Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

I loved how this movie captured so well that confusing time post-college when so many mistakes are made on the way to becoming a fully functioning adult.  Lauren Ambrose was incredible as usual and Mike Birbiglia was a surprisingly good actor.  The supporting cast was also fabulous and I’m happy to report this was the rare case of a movie about stand-up comedy actually being funny.

Cost: $7.00
Where watched:  The beautiful gem Cinema 21, where not only do you not have to spend time waiting for the movie to begin attempting to ignore assualtive ads for television shows and video games the theater plays (I’m looking at you Regal Cinemas) you also don’t even have to watch a slide show of ads (which I don’t mind, but it was quite restful to just stare at a blank screen before the movie began.)

Also, I saw this with Matt and then the next week saw Mike Birbiglia at Live Wire! on Saturday and then Ira
Glass (who co-wrote) on Sunday!  How cool is that?

And! Plus!  Who knew all those years ago when I first heard this story on This American Life, that I would then read a book and see a movie about the same topic?

Viewing two of this movie was just as delightful as the first, perhaps more so as I didn’t have to pay attention to plot and could just immerse myself in what was happening on the screen.  I think my favorite line was the simultaneous “that was the girl!” spoken by Bruce Willis & Edward Norton.  And it’s interesting to look at both Bruce Willis and Edward Norton, who have both played action heroes and compare them in these roles.

Cost:  $6.25 (plus $5.00 in ATM fees because I didn’t think to bring cash)
Where:  Cinemagic, which is a lovely theater I’ve only been to one other time.

I hadn’t seen this since I was fifteen or so and though the opening scenes were awesome, it slowly but surely rolled down into mediocre territory from there.  I think one of the problems was that all the boys looked alike which made it hard for me to feel sad when something happened to one of them because I couldn’t tell which one it was.  Also, the many gratuitous shots of the various characters shooting their guns made me realize we used to see that all the time in movies and now we never see that, probably due to advances in computer animation; before showing us what happened after the bullets were fired was an expensive endeavor and we had to use our imaginations, now it’s just computer generated and we can see what the gunfire does.

Cost:  free from library
Watched: at home.

How often is the third movie in a franchise awesome?  This was good enough that I loved it despite uncomfortable seats, bad sound and a viewing in an un-airconditioned theater on a day when temperatures reached 100 degrees.*  The plot was tight, fun and funny and the acting was quite good making this a good escape from the heat, even while sitting in a steam bath.

*McMenamin’s St. Johns Theater has many charms, but they are more difficult to channel on a very hot day.  To be fair, they told us to go in the theater before we bought our tickets, so we could see just how hot it was.  We bought tickets anyway.

Cost:  $3.00 (plus another $10.00 for a sandwich when I realized I was starving)
Place:  McMenamin’s St. Johns Theater.

So while Amanda Seyfried’s acting (and the presence of Channing Tatum) saved the day in Dear John, this movie did not fare so well. It suffered from the problem of both male leads being insufferable, so I found myself wishing poor Sophie would find someone else.  It was also kind of boring.

I liked this movie, it was interesting and had Abbie Cornish who is fast becoming another Melanie Lynskey* in my world.  I haven’t seen much of Bradley Cooper and he was interesting to watch.  Also, Anna Friel had a bit part which was lovely as I miss her and Pushing Daisies.

*Melanie Lynskey is a fabulous actress who delights me by appearing in bit parts here and there. Unlike Abbie Cornish who seems to be the girlfriend of the moment, Melaine Lynskey didn’t go through that phase. I wouldn’t mind seeing her star in something, or get to be the girlfriend, though she is now old enough to be the wife.

So while Magic Mike held up to a second viewing, this movie did not, alas.  Matt fell asleep in the middle and I was not nearly so charmed as the first time.  But Charlize Theron’s costumes were still fabulous.

Cost: $3.00
Where:  Kennedy School