I've been watching movies and recording the watching of movies but doing a very poor job of tracking them on here. Oops! Let's play catch-up for the next few weeks, shall we? We shall! (I now have "The One that I Want" in my head. Nooooooo.
Week 32: August 5-11, 2012
110) Grease. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta star in this musical about teenagers who fall in love over the summer and the circumstances that bring them together and push them apart. Cute. A lot more vulgar than I expected. I was a little surprised how many of the songs I recognized. I can't get "Summer Lovin" out of my head now! 3.8 stars
Week 33: August 12-18, 2012
111) Off and Running. A documentary about a black adopted teenager with white parents whose life changes radically when she contacts her birth mother. It explores the intersection of race, identity and family. Very intriguing watch. You really felt for Avery throughout the film as you watched her grapple with these huge issues, some of which you would never want to see a teenager experience. A slice of life film. So yes, there was some emptiness and some questions left unanswered, but I'm okay with that. I expect it when you drop into someone's life in a pivotal moment of self-discovery. 3.7 stars
Week 34: August 19-25, 2012
112) Bernie. Jack Black stars in this film based on the true story of one of a town's most beloved residents who killed an old lady... the town's most hated resident. Pretty amusing though the documentary-style conceit wore thin from overuse pretty quickly. 3.4 stars
Week 35: August 26- September 1, 2012
113) A Separation. Iranian film about a married couple separating and the way their lives unravel as a result of the changes. A huge soap opera in the quiet drama way. Nicely done. Deserving of the 2012 Academy Award it won. 4.4 stars
114) The Other F Word. This documentary explores punk rockers who are also fathers and trying to balance their disparate lifestyles. In the interest of coverage (I suppose), there were too many snippets from people who showed up once or twice or had two or three quotes. That gave some interesting people short shrift. I would have enjoyed it more to see a few extended profiles versus a few extended profiles and lots of little add-ins. As you can imagine, there was a LOT of profanity. Like it will be years before most of the children in this doc can actually watch it. 3.6 stars
115) Trouble in Paradise. 1932 film about a thieving couple who decide to swindle a rich woman. Trouble ensues when the male half of the pair falls in love with his victim. I spent the first 5 minutes of this film distracted by the fact that it was not only made 80 years ago (and therefore had absolutely wretched and nearly untranslatable picture quality), it was made 50 years before I was born. Many of the actors could conceivably have been dead longer than I've been alive. Things like this blow my mind in the best possible way. It makes me contemplate life. That's the deepest thing I got from this film. It was a bit of fluff. Not really worth watching but vaguely amusing. Just there kind of like rom coms of today. 2.9 stars
Week 36: September 2- 8, 2012
116) Kiss Them For Me. Cary Grant stars in this film about WWII naval officers on leave who deal with love issues. Really bad and really long. Way too long. I love Cary but this wasn't his best film. Not even close. 2 stars
117) Sybil. Sally field earns her Emmy as a teacher with multiple personalities developed as a result of child abuse. It was a bit too long. Parts of it really started to drag. Still interesting to watch. 3.6 stars
118) The Hunger Games. The film adaptation of the smash hit book. I loved watching this unfold! Such a great watch. I can't wait for the rest of the films! I felt exactly the same way about the books. I wish they had shown more of the Capital fashion! That's what I was most looking forward to. 4.4 stars
119) Coma. This Oscar-nominated HBO documentary follows four people in various stages of coma recovery. We followed the ups and downs of their treatment over the course of a year. Really interesting watch as you root for these people to thrive. Dated music. 3.6 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment