All posts by Kenna

About Kenna

Kenna McHugh is an established freelance writer living in California. Her writing credits include the published book, BREAKING INTO FILM, Film Production book for inner-city kids, three screenplays, seven produced plays and hundreds of how-to videos on the Internet. "I love the challenge of writing because the end does satisfy the means. The writer is a valuable being. If the words aren't there the message isn't received. It is as simple as that. Give me a circumstance, a theme and away I go at my keyboard."

Hathaway Film “Song One”

drama, family, indie, movies, , , , , , ,
SongOne

Here’s an Anne Hathaway film you haven’t seen. The story begins with Henry (Ben Rosenfield), a street singer in New York City, getting disastrously hit by a car. Franny (Oscar-winning Hathaway), Henry’s sister, is in Morocco working on her anthropology project. She receives the news and immediately returns home.  Her brother is now in a coma, with their mother (Mary Steenburgen) coping as best she can.  

As a family, I sense they were once very close, but Henry left college to pursue a singing career. Franny disapproved and wedged the family apart. Being the responsible one, while her mother and brother are more informal and unconventional artists, Franny struggles with the life her brother follows, wants to understand his choice, wake him up from his coma and apologize.

Franny discovers Henry’s journal that depicts his life as a street singer.  She hopes to find meaning in his world and draw him out of his coma. She learns about his favorite haunts and notes his idol, James Forester (Johnny Flynn), a street singing celebrity.

Franny follows her brother’s footsteps as documented in his journal entries. Franny meets James, and they become friends and romantically involved. Together, they help each other solve their problems through companionship. Franny is trying to draw Henry out of his coma with the familiarity of sounds and smells in hopes of rekindling their relationship.  James hasn’t written a new song in over five years, and his tour is coming to an end. He needs new material for his recording session scheduled in Germany.

Written and directed by Kate Barker-Froyland (her feature debut), Song One strolls along on endearing moments and poignant music, but I kept waiting for the inevitable in the Franny and James relationship; it never happened. Sure. The acting is brilliant, but the story’s overall meaning never comes full circle for Franny and James, mother and daughter, or brother and sister. Barker-Froyland leaves us void at the end, wondering what the point of the story was.  Sure.  I sense that both Franny and James’ problems were solved, yet they had started a relationship with no end. Song One may seem like a romantic story, but it is more about cultural or lifestyle differences, not an excuse to divide relationships.

Seeing both ends of being a street singer, James success and Henry’s struggle to find his voice, the movie explores the life of New York City street performers. With great music and talent, an eerie presence under my skin, I feel compelled, like Franny, to understand the culture so new to me.

“Matlock” Greatest Cases

classic, legend, mystery, police drama, television,
matlock

I have always appreciated Andy Griffith’s wholesome choices in shows like The Andy Griffith Show. I am not an ardent fan of Matlock, though his last series was attention-grabbing and a DVD worth its weight in gold. Matlock Greatest Cases rests on my library shelf.

CBS promotes Greatest Cases as the best of Matlock. I am inclined to agree. The Marriage Counselor is a pleasant episode with funny tongue-in-cheek escapades. Viewing all the episodes made me interested in more Matlock cases, and I am sure they will be released on DVDs.

I digress that before Andy Griffith headed over to television, he riveted audiences with his performance as Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes in A Face in the Crowd, also starring Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick and Walter Matthau.

If you are unfamiliar with the TV Show, Andy Griffith stars as the well-known criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock. He takes on some of the most challenging cases with great rivals.

The roster of guest stars alone will encourage you to view the DVD. The cast includes Don Knotts, Dick Van Dyke, Bryan Cranston and Scott Bakula. I could joke around and say it would be a felony to miss these shows, but I was entertained watching shady siblings, an eccentric millionaire and a killer comic, to name a few.

All in all, I’ve listed the episodes for your perusal. Let me know if you recognize any of them, and enjoy the DVD.

Episodes:

  • The Judge
  • The Sisters
  • The Power Brokers: Part 1
  • The Power Brokers: Part 2
  • The Lemon
  • The Talk Show
  • The Brothers
  • The Marriage Counselor
  • The Big Payoff
  • The Debt
  • The Last Laugh
  • The Dare

Lifetime Movie “Whitney”

drama, true story, , ,
whitneydvd

Whitney Houston will always be one of the greatest singers of her generation and beyond. Her untimely death shocked the world, but didn’t surprise the few who knew her so well. In the made-for-television movie Whitney, directed by Angela Bassett and released by Lifetime, we are shown, as spectators, the rise and fall of a beloved celebrity.

Basset’s take on the movie is told in a heroic way, and it deserves to be seen by those who entered the fandom for Whitney’s voice and acting talent and who felt deep sorrow over her demise. Watching the movie, I was drawn into the story by Anastas Michos’s cinematic talent, with his long, silent shots that kept the drama raw in an artsy way. The movie felt incredibly real and often ugly,

Basset remains objective throughout the movie, and I wondered whether the Houston family sanctioned it. The director didn’t slam the legend, but let the story unfold, so I could see what happened to Whitney.

Yet, I still felt empty at the end with unanswered questions. What destroyed her life? What were the factors involved? Was it her husband’s immoral lifestyle that influenced her?

Any fan of this multi-talented star will enjoy this movie despite the lack of real details.

There are a couple of issues to consider when viewing this movie. It appears the scenes are reenactments, yet there is no backstory and no foreshadowing. As a result, the movie lacks character development that indicates how Whitney became the celebrity who accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  We are not given a hint as to why and how she started taking drugs. I would have liked to have seen Basset take this into consideration because the story would have been more interesting. Of course, it is hard to get into an individual’s soul, but I am sure Whitney’s close friends and family could have provided key information.

Yaya DaCosta as Whitney is brilliant, and she has mastered Whitney’s mannerisms. Her singing is flawless and believable, with Deborah Cox’s vocals performed well. Arlen Escarpeta, who plays Whitney’s ex-husband Bobby, nails the part as a celebrity.

Viewers might quickly blame Bobby for Whitney’s demise, and rightly so. He was the man in her life who should have protected her from the evils of stardom. Most of us wish he had protected her, or wish she had found refuge elsewhere in the arms of a religion or a true friend who knew how to help her.

“Beyond the Reach” Storyline

action, drama, , , , ,
beyondthereach

Beyond the Reach is a remake of the TV movie Savages (1974), starring Any Griffith and Sam Bottoms. Both films follow the same storyline based on the book Deathwatch by Robb White.

Directed by French filmmaker Jean-Baptiste Leonerri, Michael Douglas plays a wealthy, cocky businessman, Madec. Early one morning, he drives into a small town in the Mojave Desert. He makes quite an impression with his Mercedes G63 AMG 6×6, asking the sheriff for an expert hunting guide. The sheriff refers him a young, though experienced guide named Ben played by Jeremy Irvine. Ben is poor, and his long-term girlfriend just left him to go to an out-of-state college. Ben takes the job, but he is suspicious of Madec and his “big-money” talk. The two men end up in the middle of the Mojave Desert, and Madec fatally shoots another man by accident. The incident tests the limits of the two men.

The movie is about survival, with Douglas playing a very dark character in a cat-and-mouse game across a barren and brutal desert. If you are a Michael Douglas fan, you know he plays dark, evil characters very well.

The special features include an audio commentary with Michael Douglas, director Jean-Baptiste Leonetti, and producer Robert Mitas, and a featurette called “Six Wheeling: Inside and Outside the Ultimate Ride” featuring the Mercedes from the movie.

“Little House on the Prairie” Season Five

children, drama, episodic, family, television, , , , ,
littlehouse5

Promoting family values on television is lacking today. That’s one reason I gave up television 13 years ago. Shows like Game of Thrones or Supernatural mark the television screen with gratuitous violence and sex.

However, I must confess I returned to television last year because one of my favorite books is now an episodic cable show. It is the only show I watch on television. It’s on Starz and has violence and sex. However, the TV version promotes honor, keeping one’s promise and staying devoted to one’s loved one. It is the only show I watch, and I justify watching it because I read all the books first and love the story.

I am trying not to write about violence, sex and Outlander. I am trying to tell you about a tremendous new Blu-Ray/DVD on the market.

Without further fuss, let’s look at Little House on the Prairie. They also based the series on a book, and it is one of those shows in the late 1970s where you knew violence or sex didn’t play a role in the storyline. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t much violence or sex on television in those days at all — it was unheard of. There were lessons learned, and the characters were polite and caring. Families could watch television together. Now, NBC is releasing Little House on the Prairie on Blu-ray and DVD as remastered and restored to broadcast length.

Season 5 is the trendy season, with the storyline moving the whole family away from Walnut Grove to be closer to Mary’s school for the blind in Winoka. Mary and Adam even get engaged and married.

However, there is a drawback to a lengthy television series that lasts five years and longer. They become cookie-cutter or listless, lacking stories to fill an entire season. More medium shots are filmed than master shots to cut down on production and get the crew home for dinner. I heard two cinematographers discuss cutting production time down on a long-running TV show by not moving the camera. He pushed the other actor into the former actor’s place in front of the camera, rather than moving the camera and keeping the background obscured. He said it supported the actor’s happiness. I think you see a bit of “cheating” in the final seasons of Little House on the Prairie. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great show, and the fact that it lasted almost a decade and remains popular today, over 40 years later, speaks volumes about the production’s quality.

I have broken down Season 5 episodes for your enjoyment. The summaries show the wholesomeness and family values portrayed on the award-winning show.

As Long As We’re Together (2 Parts) – Poor economic conditions cause the Ingalls to move closer to Mary, who is now teaching at the Blind school in Winoka. Charles befriends Albert, an orphan whom Laura catches stealing from the hotel they manage. Fabulous, the producers could include a moral message.

The Winoka Warriors – A blind student feels useless and is reluctant to participate in school. He gains self-confidence when he joins the football team and becomes the quarterback. This episode is contemporary because I doubt this happened during our frontier history.

The Man Inside – Amelia, Laura’s new friend, feels ashamed of her overweight father. He works at the blind school, where the students are very fond of him. Laura learns an important lesson when she ridicules him in front of the other children in her class.

There’s No Place Like Home (2 Parts) – The Ingalls, along with Albert, the Garveys, and the Olesons, tire of the bustling city and return to Walnut Grove. They discover that someone has severely neglected the town after they left it. Together, they begin work immediately to organize the city back to its former glory.

Fagin – Albert runs away after overhearing Charles and Caroline discussing how Laura feels ignored and left out because Charles spends so much time with him.

Harriet’s Happenings – Harriet Oleson tries her hand at journalism when her cousin visits Walnut Grove. Her cousin starts a newspaper with Harriet’s column “Harriet’s Happenings” in it. Charles steps in when she writes unpleasant things about his family.

The Wedding – Adam finally asks Mary to marry him. She has second thoughts when her parents remind her of her childhood.

Men Will Be Boys – Albert and Andrew are tired of being treated like kids. They want to be treated like “men.” Charles and Jonathan decide to teach them a lesson and permit themselves to go through the woods to Sleepy Eye. They figure it’ll take the boys a few hours to give up. The fathers follow them all the way. The boys end up having an uneventful trip. Charles and Jonathan are the ones who have an eventful journey. Wonder what happened?

The Cheaters – Mrs. Garvey, embarrassed by her son’s poor school grades, hires Nellie to tutor him. Nellie reveals her secret for getting good grades. She forces Andy to keep her secret.

Blind Journey (2 Parts) – The blind school in Winoka is forced to close down. The citizens of Walnut Grove donated an old building so the school could transfer to Walnut Grove. Harriet Oleson decides she needs to be present to bring the children to Walnut Grove with Charles. The two of them together make for an exciting trip!

The Godsister – No one is available to play with her. Carrie makes up a friend of Alissa. It is a cute story that the whole family can watch.

The Craftsman – Albert works as an apprentice for an old Jewish man. All the children call him “Jew-Lover.” He embarrassed even Laura. He soon develops a sense of pride in his work, and the two become best friends. Another good message makes the show popular with a storyline about prejudice.

Blind Man’s Bluff – After he is involved in an accident, Jordan, Laura and Albert’s friend, pretends to be blind to keep his parents together. I am unsure who pretends to be blind, but it is a fun show.

Dance With Me – Laura and Albert become matchmakers just in time for the upcoming dance.

The Sound Of Children – Mary finds out she is pregnant and writes to her father-in-law. She thinks he and Adam are becoming closer. But she loses the child and finds that her father-in-law is just interested in the baby.

The Lake Kezia Monster – Kezia refuses to pay her taxes. Mrs. Oleson buys her land, and Kezia, who has nowhere to go, gets roped into being Oleson’s maid. Laura, Albert, and Andy are mad that Mrs. Oleson bought the place. So they make up a monster tale to scare Mrs. Oleson and her rotten children off the site. Sounds like a fun ending.

Barn Burner – The price of wheat drops, and the farmers agree not to compete against one another by charging the same fee. One of them breaks the bargain, and Andy gets hurt. Mr. Garvey takes action.

The Enchanted Cottage – The Ingalls hope Mary is regaining sight when she believes she can distinguish light from dark. Sounds like a tearjerker.

Someone, Please Love Me – Charles is asked to prevent a divorce from the children of a troubled couple.

Mortal Mission – Sick mutton gets around Walnut Grove, and everybody seems to turn for the worse. Jonathan and Charles are sent to get some medicine in Sleepy Eye but are robbed on the way back.

The Odyssey – Dylon is dying of leukemia and wants, more than anything, to see the ocean. Albert and Laura decide to run away and help him achieve his goal. A heartfelt story means learning the value of friends.

Did you recognize any episodes you’ve seen before? The DVD set also comes with Special Features: An interview with Dabbs Greer (Reverend Alden), an Interview with Allison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson), and an interactive quiz for Season 5.

As I said, Little House on the Prairie brings families together—something we miss so much on television today. The entire family could see the whole series. Whether you buy it or rent it, make sure you are watching it with your closest friends and family.

“Miss Julie” Storyline and Trailer

drama,
MissJulie

Miss Julie is not a movie to get excited about because of the slow pacing, which turned me off. At times, the stellar acting kept me interested. If you are not familiar with the play’s setting, you will most likely have a hard time liking or even understanding the movie.

Both Jessica Chastain (from my hometown) and Colin Farrell kept me watching the movie despite the stark production. The undertones between the characters came off very strongly. I was curious about each character’s next move or motive. The cinematography created a visual masterpiece with darkness in light.

Directed by the legendary actress Liv Ullmann, the story takes place in Northern Ireland in 1890. Miss Julie, a daughter of a Baron, lives a very privileged life. She was raised to be independent, like a man of this era. The movie doesn’t make it clear why she behaves this way, but I hear the stage play makes it clear what drives her to be so independent. In the movie, she is still a strong woman who feels she can flirt with men the way men would usually flirt with her.

The movie begins with a flashback scene of her as a child, which I totally enjoyed. Here we see her reading one of her books as the story implies loneliness and neglect in an empty house. The story flashes forward to mid-summer’s night in 1890.

There are only three characters in the movie. Miss Julie (Chastain) is an adult. John (Farrell) is the Baron’s Valet, and Kathleen (Samantha Morton) is John’s fiancée and the cook.

Like the stage play, the dialogue moves the story. John and Kathleen are having a conversation in the kitchen. John grumbles about his duties and Miss Julie’s behavior. He explains to Kathleen how she stooped below her station, dancing with the gamekeeper and even ordering him to dance. John takes on the air of Miss Julie and orders Kathleen to clean and fetch. As he talks to Kathleen, he longs for faraway places like Paris. He is well-traveled for a servant and has taken care to get educated. Miss Julie enters the kitchen, and the dialogue shifts to include her presence as the mistress of the house and a potential romantic or sexual interest. She becomes more assertive and takes charge of what happens between her and John.

Now the story is arranged for what the battle is really about. Who will maintain the upper hand as it sways back and forth? The power change in the story is a bit confusing if the viewer overlooks the nuances and fundamental symbolism the stage play offers.

All in all, Miss Julie is an intellectual story that needs a bit of spice in its pacing to keep me interested.

“Liars Fires and Bears” Storyline and Trailer

drama, indie,
liars fires bears

If you are into movies like I am, you know that original movies are hard to come by. The cookie-cutter process film studios stick to a ridiculous degree. I understand why they keep to the same formula because it makes money. If the original Die Hard had not been a multi-million dollar hit, another film genre would have been overproduced today. Enough said, because on rare occasions, we come across an original film, thanks to film festivals, that is genuinely original. I am talking about Liars Fires and Bears.

Brinkvision sent me this gem about a month ago. Due to a shifty move by a former website hosting company, I am finally able to tell you about this movie.  Liars Fires and Bears is a story worth watching.

liars jeremy_cloe

University of Nevada graduate and AFI alumnus Jeremy Cloe directed the unpretentious indie, which is his first feature film. He tells a simple story of two people alike in their own ways, but with hard luck. The actors create characters that are imperfect yet real in a refreshingly authentic way.

The story grabbed my attention right away. It held me throughout the movie with stellar acting, talented cinematography by Brett Austin Walters and Cloe’s directing and editing.

Eve and Dave meet up and go on a journey together that is not only thought-provoking but curiously pleasing. Megli Micek plays Eve brilliantly and dominates the screen while Lundon Boyd, who also co-wrote the script, plays Dave and clearly has met his match.

Cloe draws us into their story. We understand them and become part of their unfortunate and desperate situations. Emotions run high because Eve is a young girl and a constant mystery of how she can truly survive so far down on her luck. I have to repeat it. The movie is refreshing and a solid reason to attend and support film festivals.

 

Lesser-Known Movies with Well-known Stars

action, adventure, children, drama, , , ,

Son_Of_A_Gun

Son of a Gun from Down Under

Son of a Gun is not a great gangster movie, and I lost my interest about half way through the movie. I turned off the movie when JR, played by Brenton Thwaites, who reminds me of a young Colin Farrell, goes swimming with the gangster’s girlfriend.  The story was too predictable. Don’t get me wrong. The acting was stellar.

The story is about JR meeting crime boss Brendan (Ewan McGregor) while serving a short stint in prison. Brendan protects JR from gang rapes in prison with the understanding he now owes Brendan his life. JR gets out of prison. He breaks Brendan and two other cohorts out of prison. They embark on a heist with a Brendan’s girl (Alicia Vikander) who I mentioned earlier.

What happens next?  The story can be easily guessed , and I wasn’t interested in finding out if I was right.

captive

The Captive

I think Ryan Reynolds made this movie in Canada while his wife Blake Lively was starring in a much better movie being filmed in Canada.  I guess, it was something for him to do, so he could hang with his wife in Canada.

The Captive has a good message, but many plot points are missing, and I suspect that the movie just didn’t have the budget to develop a strong storyline.  The result is several puzzle pieces missing on a rather easy puzzle to put together.  That is aggravating as a viewer.

Using flashbacks and forwards and more flashbacks makes matters worse because the back stories of key characters are the puzzle pieces missing.  If they had added those, I think the movie would have come off like nice little movie with a strong message.

The acting was believable, but like I said, I wanted to know more about the characters’ back story.

laggies

Laggies

Keira Knightley and Chloe Grace Moretz are actresses that I enjoying watching on film because they are believable and have honest performances.  Sam Rockwell, who also stars in this movie, is just as believable. Having all three of them in this simple, splice of life, indie movie is pure joy.

I wouldn’t call this movie a gem, but I would say it’s worth the time to view.  The story is about a woman, Knightley, who follows a different beat from her lifelong friends.  She has a college education, supporting parents, a committed boyfriend, and yet she feels she is missing something from her life.

She meets Moretz’s character, a High School student, with a divorced dad (Rockwell) and an absentee mother.  All four characters discover something about themselves in a rather awkward and thought provoking way.

Vice

Vice

Bruce Willis is a legend. Yet, he picks movies that are poorly produced.  Vice is one of those movies. Tons of wasted material with a lost plot delivered at a snail’s pace.  Bruce Willis is great in the movie, and likely he shot his role in a couple of days.

The movie looks like a video game gone wrong, nothing substantial backs up the storyline.  There are more holes in each scene that I couldn’t watch it, so I had to turn the movie off.

The movie starts with Bruce Willis explaining the futuristic city of Vice like the movie Westworld. Though Westworld was believable and entertaining and Vice is not.