The Reel Dr. Bob

DECEMBER 8, 2022-

DEAR FRIENDS:

REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN ACCESS MY NEWSLETTER DIRECTLY FROM MY WEBSITE AT– www.thereeldrbob.com

QUICK LOOK AT MY FAVORITES OF THE WEEK-

1) BELFAST–

2) THE SWIMMERS–

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MOVIES I SAW THIS WEEK-

1) BELFAST- 2021. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “BELFAST is a movie straight from Branagh’s own experience. A nine-year-old boy must chart a path towards adulthood through a world that has suddenly turned upside down. His stable and loving community and everything he thought he understood about life is changed forever but joy, laughter, music and the formative magic of the movies remain.”

11/10/21- Very good reviews for this drama. TRDB.

12/1/21- I liked this movie very much. Lucky there were sub-titles. TRDB.

2) THE SWIMMERS– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Based on a true story, THE SWIMMERS follows the journey from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Two young sisters embark on a harrowing journey as refugees, putting both their hearts and champion swimming skills to heroic use.”

11/27/22- Fairly good reviews for this drama. TRDB.

12/4/22- I liked the movie despite the obvious crowd-pleaser format. A true story about courage and family. Netflix.

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NEW MOVIES IN THEATERS AND/OR STREAMING-

1) THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past.”

11/30/22- Excellent reviews for this drama. TRDB.

2) RETURN TO SEOUL– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “On an impulse to reconnect with her origins, Freddie, 25, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. The headstrong young woman starts looking for her biological parents in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.”

12/3/22- Excellent reviews for this drama. TRDB.

3) LOWNDES COUNTY AND THE ROAD TO BLACK POWER– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “In the mid-1960s, Lowndes County, Alabama had zero registered Black voters despite an 80% Black population. Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, this documentary chronicles the citizens’ movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers led by Stokely Carmichael who risked their lives for Black voting rights.”

12/3/22- Excellent reviews for this documentary. TRDB.

4) TANTURA– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “The tape-recorded words “erase it” take on new weight in the context of history and war. When the State of Israel was established in 1948, war broke out and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated in its aftermath. Israelis know this as the War of Independence. Palestinians call it “Al Nakba” (the Catastrophe). In the late 1990s, graduate student Teddy Katz conducted research into a large-scale massacre that had allegedly occurred in the village of Tantura in 1948. His work later came under attack and his reputation was ruined, but 140 hours of audio testimonies remain.”

12/4/22- Excellent reviews for this documentary. TRDB.

5) SR.- 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Robert Downey Jr. pays tribute to his late father in this documentary chronicling the life and eclectic career of pioneering filmmaker Robert Downey Sr.”

12/4/22- Excellent reviews for this documentary. TRDB.

6) LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Marrying Sir Clifford Chatterley, Connie’s life of wealth and privilege seems set as she takes the title of Lady Chatterley. Yet this idealistic union gradually becomes an incarceration when Clifford returns from the First World War with injuries that have left him unable to walk. When she meets and falls for Oliver Mellors, the gamekeeper on the Chatterley family estate, their secret trysts lead her to a sensual, sexual awakening.”

12/4/22- Good reviews for this re-make of the classic. TRDB.

7) FARHA– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Farha is a 14 year old girl who lives in a small village in Palestine, 1948. Girls her age are traditionally married off or spoken for yet Farha wants to continue her education despite traditions and the restrictions of schooling in her village for boys only. Inseparable from her best friend Farida, who lives in the city but who spends weekends in the village, Farha dreams of joining her at a school in the city.”

12/4/22- Just 3 reviews noted and they are very good. TRDB.

8) WHAT REMAINS– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “A small town pastor is forced to reckon with an act of forgiveness when the convict he forgave for murdering his wife returns to town five years later, while the town sheriff investigates another murder that may be related.”

12/4/22- Terrible reviews from the critics and excellent ones from audiences. TRDB.

SKIP THESE-

1) EMANCIATION– This movie received terrible reviews from the critics and excellent ones from audiences.

2) FOUR SAMOSAS– Poor reviews from the critics but it faired better with audiences. TRDB.

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MOVIES PLAYING AT JACOB BURNS FILM CENTER IN PLEASANTVILLE, NY

1) THE FABELMANS–

2) THE MENU–

3) WHITE NOISE–

4) ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED– 2022. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is an epic, emotional and interconnected story about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.”

11/27/22- Excellent reviews for this documentary. TRDB.

5) EMPIRE OF LIGHT– Poor reviews by the critics

MOVIES PLAYING AT THE AMC THEATER IN DANBURY, CT

1) DEVOTION-

2) THE MENU–

3) THE FABELMANS–

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MOVIES PLAYING IN PALM BEACH COUNTY-

1) THE MOVIES OF LAKE WORTH- (Wed–Sun)

a) DEVOTION-

b) SHE SAID–

c) THE MENU–

d) THE FABELMANS–

e) SALVATORE–

f) UPHEAVAL: THE JOURNEY OF MENACHEM BEGIN–

2) THE MOVIES OF DELRAY- same as Lake Worth

3) THE LIVING ROOM THEATERS AT FAU IN BOCA RATON-

a) 2nd CHANCE–

b) DECISION TO LEAVE–

c) SALVATORE–

d) THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER–

e) THE FABELMANS–

4) THE STONZEK THEATER IN DOWNTOWN LAKE WORTH-

a) LOST ILLUSIONS– 2021. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “In 1821, Lucien de Rubempré (César winner Benjamin Voisin) arrives in Paris as a sensitive, and idealistic young poet determined to write a reputation-making novel. Instead, he finds himself swept into journalism, whose influence and reach is booming with the help of the printing press, widely available of late. Under the mentorship of cynical editor Étienne Lousteau (César winner Vincent Lacoste), Lucien agrees to write rave theater reviews for bribes, achieving material success at the expense of his conscience.”

12/9/22- Very good reviews for this drama. TRDB.