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War Reporter and the Rugby Boarding School

 Tuesday: Foreign Correspondent (1940)

           An American newspaper is desperate to get more out of Europe in the months leading up to WWII. Their current correspondent doesn't give them nearly enough info. They decide to send their crime reporter, John, to Europe hoping he will do better. John isn't sure he is the right man for the job but he agrees to go. Once in London he is meant to make contact with a man named Stephen who will help him get settled. John is tasked with interviewing an important man named Van Meer. When he arrives he meets Van Meer by chance on the way to a party. Van Meer won't say much and disappears soon after they arrive at the party. John meets Stephen's daughter Carol at the party. She is very smart and politically inclined. John follows Van Meer to the Netherland hoping to talk to him again. But Van Meer is shot right in front of John. John chases the shooter and ends up even more entangled in a plot to get info on the war. This is a good movie. There is this great shot where they are chasing the car and it disappears in an open field. The road goes straight on for miles. There is just grass and a few broken down windmills. 

Wednesday: Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

            Set in Australia in 1900 this movie is about students from a girl's school. They go for a picnic at Hanging Rock. Four girls go to explore the rock. Only one comes back. A teacher is missing too. The police begin a desperate search for the girls. They have no luck. A rich English boy who was near the rock that day and saw the girls is determined to find them. He almost dies himself when he gets lost. Tensions run high as the girls remain lost. The school is set for failure as parents pull their daughters out of the school. There is no good ending. I thought this movie was ok. It was really depressing. It's based on a true stories. Only one of the three girls was found. The rest have still never been found.

Friday: Handsome Devil (2016)

          Ned goes to a boarding school known for their rugby team. He doesn't like or play rugby. This makes him an outsider. He is picked on. Many of the boys bully him for being gay. Because if he doesn't like rugby he must be gay. Ned knows to keep to himself. Then at the start of the new year he has a new roommate. Conor has transferred from another school after getting in fights. He soon becomes the star player. Ned assumes Conor will bully him so he just starts off by building a wall in their room so they can live separate lives. It soon becomes clear Conor is not like that. The walls come down, figuratively and literally. They become friends. The new English teacher takes an interest in them and gets them to enter into a variety show. On a trip to an away game Ned discovers Conor going into a gay bar. Rumors start to go around the school about the close bond between the two. Things come to a head but work out in the end. I really liked this movie. Despite where it starts out it actually has a really good and accepting ending.

Saturday: Mirai (2018)

          This is a Japanese animated film. A four year old boy named Kun is not happy when his mom comes home with his new baby sister, Mirai. His parents don't pay enough attention to him and his sister is no fun to play with. His mom is going to work and his dad will stay home. His dad struggles at first. Kun becomes more upset. One day in the garden the tree becomes a portal and he meets his sister from the future. She wants his help. Through out the movie Kun is sent to the past and meets different family members. He learns a lesson from each visit. I thought this movie was ok. 

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