Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

I really liked this movie because I expected it to be very dramatic and tense and it was, but it was also quite funny in places.  This made it a great night at the movies.  I also remembered why I originally preferred Ben Affleck to Matt Damon when the two of them became famous.*

Cost:  Free due to passes.
Where watched:  Regal City Center Stadium 12.

*Ben Affleck has those fabulous sad eyes and is better looking in general.  But then he started starring in all those horrible movies and there was the trip to rehab and the best-forgotten Bennifer brouhaha.  Whereas Matt Damon kept his nose clean and just kept making quality film after quality film.  But now that Affleck is directing himself, his acting seems much better and doesn’t distract me from his good looks.

I’ve not actually read this book, (though I know how it ends) so I was going in with no bias.  I loved the claustrophobic/theatrical use of the stage set and in general this was a very pretty movie to watch.  The acting was also quite good (you can put me down as “fan” in the Keira Knightly column) and I was absorbed the entire time, though nearly everyone else in the theater got up at some point to go to the bathroom.

Cost:  free due to birthday movie gift card
Where watched: Regal Fox Tower

While sometimes grabbing an unfamiliar movie from the library works out, sometimes it means 90-120 minutes of “ugh”.  So was the case for this movie which despite starring Kristen Stewart (who I like) and being directed by Mary Stuart Masterson (who was good in some key movies in my life) was not a very good movie at all.  Aside from the fact the title never bothers to connect itself to the movie,* the plot itself has many confusing attributes** that were just annoying.

*No cake was eaten, no discussion was made about cake, frosting or any desserts at all.
**Here’s a partial list:

• Kristen Stewart’s illness was never really explained.  If you are going to have a rare disease in a movie, it pays to let your audience know what’s the deal.  
• They live in a tiny town and yet these people seem to have no idea of the existence of each other.
• “Intricately plotted” should only be used when the plot is, well, intricate. This was just members of the same two families sleeping with each other.
• If you are going to have a “very sad realization” happen to one of the characters, you need to spell out a little better what the heck the realization is.
• Movies where hair is cut in a dramatic fashion should manage the wig situation well enough so that the audience can’t tell there is a wig involved.

Cost:  Free from library (thank goodness)
Where watched:  at home.

(note that the cover of the DVD had a big picture of Kristen Stewart unlike this original poster.  I think this film was picked up because of Twilight.)

The review I read for this movie could be summed up as “eh,” so I bypassed it when it was in theaters.  But because I loved Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s* previous film** and because the movie was just sitting there at the library and because I really like both main actors I took it home and watched it.  And I LOVED THIS MOVIE which was chock full of glamour and intrigue in that old Hollywood way without being slowly paced in that old Hollywood way.

Cost:  free from library
Where watched: at home

*My favorite director name, ever.
**The Lives of Others, which you really must see if you haven’t already.

I took a chance on this even though the case told me absolutely nothing about the movie, except for the fact that a lot of people liked it.  And I liked it too, all those critics weren’t wrong!  It’s a coming of age gay-boy story set in a suburb of London and even includes a side helping of Mama Cass.

Cost:  free from library
Where watched:  at home.

I put off watching this for years because I thought watching a brother and sister put their estranged father in a  nursing home would be too depressing.  But I needn’t have worried, this was a delightful film, fun and funny and even sweet, without being too saccharine.   My enjoyment may have to do with the fact that I adore both lead actors, but what can I say?

Cost:  free from library
Where watched:  at home.

“I think that movie was just a continuation of Clint Eastwood’s Republican National Convention speech:  facts don’t matter, go with your gut!” said the boyfriend as we were walking home.  And there really wasn’t much to love about this movie; it wasn’t even bad in that terribly fun Battleship way, just mediocre and boring.  Amy Adams brought it as usual, but it says a lot when the hour-each-way walk to/from the theater along a dimly lit road with mud and cold weather was more entertaining than the movie itself.

Where watched: Jubitz Cinema
Cost:  $3.00

Though I quibbled with the main thrust (hah!) of the story,* there were so many great family moments in this movie that I couldn’t do anything but love it.  Plus, I have this theory that Paul Rudd in Clueless** imprinted himself on so many then-high school girls that we can’t help but love him whenever we see him and it seems that Mark Ruffalo in You Can Count on Me*** did the same thing, but to my college self and I can’t not like him.  And Peeta was in it (!) and that Mia girl with the complex last name is a fantabulous actress.

First off, let me reassure you that in 2044, women are still wearing high heels.*  This movie constantly surprised me, went to a few dark places I had no idea were coming and was a thoughtful, well-acted,** action-packed piece that I really loved.  That said, given what I know of the people around me who are parents, especially of young children, you might want to do a little research and see if you really want to see this movie before you go.