My Blood Runs Cold

1965

USA

Directed by: William Conrad
Written by: John Mantley (screenplay), John Meredyth Lucas (story)
Music by: George Duning
Cast: Troy Donahue, Joey Heatherton, Barry Sullivan, Jeanette Nolan

What it's all about:
Headstrong young heiress (Heatherton) falls in love with a strange young man who may be insane (Donahue). The young man, Ben Gunther, believes he and the young woman, Julie Merriday, are the reincarnations of lovers from an earlier time. Ben convinces Julie of his beliefs and over the objections of her father (Sullivan), she agrees they should run away together. On Ben's boat, Julie finds evidence that Ben has been lying to her and that he is definitely unbalanced. Will she be able to save herself from his madness and convince him to find help before it's too late?

My thoughts:
That title makes you think you're in for some real gore and mayhem -- with Vincent Price or Christopher Lee making an appearance somewhere.  Nothing like that here.  This one is much more in the Hitchcock mold, suspense but no terror.

I really thought I'd seen all the movies Troy Donahue made back in the late-50s, early-60s, but this one got past me until now. Interesting story, with a fine supporting cast. Troy even does a pretty good acting job here, and Joey is just as cute as she could be, sporting an array of very fetching swim suits and casual beach attire. Not something that's going to exercise your intellect, but fun to watch.  Would have been a great date movie in 1965.

A couple more notes:

• Yes, the director is that William Conrad, of "Jake and the Fatman" fame.
• John Meredyth Lucas was a writer/producer for many classic TV shows from the '50s to the '80s -- most notably, the original "Star Trek" series.

My IMDb rating: 3 stars out of a possible 10

Hyde Park on Hudson

2012

Directed by: Roger Michell
Written by: Richard Nelson
Cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Eleanor Bron, Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Wilson
MPAA Rating: Rated R for brief sexuality

Synopsis (by Google):

In June 1939, the reigning British king (Samuel West) and queen (Olivia Colman) visit President (Bill Murray) and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Olivia Williams) at their New York home. War with Germany looms on the horizon, and England desperately needs the president's support. An unforgettable weekend unfolds as FDR tries to juggle international affairs with the complexities of his domestic arrangement, as seen through the eyes of the president's intimate confidant (Laura Linney).

My Thoughts:

Not great, but it had Bill Murray and that's enough reason for me to watch. I thought Samuel West made a very good George VI; likewise Olivia Colman as the Queen Mum. In fact, the entire cast was excellent and the whole film was quite enjoyable.

My IMDb Rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10

Crash

2004

USA

Directed by: Paul Haggis
Written by: Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco
Music by: Mark Isham
Cast: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Tony Danza, William Fichtner, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Chris Bridges (aka Ludacris), Terrence Howard, Thandie Newton, Michael Peña
MPAA Rating: R for language, sexual content and some violence

Synopsis (by Google):

Writer-director Paul Haggis interweaves several connected stories about race, class, family and gender in Los Angeles in the aftermath of 9/11. Characters include a district attorney (Brendan Fraser) and his casually prejudiced wife (Sandra Bullock), dating police detectives Graham (Don Cheadle) and Ria (Jennifer Esposito), a victimized Middle Eastern store owner and a wealthy African-American couple (Terrence Dashon Howard, Thandie Newton) humiliated by a racist traffic cop (Matt Dillon).

My Thoughts:

That synopsis doesn't really begin to cover the complicated ins and outs of this stark, unsettling work. Every character in the film is allowed to show both the good and the not-so-good sides of their personalities. OK, I get it -- nobody's perfect; but it got a little monotonous after a while. And there was more coincidence and foreshadowing than you'd find in a Hardy novel, with each character touching the lives of the other characters in some way -- they weave in and out of each others' existence. It was a good idea, but could have been served up with more subtlety, I thought.

Best part of the movie? Surprisingly (for me, at least) -- Chris Bridges as the wannabe carjacker Anthony. The energy level soared every time he was on screen. But many of the other actors delivered fine performances as well. Too bad they didn't have more to work with.

My IMDb Rating: 4 stars out of a possible 10

Interstellar

2014

USA

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Mackenzie Foy, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn
Music by: Hans Zimmer
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language.

Synopsis (by Google):

In Earth's future, a global crop blight and second Dust Bowl are slowly rendering the planet uninhabitable. Professor Brand (Michael Caine), a brilliant NASA physicist, is working on plans to save mankind by transporting Earth's population to a new home via a wormhole. But first, Brand must send former NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a team of researchers through the wormhole and across the galaxy to find out which of three planets could be mankind's new home. 

My Thoughts:

I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. I'm not generally a huge Matthew McConaughey fan; but I do like sci-fi, and the rest of the cast sounded promising, so I took a chance. Glad I did -- it was so entertaining I didn't even mind that it was nearly three hours long. Of course, the "science" of time travel (if it might actually exist) is always going to be a little hard to nail down; everybody has a theory, and this spin was as good as any. And I even liked the idea of combining time travel and ghostly events -- something I thought would be annoying turned out to be very intriguing.

A few other stray thoughts:

• Loved the robots -- very original designs.
• Lots of visual references to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. I suppose that's to be expected, but when does "homage" become "rip-off"?
• Much more entertaining than that other recent sci-fi biggie, Gravity. 
• With her hair chopped off, doesn't Anne Hathaway remind you of the young Liza Minnelli? But not quite as irritating, thank goodness.

My IMDb Rating: 6 stars out of a possible 10