The Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 24 March 2013
     Netflix 28 May 2016 

Director: Ursula Macfarlane
Running Time: 47 Minutes

Staring:  Warwick Davis Narrates

Rating? Unrated

SPOILERS? Yes

REVIEWS

IMDB: 6.8 of 10

MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE

The actor, Warwick Davis, presents the story of the Ovitz family and their ordeal during World War II. From a successful musical act to being tortured and experimented on by Dr. Josef Mengele in a concentration camp. This story might have been lost to history if it weren't for the family's diminutive size, which made them a novelty as well as an inspiration.

MY REVIEW

I love documentaries and occasionally I run across one on Netflix that looks interesting. This was in that category. The story of the Ovitz family was not new to me as I did a research paper in college about Dr. Mengele, the Angel of Death of Auschwitz, and his inhuman experiments on the prisoners under his care. This unfortunately was only a footnote in the research. The 10 Ovitz family members were all dwarves as well as accomplished singers, dancers and actors in their time in Eastern Europe. They were sent to Auschwitz due to their Jewish heritage unfortunately putting them in the hands of Dr. Mengele. This is not a story for everyone.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• This is a story about beating the overwhelming odds. Survival. It's truly inspirational and makes one question the nature of people who would do something so terrible.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• The only thing, and this may be personal to me, but I would have liked it to be a little longer with greater detail. I mean, it did make me do some internet searches to find out more information, so maybe that was a good thing!

On a more personal note..... I finally found a cupcake carrier that I love! It just so happens to be perfect to carry 2 dozen cupcakes to work that I can share with my co-workers and friends! AND, my deck of Exploding Kittens came in today and I am so freaking amused with the new cards!! So much better than the iPhone game! And, the traditional selfie. I was wearing pink and pearls and it reminded me of college. Back in Delta Zeta, I learned how to accessorize!

The Darkness

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 13 May 2016

Director: Greg McLean
Writer: Shayne Armstrong, Shane Krause and Greg McLean
Running Time: 92 Minutes

Staring:  Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz and Lucy Fry

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? Yes, but it's because It's so terrible!

REVIEWS

IMDB: 4.1 of 10

MY RATING: 3

STORYLINE

A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation, haunted by an ancient supernatural entity they unknowingly awakened and engages them in a fight for their survival.

MY REVIEW

We've all heard the phrase.. 

Everything is better with Bacon! 

This movie proves that a lie! Poor Kevin Bacon. This was definitely not his best work. What happened to my Footloose Kevin Bacon? Are you turning into the new Nicolas Cage? Will you just agree to do any movie? Can we talk about this!?

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• I love the Grand Canyon and I enjoyed seeing it on film. Is that sad that that was the only redemption for this movie to me?
• It gave me a reason to drink.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• Could they have just written down the plot and stuck with it? This thing was all over the place. It felt like every character had a different storyline and NOT one single piece seemed to be connected. Example: What did Kevin Bacon's philandering past have to do with the story? The teenaged daughter and her weird bulimia habit of storing her vomit under her bed in tupperware?  Mom's an alcoholic?
• It seemed to be a rip-off of Poltergeist.
• The jump-scares are cheap and can be seen a mile away!

On a more personal note..... I LOVE having professional photographers for friends! Why? Yes, I am a bit of a narcissist and love to have my picture taken! I love this one!! Thank you, you know who, for taking it for me! I love the color and I agree that blue JUST might be my power color!! Also, Baby Rocket is quite possibly the cutest thing on the planet. He's just shy of 4 months. He also found a spot to hide at Darth Vader's feet in the entry. hall!

Captain America: Civil War

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info: 6 May 2016

Director: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Writer: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Running Time: 147 Minutes

Staring:  Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Paul Bettany and many manny more!!

Rating? PG-13

SPOILERS? NO

REVIEWS

IMDB: 8.3 of 10

MY RATING: 8

STORYLINE

With many people fearing the actions of super heroes, the government decides to push for the Hero Registration Act, a law that limits a hero's actions. This results in a division in The Avengers. Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed, but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world. This escalates into an all-out war between Team Iron Man (Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine, and Spiderman) and Team Captain America (Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Sharon Carter, Scarlett Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man) while a new villain emerges.

MY REVIEW

Well, let's just go ahead and be honest with ourselves for a moment. This is much less a Civil War and more of a Super Hero's fighting with each other War. I mean, it's not bad,  and overall, it was pretty impressive IN SPITE of it being just a Super Hero movie. I do love Tony Stark, well, Robert Downey Jr.. Yes, I know, it's supposed to be all about Captain America, Chris Evans, but he just doesn't do the same thing for me that good old RDJr does for me!! (I mean that in a very nice way!

I could pass for a super hero?

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• Direction: I feel like Anthony and Joe Russo did a good job juggling between A-Listers in this story. We all have our favorites in the Avengers and yes, this IS a Captain America movie, but there are a lot of stars who showed up!! I am NOT complaining!! Jeremy Renner's appearance does make me a very happy girl! And the ICING on the cake was bringing in the unexpected like Spiderman and Ant-Man (PAUL RUDD)!! Freaking Genius!
• Flow: The story flows pretty nicely from the first to the second act and then into the third is where it falls apart for me. (See below)

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• THIRD ACT!! The villain is just not villainous enough for me. He's not interesting, bot bad. His story doesn't work for me at all!
• CAMERA WORK!! The camera work is the one thing that annoys me when they try to get all artsy and get on the hand-held shaky cam. NO!!!!!! I hate that!

Other than those little hiccups, I did love this movie. It was pretty great!! Nice emotional pieces to give the story just enough for me to possibly see it a second time!!

On a more personal note..... Yesterday, we adopted a new little guy! This is little Rocket J.! (I don't know what the J. stands for yet, I guess he'll have to earn his middle name!

Green Room

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info:1 May 2016
Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Running Time: 1 Hour and 35 Minutes

Staring:  Anton Yeltsin, Imogen Poots and Alia Shawcat

Rating? R

SPOILERS? No

REVIEWS

IMDB: 7.1 of 10

MY RATING: 8

STORYLINE

A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder of a neo-nazi at a skinhead bar gig.

MY REVIEW

I really wanted this to be beyond amazing. I had the highest of hopes and this movie was pretty damn near that for me. Sit was solid and had excellent performances. It's a must see for psychological thriller fans. This is really less horror, but it was almost there.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• This was perhaps the most interesting take on the adage of "Wrong Place, Wrong Time". There were times when I was watching that I was literally shaking my head a the twists and turns that just seemed to keep happening. It was surprising. There was an oppression that falls on the watcher with this film. The kind that almost keeps you from breathing. This is claustrophobia at its best. Loved this feeling.
• The direction led by Jeremy Saulnier was near perfection. He's a veritable newbie in the directing gigs, but brings to the table a history of cinematography, special effects, casting, make-up and writing that works for him, and works for him well. He knows how to use these things in his took-box to make the production go a long way!
• The character development is exquisite! Even though it was only an hour and a half, there were real feelings that happened for these people. They were multi-dimensional people who seemed to exist and not just as flat people in a movie. There were real feelings for them!
• It's violent. It had to be violent. Without the violence, it would not have been successful.

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• Horror was not the right genre for this film.
• Predictable, but passable ending.

On a more personal note.....   What a day! There was a sign on the EMPTY building in the shopping center behind my house when I got home from work today! Looks like we're getting a Harbor Freight! It's not the best store, but at least it's not an empty building for the criminals to hang out in front of!! The 3D Printer is really starting to produce some interesting pieces for me! Iron Man Helmet is well on it's way! Then there are the obligatory cat pics. Dexter Morgan and his big brother Jinx. I love them more than people sometimes!