Day: February 8, 2019

3SMReviews: Smallfoot

3SMReviews: Smallfoot

It’s been slim pickins in the Channing Tatum movie world of late* and so you would think I would have done something besides groan when I first watched the Smallfoot trailer.** I did groan, but no matter, completist that I am, I knew I had to watch it sooner or later, and so I have and I can say that it’s a pretty good kids film. My favorite part was James Corden’s revamp of Queen’s “Under Pressure,” but you can find that on YouTube (and at the bottom of this post) and skip watching the movie.

Verdict: Good (this is one of those “good” ratings where I don’t love the movie, but recognize that it’s fine for its category.)

Cost: $1.75 via Redbox
Where watched: at home waiting for the wintery weather to start.

*Though there’s the delightful gift of that Pink video.
**I have very little tolerance for full-on kids movies and that’s what this movie is.

3SMReviews: The Wife

3SMReviews: The Wife
The Castleman’s are flying to Stockholm

Bjorn Runge’s The Wife is a perfect vehicle for Glenn Close’s seventh Oscar nomination and, aside from her performance, a so-so movie. While Close’s performance is nuanced, Jonathan Pryce was all over the place and mostly a distracting presence.* This exists also as a movie where audiences can say after the credits roll, “Thank goodness it’s not like that today!” which is a statement I wish were true.

Verdict: skip, unless you are in it for the Glenn Close performance

Cost: Free from Multnomah County Library (my first Lucky Day Movie!**)
Where watched: at home

*His accent came and went which was perhaps an attempt to show his informal home-life self and his formal Nobel-winning writer self. This attempt was not successful. It also seemed like he couldn’t quite nail his character’s view of Glenn Close as the wife.
**New movies that don’t go into the hold system, but hang out at the branches waiting for you to snap them up! They’ve had this system for books for years now, I’m excited to see it for movies too.

3SMReviews: Oscar Nominated Shorts, Documentary

3SMReviews: Oscar Nominated Shorts Documentary

There was a time when I wondered how people ever got to see the short films that were nominated for Academy Awards, but that time has passed. In my town of Portland, many movie theaters show them. It’s great to be able to see what the Academy sees.

Of note. If you have multiple theaters showing these shorts, you might choose carefully. My theater showed me all five for one price. I notice that other theaters are dividing the documentary shorts into two programs, each of which you have to pay for.

Cost: $8.00
Where watched: Living Room Theaters

For this review, I’m dispensing with my three sentence format and will feature all five nominees.


Black Sheep

(27 minutes) Directed by Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn. UK
The story of Cornelius Walker whose mother moved him out of London to keep him safe, relocating the family to an all-white estate where Cornelius attempted to shed his Black identity to survive. It’s tough to watch, but worth it, and there is much to discuss.

Recommended

Where to watch: here


End Game

(40 minutes) Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (USA)
A movie that examines end-of-life care in San Francisco, following a family who keeps fighting cancer in the hospital, and also the residents and staff of a hospice house. Having watched it, I’m very clear on where I would want my time to come to an end. It also sets up a jarring comparison for the next short.

Recommended

Where to watch: Netflix is streaming it.


Lifeboat

(40 minute) Directed by Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser (USA)

Features the work of German nonprofit Sea Watch who search the Mediterranean looking for refugees from rafts. It’s horrifying to see the people stacked on the rafts and fascinating to see how the refugees are rescued. There’s also coverage from the shore showing what happens to those who die trying to cross.

Recommended

Where to watch: I can only find a trailer, so your best best is an Oscar Shorts program.


A Night at the Garden

(7 minutes) Marshall Curry (USA)

A very short film about the “Pro-USA” rally held at Madison Square Garden in 1939. It invites a lot of comparison to the present day.

Recommended

Where to watch: You can see the entire thing at this link as well as read a Q&A from the director which sheds light on who some of the people are.


PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE.

(26 minutes) Rayka Zahtabchi and Melissa Berton (India)

This was my favorite (I prefer my documentaries to be hopeful) and I think it should win. If it does, I will be surprised because its subject matter has nothing to do with grammar and everything to do with menstruation practices in India. Apparently only 10% of women use pads, the rest making do with cloth. This causes all sorts of problems. To right this inequity, there’s a super cool machine involved and some basic entrepreneurship.

Recommended

Where to watch: Not online. You can watch a trailer here.

Postcard from Canton, Ohio

Cousin Ron reports that he and Jim went to see Bohemian Rhapsody at this theater. Apparently it was both beautiful inside and with excellent theater popcorn. I’m always up for good popcorn. Mostly it’s not that great, with the exception being one movie theater in the close-in Boston suburbs (Newton?) which had amazing popcorn. I still remember it, more than 20 years later.

Apparently, Ron’s part of Ohio had 15 inches of snow over two weeks, and wall-to-wall media coverage of apopolyptic proportions. Although apparently also everyone carried on.