This inspiring film looks at the life of President Ronald Reagan from the time of his childhood in Dixon, Illinois, and his time at Eureka College, through his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. The film was directed by Sean McNamara, and written by Howard Klausner based on Paul Kengor’s 2006 book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.
Reagan’s story is told by a former Soviet KGB agent Viktor Petrovich, played by Oscar winner Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy), to a young Russian politician. Reagan was long considered a threat to communism.
Dennis Quaid (I Can Only Imagine) portrays the adult Ronald Reagan, and David Henrie plays the young Reagan. Amanda Righetti plays Reagan’s mother Nelle. Mena Suvari portrays Jane Wyman, Reagan’s first wife, and Penelope Ann Miller portrays Nancy, Reagan’s second wife. Continue reading →
Inside Out 2 is a delightful family friendly sequel to the popular 2015 animated Pixar film Inside Out. The film was directed by Kelsey Mann and written by Mann, Dave Holstein and Oscar nominee Meg LeFauve (Inside Out).
Riley is now 13 years old, and a good ice hockey player on her middle school team. When their team wins the championship, Roberts, the high school coach invites Riley and her two friends Grace and Bree to a three-day high school hockey camp. A good showing could earn them a spot on the RedHawks high school team.
But, on the morning that she is to leave for the hockey camp, Riley begins feeling the effects of puberty – she smells her body odor, her face is breaking out and she is extremely irritable with her parents.
Riley is in awe of Valentina, the RedHawks star player. As she goes to the camp the puberty emotions – Anxiety, Envy, Ennui (Boredom), and Embarrassment – especially Anxiety, kick in. In fact, Anxiety, takes over the Control Room in Riley’s brain from her other emotions Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. Over the three days of the camp, Riley and her emotions are torn between befriending and impressing Valentina, and being loyal to her friends.
Throughout the film, her emotions battle for control of Riley’s personality.
The film was very creative and includes positive messages. Unlike much of Disney’s recent releases, the film doesn’t include any woke content.
We would recommend the film for ages 8 and older.
Note from my wife ~ The movie places a huge focus on Riley’s core beliefs. In the context of the film, those core beliefs are about what she thinks of herself, and are not impacted by her parents, church, teachers, etc. So she has a bunch of memories (good and mostly bad) and forms her own beliefs about herself from these memories.
This faith-based film tells the true story of the Smallbone family from Australia. The film is written and directed by Richard L. Ramsey and Joel Smallbone, one-half of Christian musical artists For King & Country.
The film begins in 1990 in Australia where David Smallbone, played by his son Joel Smallbone, works as a successful concert promoter for Christian musicians such as Stryper. David and his wife Helen, played by Daisy Betts (Last Resort, Chicago Fire), live in a large home, have six children and a seventh on the way. While David pursues his dream in music, Helen looks after the children and the home.
But David suffers a major loss when a recession impacts Amy Grant’s Australian tour. He loses everything. And now nobody wants him to handle their tours.
As a result, he convinces Helen to move the family from Sydney, Australia to Nashville to work in the Christian music industry there. Helen agrees to give the move two years, even though it means leaving family, friends, schools, etc. Continue reading →
This film is based on a true story about a family facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, that took place in Louisville, Kentucky about thirty years ago. The film, which features strong performances by its two lead characters, was written by Oscar nominee Meg Tilly (Agnes of God), and Kelly Fremon Craig (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.), and was directed by Jon Gunn (The Case for Christ).
The film opens with a baby girl being born to Ed Schmitt, played by Alan Ritchson (Reacher), and his wife Theresa.
***SPOILER ALERT***
A few years later though, Theresa dies from a rare liver disease. Then, to make matters worse, Ed finds out his young daughter, Michelle, played by Emily Mitchell, has the same disease. Continue reading →
I was not aware of this film until reading Brett McCracken’s annual article of his top films, on which Living was listed. Based on his recommendation, my wife and I decided to watch the film, and we were glad we did.
The film is a British drama English language adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 Japanese film Ikiru (To Live), which itself was partly inspired by the 1886 Russian novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. Living was directed by Oliver Hermanus.
Mr. Williams, played by Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), is a senior London County Council bureaucrat in 1953 London. He lives a lonely life, taking the train to and from the city each day. He routinely sits at his desk in the Public Works department, surrounded by piles of paperwork. A group of women petition the council to have a site developed into a children’s playground. Williams’ newest employee Mr. Wakeling, played by Alex Sharp (The Trial of the Chicago 7), is assigned to accompany them with their petition from department to department, eventually ending up back at Williams’ desk, who adds the petition to his pile of paperwork, likely never to be addressed again.
All of this changes when Williams receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. He does not tell his son Michael or his daughter in law Fiona, who live with him, about the diagnosis. Instead, he withdraws half of his life savings and goes to a seaside resort town, where he meets Sutherland, played by Tom Burke, an insomniac writer. Sutherland then takes Williams out for a wild night on the town.
With that out of his system, Williams returns to London where he runs into a former team member Miss Margaret Harris, played by Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education), who took a new position at a restaurant while Williams was away. Slowly we see their friendship grow as the two take walks and dine in restaurants. At the same time, Williams is inspired to do good before he dies.
Nighy is excellent as Mr. Williams. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance. Kazuo Ishiguro also received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Content concerns include some drunkenness and exotic dancing. Living is a well-acted film that shows how Rodney Williams was inspired to change his life for the better (though there is no mention of God), in the time he had left after a terminal cancer diagnosis.
The Boys in the Boat is a well-made inspirational film based on the best-selling book by Daniel James Brown. The film was directed by two-time Oscar winner George Clooney (Argo, Syriana). The screenplay was written by Mark L. Smith (The Reverant).
The film is set in 1936 during the depression. It focuses on the University of Washington Huskies eight-man rowing team. Coach Al Ulbrickson, played by Joel Edgerton (The Stranger), needs a winning season to keep his job. The best rowing team in the country will represent the United States in the Olympics to be held in Berlin in front of Hitler.
The film revolves around Joe Rantz, played by Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts films). Jobs are hard to find. Turner lives in poverty, sleeping in an old car and patching holes in his shoes with newspaper, and doesn’t always have money for food. He is taking classes to be an engineer at the University of Washington. He has been on his own after being abandoned at age fourteen by his father. He barely has enough money to eat and if he doesn’t find a job soon, he will no longer be able to continue his college education, having fallen behind in paying his tuition.
Sitting behind him in his engineering class is Joyce, played by Hadley Robinson (Little Women). Joyce reminds him that he had a crush on her back in the fourth grade.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
The film shows a growing romance between the two.
Joe hears about a way to get a job by making the eight-person rowing team at the university, so he and a friend go to the tryouts, which are physically grueling. Neither had any previous rowing experience, but Joe does make the team, which gives him a room and a job.
Peter Guinness plays George Pocock, the wise and likeable mentor and maker of the boats that the team will row.
The film takes us through a few of the team’s races, beginning with the battle against the University of California Bears. The junior team outperforms the varsity team, and the coach makes the controversial decision to use the junior varsity team, instead of the varsity team, in an important race. If things go badly in the race, it could cost Coach Ulbrickson his job.
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The film has themes of sacrifice, hard work, and teamwork. The film is given a PG-13 rating for some adult language, including the abuse of God’s and Jesus’s names.
None of the actors had any rowing experience prior to making the film. They trained for five months.
The film features a solid cast, with particularly good performances by Turner, Edgerton, and Guinness. It also features some excellent historically recreated settings, and period costumes. The Boys in the Boat is an enjoyable, though slightly predictable underdog story that the entire family can enjoy, with the understanding that the film does contain some adult language.
Wonka is the delightful musical comedy prequel to the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film starring Gene Wilder (1971). The film tells the original story of Willy Wonka. Inspired by Roald Dahl’s Wonka books, the film was directed by Paul King (Paddington, Paddington 2), and the screenplay was written by King and Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2).
Willy Wonka is played by Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy). Willy’s mother, played by Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Blue Jasmine), tells him that every good thing started with a dream. Willy travels the world, spending seven years finding the best ingredients and perfecting his chocolate making craft. Now he has come to a great city to open his own chocolate shop.
The main villains in the film are three powerful chocolate business owners – Slugworth, played by Paterson Joseph, Prodnose, played by Matt Lucas, and Fickelgruber, played by Matthew Banton. The three control the chocolate making in the city as well as the corrupt police force, led by the chief of police played by Emmy winner Keegan Michael Key (Key and Steele). Continue reading →
This film, based on the 2013 book Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir, is the true story of Caro Drake, a young American woman who earns a scholarship to the University of Oxford for her postgraduate studies. Her goal is to earn her PhD in Romantic-era literature. Ryan Whitaker (son of the Christian music artist Michael W. Smith) directs the film. The film opened with a brief interview with the author (who appears in the film), and author and podcaster Annie Downs.
Caro, played by Rose Reid, has grown up without any religious faith. Her Mom is a Roman Catholic, and her father was arrested by the FBI when she was only eight. Early on at Oxford while with her friends, she meets Kent Weber, a Christian, played by Ruairi O’Connor, and misinterprets a message she sees pop up on his phone. After that, she wants nothing to do with him, though he continues to pursue a friendship with her. She has unmet longings and eventually agrees to his request to read C.S. Lewis’ book Surprised by Joy; we then see their relationship budding. But between the growing relationship and her contemplation of the Christian faith, she is distracted from her studies and faces the possible loss of her scholarship. She dives back into her studies, but wisely accepts the counsel of Provost Regina Knight, played by Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey).
The film includes beautiful scenery of Oxford and the Cotwolds, both of which we visited in 2019. It is part love story and part Christian conversion story, though the film never really fleshes out her actual conversion. Most of the film moves along slowly, but then the film ends abruptly. It is well made and acted. Caro’s story has been compared to C.S. Lewis’ famous conversion nearly a century ago at Oxford. The film includes some PG-13 adult language and talk about sex.
The film was in the theaters for just two days. Hopefully it will be available on streaming soon.
This documentary follows three pastors – John MacArthur from Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, and James Coates and Tim Stephens from Canada – as they refuse to suspend worship services during the COVID pandemic, and as a result face consequences from their respective governments (fines, imprisonment, legal action). The film was written and directed by Shannon Halliday.
The film shows that God, not the state (King, etc.) is the head of the church. It shows the hypocrisy of state and local officials ordering houses of worship to shut their doors while permitting – and at times participating in – destructive riots to sweep through major cities unchecked.
The film focuses on why Grace Community Church initially complied with the restrictions, and how Martyn-Lloyd Jones’ commentary on Romans 13 helped lead the elders to change course, and re-open. It follows the lawsuits leading to the church’s ultimate legal vindication. The film explores the struggle between the church and government throughout history, such as the Scottish Covenanters of the 17th century and the Great Ejection of 1662), and some of the people who sacrificed their lives for what they believed in. Continue reading →
The Miracle Club is the story of three women that share an unhappy past, with secrets and regrets that go back forty years. The acting performances are strong, but overall, the film is heavy with sadness.
The film is directed by Emmy nominee Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Into the Storm, Shetland, Vera), and written by three-time Emmy nominee Joshua Maurer (Georgia O’Keeffe, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge), Timothy Prager, and Jimmy Smallhorne.
The film is set in Dublin, Ireland in 1967. Two-time Oscar winner Maggie Smith (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, California Suite) portrays Lily. She still mourns the death of her nineteen-year-old son Declan, who drowned in the sea forty years ago. Lily and Eileen, played by Oscar winner Kathy Bates (Misery), are lifelong friends. They live in a close-knit neighborhood with their husbands. Continue reading →
Reagan, PG-13
Inside Out 2 – rated PG
Unsung Hero, rated PG
Ordinary Angels, rated PG
Living, rated PG-13
The Boys in the Boat, rated PG-13
Wonka, rated PG
Surprised by Oxford, rated PG-13
The Essential Church, rated PG-13
The Miracle Club, rated PG-13