Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

This looked dumb and I was so embarrassed to rent this movie I got it from the anonymous Redbox, instead of supporting my local video store.  However, it turned out to be a fabulous movie, interesting and compelling.  Both leads were quite good at getting across the difficulty of recovery from head injury, and the movie never sank to a schmaltzy level.

poster from: 

http://www.impawards.com/2012/vow.html

“Sweetheart, this movie has Ryan Phillippe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt AND Channing Tatum, why I have I not seen this before?” said I.  It also has Abbie Cornish, who I like despite not liking her character in

Bright Star

.  This was a pretty good movie, full of drama and tough choices, marking this as a “good” MTV films production.*

*Matt thinks he hates MTV Films, but I argue they can make some darn good movies when they set their minds to it.  Check out a

list of their films

.  Despite the presence of

Jackass 2.5

and the like, there are some darn good movies on that list.  They are especially good a capturing moments in adolescence.  (

Varsity Blues

,

Election

, 

Napoleon Dynamite

.)

Also, I really like this movie poster.  Well done, unknown designer.

poster from: 

http://www.impawards.com/2008/stop_loss.html

Having seen

Magic Mike

, I was aware that Channing Tatum can dance and rented this film for more evidence of the fact.  The plot was predictable, but I wasn’t watching it for the plot, so I can report that the acting was good, and the dancing was fabulous.  I also rarely see movies featuring children in foster care, and Channing Tatum played a nicely rounded foster kid.

poster from: 

http://www.impawards.com/2006/step_up.html

Due to the

Foam Run

and our timing not quite coming together, we missed seeing Portland Actors Ensemble’s production of

Twelfth Night

,* but handily had this adaptation at the ready.  Amanda Bynes’ comedy was quite broad throughout, which was annoying at first, but grew on me eventually. Surprisingly, Channing Tatum was quite good as Duke making this a great evening of movie “theater.”

poster from: 

http://www.impawards.com/2006/shes_the_man.html

*Don’t worry, there are multiple performances and we will see it eventually.

While the TV series I grew up with was a drama-fest, and this was a comedy, I still liked it.*  Though not as much as Matt who was set to “low chortle” for most of the movie.  This movie is worth seeing just for the cameos and also now that it is on DVD, you can see the deleted scenes, one of which (the discussion of the inappropriate nature of sleeping with one of the high school girls) was my favorite part of the movie.

*Favorite interchange:

-Run!

-I’m wearing tights!  I can’t run!

-Well, I’m wearing skinny jeans and it’s the exact same thing!

poster from: 

http://www.impawards.com/2012/twenty_one_jump_street.html

Also, a slight Channing Tatum obsessing uncovered this video which is amusing, though not hilarious, as the title overstates a bit.  I do feel bad for the reporter trying to get a story out of that interview. It’s eight minutes.  No commercials.

I had only a smattering of interest in this movie but it was playing at a time I could see a movie so off I went. The general feeling in the theater populated by only women was a feeling of glee and that dissipated once the movie got going because, as my friend Christi commented, “Those are sad, tortured male strippers.”  There was a lot to like about this film–the dancing was fabulous (nearly naked or not, I appreciate some dancing), I think Matthew McConaughey’s “Dallas” might just eclipse his

Dazed and Confused

character, and I also appreciated the tempering presence (of the woman), who not only had a good solid female character to work with, but played her close and tight.

p.s.This movie launched me on another “personal actor film fest” a la the Vin Diesel film festival of last year and the Chris Hemsworth fest of earlier this summer.  Wanna guess which one?

poster from: 

http://www.impawards.com/2012/magic_mike.html