Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

When I discovered Anna Faris a few years back, more than one person mentioned they liked her in this film, which was a film that was not in the holdings of the Multnomah County Library. Now that I have access to movies via my TV, I could see Ms. Faris’s performance. She, as usual, had great comic timing, although the Happy Madison production company tends to produce films that are not to my tastes; this was no exception to that rule.

Cost: $2.99 via Google Play (though free due to credit)
Where watched: at home, movie four of four while recovering from a migraine.

Of note: the four movies I watched were all via different movie delivery methods: streaming via Hoopla, DVD from library, Netflix, rented via Google Play.

My second viewing, I still love how director Taika Waititi takes everything really good about the Thor movies and adds a layer of comedy that completely works. Cate Blanchett makes for a worthy villain and even though the humor is turned up to 11, the stakes are still high. This is the best Marvel movie to watch when you want to laugh.

Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($7.99)
Where watched: at home, movie three of four recovering from a migraine

Another Lynn Shelton film to delight in, this is a story of steadily rising stakes, both between the two friends, Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard, and also Duplass and his wife. One-on-one conversations are the main reason to watch this, with layers upon layers of nuance. It’s a story that is mostly uncomfortable, but in a pleasurable way.

Cost: free from library, streamed via Hoopla
Where watched: at home, movie two of four while recovering from a migraine.

I consider it a mark of success when a movie can have a character I would be judgmental of in real life, yet I enjoy her company in the movie. While Carrie Pilby does have her problems (being a Harvard graduate by the age of 18) her father is also paying for a one-bedroom New York City apartment, her living expenses, and her therapy sessions. Still Carrie manages to delight–probably due to Bel Powely’s talents–and that made this film worth watching.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, movie 1 of 4 while recovering from a migraine.

Director Lynn Shelton excels at telling normal-life-type stories and making them compelling.  In this movie, Rosemary DeWitt develops an aversion to bodily contact at the same time her brother–played by Josh Pais (so great!)–develops an ability to cure his dental patients TMJ pain. There are some hilarious moments–such as Pais and Allison Janney in a Reiki healing session–and some sad moments and I could have hung out with these people for a good long time.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

And the exciting trilogy concludes with a movie that lets us be more knowledgeable in some places than Jason Bourne–we know, for instance about the Asset, when Bourne has no idea. This film seems very much a product of its time with Joan Allen and David Strathairn facing off about how we will be as a country.* Unlike the first two films, the action sequences were mostly hard to follow, sinking into a blurry mishmash of stuff happening

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, in anticipation of Filmspotting Madness 2019

*Around this time, the US was grappling with the issue of how much we would use torture to get information we needed.  This comes right through in the plot of this film.

While I fell asleep several times during this film, I always enjoy looking at the practical effects of the pre-CGI world. The acting was mostly terrible (exception: Timothy Dalton), but it’s an iconic film that I’m happy to have seen. Or seen most of, I guess.

Cost: $2.00 (I have found the cheapest theater in town!)
Where watched: McMenamins Mission Theater

In this sequel to the Bourne Identity we find out more pieces of Jason Bourne’s* past and watch him work through some forgiveness things. The action was well paced and made sense** and there were at least three times I gasped aloud in surprise. Plus, Joan Allen!

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, in preparation for Filmspotting’s 2019 March Madness

*And can we just talk for a moment about what a great name Jason Bourne is? Jason is the ultimate anonymous name of that particular era,*** and “bourne” is both a homonym for “born” a theme of the first movie, and also is a misspelling the the past participle of “bear” which is a good description of the weight Jason Bourne’s carries pre-amnesia and also post-amnesia. Kudos to Robert Ludlum for thinking up this name.
**A thing that is mostly not true for many of the action movies I watch.
***I think a fun fictional coupling would be Jason Bourne and the feminist terrorist organization Jennifer from Sarai Walker’s Dietland.

Tig Notaro is a master of making me like her so much I want to protect her while also making me somewhat uncomfortable during her comedy specials. So was it with this special during the end bit concerning the Indigo Girls. I always enjoy exposure to the machinations of Notaro’s mind.

Cost: Netflix subscription fee ($7.99)
Where watched: at home with Matt