Adult World with Emma Roberts and John Cusack. A weird little movie about a young, somewhat crazy, passionate poet-wanna-be obsessed with the need to be published and famous and distraught because she's neither at the very old age of 22. Her parents are tired of supporting her so she gets a job at a adult sex shop for lack of a better offer. When you were young did you rent sleazy apartments, work weird jobs, and hang out with bizarre people? I did. It was such a magical time, and then I grew up. Now I have to be careful where I work, with whom I hang, and where I live. Ah, to be young, naïve, carefree and not chemically sensitive! ***
The Best Offer starring Geoffrey Rush as an art appraiser/auctioneer who becomes obsessed with a young woman suffering from agoraphobia hiding behind the walls in her parents villa. He, on the other hand, wears gloves and only uses handkerchiefs or tissues to pick up things so in a way he's very much like her. I enjoy movies about art and antiques. This one was very intriguing with beautiful sets and great acting. It was that kind of movie that screams symbolism so I spend most of the movie wondering what I was missing and wishing I had a higher functioning brain. I want to talk to someone about it so if you have seen it or will see it let me know. I can't stop thinking about it. The ending is rather discombobulating and sad, but I can't help thinking he deserved it and I should have seen it coming. ****
Birdman is about a has-been movie star of superhero movies who is making the transition to Broadway. Tormented by self-doubt and public criticism, he hallucinates his superhero alter ego. The actors are all outstanding, especially Michael Keaton and Edward Norton, but I have no idea why it won an Oscar for best picture. What do I know? Emma Stone was nominated for supporting actress and I get that, but Patricia Arquette won that one for Boyhood. Blah. Again, what do I know? And Edward Norton was nominated for supporting actor, but the guy from Whiplash (reviewed below) got that one. Again, what do I know?? The DVD case says, "Hilarious". Watching this man's demons torture him wasn't hilarious. I guess I just didn't get it. It was too dark and depressing for me. ***
Crude: The Real Price of Oil is about the lawsuit filed against Texaco-Chevron holding them accountable for the horrific contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest. Some of the indigenous tribes were forced to leave their ancestral homes where they had lived for hundreds of years. Others stayed not understanding the consequences of drinking, washing and bathing in oil-contaminated water. The people are dying from cancer, food doesn't grow, and their livestock die. They featured lakes of oil sludge and black soil that was never cleaned up and just left to simmer. The worst image was this sweet white duck lying helpless on its back in oil-contaminated water with it's little feet up in the air quivering, besides the babies with skin rashes or tumors. Those images are going to give me nightmares. The lawsuit has been going on for about ten years and Chevron is doing everything in its power to delay it in hopes of depleting the resources of the Ecuadorian legal team. They anticipate it'll take another ten years to get it to trial. It's horrifying. Typical American corporate greed. So sad and disturbing. ****
Everything Must Go or, when life goes to crap, have a yard sale! It's about a guy (Will Ferrell) who loses his job, his wife, his money/credit, his wallet with ID, and his car in one day. Well, as an alcoholic he's been working at it for a long time. His wife throws all his stuff out on the front yard and changes all the locks. He sits outside on his recliner drinking his beer non-stop and uses the koi pond for a toilet. Lack of direction and threat of jail inspires him to sell it all. And that's the movie. I thought it would be a comedy, but I think this is one of the few movies Ferrell has been in that isn't. It was a bit depressing and I kept wanting to scream Just get yourself together! I thought there would be a moment of clarity for him by the end, but I'm not sure if it ever came. ***
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Girl Who Played with Fire/Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest also known as The Millenium Trilogy is based on the books by the same name. Outstanding books. These movies follow the books exactly, but they are Swedish so they have English subtitles. I've seen them so many times I'm surprised I'm not yet fluent in Swedish. The Americans made their version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Daniel Craig, who I love. I think the American version is better in terms of performance and photography, but they haven't followed it up with the other two. Hulu has all three Swedish movies for free and this month, I watched them all again! *****
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People about a British journalist fascinated with celebrities who gets a job with a New York magazine. A little stupid, but some LOL moments. **
Ida is Polish foreign film about a 17-year old novice in 1962 who just before taking her vows is sent to meet her only living relative. She finds out she is Jewish, was sent to the Catholic church as a baby during the Holocaust, and with her aunt searches for answers to where her parents are buried and how they died. Absolutely outstanding photography. Every frame is gorgeous. Truly a work of art. Excellent story, filmed in black and white, superb performances. It's won lots of awards including Oscars for cinematography and best foreign language film. ****
Into the Woods is the movie remake of the Broadway musical and it followed the story, script and music exactly. I thought when they first planned this movie it wasn't going to be a musical? Which is a bit unimaginable. Maybe I'm confusing it with another movie? Meryl Streep was outstanding. She should have received the Oscar for supporting actress. The sets were great as were the performances. Loved it. Very entertaining especially for those of us who can no longer tolerate going to live theater. ****
Jimmy P. : Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian was about a Native American WWII veteran with a head injury who experiences migraines. He ends up being psychoanalyzed by an anthropologist who is fascinated with Native American culture. It was a Hollywood movie, but claims to be a true story. Benicio Del Toro's performance was stilted and his fake accent was irritating, but the whole movie was so incredibly boring I stopped watching it about half way through. Oh well. *
Latter Days is about a naive Mormon missionary who leaves his small, narrow-minded, religious Midwestern town for L.A. The script was cheesy, the plot was predictable, and the acting really bad. OK, it was gay porn without the porn, but at times it got a little close. No...I wasn't looking for porn, gay or otherwise, and I knew it couldn't be porn since I got it out of the library. I was actually looking for the new-ish Missionary another movie about a Mormon missionary but this one is obsessed or crazy and stalks a woman he meets through his door to door religious harassment. Not very Mormon-like in both cases which was the appeal. *
The One Hundred Foot Journey A family from India moves to France and opens a restaurant in direct competition with the fancy French restaurant across the street. It was sweet and made me really hungry for Indian food. I MISS Indian food!! I loved Helen Mirren's French accent and the lead Indian guy was adorable. More importantly, can I move there? The French countryside is so absolutely stunning! Green pastures, little country roads, and villages. Everyone is living in an old, stone farmhouse using rotary dial phones! Lots of fresh veggies, too. Not too long ago I was conversing online with a woman who's whole family is chemically sensitive and she was looking to move to France. She claimed the French don't use pesticides like the USA. I know they have taken giant steps toward banning a lot of chemicals in their country unlike the USA which promotes poisoning its citizens. Can I move there now? ****
Prodigal Sons I actually had no clue what this was about when I saw the previews which are very mysterious. Lots of excellent reviews from film critics inspired me to downloaded it off Hoopla through my library. Wow. This movie is about a family from Montana dealing with adoption, sibling rivalry, transsexuality, homosexuality, estrangement, and mental illness. I thought my family was fucked up, but these people make my relatives look normal. It was exhausting to watch the dynamics and I'm not even a family member. Absolutely draining. There is no way I'd ever put up with being abused like that from anyone, I don't care what their excuse. I'm never sure why people allow family members to treat them with such disrespect. Is it unconditional love or some kind of mental illness they ALL suffer and I just don't get it? It was an interesting story, but I didn't see the point. ***
Run and Jump It was an incredibly boring movie about a man who had been in a coma, a neuropsychologist who was observing him, and the guy's wife. I lasted about 20 minutes. Hated it. Snooze...*
The Selfish Giant was a British movie about two working-class kids and their scrap metal scrounging for the local sleazeball junk man. One of the boys is a little feisty dude with a serious ADHD problem and the other is a big, but mild mannered boy who loves horses and gets bullied a lot. The little one defends him and is the instigator of all their schemes. Great best friend story although with the poverty and criminal undertones, it's anything but heartwarming. The dark, dreary photography with the overcast, rainy/foggy weather was perfect scenery for the story. Outstanding performances especially from the boys. The accents were difficult and most of the time I had no idea what they were saying. ****
Super High Me is a pseudo-documentary about the effects of smoking pot every day, all day long for 30 days. It's a comedic take on the movie Super Size Me which was about eating McDonald's food, but unfortunately had no redeeming value. Like the McDonald's movie, Super High Me attempted to do before and after tests, but since nothing was taken seriously the results were questionable. It was basically a vehicle for a not-so-great comedian who makes a living doing stand-up comedy about smoking marijuana. I think you'd have to be stoned to appreciate it, which was the theme throughout. It was a little stupid, but I didn't turn it off. I wanted to see test results, instead I watch a man gets dumber with each passing minute. **
The Theory of Everything is about physicist Stephen Hawking who has lived a really long, exceptional life with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was given two years to live in the 1960s...today he's 79 years old. Hmmm... The score was beautiful and there is no doubt in my mind at all why Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Actor. Supporting cast was excellent and I loved the 1960s costumes. For a lot of people with severe disabilities the story might be inspiring and uplifting, but for me it was just OK bordering on boredom. ***
Whiplash It was about a really abusive band teacher. Aside from the abuse and control of this egomaniac which was difficult to watch, the setting was dark and mundane, the photography was dreary, the characters boring, and I really wasn't getting the point of the story. The lead actor won an Oscar for his performance. I don't know...I think it would be easy to act abusive and angry. Maybe that's just me...I wouldn't be acting. LOL. I lasted about 20 minutes. Hated it. *
That's it for April movies.
Stieg Larson's trilogy is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThx for the reviews - gonna try Into the Woods and 100ft Journey.
ReplyDeleteExcellent choices! There is a video production of the stage performance of Into the Woods. Even though the movie is nearly exact, although with better sets, what's missing in the movie is the humor or maybe it's just not there because of timing or whatever. I love the stage production. The movie has the awesome special effects especially with the witch. Her entrances and exits are awesome.
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