Paddington in Peru, the third film in the Paddington series, is a delightful film that the entire family will enjoy. The film has plenty of humor and good messages about the importance of family.
The film was directed by Dougal Wilson in his feature film debut. It was written by Oscar nominee Mark Burton (Shaun the Sheep), Jon Foster (The Adventures of Paddington), and James Lamont (The Adventures of Paddington).
The film begins by taking us back to Paddington’s origins in Peru. As a small bear, he saw an orange on small tree that was high above a river. As he climbed out onto the tree, the branch broke and he tumbled down into the river. He was carried along the raging river and over a waterfall. This scene could be a little scary for very young viewers. As he went under the water, he was rescued by who he would come to know as Aunt Lucy. Continue reading →
Uncharted, based on a Play Station game, opens with a breathtaking scene featuring Nathan Drake, played by Tom Holland (Spider-Man films), foreshadowing what is to come. The film is fun and exciting, though it contains quite a bit of adult language and violence.
The film is directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), and written by Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum (Iron Man), Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Jon Hanley Rosenberg and Mark D. Walker. The film had a budget of approximately $120 million.
After the exciting opening, the film goes back to show us that Nathan and his older brother Sam were obsessed with finding the lost gold (estimated to be worth $5 billion), hidden by explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s men 500 years ago on his trip around the world. When they are caught trying to steal a valuable map which Sam believes gives clues to the hidden treasure, Sam escapes from the Catholic orphanage to avoid juvenile detention. In the coming years, Nathan will only receive postcards from his brother.
The film then moves ahead and we find Nathan working as a bartender and stealing jewelry from his customers. Victor “Sully” Sullivan, played by two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter, The Departed), meets him in the bar and tells him that he got close to Magellan’s treasure with Nathan’s brother Sam. Sully needs Nathan to help him steal a gold cross which is going to be auctioned off. Sully needs two of the keys to lead them to Magellan’s treasure. Continue reading →
Dolittle, based on the children’s books of Hugh Lofting, is an enjoyable film, starring Robert Downey Jr. in his first non-Iron Man role since 2014’s The Judge. The film is directed by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic), who wrote the screenplay with Dan Gregor (How I Met Your Mother), Doug Mand (How I Met Your Mother) and Thomas Shepherd. The film had an estimated budget of $175 million. The film’s release date has been delayed a few times, and it had 21 days of expensive reshoots after poor test screenings. The film is getting pummeled by the critics (getting a score of “16” on Rotten Tomatoes.com as I write this), but we enjoyed the film.
The film begins with an animated prologue that gives us the backstory of Dr. John Dolittle, played by two-time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man films, Tropic Thunder, Chaplin), and his beloved wife Lily, played by Kasia Smutniak in live-action flashbacks. They presided over Dolittle Manor, a large sanctuary in the English countryside where they cared for – and communicated with – animals. But one day Lily, a master explorer, went out on a voyage at sea while Dolittle cared for the animals, and her ship wrecked in a storm and she died. After Lily’s death, Dolittle closed the doors of the sanctuary and fell into a deep depression.
Seven years later, Dolittle is living as a recluse in Dolittle Manor, avoiding all contact with humans while surrounded by a small band of loyal animal friends: Continue reading →
At the beginning of this film directed by Patricia Riggen and based on the book Deep Down Dark by journalist Héctor Tobar, we are told the amazing fact that 12,000 miners die in accidents worldwide each year. The 33 is the incredible true story of 33 miners trapped after the San José mine in Chile’s barren Atacama Desert, shifts and collapses in August 2010.
The scene of the collapse is terrifying, and it is unbelievable that none of the miners died during the collapse. Instead, all 33 make it to the “Refuge”, a supposed safe area, with food, communications and first aid supplies 2,300 feet below the surface where the temperature is 94 degrees. However, what they find in the Refuge is that there is only three days’ worth of food and water rations. They find that the emergency ladder to the surface was never completed by the owners of the mine. In addition, the intercom that the miners hope to use to communicate with is found to be unusable. The mining company is portrayed as uncaring and negligent in this film. They have no plans to try to rescue the miners and aren’t sharing any information with the families.
Laurence Golborne (Rodrigo Santoro) is Chili’s likable Minister of Mining. He singled-handedly convinces President Sebastián Piñera (Bob Gunton) that there is a moral obligation to try to rescue the minors. We see Golborne confronted outside the mine by María Segovia (Juliette Binoche), one of the trapped miner’s sisters, who has a large role in the film.
Lou Diamond Phillips stars as the miner’s foreman Don Lucho. However, after the collapse, Mario Sepúlveda, played by Antonio Banderas, steps up as the group’s true leader. He rations the small food and water supplies available and tries to encourage the hope and faith of the men as best he can under the circumstances. Hope and faith are recurring themes in this film, both of the miners trapped below, and of the fearful family members that hold vigil outside. But as each day goes by, we see that hope diminishing.
Gabriel Byrne portrays drilling expert Andre Sougarret, called in to help rescue the miners. James Brolin appears in a small role as drilling engineer Jeff Hart. James Horner handles the soundtrack, mixing Chilean instruments with more typical soundtrack orchestral sounds. This would be his final film, as he died in a plane crash June 22, 2015.
The film is rated PG-13 for the mine collapse and some adult language, including the misuse of God’s name.
Paddington in Peru, rated PG
Uncharted, rated PG-13
Dolittle, rated PG
The 33, rated PG-13