Out & About – Page 152

Welcome to Me Was Not a Winner for Me

Welcome to Me

Directed by Shira Piven
Written by Eliot Laurence

The review:

I wasn’t having a great mental health day when I watched this film that attempts to find humor in a mental health crisis,* which made it hard to appreciate this story. Though it was packed with actors I’m always happy to see** and Kristen Wiig’s deadpan performance was exactly what the character needed, I think this movie is best left on the shelf. I suppose you could watch this for the set design, if you were into that.

The verdict: Skip

Cost: free via Kanopy, the Library’s streaming service.
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Interestingly, the National Alliance on Mental Illness lists Welcome to Me as a movie about mental illness that gets it right. Their other recommendations are:

A Beautiful Mind
Matchstick Men
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Silver Linings Playbook
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Skeleton Twins (I love this film!)
Infinity Polar Bear
Inside Out (I also love this film!)

Further sentences:

*It also had a layer of people taking advantage of a person experiencing a mental health crisis, so I suspect I wouldn’t have liked this even on my best mental health days. I’m not a fan of stories where a person’s weaknesses are exploited for someone else’s material gain.
**Kristen Wiig! Wes Bentley! Linda Cardellini! Joan Cusack! Loretta Devine! Jennifer Jason Leigh! I’m even happy to see James Marsden! Plus both Tim Robbins and Alan Tudyk were in this.

Questions:

What parts of Alice’s life rang true to you?
What do you think is the best film that depicts an aspect of mental illness.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The actress playing Kristen Wiig’s mother is actually director Shira Piven’s mother.

Other reviews of Welcome to Me:

Susan Wloszczyna, RogerEbert.com
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

Orange background with text: Come with me. Into another time that happened to me. —Welcome to Me. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

My Vision, Manifested

As I walk around my neighborhood, I make plans for the houses I encounter. The tiny house in this picture, I’ve always planned to buy, move into, and then use the huge open space in the lot to grow a million vegetables.

Mostly those plans are scrapped when the property is sold, the small house is torn down, and what is built leaves no room for gardening. You can see that has happened on the lot next door, where the blue house dominates.

So you can imagine my thrill when these marigolds appeared in this lot. It’s not oodles of vegetables, but it’s close.

First Cow Shows off Reichardt’s Skills

A picture of Orion Lee and Toby Jones in the film First Cow

The review:

There’s a sense of peace that comes over me when I watch any Kelly Reichardt film.* Watching Cookie and King-Lu form a friendship and a business in the time of early 19th-century Oregon was a quiet meditation on friendship and dreams of the future. As always, the dialog is sparse, the actors telegraph much,** and the landscape is almost another character.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $3.99 via Redbox On Demand
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It’s the equivalent to those people who find it calming to hear people whisper.
**Watching the actors in a Reichardt film is always a treat, and this pair (John Magaro and Orion Lee) reminded me a lot of Daniel London and Will Oldham in Old Joy. So much unsaid but still said!

Questions:

Did you feel the opening of the film unduly influenced your viewing of the film?
Why do you think Cookie and King-Lu connected?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

First Cow (2019) is the first Kelly Reichardt film to receive a PG-13 rating.

(I can’t think why. Language?
Common Sense Media says language, drinking, and smoking.)

Other reviews of First Cow:

Allison Shoemaker, RogerEbert.com
Karen Han, Polygon

Orange background with text: Some people can’t imagine being stolen from. —First Cow. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Sword of Trust Pokes Fun, Shows Relationships

Sword of Trust

Directed by Lynn Shelton
Written by Lynn Shelton & Michael Patrick O’Brien

The review:

Low-key humor is my favorite thing about Lynn Shelton movies* and Sword of Trust provides a full scabbard. The other thing she does well is to showcase relationships; in this film we get to see a long-term relationship between Cynthia and Mary,** plus how they interact with two pawn shop employees*** when they go to sell the inherited sword that purports to show the South won the Civil War. The film takes a few gentle pokes at internet conspiracies and had more than a couple great scenes with Marc Maron**** that elevate an already solid movie.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $5.99, because Matt and I split a month of ad-free Hulu plus some shenanigans with a free trial of Hulu+Showtime because Hulu lied to me and said this movie was available on Hulu.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Though she died in May, I’m not up to writing about her in the past tense.
**Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins who also starred in the excellent Brittany Runs a Marathon
***Jon Bass’ commitment to his slack jaw was impressive.
****Maron talking about how he came to own the pawnshop plus his interaction with two men harassing the group.

Questions:

What’s your favorite part of a Lynn Shelton film?
What was the best nickname in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Marc Maron scored the film. The blues guitar solos heard throughout were played by him.

Other reviews of Sword of Trust:

Lorry Kikta, Film Threat
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Orange background with text: Is this Antiques Roadshow for racists? —Sword of Trust. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Pandemic Workout

Matt’s gym has live and recorded classes while they are shut down and Matt participates in those. But of late, he’s found Pamela Reif and has been doing her workouts. They are apparently very hard and she just powers through them like they are nothing..

The End of Grandpa’s Overalls

When my grandfather died in 1991, he left behind a few pairs of overalls. I’ve been wearing this pair when working on projects since the 90s. However, I’ve finally split through the seams in the crotch (which you can see if you look closely at our celebratory post finishing the pedestal.) It’s time to cut these overalls up for other uses. Sentinel, as usual, supervises.

On the big, you can see not only the logo, but the dark green from painting my mom’s house, the dark blue from Matt’s bedroom, the orange from painting the pedestal, the bright green from the wall in the pantry and some white that was probably the primer I put on the pedestal.

In my photos from the time of film cameras, there’s a picture of me circa 1998 wearing these overalls and posing with the loft bed I built. They’ve been a good companion as I have completed projects.

All movies watched on Netflix February–Present

Good

Skip

Bumblebee: Transformers for the Whole Family

Bumblebee

Directed by Travis Knight
Written by Christina Hodson

The review:

God bless Travis Knight and Christina Hodson for creating a gem that manages to combine robot cars,* a coming of age story, lots of humor, and 80s pop cultural markers to make a delightful cross-generational film. Hailee Steinfeld is excellent as the mechanically minded Charlie, still grieving her dad’s death. But the digital artists who created Bumblebee also deserve many kudos for creating such a nuanced character.**

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*This is my first Transformers movie, and it was a good first-of-series choice.
**Bumblebee inside the house is one of the most amusing scenes of this summer’s movie watching.

Questions:

Why could some transformers turn into vehicles that fly, but some could not?
What’s your favorite scene with Bumblebee?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Bumblebee’s model is a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle with bumpers, available only for export. The yellow color was also only available for the export version Volkswagens as the color in Germany was used by the then-state-owned German Postal Service (Deutsche Bundespost).

Other reviews of Bumblebee:

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
Liz Shannon Miller, Indiewire

Orange background. Text: They literally call themselves Decepticons. That doesn't set off any red flags?

An Embroidery Report

I finished my first sampler from LittleDear. I really love it. The “spring” colors Aimee sent me in the sewing kit are just my type, and I enjoyed doing the stiches. I think the sampler looks pretty, too. I need to work on my satin stich and the fishbone stich was mostly a disaster. But look how pretty that woven spider’s wheel turned out!

This is also from LittleDear. It’s the first of two mandala-inspired patterns. I thought the colors looked great here too!

Now, whatsoever shall I do with these?

I Used to Go Here: Winning Failure

I Used to Go Here

Directed by Kris Rey
Written by Kris Rey

The review:

Much as I was charmed by a unique aspect of Kris Rey’s Unexpected, so was I by the flailings* of Gillian Jacobs’ character Kate in I Used to Go Here. It’s the relationships that make this film fun, and the humor is sly and subtle.** There’s a wistfulness to this film that I loved,*** as well as the exuberance of youth viewed by someone past that stage.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $6.99 via Redbox On Demand
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I love a good woman-flailing movie, especially if the flailing doesn’t have to do with romantic relationships.
**Kate’s book reading is a great example of this.
***There are so many good things to remember about being in college, and so many reasons to be glad you are through those years.

Questions:

What do you think Kate will do next?
Who was your favorite college student?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Kate’s address is given as 4569 N. Baltimore Rd, Chicago, IL 60640 (on the letter to her ex boyfriend), however the building she enters is actually 4623 N. Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, and is above Spyners Pub. The interiors may have been shot elsewhere.

Oh, internet, you are so detail oriented!

Other reviews of I Used to Go Here:

Kim Hughes, Original CIN
Kristy Puchko, The Playlist

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