Tag: three sentence movies

I went into this documentary thinking I would be angry at the situation these six brothers (and one sister) were put in by their parents, and indeed, their lives for a long time followed a path different than what I (and probably the majority of poeple) would choose for them.  However, the boys themselves displayed such resiliency on camera that I left the theater hopeful that they would find their way in this world, despite probably lacking a lot of basic skills.*  The film is worth watching just to see how striking they are when the venture out into New York City from their tiny, cramped apartment.

Cost: $4.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater with S. North.

*But really?  The fact that children are allowed to be raised this way is disturbing.  There should be more oversight.

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

While there is a dearth of women-who-aren’t-objects in this movie, what it does have is a ton of good acting by males, particularly Jason Mitchell as Easy-E.  Though I was the right age to be a fan, the rock/rap divide was a chasm on the time and I was standing firmly on the heavy metal side,* so I was watching this for the story (it delivered) rather than the music.  I found myself questioning if having all the members of NWA sign off on this movie meant that some things were portrayed in a more rosy light than maybe actual events that occurred, but ultimately enjoyed this motion picture.**

Cost: $5.00
Where watched:  Hollywood Theater with Kelly***

*For instance, when I hear the phrase “straight outta Compton”, I think not of NWA, but the line from the Kid Rock song “Cowboy”: I ain’t straight outta Compton, I’m straight out the trailer.
**Also, I found myself marveling at just how BIG t-shirts in the 80s were.  I mean, I was wearing them too, but in comparison to now, the actors were swimming in them.
***Note that Kelly and I began the summer with a movie featuring Paul Giamatti taking advantage of a musician and we ended the summer with a movie where Paul Giamatti took advantage of multiple musicians.  Crazy.

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

This is the page in my newest five-year diary where I’ve been tracking my movies/TVonDVD.  There are 16 pages like this available for me to write in, so it looks like I’m not going to have to find another way to track movies because I’ve run out of space.

Remember how I was crazy about the Gerwig/Baumbach venture Frances Ha and then, after watching more movies with Gerwig,  started to question if I really liked her after all?  It turns out that when Gerwig & Baumbach come together, they create movies I adore, including this one which is wacky and funny and really does evoke the best of zany comedies like Bringing up Baby.  Plus, both female leads are fabulous at what they are doing.

Cost: $8.00
Where watched: Living Room Theater as a reward for making it though the first week of school.  I also bought a sandwich and some wine, making this a rather expensive treat.

http://www.impawards.com/2015/mistress_america.html

This movie has what can only be described as a hella lot of whisper voiceover.  It also has very interesting early CGI effects, and all the things that would now be CGI effects, but back then needed to be actually made are quite interesting too.  I did not, however, find it to be an actually interesting movie.*

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home with Matt, who was aghast I had never seen it.

*So much so, that I forgot to include it in my list.  I actually watched this in August and didn’t realize until after I’d closed the August movie books that it was missing.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1984/dune_ver1.html

I went into the movie Valentine’s Day not knowing anything and was pleasantly surprised by the gravistas brought by the actors and the interesting weaving of stories.  This, my friend, is no Valentines Day, featuring a cast of B-list actors (or A-list actors giving B-list performances) and stories that I just didn’t care about.  This was a terrible movie that wasn’t bad enough that to be fun.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

http://www.impawards.com/2011/new_years_eve.html

Some days I’m up to watching something of substance, or something inventive, or something with style. And some days I’m tired and need to paint my toenails and just put on a so-so romantic comedy with non-offensive actors.  Overall, it wasn’t terrible, it was a fine movie for meeting my exact needs at that moment.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.  Toenails are green now.

http://www.impawards.com/2005/lot_like_love.html

One of the purposes of movies is to take the viewer to a world they don’t know and this movie did that for me, given that my life experience includes no contact with transgender prostitutes.  There were things that were hard to watch in this movie, but it’s brimming with so much force of life that it made the hard things easier.  Also, it makes Los Angeles look spectacular, colors popping and light flattering even in the rundown part of the city these characters inhabit.

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

http://www.impawards.com/2015/tangerine.html

This movie suffered (through no fault of its own) from overexposure because I saw the preview too many times.  But given it was Diablo Cody, I went anyway, because I’m always interested in her characters.  As usual, she wasn’t really into us liking Ricki, which I was okay with, and I also enjoyed how there wasn’t really a villain in the story, just people trying their best to navigate through things as best they could.

Cost: $4.70 due to Fandango gift card from Jan
Where watched: Regal Lloyd Center with Kelly (birthday present part I)

http://www.impawards.com/2015/ricki_and_the_flash.html