Being a terrible hometown supporter of animation studios, this is the first Laika feature I’ve seen. I found it to be an engaging tale and I particularly enjoyed the origami storytelling. There’s some good mom stuff in this movie.
Cost: free, due to hotel package
Where watched: McMenamins Olympic Club
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/kubo_and_the_two_strings.html
People familier with me will not be surprised to know that I tend to walk certain specific routes from place to place. I encounter this tree on one of my routes home from the library. However, I usually walk under it, not on the opposite side of the street.
But in doing so, look what I discovered hiding.
Same intersection, different day. How can there be more pizza?
The lovely Mary, an 80+-year-old volunteer at school, sent me off to my new job with a book and a handmade card made with her photographs. I will miss Mary. And not just because she gives me things.
This movie is clever in that way that women–for most of history viewed as nothing more than chattel–have had to be clever in that it seems to be a story about a man inventing an ingenious device and finding success and love, but which also tells us the story of women lining up for a “treatment” that I suspect most of them knew did nothing for their diagnosis of hysteria, but was beneficial none the less. Great performances all around. This is a light and funny film best taken with a glass of wine and some chocolate after a long hard day of being female.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from IMP Awards
My new 40-hour per week job means no more volunteering for Teen Lounge at the North Portland Library. Today is my last day. There were never many teens at teen lounge, but I did enjoy two solid hours each week to write these blog posts. And I really enjoyed the setting. The woodwork is beautiful, much darker in real life than in this picture.
There’s some really great female body image stuff in this and the usual Holofcenian touches. This, of course, includes Catherine Keener, and I could not stand her character.* However, it was quite well acted, including the four female leads and Jake Gyllenhaal when he was still playing teenagers.**
Cost: Free from library. (I requested this myself, but later found it on the shelf. I do indeed think someone in my neighborhood has been systamatically working their way through Holofcener’s movies. And now I have seen all of them too. Thanks random library patron for hooking me up with Holofcener!)
Where watched: at home.
*In my book, it’s not really important for female characters to be likable, but I so very much didn’t like her Michelle Marks, and unfortunately, it sunk the movie for me.
**He was 20 at the time.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2002/lovely_and_amazing.html
Expecting a brainless romantic comedy, I was instead blown away by this.* Mr. Kutcher was his usual non-offensive self, and the rest of the cast really knocked it out of the park.** It was also laugh-out-loud funny in parts,*** which came as no surprise once I figured out that Ivan Reitman directed it.
Cost: Free from library. (Also, this was on one of my Letterboxd lists. I’m not sure why. Perhaps I made notes? I did. Movie Date recommended it.)
Where watched: At home while changing the toes from green to red.
I wonder how long I could watch Ashton Kutcher moves during pedicures before I had to repeat? The answer is that there are 17 Ashton Kutcher movies I haven’t watched, so I could keep going for a very long time. I won’t though. I think I would eventually stop being pleasantly surprised that his movies aren’t actually that bad.
*Secret to success with Ashton Kutcher movies: lower those expectations.
**And what a cast! Natalie Portman! Kevin Kline! Greta Gerwig! Mindy Kaling! Jake Johnson! Lake Bell! Ludacris! Olivia Thirlby!
***Many rom-coms are more “smirk” or “quiet chuckle” events. They don’t come with actual laughter.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2011/no_strings_attached.html
Just as gripping on second viewing and so much fun because three of the four main leads are women. And I love all their performances. Matt really enjoyed it too, if by “enjoyed” you mean “was completely and thoroughly disturbed by the ending.”
Cost: $2.00 at Videorama
Where watched: at home with Matt to celebrate my new job.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/gone_girl_ver3.html
I think the other poster where Mr. Affleck has his back to the camera is even better than this one, but I’ve already used that one. But even this lesser version, this is a fabulous poster. Do you see the eyes???
That’s my classic too-many-white-guys-in-suits problem! It’s ruined several movies with amazing twists that would astound me if I could realize that that guy in the suit is a totally different character than that other guy in a suit.
