Toy Story 4 (2019)

I went to see it because I was a very big fan of the last movie, and wanted to see/hear the new characters. I heard that Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner, and Betty White were lending their voices, and that seemed pretty cool. But honestly their cameos were so short that it was a little disappointing. I did like the adventure story and rescue that took place in the antique store. And some of the new toys were cool (a pair of carnival dolls are voiced by the comic duo of Key and Peele and they are funny).

There was an extended sequence having to do with trash cans, but none of the characters brought up the scary incinerator experience in the last movie -- probably too traumatic for anyone to rehash. I liked the Randy Newman song "I Won't Let You Throw Yourself Away" that played during the sequence. I'd recommend it, but I didn't think it was a good as the last one.

Batman (1989) opened 30 years ago

This article from CNN.com reminded me of when Batman opened in the summer of 1989, thirty years ago. https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/22/entertainment/batman-movie-changed-the-comic-character/index.html

It was the biggest movie of the summer. I remember going to see it with my birth father; we didn't see movies together that often, but he liked action films and this and Indiana Jones 3 were the ones we saw together that summer.

I eventually saw Batman four times in the theater, including several times with some other neighborhood friends who hadn't seen it yet. There were trading cards to go along with the movie, and I remember tying to collect all 200 of them.

I remember the scenes people were talking about - people loved the Batwing flying over the moon to give a "bat-signal", and people loved The Joker, including me; he was more interesting to me than Michael Keaton's Batman character.  I also remember someone saying "I prefer Marvel comics to DC". If I had a crystal ball to see into the future, I would have told him, "Just wait another 15 or so years and you'll see Spider Man, X-men, and almost every other Marvel hero on the big screen".

Seven Days in May (1964)

Kirk Douglas plays an advisor who helps the US President uncover evidence of a military takeover of the government from within.

Douglas' direct commander is played by Burt Lancaster, whom the President doesn't trust.

Burt is really unlikable in this film.

Ava Gardner has a small part as Burt's former lover who might hold some secrets to help uncover the plot.

Frederic March plays the President, and he makes a really good one, too; I wished his character was our President today.

It's a really good fictional thriller (though based on some real events). I really liked it. Directed by John Frankenheimer (also directed The Manchurian Candidate).

According to the history blog Boundary Stones, US President John F. Kennedy read and enjoyed the original novel which this film is based, and wanted to see a film made of it. Frankenheimer shot on location in Washington DC, and had the approval of the President, who unfortunately did not live to see the film.

The film was released a few months after President Kennedy's assassination. For audiences at that time, it must have a bit frightening to see such a politically-charged film so soon afterward.

Jacqueline of Another Old Movie Blog discussed this film in an excellent 2016 post here, noting how it remains relevant today.

Bill Crider also wrote about this movie, having remembered the original novel of which it was based, and another good post about this film from Movie Magg.