Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

Wander through a long weekend in the life of a freshman student on his college baseball team.  And I do mean wander, as this movie takes a lot of time to really focus in on things.*  I started out kind of bored,** but eventually realized I had been smiling for the last 20 minutes; so overall, I rated this as fun to look at and an enjoyable film, despite its shortcomings.**

Cost: $9.25
Where watched: Regal Fox Tower with S. North

*The “Rappers Delight” segment goes on for a very long time.  In this clip, they are just getting started.  Similarly, there is a lot of disco dancing, scenes long enough that I spent a goodly amount of time wondering what the sessions looked like when the actors were learning the choreography.
**And had ample time to wonder about the slightly awkward looking good looking people Richard Linklater picks for his stand-ins. (Wiley Wiggins as Mitch in Dazed and Confused, Blake Jenner as Jake in this film.)  Does Richard Linklater think of himself as awkwardly good looking?
***The aforementioned pace.  Plus, the main character’s unending confidence was weird to me. Was he not at all nervous about staring college?  Did he never have second doubts about his choices, any of them?

Also.  The soundtrack–much more varied than Dazed and Confused–was quite interesting.

poster from:
http://www.impawards.com/2016/everybody_wants_some_ver2.htmlhttp://www.impawards.com/2016/everybody_wants_some.html
(I liked this one better, but felt compelled to lead with the one with the people on it.)

I loved the design of this movie, how the animations would sometimes take over the movie itself.  I also thought it accurately captured a lot of the feelings and emotions that occur when young women become sexually active* (though thankfully, most of us aren’t sleeping with our mother’s boyfriends).  There is a general out-of-control feeling, which is uncomfortable, but the total package is a winner.**

Where watched: at home
Cost: free from Netflix

*This is so rare to see on film!
**And I can’t wait to see more of Bel Powley.  I’ll start with that Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret movie.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/diary_of_a_teenage_girl_ver2.html

Chock-full of late-90s actresses, this love story of a young woman and a very much older man doesn’t dress up the romance in typical May-December fare.  Which is what happens when a woman writes and directs the May-December romance instead of a man.  Very good acting and felt extremely realistic in its infatuation and dissolution.

Cost: free from work-funded Netflix
Where watched: at home.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1999/guinevere.html

A day in the life of Maye, a woman grieving her recently departed Aunt Amanda, who was a studio musician drummer.  As she packs up the house, a variety of people stop by  to help or detract from the job.  As usual with DuVerney, watching for the subtle change in emotions is the thing to do.

Cost: free from Netflix
Where watched: at home

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/uk/2015/testament_of_youth.html

It was rather unfortunate that I was suddenly called away to the airport with ten minutes of this movie remaining.  Because those last 10 minutes really pack the punch and it took me some time (like a week) to get to watch them.  Overall, very good acting, very sad, but not so terribly sad I was unable to function.

Cost: free from Netflix
Where watched: at home

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/uk/2015/testament_of_youth.html

I think this is the first time I watched the tv series followed by the movie, as I’m pretty sure I watched the movie having not watched the show.  I think it works well as a stand-alone, although why anyone would want to only watch the movie when there are fourteen fabulous episodes of quality TV is beyond me.  This is the movie where I learned Joss Whedon never gets overly attached to his characters.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2005/serenity.html
(wow, do I not like this poster.  The other two were not good either.)

I was hopeful that Catherine Hardwicke’s direction would make this a better movie than it seemed like it would be.  And then I was hopeful that Oscar Issac would do his usual thing and be amazing.  Both hopes were crushed and I spent the movie contemplating if it was so boring because I’m so familiar with the story.

Cost: free due to give subscription
Where watched: at home, while removing the unlikable yellow and putting on the very likable spring green.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2006/nativity_story.html

I’ve been watching enough women directors that I can differentiate their styles and Hardwicke is the rock star director*  So it’s good that she directed this tale of a rock star who has lost her way and is working her way back.  It was creepy and disturbing in a way that I did not at all enjoy,** but think it was well done overall.

Cost: free due to gift subscription
Where watched: at home

*I think she herself doesn’t have a tremendously rock star persona, but man, her films are balls-to-the-wall in that excessive way of the rock era with the huge caravans with the masseuses and the scores of backup singers and gaggles of groupies, not to mention picking out all the brown M&Ms and drinking Jack for breakfast.
**Physiological thrillers are not my deal.  It didn’t help that the DVD synopsis was so vague I had no idea it was a psychological thriller.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2013/plush.html

Thanks to the Next Picture Show Podcast, I finally took in this movie.  And I loved it, from the incredibly awesome hotel hallway to the performances, especially by John Goodman.  I can already tell that there are going to be scenes from this film stuck in my head for decades.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home while painting my toenails a color of yellow that I was not at all happy with and set outside with the also previously disliked Scandalous.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1991/barton_fink_ver2.html