The Swimmer (1968)

Released May 15th in the US.

Filmed entirely in Connecticut.

The story : Neddy has been away for most of the summer until just recently.

He shows up at a good friends swimming pool one afternoon and welcomed with open arms.

Neddy decides , after visiting for a bit and not really paying attention to much more than what goes on in his own head , that he can and should swim home...

By "swim home" , Neddy means there are pools from his friends place , straight through the county , like a river , to his own home.

On Neddys' "adventure" home, not only does he encounter many beloved friends who are happy to see him but he also runs into many that dont want to see him and never ever want to see him again.

Stars Burt Lancaster , Marge Champion , Richard McMurray , Charles Drake , Kim Hunter , Janet Landgard , Tony Bickley , Bill Fiore , Nancy Cushman , Rose Gregorio , Bernie Hamilton , House Jameson , Jimmy Joyce , Jan  Miner , Diane Muldaur , Janice Rule , Michael Kearney , Joan Rivers

Directed by Frank Perry & Sydney Pollack

Rated PG
DRAMA

"You're the captain of your soul. That's what counts."

Love & Death (2023)

Released as a 7-part mini-series on HBOMax, airing on instant streaming April 27th in the US.

Filmed entirely in Texas.

Based on truths.

The story: 1980. Wylie, Texas. 
Candy Montgomery is a wife, mother, devoted friend, and church lady.

Her life could not be any more ideal.

But Candy is bored. Namely with the lack of excitement in her marriage.

She begins taking notice of fellow church go-er/friend Allan Gore.

Husband of friend and church lady Betty.

Not only does Candy take notice, but she also starts to obsess about Allan.

That is, until one evening, she approaches him, telling him she is interested in him.

Allan is taken aback by this but not appalled.

The next thing he knows, Candy is asking him what he thinks about having an affair...

When he agrees, Candy sets in motion a whole plan of how things will go.

After some time, the scenario begins working for both Candy and Allan.

But when Betty decides to try and bring the fire back into their love life, things quickly change between Candy and Allan.

Candy and Allan begin seeing less and less of each other.

Then Candy's husband finds out about her and Allan's affair, which causes them to begin putting their love life back together.

Just when Candy starts living her life as she had been before the affair, things with her friend Betty start to go downhill pretty quickly.

Stars Elizabeth Olsen, Patrick Fugit, Lily Rabe, Jesse Plemons, Krysten Ritter, Amelie Dallimore, Liam Pileggi, Elizabeth Marvel, Olivia Grace Applegate, Sara Burke, Kira Pozehl, Keir Gilchrist, Harper Heath, Bonnie Gayle Sparks, Jennie Page, Aaron Jay Rome, Tom Pelphrey, Matthew Posey

Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter & Clark Johnson

Rated TVMA
HISTORY/DRAMA/SERIES/TV

Whitney Houston : I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022)

Released December 23rd in the US.

Filmed in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida.

Based on truths.

The story: In 1983, 19-year-old Whitney Elizabeth Houston was singing in her church choir while singing background along with her brother for their mother Cissy, who sang lead, at nightclubs in New Jersey.

Whitney was ready for stardom but she didn't know it.

One evening, Cissy set it up for Arista record executive Clive Davis to hear and see her perform, knowing he would sign her.

Cissy was right.

Clive was blown away and knew he could make Whitney a star with a whole lot of money.

Whitney knew this would bring a lot of work on her part, but she had no idea of the constant heartache she would encounter.

She became famous and known worldwide almost overnight, every song she put out was a giant hit.

But that kind of instant success can take a toll on anyone, let alone someone so young.

She loved being famous but she couldn't deal with the people in her life always making choices for her, telling her what to do, or the haters that wanted to doubt her.

By the mid-90s, Whitney was worn down and out and just wanted to do what Whitney wanted to do.

Relentless hard work, constant hassle, the rocky relationship with her husband Bobby Brown, and an ongoing drug problem that she did not want to kick all assisted in her untimely passing.

Stars Naomi Ackie, Tamara Tunie, Clarke Peters, Daniel Washington, JaQuan Malik Jones, Nafessa Williams, Stanley Tucci, Dave Heard, Kris Sidberry, Coffey, Lance A Williams, Ashton Sanders, Bailee Lopes, Bria Danielle Singleton, Jeffrey L Brown, Luke Crory, Devon Coull, Andrea Eversley

Directed by Kasi Lemmons

Rated PG13

BIOGRAPHY/HISTORY/MUSIC

A Man Called Otto (2022)

Released January 13, 2023 in the US.

Filmed in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Canada.

The story: Otto is an elderly man who lost his beloved wife six months ago.

Since then, all he has thought about is joining her...

He begins trying to get his things in order and when he is ready to go, he is interrupted by a family of new neighbors.

Otto's new neighbors will not go away, no matter how onery he is towards them.

He tries and tries to get on with his goal, but something always stops him.

Eventually, after constantly reminiscing about his wife while helping others around him when they really could use the help, Otto realizes that alive is where he really needs to be for the time being.

Stars Tom Hanks, John Higgins, Lily Kozub, Cameron Britton, Mariana Trevino, Manuel Garcia Rulfo, Christiana Montoya, Alessandra Perez, Max Pavel, Juanita Jennings, Peter Lawson Jones, Mack Bayda, Rachel Keller, Truman Hanks, Emonie Ellison, Lavel Schley, Mike Birbiglia, Julian Manjerico

Directed by Marc Forster

Rated PG13

REMAKE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Halston (2021)

Released as a five-part mini-series on Netflix, airing on instant streaming May 14th in the US.

Filmed entirely in New York.

Based on truths.

The story: As a child, Roy "Halston" Frowick wanted nothing more than to bring his unhappy mother joy.

At a very young age, he brought that joy into his mothers' life by creating her brilliantly lovely hats...

As an adult, Halston continued his work by making hats that were creative and highly sought after.

But with time, things change.

Soon, Halston was creating dresses as well as meeting and befriending many famous people.

His connections, some with an endless cash flow, helped him become the empire of some very popular and unique fashions, making him and his associates millions.

Going into business with a wealthy businessman who never said no didn't hurt things either.

But after living the high life for ten years, doom was inevitable.

It wasn't until Halston let bad relationships, drug abuse, and the selling of his brand name be the end of his fashion career forever.

Stars Maxim Swinton, Ewan McGregor, David Pittu, Rebecca Dayan, Krysta Rodriguez, Sullivan Jones, Deya Danielle Drake, Bill Pullman, Gian Franco Rodriguez, Megan Danielle Gerard, Dilone, Eric T Miller, Molly Jobe, Siezka Rose, Alanna Arrington, Jenny Wong, Freja Zeuthen, Jason Kravitz

Directed by Daniel Minahan

Rated TVMA
BIOGRAPHY/HISTORY/DRAMA/TV/SERIES

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)

Released April 10, 2009, in the US.

Filmed in Canada, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Romania, California, and Japan.

The story: The Super Rock Festival in Japan took place in the summer of 1984.

It featured such big names as Scorpions, Whitesnake, and Bon Jovi.

After the festival, those bands went on to sell millions of records.

Yet, Anvil, a heavy metal Canadian band since 1978, who also performed at that very same festival, did not.

Ever since that festival, Anvil has been recording and performing without ever really finding the same superstardom as those other bands they once performed alongside.

Always wanting to get their music out and perform, lead singer/guitarist Steve Kudlow, AKA "Lips" lives his life, day to day, infamously.

He is a family man who enjoys his life. Although he would much rather be living the high life of a true rock and roller.

"Lips" is constantly looking for any way to get to that higher place,  making every effort to see his dreams come true for himself and the rest of the band.

Their journey takes them on a small stage tour across Europe, a recording studio thanks to the much-appreciated help and direction from longtime friend/producer Chris "CT" Tsangarides, and a heavy metal music festival in Japan.

Stars Malcolm Dome, Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian, Lemmy, Slash, Tom Araya, Johnny Z, Rob Reiner, "Cut Loose", "Mad Dog", Gary Greenblatt, Toby Kudlow, Jane, "Droid", Tyler, Ginny, Averey, Ivan Hurd, Glenn Five, Tiziana Arrigoni, Michael Schenker, Brian Robertson AKA "Robbo", Carmine Appice, Atsushi Komoike, Masa Eto, JJ French, Tommy Aldridge, Olimp Boros , Stefan Boros, Gary Kudlow, Rhonda Gibson, Dr. Jeffrey Kudlow, Eniko Reiner, William Howell, Frasier Hill

Directed by Sacha Gervasi

Not Rated

DOCUMENTARY/BIOGRAPHY/HISTORY/MUSIC

2nd Chance (2022)

Released January 22nd in the US.

Filmed in Detroit.

The story: As a young man, Richard Davis owned and operated two pizza places in Detroit, Michigan.

When he began having problems being held up at gunpoint he got an idea.

Richard decided to invent concealable bulletproof vests that he relentlessly tested on himself.

Once Richard's vests began taking flight in the armed forces world, he quickly became a hero.

His business, Second Chance, only grew and grew and became the largest body armor company in the world.

Richard saw his share of problems with the law but it wasn't until the materials that the vests were made of changed did problems really arise.

That's when things got out of hand dangerous.

Stars Richard Davis, (voice) Ramin Bahrani, Karen McCraney, Barbara Schaffer, Laura Schaffer, Pat Crawford, Matt Davis, Aaron Westrick, Angela Watson, Kathleen Davis, Kim Westrick, Tim Paczesny, David Zeman, Ed Bachner, Brenda McLees, Bruce McArthur, Jamie Zeppetella, Jakob Zeppetella, Steve Kohn, Clifford Washington 

Directed by (& story written) Ramin Bahrani

Not Rated

BIOGRAPHY/HISTORY/DOCUMENTARY