Year of the Dog (2007)

Year of the Dog (2007)

Plan B Entertainment etc.

May 11, 2007
Dramedy
DVD
C-

A woman understandably likes her dog better than the people around her, and then the dog dies.  Mike White wrote and directed, seven years after he starred in Chuck & Buck.

We Don't Live Here Anymore

We Don't Live Here Anymore

Front Street Pictures etc.

3 September 2004

Drama

DVD
D+

I didn't care about these couples.  This is based on a couple of short stories by Andre Dubus, and directed by John Curran, fourteen years before Chappaquiddick.

Smooth Talk

Smooth Talk

American Playhouse

November 15, 1985

Drama

DVD
C-

I tuned out long before it got too creepy, but I've known of this movie, and the Joyce Carol Oates short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" it's based on, for years.  A different Joyce, Joyce Chopra, directed.

Rambling Rose

Rambling Rose

New Line Cinema etc.

September 20, 1991

Historical Drama

DVD
D+

Well, the scenery was nice.  Calder Willingham adapted his own novel, and Martha Coolidge directed, thirteen years before The Prince and Me.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

Universal

June 11, 1993

Sci-Fi

DVD
C-

I've never been able to get into this movie.  It's based on the Michael Crichton novel and directed by Spielberg.

The Founder

The Founder

The Weinstein Company

January 20, 2017

Historical Drama

DVD
B-

Keaton as the anti-hero who convinced the world he founded McDonald's, although he sometimes foundered, Offerman and Lynch as the brothers he swindled and enriched.  John Lee Hancock directed.

Certain Women

Certain Women
IFC Films
January 24, 2016
Drama
DVD
C-

This is based on three short stories by Maile Meloy, and I only watched part of the slow-moving tale of Laura Dern as a lawyer.  Kelly Reichardt wrote the screenplay and directed.

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
September 19, 1986
Mystery
DVD
D+

The alleged "genius" Lynch does things like go from the word "scissors" to a cut with scissors (ha ha, visual pun) and do a lingering closeup of the love interest's photo a few minutes before she appears out of the shadows.  I've been avoiding this movie for years because of its disturbing content, but the worst we get in the first quarter-hour is an ear that I expected the detective to suspect was from a joke shop.  I didn't find this as enjoyably campy as Twin Peaks (https://reviewingsometvshowsidontown.blogspot.com/2019/06/twin-peaks-episode-11.html), but it wasn't as unbearable as I expected.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Warner Bros.
December 9, 1974
Dramedy, Romance
DVD
B-

I grew up watching the Alice sitcom and knew that it was inspired by this movie, which I never watched until today.  It's very different from the TV show, and doesn't even get to Mel's (well, Mel & Ruby's) Diner until over halfway through, shortly before we meet the characters played by Kristofferson and Foster.  There's definitely humor but there are moments of sadness, anger, and even violence.  The studio-enforced "happy ending" (the penultimate scene) is a little contrived, but remember that the movie opens with a movie-like scene of Alice's childhood (a bit like a rose-tinted Wizard of Oz, only in Monterey rather than Kansas).  Burstyn plays the many moods of her character quite well, but there are some fun supporting performances, including Tayback and Ladd originating the characters of Mel and Flo.  (Ladd would end up as Belle, the middle waitress on the sitcom.)  Curtin's Vera is one of her typically loopy roles, although I still have soft spot for Beth Howland's take on the character.  Note that Alfred Lutter did play Tommy on the Alice pilot.