Movie review catch-up, part 1
Apr. 9th, 2019 02:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironic
Having reviewed 0 of the 44 movies I've watched so far this year, last night I thought, let's try a bunch of two-line reviews, or set an egg timer for each and whip through them that way.
An hour later, I had three one-paragraph blurbs.
Oh, well. Here's a start:
Road to Paloma (2014)
Sort-of road trip movie directed, co-written and co-produced by and starring Jason Momoa. Some parts tedious, others fine. Some nice shots. Terrible sound mixing. Half the plots are rape-related, which may or may not be your cup of tea. A couple of questionable casting decisions, ethnicity-wise, e.g. Sarah Shahi as Mojave.* Mostly, I continue to be glad Momoa is in a position to make his own movies.
*Momoa (native Hawaiian) and Wes Studi (Cherokee) make up the rest of the family, and although they're not Mojave either, IMO at this stage of my cultural education, it's so typical for Native American, Pacific Islander and First Nations actors to play characters from any tribe on or near the continent that it's harder to complain until we support films and filmmakers enough that more directors cast people predominantly from the cultures being featured, if that is the goal.
Dance Me Outside (1994)
A bad thing happens on the Kidabanesee Reserve in Ontario, and we watch and wait to find out whether the teenage protagonists will ruin their chances of getting into auto mechanic school as they decide how to respond to it. Enjoyable movie with a range of emotions. Featuring baby Adam Beach and spunky supporting female characters, including Jennifer Podemski, who went on to star in the Canadian TV show "The Rez," which I hadn't known about before. I like discovering that Michael Greyeyes has a history of being cast as the heartthrob.
Based on a story by the same W.P. Kinsella who wrote the book that inspired Field of Dreams.
Drunktown's Finest (2014) ♥
Three adolescents' lives—a guy with one last chance before he loses his shot at enlisting in the military, a trans girl trying to find love and hoping to make it onto the local swimsuit calendar, and a college-bound orphan raised by white people who's seeking her birth family—intersect in Gallup, New Mexico, on the Navajo reservation. Directed by Sydney Freeland, a Navajo trans woman who grew up in Gallup. I don't know a lot of movies that star trans Native actors as trans Native characters, in this case Carmen Moore as Felixia, so that was neat. Tension was an important part of the experience, so I'll put this quick note behind a cut: It was also nice to have a happy ending for everyone. Kiowa Gordon, who I'm learning plays handsome miscreants more often than handsome woobies, had a supporting role.
Oh, no, the internet says that Moore died in August?! That sucks.
Bee Nation (2017) ♥
Adorable, well-structured and moving documentary about kids competing in Saskatchewan's first provincial First Nations spelling bee. Just really nice family support, nice pacing, nice portraits of people trying and succeeding and failing. Never have I identified so hard with someone in a documentary as with this young, serious, perfectionist boy crying while trying to practice at home. "Stop being so hard on yourself," his mother says with great tenderness. "You're eight years old. This is supposed to be fun." (His name is William Kaysaywaysemat III and I want to hug him.)
Te Ata (2016)
Formulaic biopic, but formulas persist because they work, as this one pretty much does, even though you can tell it's been simplified and de-thorned, perhaps in part because it was co-produced by the community whose folk hero Te Ata is/was, the Chickasaw Nation. With Q'orianka Kilcher as performer and cultural ambassador Te Ata/Mary Thompson Fischer, Gil Birmingham as her father, Graham Greene as the tribal governor, and Mackenzie Astin as a nerd love interest whose bleach job and makeup, intended to age him up, proved unexpectedly sexy.
Horror of Dracula (1958)
disgruntled_owl has been writing in this fandom and I wanted to deepen my appreciation of what she's doing. She never needs to be asked twice to (re)watch Peter Cushing movies, especially those that co-star Christopher Lee, so she showed me this one evening. It was a good time, with several 'shippable combinations as well as a random comedic figure in the morgue. Michael Gough, who plays Arthur, looks SO FAMILIAR but I can't tell why even after reading his IMDB page, only that my enjoyment of his face must be related to the reasons I enjoy Noah Taylor's, Bill Irwin's and Otto Sander's.
Beezus and Ramona (2010)
Based on the Beverly Cleary book. Wholesome family feelings. Lots of wide blue eyes and cropped brown hair in the tradition of Mara Wilson. I admit: it made me cry. In an indication of my connection to Today's Youth, I did not realize that was Selena Gomez as Beezus until the credits rolled.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) ♥
Huh—people said this was good, and they were right! Totally kooky humor that startled barks of laughter out of me in the same way the Batman Lego movie did. Lots of callbacks. Nice feminist B-plot with a "weather girl" who knows her stuff but has been socialized to play dumb and hide her passions.
ETA: See also the second half of this post, a sort of meta-analysis of reviews like these.
ETA 2: Continued here.
An hour later, I had three one-paragraph blurbs.
Oh, well. Here's a start:
Road to Paloma (2014)
Sort-of road trip movie directed, co-written and co-produced by and starring Jason Momoa. Some parts tedious, others fine. Some nice shots. Terrible sound mixing. Half the plots are rape-related, which may or may not be your cup of tea. A couple of questionable casting decisions, ethnicity-wise, e.g. Sarah Shahi as Mojave.* Mostly, I continue to be glad Momoa is in a position to make his own movies.
*Momoa (native Hawaiian) and Wes Studi (Cherokee) make up the rest of the family, and although they're not Mojave either, IMO at this stage of my cultural education, it's so typical for Native American, Pacific Islander and First Nations actors to play characters from any tribe on or near the continent that it's harder to complain until we support films and filmmakers enough that more directors cast people predominantly from the cultures being featured, if that is the goal.
Dance Me Outside (1994)
A bad thing happens on the Kidabanesee Reserve in Ontario, and we watch and wait to find out whether the teenage protagonists will ruin their chances of getting into auto mechanic school as they decide how to respond to it. Enjoyable movie with a range of emotions. Featuring baby Adam Beach and spunky supporting female characters, including Jennifer Podemski, who went on to star in the Canadian TV show "The Rez," which I hadn't known about before. I like discovering that Michael Greyeyes has a history of being cast as the heartthrob.
Based on a story by the same W.P. Kinsella who wrote the book that inspired Field of Dreams.
Drunktown's Finest (2014) ♥
Three adolescents' lives—a guy with one last chance before he loses his shot at enlisting in the military, a trans girl trying to find love and hoping to make it onto the local swimsuit calendar, and a college-bound orphan raised by white people who's seeking her birth family—intersect in Gallup, New Mexico, on the Navajo reservation. Directed by Sydney Freeland, a Navajo trans woman who grew up in Gallup. I don't know a lot of movies that star trans Native actors as trans Native characters, in this case Carmen Moore as Felixia, so that was neat. Tension was an important part of the experience, so I'll put this quick note behind a cut: It was also nice to have a happy ending for everyone. Kiowa Gordon, who I'm learning plays handsome miscreants more often than handsome woobies, had a supporting role.
Oh, no, the internet says that Moore died in August?! That sucks.
Bee Nation (2017) ♥
Adorable, well-structured and moving documentary about kids competing in Saskatchewan's first provincial First Nations spelling bee. Just really nice family support, nice pacing, nice portraits of people trying and succeeding and failing. Never have I identified so hard with someone in a documentary as with this young, serious, perfectionist boy crying while trying to practice at home. "Stop being so hard on yourself," his mother says with great tenderness. "You're eight years old. This is supposed to be fun." (His name is William Kaysaywaysemat III and I want to hug him.)
Te Ata (2016)
Formulaic biopic, but formulas persist because they work, as this one pretty much does, even though you can tell it's been simplified and de-thorned, perhaps in part because it was co-produced by the community whose folk hero Te Ata is/was, the Chickasaw Nation. With Q'orianka Kilcher as performer and cultural ambassador Te Ata/Mary Thompson Fischer, Gil Birmingham as her father, Graham Greene as the tribal governor, and Mackenzie Astin as a nerd love interest whose bleach job and makeup, intended to age him up, proved unexpectedly sexy.
Horror of Dracula (1958)
disgruntled_owl has been writing in this fandom and I wanted to deepen my appreciation of what she's doing. She never needs to be asked twice to (re)watch Peter Cushing movies, especially those that co-star Christopher Lee, so she showed me this one evening. It was a good time, with several 'shippable combinations as well as a random comedic figure in the morgue. Michael Gough, who plays Arthur, looks SO FAMILIAR but I can't tell why even after reading his IMDB page, only that my enjoyment of his face must be related to the reasons I enjoy Noah Taylor's, Bill Irwin's and Otto Sander's.Beezus and Ramona (2010)
Based on the Beverly Cleary book. Wholesome family feelings. Lots of wide blue eyes and cropped brown hair in the tradition of Mara Wilson. I admit: it made me cry. In an indication of my connection to Today's Youth, I did not realize that was Selena Gomez as Beezus until the credits rolled.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) ♥
Huh—people said this was good, and they were right! Totally kooky humor that startled barks of laughter out of me in the same way the Batman Lego movie did. Lots of callbacks. Nice feminist B-plot with a "weather girl" who knows her stuff but has been socialized to play dumb and hide her passions.
ETA: See also the second half of this post, a sort of meta-analysis of reviews like these.
ETA 2: Continued here.
no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 06:59 pm (UTC):P
no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 07:06 pm (UTC)Also, did not realize the author character was Salinger. Awesome.
no subject
Date: Apr. 10th, 2019 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2019 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 10th, 2019 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 11:25 pm (UTC)I hesitate to say it was fun, given the heaviness of some of the plots, but yes, enjoyed! The hazing of the sister's husband that led to the boys being unexpectedly impressed, ha. And everyone's tacit collusion on and acceptance of the unconventional conception plan: <3
When I saw Adam Beach's little fresh face, and then Michael Greyeyes', I paused the movie to double-check the date, and sure enough, Hoopla had mislabeled it by 20 years (as 2014).
>>Have you also seen Smoke Signals?
I did, but more than a decade ago; should watch it again. LOL, so many movies about which we can say Adam Beach deserved more. At least now he's got that charming little romcom on Netflix - have you seen Juanita?
no subject
Date: Apr. 12th, 2019 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 12th, 2019 11:48 pm (UTC)These were great capsule reviews!
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 05:35 pm (UTC)While I'm sure the two-sentence versions, or even the "Native actors looking sexy"
Re: These were great capsule reviews!
Date: Apr. 11th, 2019 11:28 pm (UTC)