Category: Three Sentence Movie Reviews

Three sentence movie reviews: Austenland

Overall, this isn’t the best romantic comedy, but it scores points for originality (Live in the world of Jane Austen!) and for being funny throughout (Jennifer Coolege’s inexpertly applied Cockney accent and random British phrases never got old).  It also wins points for having Brett McKensie as a plausible romantic lead (hurrah the small, skinny, hairy guys) and for fooling me in its plotting.  So all in all, it was a good way to spend two hours.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.

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

Three sentence movie reviews: Funny Face

While there were some delightful moments (the beatnik dance scene, the fashion shoots, the song and dance by Hepburn/Kay Thompson) I spent most of the film being annoyed by the creepy May/December romance, and the fact that Audrey Hepburn does not have a funny face, she’s a female beauty icon.  Also, I hate when Fred Astaire sings and Audry Hepburn, while she does have her moments, has a lot of “eh” signing in this film.  I spent most of the movie waiting for Kay Thompson to reappear, because she was the triple threat of this particular motion picture.*

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.

*Don’t get me wrong, Hepburn and Astaire are fabulous double threats.  They just aren’t the best singers.

Part of the Ruby Oliver Film Festival

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

Three sentence movie reviews: The Duff

The content of this movie grounds it firmly as a mid-level contender in the teen movie category.  However, the performances by the two leads elevates the film into 101 minutes of fun because the two (clearly mid-twenty-year-old people playing high school seniors) are just so darn cute to watch. I was interested to notice that tops for teenage girls have crept back up to midriff-bearing levels, though the waistline of the jeans/pants/skirts seems to have stayed firmly at normal waistline level.

Cost: $5.00 (which was a pleasant surprise. I was prepared to pay top movie-going dollar, but it turns out this particularly theater has $5.00 Tuesday AND Sundays.) And actually I paid nothing because I had a gift card.
Where watched: Regal City Center 12 Vancouver.

Three sentence movie reviews: Treme Season 1

I appreciate this series for being filmed in New Orleans not long after Hurricane Katrina, so as to provide a visual reminder of how it was.  I also appreciate it because I so rarely come across television series that focus on both Black and White middle class characters.  And aside from making clear all that we (as a country) and they (as people of New Orleans) lost, they also cast Steve Zahn (I delight in coming across him)  in a lead role and also the music is tremendous.

Cost:  Free (borrowed from a friend)
Where watched:  at home, while knitting Hunger Games Sweater
 

Three sentence movie review: Jupiter Ascending

I found myself asking “I wonder how they did that?” often while viewing this and eventually concluded I would have better enjoyed watching a “making of” feature about this feature, rather than the feature itself.  It was stuffed full of intricate detail, so it was pretty to watch, and I thank Filmspotting for putting their finger on exactly why I wasn’t interested, namely that CT drained every ounce of charisma from his character, making him boringly flat.  So this goes in the category of: I watched it so you don’t have to.

Cost: $7.50 (I broke my solemn vow to only spend movie money on movies and I bought a pizza.  So add another $12.00 to my total.  That’s 3 or 4 movies at the Laurelhurst.)
Where watched: Baghdad Theater, which I enjoy so much as a movie theater.

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

Three sentence movie reviews: Birdman

Excellent acting combined with an intriguing plot unfortunately collide with two elements that really didn’t work for me: the sometimes overwhelming drum solo score and the simulated single take.  Overall it was more failed artsy than successful artsy.  Although Emma Stone was mesmerizing* and I remembered why Edward Norton was my movie boyfriend for so many years.

Cost: $8.00
Where watched: Hollywood Theater with Matt

*please societal forces, let women actresses be of normal weight

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/birdman.html

 

Three sentence movie reviews: Zero Motivation

Take the spirit of Office Space, set it in the Israeli Army, make the main characters young women reluctantly working in the Personnel Department of a dusty army base and BAM! you have a hilarious comedy. It’s a comedy that has some weighty things within its run time, but that doesn’t stop it from being gut-bustingly funny.  It’s early, but so far this is my favorite movie of the year and I recommend you search it out.

Cost:$8.00
Where watched: Living Room Theater with Matt after a failed attempt at Birdman.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/israel/2014/zero_motivation_ver2.html

Oscar nerd.

Yes indeed, it’s a few hours after the Academy Award announcements have been made and I have a handy spreadsheet to prioritize my viewing.  As usual, I’m quite behind in my viewing,  but I might be able to make a dent in the list by the time the ceremony rolls around.  First up?  Birdman, which Matt and I have been meaning to see since it came out.

Three sentence movie reviews: the Skeleton Twins

This was the perfect combination of funny/sad and both actors were excellent in their performances.*  While I could have done with another lip-synching choice** I still appreciated the camraderie of the estranged brother-sister.  And the pain felt very realistic, which is not as common in movies as one would think.

Cost: $3.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst with S. North.

*props to Luke Wilson too, who played affible goofy/odd husband like a champ.
**because I can’t stand Starship

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/skeleton_twins.html