Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

About three-quarters of the way through this movie the thing I was enjoying most about the film finally became clear to me.  I love that this was entirely a film about women, so much so that there were really no men present.*  Those fabulous actresses, so often relegated to the girlfriend/whore role,** just got to sink their teeth in and do some damn fine acting.***

Cost:  free from library.
Where watched: at home.

*In nearly every other book-to-movie transitions the fleshed-out female character is shunted aside for the men to take center stage.  I’m looking at you, Gone Baby, Gone.  Here, the men, much more present in the book, were almost completely eliminated.

**And yes, the black women were stuck being the maids AGAIN.  So frustrating!  I’m holding out for a future where we not only have many movies with fully-developed female characters as a matter of course, but also movies where the people of color don’t have to disappear into the standard tropes of servant/cannon fodder/magical guides for the white people.

***Bryce Dallas Howard was something of a marvel.  “Who is that woman playing Hilly?” I kept wondering.  And then was aghast it was she, who I had always kind of written off.

This was a good season, filled with the usual high-caliber dramatic tension set amongst the High School football field.  However, the series ending was so disappointing it colored the entire season and I feel cheated.  How could a show built on the foundation of struggle give every single character exactly what they wanted in the end?

Cost: free from library
Where watched:  at home, with Matt

So the thing about addition when it is just happening and there is no start or finish is that addiction is really boring.  And this movie, though packed with good performances by hamster-eyed Gosling and the various women/girls in his life, is boring.  I was drinking a bit of whisky whilst watching and the movie just kept going on so long I only knew it had ended when the credits presented themselves to me, that’s how little happens in this movie.

Cost: free from library
Where watched:  at home, with two fingers worth of Jack Daniels when I maybe should have just had one.

I think when someone spends nine years and interviews over 150 people, they shouldn’t really limit themselves to ONE documentary about their subject.  Every topic the movie introduced brought up many questions that were not answered and that resulted in an incredibly frustrating semi-portrait of the recluse-when-it-was-convenient-author.  Also, having so few pictures of the subject meant that they repeated themselves a lot with images, which was distracting.

Cost: $9.00
Where watched:  Living Room Theater, with Kelly.

Having seen this film, I feel as if I must make the following point very clearly: People–I’m quite serious here–feel free to recommend movies to me; especially perfectly done romantic comedies that are actually FUNNY as well as ROMANTIC and take nimble turns of plot I don’t really expect.  This movie has been out for TWO YEARS and someone just mentioned it to me this summer, which is a shame because due to the excellent caliber of motion picture (acting/plot/bevy of talented performers) I feel that my life would have been changed, and for the better.  So don’t hold back; if you see a movie you think I will like, by all means let me know what it is.

Cost:  free from library
Where watched: at home with Matt in the same room, but not really paying attention the first night.  Then sitting next to me on the next night when I convinced him to watch it, instead of just listening.

The sequel to this movie–which I watched first–was full of zany humor, and I assumed this would be the same. However, it was much less zany funny and more desperate funny, which I found enjoyable in a chuckling sort of way.  I haven’t seen Adam Goldberg in years* and spent a lot of time contemplating why, as an actor, he would get all those tattoos.

Cost:  free from library
Where watched:  at home

*I heard he has a new TV show this fall?

I had to wait through the entire summer before time was found for the boyfriend and I to see this movie.  It was worth it, though, because what I saw was the perfect mix of adventure and humor and heartache and best of all:  freedom, which was portrayed in that way that only adolescents can experience freedom.  Several times I looked at Matt and he was slack-jawed with delight, because this is that kind of film.*

Cost:  $3.00
Where watched: at the Laurelhurst with the boyfriend.

*seriously, this was a perfect movie.  You must see it.

Whew!  The second viewing was even more enjoyable because I knew where the story was going and could relax my way through the plot and think about the characters and their interactions.  I love that the director/actors/writers aren’t shy about exposing all the warts of their characters.

Cost:  $3.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst with S. North.