Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

Sorkin brings the dialogue, as he is wont to, and Chastain and Elba bring the sizzle, as they are known for. I’m a fan of a steely woman, some bad choices and a conundrum or two, so this movie worked for me. As usual, the “based on a true story” aspect was annoying* though there was Michael Cera as a skeevy actor/poker player, so that was fun.

Cost: $1.50 via Redbox
Where watched: at home with Matt, who tried to resist Sorkin’s dialogue, but was pulled in by the first scene.

*It distracts me because I find myself wondering just how much of it was real.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/mollys_game_ver3.html

Recommended by one-half of the Cube Critics, I started watching because I enjoy the rat-a-tat dialogue of Amy Sherman-Palladino but do not have the time to watch 150+ episodes of the Gilmore Girls. This has some annoying TV things–continuity from episode to episode; sometimes the characters can feel very one note–but every episode has funny lines, an engaging hook and–my favorite–includes a choreographed dance number.*  It’s too bad that this only ran for 18 episodes, but they are a fun and interesting 18 episodes.

Cost: free via Freeform (I got to once again experience the fun TV-watching exercise of muting the commercials. There were five of them and they played repeatedly. )
Where watched: at home

*There are also three generations of characters (teenagers, 30-something, woman of a certain age) and I enjoyed seeing a variety of older actresses rotate through as minor characters.  I suspect many of them regularly turn up in Sherman-Palladino ventures.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/tv/bunheads_ver2.html

Chris Evans’ directing debut* that will be of interest to everyone who likes Before Sunrise-esque movies.  In this case, Evans is in town for a big audition (he plays trumpet) and Eve has just missed the last New York-to-Boston train. While this movie has been done, the performances were engaging, the mechanization keeping the actors together felt real and overall, this was a nice film for a Sunday afternoon.

Cost: free from Netflix
Where watched: at home

*DVD extras have a quote from Evans that says something like: “My first time directing, I figured, why not make it easier and only have two people in it?”

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/before_we_go.html

Continuing the psychological thriller theme of the day, Matt and I watched this post-anniversary dinner. Matt’s presence was essential to my viewing; during one scene I was so scared, I bit his finger. This was a complete and total perfect movie experience with the story zinging in different directions, keeping us guessing; by the next day my enthusiasm dropped a notch or two when I realized that Rebecca Hall’s character existed only as something to drive the plot.*

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home with Matt.

*Aside from, at times, making choices that were completely out of character, she was, by the end, quite literally a vessel.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/gift.html

This was one of those movies where I was completely engrossed while watching and then the entire world fell apart once I left the movie theater.* However, the acting was so good and the movie was so scary, I don’t much mind that this was a perfect movie-going experience and not a perfect movie-ruminating experience. Both Blunt and Krasinski have excellent faces for this kind of peril.

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: The Laurelhurst Theater with S. North.

*For example: the creatures at times had variable hearing–that scene in the poster was one example; how, exactly does winter work, with all that crunchy snow and doors that have to be closed?; I also question how the fields were planted with corn but without the use of any animal or machine.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/quiet_place.html

I knew from the trailer this was going to be a movie I would love as it included striking colors, an engaging main character, and a moment that made me laugh out loud. The movie delivered, with a gentle humor that kept going throughout.* The physical comedy** was a treat, as was Fiona Gordon’s French accent that was so bad even I winced, and I look forward to other movies by Abel & Gordon.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*In the DVD extras, Abel & Gordon comment on how much of modern humor is sarcastic and mean, and that they work to avoid that in their comedy.
**The DVD extras also include a primer on the type of comedy Abel & Gordon do, which is called Burlesque. This is not what we in America think of Burlesque, but a comedy tradition with a long history in France.

I include the trailer so you can see if it’s a movie you would love:

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/paris_pieds_nus_ver2.html

First of all, this is one of those movies where the male main character is insufferable through most of the film,* however, it should not stop you from watching, because this movie is brilliant. The acting**/plot/setting/everything is great and you will do best if you follow the advice on the poster, written before they had the handy word, “spoiler”: “It’s climaxed by the 10 breath-stopping minutes you’ve ever lived! Don’t reveal the ending–please!”

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*I will throw him a small bone in that medical practices in the 1950s infantilized the patient in a way I would have found insufferable.
**Una O’Connor as the housekeeper! Marlene Dietrich as the wife! Tyrone Power as the husband and murder suspect! Even Elsa Lanchester as the insufferable Nurse Plimsoll was great.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1957/witness_for_the_prosecution.html

I wouldn’t have guessed that my reaction to the close of this movie was going to be an astonished, “What the hell?” as I was expecting this to be a bloated, overly long movie experience with too many stars and too much story. Instead, I watched a movie that deftly bounced between different players, places and campaigns, picking up stories seeded over the course of 10 years. Even the integration of the Guardians of the Galaxy–something I initially thought was going to be a schlocky spin-off tie in–was brilliant.

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: St. Johns Twin Cinema with Matt. (We were first in line for Friday’s show!)

Initially, I stayed away from this film because I was annoyed that a movie set on the Wind River Indian Reservation starred two white people.* I’m glad I watched this story of a tracker and an FBI agent searching for clues to the murder of a young Indian woman.  The story is as bleak as the snow-covered Wyoming landscape, and the performances are excellent.

Cost: Netflix subscription
Where watched: at home

*I relented because I like Taylor Sheridan’s work a lot.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/wind_river_ver2.html