look, honey. It's no good you trying to tell me you're too old. I happen to be in a position to deny it

What a fascinating group of movies!

Star Trek Beyond (2016) - "After stopping off at Starbase Yorktown, a remote outpost on the fringes of Federation space, the USS Enterprise, halfway into their five-year mission, is destroyed by an unstoppable wave of unknown aliens. With the crew stranded on an unknown planet and with no apparent means of rescue, they find themselves fighting against a ruthless enemy with a well-earned hatred of the Federation and everything it stands for. Only a rebellious alien warrior can help them reunite and leave the planet to stop this deadly menace from beginning a possible galactic war."
source: on TV
I watched it because: I've seen it, but it's been a while, and there was nothing. else. on.
IMDB: 7.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 80%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'They say it hurts less if it's a surprise.'

    'If I may adopt a parlance with which you are familiar, I can confirm your theory to be horseshit.'"

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Justin Lin

my notes: I like this one. The crew seems like buddies, and the story is snappy and fun.
Academy Award nominee: Best Makeup and Hairstyling
overall:  recommended

Interlude in Prague (2017) - "In 1786 Prague, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spends a few turbulent months escaping the frustrating, privileged elite of Vienna, but his unconventional presence soon unleashes a series of dramatic and tragic events. Overwhelmed by the tangled web of violence and intrigue that surrounds him, and with his mind affected, Mozart creates the astonishing music and drama that becomes 'Don Giovanni'. "

source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I was in the mood for something historical
IMDB: 6.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 80% Audience: 68%
my IMDB: 3/10

MPAA rating: R

directed by: John Stephenson

my notes: not really like anything else that I've ever seen, this film is light comedic, heavy music, silly romance, sneaky mystery, and gory violence—all in one. It tries to do too much, obviously, and so doesn't quite hit the mark on anything. There's a lot of elements that one is left wondering about, because the dish was not fully cooked.
overall: not recommended

The Conversation (1974) - "Harry Caul is a devout Catholic and a lover of jazz music who plays his saxophone while listening to his jazz records. He is a San Francisco-based electronic surveillance expert who owns and operates his own small surveillance business. He is renowned within the profession as being the best, one who designs and constructs his own surveillance equipment. He is an intensely private and solitary man in both his personal and professional life, which especially irks Stan, his business associate who often feels shut out of what is happening with their work. This privacy, which includes not letting anyone into his apartment and always telephoning his clients from pay phones is, in part, intended to control what happens around him. His and Stan's latest job (a difficult one) is to record the private discussion of a young couple meeting in crowded and noisy Union Square. The arrangement with his client, known only to him as 'the director', is to provide the audio recording of the discussion and photographs of the couple directly to him alone in return for payment. Based on circumstances with the director's assistant, Martin Stett, and what Harry ultimately hears on the recording, Harry believes that the lives of the young couple are in jeopardy. Harry used to be detached from what he recorded, but is now concerned ever since the deaths of three people that were the direct result of a previous audio recording he made for another job. Harry not only has to decide if he will turn the recording over to the director, but also if he will try and save the couple's lives using information from the recording. As Harry goes on a quest to find out what exactly is happening on this case, he finds himself in the middle of his worst nightmare."
source: streamed on Dish
I watched it because: it was mutually agreeable
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 97% Audience: 89%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "I don't care what they're talkin' about. All I want is a nice, fat recording."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

my notes: I didn't know how to review this film. I watched it, intently, and as it finished I could not decide whether it's good or not. It is extremely slow. The subject matter recalled The Lives of Others, which I loved (review here). This was a rough story, enormously contrived, with tons of flashback and refinement of information that had already been conveyed. The heavy hand of Coppola shows throughout, with a tendency toward shots from above or switching from side to side. In all, I found the idea of the story more compelling than the movie itself. And, in short, I just didn't like it.
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Coppola

• Best Writing, Original Screenplay—Coppola

• Best Sound
overall: not  recommended

The Long, Hot Summer (1958) - "Sixty-one year old widower Will Varner (Orson Welles), in ill health, owns many businesses and property in Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi, including a plantation. To him, his children are a disappointment, who he sees as not being able to carry on the Varner name in the style to which he has built around it. Son Jody (Anthony Francoisa) has no ambition and does not work, spending much of his time fooling around with his seductive wife, Eula (Lee Remick). He finds 23-year-old daughter Clara (Joanne Woodward) clever, but he feels she also wastes her time on more contemplative pursuits. While most of her contemporaries are married, Clara has been dating Alan Stewart (Richard Anderson), a genteel mama's boy, for six years. Will would not mind Alan so much if he too thought Alan had a bit of a forceful man in him, which he could demonstrate by actually asking Clara to marry him. Conversely, Jody laments that nothing he does is ever good enough for his father, while Clara plain does not like the way he treats them. Into their lives comes Ben Quick (Paul Newman), who Jody hired while Will was hospitalized, to do some sharecropping on currently vacant land. Despite Will believing the unsubstantiated stories that Ben burned down someone's barn as an act of vengeance, Will becomes to view Ben as the son he never had, as he is much the same mold. As such, Will does whatever he can to get Ben to be part of the family to carry on the Varner name the way Will wants it be, which means marrying Clara. Through the process, Clara may come to a realization about what she really wants in life, while Jody does whatever he can to retain his position in the family."
source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it was Newman and Woodward's first movie together, and I wanted to see what that was like
IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 83%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'I got influence. I'll dog you, boy, wherever you go. I'll break you.'

    'No, you won't. You'll miss me.'"

MPAA rating: not rated (Approved)

directed by: Martin Ritt

my notes: Faulkner is a tough sell these days. So many hard-shelled characters! Ultimately redeeming. Welles is a treat, Newman is fantastic, and Woodward is exquisite.
overall: recommended

[the title quotation is from The Long, Hot Summer]