Thank You for Smoking

Thank You for Smoking

Room 9 Entertainment etc.

September 9, 2005

Satire

DVD
C+

While I thought this was an intriguing idea, I only laughed once, so I wouldn't say that it succeeds as a comedy.  Director Jason Reitman adapted Christopher Buckley's novel.

Prancer

Prancer

Nelson Entertainment etc.

November 17, 1989

Children's

DVD
D+

Stilted dialogue, even by children's holiday movie standards.  John D. Hancock directed.

The Hero

The Hero

The Orchard

June 9, 2017

Dramedy
DVD
C-

Even Sam Elliott's acting can't draw me into a story about a depressed has-been actor with cancer.  Brett Haley directed and co-wrote.

Grandma

Grandma

Sony

September 18, 2015

Dramedy
DVD
B+

In one of her best roles ever, 75-year-old Tomlin is hilarious and moving as an aging lesbian poet trying to help her granddaughter raise money for an abortion.  The supporting cast is all around solid, with Sam Elliott a particular stand-out as a surprising ex.  Note, I loved the spin that this movie puts on the "your baby has fingernails" moment in Juno.  Also, I like all the different areas of Los Angeles that are shown in this story that takes place in just one day.  Paul Weitz wrote and directed nine years after the far inferior American Dreamz.  (But I do like Admission, and somewhat American Pie.)

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski
Working Title Films
March 6, 1998
Comedy
DVD
C

I gave this Coen Brothers movie a half hour because I just honestly didn't know how I felt about it.  I'd heard about it for years but I think that's part of why I hesitated to watch it, that it wouldn't live up to the the cult status.  I can see why people like it, and certainly I had high hopes with this cast.  The opening narration by Sam Elliott was fun, but I just couldn't connect with this particular form of quirkiness.  Note that it's technically a historical comedy, being set around the time of the Gulf War I, but that was also the '90s, so I'm tagging it as just comedy.