Good – Page 15 – Out & About

3SMReviews: Paddleton

Director Alex Lehmann’s Paddleton is chock full of things I like.* Ray Romano** captures many unsaid things as Andy, the friend who not only will be left behind, but also is helping his best Michael friend to exercise his right to die before cancer kills him. I was looking for sorrow to turn me inside out and that did not occur, but I still found a lot to love in this story.

Verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly subscription fee $7.99
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching: I Love You, Man, Good Will Hunting, 50/50

*Changing friendships, male friendships, the lives of middle-aged unmarried men, movies made by the Duplass brothers, sad things, quirky details like a made up game.
**Who I know about, but whose body of work I am not familiar with because I never watched Everybody Loves Raymond

3SMReviews: Isn’t It Romantic

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson calls out many of the romantic comedy tropes in Isn’t it Romantic, a film that is fun for lovers of romantic comedies and stands on its own as a peppy comedy. I’m quite glad someone gave Rebel Wilson a starring vehicle, because I’ve been waiting for her to be featured in something since 2012’s Pitch Perfect. For people aware of the romantic comedy arc, this is a predictable film, but that can be easily pushed aside to enjoy amusing performances as well as Wilson’s reactions to the romantic comedy her life has become.

Verdict: Good

Cost: $7.05 (the “bargain” night at Regal has become not so much of a bargain.) (Though free because the boyfriend had gift cards.)
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12 with the boyfriend.

Consider also watching: Ibiza, Nappily Ever After

3SMReviews: Smallfoot

It’s been slim pickins in the Channing Tatum movie world of late* and so you would think I would have done something besides groan when I first watched the Smallfoot trailer.** I did groan, but no matter, completist that I am, I knew I had to watch it sooner or later, and so I have and I can say that it’s a pretty good kids film. My favorite part was James Corden’s revamp of Queen’s “Under Pressure,” but you can find that on YouTube (and at the bottom of this post) and skip watching the movie.

Verdict: Good (this is one of those “good” ratings where I don’t love the movie, but recognize that it’s fine for its category.)

Cost: $1.75 via Redbox
Where watched: at home waiting for the wintery weather to start.

*Though there’s the delightful gift of that Pink video.
**I have very little tolerance for full-on kids movies and that’s what this movie is.

3SMReviews: Cold War

Cold War is dedicated to director Pawel Pawlikowski’s parents and left me wondering many things. It a beautifully composed movie* with stunning performances, especially by Joanna Kulig. I was fully engaged the entire movie, and yet, it left me rather cold.**

Verdict: Good

Cost: $8.00
Where watched: Cinema 21

Consider also watching: Blue Valentine, Never Let Me Go, Revolutionary Road

*It’s good looking in black and white with whatever aspect ratio makes the film square. Plus, there’s a lot of music.
**I needed more background on the main characters. And I didn’t so much get the ending. I’ll be googling now.

3SMReviews: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

I was calibrated to the wrong type of Coen Brothers film when I sat down to watch The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.* What I found were six pretty good stories firmly set in the business-as-usual Wild West.** It had the usual Coen touches,*** but I found the short story format overall to be a little draggy.

Verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($7.99)
Where watched: at home, with a lot of scenes viewed through my fingers

*I was thinking this was more of an O Brother Where Art Thou?/Hail, Caesar!/Intolerable Cruelty. Fun and peppy. But it was more of a No Country for Old Men. Bloody and sad.
**You know, white men wander about doing their thing, Indians attack, women are minor characters. There’s no new ground being broken on this front.
***Visually memorable, great acting via facial expression, some odd turns.

3SMReviews: On the Basis of Sex

We welcome Mimi Leder back to the directing fold with On the Basis of Sex, a movie that attempts to illuminate another step on the path to seeing women as people, in this case, via a tax law case adjudicated by the Tenth Circuit Court. Felicity Jones does a great job masking her anger and dismay at the many slights Ruth Bader Ginsberg endures as a “lady lawyer” ahead of her time. I particularly appreciated Cailee Spaney as Jane Ginsberg, who spends a lot of the film not being impressed at all by her mother’s achievements instead issuing multiple cutting remarks.* The movie is a little draggy during the court scene, with much too many reaction shots of the judges, but other than that was a good use of movie-watching time.**

Verdict: good

Consider also watching: Hidden Figures, Bend it Like Beckham, The Runaways

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

*According to an article in Vanity Fair, she was exiled to TV directing because of Pay it Forward. This is her first movie since 2000. I liked Pay it Forward.
*Something masochistic in me really enjoys that hyper critical stage of adolescence depicted on screen. Also, Armie Hammer also was quite good at Marty Ginsburg’s supportive husband role.
**Also, that last suit Felicity Jones wears as she walks up the steps of the Supreme Court? Amazing! The very last shot of the movie? Perhaps a bit pandering. Discuss.

3SMReviews: The Old Man and the Gun

David Lowery gives us an early-80s period piece with the Old Man and the Gun and Robert Redford is not shuffling off into the sunset with this, his supposed last film. Which is not to say this a lively film, as the old man style of robbing banks involves steady, calm walking (and not theatrics and shootouts,) plus some quiet romancing of a woman (Sissy Spaseck, who is good at playing the standard female romantic interest.) Casey Affleck does his usual Casey Affleck stuff as the detective on the case, and overall this makes for a fine Sunday Afternoon Movie*

Verdict: good

Consider also watching: if you want more Casey Affleck, but with him playing the outlaw, you can go for an earlier David Lowery film: Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. For a more lively Robert-Redford-as-outlaw movie consider Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Or The Sting, which is con man, not outlaw, and more fun.

Cost: $1.50 (the new Redbox price is $1.75, but I got a discount for renting two movies.)
Where watched: at home

*Movies that are entertaining, but not challenging and serve as one final breath of fresh air before you plunge into the last hours of your weekend.

3SMReviews: Mid90s

Mid90s, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, is not a great movie, but it’s got so many good scenes strung together that it transforms into a good movie, despite not really having an ending. How much you like this movie will depend on your tolerance for 90s male skater culture—one of the character’s nicknames is FuckShit—and all the baggage that comes with that.* I’m always interested in depictions of how boys are socialized by their friends into being whatever their version of a man is; this movie provides plenty of examples of this, both good and bad.**

Verdict: good

Consider also watching: Boyhood, Stand by Me

Cost: $1.50 (the new Redbox price is $1.75, but I got a discount for renting two movies.)
Where watched: at home

*I have a soft spot for skater culture, which makes it easier for me to overlook a lot of the questionable things that happen in this movie. Further thoughts: Jonah Hill’s liberal use of the N-word in his script. Okay because correct for the characters? Or not okay due to Hill being white? There was a lot of “faggot” too, but having been a teenager/young adult in the 90s I can report that the liberal use of that word was historically accurate. Unfortunately.
**Na-kel Smith’s Ray is headed in the right direction, Gio Galicia’s Ruben, not so much.

Picture via IMDB found on this page.

3SMReviews: If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk is gorgeous to look at, expertly acted and also just a tad slow. Tish and Fonny’s story is a weighty one, and I especially enjoyed Regina King’s performance as Tish’s mother Sharon. The pure love story dominates through the complications and injustices.

Verdict: Good

Consider also watching: Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy, which was his first movie. And he also did a little film called Moonlight.

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: at the Laurelhurst Theater with S. North.

3SMReviews: Ratatouille

Brad Bird’s Ratatouille is a fine example of Pixar’s prowess with plot and animation, plus no hankies are needed. It’s pretty much a sausage fest, with Janeane Garofalo the only female present, but it’s a fun Patton Oswalt performance and has a good message. My favorite part was watching the rats run in a swarm,* which was realistic enough looking that I felt a bit panicked.

Verdict: Good

Cost: Free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home, in preparation for Filmspotting Madness 2019

*Herd? Pack? What is a running group of rats called?

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