4 stars: Great
3 stars: OK
2 stars: Tolerable, but not suggested
1 star: Blah, don't even bother
Age of Adaline is about a woman who was in a car accident in the 1920s and never ages. Every ten years she must move and change identities so as not to be discovered. This involves never getting involved with anyone, or the classic theme love makes life worth living. Can you imagine being thirty years old for the rest of your life? I assume she doesn't get sick either, but they didn't get that detailed. I didn't like Blake Lively's whispery voice. It sounded too fake although maybe she was going for a certain early 20th-century-style in diction? I don't know. She made up for it with great evening gowns and that swishy, butt-wiggle walk. Great story, great acting, and great characters. Harrison Ford had a good, but minor role. We rarely see him anymore. ****
From Here to Eternity is a 1953 classic with Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, as well as an all-star cast of supporting actors. I saw it in the library and realized I'd never seen it before, although I've seen plenty of spoofs on the beach scene. In its day it was a huge hit garnering 12 Academy Awards including Best Picture, but to modern viewers such as myself, it's excessively melodramatic. Frank Sinatra was SO SKINNY, and oddly enough he sang one song and not very well, I might add. How did that little runt get to be so famous? ***
Goats is about a teenage boy who basically raised himself while living with a new age wacko mother. And Goat Man (played by David Duchovny), the pseudo pot-smoking father figure who has lived in the pool house for as long as he can remember who takes him on goat treks in the Tucson desert and grows pot in the greenhouse. His wealthy father lives on the east coast but has been absent for most of his life. The kid goes off to prep school. It's dysfunctional at it's most dysfunctional, but the kid is a survivor. David Duchovny is unrecognizable as Goat Man with a long hair and beard. He's always so odd it's entertaining. ***
The Men Who Stare at Goats was a very strange movie about psychic warfare with Ewain McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges. Too weird yet boring for me. *
The Village Barbershop is a movie about a barber in Reno who's wife dies, and then his business partner dies. He's a bit of an idiot when it comes to business and finance and he's not very personable. He likes routine and gets out of wack when someone messes with his precise schedule. He begrudgingly hires a woman with a whole set of problems of her own. That description makes it sound like a comedy. It wasn't. It was more a human drama about daily existence and how our lives and perceptions change with the people we encounter. It was a bit slow, plodding along at a snail's pace, but good characters. Normal people doing normal things. ***
Not many movies this month - I ran out of ideas. Then I had this wild idea of binge watching seasons of ER. I can't believe I've never seen this television show ever in my life. For years I never knew who George Clooney was. I definitely understand all the hype now, but that Noah Wyle is so adorable...I'm on season three now. It's good, fast-paced, human-drama with interesting characters. For a prime time television show on a major network, I can certainly see how it got all those Emmys.
Can you believe it's already November???
Since you like Noah Wyle, you might like Falling Skies.
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