Lean who talks about Trish for an extended period, who the main character of Red Rocket reminded me of, and in which movie showing I saw four people leave halfway through.
Note: Josh Greenbaum directed, didn’t write. Mikey isn’t probably really middle aged, but he is old for his industry.
Listen to hear me refer to the June summary as the May summary two-thirds of the time, find out why I think In the Heights was such a success, and learn why I have the same movie in both the Skip and the Good category.
Things mentioned in this post:
Created by women: In the Heights was written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, Life Partners was directed by Susanna Fogel and written by Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz, and Away We Go was written by Vendela Vida and Dave Eggers.
In this bit of audio, I run through the movies I watched in May 2021. Listen to find out what I think of ditzy women leads, how I knew that a movie wouldn’t have a bummer of an ending, and to get recommendations for several (!!!!) grownup comedies.
Things mentioned in this post:
The bummer of recording audio is that when I discover I’ve missed an entire move after I’m done recording and editing, I don’t go back and fix that.
In that vein, know that I also watched Mystery Date in May. It would have landed in the Skip category.
Created by women: Together Together (written and directed); Monster (2018) (co-written); The Forty-Year-Old Version (written & directed); Once Upon a Mattress (directed).
?Directed by Nikole Beckwith?
?Written by Nikole Beckwith?
Patti Harrison* and Ed Helms** anchor this low-key, sweet comedy about a middle-aged man starting a family and the surrogate he hires. What starts as a strictly-by-the-books relationship evolves into a friendship that reveals the hard and sticky parts of both characters lives. Recently, I remarked on the lack of grownup comedies;*** this is one and well worth your time.
Cost: $15.90
Where watched: The Living Room Theater! I’m fully vaccinated! First movie outing since March 7, 2020!
*Who shall now be forever known by me as the Queen of the Straight-Faced Zingers.
**He’s really done some great stuff recently.
***I enjoy a lot of different comedies, but the ones where people are grounded in something like the real word and grounded in everyday humor are a rare treat.
The film was shot in 17 days.
(also the only one)
Other reviews of Together Together:
?Directed by Jonathan Wacks?
?Written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runte?
The movie that provided the first starring roles for Ethan Hawke* and Teri Polo is not one for the history books,** though its crime is being incredibly middle of the road, not terrible. It’s one of those movies that reminds me how the 80s kept going for a bit into the 90s,*** and it fits into that action/comedy slot but sprinkles in a bit of romance. I found the plotting interesting and was wondering at some point how everything would manage to come together in the end.
(Unless Teri Polo or Ethan Hawke completist.)
Cost: HBOMax monthly charge ($12.99)
Where watched: at home
*Hawke has some signature things he falls back on at this point in his career, like looking to the side as if in heavy thought, shaking his head, and regretfully saying something. If I follow through on my hazy plan to catch up with all of Hawke’s performances, it will be interesting to see when those tics disappear.
**It didn’t, for instance, come up when Ethan Hawke was discussing his iconic roles in this (highly recommended) video.
***Teri Polo’s hair! The hair of Ethan Hawke’s mother and friends! The boxy, flowy clothing on the men!
Stalking and theft! Great ways to get the girl!
The main character uses his brother’s telescope to spy on the girl he’s too scared to talk to. He later uses information he gathers to ingratiate himself with her.
The main character steals a bag of trash from the house where the girl he likes is staying. Later, he and his brother go through the trash to learn more about her. This information is used (with a bit of fun gaslighting) to convince her to go on a date.
The crazy metal band on stage at the night club is GWAR.
“Is that GWAR?” I said to myself during that very scene. This movie was interesting from a music perspective. All sorts of things one wouldn’t think would be thrown together in a movie. Songs by Sonic Youth, INXS, Seal, and Wilson Pickett. Plus GWAR. But like I said before, the 80s kept going into the 90s for a bit. There was a guitar/sax thing that was lodged deep somewhere in my psyche. Thanks to the internet, I now know that it was “Lily Was Here.” I don’t know if I ever knew the title.
?Directed by Edward Norton?
?Written by Stuart Blumberg?
I watched this in the theater on its release and remembered it being a little slow.* Still, I find it to be eminently likable just from the young-religious-men shaking up the structures aspect** plus I find Jenna Elfman delightful. There were bits of not-great acting*** scattered about, but it’s a pretty even-kneeled Ben Stiller,**** Edward Norton playing the opposite of his Fight Club character and makes for a great Sunday Afternoon Movie.*****
Cost: Monthly HBOMax subscription ($12.99)
Where watched: at home
*Still true!
**Advantage casting your movie with a rabbi and priest: it’s a pretty clean movie, language-wise.
***By all three leads.
****He can sometimes get to manic in portraying neurosis. He did have a bit of physical comedy that had me wishing we got more physical comedy out of him. But divorced from the whole Meet the Parents thing.
*****Sunday Afternoon Movie—one that provides you with one last gasp of trouble-free weekend before the windup to the work week begins. Plus, Milos Forman has a bit part and a good speech. Also, it’s set in New York City and was released a year before 9/11.
Ken Leung has a small part in this film, appearing as a salesman at the store where Norton and Stiller go to buy a Karaoke System. He does a high-energy version of “Jessie’s Girl” sung in broken English. It all rang very Long Duck Dong, and doesn’t really work.
The first movie starring Edward Norton to not be rated R.
?Directed by Will Gluck?
?Written by Keith Merryman, David A. Newman, and Will Gluck?
This film worked for me because I was in the mood, I like both Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake,* and I was amused by the recurring joke.** However, this is one of those romantic comedies written for women by men and I can’t help but wonder how much better it would have been if a member of the audience it is aimed at was part of the team that created it.*** Ultimately, it’s good at what it does,**** but I want more.
Cost: Netflix monthly fee $8.99/month
Where watched: at home
*Plus ancillary performances by Richard Jenkins, Jenna Elfman, and Patricia Clarkson, also always delightful.
**It has to do with Capitan Sully’s historic landing.
***Or, gosh, all of the people who created it?
****And memorializes the flash mob thing, which is fun.
Although Jason Segal and Rashida Jones are technically uncredited in the film, their real names can be seen on the cover of the DVD next to the TV when Dylan and Jamie are watching it.
?Directed by Justin Reardon?
?Written by Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair?
Chris Evans plays “me” a man who has been burned by love so severely he’s sworn it off until the day he runs into “her” played by Michele Monaghan* and sparks fly. Only problem is, she’s in a relationship. Evans and his merry band of friends** stumble through love that doesn’t go quite right in this stylized romantic comedy that was much better than I expected.***
Cost: Disney+/Hulu bundle monthly cost $12.99
Where watched: at home
*My main reason for watching this movie. She’s good in everything!
**Supporting cast = very good. Aubrey Plaza! Luke Wilson! Martin Starr! Topher Grace! Plus Anthony Mackie!
***I seem to be in the minority though. The Metacritic score is 30/100. Ah. I see the problem. Of ten reviews, only one was written by a woman. She didn’t like it either.
At the end of the movie, Me (Chris Evans) is seen tap dancing. Evans’s mother owned a dance studio and taught him to tap. He has admitted in interviews that he does it when he is nervous.
(And here I thought they used a double)
?Directed by Michael Fimoganari?
?Written by Katie Lovejoy?
I mean, it’s exactly as good as the previous two films and Lana Condor and Noah Centineo are made for each other, at least in this film. All the things you’ve enjoyed before are back, and they manage to have a few will-they-or-won’t-they moments, even after two other movies with such moments. This was a solid ending to the trilogy.*
Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home
*I’m assuming its a trilogy. There are only three books.
The author of the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy Jenny Han made a small cameo as Principal Cho in a flashback of the day Peter first saw Lara Jean.
★Directed by Doug Liman★
★Written by Steven Knight★
This is a light affair* that might be handy to have on tap in ten to fifteen years when kids who were very young or were born after 2021 start asking questions.** It’s all there for you to point to*** and covered with a veneer of a story about a couple on their last legs as a couple. Ejiofor and Hathaway are fun to watch and there are a bunch of cameos.****
Cost: HBOMax monthly fee ($8.99) (Still living off the WW84 month)
Where watched: at home
*So light that despite the fact that I’m still living in quarantine-type restrictions I could watch this without feeling traumatized and did not have feelings of “too soon!”
**This, of course, assumes that there won’t be any global pandemics in the next ten to fifteen years. Which is not an assumption I’m willing to bet on at this point and time.
***The general end-of-the-world feelings, the day drinking, the odd sense of time, the awkward Zoom calls, the abrupt job changes, the sliding into familiar bad habits, kids being stuck at home with their parents, the reevaluating of life choices.
****However, if you’ve seen this, I wish to chat about the ending. Do look me up.
The movie was shot in only 18 days in London during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the hectic pace of filming, stars didn’t have the time to properly prepare and for some scenes Hathaway’s and Ejiofor’s lines had to be taped to their eyeline.
