Spotlight

Spotlight is a movie based off of true events. It is written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy and directed by Tom McCarthy. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian D'Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci make up the amazing cast.

Summary: Spotlight is about the uncovering of the massive scandal of child-molestation in Catholic churches primarily within Boston. The Boston Globe has a section called Spotlight and it is where Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfieffer (Rachel McAdams), Matt Carroll (Brian D'Arcy James) , and Walter 'Robby' Robinson (Michael Keaton) work. The Boston Globe gets a new boss (Live Schreiber) who meets with the heads of each department and tells Robby to do a more in depth investigation on an article by Eileen McNamara about the Geoghan case, which is about a Catholic priest molesting children. In order to do a proper investigation the paper will have to go to court to get the seal lifted off of the Geoghan documents; it is pointed out that people would consider this suing the Catholic church. Robby tells his team about the investigation; Mike says he will meets with the lawyer who defended the victims in the Geoghan case. When he visits the lawyer, Mr. Garabedian (Stanely Tucci), he is told that he can't even take notes of their conversation because the church is trying to disbar him. Mike asks is he could speak to some of the victims and Mr. Garabedian says he will think about it. A brings old newspaper clipping to the Spotlight office on past reports of the case; Sacha finds out through the clippings about an organization for survivors of priest molestation called S.N.A.P. Matt finds another clipping that talks about how a priest in Ohio was caught molesting children and moved to a parish in Boston where he did the same thing. They found a pattern, when a priest was discovered molesting children from his parish they would move him to another. Spotlight later meets with the leader of SNAP to figure out why the victims never told anyone. Mike goes back to Garabedian who says his clients don't want to be in the press but once Mike tells him its a Spotlight sorry, a bigger piece, Garabedian tells him to come back later that week. Sacha gets in tough with some of the victims and talks to them about their experience with the abuse in the Catholic church. When the Spotlight team meets to compare notes Mike states that the priests target kids from low income families with absent fathers who are in need of attention. They target mostly boys because the priest's actual sexuality has no basis on molesting kids; its a form of control. Mike and Robby make their way to the basement where Matt is looking at the annual directories of the priests in Boston; they say where each one is at any given time during the year. They notice that when a priest has been accused of molestation it will say "sick leave" or "emergency response" when in fact they are being moved to another parish to cover up the scandal. The team discovers that at least 6% of priests will molest a child, and out of 1,500 priests in Boston that means that there are 90 who have or are doing so. The tam compiles all their data together and have 87 priests in Boston that have molested a child. They are able to verify that all 87 priests have sone the crimes they were accused of. After more investigating and hoops to jump through the team is able to write the article and expose the Catholic church and the priests it was protecting. The morning after the article is sent out to be sold Matt and Sacha go into the office to see if they will get any calls about it even though it is a Sunday and they have off. Mike and Robby walk into the office a little bit later to find Matt and Sacha running around answering phones. Matt tells them that they are getting almost all positive responses and even some victims who have tips for them. The ending titles indicate that cover-ups were revealed all the way to the Vatican. Dozens of countries are listed where victims have come out about experience sexual abuse from Catholic priests.

Review: THIS IS A MUST SEE MOVIE!! I cannot stress this enough. It doesn't matter what religion you are because this type of abuse can happen in any type of church. I know some people who are Catholic and say that they had trouble watching this film because this is the religion they were raised in and to see it in such bad lighting shook them to their core. However, I must say that sticking your head in the sand about this issue will not help solve this problem. As a film in itself it was gripping and intense throughout. Close attention needs to be paid because the names and dates can get confusing. The actors mastered their characters and did subtle things to remind the audience of how human they are. I give this film nothing but positive reviews. If you have not seen or heard of it watch it as soon as you can and become more educated about this issue as a whole.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is written and directed by Burr Steers that is based off of the novel by Jane Austen. It stars Lily James, Same Riley, Suki Waterhouse, Douglas Booth, Jack Huston, Lena Headey, and Sally Phillips. The basic plot of the story remains from the novel but a zombie outbreak is added.

Summary: Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) is a wealthy zombie killer and goes to the home of a wealthy family to see about a zombie sighting. When no one states that they have been bitten he realizes flies because they are attracted to decaying flesh. When they land on the man who owns the home he tries to attack Darcy, which leads Darcy to decapitating him. One of the girls gets frightened and runs upstairs where another zombie, a female, is found and attacks her. The movie is then narrated by Mr.Bennet who explains how the outbreak happened and it is shown through animation. The audience is then introduced to the Bennet family which is made up of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their 5 daughters, Jane, Elizabeth (Lily James), Kitty, Lydia, and Mary. They all were sent to China when the outbreak first happened to study the art of hand to hand combat and sword fighting. Their mother wants them all to be married off to wealthy men and she hears of a ball being held in town, they attend. Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) and Mr. Darcy walk into the ball and Bingley is instantly dran to Jane Bennet. Elizabeth overhears Mr. Darcy make an insulting remake about her to Mr. Bingley and runs outside where she sees a woman she knows who turns out to be a zombie. The woman is about to tell Elizabeth something but her head gets blown off by Darcy. A bunch of zombies start attacking the party and the Bennet girls spring into action and Darcy witnesses the awesomeness of the Bennet sisters. Jane is sent to Bingley's house on a rainy day to have dinner there when she encounters a zombie and is attacked. She is confined in a room in Bingley's home due to fear that she could've been bitten. When Elizabeth gets there she sees Jane and inspects the wound, which is when Darcy walks in and releases flies into the room to see if they'll land on Jane. Elizabeth catches them all and gives them back to Darcy after she crushes them. After Jane gets better they attend a ball held by Bingley. Elizabeth meets a soldier named Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston) and he tells her of his past with Darcy. The ball gets attacked by zombies and Bingley gets knocked out and Darcy and Elizabeth fight the zombies together. The Bennet's cousin, Mr. Collins, comes to visit and he tells Mrs. Bennet of his intentions of marrying one of her daughters. He later proposes to Elizabeth and tells her that she will have to give up fighting once they get married, she refuses his offer. Mr. Collins ends up marrying Elizabeth's friend Charlotte. Elizabeth visits Charlotte once she is married and they have dinner at Mr. Collins patronage's house, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (who is a well known fighter). Darcy is there and the audience finds out that she is his aunt and wants Darcy to marry her daughter Anne. Elizabeth goes with Mr.Wickham to a church in the In-Between and discovers that the people inside are all zombies who are staying alive by feeding off of pig brains. Wickham wants Elizabeth to help him help the zombies but she isn't sure how she feels about it. Darcy persuades the Bingleys to move away and then goes to propose to Elizabeth who is furious at what he's done and fights him. Later Darcy writes her a letter explaining why he told Bingley to move away as well as the past he had with Wickham. Lady Catherine goes to the Bennet's house where her body guard attacks Elizabeth while Lady Catherine explains that she doesn't want Darcy to marry her but her daughter, Anne. Elizabeth fights of the guard and he gets crushed by bricks; Lady Catherine states that she respects Elizabeth and leaves her alone. The zombies head towards London and Elizabeth joins Darcy in the In-Between. Darcy and Wickham fight and when Darcy impales Wickham it is revealed that Wickham has a zombie bite meaning he was undead all along. Before Wickham has the chance to kill Darcy Elizabeth rides in and chops his arm off and knocks him out. Darcy and Elizabeth are riding across the bridge that is about to be blown up to keep the zombies out of London. The bridge is blown as they are riding across and it knocks them off the horse, injuring Darcy. During this time Elizabeth confesses her love for him. Later, once Darcy has recovered, he finds Elizabeth and tells her that he heard what she said on the bridge. They kiss and agree to get married. They have a joint wedding with Jane and Bingley and live happily ever after; until after a few of the credits role the couples see in the distance a zombie army being lead by Mr. Wickham.

Review: I liked this movie but I feel that it could have had more action sequences. The ones that did happen were really well done. The makeup and costumes were fantastic and all of the actors did a good job. I must admit that the voice of Darcy was irritating and the woman who played Mrs. Bennet was annoying. It stuck to the story line of the original "Pride and Prejudice" pretty well but I feel that the bonds between the sisters weren't as prevalent. All in all it was a very entertaining movie to watch and I hope they make a sequel because they left it open at the end!

Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! is written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It has an A-list cast composed of George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson,Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Frances McDormand.

Summary: The film takes place in Hollywood during the 1950's. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is the head of property protection at Capitol Pictures; he essentially keeps the stars scandals from leaking and ensures a good reputation for the studio. Eddie goes to confession and reveals that he has been smoking even though he told his wife that he has quit. Later that night he goes to a house where a young actress is taking pictures in risqué outfits and escorts her home. The next day Eddie watches a rough cut of the film "Hail, Caesar!" and then goes to a meeting with a rabbi, Protestant and Catholic clergyman, and Eastern Orthodox clergyman to talk about the portrayal of Jesus Christ in the movie. A western movie star, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) is casted in the production of a Broadway adaptation of "Merrily We Dance". When he is unable to pull of a British accent because of his Southern drawl it causes the director, Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), to complain to Eddie. During the filming of "Hail, Caesar!" it shows an extra pouring a powdered substance into the drink of the main actor, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). Later the extras go to Baird's dressing room where he passes out and they take him to a house by the beach. Baird wakes up and finds himself amongst communist, Hollywood writers having a meeting. The communists send a letter to Eddie saying that in order to get Baird back he needs to send them $100,000. Meanwhile, Burt Gurney (Channing Tatum) is introduced and he sings and dances in a musical playing a sailor who will see "no dames" for 8 months while out at sea. As all of this is going on Eddie has to deal with DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson), an actress who is pregnant with the child of a married director. Eddie decides to have DeeAnna disappear for a while and then "adopt" her own chid. They go to find Joe Silverman (Jonah Hill), a guy who has been used previously as a scapegoat to his another stars scandal, and say he is going to be the "foster" parent of the child. Hobie is set up with actress Carlotta Valdez and takes her to the premier of his movie and then they go to eat where he sees Burt taking the suitcase of ransom money. Hobie follows Burt to the beach house and finds Baird sitting alone in the living room. Baird tries to convince Hobie to join the communist party but Hobie refuses. Meanwhile, the communists take Burt to the middle of the ocean where a Soviet submarine emerges and as he climbs up the ladder with the money a small dog from the boat jumps to him causing Burt to drop the money in the ocean; he climbs into the submarine and it submerges. Hobie and Baird are driving away just as the police make their way to the beach house. When Baird returns to the studio he plans to ruin the name of the head of the studio, this prompts Eddie to slap him numerous times and tells him to proceed with "Hail, Caesar!". Baird continues with the movie and is seen giving a monologue as Jesus is hanging on the cross. This monologue is powerfully given but the he forgets one of his lines. Eddie is informed that DeeAnna and Joe met for dinner the night before and then eloped. In the last scene Eddie goes to confession again and is told by a priest that he's not that bad since he comes by so often and that God wants everyone to do what is right.

Review: I liked this movie, however with that being said I have to say that it is not for everyone! It is very dialogue heavy and moves forward at a slow pace. If you aren't familiar with the real actors of the 1950's then there will definitely be a lack of appreciation for this film. This film reveals the way it once was in Hollywood and how the stars lives were micromanaged to ensure that they wouldn't ruin their reputation or that of the studios. This is a movie that I will only see once because although I enjoyed it it doesn't seem to be one for the books. It wasn't fast paced enough to want to sit and rematch it but I really did appreciate it for what it set out to achieve and that was to pay homage to the 1950s Hollywood that most people glamorize without knowing the truth behind.