You've Got Mail

You've Got Mail

Warner Bros.

December 13, 1998

Romcom
DVD
C

I saw this at the time, a time when I saw a lot of romcoms.  It offended me as a lifelong book-person.  Still, when it came along alphabetically in this project, I wondered what I would think of it now, a quarter century later, especially since I softened on Meg Ryan after watching When Harry Met Sally... a few months ago.

And, well, there are times when it's deliciously dated, from its concept to its OMG cast.  The soundtrack is generally solid, typically for Nora Ephron (who directed, and co-wrote with sister Delia).  New York City looks pretty and ridiculously clean.  But this movie still offends me as a book-person, because nothing about the bookstores is or ever was realistic.  (Don't get me started on its misunderstanding of Pride and Prejudice!) And of course there's the whole Tom Hanks amiably gaslighting poor Meg thing.  Still, I watched it to the end (again) and can't go below a C.

(And, yes, I've seen The Shop Around the Corner, which is over-rated but less offensive, if I recall correctly.)

The Matador

The Matador

Miramax etc.

January 2005

Crime Comedy
DVD
D+

I didn't care about either plot thread, but the music isn't bad.  Richard Shepard wrote and directed.

Little Men (2016)

Little Men (2016)

Magnolia Pictures

January 25, 2016

Drama

DVD
C

Nothing to do with Louisa May Alcott, since it's set in modern-day Brooklyn, but mildly interesting,  Director Ira Sachs co-wrote.

Heaven Is for Real

Heaven Is for Real

Sony

April 16, 2014

Drama

DVD
D

Yeah, I knew going into this it wouldn't be my sort of movie, but did we need the gratuitous sexism or the Narnia ripoff?  Director Randall Wallace directed and co-wrote the screenplay based on the book by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent.

Brigsby Bear

Brigsby Bear
Sony Pictures
July 28, 2017
Comedy
DVD
B-

This film, co-written by Kyle Mooney, who plays the protagonist, is a bit like The Truman Show, Be Kind Rewind, and Napoleon Dynamite thrown into a blender, but I'm not sure how well blended the dark undertones, including Stockholm Syndrome, are with the uplifting messages celebrating creativity and friendship.  Also, it's sporadically funny, mostly when Greg Kinnear is onscreen (and I like that it's never addressed that he looks like he could be Mark Hamill's son, although he's only twelve years younger), and yet I did enjoy and root for the movie, and the productions within the movie.  There's an overly dated feel, in that '17 is too late for it to be 25 years after the '80s, but perhaps that's deliberate.

Mooney's childhood friend Dave McCary directed.