Three weeks of movies in this post
I am kind of sort of working on the annual top 10 of 2013 post, but I'm having trouble nailing down the list, so that's yet to come. Meanwhile, other stuff came out and I saw it.
#95: Labor Day - Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited. [imdb]
It's now been a few weeks since I saw this technically-2013-but-come-on movie. If not for Kate Winslet, I might not have seen it at all since it's not the kind of thing that usually pings for me, but I love her pretty much always, so it became a given. On the whole, the movie is well done, but it's very slow-moving. It was well-acted - the three leads are all terrific - and not especially daring, despite the premise, because you can believe the circumstances of character and situation that would bring them together. I half expected some kind of twist, which never really came about. Ultimately, it's not that memorable, but it's a nice outing for those involved.
Also, I'm pretty sure the movie taught me to make peach pie, though I haven't tested this theory.
#96: The Lego Movie - An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together. [imdb]
Everything is awesome in this movie and it is nearly everything I could have ever wanted a Lego-inspired movie to be. It speaks both to the experience of Lego characters and to that of we, the builders, with its careful (but never token) incorporation of all the classic sets and build-play elements. Even the style of filming, which used CGI to emulate stop-motion, made it cross-generational to speak to both us old timers and the kids with their video games (whippersnappers). It was really upsetting not to be able to watch it with my sister, aka lifelong Lego Buddy. We will have to watch it again.
It's also genuinely hilarious; all of the adults, including me, were laughing out loud (the kids were, too). The characters were fun and the voice cast nails it. The casting really couldn't have been more perfect. The story finds nuance in what could have been a very standard theme, and you should probably hang around through Batman's song in the credits, or at least YouTube it.
Only negative: there is a...thing that happens to break the brick wall, as it were. I got it, but I don't think it was necessary, and I think it confused various things about the world-building and reality. But it is not without its merits.
This one is sure to go on my top ten of 2014. (Note to self!) They even have an amazing blooper reel.
#97: The Monuments Men - An unlikely World War II platoon are tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners. [imdb]
Finally, something I saw this weekend. The Monuments Men is a very incomplete rendering of one aspect of WWII, and it's nice to see different stories of the war, but it's a challenge for the filmmakers to situate them appropriately. The movie starts out with a lighter mood and develops gravitas later, but without quite building to it enough to feel natural. The resulting uncertain tone, and scope of events, means the whole doesn't quite hang together as well as its individual parts did.
I enjoyed watching it, and you can't go far wrong with any of this cast. It was kind of funny to see Private Ryan going back to war (<3 Matt Damon for all time). Each of these men, and Cate Blanchett, have enough individual cachet to balance the lack of backstory given to most of them. Blanchett gets more rounding out than most and does her usual exquisite job with it. And I do love me a period piece. As I said, the pieces and individual scenes were very good; it just didn't level up on the whole.
Close. I should figure out what #100 is going to be, and where to go from there.
#95: Labor Day - Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited. [imdb]
It's now been a few weeks since I saw this technically-2013-but-come-on movie. If not for Kate Winslet, I might not have seen it at all since it's not the kind of thing that usually pings for me, but I love her pretty much always, so it became a given. On the whole, the movie is well done, but it's very slow-moving. It was well-acted - the three leads are all terrific - and not especially daring, despite the premise, because you can believe the circumstances of character and situation that would bring them together. I half expected some kind of twist, which never really came about. Ultimately, it's not that memorable, but it's a nice outing for those involved.
Also, I'm pretty sure the movie taught me to make peach pie, though I haven't tested this theory.
#96: The Lego Movie - An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together. [imdb]
Everything is awesome in this movie and it is nearly everything I could have ever wanted a Lego-inspired movie to be. It speaks both to the experience of Lego characters and to that of we, the builders, with its careful (but never token) incorporation of all the classic sets and build-play elements. Even the style of filming, which used CGI to emulate stop-motion, made it cross-generational to speak to both us old timers and the kids with their video games (whippersnappers). It was really upsetting not to be able to watch it with my sister, aka lifelong Lego Buddy. We will have to watch it again.
It's also genuinely hilarious; all of the adults, including me, were laughing out loud (the kids were, too). The characters were fun and the voice cast nails it. The casting really couldn't have been more perfect. The story finds nuance in what could have been a very standard theme, and you should probably hang around through Batman's song in the credits, or at least YouTube it.
Only negative: there is a...thing that happens to break the brick wall, as it were. I got it, but I don't think it was necessary, and I think it confused various things about the world-building and reality. But it is not without its merits.
This one is sure to go on my top ten of 2014. (Note to self!) They even have an amazing blooper reel.
#97: The Monuments Men - An unlikely World War II platoon are tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners. [imdb]
Finally, something I saw this weekend. The Monuments Men is a very incomplete rendering of one aspect of WWII, and it's nice to see different stories of the war, but it's a challenge for the filmmakers to situate them appropriately. The movie starts out with a lighter mood and develops gravitas later, but without quite building to it enough to feel natural. The resulting uncertain tone, and scope of events, means the whole doesn't quite hang together as well as its individual parts did.
I enjoyed watching it, and you can't go far wrong with any of this cast. It was kind of funny to see Private Ryan going back to war (<3 Matt Damon for all time). Each of these men, and Cate Blanchett, have enough individual cachet to balance the lack of backstory given to most of them. Blanchett gets more rounding out than most and does her usual exquisite job with it. And I do love me a period piece. As I said, the pieces and individual scenes were very good; it just didn't level up on the whole.
Close. I should figure out what #100 is going to be, and where to go from there.