Friday, December 4, 2015

December 4 - Children of Men

Today’s motion picture is a science fiction film with a scene that happens on December 4, Watch and enjoy this film tonight.

THE CHILDREN OF MEN

Theo, who works at the British Dept. of Energy and hangs out with recluse Jasper learns the youngest person on Earth was killed in a bar brawl. An outbreak of worldwide infertility twenty years ago led to the collapse of civilization and Britain sealing itself off from the world, with all illegal immigrants being expelled. Theo is kidnapped by “the Fishes” an anti-government group, one of whom is Julia, his ex-wife. She asks him to get transit papers out of the country for an illegal African immigrant girl, Kee. Theo gets them. Julia leads him to the girl and they head for the coast, but are ambushed on December 4, 2027 and Julia is killed. [21:50 to 40:13] The Fishers meet and Theo learns somehow Kee is pregnant. Kee says she wants to stay in Britain and not go overseas to “the Human Project” a scientific lab which is trying to learn how to reverse the infertility. Theo learns that “the Fishes” betrayed Julia and he flees with Kee to stay with Jasper. Sid, a policeman that Jasper sells pot to agrees to arrange for a boat to get Kee out of the country. Jasper volunteers to stay behind and try to put the police on the wrong track, but they kill him. Sid smuggles them into Bexhill detention camp where illegals are held before being deported and they meet Mariko. Kee has her baby. Sid tries to seize Kee for his own purposes. They escape, but the camp is bombed and the army attacks. The Fishes seize Kee, but Theo rescues her and they get in a boat and row out to the Human Project’s ship. Theo has been fatally shot, but Kee and her baby live and escape.

Creates a believable picture of a dystopian world. Maintains a sense of mystery and suspense till the end. You care about these characters.

Date given in film at 37:40 in news broadcast as 4/12/2027.

Producers - Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Iain Smith , Hilary Shor, Tony Smith, Thomas Bliss and Armyan Bernstein

Screenwriters - Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby

Awards - The film was nominated in the category of Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing at the 79^th Academy Awards.

Director - Alfonso Cuarón

Runtime – 1 hour 49 minutes

Released - September 3, 2006

Starring –

Clive Owen as Theo Faron

Julianne Moore as Julian Taylor

Michael Caine as Jasper Palmer

Claire-Hope Ashitey as Kee

Pam Ferris as Miriam

Danny Huston as Nigel, Theo's cousin

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Luke

Thursday, December 3, 2015

December 3 - Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy

Today’s motion picture is a courtroom drama with a scene that happens on December 3. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.

AMANDA KNOX: MURDER ON TRIAL IN ITALY

The postal police arrive at a house in Perugia, Italy and after talking with Amana Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, enter the apartment and find the body of Meredith Kercher. Amanda Knox was a student at the Univeristy of Washington who lived in Seattle and moved to Perugia to study abroad for a year. Soon after arriving she moves into an apartment with Meredith Kercher and two Italian girls. She also soon begins a sexual relationship with Raffaele Sollecito. After the murder, when Amanda calls her Mom, she tells her to return to Seattle, but Amanda does not. The police question both Amanda and Raffaele. After her arrival Amanda got a job at a café working for an African immigrant, Patrick Lumumba. The police keep quizzing her about what she did before and after the murder. Police forensic specialists find footprints at the scene consistant with Amanda and both Raffaele and a witness says that Amanda bought cleaning supplies the day after the murder, which is suspicious to the police as evidence seems to indicate someone tried to clean up after the crime. The police question Raffaele about apparent inconsistencies in his statements and he says that contrary to what he said earlier Amanda was not with him when the murder was committed. The police question Amanda about a text message she sent to her boss, Patrick Lumumba and give her the third degrre. They ask her to imagine what happened and she says Patrick killed Meredith. Patrick, Raffaele and Amanda are arrested. Patrick is released when police learn he has an unshakable alibi. Amanda’s parents arrive in Italy to help her. After police find a fingerprint of Rudy Guede in Merdith’s room, he’s arrested and charged with her murder. Ruby blames Amanda and Raffaele for the killing. The case becomes and international media frenzy and the court says there is enough evidence for Amanda and Raffaele to be tried for the killing. Amanda is grilled during questioning and there is conflicting testimony about the forensic evidence. On December 3, 2009. [1:21:14 to 1:23:09] Amanda makes her final plea to the tribunal in her murder trial. She and Raffaele are convicted.

A fascinating courtroom drama/police procedural. The film does not take a side on the question of Amanda Knox’s guilt or innocence. I think she’s innocent.

In A Death in Italy: The Definitive Account of the Amanda Knox Case by John Follain (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2011) at page 359 it gives the date of Amanda’s last address to the court.

Producers - Roberto Manni and Randy Sutter

Director - Robert Dornhelm

Screenplay - Wendy Battles

Runtime – 1 hour 31 minutes

Released – February 21, 2011

Staring –

Hayden Panettiere as Amanda Knox

Marcia Gay Harden as Edda Mellas

Vincent Riotta as Giuliano Mignini

Amanda Stevens as Meredith Kercher

Djibril Kébé as Rudy Guede

Timothy Martin as Patrick Lumumba

Paolo Romio as Raffaele Sollecito

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

December 2 - Meteor

Today’s motion picture is a science fiction film with a scene that happens on December 2. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.

METEOR

On December 2, 1985 [3:02 to 16:56] retired NASA scientist Dr. Paul Bradley is forced to drop out of a yacht race. He learns that after a comet hit an asteroid, a five-mile wide meteor is headed for Earth. The only way to stop it is to use a secret and illegal nuclear weapons platform in space to blast it. However it does not have enough firepower to do so and it is only in combination with an equally secret and equally illegal Soviet space weapons platform that enough firepower can be brought to bear. Other fragments of the asteroid hit the Earth causing devastation in the Alps, Hong Kong and New York City. However both sets of missiles are launched and destroy the meteor, saving the Earth.

In the film at 36:44 a screen shows Day 3 of tracked course as December 4. So day 1 of the tracked course must be the Monday referenced at 4:55 and December 2. In 1985 December 2 was on a Monday.

Producers - Arnold Orgolini, Theodore R. Parvin and Sir Run Run ShawDirector - Ronald Neame

Screenwriters - Stanley Mann and Edmund H. North

Awards – The film was nominated for Best Sound at the 52^ndAcademy Awards

Runtime – 1 hour 47 minutes

Released – October 19, 1979

Starring –

Sean Connery as Dr. Paul Bradley

Natalie Wood as Tatiana Donskaya

Karl Malden as Harry Sherwood

Brian Keith as Dr. Dubov

Martin Landau as General Adlon

Trevor Howard as Sir Michael Hughes

Richard Dysart as Secretary of Defense

Henry Fonda as The President

Joseph Campanella as General Easton

Bo Brundin as Rolf Manheim

Katherine De Hetre as Jan Watkins

James G. Richardson as Alan Marshall

Roger Robinson as Bill Hunter

Michael Zaslow as Sam Mason

John McKinney as Peter Watson

Burke Byrnes as Coast Guard Officer

Bibi Besch as Helen Bradley

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

December 1 - The Great Gatsby(2012)

Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on December 1. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.

THE GREAT GATSBY

On December 1, 1929 [1:34-3:19] Nick Carraway has his first therapy session in the psychiatric hospital where he is getting treated for alcoholism. He thinks back to seven years ago to when he moved to Long Island, next door the reclusive, mysterious and wealthy Jay Gatsby. Nick’s cousin Daisy and her husband Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker. Nick learns Tom has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson. He also learns that Gatsby and Daisy previously had a fling before she married Tom and that Gatsby still loves Daisy. Gatsby and Daisy begin an affair, but Gatsby won’t run away with her and wants Daisy to divorce Tom and marry him. After a huge fight about this Myrtle is killed in a hit and run accident. Tom tells Myrtle’s husband, George that it was Gatsby who was Myrtle’s lover and killer. Ultimately George kills Gatsby, then himself, even though Daisy was actually the driver of the car. Daisy and Tom leave New York, as does Nick.

The date is given in the film at 2:31

Producers - Lucy Fisher, Catherine Knapman, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin and Douglas Wick

Director - Baz Luhrmann

Screenwriters - Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce

Awards – The film won the Best Production Design and Best Costume Design Oscars at the 86^th Academy Awards.

Runtime – 2 hours 22 minutes

Released – May 1, 2013

Starring –

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby

Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway

Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan

Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan

Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker

Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson

Jason Clarke as George Wilson

Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim

Jack Thompson as Dr. Walter Perkins

Adelaide Clemens as Catherine

Callan McAuliffe as Young Jay Gatsby

Richard Carter as Herzog

Max Cullen as Owl Eyes

Heather Mitchell as Daisy's mother

Monday, November 30, 2015

November 30 - Moonstruck

Today’s movie is a romantic comedy with a scene that happens on November 30. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.

MOONSTRUCK

Widowed Italian-American Loretta Castorini is an accountant who lives with her parents, Cosmo, a plumber and Rose, his wife. Loretta’s boyfriend, Johnny Cammareri proposes to her before he flies back to Sicily to see his dying mother. He asks Loretta to invite his estranged younger brother Ronny to their wedding. On November 30, 1993 [18:45 – 47:33] Loretta meets Ronny who is estranged from his brother because he blames him for the accident that cost him part of his hand. After an argument Ronny and Loretta end up having sex. The next day Loretta tells Ronny they can never see each other again. He agrees if she will go to the opera with him that night and she agrees. After attending the opera Loretta learns her father is in fact having an affair, a suspicion that her mother had disclosed to her earlier. Johnny returns from Sicily, where his mother had a miraculous recovery and breaks his engagement to Loretta since he believes their marriage would cause his mother’s death. Ronny then proposes to Loretta and she accepts. Cosmo agrees to end his affair after Rose confronts him.

The poster at 1:06 shows Monday, November 15, meaning the film takes place in 1993. The next full moon in that year happened about 1 am on Nov. 29 as seen at 12:20, so the day she meets Ronny is the 30^th.

Producers - Norman Jewison and Patrick Palmer

Director - Norman Jewison

Screenwriter - John Patrick Shanley

Awards – The film won the Best Actress (Cher), Best Supporting Actress (Dukakis) and Best Original Screenplay Oscars. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Bnet Supporting Actor(Gardenia) and Best Director at the 60^th Academy Awards.

Runtime – 1 hour 42 minutes

Released – December 16, 1987

Starring –

Cher as Loretta Castorini

Nicolas Cage as Ronny Cammareri

Olympia Dukakis as Rose Castorini

Vincent Gardenia as Cosmo Castorini

Danny Aiello as Johnny Cammareri

Julie Bovasso as Rita Cappomaggi

Louis Guss as Raymond Cappomaggi

John Mahoney as Perry

Feodor Chaliapin, Jr. as Grandpa Castorini

Anita Gillette as Mona

Sunday, November 29, 2015

November 29 - Something the Lord Made

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on November 29. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.

SOMETHING THE LORD MADE

Vivian Thomas, an unemployed African-American carpenter, who dreams of going to medical school is hired by the white Dr. Alfred Blalock, a medical researcher at Vanderbilt University to perform menial tasks. Thomas impresses the Doctor with his intelligence and dexterity and eventually becomes a junior partner in his research into the causes and cure of traumatic shock. Thomas experiences set backs in his plan to go to college when he loses all his money in a bank failure. When Blalock is made head of surgery at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University Medical School, he takes Thomas with him. Blalock decides to work with Dr. Helen Taussing on finding a cure for “blue baby” syndrome, where the body does not get enough oxygenated blood due to a heart defect. Blalock becomes so dedicated to this research that he ignores his family, while Thomas has to deal with the subtle and not so subtle racism that permeates the society of the time. Thomas devises a way to create the condition in dogs. Blalock gets Thomas more money and promotion. Together they devise a surgical plan to cure the condition. On November 29, 1944[1:09:34 to 1:20:00] the pair performs the first “blue baby” open-heart surgery. Thousand of parents whose children have the condition invade the school, but Thomas gets no recognition for his work, since he is black. Thomas quits working for Blalock for a time but eventually returns. When Blalock is invited to Columbia University, he asks Thomas to join him, but he declines. Thomas stays at Johns Hopkins and trains generations of surgeons. He is eventually honored with an honorary doctorate.

Producers - Robert W. Cort, David Madden, Eric Hetzel, Julian Krainin and Mike Drake

Director - Joseph Sargent

Screenwriters - Peter Silverman and Robert Caswell

Awards – This film won the Outstanding Television Movie, Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Emmys. The film was nominated for Outstanding Casting for a Mini-Series, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Directing for a Mini-Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-Series or a Movie (Def and Rickman), Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing For a Mini-Series or a Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special at the 56^th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Released - May 30, 2004

Runtime – 1 hour 50 minutes

Starring – Alan Rickman as Dr. Alfred Blalock, Mos Def as Vivien Thomas, Kyra Sedgwick as Mary Blalock, Gabrielle Union as Clara Thomas, Merritt Wever as Mrs. Saxon, Clayton LeBouef as Harold Thomas , Charles S. Dutton as William Thomas, Mary Stuart Masterson as Helen B. Taussig

Saturday, November 28, 2015

November 28 - About Last Night

Today’s movie is a romantic comedy with a scene that happens on November 28. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT …

Danny and Debbie are two twenty–something singles who live in Chicago. They meet at a softball game. The post-game celebration at a bar leads to a one-night stand. However, this ultimately develops into a long term relatiuonship.Debbie and Danny move in together. They say that they love each other. Danny quits his sales job because he hates his boss. Friction develops between them on Thanksgiving, November 28, 1985, when Debbie feels Danny does nothing to help her with the domestic chores [1:02:02 – 1:05:54]. On New Year’s Eve they break up when Debbie thinks Danny is not committed to her and he, in a moment of anger says he does not want to be tied down and that he does not love her. Debbie moves out. However, Danny quickly regrets his words and tries to get back with Debbie. On Saint Patrick’s Day, Danny finally professes his real love to Debbie, but she rebuffs him. They meet at another softball game and implicitly commit to trying to work things out between them.

Producers - Jason Brett and Stuart Oken

Director - Edward Zwick

Screenplay - Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue

Runtime – 1 hour 53 minutes

Released - July 2, 1986

Starring –

Rob Lowe as Danny Martin

Demi Moore as Debbie Sullivan

James Belushi as Bernie Litgo

Elizabeth Perkins as Joan

George DiCenzo as Mr. Favio

Robin Thomas as Steve Carlson

Megan Mullally as Pat

Rosanna DeSoto as Mrs. Lyons

Tim Kazurinsky as Colin

Kevin Bourland as Ira

Catherine Keener as Cocktail Waitress