This was a second viewing of is here.
Cost: Netflix monthly subscription ($7.99)
Where watched: at home, with the aforementioned Matt, who liked it.
*His new favorite podcast Feminist Frequency reviewed it favorably.
3SMR: Coco (re-watch)
Tag: 10s
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: The Good Place Season 2
While this is a movie review site, I’m happy to feature good TV, and The Good Place is very good TV. In season two, we get to see all of our characters grow, which isn’t always a thing in American Television. This show is funny,* visually interesting, and has Janet.**
Cost: Netflix monthly subscription fee ($7.99)
Where watched: at home with Matt.
*We knew Kristen Bell had good comedic timing from the funny parts of Veronica Mars, and it’s good to see her skills at work in this show.
**Janet is the best!
3SMReviews: The Hate U Give
George Tillman Jr.’s The Hate U Give is full of love: between family members, between people, between friends. It’s also grounded by incredible performances by Amandla Stenberg as Starr Carter and Russell Hornsby as Maverick, Starr’s father. Based on the book I picked as last year’s zeitgeist read, this is a worthy adaptation and worth watching for the performances, for the loss, and for the love.*
Cost: $5.55 (though actually $11.90 because I watched it twice, though actually actually free due to a gift card.)
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12, by myself, and then with Matt. Because when a movie is this good, you come back with someone else.
*It’s also funny in parts.
3SMReviews: Boy
Taika Waititi is a fabulous director of children* and his talent is on full display in Boy, the story of a Alamein, a boy living in New Zealand in 1984. Alamein tells his friends a lot of stories about the adventures his father is having, and then must reckon with the reality of who his father is, once he appears. Boy contains 80s touchstones, abounds with the earnest/slacker New Zealand accent, includes really great fantasy sequences, and is a movie that is a masterpiece of the wonder and fantasy of childhood, while also doesn’t spare childhood’s dark places.
Cost: free via the Multnomah County Library’s Kanopy service (first movie watched via that platform!)
Where watched: at home with Matt when we were both feeling under the weather.
*As seen in the delightful The Hunt for the Wilderpeople
3SMReviews: A Star is Born (2018)
I can finally exhale, because A Star is Born (2018) ignores the travesty that was the 1976 version and restores what made the 1937 and 1954 versions magical: a story of gentle love and nurturing talent through kindness and adoration. The plot has always focused on how a woman must transform herself to become famous, but for some reason seeing those transformations in the current day really annoyed me.* This movie is also a meditation on the power of performance and provides many examples of the magic of a live audience.**
Cost: $5.55
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12
*What a man needs to be famous: a guitar and a microphone. What a woman needs to be famous: specific looks, particular hair color, ability to dance, the right clothing, etc. etc. etc.
**Despite what people say about the last song not quite being up to the emotional heft that is necessary Lady Gaga gives it her best and nails the final shot.
3SMR: Eighth Grade
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I watched here.
Cost: $1.50 via Redbox
Where watched: at home with Matt who really liked it.
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3SMR: The Sisters Brothers
While The Sisters Brothers is a good addition to the Western genre, it didn’t dazzle me on many fronts. The acting was good, with John C. Reilly being the standout.* This is not a movie for people uncomfortable with animals—horses mostly—in peril.
Cost: $9.00 or some such nonsense, though free for me because I’m still drawing down that sweet, sweet gift card.
Where watched: Regal Fox Tower
*I’d love to see an Oscar nomination for him because he aptly captured his distaste for the outlaw lifestyle and his deep love of his brother.