Tag: three sentence movies

A slow meander of a movie, by which I mean I probably would have been bored if I wasn’t knitting. Brad Pitt plays a great, slightly unhinged Jesse James, but I was watching it for Casey Affleck, who not only believably plays a 20 year old, but also manages to perfectly convey the changeover from hero worship to ultimate betrayal. This movie is what my mother would call “old-fashioned” which I translate to “good acting, kinda slow.”

Bechdel score: Two women: nope.

I think this is a great movie if you want to view some awesome 80s fashions and hairstyles. It is not so awesome as an actual movie however, being a bit long and with an annoying, distracting performance by Jami Gertz. It did, however, prompt me to put the book on my Goodreads to-read list and Kelly and I spotted a very tiny Brad Pitt walk on before he was “Brad Pitt.”

Bechdel rating. Two women: nope.

I really liked this movie when it was first released; like the critic from the Willamette Week I would have married it if I could. So I was surprised at how unattached I was during this viewing. There are some memorable lines and the voice over thing, which could have gone so badly, is so, so good; overall I would say, if you haven’t seen it do, if you have, stay content with your memories.

Bechdel rating. Has two women: nope.

Not as bad as the movie where Casey Affleck plays a slightly dumb landscaper, but almost. The best part of this movie was the preview for Clerks II. The movie itself perpetuates the belief that really stupid people live in small towns, as well as having an ending that had me crying, “Nooooooooo!” when I know the writer wanted me to feel happy.

Bechdel rating: Two women: nope.

This movie gets props for un-ironically including the use of not only the clapper, but also the flowbee in the first ten minutes. This was a perfect movie: I was confused and intrigued by the plot twist; when it became clear what was going on I was horrified. Sam Rockwell, usually a dependable character actor, had me engrossed in this commentary on what it means to be human.

Bechdel score. Two women: nope.

I wanted to see the film when it came out, but for various reasons I didn’t. This could have gone very badly, but I greatly enjoyed the integration of the Beatles songs with the visuals and the story (simple on the surface) was engrossing. Very well done and highly recommended.

Bechdel score. Two women: Yes! That talk to each other: Yes! About something besides a man: I’m giving it a YES! Amazing!!!!!!!!!! Is this the first one of the year?

ps: I watched it twice in a weekend and showed my favorite parts to Matt. Then I put all the other Julie Taymor movies on hold at the library. You should really watch this film. Really.

I’m not a huge fan of these movies, though I think they do the best they can to bring the books to the screen. This one was “fine,” although I don’t understand why they eliminated the huge battle at the end and the big death scene was wrong, wrong wrong! The young love parts were very well done, which made me happy as the contrast between adolescent yearning and the increasing drumbeat of war are what makes this my favorite book the series.

Bechdel review. Two women: nope.

It didn’t come with the best personal review from a person I actually know: “I fell asleep during that, but I had been walking around all day, and I still want to see how it ends.” Indeed, it was a snoozer. There was so little chemistry between the main characters, Kelly and I spent the last 20 minutes listing movie couples with good chemistry.

Bechdel review. Two women: nope.