The Cat in the Hat (1971)

On a cold, rainy day, Conrad (Frazier) and Sally (Ferdin) are bored.  Their Mother (Camacho) has gone out and they are home alone.  Their boredom is interrupted by the arrival of The Cat in the Hat (Sherman).  The Cat has ideas for fun games, but their goldfish Mr. Krinklebein (Butler) objects.  Despite his objections, the Cat and his mischievous assistants Thing One (Ravenscroft) and Thing Two (Morford) engage the kids in their fun.


In 1957, Dr. Seuss wrote the popular children's book "The Cat in the Hat."  The story was his first writing under the pseudonym of Seuss (Theodor Geisel) and became a critical hit.  Over 60 years later, the book is still popular.

The book was turned into a musical TV special in 1971 and released on home video in the late 1980s.  Seuss is credited as the writer for the film, he also wrote the lyrics to the songs.  The music was written by Dean Elliott.  The music and lyrics are catchy and stick with you long after the movie is over, especially "Calculatus Eliminatus" and "Cat, Hat".  I remember loving this film as a child, and that joy hasn't changed while watching it as an adult.

The book had a sequel " The Cat in the Hat Comes Back", but it was never adapted into a movie.  However, the character of the Cat in the Hat, does appear in other Seuss adaptations: Dr. Seuss on the Loose (in 1973), The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (in 1982), and Daisy-Head Mayzie (in 1995).  The character also starred in the musical "Seussical: The Musical" and the TV shows The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!  And in 2003 the character starred in a live-action film, The Cat in the Hat with Mike Meyers in the title role, the film was lambasted by critics and fans.

The Cat in the Hat (1971) 30 minutes
Director: Hawley Pratt
Starring: Allan Sherman as The Cat in the Hat
Daws Butler as Mr. Krinklebein
Tony Frazier as Conrad
Pamelyn Ferdin as Sally
Gloria Camacho as Mother
Thurl Ravenscroft as Thing One
Lewis Morford as Thing Two

The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young

Every year hundreds of people around the world apply for one of the most difficult ultramarathons: The Barkley Marathons.  The race is designed to push participants to their limits and since it began in the 1980s, only 10 people have finished the race.

The Barkley Marathons are held at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee in late March or early April every year.  Of the numerous applicants, only 40 are selected to compete.  The track is over 100 miles, changes every year, and participants are given 60 hours to complete the race.


In 1977, James Earl Ray escaped from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.  He made it 8 miles in 55 hours.  Local runner, Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell thought he could do 100 miles in that amount of time and the race was born.  Cantrell and co-creator "Raw Dog" started the race in the 1980s, but it took years for anyone complete the course.

The race begins at the yellow gate.  Racers go in a circle, each lap is slightly different.  Each lap is 20 miles and many runners don't even finish the first lap.  Completing 3 laps is considered a "Fun Run", and running all 5 laps in 60 hours is the goal.  Filmmakers Annika Iltis and Timothy Kane documented the 2012 race.  At time, only 10 people had completed the race since it's inception.  To date, 14 people have completed the race (the race has been completed 17 times total).

It is a fascinating documentary, even for people like me that have no interest in running marathons.  Iltis and Kane interview runners and the people working behind the scenes.  They also document parts of the actual race and talk to contestants during the race.  For more about the documentary, go to their website http://barkleymovie.com/.

The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (2015) 89 minutes
Director: Annika Iltis & Timothy Kane
Starring: Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell
Jared Campbell
John Febyveresi
Nick Hollon
Brett Maune

Er ist wieder da [Look Who's Back]

Adolf Hitler (Masucci) wakes up in Berlin in 2014.  He believes it is 1945 and does not understand what is happening around him.  People believe he is an actor and want to have their pictures taken with him.  He eventually ends up at a newspaper kiosk where he begins catching up on the events since 1945.  The next day he meets filmmaker Fabian Sawatzki (Busch), who was filming a documentary at the same location where Hitler woke up.  Sawatzki was fired from the news station where he works and is looking for a big story to get his job back.  He gets Hitler some new clothes and they travel around Germany talking to people.  The footage is a hit with the new chairman of MyTV, Katja Bellini (Riemann), who believes Hitler is a comedian and method actor.

They put him on one of their biggest shows and he is a media sensation.  He speaks directly to the camera and shares his plans for world domination, and the audiences think it is comedy gold.  Audiences think he is funny and charming and want to see him everywhere.  As his popularity grows, some people get concerned.  Will anyone learn the truth?


In 2012, Timur Vermes wrote controversial novel "Er ist wieder da (Look Who's Back)."  The novel is a satire and makes people uncomfortable.  Some people are angered / offended by the premise: writing a novel about Adolf Hitler; others laud the sharp satire.  Regardless, the book became a best seller and the film rights were sold.  In 2014 the novel was translated into English and the film was released in 2015.

The novel takes place in 2011, but film takes place in 2014.  The film, like the novel, portrays Hitler as a human, not a monster.  It asks the audience to laugh at, and with him.  And like good satire, it makes you uncomfortable... continually wondering, "is it ok to laugh at this?"  It is an interesting film and I now want to read the novel.

Look Who's Back [Er ist wieder da] (2015) 116 minutes
Director: David Wnendt
Starring: Oliver Masucci as Adolf Hitler
Fabian Busch as Fabian Sawatzki
Katja Riemann as Katja Bellini
Christoph Maria Herbst as Christoph Sensebrink
Franziska Wulf as Kromeier
Michael Kessler as Michael Witzigmann

The Throwaways (2015)

Drew Reynolds (Huntington) is a notorious hacker.  He is captured by the CIA and given a chance: help them or spend the rest of his life in jail.  His former mentor, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Holden (Caan), is leading the team.  They are trying to find a device called the Pantheon that was created by Reynolds.  Pantheon gives the user full control over any electronic system and cannot be hacked.  A hacker named Teebs (Stewart) has control of the program and is using it to shut down the power to Chicago's grid.  Reynolds agrees to help, but only if he can pick the team.

CIA agent Connelly (Kesy) is the leader of the team.  He is a by-the-books agent who disapproves of the rest of the team.  Gloria (McGrath) is a beautiful agent who seduces her targets to get information, but is seen as a joke by other agents.  Dmitri (Hillborg) is a former KGB agent who is known for ditching his team in dangerous situations, and  Fisher (Dillon) is violence-prone agent who is on forced desk duty.  Can they work together long enough to stop Teebs?


This is a mindless heist movie. There are occasional funny moments and situations,  but the focus is the mission. Many of the characters are one-dimensional, but it works here. If you go into it with reasonable expectations, you will probably enjoy this film.

I first noticed this film at Redbox and was intrigued. I like Sam Huntington and the premise sounded interesting.

The film wasn't highly publicized and doesn't have many big names. It is exactly the kind of film you expect it to be, and there is something nice about that. Enjoyable, but forgettable.

The Throwaways (2015) 90 minutes
Director: Tony Bui
Starring: Sam Huntington as Drew
Katie McGrath as Gloria
Christian Hillborg as Dmitri
Jack Kesy as Connelly
Kevin Dillon as Fisher
James Caan as Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Holden
Noel Clarke as Erik
Alfie Stewart as Teebs
Darrel D'Silva as Konstantin
Bashar Rahal as The Broker
Amber Jean Rowan as Bes

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

"Everything in this room is eatable, even I'm eatable! But that is called "cannibalism", my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies."

Charlie Bucket (Highmore) lives in a dilapidated house with his loving parents (Carter and Taylor) and bed-ridden grandparents: Grandpa Joe (Kelly), Grandpa George (David Morris), Grandma Georgina (Liz Smith), and Grandma Josephine (Eileen Essell).  They live on cabbage soup and dream of a better life for Charlie.

Their town is the home of the chocolate factory of Willy Wonka (Depp).  No one has seen Wonka for years, but his factory is still producing chocolate.  Wonka hides 5 golden tickets in chocolate bars, and the winners/recipients of the tickets are invited to tour the factory along with one of their parents.  The tickets are found by gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Wiegratz), competitive gum chewer Violet Beauregard (Robb), spoiled Veruca Salt (Winter), and videogame obsessed Mike Teavee (Fry).  Charlie is accompanied by Grandpa Joe.  The Wonka factory is filled with many delicious wonders and the intriguing Oompa-Loompas (Roy) that work in the factory, but who will survive the tour and claim the prize?


In 1964, Roald Dahl wrote "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".  The book is considered a children's classic and has been popular sine it's debut.  Due to it's popularity, it has a place in popular culture.  It has been adapted to film twice, adapted to theater and adapted/parodied in many avenues in pop culture.

The first film adaptation, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, was released in 1970 as a musical with Gene Wilder in the title role.  Dahl served as a screenwriter (with David Seltzer) for the film, but ultimately disowned the film.  He didn't like the changes Seltzer made to the story.  After the disappointment of that film, he refused to grant film rights to the sequel "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator."  However, they were able to convince the Dahl estate to greenlight an update.

With Tim Burton in the director chair, the visuals were sure to be incredible.  Burton brought his usual auteur style to the film and his usual list of actors.  He also updated the world of the characters, making the kids more a product of their time. Like the 1970 film, this one features original songs. The songs are performed by the Oompa Loompas and were written by regular Burton composer Danny Elfman. Elfman used some of Dahl's original language in the songs, and each song has a different style (reflecting a different era).

The film is ok, but it is a continual comparison to the 1970 film.  Johnny Depp is weird as Wonka.  I know that is the point, but he is just creepy.  It is interesting, but I prefer the 1970s version.  It is ok, but when compared with the original, it comes up short.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) 115 minutes
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka
Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket
David Kelly as Grandpa Joe
Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket
Noah Taylor as Mr. Bucket
Deep Roy as Oompa-Loompas
Missi Pyle as Mrs. Beauregarde
James Fox as Mr. Salt
Adam Godley as Mr. Teavee
Franziska Troegner as Mrs. Gloop
AnnaSophia Robb as Violet Beauregarde
Julia Winter as Veruca Salt
Jordan Fry as Mike Teavee
Philip Wiegratz as Augustus Gloop

First Position

Every year, ballet dancers from the ages of 9 to 19 work hard to compete in the Youth America Grand Prix Competition (YAGP).  The YAGP is "the world’s largest global network of dance. It fulfills its mission of dance education through scholarship auditions, master classes, alumni services, educational and outreach activities, performances, and films."  The competition is held every year, with the finals in New York City.  It is an opportunity for young dancers to be noticed and gives older dancers scholarships to the top international ballet schools or contracts to the top international ballet companies.

In 2010, filmmaker Bess Kargman followed the stories of 6 top dancers as they prepared for their 5 minutes before the judges.  In the Pre-Competitive Age Division (dancers from 9-11 years old): Aran Bell and Gaya Bommer Yemini; Junior Age Division (12-14 years old): Miko Fogarty, Michaela DePrince; and Senior Age Division (15-19 years old): Rebecca Houseknecht and Joan Sebastian Zamora.


Ballet is difficult, it takes dedication and grace to make it look effortless.  Like other professional athletes, they start young and dedicate money and time to their craft.  For young ballet dancers it all culminates with the YAGP.  Thousands of young dancers compete around the world for a shot at the Grand Prix.  Semi finals are held around the world, and the finalists all travel to New York for their 5 minutes on stage.  Only a few hundred dancers make it to the finals, and of that group, only a few in each category are recognized / awarded.

The dancers only have one shot to prove why they are on stage.  It doesn't matter if you make a mistake or have an injury/sickness.  Kargman films the journeys of 6 dancers who make it to the finals.  She shows their victories in the semi finals and practicing at home.  But it isn't all rosy, they also talk about what the dancers give up to pursue their dreams: a childhood, a competitive profession that they won't all achieve (even though it is their dream).  It is expensive and injuries can ruin or stall a career, and yet this is the dream for these dancers.

Kargman used to study ballet, and for her first film, she wanted to dive into a world that she already knew.  She films the beautiful gifts these dancers possess and doesn't interfere with their stories.  All of the dancers competed in the YAGP 2010.  Before the credits roll she checks in with each dancer to see what happened after the competition.

It is a fascinating film, whether you love or hate ballet.  The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011 to critical acclaim.  It was named as the first runner-up for Best Documentary at the festival.

First Position (2011) 95 minutes
Director: Bess Kargman
Starring: Aran Bell
Rebecca Houseknecht
Joan Sebastian Zamora
Miko Fogarty
Jules Jarvis Fogarty
Michaela DePrince
Gaya Bommer Yemini

Finding Dory

"I remember it like it was yesterday. Of course, I don't really remember yesterday all that well."

A year after swimming across the ocean to rescue Nemo (Rolence), life has returned to normal.  Dory (DeGeneres) decided to stay with Marlin (Brooks) to help raise Nemo.  Dory is still forgetful and her memory loss tends to cause more work for the fish around her.  One day, while helping with Nemo's class, she finally remembers her parents: Jenny (Keaton) and Charlie (Levy).  She remembers her home is at "the Jewel of Morro Bay" in California and is determined to find her home and parents.  Marlin is reluctant to swim across the ocean again, but he and Nemo decide to accompany Dory on her quest.  Along the way they get separated and Dory is taken by humans to the Marine Life Institute.

In the Institute she is taken to quarantine and tagged.  In quarantine she meets a 7-legged octopus named Hank (O'Neill), who agrees to help her in exchange for her tag so he can spend the rest of his life in captivity.  As they travel through the Institute more memories come rushing back, including her old friend Destiny (Olson) the near-sighted whale.  Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo befriend 2 sea lions: Fluke (Elba) and Rudder (West), who help them infiltrate the Institute.  Can Dory find her family and reunite with her friends?


In 2003, Pixar Studios released their 5th film Finding Nemo.  The film was a huge success and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film in 2003.  Since then, audiences have been asking for a sequel.  Writer and director Andrew Stanton didn't want to rush the sequel and ruin the magic of the film, and chose to wait until he had an idea.  In 2012 he finally found an idea, and with the blessing of Pixar CEO, he began working on the film.  He hired Victoria Strouse to write the script and he would direct.

For the sequel, they decided to focus on the story of Dory and figuring out her background.  They had to address the unique situation of Dory not remembering her past and having to reveal her past over the course of the film.  The story is set a year after the events of Finding Nemo and shows how the characters have changed and adapted after their original adventures.  Since they are traveling in the opposite direction for this film, only a few characters return for this film.  They created a new series of lovable and colorful characters to follow.  The new characters are fun and bring a new energy to the film.  Kaitlin Olson and Ty Burrell are funny as the whales, while Ed O'Neill is the breakout as grumpy octopus Hank.  And I enjoyed Idris Elba and Dominic West as the sea lions.

The story is emotional, while still bringing on the laughs.  Dory is great, but it is hard to top or repeat the success of Nemo.  It was good, but I liked Nemo better.

Finding Dory (2016) 97 minutes
Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Ellen DeGeneres as Dory
Albert Brooks as Marlin
Ed O'Neill as Hank
Hayden Rolence as Nemo
Kaitlin Olson as Destiny
Ty Burrell as Bailey
Diane Keaton as Jenny
Eugene Levy as Charlie
Idris Elba as Fluke
Dominic West as Rudder
Sloane Murray as Young Dory

The Reunion (2011)

"You know, there's no "I" in team, Sammie boy."

"No, but there's an "I" in family, and I'm still the oldest. So shut up."

The Cleary family does not get along.  After the death of their father, the children gather for his funeral.  Oldest son Sam (Cena) is a police officer who was recently suspended.  Leo (Embry) is a bail bondsman with money problems.  Daughter Nina (Smart) is the responsible one and the one who sat by their father on his deathbed.  And Douglas (Holbrook) is a thief who was recently released from prison.  They are surprised to learn that their father left each of them 3 million dollars, but there are conditions: the brothers must work together for at least 2 years to earn their inheritance.

The brothers argue about everything.  They agree to work together after learning that one of Leo's bails is involved in kidnapping one of the wealthiest men in the US, Kyle Wills (Henry).  With some money from Nina, they head to Mexico to begin the search.  Immediately they clash with Theresa Trujillo (Loren), who reluctantly agrees to help them.  With Mexican crime boss Verdugo (Garfield) tracking their progress, can they find the bail jumper and claim the bounty or will their bickering destroy them?


In 2002, the WWE created a film studio to give their wrestlers the opportunity to star in feature films.  The films star WWE wrestlers alongside established Hollywood actors.  Most of their films are mindless action flicks with some occasional humor and minimal plot, and capitalize on the in-the-ring personalities of the wrestlers.

The film attempts to be both a western and family film... with one note characters and cliches.  The characters regularly fight about which member of Bonanza they would be, which almost works.  The film reveals around John Cena's Sam, who barely cracks a smile in the film.  Sam is the muscle, Ethan Embry's Leo is the mouth, and Boyd Holbrook's Doug is the looks.  Embry, the most established actor of the 3, displays the most personality and range... but his character also gets grating.  Amy Smart is sorely underused.  The rest of the characters aren't fully developed: the serve a purpose and some get a name, but don't have motivations or personality.

You probably haven't heard of this film.  I don't think it received a big theatrical run, and is currently available on several online streaming platforms.  It is ok for what it is: an opportunity for Cena to work on his acting career... don't expect much more than that and you may enjoy it.

The Reunion (2011) 90 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language
Director: Mike Pavone
Starring: John Cena as Sam Cleary
Ethan Embry as Leo Cleary
Boyd Holbrook as Douglas Cleary
Amy Smart as Nina Cleary
Michael Rispoli as Marcus Canton
Gregg Henry as Kyle Wills
Lela Loren as Theresa Trujillo
Jack Conley as Jack Nealon
J.D. Garfield as Verdugo

Jurassic World

"We have the best structural engineers in the world." 

"Yeah, so did Hammond..."

Twenty years after John Hammond attempted to open the theme park Jurassic Park, the theme park Jurassic World has been successfully operating for 10 years.  The geneticists, led by Dr. Henry Wu (Wong), have successfully created several dinosaurs and are preparing to unveil their first hybrid: the Indominus Rex.  The dinosaurs in the park wear tracking devices and are carefully monitored.  The park is owned by businessman Simon Masrani (Khan) and Claire Dearing (Howard) runs the park.

As they prepare to show the Indominus Rex to the world, Masrani insists that Owen Gardy (Pratt) inspect the cage to make sure it is safe.  Owen is the trainer for the Velociraptors and the alpha in their pack.  As he is arrives at the cage, the Indominus Rex excapes and heads towards the park.  Meanwhile, Claire's nephews Zach (Robinson) and Gray (Simpkins), are visiting the park and exploring in gyrosphere.  Can Claire and Owen find her nephews and stop the Indominus Rex before it kills again?


Since 2001 there have been rumors about a fourth film in the Jurassic Park series (after Jurassic Park in 1993, The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997, and Jurassic Park III in 2001).  Most of the cast from the original cast expressed interest in returning to the series.  However, the script and cast changed numerous times over the years.  They ultimately settled on an idea written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, with some re-writes by Derek Connolly and director Colin Trevorrow.

Unlike the other films in the series, this one features a functioning dinosaur park.  Only one character from the original films appears in this one, Dr. Henry Wu, portrayed by B.D. Wong.  He has a bigger role in this film than he did in the original.  Paleontologist Jack Horner again served as an advisor on the film, and had a small cameo as well.  Despite Horner's involvement, the film was criticized by paleontologists for failing to accurately portray the dinosaurs in the film (lack of feathers, etc).

In many ways the plot is rehashing the original Jurassic Park film, but with higher stakes (since there are more people on the island).  The acting is ok, but not great.  It is a big, loud summer blockbuster in a popular franchise, so you get what you expect.  It's not terrible, but it's not a great movie either.

A sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is scheduled for a 2018 release, with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard reprising their roles from this film, and could potentially appear in subsequent sequels.

Jurassic World (2015) 124 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt as Owen Grady
Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing
Vincent D'Onofrio as Vic Hoskins
Ty Simpkins as Gray Mitchel
Nick Robinson as Zach Mitchell
Omar Sy as Barry
B.D. Wong as Dr. Henry Wu
Irrfan Khan as Simon Masrani
Jake Johnson as Lowery Cruthers
Lauren Lapkus as Vivian

Break Point (2014)

Jimmy Price (Sisto) is an abrasive professional tennis player.  He plays doubles tennis, but his actions on and off the court tend to drive his partners away.  After qualifying for a big tournament, his latest partner quits.  Jimmy still wants to compete and turns to his estranged younger brother Darren (Walton).  Jimmy and Darren used to compete together, but are barely speaking now.

Darren left tennis behind and is a substitute teacher.  He reluctantly agrees to play tennis with Jimmy again.  As the brothers start training, they are joined by Barry (Rush), one of Darren's former students.  Their father Jack (Simmons) and an old friend Heather (Smart) are excited about the reunion.  Can Jimmy and Darren leave the past behind and win the competition?


I discovered this film through Amazon Prime.  The trailer looked promising, so I gave it try.  Your feelings about the film will depend on 1) how you feel about cursing and 2) can you handle Jeremy Sisto's character?  If you can handle both of those scenarios, you will probably survive the film.

Sisto's character is abrasive, but also has funny moments.  He gets to let loose and be the reckless one, while David Walton's Darren is straight-man to his antics.  J.K. Simmons is great as their dad.  Joshua Rush is good as well, and works well with all three of his male co-stars.  There are some good cameos (comedians in little but memorable roles).

It's a typical sports film.  Nothing new here, but the tennis matches are fun to watch.  It's not a great film, but it's not terrible either.  It's a sports film with some humor (despite being billed as a comedy).

Break Point (2014) 90 minutes
Rating: R for language and sexual references
Director: Jay Karas
Starring: Jeremy Sisto as Jimmy Price
David Walton as Darren Price
J.K. Simmons as Dr. Jack Price
Amy Smart as Heather
Joshua Rush as Barry

Adam DeVine as Nick