Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Released October 31st in the US.

Filmed entirely in Canada.

The story: James is a speech teacher for the deaf.

He has worked at some really prestigious schools, where he has crafted his progressive methods.

James has recently taken a job at a school for the deaf in New England. 

There he is assigned to work with a group of older deaf students.

While at lunch, James notices a young deaf woman in the kitchen, having an argument with a cook.

James asks about the woman and learns she is 25-year-old Sarah Norman, a cleaning lady who works at the school and happens to be deaf as well as mute.

James decides he would like to help Sarah, but quickly learns she is quite stubborn.

He gets to understanding that she wants no part in being understood, and most definitely does not want to learn to speak.

But James will have none of that.

While trying to bring Sarah out of her shell, the two become close and James falls in love with her.

Stars William Hurt, Philip Bosco, Allison Gompf, John F Cleary, Philip Holmes, Georgia Ann Cline, William D Byrd, Frank Carter Jr, John Limnidis, Bob Hiltermann, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, E Katherine Kerr, John Basinger, Barry Magnani. Linda Bove, Ann Hanson, James Carrington

Directed by Randa Haines

Rated R
DRAMA

Tempted (2001)

Released January 1st in the US.

Filmed entirely in Louisiana.

The story: Charlie LeBlanc is a rich businessman with a young, attractive wife named Lily.

But recently Charlie learned he doesn't have much more time to live.

Just when he is ready to make out his will, leaving everything he owns to Lily, he has a thought...

Is Lily the woman she claims to be? Does she really love Charlie like she says she does and does she deserve all his money?

Charlie befriends handsome, much younger than himself Jimmy, who happens to be working on becoming a court-appointed attorney.

Knowing Jimmy could use the money, Charlie offers him 40 thousand dollars to make a move on his wife.

Jimmy refuses at first but after meeting Lily, decides to try.

Lily then refuses Jimmy's come ons , but when she finds out that Charlie planned it all because he isn't sure he can trust her, she accepts Jimmy's advances.

But Charlie has one more trick up his sleeve that neither Jimmy nor Lily knows a thing about.

Stars Burt Reynolds, Saffron Burrows, Mike Starr, Randy Austin, Kyle Erby, Peter Facinelli, Carol Sutton, Eric Mabius, George DiCenzo, David Jensen, Lisha Brock, RL Burnside, Kenny Brown

Directed by (& story written) Bill Bennett

Rated R
MYSTERY/THRILLER

Making Monsters (2019)

Released March 25, 2021 in the US.

Filming location(s) unknown.

The story: Christian is a YouTube sensation with his prankster videos.

His girlfriend/soon-to-be wife Allison is typically the star of the videos and while she enjoys seeing Christian happy, she thinks it's time to hang up his video camera.

Also, Allison has been trying to get pregnant and recently has gone as far as taking fertility medicine, so she would rather not be stressed and scared for the sake of having a baby.

While out and about, Christian and Allison run into a friend of Christian.

He is excited to explain that he and his partner have sold their home in the city and moved out into the country.

They are now living in a church.

He invites Christian and Allison to come out and visit and they accept.

Just as excited as the friend, the couple ventures out into the country.

When they arrive, they are greeted by their friend's partner, David.

David is a kind and strange host but Christian and Allison make themselves at home.

David explains some things about the house, including the graveyard with no tombstones in the backyard.

This freaks Allison out, not to mention all the horror masks around the place that Christian's friend makes for a living.

But, the couple make the most of things.

At dinner, they find out that David's partner will not be back until the next morning.

So the three make the most of the evening by drinking, dancing, and enjoying party favors.

After they all retire for the night though, Allison wakes up to some seriously terrifying shit.

Stars Jarrett Siddall, Tim Loden, Alana Elmer, Jonathan Craig, Peter Higginson

Directed by (& story written) Justin Harding & Rob Brunner

Not Rated

MYSTERY/THRILLER/HORROR

Going In Style (1979)

Released December 25th in the US.

Filmed in New York and Nevada.

The story: Joe, Al, and Willie are three elderly men who share a home together.

They get by on welfare assistance, but barely.

One day, Joe decides he is sick and tired of sitting in the park every day, looking at the same old things.

He is also sick of suffering financially.

Joe comes up with an idea. Joe wants to hold up the local bank and he wants to take Al and Willie along as his accomplices.

Al and Willie think Joe's idea is a crazy one, but then again, they really have nothing to lose.

Stars George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg, Charles Hallahan, Pamela Payton Wright, Siobhan Keegan, Brian Neville, Constantine Hartofolis, Jean Shevlin, James Manis, Tito Goya, William Pabst, Christopher Wynkoop, John McComb, Melvin Jurdem, Joseph Sullivan, Bob Markoff

Directed by (& story partly written) Martin Brest

Rated PG
COMEDY/DRAMA

"Jesus Christ. Crying and pissing your pants, like a 3-month-old baby. You know, I guess the whole goddamned cycle is complete now."

Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)

Released September 23rd in the US.

Filmed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The story: Maggie Foley is a news reporter for Media Magazine.

She recently came up with the idea to cover a story that has been a mystery since 1964.

The story of a rock and roller named Eddie Wilson.

On March 15, 1964, Eddie's car went off a bridge in New Jersey.

His body was never found.

He had just left the recording studio, where he had finalized his latest album, 'Season In Hell'.

When Maggie went to the recording studio to check out Eddie's last album she learned that on the day after Eddie's disappearance, someone checked the tapes out of the studio.

Maggie believes that it could quite possibly mean that Eddie is still alive.

At the same time, Eddie and his band the Cruisers' music has begun making an appearance on the music charts once again.

After Maggie gets in touch with the band's keyboardist Frank Ridgeway,  and tells him she is going to reignite the memory of Eddie and the Cruisers, Frank gets a call from his old DJ friend Doc, who has also talked to Maggie.

Doc wants to resurrect the band, by cloning it and possibly making a movie, but Frank wants no part in that.

But one thing they currently do have in common is someone had broken into both of their houses and the only explanation is those missing tapes.

In search of what happened to the tapes and what could have been for the band ,  Frank begins reconnecting with the rest of the band.

Stars Ellen Barkin, Tom Berenger, Helen Schneider, Michael Pare, Joe Pantoliano, Michael 'Tunes' Antunes, Matthew Laurance, David Wilson, Kenny Vance, Joe Cates, John Stockwell, Barry Sand, Vebe Borge, Howard Johnson, Joey Balin, Bruce Brown, Robin Karfo

Directed by (& story partly written) Martin Davidson

Rated PG
DRAMA/MYSTERY/MUSIC

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Released March 2nd in the US.

Filmed entirely in California.

The story: In 1966, filmmaker Marty DiBergi visited the rock club Electric Banana in Grange Village.

What he heard there blew him away. 

Playing was the legendary British band Spinal Tap, known as one of England's loudest bands.

17 years and 15 albums later, Spinal Tap is still going strong.

In the late fall of 1982, Marty got word that the band would be releasing a new album. 

Their first in almost 6 years.

The album release would be followed by a North American tour to promote that album.

Marty jumped at the opportunity to document their tour in a rockumentary.

Along the way, many things go wrong and the audiences are not what the band anticipated.

Still, they carry on, performing their beloved songs for the people who do enjoy their music.

Stars Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, RJ Parnell, David Kaff, Tony Hendra, Harry Shearer, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley Jr,  Patrick Maher, Fran Drescher, Dana Carvey, Julie Payne, Billy Crystal, Danny Kortchmar, Patrick Macnee, Memo Vera, June Chadwick, Howard Hessman, Paul Shortino, Victory Tischler Blue, Joyce Hyser, Paul Shaffer, Archie Hahn, Anjelica Houston, Fred Willard, Russ Kunkel, Sandy Helburg, JJ Barry, Paul Benedict, George McDaniel, Zane Buzby

Directed by (& partly written) Rob Reiner

Rated R
COMEDY/MUSIC

"Talk about mud flaps, my girls' got em!"

Thriller 40 (2023)

Made for Showtime and Paramount +, airing December 2nd in the US.

The story: Michael Jackson rose to fame alongside his brothers.

But Michael was always the star of the show.

With his talent, good looks, and fantastic singing voice, Michael couldn't miss.

As he got older, his looks changed, but his talent and inspiration only grew.

He was confident it was time to venture out on his own as a solo artist.

He released four solo albums that didn't do much on the charts.

Then, in 1979, Michael released  'Off the Wall'. 

It was a much more adult album than his prior releases and he was sure it would be a great success.

The album did well but did not end up being the multi-award winner he imagined.

Michael knew his next musical endeavor would have to be much better.

Four years later, after much hard work, Michael was finally ready to release his next solo album. 

Recording through November of 1982, 'Thriller' was released on November 29th of that same year.

Almost immediately, 'Thriller' was a giant success and Michael's fandom grew and grew.

Michael was a big fan of MTV, but found black artists were not being played due to MTV being a "rock and roll station."
When all that changed and Michael's videos began making an appearance on the channel, his album sales picked up.

Although, by mid-1983, 'Thriller' was seeing a decline in sales. 

Michael convinced his record company Epic to release the seventh and last single from 'Thriller'.

The custom-made video that was made with lots of vision by Michael himself came along as well.

This 13-minute mini-movie/music video of the album's title track was directed by movie director John Landis.

It made its MTV debut on December 2, 1983.

The video most definitely showed Michael's hard work and pure dedication to his craft.

This song/video became the album's winning element...

The 'Thriller' album became record-breaking, winning 8 awards at the 26th Grammy Awards, proving Michael had finally made it on his own terms.

Michael was living high and happy, finally filling his own shoes without his brothers and loving every minute of it.

But, in 1984, when Michael's father believed that it was time for Michael to reunite with his brothers for a world tour, and an unnecessary sponsor/PR stunt that followed went horribly wrong, everything quickly took a turn for to worst for Michael...

Stars Steve Barron, Mary J Blige, John Branca, Misty Copeland, Ed Eckstine, Matt Forger, Kelly Frydman, Nelson George, Steven Ivory, Paul Jackson Jr, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, John Landis, Steve Lukather, Maxwell, Greg Phillinganes, Steven Ray, Mark Ronson, Raphael Saadiq, Brooke Shields, Kent Olaf, Usher, Maxine Waters Willard, Julia Waters, Oren Waters 

Directed by Nelson George

Not Rated

DOCUMENTARY/HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY/MUSIC

Hope Springs (2012)

Released August 8th in the US.

Filmed entirely in Connecticut.

The story: Kate and Arnold have been married for 31 years.

They are both very happy with their lives but Kate is starting to feel quite distant from Arnold.

She feels that the spark in their marriage has diminished and she wants that back.

Kate attempts to be romantic but Arnold doesn't seem to notice.

After reading a book by marriage counselor Dr. Feld, Kate signs herself and Arnold up for the doctor week week-long counseling session.

Arnold is completely against this but Kate perseveres. When Arnold realizes Kate is not giving in, he goes.

But right from the get-go, Arnold pushes back.

After realizing this is all upsetting Kate, Arnold makes an effort.

Time after time, after Arnold makes an effort the only way he knows how and Kate ends disappointed, Arnold is told he better make sure that he has made every attempt to help his marriage before he gives up completely.

Stars Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, Patch Darragh, Brett Rice, Steve Carell, Elisabeth Shue, Becky Ann Baker, Danny Flaherty, Charles Techman, Damian Young, Ann Harada, Jack Haley, Susan Misner, Rony Clanton, Mimi Rogers

Directed by David Frankel

Rated PG13

DRAMA/COMEDY

Hell Camp : Teen Nightmare (2023)

Made for Netflix, instant streaming on December 23rd in the US.

Filming location(s) unknown.

The story: In 1988, a former United States Air Force Sergent named Steve Cartisano had an idea.

Always good with kids, Steve believed he could help them.

He decided to start a company called Challenger Foundation.

The Challenger Foundation was a wilderness therapy camp for rebellious, troubled teens.

Steve believed in his idea as well as his staff who worked with him.

It would cost the parents of their troubled teen sixteen thousand dollars to enroll them in a boot camp-style therapy where the child was taken from their home and forced to go into the desert of Utah.

The program was 63 days of a forced 500-mile hike,  with very little food and sleep, and commands to obey their therapy leader, no matter how harsh their environment seemed to them.

There was never any intention of punishing or hurting the kids but rather teaching them to lead more positive lives.

Some kids learned the valuable lessons the camp was meant to teach but others have very little happy experiences to speak about.

Things at the camp went on the same as usual until allegations of abuse began surfacing.

Stars Chris Smith, Lance "Horsehair" Jaggar, camp survivor Nadine, camp survivor Kinney, camp survivor Matthew, Matthew's mother Kari, Debbie Cartisano, Max Jackson, Sharon Fuqua, David Fuqua, Charles Brofman, camp survivor Adam, Adam's father Larry, camp survivor Ashley, Catie Cartisano, camp survivor Kurt, camp survivor Amber, MaryLou

Directed by Liza Williams

Not Rated

DOCUMENTARY/HISTORY