Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

I still had basting to do, this movie has Casey Affleck in it (I tend to see all the movies in which he appears) and it was there at the library.  So I watched it while sewing and it was the exactly perfect movie for just that situation.*  For once, Ben Stiller wasn’t his usual sad-sack self, which was a nice change of pace.**

Cost:  free from library
Where watched: at home.

*Other situations it would be good for:  when you have the flu; an endless airplane ride with few movie options; film fest of Alan Alda’s lesser works; when they play it on cable and your remote is broken and you are too lazy to get up to change the channel.
**And this movie was feces-free!  Another rarity.

This was a great favorite of my mother, brother and I when I was 11 and so in the present, I was happy to realize that it stars not only a very young River Phoenix, but also a very young Ethan Hawke.*  It’s still a very sweet film, worth watching for it’s totally 1985 computer generated effects and copious pop culture references.  It’s a great movie for the 8-12 year-old in your life and you, the adult might enjoy it too.

Cost:  free from library
Where watched:  At home while endlessly basting material together.

*Jason Presson, the other guy in the movie was my favorite actor of the three, at least during this viewing.   His acting was pretty contained and had the most amazing voice.  Ethan Hawke’s voice was still quite high and really bugged me by the end, but Jason Presson, since you don’t seem to be acting anymore, I hope at least you are a radio DJ or doing something with that great voice.  [one Google search and 10 minutes later, here’s a picture of him from 2008 and a bit about what he’s doing now. http://americanvirus.com/2008/08/americanvirus-30-jason-presson-on-hollywood-boulevard/]

First off, I must say that this movie has one of the best kisses I’ve ever seen in cinema, but I don’t think it’s worth it to watch the entire film just to see that 30 seconds of movie magic perfection.  This is because I hated this film and went on a long rant about “dick flicks” where I have a sneaking suspicion that two guys were just sitting around (possibly high) and saying stuff like, “it would be cool if there was this guy who was a mechanic and a stunt driver, but also a guy who drives for people committing crimes and there would be all this cool stuff like stunt driving and shooting and shit like that,” and then those guys get to make this movie and, frankly, it’s not a very good movie, but because the people who get movies made are men, and the people who review movies are men, it’s considered amazing.*  I actually found it gratuitously violent, once it really got going, and why exactly was I supposed to care about this guy, aside from the fact that he did the hamster Ryan Gosling thing with the sad eyes** the entire movie when he struck me as somewhat of a sociopath?

Cost:  free from library
Where watched: at home.

*at one point, this rant was working itself into an essay, but it never made it the full transition, so you just get to read a run-on sentence here.  But really?  This movie made me so mad I almost spit.
**see that?  He’s doing it right there in the poster.

I’m not really anti-spectator sports (meaning I love to read about baseball in novel form, and I don’t mind that spectator sports exist, I just don’t care to watch them) but I do have limited patience for football culture especially–it seems to magnify a lot of what I find unattractive about US society.  So why watch this show all about high school football in Texas?  Because the characters made me fall in love with them, broke my heart and keep me coming back for more.

In preparation for the next movie, a review of the first two was in order.  Once again, I found my front teeth drying because I smile for so long while watching them.  Now the hard part will be waiting for the next one.

Cost: Free because they are Christi’s
Where watched:  at home with Christi, Kelly and Ameena.

I wanted to like this movie, because I like Mark Duplass and Mike Birbiglia was a producer, (and had a bit part) but especially because Rosemary DeWitt and Emily Blunt were in it.  And while there was a pretty funny modern comedy of errors in the middle third of the movie, overall the story was slow and so despite all those things that should have made this a good film, it was only so-so.  There was also an amusing “vegan pancakes” subplot and the setting was very pretty in that drippy Seattle way.

Cost: $1.00 from Videorama
Where watched:  at home.

Yet another notch in our “see superhero film to celebrate anniversary” belt.  I’ve liked all of the Iron Man movies, but franchises tend to diminish as their sequels become more numerous, so I was surprised how much I liked this movie.  I think it had a lot to do with the fact that Robert Downey Jr. spent most of the movie outside of the suit, plus there was good acting throughout.*

Where watched: Regal’s Vancouver Stadium 12 with Matt
Cost: $10.50 (grumble, grumble, “evening” begins at 4:00 now and my very spendy ticket to the 5:15 show didn’t keep the too-young child sitting in front of us from talking through a lot of the movie, grumble grumble)

*And, for once, Pepper Potts wasn’t in sky-high heels when being chased/in danger.

I hadn’t heard of this Laura Linney/Topher Grace 2004 effort, but it was free, so why not?  It was a very interesting story (40-year-old woman believes 20-year-old art student is her dead ex-boyfriend reincarnated) and that kept me watching.  I think the whole movie could have explored a bit deeper, but overall, I was engaged the entire time.

Cost:  free because I had a gift certificate to Title Wave Bookshop
Where watched: at home.

O! Joseph Gordon-Levitt, you could not be any cuter when you combine your charming self with the character archetype of the modern urban cowboy: the bike messenger.  Aside from Mr. Gordon-Levitt’s performance, this also had a female lead with something to do and the always welcome presence of Michael Shannon.  This was a well-crafted film with great chase scenes and a good bit of heart and I had a very good time watching it.