Author: Patricia Collins

3SMReviews: Best Man Down

3SMReviews: Best Man Down
http://www.impawards.com/2013/best_man_down.html

Ted Koland’s Best Man Down is not a very good movie.* However, my enjoyment of this film overcame its detraction. Part of the credit goes to the plot (I’m always interested in films that examine nuances of friendship) and part of the credit goes to Addison Timlin who has full command of the screen as Ramsey, and Tyler Labine as the good-times (yet furtive) Lumpy.

Verdict: Skip, unless the things listed above sound good to you.

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

*The pacing is totally off and Jess Weixler’s character is fairly cardboard. At times I wasn’t really sure what was going on, and not in an intriguing way.

3SMReviews: Bohemian Rhapsody

3SMReviews: Bohemian Rhapsody
poser from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/bohemian_rhapsody.html

Like all biopics, Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody is a little draggy and lingers too long on the bacchanalian debauchery period of Mr. Mercury’s life. Despite that, it was a delightful feast for they eye (clothing! interiors! concert scenes!) and ear (Queen’s music!*). Rami Malek’s performance was so very good and I liked the performances of the rest of the actors playing Queen band members.

Verdict: Good

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater with a ton of people with white hair (who were probably Queen fans in real time).

*I am a casual follower of Queen’s music, only owning Queen’s Greatest Hits volume I and II and only really listening to volume I.

3SMReviews: Widows

3SMReviews: Widows
Poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/widows.html

In Steve McQueen’s Widows, I knew Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez were going to be good, and I was very happy to find out how good Elizabeth Debicki* and Cynthia Erivo were. I really liked how the movie was assembled, and how the jumps the narrative took kept me confused and trying to solve a puzzle.** The stakes felt very real and Daniel Kaluuya’s performance was also a treat.

Verdict: Recommended

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater with a ton of people over the age of 50.

*Debicki first caught my eye as Jordan Baker in the Great Gatsby, however, they did not play up her incredible height in that movie. I see she was also the very Golden Ayesha in Guardians II. Cynthia Erivo is new to me, and I hope to see more of her.
**This worked for me, though I can see how it might put some viewers off.

3SMR: A History of Violence

3SMR: A History of Violence
http://www.impawards.com/2005/history_of_violence.html

David Cronenberg lays it on thick in A History of Violence. For most of the movie every move that every character makes, everything that every character says, is dripping with “notice what I’m doing!” I found this distracting, (also distracting: the music over the end scene) but what made this good movie was one moment with Viggo Mortensen.

Verdict: Good

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home in preparation for Filmspotting’s March Madness 2019

3SMReviews: Beau Travail

3SMR: Beau Travail
http://internationalfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2018/09/beau-travail-france-claire-denis-1999.html

Never has the Male Gaze been so thoroughly applied to men (by a woman director*) as in Beau Travail. “This movie has not plot,” I whispered to my cat halfway through and while it does have a loose plot, most of the movie consists of languid observations of a small band of French Foreign Legion solders in Djibouti. To reach full mesmer, it’s probably best watched in a dark theater on a day with not much else to do.

Verdict: Good

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, in preparation for Filmspotting Best of the 2000s March Madness

*Young, fit military men are rather mesmerizing.

3SMReviews: Outlaw King

3SMReviews: Outlaw King
http://www.impawards.com/tv/outlaw_king_ver2.html

Chris Pine and his blue, blue eyes star in Outlaw King, a movie about Robert the Bruce which includes a lot of bloody treachery, especially concerning horses.* This is a solid story with attempts made to include women in the narrative.** The costumes are great in their raggedness and there are a ton of gorgeous landscape shots.

Verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($7.99)
Where watched: at home

*I mean, I got what was going to happen to the horses when they outlined the technique in the training scene, so I didn’t need to watch it repeatedly during the battle scene. (The battle tactics were, admittedly, a genius move on Robert the Bruce’s part.)
**This is always appreciated, though I suspect if more women wrote and directed movies, we would see war movies where women are something besides helpers.

3SMR: Adam Sandler 100% Fresh

3SMR: Adam Sandler 100% Fresh

In 100% Fresh, Adam Sandler skips from topic to topic, for an internet version of what some people say about the weather: if you don’t like it, just wait 30 seconds. This was a successful strategy. I watched this for the last two songs (one dedicated to his wife, and a beautiful tribute to Chris Farley) but I didn’t know there would be a song about his bat mitzvah, which was also delightful.

Cost: Netflix Monthly Subscription ($7.99)
Where watched: at home, with Matt 

3SMR: The Land of Steady Habits

3SMR: The Land of Steady Habits

Nicole Holofcener’s The Land of Steady Habits left me unfulfilled, which is a rare for this director. As usual, the plot told the story of a rich white, person, but this time it was a rich white male person.* The acting was good (especially Ben Mendelsohn and Edie Falco) and I enjoyed the small intersections of people, but ultimately the movie left me cold.

Cost: Netflix monthly subscription ($7.99)
Where watched: at home

*There are a million movies from the rich white man point of view, but this is Holofcener’s first movie featuring a male main character.

3SMR: City of God

3SMR: City of God
http://www.impawards.com/2003/city_of_god.html

I’m not familiar with the slums of Rio de Janeiro,* and the City of God transported me to that location and aptly illustrated Rocket’s (Alexandre Rodrigues) brutal life. The film left me unsatisfied due to unanswered questions** but quite satisfied with interesting camera stuff. I will say that City of God is worth watching for its opening scene.

Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home, in preparation for Filmspotting’s March Madness 2019: Best of the 2000s

*My total experience with Rio is Romeo + Juliet.
**The transition from child to teenager comes with houses increasing from one story to multi-story. Did he move, or did the slums grow up? It was never really clear. Also, once Rocket became a teenager, what happened to his parents?