Month: August 2022

Returning from the service, writer William Lundigan is surprised to discover that the new home his wife June Haver purchased in his absence is a run-down apartment building. Oddly included in the occasional Marilyn Monroe boxset, the acturess only appears in the film sporadically as Lundigan’s war buddy who rents an apartment in the building. The housing shortages after World War II makes for interesting conflict and the building itself plays an important character in this light-hearted tale, keeping everyone on their toes. That being said, the tenants all make more compelling protagonists than the too-cute married couple, especially swindler of lonely old ladies Frank Fay.

In 1960s Maine, Anthony Hopkins, an older man with mysterious powers, takes up lodging in a home owned by Hope Davis where he befriends her 11 year old son Anton Yelchin. Based on a Stephen King novella, it definitely shares many of his non-horror signatures (nostalgia, a Maine setting, etc.), but it doesn’t really go anywhere with it. I was surprised to discover that Hopkins’s character ties into the Dark Tower series as the mysteries that surround him seem like they would fit in with that narrative, but in this film, they remain mostly underdeveloped and unexplained. The strength in this film lies in the scenes between Hopkins and Yelchin. Even at such a young age, it was obvious that Anton had the skills to keep up with the veteran.

Arriving in Paris with only the clothes on her back, American showgirl Claudette Colbert convinces cab driver Don Ameche to drive her around looking for jobs. She eventually gives the smitten Ameche the slip and finds herself joining a well-dressed crowd going to a concert, convincing the other patrons that she’s really a rich baroness. I’m not generally a fan of Colbert but still attracted to the roles she plays. Here she’s quite the heroine who knows what she wants and unabashedly goes for it. The film really picks up when Ameche relocates Colbert and the two constantly one up each other to the confusion of their high society hosts.   

Ben Foster stars as Lance Armstrong, the seven consecutive Tour de France winner who was stripped of his titles after it became clear he was using performance enhancing drugs the entire time. The film follows Armstrong’s career from his testicular cancer diagnosis to the doping scandal that led to his downfall. I don’t know if Armstrong is an asshole in real life, but Foster certainly portrays him that way, intimidating and berating anyone who got in his way or threatened his rise to the podium. Just like it seems in Armstrong’s career, there isn’t much room for anyone else but the Armstrong character in this film, though Jesse Plemons as teammate Floyd Landis does his best to stand out in his role as a whistleblower. 

Unable to fly to the United Kingdom to receive a literary award, writer Meryl Streep travels aboard the Queen Mary 2 inviting along her nephew Lucas Hedges and her somewhat estranged college friends Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest. Traveling on a cruise during a pandemic is a bit foolhardy, but this was interestingly filmed right before it started alongside actual passengers. The film itself is fairly hollow, serving mostly as a travel brochure for all the incredible features on board. The best parts are watching Bergen and Wiest playing board games in various areas of the ship, dishing on their mutual friend and past experiences more than actually playing the games.