Three Sentence Movie Reviews – Page 18

Last Christmas is Good Holiday Movie

Last Christmas

Directed by Paul Feig
Written by Emma Thompson and Bryony Kimmings

The review:

Gosh darn if Emilia Clarke* isn’t the reason to watch this perfectly fine entry into the holiday movie glut.** It’s best to wander along with the movie, rather than to try to figure things out.*** This is a film that checks its boxes, doesn’t aspire to be more, and might be something to add to your regular holiday viewing.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 from Redbox****
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*She’s so darn charismatic! And she sings!
**Which I watched in June because in December and January I was too busy doing Oscar movie prep/catchup.
***Indeed, this is basically the same plot as a movie that also uses a pop song for its title. I will not reveal the name of said movie here, as people watching this film will have probably already seen that film.
****My Redbox DVD came with a TON of extras, all introduced by director Paul Feig, who seems to have inherited Garry Marshall’s nice-guy mantle.

Questions:

Should films centered around the winter holidays break from their pleasant nature?
What was your favorite placement of a George Michael song in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Filmed on location in London. In order to avoid crowds interrupting filming, many scenes started filming around 2 a.m.

Other reviews of Last Christmas:

Zoe Deutch Sparkles in Buffaloed

Buffaloed

Directed by Tanya Wexler
Written by Brian Sacca

The review:

Zoey Deutch flexes her I’m-a-legit-actress-not-just-an-offspring-hack muscles* using not only tons of charisma to make us like a tough-gal character, but also also employing a Buffalo-style accent.** While Deutch is engaging, the story swings and misses a few times,*** though does a great job at illustrating the problems with regulation in the American debt collection system. Overall, this was a solid film with a lot of engaging performances**** and a reminder of why it’s best to avoid debt whenever possible.*****

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*She’s the daughter of director Howard Deutch and actress-director Lea Thompson. Once I learned who her mother is, I had a moment of “well of course she looks familiar!” I’ve enjoyed her in a bit role in Everybody Wants Some! and as a the lead in Before I Fall, which was a movie I enjoyed quite a bit and I feel like not many people watched. She was also the assistant in Set it Up, which was one of a bevy of solid Netflix rom-coms I watched in the summer of 2018.
**I will leave it to the residents of Buffalo to determine how well she did at said accent.
***That Deutch’s Peg Dahl becomes part of the problem is where the story lost me. I can only cheer on a debt collector for so long, despite how very likable she is.
****Judy Greer! Plus, Jermaine Fowler was of interest.
*****I mean, universal healthcare would help, for one. No one should be harassed by debt collectors for trying to maintain their health.

Questions:

At what point did Peg Dahl make the wrong move?
What parts of this movie did you find believable? Unbelievable?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Most of the suits Peg wears were purchased at Goodwill.

Other reviews of Buffaloed:

Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com
Kimber Meyers, Los Angeles Times

Becoming Captures a Time

Becoming

Directed by Nadia Hallgren

The review

Nadia Hallgren takes us along on Michelle Obama’s book tour in Becoming, a movie that is both a nostalgic trip back to 2008–2016 and an illustration of why so many people admire the former first lady.* For a ninety-minute film it packs in a lot: the planning of and excerpts from her tour, behind-the-scenes footage of her daily life on tour,** discussion of her life before politics, her role as a politician’s wife, and even short bios on a few of the teenagers who participated in chats with Obama while on tour. The pacing drags near the end, but for anyone interested in Obama’s life, or how intelligent and graceful women live their lives, this is a must-see film.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*There was a lot to like in this film, but I think my favorite parts were watching the audience reactions as she talked.
**Favorite scene: when her brother asked about the placement of her belt. It was a great illustration of what fashion means for men vs. for women. Also: funny.

Questions:

Did seeing this film change how you thought of Michelle Obama?
What was the most interesting behind-the-scenes moment?

Other reviews of Becoming:

Lorry Kikta, Film Threat
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

The Lovebirds is Packed with Laughs

The Lovebirds

Directed by: Michael Showalter
Written by: Aaron Abram, Brendan Gall

The review:

The Lovebirds pairs Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani in a hilarious movie that pushes all the comedic buttons. I think the key to this film is that Rae and Nanjiani play a couple that isn’t in sync any longer, but hasn’t moved to full-on hatred.* There are a lot of amusing fish-out-of-water setups, and the two really shine when they are improving how to be tough guys, rather than the advertising exec and documentary filmmaker that they are.**

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home.

Consider also watching:

Further sentences

*This is important. Tuning in for 90 minutes of angry people snapping at each other, no thanks. But 90 minutes of two people who disagree about a variety of things yet still respect each other leaves room for a lot of laughter.
**I laughed so very hard at this film from the first disagreement (We would win the Amazing Race) to the last one. I laughed all alone in my house the first night, and then all over again the next night when the boyfriend and I watched it together.

Questions:

Which of the outfits Rae and Nanjiani wore do you think provided the most humor per scene?
What’s another out-of-sync-couple captured on film that you enjoy?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

(also the only IMDB trivia item)
Paramount had originally planned to released the film theatrically on April 3, 2020, but decided to release it on Netflix due to the Coronavirus pandemic and widespread theater closings.

Other reviews of The Lovebirds:

All movies watched on Netflix November 2019–Present

Good

18 Presents (May)
Inception (May)
Extraction (April)
P.S. I Still Love You (February)
The Two Popes (December)
Atlantics (December)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (November)
Let it Snow (November)
The King (November)

Skip

Unwrapping 18 Presents

The review:

Francesco Amato’s 18 Presents could have dived right in to movie cliches* but ventures off in a different direction to create a movie that had me intermittently verklempt. The charm comes from the independent** natures of the mother (Vittoria Puccini) and daughter (Benedetta Porcaroli.) While a little too sad to be a Sunday Afternoon Film,*** this is a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

My Life Without Me
One True Thing
Stepmother
Steel Magnolias
The Joy Luck Club

Further sentences:

*After all, the setup (Pregnant woman learns she has terminal cancer; plans 18 birthday presents for her unborn daughter) had me thinking I knew how this would go down.
**And feisty.
***A low-stress film that doesn’t demand much brainpower and leaves you with a good feeling. One last breath of weekend fresh air before you launch into prep for the week ahead.

Questions:

When’s the last time you watched a movie from Italy? It’s been a long while for me.
If you were going to cast Benedetta Porcaroli (the daughter) in a US-based film, what role would be good for her?

Other reviews of 18 Presents:

Veronica Englebert, The Review Geek
Courtney Howard, Variety

Inception Goes a Few Levels Too Deep

The review:

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a movie with a highly original concept that makes the choice to go just a few levels too deep.* It remains as visually stunning as it was in 2010,** and I enjoy the commitment everyone has to their sometimes bananas dialog.*** It did wear on me that Ellen Paige’s character existed only to ask questions so the audience could be informed, but this was balanced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s focused work in zero gravity.****

The verdict: Good

Cost: Neflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Intersteller
Fight Club
Looper
Run Lola Run
500 Days of Summer

Further sentences:

*I enjoy puzzling through things while watching movies, but the layers after the snowbound assault are too much. Though props for finding a way to include a James Bond-esque action sequence that reminds me why I don’t watch James Bond movies. How in the world am I supposed to tell who is who when they are all wearing the same outfit?
**It was more of a marvel then—I mean, we’ve all seen Thanos snap his fingers and have half of the universe’s population blow away—but it still looks good ten years on.
***Example: You’re waiting for a train. A train that’ll take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you. But you can’t know for sure. Yet it doesn’t matter. Now, tell me why?
****If there is one thing I’ve learned from my Nolan oeuvre-view, it’s that I need more JGL in my movie-going life. That voiceover work he did for Knives Out didn’t cut it.

Questions:

What do you think the ending means?
Who is your favorite extractor?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan explained that he based roles of the Inception team on filmmaking roles. Cobb is the director, Arthur is the producer, Ariadne is the production designer, Eames is the actor, Saito is the studio, and Fischer is the audience. “In trying to write a team-based creative process, I wrote the one I know,” said Nolan.

Other reviews of Inception:

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Just Mercy: a Social Justice Courtroom Procedural

The review:

Just Mercy is a solid courtroom procedural, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, that draws attention to the faulty mechanisms of justice, specifically concerning prisoners on death row.* Michael B. Jordan brings his best intense focus** to assist Jamie Foxx’s Walter McMillan in his quest to clear his conviction for murdering a woman he had zero contact with. While this movie is slightly too long, it does a lot, not only with plot, but also by giving example after example of how the scales of justice are more equal for some than others.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Cost: $1.425 due to Redbox promos, but actually free because I used a gift card.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Philadelphia
The Great Debaters
Mudbound

Further sentences:

*It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie dealing with the courts, which was a welcome change.
**He is so good at intense focus!
***And this, not really equal at all.

Questions:

What do you think of the statistic given at the end of the film? For every nine people put to death in the US, one has been freed.
What aspect of discrimination was the most difficult for you to view in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In one scene, Bryan and Eva sit on the banks of the Alabama River and watch a recreation of a nineteenth-century riverboat sail by. Bryan says to Eva, “Nobody wants to remember that this is where thousands of enslaved people were shipped in and paraded up the street to be sold. Ten miles from here, black people were pulled from their homes and lynched and nobody talks about it. ”

This is a nod to the fact that years after this movie takes place, Stevenson’s organization the Equal Justice Initiative expanded its mission. Although it continues to provide legal defense and advocacy for prisoners on death row, children in adult prisons, people who have been wrongfully convicted, and others in need of defense, they also started to memorialize the history of slavery and lynching in America.

In April 2018, EJI opened two new facilities. One was the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, a museum located in a former warehouse where black people were enslaved in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. The other was National Memorial for Peace and Justice, dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people and people terrorized and murdered by lynching. EJI also works with communities to install historical markers that acknowledge lynchings in those cities’ pasts.

Other reviews of Just Mercy:

Sara Stewart, New York Post
Joi Childs, IGN

The Photograph is a Good Slow

The review:

Stella Meghie’s The Photograph is a slow buffet of pleasure that is delightful for the person in the mood for not much happening, and probably tedious for everyone else.* It’s also a movie that hinges on the back and forth of conversations, rather than actions.** I’m here to champion love stories in two eras, Louisiana and New York City, the gorgeous faces of the leads, because if we can make the same action film forty-two times a year, surely we can find room for a languid romance.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.425 due to Redbox promos, but actually free because I used a gift card.
Where watched: at home
(When I first introduced it, who could have imagined this category would have a long period of redundancy.)

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I was quite happy: I’d had some wine, enjoy love stories, LaKeith Stanfield, and was interested to catch up with Issa Rae. (I don’t have HBO, so haven’t seen Insecure.)
**The other film directed by Meghie, The Weekend, was similarly slow and conversation based. Oh wait, she also did Everything Everything. That had a little more action, but it also was adapted from a novel.

Questions:

How well matched do you think Sara and Michael are?
What do you think the odds are of Lil Rel Howrey breaking out of his small-bit sidekick role. (I’ve seen him play this role in Get Out, Brittany Runs a Marathon, and this.)