Tag: Good

Last Christmas is Good Holiday Movie

Last Christmas

Last Christmas

Directed by Paul Feig
Written by Emma Thompson and Bryony Kimmings

The review:

Gosh darn if Emilia Clarke* isn’t the reason to watch this perfectly fine entry into the holiday movie glut.** It’s best to wander along with the movie, rather than to try to figure things out.*** This is a film that checks its boxes, doesn’t aspire to be more, and might be something to add to your regular holiday viewing.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 from Redbox****
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*She’s so darn charismatic! And she sings!
**Which I watched in June because in December and January I was too busy doing Oscar movie prep/catchup.
***Indeed, this is basically the same plot as a movie that also uses a pop song for its title. I will not reveal the name of said movie here, as people watching this film will have probably already seen that film.
****My Redbox DVD came with a TON of extras, all introduced by director Paul Feig, who seems to have inherited Garry Marshall’s nice-guy mantle.

Questions:

  • Should films centered around the winter holidays break from their pleasant nature?
  • What was your favorite placement of a George Michael song in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Filmed on location in London. In order to avoid crowds interrupting filming, many scenes started filming around 2 a.m.

Other reviews of Last Christmas:

Last Christmas

Zoe Deutch Sparkles in Buffaloed

Buffaloed

Buffaloed

Directed by Tanya Wexler
Written by Brian Sacca

The review:

Zoey Deutch flexes her I’m-a-legit-actress-not-just-an-offspring-hack muscles* using not only tons of charisma to make us like a tough-gal character, but also also employing a Buffalo-style accent.** While Deutch is engaging, the story swings and misses a few times,*** though does a great job at illustrating the problems with regulation in the American debt collection system. Overall, this was a solid film with a lot of engaging performances**** and a reminder of why it’s best to avoid debt whenever possible.*****

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*She’s the daughter of director Howard Deutch and actress-director Lea Thompson. Once I learned who her mother is, I had a moment of “well of course she looks familiar!” I’ve enjoyed her in a bit role in Everybody Wants Some! and as a the lead in Before I Fall, which was a movie I enjoyed quite a bit and I feel like not many people watched. She was also the assistant in Set it Up, which was one of a bevy of solid Netflix rom-coms I watched in the summer of 2018.
**I will leave it to the residents of Buffalo to determine how well she did at said accent.
***That Deutch’s Peg Dahl becomes part of the problem is where the story lost me. I can only cheer on a debt collector for so long, despite how very likable she is.
****Judy Greer! Plus, Jermaine Fowler was of interest.
*****I mean, universal healthcare would help, for one. No one should be harassed by debt collectors for trying to maintain their health.

Questions:

  • At what point did Peg Dahl make the wrong move?
  • What parts of this movie did you find believable? Unbelievable?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Most of the suits Peg wears were purchased at Goodwill.

Other reviews of Buffaloed:

Buffaloed

Unwrapping 18 Presents

18 Presents

The review:

Francesco Amato’s 18 Presents could have dived right in to movie cliches* but ventures off in a different direction to create a movie that had me intermittently verklempt. The charm comes from the independent** natures of the mother (Vittoria Puccini) and daughter (Benedetta Porcaroli.) While a little too sad to be a Sunday Afternoon Film,*** this is a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly charge ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*After all, the setup (Pregnant woman learns she has terminal cancer; plans 18 birthday presents for her unborn daughter) had me thinking I knew how this would go down.
**And feisty.
***A low-stress film that doesn’t demand much brainpower and leaves you with a good feeling. One last breath of weekend fresh air before you launch into prep for the week ahead.

Questions:

  • When’s the last time you watched a movie from Italy? It’s been a long while for me.
  • If you were going to cast Benedetta Porcaroli (the daughter) in a US-based film, what role would be good for her?

Other reviews of 18 Presents:

Inception Goes a Few Levels Too Deep

Inception

The review:

Christopher Nolan’s Inception is a movie with a highly original concept that makes the choice to go just a few levels too deep.* It remains as visually stunning as it was in 2010,** and I enjoy the commitment everyone has to their sometimes bananas dialog.*** It did wear on me that Ellen Paige’s character existed only to ask questions so the audience could be informed, but this was balanced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s focused work in zero gravity.****

The verdict: Good

Cost: Neflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I enjoy puzzling through things while watching movies, but the layers after the snowbound assault are too much. Though props for finding a way to include a James Bond-esque action sequence that reminds me why I don’t watch James Bond movies. How in the world am I supposed to tell who is who when they are all wearing the same outfit?
**It was more of a marvel then—I mean, we’ve all seen Thanos snap his fingers and have half of the universe’s population blow away—but it still looks good ten years on.
***Example: You’re waiting for a train. A train that’ll take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you. But you can’t know for sure. Yet it doesn’t matter. Now, tell me why?
****If there is one thing I’ve learned from my Nolan oeuvre-view, it’s that I need more JGL in my movie-going life. That voiceover work he did for Knives Out didn’t cut it.

Questions:

  • What do you think the ending means?
  • Who is your favorite extractor?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan explained that he based roles of the Inception team on filmmaking roles. Cobb is the director, Arthur is the producer, Ariadne is the production designer, Eames is the actor, Saito is the studio, and Fischer is the audience. “In trying to write a team-based creative process, I wrote the one I know,” said Nolan.

Other reviews of Inception:

Inception

Just Mercy: a Social Justice Courtroom Procedural

Just Mercy

The review:

Just Mercy is a solid courtroom procedural, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, that draws attention to the faulty mechanisms of justice, specifically concerning prisoners on death row.* Michael B. Jordan brings his best intense focus** to assist Jamie Foxx’s Walter McMillan in his quest to clear his conviction for murdering a woman he had zero contact with. While this movie is slightly too long, it does a lot, not only with plot, but also by giving example after example of how the scales of justice are more equal for some than others.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Cost: $1.425 due to Redbox promos, but actually free because I used a gift card.
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie dealing with the courts, which was a welcome change.
**He is so good at intense focus!
***And this, not really equal at all.

Questions:

  • What do you think of the statistic given at the end of the film? For every nine people put to death in the US, one has been freed.
  • What aspect of discrimination was the most difficult for you to view in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In one scene, Bryan and Eva sit on the banks of the Alabama River and watch a recreation of a nineteenth-century riverboat sail by. Bryan says to Eva, “Nobody wants to remember that this is where thousands of enslaved people were shipped in and paraded up the street to be sold. Ten miles from here, black people were pulled from their homes and lynched and nobody talks about it. ”

This is a nod to the fact that years after this movie takes place, Stevenson’s organization the Equal Justice Initiative expanded its mission. Although it continues to provide legal defense and advocacy for prisoners on death row, children in adult prisons, people who have been wrongfully convicted, and others in need of defense, they also started to memorialize the history of slavery and lynching in America.

In April 2018, EJI opened two new facilities. One was the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, a museum located in a former warehouse where black people were enslaved in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. The other was National Memorial for Peace and Justice, dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people and people terrorized and murdered by lynching. EJI also works with communities to install historical markers that acknowledge lynchings in those cities’ pasts.

Other reviews of Just Mercy:

Just Mercy

The Photograph is a Good Slow

The Photograph

The review:

Stella Meghie’s The Photograph is a slow buffet of pleasure that is delightful for the person in the mood for not much happening, and probably tedious for everyone else.* It’s also a movie that hinges on the back and forth of conversations, rather than actions.** I’m here to champion love stories in two eras, Louisiana and New York City, the gorgeous faces of the leads, because if we can make the same action film forty-two times a year, surely we can find room for a languid romance.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.425 due to Redbox promos, but actually free because I used a gift card.
Where watched: at home
(When I first introduced it, who could have imagined this category would have a long period of redundancy.)

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I was quite happy: I’d had some wine, enjoy love stories, LaKeith Stanfield, and was interested to catch up with Issa Rae. (I don’t have HBO, so haven’t seen Insecure.)
**The other film directed by Meghie, The Weekend, was similarly slow and conversation based. Oh wait, she also did Everything Everything. That had a little more action, but it also was adapted from a novel.

Questions:

  • How well matched do you think Sara and Michael are?
  • What do you think the odds are of Lil Rel Howrey breaking out of his small-bit sidekick role. (I’ve seen him play this role in Get Out, Brittany Runs a Marathon, and this.)

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The one there isn’t good enough to be a favorite, so instead read this interview with director Stella Meghie.

Other reviews of The Photograph:

The Photograph

Batman Begins: a Good Start to the Trilogy

Batman Begins

The review:

Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins is a good superhero origin story that takes place in a world where women are just not around.* I enjoy Christian Bale’s journey from kid who wanders the world, to interested potential hero of Gotham, to hero of Gotham. I also enjoy the depictions of Gotham presenting as sufficiently grungy, but with that very cool monorail.

The verdict: Good

Cost: free because Matt owns a DVD copy (that is unfortunately pan-and-scan and shows it!)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I mean really, where are they? There’s Bruce Wayne’s mom, who has maybe one line. There’s Rachel’s mom, who also has one line. And there’s Rachel who does get to speak on a regular basis, but she’s the only one. Oh yeah, and the arm candy. But other women? Nope. Women police officers? None. Women board members who speak? Nope. Women scientists, police commissioners, mayors? Nope, nope, nope. In fact, Christopher Nolan seems to have a pretty strict one-woman-per-movie quota. (See: Following, Memento, Insomnia, this)

Random note: normally, we would have watched a superhero movie for our anniversary. This year, it looked like it would be Black Widow, which would have been our first every anniversary celebration superhero movie starring a woman. But nope. This was our #coronavirusalternative

Questions:

  • Could the lack of women present in this film be an example of sexism? Why or why not?
  • Do you think that Wayne Enterprises would have filed patents on all that cool gear they developed?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Christian Bale’s active dislike of his uncomfortable Batman outfit helped his performance as the Dark Knight as he was perpetually in a foul mood when wearing it.

Other reviews:

Batman Begins

Crooklyn Captures a Place and Time

Crooklyn

The review:

Spike Lee’s Crooklyn is a solid family drama* with an excellent soundtrack and a charming montage of games urban kids used to play in the early 70s. It’s also got a trio of stellar leads in Alfre Woodard & Delroy Lindo as the parents and Zelda Harris as Troy, the only girl among the five siblings. It’s not the most plot-driven of films, but the energy running through the characters is enough to keep things moving forward.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $3.99 via Google Play (The subtitles were bad. A bit behind and trying to do too much)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

  • This is apparently the only movie about black families
  • I’ve just googled for 10 minutes and I get:
  • *Movies for families to watch
  • *Movies about white families (sort of)
  • *Spike Lee movies
  • Gah!

Further sentences:

*With a lot of yelling (you have to be okay with yelling families, which I am) and an attitude toward animals I couldn’t stomach.**
**One scene with a cat, and two scenes with a small dog. Both are played as funny.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The “disorienting” view when the family is in the country was created by shooting in widescreen without anamorphically adjusting the image.

(I include this trivia item as a public service because I wasn’t sure if it was a glitch on my TV)

Other reviews:

Crooklyn

Men in Black: International Delivers

Men in Black: International

The review:

F. Gary Gray continues the entertaining series with Men in Black: International.* Aside from getting to see Chris Hemsworth on screen,** I totally went for the setup of this film and Molly/Agent M’s story.*** There are aliens and fight scenes and cool hardware and all the things one would expect from the franchise.

The verdict: Good

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*I’d had a hard day, and I wanted only to be entertained. My expectations were low, and this film easily cleared that bar.
**Always a treat, and even more so when the movie makes fun of his eye-candy status with in-movie jokes plus a winking Thor reference.
***I like someone who is a striver, and Tessa Thompson captured the excitement and uncertainty of being the new person at the dream job.
****I think I’ve only seen this third one. But you don’t have to watch them in order or anything. Another plus.

Questions:

  • What’s your favorite thing about the MIB franchise?
  • Is it a good use of your time to watch a movie that you will mostly forget a week later?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The MiB Agents have been wearing the same standard issue Hamilton Ventura watch since the beginning. The iconic Ventura watch was first released in 1957.

(I googled. It’s about $875 for that watch.)

Other reviews:

Men in Black: International

This Isn’t a Girlhood You Would Wish on Anyone

Girlhood

The review:

Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood* has a similar pace to Portrait of a Lady on Fire** but with a completely different subject matter.*** And the girls in this were just great, especially Karidja Touré as Marieme/Vic. It’s the kind of film where it’s apparent from the first scene that things aren’t going to go well, but the journey is an interesting one.

The verdict: Good

Cost: free via Kanopy (also on Hoopla)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Interestingly, the translated name of both this and Portrait have been revised a bit to better draw English-speaking audiences. The title of this film, Bande de filles, Google translates as “bunch of girls.” I’m guessing the title was changed to Girlhood to draw the interest of people interested in Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. The original name of Portrait of a Lady on Fire is Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, Portait of a young girl on fire. The English translation is more evocative of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady which is a title people are familiar with, even if they haven’t read it.
**Languid
***Contemporary French teenage girls who are either the children of immigrants or immigrants themselves.

Questions:

  • What did you think of the opening scene?
  • What decision do you think Vic made after the final scene ended?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The most daunting task for the film was to obtain the rights to the Rihanna song “Diamonds.” She gave them the authorization once she had seen the sequence dedicated to the song.

(It’s a great sequence.)

Other reviews: