Tag: Drama

Saving Face is a Great Debut

Lynn Chenn looking at Michelle Krusiec in the film Saving Face

Saving Face

Directed by Alice Wu
Written by Alice Wu

The review:

While this movie starts as the classic mom-sets-up-daughter-with-eligible-men story it introduces two wrinkles, one with the daughter and one with the mother. Both Michelle Krusiec (as Will, the daughter) and Joan Chen (as Hwei-Lan Gao, the mother) are fun to watch as they navigate their changing relationships.* Overall, an enjoyable film with a few fun surprises.**

The verdict: Good

Cost: $3.99 via Google Play, but free because I had a credit.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I sometimes check to see if actors in indie films from 10+ years ago are still acting, and all of the cast members I checked up on are still working regularly.
**I also enjoyed seeing one aspect of New York City’s Chinese community circa 2005.

Questions:

  • What was the most surprising moment in the film for you?
  • Did you think that the family’s expectations were reasonable?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The picture of Vivian as a child in Dr. Shing’s office is actually a photograph of Joan Chen’s daughter.

Other reviews of Saving Face:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: Younger people. Today they love you. Tomorrow, who knows?--Saving Face. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Table 19 is Seated in the Right Place

Craig Robinson, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, June Squibb, Anna Kendrick and Thomas Cocquerel in the film Table 19.

Table 19

Directed by Jeffrey Blitz
Written by Jeffery Blitz (story credit also to Mark and Jay Duplass)

The review:

A solid ensemble piece where we discover more about the wedding guests seated at a far-flung table. While the guests’ stories sometimes made great jumps to keep things moving along, the antics of the table were entertaining enough. This is the kind of movie that is good for a plane ride, or to pass a few hours when you’re too sick to follow a complex film.

The verdict: Good (enough)

Cost: Free via DVD from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

The lack of further sentences it itself an indication of this film’s entertainment value.

Questions:

  • Which character at Table 19 was the most like you?
  • Would this have been a better film if the Duplass brothers had directed it?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Costars Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson previously worked with each other in an episode of Friends. Robinson’s character was the one who enabled the possibility for Kudrow’s character to change her name from Phoebe to Princess Consuela Bananahammock.

Other reviews of Table 19:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: It's the same wedding. It's the same celebration no matter what table you're at. —Table 19. Read the three sentence movie review 3SMReviews.com

Destination Wedding is Fun, Excruciating

A picture of Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder in the film Destination Wedding

Destination Wedding

Directed by Victor Levin
Written by Victor Levin

The review:

The charm in this film lies in Keanu Reeves acting like a normal person rather than a movie star* and the witty dialog** of two very resigned, very sad, very depressing people. It’s also interesting to watch a relationship develop between two people who have clearly given up on anything good coming their way in life.*** It’s a movie about sad people that didn’t bring me down, and I’m right there with their views of destination weddings, so this was a short (87 minutes!) interesting exercise in filmmaking.****

The verdict: Good

(Though I recognize that for many people this would be a big Skip. Proceed cautiously.)

Cost: Free via DVD from Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching (or watching instead):

Further sentences:

*His coughing up phlegm while also jiggling his ear with his pinky finger struck me as the most normal person/least Hollywood leading man thing he could do.
**I mean, you have to want to spend time with these two people and that’s not a thing that might be true for most. Also, there’s a discussion of pansexuality that had me grimacing at its ignorance.
***The usual trajectory is that the happier person shows the sadder person that life is good. When you have no happy person, it becomes an interesting exercise in how the two will connect.
****Plus, I enjoy Winona Ryder, and she hasn’t been in many movies of late.

Questions:

  • Three months from that door opening, what’s become of our characters?
  • What’s your favorite middle age romance?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In real life, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves have been friends since the 1980s.

(This is also a fun element when watching.)

Other reviews of Destination Wedding:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: I believe that there is nobody for anyone. —Destination Wedding. Read the three sentence movie review at 3SMReviews.com

The Magic of Ordinary Days is Decent

A picture of Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie The Magic of Ordinary Days

The Magic of Ordinary Days

Directed by Brent Shields
Written by Camille Thomasson

The review:

The two words that prompted me to watch a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie are Skeet and Ulrich.* This was a decently acted little film, though I did give some of its historical detail the side eye.** This was a film that fulfilled its HHF duty and was an okay way to spend some movie time.***

The verdict: Good

(Minus the historical inaccuracy)

Cost: Free via DVD from the Multnomah County Library.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Plus, it was on the shelves at my library branch and DVDs that don’t have to come from other branches are filled much faster than those that come from afar.
**I appreciate the side story of the Japanese Americans living in internment camps and being used for farm labor during the war. I could even get on board with a farm wife on whose land they were working striking up a friendship. But I’m pretty sure that they were not able to go into town to shop for material at the dry goods store, and I’m almost positive that there is no way the farm wife would have been able to take them for a drive in the county. Japanese Americans were in a prison camp. They didn’t get to go gallivanting around. I think the movie leaves viewers with an inaccurate picture of what it meant to be a prisoner. Plus, one character states that the Japanese American men who went to fight in the war were drafted. This is untrue as the 442nd Infantry Regiment was a volunteer unit. If you’d like a fuller picture of the Japanese American experience in World War II, I suggest the book The Light Between Us by Andrew Fukuda.
***Skeet was fun to watch. I wonder if he was then the age of the actors who play his kids on Riverdale?**** Mare Winningham as Ulrich’s sister Florence tended to pull focus from most people when she was on screen.
****He was 35 in 2005, so he was ten years older than Cole Sprouse’s 25 years in 2017 when Riverdale debuted.

Questions:

  • Can you imagine marrying a beet farmer sight unseen?
  • What would have been your favorite part of beet farming life?

The Words Will Lull You To Sleep

Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana in the film The Words

The Words

Directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal
Written by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal

The review:

In 2012, the trailer for this film was paired with every movie I watched in theaters and I was not interested because it was one of those trailers that reveals pretty much everything.* However, this was the only unwatched DVD in the house** and there was no internet so I watched this film and found that there was a plot wrinkle the trailer hadn’t told me about that was, alas, not interesting enough to save the film.*** They did a great job making the 40s scenes look like the 1940s, but otherwise the acting ranged from okay to not great.

The verdict: Skip

Cost: I believe I paid some impulse-buy exorbitant amount of $12.99 or something. So this was $4.33
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*Also, it didn’t look like a very good film, even with all those actors I like who usually give good performances.
**How did a movie I am not interested in come to be in the house? It has to do with impulse buying at the grocery store. It was bundled in one of those Let’s Fleece the Customer at the Checkout Stand DVD packs and included the two movies I did want, The Vow and Dear John. This film is for sure the one thing that was not like the others in the package.
***I also found that it muddled things.

Questions:

  • How did you find Bradley Cooper’s performance in this film?
  • What did you think about the Olivia Wilde/Dennis Quaid interaction?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Lee Sternthal and Brian Klugman wrote the script back in 1999. As friends of Bradley Cooper before his The Hangover (2009) fame, they ask him to play the lead, he accepted then, and kept his word more than ten years later.

Other reviews of The Words:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: We all make our choices in life, the hard thing to do is live with them. --The Words. Read the three sentence movie review at 3SMReviews.com

The Devil All the Time Brings the Ick

Picture of Tom Holland in the film The Devil All the Time

The Devil All the Time

Directed by Antonio Campos
Written by Antonio Campos & Paulo Campos

The review:

While politicians during election season like to talk about the United States of America as a Shining City on a Hill, directors like Antonio Campos do their duty to remind audiences that the USA was born in violence and wacko religion and that reality has passed through every generation.* This was a chance for a lot of actors to work on their accents** and bring their best Midwestern Gothic, which I found they succeeded at across the board. This was one of those violent films*** where I was entranced by a lot, and also intrigued because I wasn’t sure how the stories were going to come together.****

The verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($8.99)
Where watched: at home. I watched this because my “recent activity” page on Letterboxed was full of this poster. Having not heard of the film, I googled. Seeing the cast, I made plans to watch it that very night.

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*There’s an overarching icky feeling from the first frame of this film to the last. I enjoyed the contrast with the setting of the 1940s through the 1960s, which, when rendered in film, tends to lend itself to a peaceful nostalgia.
**There are a lot of not-from-the-US actors in this: Tom Holland (British), Robert Pattinson (British), Harry Melling***** (British), Mia Wasikowska (Australian), Bill Skarsgård (Swedish), Eliza Scanlen (Australian), Jason Clarke (Australian). In fact, of the top cast, only Riley Keough and Haley Bennett were born in the US. Sebastian Stan came to the US at age twelve by way of Austria and Romania. Donald Ray Pollock, who wrote the novel the movie is a based on and serves as the narrator, is from Ohio.
***“How is your violent film?” asked the boyfriend. “How do you know it’s violent?” I asked instead of answering. “I could hear it,” he told me. Aside from a host of people being killed, a dog is also among the murdered.
****They did come together in the end.
*****Mr. Melling seems to becoming a reliable Netflix film dude. I’ve seen him in this, The Old Guard, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. He’s sung in two of those roles.

Questions:

  • Who was the most magnetic character?
  • Movies that feel icky. Yay or nay?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Real spiders were used.

(I wondered)

Other reviews of The Devil All the Time:

Murder on the Orient Express is Ensemble Fun

Picture of the cast of Murder on the Orient Express including Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Olivia Coleman and more.

Murder on the Orient Express

Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Written by Michael Green

The review:

First off, two things: 1) I congratulate myself to have made it this far in life not knowing whodunnit, thus making for a fun film experience 2) What was up with all the swooping camera stuff?* I enjoyed the ensemble cast, and though I just lambasted his directing, Branagh was great as Hercule Poirot.** The film made the most of the tight quarters and clues revealed.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.43 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It looked gaudy and like the director was scared to deal with actual camera angles that would tell the story.
**I thought the mustache was very fun, but there was a lack of continuity in whether he wore his mustache guard while sleeping.

Questions:

  • Who was your favorite suspect?
  • How distracting was Johnny Depp for you?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Johnny Depp asked Sir Kenneth Branagh to apologize to Sir Derek Jacobi for him after filming their scene together. “Because I had to shout at him, I don’t want to shout at Derek Jacobi.”

Other reviews of Murder on the Orient Express:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: I am of an age where I know what I like and what I do not like. What I like, I enjoy enormously. What I dislike, I cannot abide. For instance, the temporary pleasantries before what is determined to be a business discussion. --Murder on the Orient Express. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

The King of Staten Island is Okay?

A picture of Alexis Rae Forlenza, Pete Davidson, and Luke David Blumm in The King of Staten Island

The King of Staten Island

Directed by Judd Apatow
Written by Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson, Dave Sirus

The review:

It was hard for me to separate Pete Davidson the person, from Scott Carlin, the character* and this made for depressed feelings while watching this film, despite its funny moments. It was also a film where the character development seemed to have more to do with Scott finding out about his dead father rather than developing or changing on his own. But I did get to see Bel Powley** and Marisa Tomei,*** so that was a nice treat.****

The verdict: Good?

It’s right on the edge. It’s not quite bad enough to be a Skip, but not quite good enough to be Good

Cost: $1.42 via Redbox (take that, VOD price of $19.99 back in June!)
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*It doesn’t help that like the main character, Pete Davidson’s firefighter father was killed when he was seven years old and I know that Davidson has mental health problems. It also might have to do with the humor stemming from Scott Carlin’s sub-par tattoos he gives to his friends and family. Those things don’t rub off, and they made me sad. I think I was supposed to find them funny.
**Would you like to watch Bel Powley in other films that are more fun than this? Cool. Check her out as Princess Margaret in A Royal Night Out, a minimally supervised teenager in The Diary of a Teenage Girl, and a floundering post-college existence in Carrie Pilby
***Remember when I wished she was the focus of this film? I feel the same way about the King of Staten Island.
***Also, hooray for Moises Arias! He was great in the Kings of Summer. And also in Five Feet Apart. Plus, his presence in this film led to a funny height gag.

Questions:

  • Would you eat at a tattoo restaurant?
  • What was your favorite moment in this film?
  • Which was the worst Scott Carlin tattoo? My vote is for the Moises Arias one that incorporated his navel.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The film was scheduled to open in about one-hundred theaters, mostly drive-ins. Due to the 2020 pandemic, two days before the release date the theaters were abruptly informed they would not able to show the film. Instead, the release was limited to video-on-demand.

Other reviews of The King of Staten Island:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: We're like the only place that New Jersey looks down on.—The King of Staten Island. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

Down Terrace Is Up and Down

Picture of Julia Deakin in the film Down Terrace

Down Terrace

Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Ben Wheatley, Robin Hill

The review:

The blurbs told me this was a dark comedy and a comedic British version of the Sopranos and at the beginning, I had a lot of “Ah, I can see how that would be funny” moments where I didn’t actually laugh.* However, something shifted midway through and while I never laughed aloud, I did perk up wondering how things were going to play out.** This film has an incredible soundtrack, some of it voiced by star Robert Hill and friends, and if you’re into diegetic performances of folk-style music you might want to look this film up.

The verdict: Skip

(Unless you are in it for the soundtrack or are trying to watch all of Ben Wheatly’s films before Rebecca is released.)

Cost: Free via Hoopla, Multnomah County Library’s lesser streaming service.
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*It was a trying film because Karl, the main character, is so clearly out of his element and incredibly whiny. His theatrics are not endearing, though the movie made clear how he got that way. I’m also guessing that elements of this film went over my head because I’m from the US, not Britain.
**It also managed to make turn I didn’t anticipate, which I found satisfying.

Questions:

  • What do you think would have improved Karl’s life?
  • Where do you think the turning point was?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The two stars are really father and son

(Trivia was a little light)

Other reviews of Down Terrace:

A Quiet Passion Is Quite Dull

A picture of Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Ehle in the film A Quiet Passion

A Quiet Passion

Directed by Terence Davies
Written by Terence Davies

The review:

Oh my god, there’s quiet, and then there’s glacial and uninteresting.* There is passion and then there’s randomly shrieking about stuff while your kind sister looks on.** Plus, acting that reminded me of very dedicated high school students of middling talents*** making for an overall excruciating film.****

The verdict: Skip*****

Cost: Free via Kanopy
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*About twenty minutes in, I thought, “Uh oh, this already feels like a long movie.”
**I understand Dickinson’s passion was her poetry and staying true to herself, but I never felt like the movie showed me, or hinted at, what was causing her outbursts. Also, the switch to the older actors early had me very confused at how much time was passing between scenes. Watching fifty-two-year-old Duncan Duff (Austin Dickinson) introduce the wife he married while studying at Harvard was odd, to say the least.
***Catherine Bailey as Vryling Buffam was particularly terrible.
****One nice feature: the Dickinsons sitting for portraits and seeing them age into their older characters. That meant that 50-year-old Nixon played Emily Dickinson from age 20 onward. See above about confusion as to what year it was.
*****The movie included Mabel Loomis Todd, which is the interesting (and titillating) part of the Dickinson family story, but was still boring in this film. There’s another Dickinson film that goes in a different direction. I’ll see if it’s any good. I suspect we’re still waiting for a film worthy of the writer.

Questions:

  • What’s the thing to focus on with a Dickinson film?
  • Was Cynthia Nixon the right choice for this role?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Terence Davies first met Cynthia Nixon when auditioning actresses for a comedy film called Mad About the Boy that ultimately never got made.

Other reviews of A Quiet Passion:

Clarity is one thing; obviousness is quite another. —A Quiet Passion. Read the three sentence movie review 3SMReviews.com