10s – Page 19 – Out & About

3SMReviews: Roma

Alfonso Cuarón lets his camera linger in Roma, which is nice because then we can draw our own conclusions. In this black and white film, we experience Cleo’s life as a servant in an upper-class house in Mexico City. Much like Y Tu Mamá También, I loved watching the relationships develop and change, plus there are some pretty intense scenes.*

*One extended male full frontal scene was intense and funny. Some other scenes were intense and heartbreaking.

Verdict: Recommended

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

3SMReviews: Dumplin’

Anne Fletcher’s does a great service in her movie Dumplin‘; she populates it with actors of all sizes.* But aside from that, she weaves a good story with enjoyable performances by Danielle MacDonald and the other friends of Willowdean.** While this movie is probably not one for the ages, it is the best at what it’s trying to do, which made for a delightful experience right now.

Verdict: Recommended

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

*Have you been to the mall lately? Or any gathering of normal people? We don’t look like any gathering of people in movies. I’d love to see the movie world look more like the real world.
**I was happy to see Odeya Rush, so very good in Lady Bird as the mostly vapid pretty rich girl. Harold Perrineau was also very good as Willowdean’s friend Lee. (And IMDB reminds me that he was a very good Mercutio 22 years ago in Romeo + Juliet!)

3SMReviews: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon knows how cancer movies can go and he pushes Me and Earl and the Dying Girl in a different direction. I love how the screenplay retains the book’s focus on Greg’s self-loathing* something I was sure would be toned down. I also appreciate a cancer film where the patient isn’t chipper about her fate and a movie that manages to combine hilarity and tears in a completely organic fashion.

Verdict: Recommended

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*Possibly due to the fact that Jessie Andrews wrote both the book and the screenplay.

3SMReviews: Top Movies November 2018

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Unlikable, but so likable. Review. Buy.

Bohemian Rhapsody: A bit draggy, but still worth it. Review. Buy.

Widows. Great performances. Tense. Scary. Review. Buy.

Beau Travail: Not much happens. But mesmerizing. Review. Buy.

Coco: If you haven’t seen it, maybe fix that situation. Review. Buy.

The Good Place Season 2. Learning and growing. But not cheesy. Review. Buy.

3SMReviews: Can You Ever Forgive Me

Marielle Heller achieves the ultimate in Can You Ever Forgive Me. She gives us a movie about an unlikable character* and provides us with enough details so we can feel sympathy and like that character. Part of the credit goes to the marvelous Melissa McCarthy, who excels in a person who can’t let anyone in, and feels love only for her cat.**

Verdict: Recommended
Consider also watching: Heller’s excellent The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Cost: $5.55 (though free due to gift cards)
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12.

*A post-40, lesbian, fat woman to be precise.
**I also love that this movie was not about a total transformation of this very flawed character.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2018/can_you_ever_forgive_me.html

3SMReviews: Best Man Down

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

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

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.

3SMReviews: Outlaw King

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

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

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