What Have You Been Watching?

I know it's that time of year when the snow starts melting so we have the urge to get out of the house or if we're really motivated,  we start our Spring cleaning.

Well, if you've been stuck indoors due to the weather or if you've decided to watch a few movies or TV shows during this time, I would love to know what you've been watching.  I'm sure the next thing you want to know is what I've been watching. Oh, you weren't?  Hmmm I'm gonna tell ya anyway.  ( I really wish I could see all of your 'thrilled faces' right now!)

A film that I happened upon that I want to discuss today is "Changeling" from 2008. (Yes, I've seen a lot of films recently, mostly those that were nominated for Oscars but they've been discussed to death already. So I went back a few years for something interesting late one night.)  "Changeling" takes place in Los Angeles during 1928. Focusing on the disappearance of a little boy, and his mothers plight as she searches for him while taking on a corrupt and out of control, LAPD.

We can all agree that Clint Eastwood is a brilliant director and he's up to the task once again with "Changeling". The sets, clothing, dialogue are spot on for that era as he tackles a true story. An actual murder case and the events that surrounded it while a single mother searches for her missing boy. Plus, you have to give Eastwood credit for taking on this true story, these horrific crimes that threw southern California into chaos and unimaginable fear during the late 20s and early 30s. He tells the story in a very respectful way, without shoving gore and graphic details at us.

Jolie plays the desperate mother, Christine Collins. Even though it's hard to 'dress her down' to look like a working class mother, she was pretty believable as the film takes a disturbing turn, she winds up in an asylum where she's muzzled. Then there's John Malkovich who plays a tenacious preacher who makes it his life mission to take down the LAPD while helping Jolie's character get to the bottom of what happened to her son.

I haven't been crazy about most of the roles Jolie has taken on in the past few years. (I'm still angry about sitting through "The Tourist") but due to the subject matter. (It's based loosely on the true story of the serial killer, Gordon Northcott who kidnapped young boys and took them to a chicken farm in Riverside , CA in 1928.  The case was best known as the Wineville, Chicken Coop Murders.) I gravitate to true crime stories and when there's a great director behind the project who's very particular about getting every detail right, you can count me in. Of course, the icing is the fact that it takes place during my favorite era, The Roaring Twenties.

I won't give all of the plot away in case you haven't seen "Changeling" but I'll give you some screen grabs of this beautifully done film. If you haven't seen it, hopefully it will entice you to give it a try.

Even with the opening credits, I know Eastwood is on top of his game. 

 I could watch this film over and over just for a feel for what LA was like during the 1920s. The only thing that's distracting is how gorgeous Jolie is even while dressed down and on her way to work as a supervisor of a telephone company. (I know, she can't help it! And please don't think I'm implying that working women aren't beautiful because they absolutely are.)

We even get Jolie and other operators on roller skates and several scenes of those wonderful old switchboards. 

Being a telephone operator looks hard!  I'm not sure what operators used to make but hopefully it was a lot. 

Clint's daughter, Morgan Eastwood, gets a cameo. (on the right) She looks just like her mother! The neighborhood is turned on it's head when a little boy goes missing. 

Perfection! Loving the view of the old LAPD headquarters in the background. I can imagine it looking just like this during 1928. 

Jeffrey Donovan does a great job as the corrupt and smarmy police captain. 

I would wear that hat and coat. Shoot, I would even find room for that velvet couch. 

We don't run into our serial killer played by Jason Harner until about half way into the film. After Jolie's character is institutionalized for questioning the LAPD and their motives for giving her a different little boy. This guy is a level 12 creepy.

One of the good guys in the LAPD finds his way to the chicken farm. (The film doesn't really go into great detail, everything that occurred here in 1928.) Focusing mostly on the Christine Collins storyline of her missing boy and the LAPD cover-up. Everything does tie in at the end though so I'm satisfied. 

*After I saw the film I went to Wiki to read up on every person portrayed in the film. It's a horrifying story and quite shocking. You can get all of the details of the case by clicking HERE

It takes a lot to stand up to the LAPD but she fights the good fight.

 Christine is put through hell thanks to the LAPD. We also realize, through her stay in the asylum, that the LAPD threw anyone who defied them, went against their corrupt agenda in there as well. It's scary to think that this actually went on during that time.

Malkovich and his finger waves kick some ass. Another genius decision by Clint to cast him as Reverend Briegleb. A major thorn in the LAPD's side.

We get a glimpse of the trial of Gordon Northcott and then the hearing on LAPD corruption which took place due to one detective who tied the Wineville murders into the Christine Collins case.

Both of the little boys who played Walter were great although you want to ring this one's neck.

Eastwood gives us another glimpse of the Chicken Coop Murders trial. 

Another chilling moment in the film comes when Christine visits Northcott in prison. 

There's a few more twists and turns but I won't give anything else away. 

One last shot of Eastwood's, 1920s Los Angeles.

TRIVIA:

"Changeling" was actually nominated for 3 Oscars for Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography and then Best Actress for Angelina Jolie. All well deserved nods.

Hillary Swank and Reese Witherspoon both lobbied for the role of Christine Collins but Eastwood went with Jolie at the suggestion of Executive Producer, Ron Howard.

Some of the scenes were filmed at the San Bernardino Train Station.

This was Eastwood's first time working at Universal since making "In the Line of Fire" in 1993 due to the Eiger Sanction.

There are several details left out of the film, such as the boy who was found alive at the chicken farm being part of the kidnapping of other young boys. Of course the film doesn't touch upon Northcott's mother and her role in the murders either. The original version of "Changeling" ran another 50 minutes but two major scenes were cut from the released version.

An episode of the television show "Dragnet" titled The Big Imposter was based on the Wineville Chicken Farm murders.

The actual town in California where the murders occurred, changed it's name from Wineville to Mira Loma due to negative publicity from the events.

Episode 93 of the television show, Criminal Minds also highlights the murder case.

Have you seen "Changeling"? If you have I hope you'll share your thoughts here. If you've seen some good films recently that you want to chat about, or a few films you want to recommend, then have at it in the comment section. We're always up for some good movie chat and suggestions around here. (Anything to postpone Spring cleaning!)

Thanks for stopping by!

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