Small Town Saturday Night

Small Town Saturday Night

Perfect Weekend

June 1, 2010

Drama

DVD
D+

One of those movies where the setting is more interesting than the people.  Ryan Craig wrote and directed.

Luce

Luce

Neon etc.

August 2, 2019

Drama

DVD
C-

A very contemporary drama that I just couldn't get into.  Julius Onah directed and co-wrote.

A Kid Like Jake

A Kid Like Jake

IFC Films

June 1, 2018

Drama

DVD
C+

This is well-meaning and interesting, but I found it a bit emotionally distancing, both the way it's shot and the fact that we never really get to know the title character.  Silas Howard directed.

Instant Family

Instant Family

Paramount

November 16, 2018

Dramedy

DVD
C-

Odd story about foster-parenting.  Sean Anders directed and co-wrote.

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures

20th Century Fox

January 6, 2017

Historical Drama

DVD
B

Although I don't really care about the space program, this is a solid story of three heroic women's real lives, not just their genius and persistence, but their everyday moments with family and friends, especially each other.  Although it's not a comedy, or even a dramedy, I appreciate the moments of humor.  This is based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, and directed by Theodore Melfi, 

Dolittle

Dolittle
Universal
January 17, 2020
Fantasy
DVD
C

While I enjoyed this more than the '60s Rex Harrison version, especially the look of it, I still didn't care enough about the characters to continue.  Stephen Gaghan directed and co-wrote.  And, yes, my first movie from the 2020s!

Blue Streak

Blue Streak
Columbia
September 17, 1999
Action, Comedy
DVD
D+

A jewel heist goes awry.  I've never liked Martin Lawrence's comedy (going back to his '90s sitcom), and I didn't appreciate the fat jokes against the wonderful Octavia Spencer, but at least the music was pretty good.  Les Mayfield directed.

Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich
Propaganda Films
December 3, 1999
Fantasy, Dramedy, Romance
DVD
B

Let me tell you a little story that has nothing to do with your viewing experience but a lot to do with mine.  It was almost twenty years ago, and less than a year after this movie came out.  I was watching it with my then-boyfriend, possibly on DVD but I think on VHS.  We were attracted to each other without having much in common, which we were fully aware of.  We were still in the giddy early, hormonal stage and we started making out during the scene when Maxine (Catherine Keener) is mounting Malkovich while Lotte (Cameron Diaz) is in his mind.  We kept making out until shocked out of it by the scene where Lotte's husband, Craig (John Cusack), forces her at gunpoint to make a call to Maxine.

Watching the movie now wasn't that much of an emotional whiplash, but it remains a twisted, disturbing and yet somehow fun and funny ride.  It's one of those rare movies where I don't like any of the characters and yet I want to see what happens to them, and of course the situation is fascinating and it's cool to see it play out in all its ramifications.  At one point, Craig wonders what will happen to John M. if he goes into the portal, and Maxine says, "Let's find out," like she's just another viewer.  (Interestingly, she's the one significant character who doesn't try to "be" John Malkovich, although she does control him through sex and love.)

Charlie Kaufman wrote the script and Spike Jonze directed, and I assume the quirkiness comes from both.  I want to particularly single out my two favorite parts, one of which is a play on the title and the concept, and the other of which seems to have little to do with the main part of the movie but is actually a capsule of it.  What the viewers (but maybe not Maxine or Craig) find out is that Malkovich enters an alternate world where everyone is Malkovich and speaks only in Malkovich, e.g. "Malkovich? Malkovich!"

When Craig is first hired to work at LesterCorp, he has to watch a training film, which is unlike any training film you've ever seen.  The visuals suggest it was made about 20 years earlier, but then it goes into a "dramatic recreation" of something allegedly from the late 1800s, except that the two characters we now see are dressed as if it's colonial times, more like 250 years ago than 100.  We get the feeling that LesterCorp is keeping down its overhead in more ways than low ceilings.  And then later in the outer movie, the story turns out to be true!  (Well, they probably got colonial costumes cheap in 1979, but still.)

I didn't love that boyfriend and I don't love this movie, then or now, but some things have to be experienced, no matter how "wrong" they are.

I'm omitting all the people, including Dustin Hoffman, that appear in archive footage, but I am including Sean Penn and Octavia Spencer because they make memorable cameos.

Allegiant

Allegiant
Lionsgate
March 18, 2016
Sci-Fi
DVD
D+

Yes, due to the vagaries of the alphabet, I'm reviewing the third Divergent movie, but the thing is, it's based on the only book in the series I've read.  I was able to follow that generally, although there was no emotional resonance, and there's even less in this film adaptation.  I might've gone with a C- but the "prison escape" was weak and unbelievable. 

I'm tagging Spencer as the only performer I recognized in the first quarter hour.  Robert Schwentke directed.