basically just have to tell me Judi Dench is in a movie and I’ll be heading right to the theater.  She rules!  3½ cans.

116.  Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House* (2017) – If you are old enough to remember the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, the name “Deep Throat” is one you will easily recall.  But Mark Felt’s name is not one many people know, because it took until 2005 for the 30-year FBI veteran to admit that he was the man who furtively met with reporter Bob Woodward in parking garages throughout the scandal, providing key bits of information and directing the Washington Post reporter along the path of discovery to the role played by the highest level of government in the scandal.  Here Felt, played by Liam Neeson (who is made up with slathers of too-white make-up), is portrayed as the government guy who believed so strongly in the independence of the FBI that he decided to betray it when he saw Richard Nixon’s White House chipping away at it.  Felt was the number 2 guy under FBI czar J. Edgar Hoover, a man with so much power that both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson were afraid to fire him.  Luckily for Nixon, he died, and Felt and company burned his personal papers before the White House could uncover them.  As the 1972 election neared and the Watergate break-in of Democratic headquarters took place (two weeks after Hoover’s death), the White House was all over the FBI, demanding a quick resolution of the case.  Felt understood the importance of having an independent “police” of the nation, and bristled at being passed over for the top job, which likely led to his feeding information to both the Post and Time Magazine.  This story is an intriguing one, as people speculated for decades about the identity of Deep Throat.  It is just when the movie strays into Felt’s personal life that it goes off course.  It also takes much of the suspense out of the story with its very slow pacing and the taciturn performance of Neeson.  3 cans.

117.  Julie & Julia (2009) – The incomparable Meryl Streep – looking incredibly tall – plays beloved chef Julia Child, and Amy Adams plays Child’s superfan Julie Powell – a young woman living in Queens with her husband – in this combination of their respective stories.  Julia Child’s story is of her years in France with her beloved husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) as she decides to attend the Cordon Bleu culinary institute and become a chef and, ultimately, a cookbook author.  When she begins to write the definitive book on French cooking for an American audience, she faces plenty of challenges.  Julie, on the other hand, challenges herself by vowing to go through Child’s entire book, making 571 recipes in 365 days, a daunting cooking task.  The stories are told in parallel fashion.  Child is completely charming, adoring her husband, enthusiastically adapting to life in Paris and transforming herself into a master chef.  How they ever got her to look that tall is an amazing movie feat.  Julie tackles her challenge with relish and feels a growing kinship with the woman she grows to love.  This movie made me hungry!  3½ cans and a hearty serving of beef bourguignon.  

118. The Florida Project* (2017) – If you live a stone’s throw from The Magic Kingdom in a run-down welfare motel called The Magic Castle, you cannot be farther away from the happiest place on earth.  Young Moonee (an incredibly gifted 6-year old actress named Brooklynn Prince) never goes to the Disney Park.  Instead she runs around with her ragtag friends, finding places to explore at other nearby strip motels, begging for enough money to share an ice cream cone, playing largely unsupervised and wreaking havoc with the other residents and the motel’s manager, Bobby (Willem Dafoe).  The kids get into all kinds of mischief, and while we might feel badly for them, they experience the joy of innocence.  Moonee has learned to be pretty self-sufficient since her mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) is busy trying to scrounge up money to pay her rent through shady deals and whatever schemes she can work.  Halley loves her daughter but is completely lacking parenting skills (and she’s fairly shaky on survival skills, for that matter, though she is superb at denying any responsibility for anything and arguing with the confidence that she is never wrong).  The depiction of poverty here, of desperation, reminded me somewhat of “Midnight Cowboy,” with its poignant look at what people have to do to survive when there is no hope, no future and no chance to get ahead.   Prince and Vinaite dominate the screen.  How the director and co-writer, Sean Baker, managed to get this performance out of a six-year old and a novice actress in Vinaite is truly remarkable.  It is hard to LIKE this movie, but easy to admire it for its honesty, its irony, and its acting.  4 cans.

NOVEMBER

119.  The China Syndrome (1979) – Despite the presence of major stars like Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas and Jack Lemmon, this movie about an accident at a nuclear power plant in California might have slipped by unnoticed, with so much of its screen time devoted to staring at gauges and talking about containment tanks.  But two weeks after it opened, the Three Mile Island plant in northeastern Pennsylvania experienced a similar situation that spread into a disaster.  Then people started paying attention to the risks associated with nuclear energy.  Even with fail-safe systems, these plants failed, and the movie makes a compelling drama of the problems while pointing fingers at corporate management for falsifying records and taking risks in the name of financial gain.  It still felt relevant to me today.  4 cans, and a top-notch performance by the great Jack Lemmon.

120.  The Shack* (2017) – I’m pretty good at figuring out whether or not I will like a movie in the first few minutes.  There is nothing wrong with this movie, but I should not have stuck with it because it just isn’t the kind of movie I like.  Mack (Sam Worthington) is a morose father, deeply depressed by a tragic loss in his family, when he gets a strange message that turns out to be from God (Octavia Spencer).  The movie drags on, trying to prove to Mack that he can go on, that Heaven is a place on earth, all while including as much cheesy spirituality as it can muster.  I can’t recommend it, but I can see how some people would find it affirming and uplifting.  I am not one of those people.  2 cans.

121.  The Doctor* (1991) – William Hurt plays highly competent but egotistical Dr. Jack McKee, a successful surgeon living the good life in San Francisco.  He works too hard but loves to “cut” people, and when he thinks about his patients, he often refers to them by their ailments instead of by their names.  In the OR, he rules, blasting his favorite tunes and leading a rollicking band of colleagues.  I guess when you are operating (literally) in life-and-death situations, where what you do and the decisions you make can either save lives or end them, it is appropriate to let off some steam.  The doctor changes his tune dramatically, however, when the persistent cough he has turns out to be something that requires him to be a patient and experience the hospital regulations and the attitude of his doctor in a whole new light.  Hurt is a consistent performer and his character here seems like others he has played.  His long-suffering wife is played by Christine Lahti, who is also a very dependable actress, who cannot understand why the long-married couple can no longer connect.  Not a great movie, but worth seeing for free on demand.  3 cans.

122.   Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold* (2017) – Now, THERE is an author.  Joan Didion is the chronicler of her generation through her magazine articles, books and movies.  Married to late author John Gregory Dunne, Didion formed half of what must be one of the most storied writing couple of our time.  Her social commentary, her articles on the counterculture of the 60s, on superstar entertainers such as The Doors and Janice Joplin, her political coverage here and internationally, were tempered by her intimate writing about coming to terms with her own grief following Dunne’s sudden death in “The Year of Magical Thinking.”  She was a private person but unafraid to share her own thoughts and experiences.  In this fond documentary by her nephew, actor/writer Griffin Dunne, she comes across as frank and frail but fierce, true to herself and not ashamed to point out her own failings.  And what a writer.  The film includes brief readings of some of her work, and it is stunningly composed, the way a musician might pen a work for an orchestra but more unflinching and spare.  This movie is available on Netflix and was enough to make me want to read more by Didion.  4 cans.

123.  Inherit the Wind* (1999) – The classic Spencer Tracy version of the movie about the Scopes Trial was updated in 1999, with Jack Lemmon playing the Clarence Darrow role (here called Henry Drummond) and George C. Scott assuming the part of Matthew Brady Harrison, the prosecutor on the case.  The story is simple – a young teacher is on trial in Tennessee for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution and not the Bible to explain creationism.  The main characters spar with considerable indignation, and Drummond is repeatedly put at a disadvantage by the prejudiced judge (John Cullem), who refuses to allow his expert scientific witnesses to testify.  Instead, the main event becomes the Bible itself, and how it is interpreted.  There are stellar performances by all in the cast, and though Tracy cannot be replaced, Lemmon is much more than acceptable as a substitute.  Preachy (as you would expect) but well played and played out.  4 cans.  The original would get 4½ here.

124.  Strange Weather* (2017) – There aren’t many actresses more feisty than Holly Hunter (I’d put Frances McDormand in that category).  Here Hunter is Darcy Baylor, a single woman who cannot get over the suicide of her adult son, Walker, seven years earlier.  She stumbles upon some information that reveals that the restaurant chain run by his friend, Mark Wright (Shane Jacobsen) was actually Walker’s idea.  She decides to head to New Orleans with her friend Byrd (Carrie Coon) to confront him) after first tracking down his other friends to learn more about the details of his death.  Even she is not sure what she will do when she meets up with Wright, but she needs some kind of closure to move on.  Hunter, as always, is strong in a role that shows her pain and despair.  3 cans.

125.  All the Way* (2017) – I’m old enough to remember the “All the Way with LBG” slogan for Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 presidential campaign.  Thrust into office following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Johnson (Bryan Cranston) was a long-time member of Congress and knew his way around politics.  Blustery, brusque and frank, LBG wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything.  The movie covers his fight to get the Civil Rights Amendment passed and to win the nomination in 1964.  Lots of compromises and back door deals had to be made with powerful members of Congress and with Reverend Martin Luther King himself.  At a time when we question the leadership of this country in Washington, I almost miss the likes of Johnson, who knew how to get things done.  Ultimately, he was responsible for the passage of the Voting Rights Act.  (Mind you, this was before the US became immersed in the Vietnam War, which persuaded Johnson not to seek reelection in 1968.)  The cast here is terrific, with Bradley Whitford as a simpering Hubert Humphrey, Frank Langella, Stephen Root as ruthless J. Edgar Hoover and Melissa Leo as Lady Bird.  But as LBG, Bryan Cranston outshines them all.  Crude, rude and tough as nails as LBG, he also manages to show the President’s frustration, impatience and vulnerability.  The sad part of this movie is that despite legislation guaranteeing Equal Rights, racism in this country remains firmly in place.  But without Johnson’s push on voting rights, conditions would not have changed at all. 4 cans.

126.  Wonder* (2017) – This is my third Jacob Tremblay movie and I can attest to the fact that this young actor is truly a wonder.  The 11-year old here stars as Augie Pullman, a bright, active boy with a penchant for “Star Wars” who just happens to have been born with a facial deformity that has required many surgeries to look acceptable to others.  Home-schooled by his mother (Julia Roberts), Augie is ready to enter middle school, a time when kids can be unrelentingly mean to each other.  Augie is such a smart, funny kid, that despite his outward appearance, some of his classmates accept him, particularly Jack Will (Noah Jupe).  But then those kids are ostracized.  Augie is surrounded by a loving family, with Dad Nate (Owen Wilson) and his patient and supportive older sister Via (Izabela Didovic).  Kids struggle to fit in at all ages, and even the lovely Via here, ditched by her former best friend, has to find her way.  Both young actors (Tremblay and Didovic) are engaging, vulnerable and, well, wonderful.  4 cans.

127.  And So It Goes* (2014) – Diane Keaton has made so many movies with similar titles (“Something’s Got to Give,” “Because I Said So”) and characters, that I feel it is my duty to provide you with a public service:  Don’t bother to see this one.  Here she is Leah, a widow who sings in a small local club and is about as melancholy as you can get on stage. But at home, where she is the neighbor of irascible realtor Oren (Michael Douglas, playing the part that I’m guessing Robert DeNiro turned down), she is sweet and loving.  When Oren’s heretofore unknown granddaughter is dumped on him by his about-to-be-incarcerated son, Leah steps in and serves as surrogate grandmother despite not having any child-rearing experience.  Young Sarah (Sterling Jerins) takes to her immediately, while Oren is determined to find the girl’s mother and return her.  Of course you know that romance is in the air between neighbors and of course you know that the young girl will win over her grumpy grandpa.  Sappy, predictable and annoying.  2 cans, but only because I love Diane Keaton.

128.  Murder on the Orient Express* (2017) – I’m a failure at who-done-it movies.  I follow every lead, convinced that this is the perpetrator, or, no, it must be him.  Or is it her?  This latest screen adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie tale is full of twists and turns, almost as many as the Orient Express itself takes.  Kenneth Branagh pulls double duty as the director and as ace detective Hercule Poirot, he of the scene-stealing mustache.  Lots of characters board the train, but one doesn’t make it out alive.  Luckily for me, it was Johnny Depp, an actor I could do without.  But who pulled off the crime? On board for the suspense are Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad, Willem DaFoe, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Leslie Odom Jr. and a host of other passengers with an axe to grind and a reason for revenge.  Branagh is a sharp and amusing detective whose Poirot misses no detail.  But will that help him solve the case?  Stay tuned.  And don’t book seats on this train if you are in a hurry.  3 cans.

129.  8 Days a Week* (2017) – This documentary is director Ron Howard’s salute to those loveable lads from Liverpool, the Beatles.  The PBS show highlights their brief but epic career, from their early days through the memorable debut on The Ed Sullivan Show to the concerts at Shea Stadium.  They were cute, cheeky, cheerful, and, oh, by the way, prolific and profound songwriters -- OK, maybe not on ditties like “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” but they had many more elegant compositions.  Eventually, the constant travel, the press’ hounding them with questions and the deafening roar of the fans persuaded them to stop touring and concentrate on recording in the studio, where they virtually created the concept album (remember “Sargent Pepper?”) and turned out their finest work.  For those of us who grew up with the Beatles, it was great to see them again, kidding around with each other and reporters, commenting on their hair and bringing fun and great music.  When they became more politically aware and outspoken, you can sense the joy dissipate.  But until then, and through the classic recordings, they enjoyed an ascendant career as a group that we will never see again (my review, my opinion).  Thanks, Ron Howard.  4 cans.

130.  Scott Peterson: An American Murder Mystery* (2017) – This case about a man who is tried and convicted of killing his young, pregnant wife, so dominated the headlines – first her disappearance, then finding her body, then the “other woman” and finally his murder trial that you think you can’t forget it even 15 years after his conviction. But you do forget all of the lurid details about the handsome husband, the bubbly, pretty wife, who disappeared on Christmas Eve while 8 months pregnant.  Peterson’s story, airing on the ID Network on TV, here is told by the policemen, investigators and lawyers who worked on the case and through actual news and trial footage.  Peterson cheated on his wife with a woman he lied to, telling her first that he wasn’t married and then telling her he had lost his wife – days before she suddenly disappeared.  I had forgotten the details and could have lived my life happily ever after without ever thinking about this case again, but there is something about seeing it that got me hooked.  He’s guilty in my book.  3 cans.

DECEMBER

131.  Newspaperman – The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee* (2017) – If you remember Watergate, you’ll recognize the name Ben Bradlee.  As executive editor of The Washington Post, Bradlee presided over the newsroom and the reporters (notably Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) who doggedly pursued the story later presented as the movie “All the President’s Men.”  Bradlee was a tough, no-nonsense guy who insisted on having the facts to tell the story.  A veteran reporter and foreign correspondent, he stayed at the Post for 29 years.  This HBO documentary recounts the stories of his career and his life, revealing some things I didn’t know (his 3 marriages) and some things I had forgotten (the Post scandal over the fraudulent reporting of Janet Cooke).  Well done.  4 cans.

132.  Final Vision* (2017) – Not to be confused with “Fatal Vision,” this movie is the story of Joe McGuiness, author of the aforementioned book on the Jeffrey McDonald case.  McDonald was a Green Beret, a doctor, whose young wife and children were murdered in their North Carolina apartment by what the Colonel insisted were hippie intruders.  McDonald was eventually charged with their murders and convicted of the crime.  Here, Scott Foley plays McGuiness, the author drafted by McDonald to tell his side of the story.  And in the beginning, McGuiness feels sure McDonald is innocent.  Given complete access to the doctor and all of his files, the author researchers the case thoroughly, and begins to have his doubts.  I guess you could say this was a story about a story.  The original book and TV movie (as was this film) with Gary Cole as McDonald, is far superior.  3 cans.

133.  Lady Bird* (2017) – If you thought this movie had anything to do with Lyndon Johnson’s wife, you would be wrong.  Christine (Saorise Ronan) has declared herself “Lady Bird,” calling it her given name since she gave it to herself.  A high school student in Sacramento, she sees things just a little differently from her domineering (and annoying but means well) mother (Laurie Metcalf) and father (Tracy Letts).  She needs to grow, to get out of her small environment and move to a larger stage.  This is surely a coming-of-age film, with the young woman going through all the usual teenage experiences with boys, sex, friends (notably her BFF, played with a real sparkle by Beanie Feldman), parents and college applications.  Though this path has been trodden before in many movies, Lady Bird brings a fresh approach and exemplary acting by all.  3½ cans, though I could be persuaded to go to 4.

134.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* (2017) – Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is angry.  Her daughter was raped and killed and no one in the police department in her small town seems to be doing anything to solve the crime.  Rather than adopt the vigilante route, Mildred decides to harass the local chief of police, William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) to force him to reopen the case.  She rents three billboards on a little used road to remind people of the crime and excoriate Willoughby.  Working on the case is the immature and volatile Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), who is part Momma’s boy and part gun-toting nut case.  As one character says, “Anger begets anger,” and Mildred’s anger, Willoughby’s inability to solve the case and Dixon’s penchant towards beating up anyone in his way leads to bloodshed and death.  People turn on each other, new alliances are formed, and the movie moves along unpredictably.  There is a violent crime drama here, yet there is a degree of humor that is unexpected.  McDormand gives another great performance, showing loss, anger, resolve, revenge and every now and then, a real heart.  I really liked this crazy story.  4 cans.

135.  The Only Living Boy in New York* (2017) – It is a challenge to explain this movie without giving away the plotline.  Thomas Webb (Callum Turner), looking a bit like a young Richard Gere (but a more nerdy version), lives in Brooklyn and is trying to make his way in the world.  The girl he adores is with someone else, his parents’ (Pierce Brosnan and Cynthia Nixon) marriage is on life support and he is afraid his mother will crack and his father is sneaking around with an attractive, seductive woman (Kate Beckinsale).  Jeff Bridges plays his whiskey-drinking, world-weary but wise new neighbor, who takes the young man under his wing and becomes his confidant and sounding board.  You have to see how this all ties together.  So much of this movie reminded me of my all-time favorite movie, “The Graduate,” with Simon and Garfunkel music, a scene shot in the rain, a bedroom scene that reminded me of Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, and even a scene when Thomas has to run down the streets of New York.  I found this one on Amazon, not in the movies, so if you have Prime, watch it.  4 cans.

136.  A Christmas Story Live* (2017) – Let’s face it, these live, televised productions of old favorites (“The Sound of Music,” “Grease,” Peter Pan,” etc.), while admirable in their zeal to capture a classic, always come up short.  In this case, I am thankful that I never shelled out money to see the Broadway production of one of my favorite Christmas movies, stuffed with forgettable music and translated to the stage.  This telecast delivered that stage musical, and while the most memorable moments were included (the leg lamp, Ralphie and his determination to get that Red Ryder rifle, the tongue frozen to a metal pipe, among many others), I found the musical numbers to be a distraction.  With a running time of 3 hours (including the commercials I skipped by wisely recording the program and watching it from the DVR commercial-free), it seemed interminable.  When I watch the 1983 movie version on Christmas Eve, which I always do, I will appreciate it even more.  The one thing I can say I enjoyed in this otherwise valiant but failed version was Jane Krakowski’s tap dance number with kids.  That had to be challenging to pull off on live TV.  Kudos to the cast and crew, but I thought this version was more dead than alive. 2 cans.

137.  Singing in the Rain (1952) – Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.  Need I say more?  Whether they are dancing or singing or acting, these three bring plenty of star power to the screen in this classic musical pastiche celebrating the end of the silent movie era and the start of “talkies.”  Kudos to Cyd Charisse for a dance number with Kelly that has nothing to do with the plot (but everything to do with Kelly’s power as a star and choreographer), and to Jean Hagen for her part as the actress with a voice that sounds like the brakes on a train.  The music is memorable and the dancing sublime.  Considering that Debbie Reynolds was 19 and had no real dance experience, the outcome of this movie is truly amazing.  Kelly brings athleticism and grace to the screen, and he is matched by O’Connor.  One of the best Hollywood musicals in the history of film.  4½ cans.

138.  Love Story (1970) – “What can you say about a 25-year-old girl who died?”  Since that is the opening line in the movie, it’s not like I can spoil it for any of you who somehow have missed seeing this classic tear-jerker (stop reading now if you haven’t seen it but plan to watch one day!).  Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) falls in love with fellow Harvard student Jenny Cavalieri.  He is from a rich family, she is from a poor family, she loves her father, he has nothing but contempt for his father, they graduate, get married, live a poor life as he goes to law school and she gives up her dream of going to Paris to study music.  When they try to have kids she suddenly comes down with a fatal bout of movie star disease and, well, if you read that first line…O’Neal and McGraw are gorgeous together, so attractive that you can’t take your eyes off them as they frolic in the snow and everywhere else, but neither of them can act.  You may find this movie beyond sappy, or you may cry every time you see it.  For me, having seen it as an emotional 20-year-old college student, it conjures up lots of memories, and I fall somewhere in between.  If I did spoil it for you, remember that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”  4 cans and a box of tissues. 

139.  The Zookeeper’s Wife* (2017) – As the Germans begin their takeover of Poland in 1939, Jews living in Warsaw are being rounded up by the Nazis.  The local zoo, run by Antonia and Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenberg), becomes a refuge for the escaped Jews, whom Jan helps bring to the basement of their home on the zoo grounds and where Antonia cares for them, along with her own son.  As reality closes in, it becomes impossible for the Jews to leave the country forcing Antonia to use her supposed friendship with a Nazi officer to buy them time.  Like any movie that I have ever seen about the Holocaust, I know I can only watch this story once.  Daniel Bruhl is excellent playing the unctuous Nazi whose mind is not always on der Fuhrer or animal husbandry.  Lots of tension, especially because we know this is based on a true story.  4 cans.

140.  A Christmas Story (1983) – The real deal.  I’ll take Ralphie nearly shooting his eye out by his Red Ryder Rifle any day in this original version over that disastrous live version listed above.  There are so many funny lines, crazy scenes and warm memories.  I know this is not everyone’s favorite, but I look forward to seeing it every year.  4 cans.

141.  All the Right Moves (1983) – Stef Djordjevic (an early Tom Cruise role) is a big-time football player in a small, Pennsylvania steel town, and he knows that his only ticket out of this place is to get a football scholarship.  But Stef and his coach (Craig T. Nelson) butt heads, with the Coach holding the cards on the kid’s future.  Cruise went on to play similar angry, earnest young men in several other films.  Lea Thompson is his high school girlfriend, who just wants to love Stef and study music.  Much of this movie reminded me of one of my favorite TV series, “Friday Night Lights,” since both this movie and TV show revolve around high school football, where teenagers become gods in their small towns, playing football, getting the cute girls, drinking and counting on football and football alone to secure their futures.  Even Stef’s number, 33, is the one worn by bad boy Tim Riggins in the TV show.  3 cans.

142.  I, Tonya* (2017) – And now for a completely different kind of Christmas movie, here is the dramatic version of the story of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), who made headlines when her estranged husband, Jeff Gilhooly (Sebastian Stan) masterminded a plot to take out Tonya’s skating rival, Nancy Kerrigan just before the 1992 Winter Olympics.  Mastermind is probably an overstatement, since Jeff counted on moronic “bodyguard” Shawn, who hired an equally inept henchman who bashed Kerrigan in the knee.  Harding is one of those people who cannot get a break.  Her foulmouthed mother Lavona (Allison Janney in a terrific performance) bullies and beats her, claiming that every cent she makes goes for Harding’s expenses (from age 4 on).  Tonya marries Gilhooly just to get out of the house, and he beats her, too.  Harding is clearly gifted on the ice, where she can do a jump no one else in the world can do, but she lacks the grace and style we demand of our skating icons (think Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill).  The movie is told “mocumentary-style” (not quite on the level of “Spinal Tap,” but of that ilk), with the actor “characters” today reflecting back on the events and Harding hard life.  As a fan of Olympic skating, I remember the whole Harding-Kerrigan rivalry and the attack on Kerrigan well.  She eventually healed from her injuries, but Harding lapsed into a life-long sentence of notoriety that she will never overcome.  I just want to know if Robbie really skated some of those routines.  Greatly entertaining film.  4 cans.

143.  The Holiday (2006) – Let’s start with the fact that Jude Law has NEVER looked better than he does in this charmer.  Amanda (Cameron Diaz) has thrown out her live-in boyfriend in LA, while a continent away, perpetually sad Iris (Kate Winslet) learns that her erstwhile boyfriend is engaged to someone else.  Amanda finds that Iris’ cozy cottage in Surry, England, is available for a house swap, and, before you can say, “Where’s my passport?” the two women are trying out living in a new place and hoping to find their own peace.  Amanda gets the best part of the swap when Iris’ older brother Graham (Jude Law) drops in, not knowing his sister is in LA.  Meanwhile, at Amanda’s sprawling Hollywood home, Iris is happy to swim in the pool, make friends with the elderly screenwriter next door (Eli Wallach) and meet Miles (Jack Black), a colleague of Amanda’s.  This movie is a Christmas rom-com at its best, with appealing characters, a plot good enough to keep me interested, and an inevitable ending that just made me smile.  4 cans.

144.  Love, Actually (2003) – Who ISN’T in this British movie?  There’s Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy…only missing British actors were Helen Mirren and Dame Judi Dench.  This is a conglomeration of overlapping love stories, with Neeson trying to recover from his wife’s death, Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister with a crush on a staff assistant, Rickman flirting with an affair…no point in trying to name them or all the plotlines.  Just see it and enjoy it and remember that love is all around.  4½ cans.

145.  The Darkest Hour* (2017) – Winston Churchill is making quite a comeback of late, appearing in this account of the German invasion threat to Britain in 1940 as well as “Dunkirk” from earlier in the year, and a triumphant first season on Netflix’s “The Crown” (thanks to a great performance by John Lithgow). Here Gary Oldham takes on the glowering Prime Minister, who, at the beginning of the movie is not the favored candidate for the job.  He becomes the PM because of his perceived ability to work in collaboration with the two parties in the British House of Lords, and, despite some genuine doubts about him (he naps during the day and drinks much more than he should), he fronts a formidable posture and determination that will not permit the Brits to negotiate with Germany or give up fighting even with the odds against them.  This movie moved a little slowly for me, but the warm touches throughout (at one point Churchill notes that all babies look like him, which I’ve always believed was true!) bring in some humor in an otherwise serious story.  Oldham’s make-up is remarkable and should earn some recognition in the upcoming awards season, as should the actor himself.  3 cans.

146.  Marjorie Morningstar (1958) – A favorite film from my teenage years, this melodrama stars Natalie Wood as Marjorie Morgenstern, a Jewish girl who aspires to be an actress.  At a summer resort, she meets much older Noel Airman (Gene Kelly), a charismatic performer who captures her under his spell.  Her parents don’t approve of him or of her falling in love with him, and Noel, while much older, is smitten with the beautiful young woman.  Marjorie comes from a wealthy family and is accustomed to getting what she wants, and she wants Noel, whose height of success seems to be stuck at South Wind, the summer camp where they met.  When his former assistant, Wally (Martin Milner) scores big on Broadway, Noel feels even more pressure to have a hit show.  Will he change his life, marry Marjorie, and will she become a successful actress?  This movie captivated me as a teenager and still held my interest, corny though it may be.  My only real complaint is that they play the theme song, “A Very Precious Love,” about every 10 minutes.  3 cans.

147.  Call Me By Your Name* (2017) – It’s summer, it’s Italy, and young Elio (Timothee Chalomet) gets to lounge around his family’s gorgeous estate, playing and studying music in a magical setting.  And then Oliver (Armie Hammer) turns up, a strapping, impossibly handsome American who is there to work with Elio’s father, an archaeology professor.  Everyone immediately loves the confident, easygoing Oliver, who is charming, wise and friendly.  And Elio, who is exploring the boundaries of his sexuality with a local girl, is drawn to the 20-something (who, to me, looked at least late 20s) in a way I’m not sure he expected.  As the intern to the father, Oliver initially resists the 17-year old’s advances, but he is interested.  There is a lot of cinematic foreplay before these two take the plunge – and I don’t mean in a nearby pond.  Oliver is old enough to deal with the budding relationship, while Elio’s feelings are stronger and less realistic.  The sensuality of their relationship and the lushness of the settings give the story a languorous sense that makes you feel a little voyeuristic.  The two men seem much less desperate about their nascent affair than the lovers did in “Brokeback Mountain,” but this film is more of a coming of age story.  Beautifully shot and sensitively presented.  3½ cans.

148.  The Crown* (2017) – No, it is not a movie, but this 10-episode second season of the Netflix series remains worthy of inclusion and recommendation.  Last year we watched as the young Elizabeth ascended to the throne and had to learn about being the sovereign with some on-the-job training by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and others.  This year she has her sea legs and can stand on her own, dealing with political crises, a succession of Prime Ministers, the wandering eye of her husband, Phillip, the occasional embarrassments of her sister Margaret, and the birth and development of her children.  There was much here that I did not know, especially about Prince Phillip, and it is handled deftly.  While The Crown is not quite up to the standards of the late, great Downton Abbey, it is smart, lavish and wonderful to watch.  Thanks, Netflix, for my new British obsession. 4 cans.

149.  Spencer’s Mountain (1962) – Henry Fonda stars in this warm family drama written by Earl Hamner, the creator of the Waltons.  He heads a large family, living modestly (at best) but full of love and fun.  James MacArthur plays his son, Clayboy (and similarities with the TV version John Boy are purely intentional), who does not want to stay on the mountain only to end up working at the local quarry with his father and passel of uncles.  He qualifies to go to college, but will there be money to send him (this point qualifies as suspense in this movie).  Honestly, I wouldn’t have watched this movie but I got it mixed up with “Shenandoah,” with James Stewart, and should have watched that one.  Oh, well.  3 cans.

150.  New Year’s Eve* (2011) – Taking the formula of the much superior “Love Actually,” this film boasts a bunch of familiar faces in small roles as everyone in the film is counting down to New Year’s Eve in New York.  There are overlapping stories and characters in multiple vignettes, including a rock star and a chef (Jon Bob Jovi and Kathryn Heigel), a nurse and an elderly patient (Holly Berry and Robert DeNiro), a man looking for his dream girl (Josh Duhmel), a TV producer hoping the ball will work (Hillary Swank), a young man helping an older woman live out some dreams (Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer)…too many others to mention.  This was a pleasant diversion on a snowy day and appropriate for the day before NYE.  3 cans.

151.  Stronger* (2017) – Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is just an average guy from Boston who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Going to see his on-again, off-again girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany) run in the 2013 Boston Marathon, he is near the finish line when a bomb explodes, severely injuring his legs. Bauman is the epitome of the stereotype we associate with guys from Boston – a guy who loves his Red Sox, drinking with his boys and hanging with his family.  When his legs are amputated because of the injuries, he must go through the grueling process of rehab, and he needs all of the help and support he can get.  Because he was close enough to the bomber to describe him to authorities, Bauman becomes a reluctant hero, but he suffers from flashbacks and would just as soon be left alone.  The movie does an excellent job of showing the everyday challenges he must endure doing the activities of daily living that we all take for granted.  I’m not sure how they shot this movie to make it appear that Gyllenhaal had no legs below his knee, but that effect was very convincing, as was Gyllenhaal as the angry, bitter victim.  3 cans.

152.  Goodbye, Columbus (1969) – Before she played a Harvard student from a poor family, Ali McGraw played Brenda, a Radcliffe girl from a rich family who has a fling with Neil (Richard Benjamin), a nice enough Jewish boy but not the kind you take home to your Patimkin parents.  He’s from the Bronx, she’s from Westchester, the daughter of a hard-working father (Jack Klugman, who is terrific) who earned his way into the upper class and delights in spoiling his children.  This movie is much more than a “love story;” it is an indictment of the values of the nouveau rich, the way they judge and treat others they perceive as not in their class.  She is infatuated, is gorgeous and adventurous, which Neil finds attractive even though he knows her family frowns on his job as a librarian and his lack of ambition.  Neil is equally judgmental, taking measure of everything they do or say, but he is too smitten to give her up.  There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, with the best being the wedding of Brenda’s meathead (but nice) brother.  If you’ve never seen a horde of people storm a buffet table and scoop the head off a rooster made of the chopped liver, you will here.  I hadn’t seen this movie in years and I had forgotten the specifics of the social commentary, which is accurately depicted.  4 cans and a big scoop of chopped liver. 

And goodbye, 2017!