Tag: three sentence movies

Yet another excellent collaboration by Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy, this had me laughing uproariously alone in my living room.  I think Feig is perhaps the only man in Hollywood who can tap into the many slights and frustrations of the female experience, a lot of which were on display in this movie.*  All actors were hilarious, making for a perfect movie experience.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.

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

*He’s also really good at writing women characters into his movies.  This film included McCarthy and Rose Byrne, but also Allison Janney as the CIA boss and Miranda Hart as McCarthy’s friend.  Plus a bit part by Morena Baccarin.

This is a great time capsule of 1997 Chicago and the black poetry scene.  It also is a love story of a couple who can’t quite get it together. I rarely see a movie with an all-black cast and that made this movie interesting, though I was confused by character motivations throughout and found that the movie dragged.*

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*I watched this movie because there was an article in the paper about a special showing with Theodore Witcher, the director. He was going to discuss that this was his one and only film.  It’s disappointing that he got one shot and nothing else, because I’ve seen far worse films by directors who go on to make other things.

I was quite impressed that the Multnomah County Library had it in its catalog.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1997/love_jones.html

One Mr. Adam Kempenaar of the Filmspotting podcast loves this truly and deeply, so much so that he gets mad whenever anyone doesn’t love it as much as him.  He needn’t worry about me, I loved this all the way through every change of persona the band made as they were trying on different music styles.  There wasn’t as much female-forward stuff as in Carney’s Begin Again, but it was delightful and with some great performances.*

Cost: Free from library
Where watched: at home, while painting toenails purple.

*Ferdia Walsh-Peelo carried the film as Conner, and I also enjoyed Mark McKenna as the multi-talented Eamon and Ben Carolan as the manager.  Plus, Jack Reynor continued the charismatic streak he started in A Royal Night Out.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/sing_street_ver4.html

It’s like the movie Groundhog Day, but not funny and also about teenage female friendships instead of a sardonic weatherman.  No one is going to watch this movie, and that’s too bad because as Zoey Deutch lives the same day again and again, it’s fascinating to peel back the layers of the relationships in her life.  There are some bits of drag near the end, but overall, a well-crafted and interesting movie.

Cost: $5.35
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12  (I’m in a theater rut lately)

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2017/before_i_fall.html

This will go down in my own personal movie history as the superhero movie that demoted superhero movies to second-run priority status.*  It turns out what I’ve been enjoying about superhero movies is their PG-style violence; this move was chock-full of full-on R-rated violence that I did not enjoy at all.  Post-movie discussion led us to the interesting conclusion that Wolverine is our favorite X-Man character, but is only interesting when he’s part of an ensemble cast.**

Cost: $5.35
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12 with Matt.

*Not completely this movie’s fault. Deadpool and Antman helped.
**I’ve seen all the Wolverine movies and they are all sort of “eh.”  Even this one, with great acting by both Jackman and Dafne Keen, not to mention Stephen Merchant.

http://www.impawards.com/2017/logan_ver2.html

While not a terrible movie, this wasn’t much of a good one either.  If you like feisty old ladies, troubled hoodlums or wandering young women you might be into this.  It might also be a good movie for a day in bed because of illness, or perhaps good feature to watch during  plane ride.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

poster from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2311948/?ref_=nv_sr_1

First of all, the list published in the Oregonian was lacking in some categories, as you can tell by my annotations at the bottom.

I enjoy the Oscars, even if they are somewhat tedious.  There are usually a few gems in the speeches–most often the ones given by the people who are NOT the big names–and I rarely get to see any live TV, so that’s always interesting.  Since this is the one time during the year I watch TV, even the commercials are interesting.

This year proceeded in the normal fashion.  Until that last award.  Since I had the next day off, I fully immersed myself in reading the playbacks and commentary.  I re-watched the video several times.  It’s super awkward all the way around, and a massive bummer that Moonlight didn’t get its moment in the sun the way it should have.  (Price Waterhouse Guy!  You had one job! And it wasn’t to hobnob with the best actress.)

What’s interesting about watching the moment is to see chaos happen in the background as people in the foreground are assuming things are just fine.  Three La La Land producers spoke.  You can watch the progression of understanding.  Guy #1, gives speech as if things are fine, (though things are happening behind him) then steps back for Guy #2.  While Guy #2 is speaking Guy #1 and Guy #3 confer, with Guy #3 sharing a long look with Guy #1.  As Guy #2 steps back, you can see Guy #3 think, “whatever, I’m sill going to do my speech” and steps forward to thank the usual suspects, until he peters out with “we lost, by the way, but, you know.”

Thankfully, at that point Guy #1 stepped in and gave his forceful re-awarding of best picture.  (Making him the white savior figure, which is infuriating that someone had to be, but at least he did a good job of gracefully stepping aside.)

Moonlight was one of the movies I hoped would win, so I’m glad it did.

Finding a movie that will please myself, my 70-something mother and my boyfriend is a tall order–one that usually involves pre-watching.  I had no time to pre-watch, so I took a deep breath and took my chances and, boy howdy, did it pay off.  This movie is funny (but with no pooping) and sweet (but not too sweet) and tragic (but not too dark) and everyone was quite pleased.

Cost: $4.99 from Amazon
Where watched: at Mom’s house with Mom and Matt

Poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/new_zealand/2016/hunt_for_the_wilderpeople_ver2.html

The tagline on the poster says it all.  I’m not sure why I put off watching this for so many years.  If you need a quality movie with a little bit of everything, this is your film.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2003/station_agent.html

I did not see this in my 80s youth, so I had no feelings of nostalgia flowing through me as I watched this.  It hasn’t aged well.  Upon reflection, I’ve decided that the popcorn scene was probably truly amazing in 1985 in a way that CGI has totally ruined.*

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, with Matt, who didn’t like it much, either.

*I mean, really!  They had to pop all that popcorn!  People were employed to figure out a way to do that!  The actual popping!  Not the making computers make it look like popcorn was popping.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1985/real_genius.html
I hate this poster.  It’s one of those posters that matches the theme of the movie, but not the movie itself.  That building and window wasn’t in the movie!