Sunshine on Leith (2013)

 Pros: The second half of this film is a true masterpiece, piecing together numerous songs by The Proclaimers, the cast is filled with realistic characters portrayed by talent actor, the film contains three love stories: Davy (George MacKay) and his sister's co-worker, Yvonne (Antonia Thomas), his sister Liz (Freya Manor) and his friend, Ally (Kevin Guthrie) and his parents, Jean and Robert (Jane Horrocks and Peter Mullen), ready to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Everything is going fine and then seemingly all three couples implode at the same time, one never healing. Still, it is a great, little film.

Cons: The first half flies by, which is incredibly unfortunate, The meet-cute between Yvonne and Davy is non-existent, and their courtship is heavily rushed albeit realistic. And the scenes between songs are sometimes rushed, especially in the aforementioned first half of the film. The pacing was certainly lacking cohesion in the beginning of the film, which is just devastating especially when the second half was so good. 

Recommend: Yes

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-The fact that this film wasn't George MacKay's breakthrough is mind-boggling and unacceptable. Instead, we would have to wait six years until 1917 for him to receive the credit he deserved, though his supporting turn in 2016's Captain Fantastic was likewise brilliant. 

-Antonia Thomas would find success on The Good Doctor when she is capable of so much more, such as headlining her own show. 

-I have to nitpick, where does Yvonne's bag go for the last scene?

-You should never blame the child for the sins of their parents. 

-It is sad that Ally re-enlists just so he feels wanted.

-This film does touch on some important subjects, including PTSD and does so well, without bogging it down and making this a truly depressing film.

-Liz picks herself over a man, a move that rarely happens in so-called rom-coms but it is refreshing to see as she wouldn't have been happy in the long run had she settled down with Ally. 

-The songs do fit in pretty well with the plot, thank goodness, the film would have failed without that.

-However, hardly any of the talented extras (especially from the final scene) are credited, which is a huge mistake.

-Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman) is the director, for the record. 

-I have to thank Youtube's Ms. Mojo for bringing this little film to my attention. 

Night Must Fall (1937)

Pros: A solid plotline filled with great performances, this film was originally a stage play but transferred to the big screen well. While this film may be dated, it was at least interesting, with Robert Montgomery's charming Danny, Rosalind Russell's cynical Olivia, who doesn't buy into Danny's endless charm while her rich Aunt (Dame May Whitty) does. But you should always beware of the charming ones. And the plot of a murder mystery never gets old. 

Cons: Accents are all over the place. The film is set in England and while some of the maids and Danny have solid accents, Russell still sounds all American while the British Whitty just sounds super regal. And yes, the set is limited, taking place mostly in Whitty's huge house, though a select few scenes occur elsewhere. 

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-We all know what was in that wicker basket, the victim's head. 

-I hate when men say women are more attractive without glasses. While it may be true, being able to see your surroundings is also sexy.

-I like that Russell ended up with her aunt's kind-hearted lawyer rather than the male lead.

-Both Montgomery and Whitty were Oscar-nominated for this film and certainly deserved those nominations with complex and layered roles. 

They Won't Forget (1937)

 Pros: This film had a good albeit barebones plotline, more like bullet points which needed to be filled in, but still, the plot had a unique twist, turning it from something ordinary into what should have been extraordinary, but wasn't. However, the cast (and its a big one) is all pitch perfect, too bad the screenplay let them down.

Cons: Well, while the plot had the material to be something great, it failed on all accounts. Mary Clay (Lana Turner, in her screen debut) is murdered but we receive no details as to how she was killed, just that her body was found in the basement. And the DA, Andrew Griffin (Claude Rains), not to be confused with Andy Griffith needs big win so he charges northern professor, Robert Hale (Edward Norris) with the crime though there are several more viable suspects, but it was at least nice to see that the African American janitor (Clinton Rosemond) wasn't charged. Still, this film should have been so much better if there was more screen time and that pesky Hays code wasn't a factor.

Recommend: Albeit an important film, no, because it just wasn't good enough for the material and cast it had.

Grade: B

Side Notes;

-Seriously, who murdered Mary Clay? I need to know. My opinion, I think Mary's death was actually a tragic accident. She heard a noise and tripped down the steps, falling to her death. But the autopsy is never revealed. 

-Mary's boyfriend (Elisha Cook, Jr.) had been with her for four years and barely kissed her, only in the south in the 1930s would that actually be the case.

-The north and south had different days to celebrate Memorial Day and it was called something different up in the north.

-I find it hard to believe that Hale would hold classes on Memorial Day as he should have aware that the students had the day off of classes. 

-Hale is also largely convicted by heresy, public opinion and rumors, which is sad. 

The Cider House Rules (1999)

 Pros: The solid, albeit slightly predictable, plot line along with the solid acting (even from Tobey MaGuire, though he's the same character here as in Pleasantville), and the great scenery, this film is what I would consider a must watch, though it wasn't as groundbreaking as American Beauty, it is worthy of being watched just as much and remains as relevant then as it is now.

Cons: Well, I wasn't thrilled with predicting one of the main twists (Homer [MaGuire] was going to finally perform an illegal abortion on his co-worker, Rose [Erykah Badu], despite him being against the same), and I also didn't understand why Candy (Charlize Theron) had an abortion in the first place when Wally (Paul Rudd) was supportive and they seemed to be in love.  

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-While Delroy Lindo's character seems like a good guy, it is made to seem like he had sex with his daughter. I still suspect she was raped by her co-worker as he was a nasty man.

-The orphanage does need more funding as the only film Homer's ever seen in King Kong.

-The issue of abortions never seems to go away.

-One young woman died because of a botched abortion, which is something that should never happen in a first world country. 

-The cast is great, with great support from Charlize Theron to Kate Nelligan, Jane Alexander, Kathy Baker, Kiernan Culkin and Michael Caine who did win his second Oscar for this role. Plus J.K. Simmons a very small role. 

-Caine's doctor Larch also had an issue and needed ether to go to sleep which isn't good.

-Homer ends up back where he started but he needed to leave how much the orphanage valued him.