Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library Where watched: at home with the aforementioned boyfriend.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
To create the “classic” album that the character Tucker is best known for, director Jesse Peretz turned to previous collaborator Nathan Larson who worked with him on Our Idiot Brother (2011). Over the course of three years, they wrote songs and requested demos from about 35 artists such as Conor Oberst, Robyn Hitchcock and Ryan Adams. Nathan Larson’s inspiration for the music was Big Star’s “Third/Sister Lovers” album as well as friend Jeff Buckley.
The reason to watch Stanley Donen’s Two for the Road is to see the interesting cuts between scenes that show us different periods of a couple’s ten-year marriage. However, there are many more reasons not to watch the film, namely, it’s hard to root for a couple who isn’t happy* and whose relationship was on shaky ground from the get-go.** On the other hand, there’s nice scenery, really amazing clothing*** and a series of scenes with Mr., Mrs., and Miss Manchester, the trio you don’t know how thankful you are that you’ve never vacationed with.
The verdict: skip
Cost: $3.99 via Google Play Where watched: at home as part of Filmspotting’s Stanley Donen Marathon.****
*I suspect we’ve got some generational differences here, but Albert Finny’s character is a big jerk who also is very loud. What in the world does Audrey Hepburn see in him? Why is she falling in love with him when he has done nothing to demonstrate he’s a good person? And also! If when you get married you agree not to have any children, then you have agreed not to have children. Don’t get all mad, Audrey Hepburn’s character, because now you want children and he’s pointing out the agreement you’ve already made. **Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy comes to mind (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) but the difference is that both of those characters are charming, and the series unfolds so that you can do nothing but root for them. ***Including some very impractical things. I can’t imagine that vinyl pants/jacket combo was anything but a sweaty mess when worn while riding in a car, or on any sunny day. ****I’ve just looked over Stanley Donen’s list to see if there is anything of his I like and, while I still haven’t seen many of his films, he did direct Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, (so many not okay things about the story, and yet, so delightful) and he co-directed the movie that is tied for first as my favorite film of all time: Singing in the Rain. So he’s okay, I guess. Also, strangely, he directed Lionel Richie’s “Dancing on the Ceiling” video, a milestone video of my elementary school years.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The passport shown on screen lists Hepburn’s birthday as 11 July 1936 and Finney’s as 22 August 1933, making her appear 7 years younger, and him 3 years older than their actual ages.
Also, the couple shared a passport in this film! It had both their pictures in it. Good lord, was this a thing? Apparently it was.
Sean Anders’ Instant Family is a very good Sunday Afternoon Movie* and also manages to feature a lot of kids with problems without falling into the obnoxious child trope.** Movies about kids in foster care are few and far between*** and it was nice to see this human-scale comedy created by someone who has experience with the foster care system.**** Overall, this was a funny, breezy film with excellent performances by all***** and for people who have children, it’s probably that much funnier.
The verdict:
Recommended (although see all those notes below)
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library Where watched: At home with Matt, who also enjoyed it
Consider also watching:
White Oleander
The Blind Side (which is amusingly referenced repeatedly in this movie. I have a lot of problems with the white savior aspect, but there are things to like)
Oh! Channing Tatum plays a foster kid in Step Up! How could I have forgotten?
Further sentences:
*Sunday Afternoon Movie: A pleasant movie where things are fine by the end, which is best watched before transitioning into the preparation for the workweek ahead. **Bratty kids=movie killer for me. They aren’t funny, they are spoiled and annoying. ***I found this list called Foster Focus’ Top Twenty-Five Foster Care Movies and the definition of “foster care” seems to include orphanages, which is not what I’m talking about. ****Director Sean Anders has adopted three children from the foster care system. That said, I am a white female who has no experience with the foster care system and I can’t speak to how “true” this tale will feel to people who have had experience. The movie also includes discussions of race and white saviorism, albeit briefly and I’m not sure how those aspects of the movie would be experienced by other people. *****I started listing the actors who really stood out and realized I was making a list of everyone in the movie.
Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience has an overly long sex scene,* but other than that, it’s a movie worth watching both for nuanced performances** and for a short visit to the Orthodox Jewish world of London. Rachel Weisz is fast becoming one of my favorite actors to watch and her performance as the woman who left her community but has returned for her father’s funeral is fantastic—sorrowful and resigned. This falls into the slow drama category, but becomes quite tense in places.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: free view Kanopy, Multnomah County Library’s streaming service Where watched: at home
*In some alternate universe, there exists this scene filmed by a woman. I bet it doesn’t feel as gratuitous. **Everyone is not saying very much which means more stuff needs to come through nonverbal means.
I’m not sure how I missed Isabel Coixet’s My Life Without Me as I’m usually all in on anything Sarah Polley, anything Mark Ruffalo, and I’m a fan of movies that explore complexities in relationships.* Though there were times that I felt like the slower-than-usual speech patterns of Ruffalo and Polley were distracting, there was a lot to like in this film. Plus, I feel like the ratio of upper-middle class/rich people stories to grinding poverty is about 7-to-1 in the movie world, so the living situation in this was an interesting change.
Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell is uncomfortable, sprawling,* and at times puzzling, but it was an immensely enjoyable movie with a Cracker Jack performance by Elisabeth Moss.** This movie in four parts uses a framing device to set each section and sound design to amp up the swirling amounts of crazy as Moss’s Becky Something spirals out of control. It makes for good discussion about what we owe the people who create music we love when the combination of fame, money, drugs and their own psyche send them on a downward spiral.
Rock of Ages (Because Tom Cruise playing a very Axel Rose-like musician is a more fun version of this theme.)
Further sentences:
*I would have been fine if they had nipped and tucked away twenty or so minutes **Everyone was very good. Props to an unrecognizable Dan Stevens (Matthew in Downton Abbey). Cara Delevigne who captures the innocence of young punk rock, but I also really liked Agyness Deyn and Gayle Rankin as the poor band mates dealing with the increasing craziness.
Favorite IMDB Trivia Item:
During a Q&A at the 2018 New York Film Festival, Alex Ross Perry cited Axl Rose as the main inspiration for the character of Becky. Perry also cited the screenplay structure for Steve Jobs (2015), with its lengthy scenes that span over time, as an influence.
There are 21 reasons I happily sat through a three-hour finale of Anthony and Joe Russo’s Avengers: Endgame; at this point, this endeavor is more of a new-generation serial* than a movie. As my movie-going companion pointed out, this is almost like three separate movies: a drama, a heist, and then an action movie. I loved so much about this movie: the callbacks to the previous films; the assembly of so many characters I know and love;** the amount of gravitas; the humor; and the way everything wrapped up.
The verdict:
Recommended, assuming you’ve seen the majority of the 21 previous movies. If not, might I recommend you begin with 2008’s Iron Man?
Cost: $10.50 Where watched: Baghdad Theater with a crowd who clapped multiple times.
Additional sentences:
*You know like those short films that used to be before the main picture way before my time? That’s what this is, a serial told over a decade and in much bigger chunks. **That said Marvel, in the future, I’d prefer more movies with female superheroes in starring roles,*** rather than just gathering them together at a(n admittedly tear-inducing) specific point in a big battle. ***I feel cheated out of Black Widow’s full story.
It’s probably best to watch Roger Mitchell’s My Cousin Rachel with a companion as there is much to discuss afterward and you might find yourself stuck with your own back and forth as to what you think the situation was. The indomitable Rachel Weisz plays the titular Rachel, and Sam Clafin* is the man who is not so sure about his cousin’s motives. Daphne Du Maurier knew how to write a shifting story, and there is much to puzzle out, plus usual historical drama perks of costumes, and furniture and life with servants.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: free from Multnomah County Library Where watched: at home
I’d seen a preview for Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux and I thought I knew what it was about, so I was utterly confused when the movie opened with a brutal school shooting* and the main character was not Natalie Portman, but Raffey Cassidy. It’s a story told in two parts, the first as 13-year-old Celeste is on the precipice of fame, the second as 31-year-old Celeste is preparing for an important hometown concert. I can see Natalie Portman giving it her all,** but it comes off as scenery-chewing, plus the pacing is off and the movie ends with an endless concert performance that adds nothing.***
The verdict:
Skip unless you are super into Natalie Portman, or are looking for reasons you don’t want to be famous.
Cost: $5.99 (a lot for a not-good movie) via Google Play Where watched: at home
*And also, some end credits that ran backwards. They were very confusingly art-y and subtracted more than they added to the film. **Raffy Cassidy is also quite good. Plus Willem Dafoe was the narrator and that worked. ***It’s great those backup dancers got some work, I guess, but after about five minutes, it’s like “I get it, I get it, move on.” Unfortunately, there is no resolution. Those end credits return. But rolling in the normal direction.
For people willing to read subtitles, Daniel Ribeiro’s The Way He Looks is a teen romance treat.* Leonardo and Giovana are best friends and somewhat outcasts whose friendship is interrupted by Gabriel, an attractive new student. There’s great stuff in the shifting friendship department, the first love department, and the department of Other Teenagers Can be Really Mean.**
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: Free via Kanopy, the Multnomah County Library’s streaming service Where watched: at home
