Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

Following is a Brief Film

Following

The review:

Christopher Nolan’s Following is embryonic Nolan,* and is a good showcase of what we put up with in the 90s when it came to independent films.** I always enjoy a shifting timeline, so that was a win, but I found that the distance of all of the characters made it difficult to care about what was happening on screen.*** It’s nice to know that better Nolan films were on deck.

The verdict: Skip

(Unless Nolan Completest, or watching to keep up with Filmspotting’s Oeuvre-view.)

Cost: $2.99 via Google Play****
Where watched: at home

Consider watching these other Christopher Nolan films instead:

Further sentences:

*Including its paltry 69-minute (that’s one hour and nine minutes!) run time.
**A lot, including so-so acting. This wasn’t quite the showcase of 90s indie annoyances as Next Stop Wonderland was, but it did have a lot of them.
***The black and white felt like a bit much.
****The median length of a film between 1994 and 2015 is 107 minutes which means this should have cost $1.70 proportionally. (And yes! I just used algebra to solve that problem!)

Questions:

  • What did you think of Lucy Russell’s acting? Decent for the role that was written? Or not good?
  • Did you figure out the ending before the ending?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Principal photography of this film took more than one year. Because all cast and crew members had other full-time jobs they were only able to film about 15 minutes of footage on Saturdays until photography had been completed.

Following
(I do!)

The Weekend Has a lot of Walking

Despite what this picture wants you to think, it is not animated.

The review:

Stella Meghie’s The Weekend is a quality film illustrating the difficulties of staying friends after a breakup and the ramifications when you try to buck that system.* Sasheer Zamata’s Zadie is a prickly floundering fledgling comedian** who doesn’t really try to make the best of the weekend away with her ex-boyfriend and his current girlfriend. This movie had a lot of walking and talking, most of which seemed to be orchestrated to move plot along; despite that, it was an enjoyable film.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox (celebrated my newly unemployed status!)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It’s also an amusing film.
**Sexism alert! I quickly read half of the short synopsis on IMDB (A comedian goes away for the weekend with an ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend). At “comedian” I got a picture of a man in my head which did not leave until several minutes into Zadie’s stand-up routine that opens the film.

Questions:

  • How do you feel about the acting quality of the men in this film?
  • Did Zadie deserve what she got?

Other reviews:

Amy Ryan Shines in Lost Girls

Lost Girls

The review:

Liz Garbus’s Lost Girls provides a good vehicle for Amy Ryan to be steely,* Thomasin McKenzie to do some accent work, and Lola Kirke to be sparkly.** This is one of those films where nothing is really wrong with the narrative but it also doesn’t lend itself to gushing accolades. I appreciate it for calling out the disposable nature of women*** and the afterword caused me to gasp.

The verdict: Good

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

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Always enjoyable!
**I last saw her in the excellent Mistress America, where she was tight-laced and tentative.
***Especially ones who work in jobs that can be morally judged.

Questions:

  • What do you think drives Mari Gilbert, even before her daughter turns up missing?
  • How did you feel about the ending to this film?

Favorite IMDB Trivia Item:

The photos shown of the victims, are the actual real life victims.

Other reviews:

Lost Girls

All movies watched on Netflix September 2019–Present

Recommended

  • Miss Americana
  • Homecoming A Film by Beyonce

Good

  • The Two Popes
  • To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

Skip

  • A Christmas Prince
  • All the Bright Places
  • The Lobster

Queen & Slim Should be on Your To-watch List

Queen & Slim

The review:

Melina Matsoukas’s debut feature* Queen & Slim gives us a zeitgeist film that has (unfortunately) flown under most people’s radar. Daniel Kaluuya (Slim) and Jodie Turner-Smith** (Queen) begin as a couple on an awkward date, though their fates change when they are pulled over.*** What follows is a lot of different films: road trip, political story, heist, escape, love story and by the final scene the movie will have taken you on a rough and fulfilling journey.****

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*If this is any indication of what’s to come, we have a very exciting filmmaker to watch.
**In this very American story, it was interesting to hear the two leads’ British accents during the making-of bonus features.
***Even people who don’t follow the news will recognize that a plot point involving Black people and a traffic stop doesn’t bode well.
****I went in mostly blind to this film. I heard “really good!” and “women director” and didn’t look further. It’s the kind of film where people might dismiss as too sad, but there’s so much life among the sadness, I would suggest you don’t pass it by.

Questions:

  • What are your feelings about Queen and Slim being viewed as heros?
  • What was your favorite encounter the couple had on their journey?

Favorite IMDB Trivia Item:

According to the writer, the divergent world views of the two protagonists were based on the differences between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

Other reviews:

Queen & Slim

The Greatest Showman is Perfect Pandemic Viewing

The Greatest Showman

The review:

The overlap of the Venn Diagram of Michael Gracey’s The Greatest Showman and the actual facts of P.T. Barnum’s life is probably a slim sliver, but that does not take away from the fact that this is a very good movie musical.* Casting the living greatest showman (Hugh Jackman) helps, but so do the dance numbers** and the songs, many of which have a meter that is designed to pep the most lugubrious of people. The visual styling*** is also great and everyone turns in excellent performances.****

The verdict: Good

The verdict during a pandemic: Recommended

Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library (one of two DVDs I checked out before the library closed for pandemic purposes*****)
Where watched: at home.

Consider also watching:

  • The Music Man
  • Sound of Music
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  • Singing in the Rain
  • Mary Poppins
  • Mary Poppins Returns

Further sentences:

*Particularly when quarantined due to a pandemic. The hopeful and stalwart songs are just right for our times.
**”Rewrite the stars” has catapulted to my top-ten list of musical numbers.
***My copy had a making-of feature which explained why there were paintings of the film shown during the credits. This was a feature that made me like the film even more. The story behind the story is also inspiring.
****If I were an actor, I would aspire to Michele Williams interesting and varied career, and I also am interested in the turns Zac Efron takes. Long after I’ve forgotten the details of the film, Keala Settle will remain the thing I love about this movie.
*****I stayed away from this due to tepid reviews, and I’m kind of glad. It was the movie I needed right now.

Questions:

  • What’s a movie that came to you at just the right time?
  • What’s the most important element in a musical?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

According to Hugh Jackman, the film’s nine-year development process from conception to completion was, in part, due to studios’ unwillingness to take a risk on an original musical. What finally sold the deal at 20th Century Fox was the future Oscar-nominated song “This is Me”, which had literally been written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul during the two-hour flight to the studio meeting where the film was greenlit.

The Greatest Showman

The Lobster Wasn’t a Good Dinner For Me

The Lobster

The review:

Yorgos Lanthimos created an interesting world in The Lobster,* but it’s a world I didn’t want to spend much time in, which made this movie a long slog. That said, there are a great many amusing scenes in this film** and it’s quite funny. I especially liked the deadpan nature of all the characters, especially Olivia Colman as the Hotel Manager and Ariane Labed as the Maid.

The verdict: Skip

Cost: Free from Kanopy, the library’s streaming service
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Fun fact: when I googled “movies like the Lobster” one of the recommendations was Definitely, Maybe #algorithmfail

Further sentences:

*It’s kind of like a dark Wes Anderson world.
**And a more than a few disturbing ones.

Questions:

  • What do you think happened after the final scene?
  • How do you think this particular society evolved?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The production worked almost entirely with natural light and without makeup. Lighting was only used for some night scenes.

Other reviews:

The Lobster

All the Bright Places: Stick With the Book

All the Bright Places

The Review:

Brett Haley’s All the Bright Places is a romance with a bit of bipolar and hints of suicide.* Elle Fanning is great: she captures the emotions her character Violet travels through, from depressed despair to love and back again. The film does a disservice by not confronting the darkness; it’s content to bask in the love story.**

The verdict: Skip

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

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*This is one of those reviews where I’ve read the book and liked the book and even though it’s been a few years since reading, the plot is still very clear in my mind and does a much better job of getting across the point which is: mental illness is tough and even when you love someone it’s not the thing that’s going to fix their illness.
**It is good at capturing that early love stage, though perhaps too much dependent on montage.

Questions:

  • Do you think a film can accurately capture the complexities of bipolar disorder and falling in love? It seems a tall order.
  • Justice Smith. What did you think of his performance?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Elle Fanning’s first credit as producer on a feature film.

Other reviews:

All the Bright Places