Manages to pull of a miracle of movie making: Juliette Lewis as a character who doesn’t bug the crap out of me. Aside from an excellent performance by Uma Thurman as a needy woman just looking for love, this also featured a romance between older people (Gina Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, both excellent). This is one of those movies that I kept thinking about after.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysterical_Blindness_(film)
I’m not one of those Americans who is all gaga over India, so it wasn’t India that did it for me. Instead, the story of an arranged marriage and the family preparations for the wedding sucked me in. The colors in every frame were gorgeous, and there was so much glee throughout the film,* but what really won me over was the depth of love felt among the family members.**
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
*I’m thinking of the scene with the women singing and the big Bollywood-style dance sequence as well as the smaller wedding between two minor characters that took place during the big wedding.
**I rarely see such matter-of-fact, gentle love portrayed in movies.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2002/monsoon_wedding.html
I got this because I was curious about Sam Claflin and if he had much range outside of Finnick* and I expected to find it rather so-so overall, kind of a British version of Nicholas Sparks’ tales. Instead, I found myself captivated by Emilia Clarke, who is charasmatic and slightly odd looking in a way that makes it hard to stop looking at her.** And the story went in an entirely different direction than I had assumed, so that was interesting too.
Cost: $3.00 from Redbox. (I started watching this on 10/20 and the disk was scratched and wouldn’t move past minute 42. They gave me a credit and I was able to finish the film a few weeks later. However, their reserve system tricked me, so I ended up paying for two days, rather than one.)
Where watched: at home.
*Answer: probably not, but he’s pretty to look at.
**This poster makes her look like a standard starlet, but her face is really interesting to watch in a non-standard starlet way.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/me_before_you.html
I didn’t need much in this movie, not with the presence of the Hunstman (or, as I prefer to think of him: the Huntsmmmm-mmmmm!) Like its predecessor, this movie was incredibly pretty to look at and held my attention quite well. It’s one of those B-Movies graced with A-movie actors who bring their best effort, making for a nicely enjoyable experience.
Cost: $3.00, from Redbox, which now that Videorama has closed, is my best source for new movies.
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/huntsman_ver7.html
Every once in a great while I come across a movie where the characters feel like real people, not things created to tell a story. This is such a movie, and what well-written/acted/directed movie. The story of the widow and the heroin addict is well worth watching.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2007/things_we_lost_in_the_fire.html
(six total movies)
A Royal Night Out
This is my kind of movie.
Vanity Fair
Hard to take one’s eyes off of the screen. 
Bound by Reese Witherspoon’s steely performance and directed with flair by Mira Nair, this was an intensly enjoyable film. Partially because I was waiting for the female character to get the smackdown, as 19th centrury female characters who do not hew to the strictures of society usually do. But maybe Thackeray was ahead of his time or the ending was tweaked,* and either way, I enjoyed it.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
*And now I’ve read the synopsis and I see the ending was tweaked. But to good effect, I think.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2004/vanity_fair.html
When I moved to Kenton, Videorama took up 4/5 of this building, and the gym (also owned by the same people) was 1/5 of the building. At some point, the two reversed themselves. 
And now, my last video store opportunity has gone.
I will miss having the opportunity to walk in, browse, rent new movies, find old movies. I will miss the employee picks. It was because of them I discovered All the Real Girls and other good movies.
It feels weird to realize that one of my jobs (video store clerk, Blockbuster Video) has completely disappeared. 
Apparently Hoopla, Multnomah County Library’s streaming service, has a lot of Haley Mills movies available, so I watched this film, which I had not seen since I was a tween.* I discovered that Haley Mills, who I adored as a child, was quite good at acting like Haley Mills in that her character in this movie was not ostensibly different than Sharon & Susan in the Parent Trap** I did appreciate the fact they let the child actors be mediocre singers*** as they sing along with Burl Ives.****
Cost: free from the aforementioend Hoopla
Where watched: at home, while sick
*Not that tweens existed when I was tween-aged.
**I have a feeling that I would not find her character much different in any of her movies, but I don’t have the time to invest in the research.
***There is a song in this movie called “Femininity” which is good fodder for many topics of discussion. The lyrics follow below.
****That said, I loved Michael J. Pollard as Digby Popham. He attempted a Maine accent and wasn’t bad in the acting department.
Femininity
You must walk feminine
Talk feminine
Smile and beguile feminine
Utilize your femininity
That’s what every girl should know, if she wants to catch a beau
Dance feminine
Glance feminine
Act shy and sigh feminine
Compliment his masculinity
That’s what every girl should know, if she wants to catch a beau
Let him do the talking
Men adore good listeners
Laugh, but not too loudly (Haha)
If he should choose to tell a joke
Be radiant, but delicate
Memorize the rules of etiquette
Be demure, sweet and pure
Hide the real you
You must look feminine
Dress feminine
You’re at your best feminine
Emphasize your femininity
That’s what every girl should know
Femininity, femininity
That’s the way to catch a beau
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1963/summer_magic.html
This poster does not get across at all what the movie is about. It suggests a love story for Haley Mills, but that is not the case. The dress is also not from the movie and that dog did not have a prominent role.
A nicely done movie that hits all the points: acting, story, character development, costuming. Everything clicked along just fine and then the movie was over. There was nothing to dislike, but its competence made it rather a bland affair.
Cost: free from Hoopla (Multnomah County Library’s streaming service)
Where watched: at home, while sick.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/imitation_game.html
