Written by and starring Tom Hanks and directed by Aaron Schneider, Greyhound follows captain Ernest Krause, played by Hanks, in the early days of WWII. Krause commands an international convoy of 37 Allied ships as his first command of a U.S. destroyer.
They cross the treacherous North Atlantic while hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats. The story originates from actual events and the novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester.
Also starring in the movie is Elisabeth Shue, Rob Morgan, and Stephen Graham. Make sure you watch the trailer because the movie is intense and visceral.
Directed by Marco Pontecorvo in modern-day Portugal, Fatima follows an author and noted skeptic, Professor Nichols, played by Harvey Keitel, who visits a convent in Coimbra’s riverside city. He meets with Sister Lúcia, played by Sônia Braga, an elderly nun. She recounts her role in a historical event that took place in 1917.
The conversations between pragmatic academics and the severe spiritual self-discipline illuminate a decades-old mystery and set the stage for an inspiring story that has fascinated millions for over a century.
An angel visited 10-year-old Lúcia, played by Stephanie Gil, while wandering in a cave close to home in Aljustrel, on the outskirts of Fátima, Portugal, and showed her a vision of a battlefield.
World War I is raging across Europe and claiming the lives of many young men in Lúcia’s village. In the vision, Lúcia sees her brother, Manuel, played by João Arrais, a soldier at the front, caught in an explosion. Later, while tending her family’s flock of sheep, Lúcia and her younger cousins Jacinta, played by Alejandra Howard, and another apparition, the Virgin Mary, played by Joana Ribeiro, visited Francisco, played by Jorge Lamelas. As she calls herself the “Lady of the Rosary,” she tells the children they must pray and suffer to end the deadly conflict. She also tells them she will return to the same spot every month for six months.
Like many in the town, Lúcia’s devout mother, Maria, played by Lúcia Moniz, doesn’t believe the children’s story and chastises Lúcia for lying. But as the mayor, Artur, played by Goran Višnjić, and Church officials try to convince the youngsters to recant their story, the sighting spreads.
Pilgrims from across the country flock to Fátima, hoping to have their prayers answered, but only the children can see or hear the apparitions. As more people come, the pressure mounts on the newly installed secularist government officials to refute the children’s testimony. Artur eventually resorts to imprisoning Lúcia and her cousins, hoping to have them declared insane. But the psychiatrist he enlists to examine them finds no evidence to support that claim, and the Artur lets them free.
On the day of Mary’s last visit to Fátima, tens of thousands of believers arrive, hoping to witness a miracle that will convince them of her existence. They still talk about what the girls experienced to this day, and the site remains one of the world’s most popular destinations for Catholic pilgrims.
The screenplay is an uplifting story about the power of faith based on real-life events by Pontecorvo, Valerio D’Annunzioo, and Barbara Nicolosi.
Directed by Fernando Meirelles, The Two Popes is an intimate story of one of the most dramatic shifts of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio, played by Jonathan Pryce, requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict, played by Anthony Hopkins.
Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and the future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church. Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront their pasts to find common ground and forge a future inspired by actual events for a billion followers around the world.
The three clips with Hopkins and Pryce are no comparison. It’s incredible to watch these two work together and evidence as to why Pryce received a Golden Globe nomination.
Written and directed by Wes Miller, Hell on the Border follows the story of Bass Reeves, played by David Gyasi. The movie appears to be an action-packed Western about Reeves, who was the first black U.S. marshal in the Wild West.
Having escaped from slavery after the Civil War, Reeves arrives in Arkansas seeking a job with the law. To prove himself, he must hunt down a deadly outlaw, played by Frank Grillo, with the help of a grizzled journeyman, played by Ron Perlman.
As Reeves chases the criminal deeper into the Cherokee Nation, he must not only dodge bullets in hopes of earning his star but severe discrimination and ends up cementing his place as a cowboy legend.
The cast includes Chris Mullinax, Jaqueline Fleming, Rudy Youngblood, Nick Loren, Marshall Teague, Gianni Capaldi, and Zahn McClarnon.
Directed by seasoned cinematographer Ericson Core and screenplay by Tom Flynn, Togo is about the story of the sled dog, Togo, who led the 1925 serum run but was considered by most to be too small and weak to lead such an intense race.
The movie will leave you feeling good about survival and giving the underdog a chance to prove him or herself.
The adventure movie stars Willem Dafoe, Julianne Nicholson, and Christopher Heyerdahl.
The following four clips are pure entertainment, especially the last one is intense.
Kristen Stewart evolved into a talented actress since her Twilight movies. The camera shows her upbeat, charismatic, and determined. Jean Seberg is Stewart’s next role, and she’s embraced the character as the title role for the movie Seberg.
Directed by Benedict Andrews and inspired by true events, the movie follows Seberg as the French New Wave darling and Breathless star.
Directed by Benedict Andrews and inspired by true events, the movie follows Seberg as the French New Wave darling and Breathless star.
In the late 1960s, the FBI targeted her because of her support of the civil rights movement and romantic involvement with Hakim Jamal, played by Anthony Mackie, among others.
Andrews tells the thriller through a film noir style. His directing credits include remakes of two Tennessee William’s plays: A Street Car Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, Hoover’s overreaching surveillance and harassment to suppress and discredit Seberg’s activism destroyed her life and career.
The well-rounded cast includes Jack O’Connell, Margaret Qualley, Zazie Beetz, Yvan Attal, Stephen Root, Colm Meaney, and Vince Vaughn.
The next three movie clips offer the main plot point of the movie, which was the government spying on her because of her strong stance in cultural issues in America.
Written and directed by Andrew Heckler, Burden is a true story about Michael “Mike” Burden, played by Garrett Hedlund, an ardent young South Carolina Ku Klux Klan member.
He rose to the rank of Grand Dragon – and walked away from all of it with the help of his new love and an unlikely ally, the African American religious leader and social activist Reverend David Kennedy, played by Forest Whitaker.
Mike Burden, rejected by his own racist family and raised by Klan leader Tom Griffin, played by Tom Wilkinson, becomes a pillar of the KKK and proponent of the divisive Redneck Shop, a Klan memorabilia store.
But then Mike meets and falls in love with Judy Harbeson, played by Andrea Risborough, a single mother deeply opposed to the Klan and Mike’s allegiance to the group.
Cut off from the only family he has ever known, Mike and Judy reach out to the Reverend, Mike’s former mortal enemy. In turn, Reverend Kennedy proves the power and conviction of his faith when he accepts Mike’s disavowal of the Klan and welcomes him into his home and church.
Together, they face down irate and vengeful Klan members and win over Reverend Kennedy’s skeptical parishioners, forming a genuine bond and forging a path toward redemption and forgiveness.
Heckler is known for directing Armageddon and the TV series Ally McBeal. Burden won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Sundance Film Festival 2018.
The second trailer tells more of the story and journey of this former Klansman and the priest.
The three movie clips show exceptional acting and directing skills.
Directed by Todd Haynes, Dark Waters, motivated by a harrowing true story of a determined attorney, played by Mark Ruffalo, uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths due to one of the world’s largest corporations – Dupont.
In unearthing the corruption, he risks everything—his future, family, and life—to expose the truth. Haynes’s directing credits include Wonderstruck, the Mildred Pierce Mini-series, and Far From Heaven.
Based on an article by Nathaniel Rich, Matthew Michael Carnahan wrote the first screenplay, which was finalized by Mario Correa.
The rest of the cast is impressive, including Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, and Bill Pullman.
One of the two following clips is decent. The other one doesn’t say much of the story, but we see some excellent acting by Tim Robbins.
This clip crescendos into a massive scene at a public function. Victor Garber holds his own with Mark Ruffalo.
Directed by Tom Harper, The Aeronauts takes place in 1862 and originates from actual events in history. Harper wrote the story with Jack Thorne, and Thorne penned the screenplay from their collaboration. The word “aeronauts” is a dated word meaning “a traveler in a hot-air balloon, airship, or other flying craft.”
In this case, the movie follows the fictional character, daredevil balloon pilot Amelia Wren, played by Felicity Jones. She teams up with real-life pioneering meteorologist James Glaisher, played by Eddie Redmayne, to advance human knowledge of the weather and fly higher than anyone in history.
The story comes from Henry Coxwell and James Glaisher September 5, 1862, hot air balloon flight of the British aeronauts where they broke the world flight altitude record at the time, reaching about 11,887.
Wren replaces Coxwell, and she is a combination of Coxwell and real-life women who were aeronauts, including Sophie Blanchard, Margaret Graham, and Amelia Earhart. Jones told Walter Scott during an interview for Parade that Sophie Blanchard, an extraordinary aeronaut, inspire the character. She was one of the first women to fly solo in a balloon. Blanchard was a fantastic character who set fireworks off from the basket. She’s an inspiration for Amelia Wren, the role she plays.
While breaking records and advancing scientific discovery, their voyage to the very edge of existence helps the unlikely pair find their place in the world they have left far below them. But they face physical and emotional challenges in the thin air, as the ascent becomes a fight for survival.
The second trailer tells of the mystical adventure of two people climbing higher and higher into thin air.
The next two clips so how the production creates an intensity in the story. I am not sure about this movie yet, but happy to see it will be on Amazon Prime.
Written and directed by Scott Z. Burns, The Report story played out on the headlines and newscasters had a field day with the conspiracy behind the expose of the evil, brutality at CIA’s Detention Center and Interrogation Program. The movie is a far cry from A Few Good Men.
The Report is a gripping thriller based on actual events. Naive and unrealistic staffer Daniel J. Jones, played by Adam Driver, is tasked by his boss Senator Dianne Feinstein, played by Annette Bening, to lead an investigation of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, which developed from the aftermath of 9/11.
Jones’ unremitting pursuit of the truth leads to dangerous findings that uncover the lengths to which the nation’s top intelligence agency went to suppress evidence, subvert the law, and hide a brutal secret from the American public.
The next trailer shows a pretty hard subject to explain in a matter of two hours.
The next six clips show what this man went through to get to the truth of what happened during the CIA’s interrogations of potential terrorists. Driver is so good at conveying the feeling that maybe all his work will be for not.
