Season three continued the uneven plotting that appeared in previous seasons and as usual, I was quite happy to overlook this, because I enjoy the show. The girls are getting older, (25) and do/do not seem to be settling in their lives. Great performances from all made this required viewing and I’m hoping that I don’t have to wait another year for Season 4 to appear on DVD.
cost: free from library
where watched: at home
poster from: amazon
This movie is filled with so much violence, both overt and casual, that I had to distract myself with something else to do while I was watching it. Excellent performances all around (though I found Mr. Pitt to be annoyingly distracting–how convenient that one of the producers turns up as the savior) . This wasn’t easy to watch, but worthwhile.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2013/twelve_years_a_slave.html
An excellent series that takes place in the post-war 1940s where Agent Peggy Carter has to fight not only crime, but sexism as she is one of the few OSS agents. It was never explained to my exactly why a British citizen would be a member of the OSS, but that’s my only gripe about this. And you get to enjoy a fine parade of 40s fashions.
Cost: I think Matt paid $3.00 for the first episode. The rest we watched on Hulu. Which has a lot of commercials. Which was one of the reasons I stopped watching TV.
Where watched: at home with Matt.
poster from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3475734/
My friend Stephanie referred to this movie as “total war porn” and she wasn’t wrong. I found the story to be mildly engaging and was interested in the amount of falling the actors/stunt doubles had to undertake while transferring this tale to celluloid. However, when I find myself mid-movie eagerly awaiting the part in the credits when we see pictures of the real people on which the movie is based, I know this is not a successful movie.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2013/lone_survivor.html
Most of the newer posters on the IMP Awards site have comments. I usually read them. These struck me as funny enough to include them here.
The book on which this movie is based is 748 pages, so it wasn’t very surprising to me that I had more than a few moments of “what in god’s name is happening?” This is a great movie for people who like to look at Colin Farrell; for people not so much into just watching a movie to look an actor, you might find yourself alternating between confusion and complete boredom. Given the number of stars packed into this movie, I suspect this was destined to be a hit and entirely missed the mark.
Cost: Free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/winters_tale_ver4.html
I had a rare experience of spending the first part of the move hating* this movie and then there was a slow reversal until I was completely charmed by the end. What started out as a wild girl/uptight dude story gradually morphed into complex characters and interesting twists, all backed by this incredibly cool** new-wave reggae soundtrack.*** And then Ray Liotta appears, which amps things up considerably.
*It doesn’t help that I cannot stand Melanie Griffith.
**Although what was with 80s movies and their obsession with the Trogg’s “Wild Thing”?
***Sister Carol’s performance at the end was particularly charming.
Cost: Free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1986/something_wild.html
The animated Cinderella was my favorite Disney film* and I wasn’t really convinced we needed a live-action entry. However, while this does not break new ground (as in Maleficent) it is a grand example of everything being absolutely perfect in the film. It’s worth watching just for the ballroom scene, which is exquisite to say the least, and probably worth watching just for the costumes, even if you don’t think you are interested in costumes.
Cost: $5.00 (Upgraded theater, upgraded prices)
Where watched: McMenamins St. Johns Theater & Pub.
*Until the Little Mermaid came out. Then Cinderella became my favorite of the old-school Animated Films.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/cinderella.html
Stephen Sondheim’s musical styling gets on my nerves after about an hour, so that was distracting. Aside from that, this was a very fun movie with great performances by all.* It also featured an amazing sweater (worn by the boy Jack) that I sadly cannot find a pattern online for.
Cost: $3.00 (Plus pizza and a seasonal cider. I do recall that I made a vow to not buy food/drink at movies this year, but I was hungry. There wasn’t any food in the house.)
Where watched: Kennedy School.
*Every time I heave a big sigh when Meryl Streep is nominated for yet another Academy Award. Then I see the movie and take back that heavy sigh, because she really is amazing.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/into_the_woods.html
Probably the best thing I could say about this movie is that the actors all said their lines very well. I could say plenty of things that are not at all nice, but I shall not traipse in that direction. Points for the mom not falling into a domestic violence victim role and choosing instead to protect her son, but sadly, this one redeeming quality does not make any of this movie worth the watch.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home (Spring Break double feature!)
Interestingly, this movie is called “Homework” in all but the movie poster title. See how it says Homework_ver3? When I searched “The Art of Getting By” it gave me a movie titled “Homework.” Which was the same movie.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2011/homework_ver3.html
As the poster tells us, this is Bogdanovich’s attempt to bring back the screwball comedy, which, given that I can’t think of any other screwball comedies made in the 1970s, apparently did not start a huge trend. I found both Streisand and O’Neal off-putting in their roles at first, but they grew on my and the great chase scene at the end won me over. This is also one of those rare family friendly films, plus Madeline Kahn is fantastic and very much worth watching.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
A Ruby Oliver Film Festival choice.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1972/whats_up_doc.html
