Month: July 2020

One of My Favorites on the Block

It’s the development notice sign. Which means it’s time to get out the camera and take a picture of something that soon will cease to be.

When I first moved to Portland, someone pointed out how Portland had so many little apartment complexes, ones like this that are single story and have both parking and greenery. I always thought I would live in one someday. But I’d better act fast, because they are being replaced by taller structures with no parking and little greenery.

This complex has been one of my favorites. I’ve featured it before. In the picture above, you can see (if you squint) where several paint colors were sampled. Those paint samples have been there for years.

I’m worried for this tenant. She always has a ton of potted flowers. I’m guessing she will have to relocate when they start building the new place and I hope her next place has opportunities to grow things.

The plus of the coming demolition is that this new complex will be affordable housing located very near a Max station and a Fred Meyer. But I will miss this little spot. And I don’t look forward to a year of walking in the bike lane after they fence off the sidewalk.

Love Simple is a Simple Movie

A picture of Francisco Solorzano and Patrizia Hernandez with a sketch of NYC brownstones behind them

Love Simple

Directed by Mark von Sternberg
Written by Mark von Sternberg

The review:

When you have two characters who are both lying to make themselves look better to the person they like it doesn’t make for the best narrative.* While this is a solid example of a middle-to-low quality indie film, it’s not the best way to spend your time. While you are waiting for the couple to find each other out, you can wonder if you’ve seen anyone anywhere else,** contemplate if naming a female character “Keith” is more distracting than endearing, and take in some 2009 fashions.***

The verdict: Skip

Cost: Free via Kanopy Streaming Service
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*They will either discover their lies and break up, or discover their lies and find a way to forgive each other. Those are the two endings. Watching them pile up their lies until the point when they have to come clean does not make for an interesting movie.
**Mostly the answer is no.
***Men’s jeans were still really baggy then. I had forgotten.

Questions:

  • Who was telling the biggest lie?
  • Were you rooting for or against the couple by the end of the film?

How I Live Now Showcases Young Actors

Picture of Saoirse Ronan and Tom Holland in How I Live Now

How I Live Now

Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Written by Jeremy Brock, Penelope Skinner, Tony Grisoni

The review:

While I could see what this movie was trying to do* it didn’t quite pull through, but I did appreciate it for showing war from a civilian perspective. All three leads have gone on to many good things** and it’s great to see these early performances. For anyone who ever wondering, “how would I adapt if my city was invaded during a war?” this provides some good insights.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $2.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Show how the average girls’ internal monologue is something akin to a mean girl whispering all the time and show how none of that matters when times get tough.
**I watched this because it was a Saoirse Ronan performance I hadn’t seen, but I was most intrigued to see Tom Holland. He’s tiny! Ironically, his real age when filming this movie from 2013 is two years older than the age his Spider-Man character is in Spider-Man Homecoming (2017). George MacKay was also the oldest boy in Captain Fantastic and one of the two soldiers carrying out the mission in 1917.

Questions:

  • How do you feel about the ending?
  • What act took the most bravery?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Director Kevin Macdonald chose to film the first half of this movie with a hand-held camera to give the paradise like–countryside home a sense of humanity, as though the camera was alive and breathing. The second half of this movie was shot in a more steady and smoother style to make the war-torn countryside more sharp and unforgiving, as though the camera was mechanical.

Other reviews of How I Live Now:

Text: Before the war I used my willpower for stupid stuff, like not eating chocolate. I think I thought if I could control myself, then maybe the world around me would start to make sense. —How I Live Now. Read the three sentence movie review at 3SMReviews.com

On Your Mark, Get Out of Town, Go!

After several months of quarantining, I wanted a day trip. So Matt and I drove to Long Beach, Washington (I’d never been) for a quick day trip.

On the way, we stopped to take in the view and I found this graffiti. I googled “country bike tour 2009” and came up with this website, which probably has nothing to do with these vandals, but was fun to read about.

Look at that sun! Enjoy it now. Also, do enjoy the lovely Rolling Rock litter.

There’s that bridge that heads over to Washington. I’m not sure if I’ve ever crossed it. Today is not the day, though.

The first of many self portraits. Two pair of sunglasses, one mask.

And now we’re in Long Beach. The sun disappeared just as we got close to this lovely tourist town.

Two masks, one pair of sunglasses.

We walked down to get a picture of the crowds. I’m guessing this was a small fraction of the usual number of people here on a July Saturday. Then we walked the boardwalk, which I have no pictures of, but which surprised me by being very far away from both the ocean and the main strip.

Matt says hello from the world’s largest pair of chopsticks. One mask, one pair sunglasses.

After we walked the length of the main drag, we bought fish and chips and found a picnic table. One sunglasses, no mask.

Then we walked back across the boardwalk and drove home. But not before taking one more picture. Two masks, one pair of sunglasses.

SKS Postcard: Enjoy the Little Things

Another also-ran of the encouragement postcards Sara purchased for her students. It seemed a bit much for The Times We Live In, so I got it instead of her students.

Sara reports that she has finished her paid summer obligation and is now excited to have a break. It’s not been a great summer for Summer Sara, yet.

All Movies Watched on Kanopy January–Present

Kanopy. Quality films for free.

Recommended

  • I Am Not Your Negro
  • Memento

Good

  • Margot at the Wedding
  • Heartburn
  • Girlhood
  • The Watermelon Woman

Skip

  • The Lobster
  • Lady Macbeth
  • The Beat Beneath My Feet

Out and About in North Portland

This is my first time walking on this sidewalk. Prior to this building being built, I had no reason to walk on this side of the street as it was fenced off, and maybe it didn’t have a sidewalk? But now the corner of N. Interstate and N. Argyle Street has a huge affordable housing complex, which I’m quite happy to see. And the sidewalk is great for walking on.

This house has been one of my favorites. It’s just down the street, anchoring N. Watts, right before the street loops and turns into N. Minnesota for one short block. When I first moved to the neighborhood, I’d guess that the house was owned by an older couple. They did a great job keeping it tidy, and they planted a garden in the empty adjacent lot every spring.

The house has been sold and the new owners aren’t as fastidious. [Checks Portland Maps] As I suspected, it’s owned by the Gates Family Trust, and the address is out of state. So it’s a rental. They’ve also sectioned off the lot next door, which sold for $74,900 in 2015. The owners of the lot aren’t fastidious at all, nor do they plant a vegetable garden. Instead, they seem to apply pesticides to kill the weeds now and then.

The sale of this section of land had me crossing the little green house off my list of next places to potentially live. I wouldn’t want to move in and then immediately have all my light blocked by new construction.

Once Upon a Time in America is Very Long

Pictures of Scott Tiler, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern, Rusty Jacobs, and James Woods

Once Upon a Time in America

Directed by Sergio Leone
Written by Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Barnardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini, Sergio Leone. (And this, my friends, is where the trouble starts.)

The review:

Well, I’m two for two with finding movies beginning with “Once Upon a Time” incredibly boring.* I also loathed this film on so many levels: terrible acting,** its treatment of women,*** the fact that it tips its hand too much early on and solves the mystery.**** This film is all of these synonyms: clumsy, slow, lumbering, cumbersome, graceless, maladroit, ponderous, plus misogynist to boot.*****

The verdict: Skip

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

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*This one was so much so that I fast forwarded through the last 10 minutes. I’d already invested nearly four hours, so I had given it my due diligence.
**The younger kids were the biggest bunch of terrible actors I’ve seen gathered together in some time.
***Not one, but two rape scenes, the one with Elizabeth McGovern being brutal. Plus some gun-on-nipple action.
****In the restored scene at the cemetery I figured out what had happened. And there was still so much movie.
*****That said, I did think the salt/balloon idea was brilliant. That three minutes of movie was great.

Questions:

  • Why, oh why do people like this movie? Whhhhhyyyyyy??????
  • Was there any character who made this worth watching?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

When filming was completed, the footage ran to a total of eight to ten hours. Director Sergio Leone and editor Nino Baragli trimmed the footage to around six hours, with the plan of releasing the film as two three-hour movies. The producers refused this idea, and Leone had to further cut the film down to three hours and forty-nine minutes.

(Yet it seemed more like six hours when watching.)

Other reviews of Once Upon a Time in America:

Age can wither me, Noodles. We're both getting old. All that we have left now are our memories. —Once Upon a Time in America. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Palm Springs is Cool and Refreshing

Image: Cristin Milioti and Adam Sandburg in a pool drinking beer.

Palm Springs

Directed by Max Barbakow
Written by Andy Siara

The review:

While it’s Andy Samberg* who gets this movie started, it’s the delightful performance of Cristin Milioti** that pushes this comedy into a fully rounded film that is something more than a funny romp through a wedding. The relationship between the two leads is the joy of the film, with a little J.K. Simmons as a disgruntled wedding guest sprinkled in for bonus fun. I went in knowing nothing, pulled the boyfriend in to watch it at J.K. Simmons’ first appearance, and greatly enjoyed myself.***

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Hulu subscription (with Disney+ $12.99/month)
Where watched: at home, with Matt who also enjoyed it.

Consider also watching:

  • Run Lola Run (Drama, not comedy)
  • The Truman Show
  • Groundhog Day
  • Source Code (Drama, not comedy)

Further sentences:

*I am mostly familiar with him through his comedy pieces like Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping
**I enjoyed her in It Had to Be You, and am hoping I get to see more than her. So far she seems to have shown up on TV series.
**That said, this isn’t a cinematic masterpiece. It’s a solid film. Don’t go in with your expectations set too high.

Questions:

  • How would you have spent that day?
  • Shall we discuss the dinosaurs?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Palm Springs broke the record for most-viewed Hulu release in its first weekend on the streaming service.

Other reviews of Palm Springs:

Text: That was a grammatical nightmare. —Palm Springs. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com