Stubs - Downton Abbey: A New Era

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Penelope Wilton, Laura Carmichael, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Dominic West, Alex Macqueen, Nathalie Baye, Jonathan Zaccaï. Directed by Simon Curtis. Screenplay: Julian Fellowes. Based on the television series created by Julian Fellowes. Produced by Gareth Neame, Julian Fellowes, Liz Trubridge. Run time: 125 minutes. UK, USA Color Drama, Period.

Downton Abbey: A New Era, which recently opened nationwide, is a continuation of the British television series Downton Abbey and the film Downton Abbey (2019). New Era continues the storylines and deepens the relationships started with the series. While one hopes that New Era will open the door to new stories, it also closes doors on others.

The film walks the line between being a stand-alone film and an extended episode of the original series. Prior knowledge of the series, its characters and their relationships would definitely enhance your enjoyment of the film, but is not necessary. However, coming at it as someone who watched and enjoyed the original series, the film can be very emotional. Not sure someone just watching the film for the first time would have the same experience.

Stubs - Top Gun

Top Gun (1986) Starring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt. Directed by Tony Scott. Screenplay by Jim Cash, Jack Epps, Jr. Produced by Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer. Run time: 110 minutes. USA. Color. Drama, Romance, Action.

Some films define a decade and some films are defined by the decade in which they were made. While you might want to think the former is true of Top Gun, I would say that the film has the 1980s written all over it. Some may consider it a modern classic, but that would mean that it has aged well and frankly the film has not.

Kao the Kangaroo: Mystery of the Volcano

Australian box art used for representational purposes.

Following Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2, Tate Interactive did produce a third game, Kao the Kangaroo: Mystery of the Volcano (aka Kao: Mystery of Volcano) (Polish: Kao: Tajemnica Wulkanu), however it was never released in the US, leaving US fans who knew about it to have to import foreign copies. In anticipation of the release of a fourth Kao the Kangaroo game, this game made its way to GOG as part of a bundle with the other two games in the trilogy. Though I already had a free Steam copy of Round 2, I purchased the bundle for a chance to play the other two games without having to pay potentially exorbitant prices for a physical copy. After getting to play Mystery of the Volcano, I liked how it built on what Round 2 did, even if there wasn’t too much content by comparison.

Stubs - Our Town

Our Town (1940) Starring Frank Craven, William Holden, Martha Scott, Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell, Guy Kibbee. Director: Sam Wood. Screenplay by Thornton Wilder, Frank Craven, Harry Chandlee. Based on the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder (New York, 4 Feb 1938). Produced by Sol Lesser. Run time: 90 minutes. Black and White. USA. Drama.

Even before Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town went into production on Broadway, there were plans for a motion picture based on it. Producers Jed Harris and William K. Howard purchased Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play in 1937 with the intention of producing it on Broadway and making it into a motion picture. In 1939, producer Sol Lesser bought the motion picture rights for $75,000. Originally planned to be shot in Technicolor and directed by Ernest Lubitsch, the film adaptation had a major issue. The play was produced on a nearly bare stage and its main character died at the end.

But this is Hollywood and films are supposed to have happy endings. Lesser worked closely with
Wilder before changing the play. Wilder consented, writing to Lesser, "Emily should live...In a movie you see the people so close 'to' that a different relation is established. In the theatre, they are halfway abstraction in an allegory, in the movie they are very concrete. So, insofar as the play is a generalized allegory, she dies-we die-they die; insofar as it's a concrete happening it's not important that she die; it is disproportionately cruel that she die. Let her live--the idea will have been imparted anyway."

Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 (PC)

Among the more obscure mascot platformers, Kao the Kangaroo from Polish developer Tate Interactive (now Tate Multimedia) was one that had slipped under my radar. So much, in fact, I was not fully aware of it until the second game, Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2, was released on Steam in 2019, when it was offered for free for 24 hours to promote a new Kao game in development. Since I knew it was the second game in the series, I tried looking into playing the first game, only to find that it was both hard to find and expensive second-hand. With this in mind, I opted to skip straight to the second game in order to see what exactly Kao the Kangaroo was. For a game originally released on sixth-generation consoles, I thought it held up really well, though not without issue.

Wonder (2017)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Wonder (2012).

As part of an effort to read more books, I read the 2012 middle grade novel Wonder by R. J. Palacio and, while not perfect, I found myself hooked. Soon after I finished the book, I felt like watching the 2017 film adaptation from Lionsgate and found a free on-demand listing. As expected, the film takes liberties with the source material to help suit the new medium. However, I still found the adaptation well-crafted and just as worthwhile as the book.

Stubs - The Egg and I

The Egg and I (1947) Starring Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Marjorie Main, Louise Allbritton, Percy Kilbride, Richard Long. Directed by Chester Erskine. Screenplay by Chester Erskine, Fred F. Finklehoffe. Based on the novel The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald (Philadelphia, 1945). Producers: Chester Erskine, Fred F. Finklehoffe. Run time: 108 min. Black and White. USA. Comedy

A businessman decides to quit the 9-to-5 rat race and buys a farm. Only then does he tell his wife about the move. If it sounds like the setup of Green Acres, you’re not wrong, but it is also the setup for The Egg and I, based on the book by the same name by Betty MacDonald, about her adventures and travels as a young wife on a chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in the US state of Washington. A little change was made to make the husband a World War II veteran in the film.