RECENTLY VIEWED: MURDER MYSTERY

My son called a family movie night, and so we watched the Adam Sandler Netflix movie Murder Mystery. The comedy starred  Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Luke Evans, and follows a married couple who are caught up in a murder investigation on a billionaire's yacht. It was released on June 14, 2019, by Netflix. It received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel was released by Netflix on March 31, 2023.

In June 2012, it was reported that Charlize Theron had signed on to star in Murder Mystery, a mystery-comedy then set to be directed by John Madden, from James Vanderbilt's screenplay. Before the announcement, the project had been set up at Walt Disney Studios with Kevin McDonald set to direct. In April 2013, it was reported that Colin Firth, Adam Sandler and Emily Blunt had joined the cast - although, representatives for Firth and Blunt denied that they were boarding the film. In September 2013, it was reported that both Theron and Madden had left the project and that Anne Fletcher was now set to direct for TWC-Dimension; Theron eventually received an executive producer credit on the film, along with her studio, Denver and Delilah Productions, listed in the film.

In March 2018, it was announced that Sandler and Jennifer Aniston had signed to star, reuniting them after Just Go with It, their 2011 film. Kyle Newacheck directed, still with Vanderbilt's script, and the film premiered on Netflix as part of Sandler's distribution deal. In June 2018, it was announced that Luke Evans, Gemma Arterton, David Walliams, Erik Griffin, John Kani, Shioli Kutsuna, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Adeel Akhtar, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Dany Boon and Terence Stamp had joined the cast.

Principal photography on the film began on June 14, 2018 in Montréal. In late July 2018, filming began in Italy at locations including Santa Margherita Ligure, Lake Como, and Milan (where most of the scenes set in Monaco were actually shot) also using vehicles and uniforms of the Carabinieri.

I am not a huge fan of Adam Sandler, but his usual schtick is not present in this film. His character lies a lot to his wife and family in the film so not a fan of that, but he has good chemistry with Jennifer Aniston. Aniston is good in everything she does. I would have had a harsher review if I had paid for the movie, but this was a great Netflix movie. I'm sure my son will want to watch the sequel which is also on Netflix. If you are looking for fun entertainment to escape from the world, then you will like this movie mystery...

MY RATING: 7 out of 10

FOR SALE: LAST HOME OF KATHERINE HEPBURN

A Manhattan townhouse that the iconic actress Katharine Hepburn called home for decades has hit the market.

Located within Turtle Bay Gardens, the 164-year-old property was owned by the late leading lady from 1931 until her death, at age 96, in 2003.

Hepburn’s estate sold the four-bedroom, four-bathroom abode for $3.9 million in 2004, to the current seller, who is now seeking $7.2 million.

“The owners purchased the house as a pied a terre and because they have been coming to NYC less frequently, they made the difficult decision to sell,” said Lisa Larson, of Sotheby’s International Realty, who holds the listing. “It was a tough decision as the renovation and interior design of the house was a labor of love and they have thoroughly enjoyed the house over the years.”

Built in the late 1800s, 244 E. 49th St. measures in at 4,560 square feet, not including the enormous shared garden.Spread over five stories, the 19-foot-wide residence features six fireplaces, a restored wooden staircase and Hepburn’s still-intact mirrored vanity...

RECENTLY VIEWED: THE OUT-LAWS

My son is not a movie person. He is just like my wife, so when he wanted to watch a movie I jumped on it. We watched a silly comedy by the name of The Out-Laws. The Out-Laws is a 2023 American action comedy film directed by Tyler Spindel, written by Evan Turner and Ben Zazove, produced by Adam Sandler, Adam DeVine, and Allen Covert. It stars Adam DeVine, Nina Dobrev, Ellen Barkin, and Pierce Brosnan. The plot follows a bank manager on his wedding week whose bank is robbed by criminals that he very strongly suspects might be his future in-laws which gets proven right as he works with them when a crime boss that the criminals made enemies abducts his fiancé. The Out-Laws was released by Netflix on July 7, 2023.

The cast was excellent, but the two that stole the movie for me was Julie Haggerty amd Richard Kind, who played Adam DeVine's parents. Richard Kind always steals the scenes, and it is nice to see Julie Haggerty in comedies. Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin were great together, and there is a cute moment when Adam Devine's character asked if he looked like James Bond. Ellen Barkin says "Yes, you look like the 5th Bond". Pierce Brosnan remarks "That was a good one". Brosnan was the 5th James Bond. I don't know if many people would notice that. 

In the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 21 of 73 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10. The website's consensus reads: "With a cast this talented, The Out-Laws can't help but provide some laughs -- but they're too few and far between to make up for the movie's derivative, sitcom-worthy setup." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 36 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

Like the critic, I wanted more laughs, but it was still a fun movie. Adam DeVine was really great as the bumbling leading man, and I rooted for him to come out on top. The movie is not a classic, but if you just want some laughs then check this one out!

MY RATING: 6 OUT OF 10

THE BOX OFFICE STARS: 1952

Television was starting to overtake movies as the favorite medium of 1952. However, movies were still popular. Here are the top stars for 1952...

1. DEAN MARTIN/JERRY LEWIS
2. GARY COOPER

3. JOHN WAYNE

4. BING CROSBY
5. BOB HOPE
6. JIMMY STEWART
7. DORIS DAY
8. GREGORY PECK
9. SUSAN HAYWARD
10. RANDOLPH SCOTT

                                            

WAS MICKEY ROONEY MURDERED?

Mickey Rooney's family at war as his last wife accuses his stepson of faking his will - then KILLING him (and in final indignity, star's body will be exhumed) Eighth wife of the star, who died ten years ago alleges her stepson changed Rooney's will then poisoned him

Janice Rooney has filed court documents making the claims - with her other son Chris backing her case

They allege Mark Aber first faked the will - or forced Rooney to sign it - and poisoned him. Mother and son claim Mark had literature about poisoning and autopsies delivered to him They are poised to have body exhumed for new autopsy in hope of proving their case - but estate only amounts to $18,000

Mickey Rooney's stepson has been accused by his own mother - the star's eighth wife - of faking his will then poisoning him. A new lawsuit filed by Jan, the actor's widow, accuses Mark Aber of killing him.  Rooney died in April 2014, after nine decades in the Hollywood spotlight. Despite being at one time cinema's highest-earning star, he left just $18,000. Now a simmering feud between his widow and her stepson, who was Rooney's carer in his final years, has exploded into a court battle. It will also see Rooney's body exhumed for a fresh autopsy, in an attempt to prove Jan Rooney's claim that he was poisoned. Relatives have not stopped fighting since the actor died at the age of 93.

But this is a new low between the two camps - Jan and Chris versus Mark and Charlene, who looked after Rooney in the final few years of his life. Mickey's natural children are also against Mark and Charlene.

As early as 2015, Rooney's daughters Kelly and Kerry claimed that their father had been poisoned and demanded that the body should be exhumed for an autopsy.

As Rooney lay in his coffin, Kelly even clipped several strands of hair from her father's corpse, believing they would be the key forensic proof that will confirm he was poisoned, but she hasn't been able to afford for it to be examined. Nor had they the cash to hire an attorney to take on the case against the will.

A family source revealed Chris Aber and mom Jan believe Rooney was poisoned by Mark, who even had literature about how to poison someone and information on autopsies delivered in the post. Claims over the will lie at the heart of the dispute...

GUEST REVIEW: THE STATUE

Here is another guest review from the late Bruce Krogan. This time around he reviews a movie thar he absoluted hated. I have to admit, I have never seen it...

David Niven's career hit rock bottom when he signed on to do The Statue. For a man whose name on the screen stood for charm and sophistication what was Niven thinking when he signed for this?

Niven plays a Nobel Prize winner whose wife Virna Lisi is a sculptress and has done a larger than life statue of him. However she's given him some enhanced privates obviously inspired elsewhere and Niven spends the whole film looking for the inspiration.

The premise is also similar to Rouben Mamoulian's 'The Song of Songs' (1933). But the scandalous sculpture in that little gem was modelled by Marlene Dietrich and that film was a work of pre-code sauciness whereas this is just another garrulous Italian sex comedy which aimlessly wanders about Europe while cameraman Piero Portalupi zooms back & forth between the cast and composer Riz Ortolani potters about on the soundtrack.

David Niven has uplifted more films than any other actor by dint of his personality. But this one is just too heavy a lift. It's got all the element of a stag film without the prurient interest that would make one watch.

God only knows what Niven was thinking. The seventies was not a good decade for comedies.Censorship had been relaxed and film makers were determined to make up for lost time.As a result a lot of distinguished actors participated in films they wouldn't ever want to watch.The only waI to describe this is puerile rubbish...

BRUCE'S RATING: 2 OUT OF 10

HOLLYWOOD SCANDAL: THE BING CROSBY FAMILY IMPOSTER

 There has been people throughout history who simply have lied and pretended to be someone they are not. People saying they were in the Twin Towers on September 11th. People have lied about achievements and military service. It has recently been uncovered that a man in California has been posing as a relative of Bing Crosby even!  

As a Bing Crosby fan and writer, I have come in touch with some of the wonderful people in Bing's family. I have had the pleasure to correspond with his nephew Howard Crosby (Ted's song) and his grandson Phil Crosby Jr. Off and on through the years though I have crossed paths with someone claiming to be related to Bing. His stage name is Johnny Holiday and "performs" the old standards and claims to be the great nephew of Bing Crosby, but he has not relation to Bing. Johnny Holiday (aka Scott Ables) claims to be the grandson of Bing's sister Mary. However, no one in the Crosby family has ever met him!

Howard Crosby, genuine nephew of Bing Crosby on Mary Rose, sister of Bing Crosby and supposed grandmother of Scott Ables/Johnny Holiday:

“Aunt Mary Rose had two children, cousin Carolyn who is 89 and lives in Las Vegas, and her son Bill Miller who died many years ago. Carolyn had 6 children, the Quinns, 5 of whom are still with us. I know them all...”

“This guy is NOT one of our relations, that's for sure!”

Furthermore, Johnny Holiday claims to have gotten his start on The Lawrence Welk Show, but I contacted someone I know in the Lawrence Welk organization, and they have no record of him. There are no pictures of Scott with his world-famous great uncle Bing, and when he presented a picture to the woman who woman who produced a channel spot on Cicada club (where he performs) of supposedly himself with Bing. It was actually a picture of Harry Crosby with his father Bing.

Reportedly Kathryn Crosby, the widow of Bing, has sent this Johnny Holiday letters to cease and desist using the Crosby name. There are no records of Johnny Holiday online prior to 2004. If his real name is Scott Ables there is even less online about him than Johnny Holiday.

His last posts were regarding cancer treatment. If he is suffering from cancer, godspeed and no one deserves to have that infliction, but someone close to him that wishes to remain anonymous claims that Scott/Johnny has been "suffering" from cancer for years. The source claims people feel bad for him, and think he is delusional. Whether he is delusional or just trying to make a buck, I do think the truth needs to come out. There are talented people in the Crosby family that are trying to keep the memory of Bing alive, and while Johnny Holiday is saying good things about Bing, he is also spreading lies that he is part of the Crosby family.

I have reached out to Scott Ables/Johnny Holiday for comments and/or his side of the story, but I have not heard back from him. If anyone knows the truth of how Scott Ables came to be called Johnny Holiday, please reach out to me...