May 2019 – Page 2 – Out & About

Two for the Road: Really Loud, Not Much to Root For

The review:

The reason to watch Stanley Donen’s Two for the Road is to see the interesting cuts between scenes that show us different periods of a couple’s ten-year marriage. However, there are many more reasons not to watch the film, namely, it’s hard to root for a couple who isn’t happy* and whose relationship was on shaky ground from the get-go.** On the other hand, there’s nice scenery, really amazing clothing*** and a series of scenes with Mr., Mrs., and Miss Manchester, the trio you don’t know how thankful you are that you’ve never vacationed with.

The verdict: skip

Cost: $3.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home as part of Filmspotting’s Stanley Donen Marathon.****

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*I suspect we’ve got some generational differences here, but Albert Finny’s character is a big jerk who also is very loud. What in the world does Audrey Hepburn see in him? Why is she falling in love with him when he has done nothing to demonstrate he’s a good person? And also! If when you get married you agree not to have any children, then you have agreed not to have children. Don’t get all mad, Audrey Hepburn’s character, because now you want children and he’s pointing out the agreement you’ve already made.
**Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy comes to mind (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) but the difference is that both of those characters are charming, and the series unfolds so that you can do nothing but root for them.
***Including some very impractical things. I can’t imagine that vinyl pants/jacket combo was anything but a sweaty mess when worn while riding in a car, or on any sunny day.
****I’ve just looked over Stanley Donen’s list to see if there is anything of his I like and, while I still haven’t seen many of his films, he did direct Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, (so many not okay things about the story, and yet, so delightful) and he co-directed the movie that is tied for first as my favorite film of all time: Singing in the Rain. So he’s okay, I guess. Also, strangely, he directed Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” video, a milestone video of my elementary school years.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The passport shown on screen lists Hepburn’s birthday as 11 July 1936 and Finney’s as 22 August 1933, making her appear 7 years younger, and him 3 years older than their actual ages.

Also, the couple shared a passport in this film! It had both their pictures in it. Good lord, was this a thing? Apparently it was.

It’s time for this Duet to come to an end.

In sad news, our Whirlpool Duet washer has given up the ghost. In sadder news, because the washer and dryer are stacked, we have to buy both a new washer and a new dryer.

We’ve had this washer & dryer for seven years. It seems to be coming to an end much sooner than I expected.

Toy Story 2 Is Okay

(Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. It was years between me finding the “Toy Story 2 was okay” graffiti and me finding that it was a thing. I actually think this movie is quite good.)

The review:

John Lasseter and Ash Brannon’s Toy Story 2 continues the Toy Story story, mostly for better.* There are callbacks to the first movie** and many other movies (especially Star Wars movies) are quoted. There are plenty of laughs and the quality storytelling that Pixar is known for.

Verdict: Good

Cost: free from Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home with the boyfriend in preparation for another installment of Filmspotting’s 9 from ’99.

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*My first twinge of annoyance was when all the guys went on a mission (the main plot of the film), with the lady toys seeing them off. What year is this? 1861? Maybe throw in some gender equity, you know because this was made right before the 21st century. My second twinge of annoyance was that an obese, hairy man (the only large person in the movie) was a bad guy. Fat and hairy doesn’t equal bad. Be a little inventive, Toy Story people.
**There’s a great Buzz Lightyear sequence in a toy store.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

John Ratzenberger, who does the voice of Hamm, has voiced a character in every film made by Pixar.

Instant Family: Byrne and Wahlberg Lead a Great Ensemble

The review:

Sean Anders’ Instant Family is a very good Sunday Afternoon Movie* and also manages to feature a lot of kids with problems without falling into the obnoxious child trope.** Movies about kids in foster care are few and far between*** and it was nice to see this human-scale comedy created by someone who has experience with the foster care system.**** Overall, this was a funny, breezy film with excellent performances by all***** and for people who have children, it’s probably that much funnier.

The verdict:

Recommended (although see all those notes below)

Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: At home with Matt, who also enjoyed it

Consider also watching:

White Oleander
The Blind Side (which is amusingly referenced repeatedly in this movie. I have a lot of problems with the white savior aspect, but there are things to like)
Annie (I can only vouch for the 1982 edition)
Shazam!
Oh! Channing Tatum plays a foster kid in Step Up! How could I have forgotten?

Further sentences:

*Sunday Afternoon Movie: A pleasant movie where things are fine by the end, which is best watched before transitioning into the preparation for the workweek ahead.
**Bratty kids=movie killer for me. They aren’t funny, they are spoiled and annoying.
***I found this list called Foster Focus’ Top Twenty-Five Foster Care Movies and the definition of “foster care” seems to include orphanages, which is not what I’m talking about.
****Director Sean Anders has adopted three children from the foster care system. That said, I am a white female who has no experience with the foster care system and I can’t speak to how “true” this tale will feel to people who have had experience. The movie also includes discussions of race and white saviorism, albeit briefly and I’m not sure how those aspects of the movie would be experienced by other people.
*****I started listing the actors who really stood out and realized I was making a list of everyone in the movie.

Best films by decade watched in 2018

Top movies watched in 2018 from individual decades

I like some structure to my movie watching. But only some.

I’ve got a scratch-off movie poster* that had me chasing some old classics in 2018, plus some catch up viewing for Filmspotting Madness, 2000s edition. That meant that I watched some things from decades other than the current one.

Oh, and there was a movie that was scheduled to be released that had three previous versions. I couldn’t let that opportunity go by.

Here are my favorite old favorite discoveries in 2018

1930s

2 movies watched from the 1930s

A Star is Born (1937)

Four stars.

Janet Gaynor is Esther Blodgett, an aspiring actress and Frederic March is the aging alcoholic actor who wants Ms. Blodgett to be the film star she’s always dreamed of being.

While there was a lot of subject matter that usually would sink the film for me (May-December romances, falling in love with an alcoholic) I adored this film.

1940s

6 movies watched from the 1940s

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Five stars.

John Huston’s classic is a classic for a reason. You may be intrigued because it’s a Humphry Bogard film, but John Huston cast his own father as Howard, the old gold prospector delighted to be out in the gold fields again. Howard steals the show.

1950s

6 movies watched from the 1950s
I really hit the jackpot with this decade

High Noon

Five stars.

Gary Cooper doesn’t have much time to raise up a posse to greet Frank Miller, the criminal Cooper sent to prison several years before. But it shouldn’t be too hard. After all, everyone remembers how bad things had been when Frank Miller was around.

It turns out it’s hard.

All About Eve

Five stars.

If you’re like me and your only exposure to this movie is a few quotes, well then “fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Bette Davis is amazing, as is the rest of the cast.

Witness for the Prosecution

Five stars.

Billy Wilder, Marlenia Dietrich, Tyorne Power, Charles Laughton. Big names! And a big story of a lawyer defending his client from a murder charge. Best enjoyed if you know nothing about the film. Do you like courtroom dramas? Queue this one up!

A Star is Born (1954)

Five stars.

Okay so 2018 was the year I spent a goodly amount of time gushing over three of the four versions of this movie. But there is a good reason for that! This time, Judy Garland plays the aspiring actress and James Mason plays the alcoholic has-been. And Judy Garland was a force. Watch the below scene and see if you don’t want to invest another another 150 minutes in this movie.

1960s, 1970s, 1980s

For these decades I have no movies to recommend. I didn’t watch any movies from the 60s, only one from the 70s (that was the terrible version of A Star is Born) and only two in the 80s.

1990s

I watched two movies from the 90s in 2018

Beau Travail

Four stars.
This film isn’t going to be for everyone. You’ve got to be a fan of stories incrementally told while not a lot of action happens. In fact, the action that mostly happens is young men in the French Foreign Legion doing training exercises in the sun. But watching young, fit men work out isn’t the worst way to spend your time. And if you are like me, the ending scene with Denis Lavant will captivate you.

2000s

I watched 18 movies from the ‘aughts in 2018. Only one of them was a five-star movie.

Ocean’s Eleven

Five stars.
Eleven actors, all at their sparkly best. A heist plotted against a guy who deserves to lose his money. Julia Roberts. This film is the filmiest of films and so much fun. Get the team together, get the plan together, execute the plan, deal with the fallout. It’s hard to stop smiling while watching this.

Further sentences:

*It appears that my version of Pop Chart’s 100 Essential Films Scratch-off Movie Poster has been substituted for this one. Most of the movies look the same, though. Oh, but they added Lady Bird (my #1 movie of 2017) Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley for the win!) and Black Panther (If you’re only going to see one Marvel film, this is it). Good choices.

Charade is Fun to Look at

The review:

I’ve seen bits of Stanley Donen’s Charade here and there,* but hadn’t watched the entire movie until now. What I found was the usual falling-in-love-for-no-reason** and a very low-key thriller.*** I find the doe-eyed enthusiasm of Hepburn trying at times (and especially in this film) but when I ignored the romance aspect, it was fun to try and figure out what was going on, plus there’s a great wardrobe to look at.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $3.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home to catch up with Filmspotting’s Stanley Donen marathon.

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I suspect that the bits I remember were part of commercials advertising this movie’s run on television in the 80s. I know I watched the first few minutes when I was 12 or so, but found the pacing not great, plus the commercials had told me there were some disturbing parts that my younger self wasn’t quite ready for.
**I mean seriously, I have no idea what caused Hepburn to go gaga over Grant and get all kissy with him. He was super sketchy to me. I suspect this can be blamed on male writers and directors. (“Oh those ladies will fall for any good looking man, no matter how much older or how much his story changes.)
***The things that scared me as a pre-teen barely raised my 40+-year-old heartbeat.

Favorite IMDB Trivia Item:

Seven studios rejected the original screenplay. Screenwriter Peter Stone turned it into a novel which was serialized in Redbook, which in turn sparked interest from all seven studios.

Disobedience: The Performances Are Not to be Missed

The review:

Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience has an overly long sex scene,* but other than that, it’s a movie worth watching both for nuanced performances** and for a short visit to the Orthodox Jewish world of London. Rachel Weisz is fast becoming one of my favorite actors to watch and her performance as the woman who left her community but has returned for her father’s funeral is fantastic—sorrowful and resigned. This falls into the slow drama category, but becomes quite tense in places.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: free view Kanopy, Multnomah County Library’s streaming service
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

The Lives of Others
The End of the Tour
All the Real Girls (or also this review)

Further sentences

*In some alternate universe, there exists this scene filmed by a woman. I bet it doesn’t feel as gratuitous.
**Everyone is not saying very much which means more stuff needs to come through nonverbal means.

My Life Without Me Confronts End-of-Life in a Different Way

3SMReviews: My Life Without Me movie review

The review:

I’m not sure how I missed Isabel Coixet’s My Life Without Me as I’m usually all in on anything Sarah Polley, anything Mark Ruffalo, and I’m a fan of movies that explore complexities in relationships.* Though there were times that I felt like the slower-than-usual speech patterns of Ruffalo and Polley were distracting, there was a lot to like in this film. Plus, I feel like the ratio of upper-middle class/rich people stories to grinding poverty is about 7-to-1 in the movie world, so the living situation in this was an interesting change.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Free from Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Take this waltz (directed by Sarah Polley)
Away from Her (directed by Sarah Polley)
Stories We Tell (directed by Sarah Polley)

*But thanks to Josh Larsen’s Filmspotting recommendation, I caught up with this film!

One More Walk

After the deluge of yesterday afternoon, look what I woke up to:

There was also a “wintry mix” forecast, which I experienced when I took one more walk before checking out of my room. Wintry mix! In May!

I had a bit of time to kill before my flight so I took one last walk of Minnesota neighborhoods.

I found this sculpture when getting to the start of the walk. Note the black framing in pictures is due to my camera’s lens not retracting all the way. I bump it open when I notice, but there are times I don’t notice.

New building going up here.

A grand vista of the art museum.

And a picture of the newer wing.

There were so many good apartment buildings in Minneapolis! I love the arches on this one, and clearly so do the current owners, given the name.

Behind the art museum is a college.

Another of those houses that make me weak in the knees.

I love all three of the signs on this sign. What happened on the 1989 Arbor Day???

In Portland it sometimes it seems that every single block hosts a houseless person. But this was one of the only sign of homelessness I spied in the Twin Cities. I saw people who looked like they were down on their luck, but they didn’t look like they were also living in a tent on the sidewalk or an old RV.

Informational sign telling us of a huge lovely house that is no more.

Look at this little gem!

And across the street this great church!

Some beautiful stone.

And a sort of mini castle.

I loved seeing a few different stages of development here. The three on the left, probably all built around the same time. Then the two on the right, also probably built around the same time. Were they built before or after the freeway was put in? For the first set, definitely before, for the second set, maybe after?

From the looks of that dirt pile, there is a big freeway project happening.

Gorgeous little mansion down the street from my lodgings.

Statue and center that are directly across the street from that lovely little mansion.

Walk over, I packed up. I left the book of neighborhood walks at the house, but first I added notes pointing out the three walks within walking distance of the address.

And then I took the Green Line all the way to downtown St. Paul. On the way there I looked out the window on one side of the car.

On the way back, I looked out of the opposite window.

I learned that I have some St. Paul exploring to do. Its downtown has a great number of beautiful buildings. Also, I saw the MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) headquarters!

After that, it was back to the airport for a flight home.

What a lovely trip!

Post-graduation Photos

There was a torrential rain falling, so we took photos inside. Here, Sara’s cousin takes a picture of Shawn & Sara

Kathy and Al take pictures.

More pictures with Sara’s dad, stepmom, and sister.

Sisters.

Shawn’s mom and dad.

Sara’s aunt and cousin

Sara’s aunt and uncle

Pictures taken, we headed out in the rain.

The next few hours weren’t great for me. I got lost on campus (because I never would ask anyone for directions) and sopping wet, and I was cold and eventually I found my way to the delightful meet-up area where we were scheduled to have dinner.

I bought some hot tea, read, went from sopping to damp, and bought some Pho when everyone else showed up. That warmed me up from the inside. Thus the day ended on a good note.