This is a slow-burn love story with people who are crusty and have problems.* It’s also a very good teacher movie and written for smart people. Mark this down for the Very Good Grown-up Movie category.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, after a tough day when there was nothing to do but collapse on the couch with a good movie.
*Overall, I loved this movie. I didn’t, however, love the ending.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/words_and_pictures.html
I think this movie was probably pretty cool in pushing boundaries in 1986 with its depiction of hook-up culture. The dialogue seems very Mamet-esque, much more so than the 2014 version, though that might just be because it was my second time through in two days. Still, it is a 1986 movie, and is completely male focused and the women come off as shriller than I think they should.*
Cost: $2.99 via Google Play (I called Videorama first to see if they had a copy and they didn’t, so I streamed it.)
Where watched: at home on the bed in front of the desktop computer because the TV doesn’t stream movies.
*One of the reasons I want to read the play is because I’m quite certain the ending is different and I suspect I would like the ending of the play better.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1986/about_last_night.html
Nine total movies watched.
The End of the Tour
Smart guys talk about stuff.
The Martian
Smart guy needs to survive.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Smart (and good looking) guys work together, reluctantly.
Bridge of Spies
Smart guy defends spy.
Begin Again
Smart girl’s music changes people’s lives.
Inside Out
Emotions wreck havoc with your emotions.
This movie vacillates from being funny (most of the Kevin Hart scenes) to uncomfortable, as the point of the original play (as best I can tell*) seems to be how relationships don’t work when things start off–and continue–in a certain way. However, this movie got even better once I watched the original. The friend relationships were better fleshed out and the women weren’t nearly as shrill.
Cost: free from library. (I got this because the director of Sleeping With Other People wrote this version of the movie.)
Where watched: at home.
*I managed to find a critical essay about Sexual Perversity in Chicago at the library but they did not have the text of the play.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/about_last_night_ver6.html
Kevin Hart in the third photo is dressed as Channing Tatum for his costume. “Channing Tatum never gets cold!” he said and I laughed.
All around, a well-crafted movie, from the opening (mostly silent) sequence, to the end, which managed to not get caught up in being too overwrought about anything. This is the kind of movie which is pleasurable, even if in post-movie conversation you find many flaws to the overall story. Mark Rylance was fun to watch as arrested Russian spy Rudolf Abel.
Cost: free to me, because Matt treated me for my birthday
Where watched: McMenamin’s St. Johns Theater
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/bridge_of_spies.html
I dislike this poster and was not isolated in my thoughts. I copy for you an IMP Awards comment interchange that made me laugh:
wrost poster iv see for steven spielberg film!!!
Like · Reply · 4 · Jun 4, 2015 2:03pm
Andrew Korcsmaros · Actor/Writer/Director at Teatro Surreal
Agree!
Like · Reply · Jun 4, 2015 3:14pm
Curtiss Lopez · Los Angeles, California
I’m way more interested in how you managed to spell Spielberg right and nothing else.
Like · Reply · 6 · Jun 4, 2015 5:01pm
I have had a string of really awesome movies about music and this movie joins the pack. This was, perhaps, a perfect movie, doing “movie things” well and with excellent acting all around.* It’s also a movie you can watch with your parents, especially if they enjoy the music creation process.
Cost: Free from library
Where watched: at home.
*There were also some really fabulous women’s-stories-via-film-medium elements that I can’t tell you about because they will spoil plot. But I adored them. This may be a top 10 movie watched this year. Or possibly a top 5.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/begin_again.html
This is a Hollywood movie’s movie, meaning that the people are perfect looking, the clothing is yummy, the sets are fantastic, it’s amusing and the plot just hums right along. There were very few moments that were not enjoyable.* Let’s have three cheers for everyone involved!
Cost: $5.00
Where watched: at the Jubitz Cinema, where a woman who won big at Keno cut in front of me in line.
*No one told me about the torture. I don’t do torture, even the kind of torture that can appear in a PG-13 movie.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/man_from_uncle.html
Matt Damon brought his get-er-done attitude and sardonic sense of humor to this role, and he excelled in it. The supporting cast was great and the movie was engaging on all levels. Between this and Gravity, I feel the need to quote Kristen Meinzer from the Movie Date podcast as she accurately sums up my feelings, “Space is a horrible place, let’s never go.”
Cost: $8.00
Where watched: McMenamins Baghdad Theater in celebration of the completion of my first week of work.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/martian.html
I feel like they could have done more with this poster, no?
A movie for people who like long conversations between smart people and a movie that also spends a ton of time examining yet another kind of pissing contest* that males involve themselves in.** That said, I loved this movie, got lost in the conversations and fell for the characters.*** There were great performances all around****–particularly by Jason Segel who managed a lot of really good acting in ways I hadn’t seen him act before–and it was a nice look back at the mid-90s.*****
Cost: $3.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst
*That these men were both smart author-types, the pissing contest was subtle and low-key, but very present.
**Is there any aspect of the male existence we have not thoroughly explored via the medium of film? I think not.
***Although Jesse Eisenberg’s character less so, though I felt for him.
****Oh Joan Cusack, did you have to be named Patty? Why are all the perky people in film named Patty?
*****Now that I’ve lived through times that are “historical”, I enjoy picking up on the small details, like the fact that everyone was reading Primary Colors.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/end_of_the_tour.html
This may be the most awesome poster I’ve seen in this year’s movie reviewing.
One of the Filmspotting team thinks this is a better version than it’s predecessor* and so I figured I would check it out. It is indeed a delightful film having really cool stuff (Cuba, Latin Dance, the delicious Diego Luna, as well as the Cuban revolution) and the dancing is also great. You can even spot now famous people who weren’t then** as well as a cameo by someone who is now dead.***
Cost: Free from library
Where watched: at home, while painting toenails. It’s not a great movie for this activity. I had to keep stopping to watch the dancing
*causing much outraged glee from the other of the Filmspotting team.
**Two, count ’em, two actors now famous for their roles in Mad Men are present.
***Said cameo elicited a squeal of glee from me.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2004/dirty_dancing_havana_nights.html
