See it at the Movies

with Joyce & Don Fowler
Posted 11/13/15

THE PEANUTS MOVIE

* * * *

(Schulz tradition

lives on)

In our minds, Charles Schulz created the greatest group of cartoon characters ever. The good news is that his son and …

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See it at the Movies

Posted

THE PEANUTS MOVIE

* * * *

(Schulz tradition

lives on)

In our minds, Charles Schulz created the greatest group of cartoon characters ever. The good news is that his son and grandson have carried on the tradition, staying true to the humor, animation and positive messages of their late father and grandfather.

Good ole Charlie Brown shares the spotlight with his dog Snoopy in this wonderful hour and a half cartoon feature that leaves messages about doing good, trying your best and never giving up, while never preaching or talking down to its audience.

We saw it in 3D, but it can be equally enjoyed in 2D, with its bright colors and familiar characters.

Poor Charlie Brown is infatuated with the Little Red Haired Girl who moves into the neighborhood and his classroom. He tries hard to impress her, but always falls short.

Many of the short scenes are familiar, but they still work. While aimed at the kids, the adults will enjoy some of Schulz’s great humor, like Charlie Brown crying, “I just came down with a serious case of inadequacy!”

While Charlie is trying to impress the little red headed girl, Snoopy is typing his novel about saving Fifi from the Red Baron.

Scenes move quickly, so the little ones don’t have a chance to get bored. There’s a talent show, a school dance and a great vignette about Charlie Brown reading “War and Peace,” which he thinks is Warren Piece,” for his book report.

Stay for the credits, because you just know that Lucy is going to pull out the old football trick.

Rated G for Great!

(There’s another classic Scrat cartoon to open the fun, with the prehistoric squirrel chasing the inevitable acorn through space.)

SPECTRE

* * * * ½ 

(Bond at his best)

Beginning with “Dr. No,” we’ve never seen a James Bond movie we didn’t like. We loved “Spectre.”

It has all of the elements of the formula spy movie: romance, intrigue, plot twists, adventure, bad guys, good guys, beautiful and smart women and a hero who always comes through in the tough spots. Daniel Craig is James Bond. He is handsome, daring, dashing, brave, suave and relentless.

The two and a half-hour movie doesn’t seem that long because it never slows down, leading you from one location and one adventure to the next. The real heroes of the movie are the folks who find the incredible locations, whether they be in Mexico City, Rome, Austria, Tangier or jolly old London, where the Double 0 spy program is declared obsolete and Bond is cast out to save the world on his own.

The movie opens according to tradition with a fantastic adventure, this time in Mexico City and involving a bomb, a helicopter, a Day of the Dead parade, villains, beautiful women and 007 to the rescue. Then we have the credits, surrounded by colorful graphics with a Sam Smith song in the background.

We are introduced to Moneypenny (Naomi Harris), M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Winshaw) and the new members of the CNS who are replacing the old crew.

They place a tracking device in Bond and follow him as he tracks down his old nemesis (Christoph Waltz), with the daughter of another enemy trailing along (Lea Seydoux).

It all leads up to chases through many countries, all leading to a grand finale, with Bond racing against the clock to save London and the world.

Jolly good adventure with lots of Bond-isms and gadgets, plus many references to former Bond characters and scenes that true Bond fans will catch.

Rated PG-13, with violence, some profanity and sexual innuendos.

ROOM

* * * * 

(Tense, emotional story)

“Room” is a tense, emotional story that will grab you from the opening scenes and hold you tightly until the final credits.

Brie Larson stars as an abducted young woman who has been locked in a backyard shed for seven years, impregnated by her captor and left to raise her son to the age of five.

Jacob Tremblay plays Jack, a boy who has never seen the world beyond the four walls, watching the “plastic” people on a small TV and being “home schooled” by his devoted mother.

This is a heartrending story of love and survival, as mother spends 24/7 in the small confines of the room, visited by her abductor/rapist, while fighting to keep her sanity and plotting her escape.

The scenes between mother and son are so tender and realistic that a handkerchief may be in demand. Young Tremblay shows all the emotions of a young boy raised under extraordinary circumstances who one day will have his world changed drastically. The change comes about through a tension-packed scene, where his mother plans an elaborate escape.

While the first half of this hour and 20-minute movie centers around mother and son, the second half deals with the problems both have in adjusting to a whole new world, with sky and trees and other people.

The author sticks to the psychological challenges both face as Jack is afraid of the multitude of strange situations that exist in the “real world,” while his mother must learn to share the love of her life and deal with the many probing adults who want to get inside her head.

Jack and his mother must learn to face reality, and that is not always easy, as they move in with her mother and face the world that Jack always thought was pretend on TV.

There’s a beautiful ending to this passionate story of love and compassion.

It’s at the Avon. Don’t miss it.

Rated R, with some mild profanity. We would recommend it for mature teens.

TRUTH

* * * *

(Based on “60 Minutes” Bush story)

Robert Redford is very good at portraying CBS newsman Dan Rather in this scathing look at politics and TV news reporting, but it is Cate Blanchett who steals the film as “60 Minutes” producer Mary Mapes, who gets herself and Rather in a heap of trouble.

Mapes has inside information on President George W. Bush’s role in the National Guard during the Vietnam war, a supposed cover-up that could hurt his chances for reelection.

The movie is based on Mapes’ book on the subject and so is slightly tilted in her favor, making the execs at “60 Minutes” look ruthless. The story takes us behind the scenes of how a news story is put together, questioning motives and methods, and leaving us open to who is telling the truth…whatever that truth may be. It gets a bit technical at times, as staff pour through documents, check their facts and sources, and decide when and how to break the story. If you find investigative journalism fascinating, as we do, you’ll enjoy this movie.

Rated R for profanity.

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