Olivia Wilde’s movie Booksmart isn’t just about two studious high school students who go to a party; the reason they attend the party is the crux of the film. There are hijinks along the way, and standard movie stuff happens* but the realization that drives the need to attend a party is what sold this movie for me. There were a couple of scenes I adored and the movie is also populated with a variety of interesting types** and some excellent markers of how high school looks different from my own experience.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $9.00 Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater with Matt, who also liked it.
Laggies (because Kaitlyn Dever is so good in that)
Lady Bird (because Beanie Feldstein is so good in that)
*It’s the same list I had for Wine Country (hijinks, things not going according to plan, fights, personal realizations, a happy ending) and because it’s a raunchy comedy you can add vomiting. **Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are great as I knew they would be, but I also loved Skyler Gisondo as the kid trying to buy his way into everyone’s heart, Molly Gordon as the girl known by an unfortunate nickname, Bille Lourd as the weird girl who is everywhere, and Michael Patrick O’Brien’s short turn as Pat the Pizza Guy.
Favorite IMDB triva item:
In a May 24, 2019, interview on National Public Radio’s program “All Things Considered,” director Olivia Wilde explained the word “Malala” as it is used by the two best friends Amy and Molly as an inside reference between them: “‘Malala’ is their code word for unconditional support. So what ‘malala’ means is that what I’m asking you to do now with me you must do….Malala [Yousafzai, the Pakistani advocate for girls’ education and the youngest-ever Nobel laureate] is one of their great role models. And I think that’s why she holds the most significant place in their friendship, the idea that if you call ‘Malala,’ you must really mean it.”
Director Amy Poehler has assembled an amazing cast for Wine Country and that cast is key to the success of this amusing and enjoyable film. It follows the standard “weekend away” movie plot* and makes for a great Sunday Afternoon Film.** There were some great cameos, many conversations that women will find amusing, (and perhaps men will too) and a good soundtrack, especially if you are of a certain age.
Verdict: Good
Cost: Netflix monthly fee $8.99 Where watched: at home
*Hijinks, things not going according to plan, fights, personal realizations, a happy ending **Those films you watch that are pleasant and are your last gasp of freedom before it’s time to start gearing up for the coming work week.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Poehler said on the Busy Tonight show that one of the film’s funniest props (the CPAP machine her character uses to help her sleep) actually belongs to her. “You know how Bradley Cooper used his real dog in A Star Is Born?” Poehler said, “I used my real CPAP machine.”
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library Where watched: at home with the aforementioned boyfriend.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
To create the “classic” album that the character Tucker is best known for, director Jesse Peretz turned to previous collaborator Nathan Larson who worked with him on Our Idiot Brother (2011). Over the course of three years, they wrote songs and requested demos from about 35 artists such as Conor Oberst, Robyn Hitchcock and Ryan Adams. Nathan Larson’s inspiration for the music was Big Star’s “Third/Sister Lovers” album as well as friend Jeff Buckley.
The reason to watch Stanley Donen’s Two for the Road is to see the interesting cuts between scenes that show us different periods of a couple’s ten-year marriage. However, there are many more reasons not to watch the film, namely, it’s hard to root for a couple who isn’t happy* and whose relationship was on shaky ground from the get-go.** On the other hand, there’s nice scenery, really amazing clothing*** and a series of scenes with Mr., Mrs., and Miss Manchester, the trio you don’t know how thankful you are that you’ve never vacationed with.
The verdict: skip
Cost: $3.99 via Google Play Where watched: at home as part of Filmspotting’s Stanley Donen Marathon.****
*I suspect we’ve got some generational differences here, but Albert Finny’s character is a big jerk who also is very loud. What in the world does Audrey Hepburn see in him? Why is she falling in love with him when he has done nothing to demonstrate he’s a good person? And also! If when you get married you agree not to have any children, then you have agreed not to have children. Don’t get all mad, Audrey Hepburn’s character, because now you want children and he’s pointing out the agreement you’ve already made. **Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy comes to mind (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) but the difference is that both of those characters are charming, and the series unfolds so that you can do nothing but root for them. ***Including some very impractical things. I can’t imagine that vinyl pants/jacket combo was anything but a sweaty mess when worn while riding in a car, or on any sunny day. ****I’ve just looked over Stanley Donen’s list to see if there is anything of his I like and, while I still haven’t seen many of his films, he did direct Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, (so many not okay things about the story, and yet, so delightful) and he co-directed the movie that is tied for first as my favorite film of all time: Singing in the Rain. So he’s okay, I guess. Also, strangely, he directed Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” video, a milestone video of my elementary school years.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The passport shown on screen lists Hepburn’s birthday as 11 July 1936 and Finney’s as 22 August 1933, making her appear 7 years younger, and him 3 years older than their actual ages.
Also, the couple shared a passport in this film! It had both their pictures in it. Good lord, was this a thing? Apparently it was.
(Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. It was years between me finding the “Toy Story 2 was okay” graffiti and me finding that it was a thing. I actually think this movie is quite good.)
The review:
John Lasseter and Ash Brannon’s Toy Story 2 continues the Toy Story story, mostly for better.* There are callbacks to the first movie** and many other movies (especially Star Wars movies) are quoted. There are plenty of laughs and the quality storytelling that Pixar is known for.
Verdict: Good
Cost: free from Multnomah County Library Where watched: at home with the boyfriend in preparation for another installment of Filmspotting’s 9 from ’99.
*My first twinge of annoyance was when all the guys went on a mission (the main plot of the film), with the lady toys seeing them off. What year is this? 1861? Maybe throw in some gender equity, you know because this was made right before the 21st century. My second twinge of annoyance was that an obese, hairy man (the only large person in the movie) was a bad guy. Fat and hairy doesn’t equal bad. Be a little inventive, Toy Story people. **There’s a great Buzz Lightyear sequence in a toy store.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
John Ratzenberger, who does the voice of Hamm, has voiced a character in every film made by Pixar.
Sean Anders’ Instant Family is a very good Sunday Afternoon Movie* and also manages to feature a lot of kids with problems without falling into the obnoxious child trope.** Movies about kids in foster care are few and far between*** and it was nice to see this human-scale comedy created by someone who has experience with the foster care system.**** Overall, this was a funny, breezy film with excellent performances by all***** and for people who have children, it’s probably that much funnier.
The verdict:
Recommended (although see all those notes below)
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library Where watched: At home with Matt, who also enjoyed it
Consider also watching:
White Oleander
The Blind Side (which is amusingly referenced repeatedly in this movie. I have a lot of problems with the white savior aspect, but there are things to like)
Oh! Channing Tatum plays a foster kid in Step Up! How could I have forgotten?
Further sentences:
*Sunday Afternoon Movie: A pleasant movie where things are fine by the end, which is best watched before transitioning into the preparation for the workweek ahead. **Bratty kids=movie killer for me. They aren’t funny, they are spoiled and annoying. ***I found this list called Foster Focus’ Top Twenty-Five Foster Care Movies and the definition of “foster care” seems to include orphanages, which is not what I’m talking about. ****Director Sean Anders has adopted three children from the foster care system. That said, I am a white female who has no experience with the foster care system and I can’t speak to how “true” this tale will feel to people who have had experience. The movie also includes discussions of race and white saviorism, albeit briefly and I’m not sure how those aspects of the movie would be experienced by other people. *****I started listing the actors who really stood out and realized I was making a list of everyone in the movie.
Top movies watched in 2018 from individual decades
I like some structure to my movie watching. But only some.
I’ve got a scratch-off movie poster* that had me chasing some old classics in 2018, plus some catch up viewing for Filmspotting Madness, 2000s edition. That meant that I watched some things from decades other than the current one.
Oh, and there was a movie that was scheduled to be released that had three previous versions. I couldn’t let that opportunity go by.
Here are my favorite old favorite discoveries in 2018
Janet Gaynor is Esther Blodgett, an aspiring actress and Frederic March is the aging alcoholic actor who wants Ms. Blodgett to be the film star she’s always dreamed of being.
While there was a lot of subject matter that usually would sink the film for me (May-December romances, falling in love with an alcoholic) I adored this film.
John Huston’s classic is a classic for a reason. You may be intrigued because it’s a Humphry Bogard film, but John Huston cast his own father as Howard, the old gold prospector delighted to be out in the gold fields again. Howard steals the show.
1950s
6 movies watched from the 1950s I really hit the jackpot with this decade
Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly
Directed by
Fred Zinnemann
Five stars.
Gary Cooper doesn’t have much time to raise up a posse to greet Frank Miller, the criminal Cooper sent to prison several years before. But it shouldn’t be too hard. After all, everyone remembers how bad things had been when Frank Miller was around.
A publicity still from the 1950 Academy Award®-winning drama “All about Eve” features (left to right): Gary Merrill, Bette Davis, George Sanders, Anne Baxter, Hugh Marlowe and Celeste Holm. “All about Eve” received a record 14 Academy Award nominations and won six Oscars®, including Best Picture. Restored by Nick & jane for Dr. Macro’s High Quality Movie Scans Website: http:www.doctormacro.com. Enjoy!
Five stars.
If you’re like me and your only exposure to this movie is a few quotes, well then “fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Bette Davis is amazing, as is the rest of the cast.
Billy Wilder, Marlenia Dietrich, Tyorne Power, Charles Laughton. Big names! And a big story of a lawyer defending his client from a murder charge. Best enjoyed if you know nothing about the film. Do you like courtroom dramas? Queue this one up!
Okay so 2018 was the year I spent a goodly amount of time gushing over three of the four versions of this movie. But there is a good reason for that! This time, Judy Garland plays the aspiring actress and James Mason plays the alcoholic has-been. And Judy Garland was a force. Watch the below scene and see if you don’t want to invest another another 150 minutes in this movie.
1960s, 1970s, 1980s
For these decades I have no movies to recommend. I didn’t watch any movies from the 60s, only one from the 70s (that was the terrible version of A Star is Born) and only two in the 80s.
Four stars. This film isn’t going to be for everyone. You’ve got to be a fan of stories incrementally told while not a lot of action happens. In fact, the action that mostly happens is young men in the French Foreign Legion doing training exercises in the sun. But watching young, fit men work out isn’t the worst way to spend your time. And if you are like me, the ending scene with Denis Lavant will captivate you.
2000s
I watched 18 movies from the ‘aughts in 2018. Only one of them was a five-star movie.
Five stars. Eleven actors, all at their sparkly best. A heist plotted against a guy who deserves to lose his money. Julia Roberts. This film is the filmiest of films and so much fun. Get the team together, get the plan together, execute the plan, deal with the fallout. It’s hard to stop smiling while watching this.
Further sentences:
*It appears that my version of Pop Chart’s 100 Essential Films Scratch-off Movie Poster has been substituted for this one. Most of the movies look the same, though. Oh, but they added Lady Bird (my #1 movie of 2017) Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley for the win!) and Black Panther (If you’re only going to see one Marvel film, this is it). Good choices.
I’ve seen bits of Stanley Donen’s Charade here and there,* but hadn’t watched the entire movie until now. What I found was the usual falling-in-love-for-no-reason** and a very low-key thriller.*** I find the doe-eyed enthusiasm of Hepburn trying at times (and especially in this film) but when I ignored the romance aspect, it was fun to try and figure out what was going on, plus there’s a great wardrobe to look at.
*I suspect that the bits I remember were part of commercials advertising this movie’s run on television in the 80s. I know I watched the first few minutes when I was 12 or so, but found the pacing not great, plus the commercials had told me there were some disturbing parts that my younger self wasn’t quite ready for. **I mean seriously, I have no idea what caused Hepburn to go gaga over Grant and get all kissy with him. He was super sketchy to me. I suspect this can be blamed on male writers and directors. (“Oh those ladies will fall for any good looking man, no matter how much older or how much his story changes.) ***The things that scared me as a pre-teen barely raised my 40+-year-old heartbeat.
Favorite IMDB Trivia Item:
Seven studios rejected the original screenplay. Screenwriter Peter Stone turned it into a novel which was serialized in Redbook, which in turn sparked interest from all seven studios.
Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience has an overly long sex scene,* but other than that, it’s a movie worth watching both for nuanced performances** and for a short visit to the Orthodox Jewish world of London. Rachel Weisz is fast becoming one of my favorite actors to watch and her performance as the woman who left her community but has returned for her father’s funeral is fantastic—sorrowful and resigned. This falls into the slow drama category, but becomes quite tense in places.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: free view Kanopy, Multnomah County Library’s streaming service Where watched: at home
*In some alternate universe, there exists this scene filmed by a woman. I bet it doesn’t feel as gratuitous. **Everyone is not saying very much which means more stuff needs to come through nonverbal means.
I’m not sure how I missed Isabel Coixet’s My Life Without Me as I’m usually all in on anything Sarah Polley, anything Mark Ruffalo, and I’m a fan of movies that explore complexities in relationships.* Though there were times that I felt like the slower-than-usual speech patterns of Ruffalo and Polley were distracting, there was a lot to like in this film. Plus, I feel like the ratio of upper-middle class/rich people stories to grinding poverty is about 7-to-1 in the movie world, so the living situation in this was an interesting change.
