I’m not sure I’d actually recommend this to anyone who’s not genuinely fascinated by comedy and comedians, but I found this to be a decent watch. Is it that funny? Not really. As with any movie based on a single joke it does start to wear thin after a while, but I do love to hear comedians talk about their craft and so the conceit of having so many comedians dissecting a single joke made for an intriguing insight.
Not too great a movie, to be honest, but I found it reasonably interesting.
Grade: ***
This was good. I maybe wasn’t quite as invested emotionally as I am during the best action movies, but based on the action alone it’s pretty excellent stuff. It’s really reminiscent of the martial arts movies I used to watch as a kid but also kind of modern in how breathless, violent and relentless it is. There’s not a lot in terms of story, but that’s not why I went.
Grade: ****
A girl graduates from college and finds herself living at home, confused and struggling to find herself: I thought I was going to like and connect with this more than I did, but it was still okay. It’s confident and kind of impressive but there were key areas of the movie I couldn’t get into. Aura and her family and friends and her work? Good. Aura and boys? Not so good. And so my interest piqued and fell accordingly.
I saw enough that I’m looking forward to Girls, but I can’t see myself revisiting this.
Grade: ***
There’s kind of an unfair pressure on documentaries to be original. Almost any other genre of film can retread old ground and, presuming it’s written well enough, manage to excite and entertain. But a documentary, even if it’s well-made, will rarely grab you in the same way if you’ve seen something similar before. That was pretty much the case with this. It was decent, but there was no narrative thrust and it didn’t really show me anything I haven’t seen before.
It’s sad all the same - almost any study of war is - but it’s nothing particularly enlightening.
Grade: ***
I thought this was a pretty impressive movie, but the truth is I couldn’t truly enjoy it because everything it’s about is just too alien to me. It’s about these young lovers feeling all these things I’ve never felt and I’m just not equipped to engage with it properly. Mostly it just left me feeling confused as to how and why anyone would put themselves through such drama. But hey, if you think you have the answer to that question, I guess this movie is more for you than me. Enjoy it with your significant other while I sit here wishing I lived alone in the woods.
Grade: ***
Y’know, I thought I’d seen this movie, but there’s no way I could have forgotten that ending if I had. Yikes. That was some real burn-indelibly-into-your-brain type shit. Cool though. And I particularly loved the crazy aunt character. I feel like I want to go around talking like her and annoying people indefinitely. But, no, that simply wouldn’t do, would it? Oh no, it wouldn’t do at all! Oh, and the paedo chef! “Where I come from we call ‘em baldies”. Bleeeuuurgh.
It’s a fun combo of schlock and shock.
Grade: ***
“Two hundred miles per hour and you can barely feel a thing!”
I’m not exactly sure what I thought of this movie, to be honest. I read the book for the first time only a week ago and I think it was the fastest I’ve ever read a novel. It was super compelling, the end of each chapter practically forced me to read on and I genuinely enjoyed it. I think, though, that the breakneck pace which made the novel is kind of what hurts the movie. I won’t know for sure until I see the movie when my memories of the book have faded, but for now it felt like I was having to fill in a lot of the gaps myself. The action, the emotion, the romance: everything buzzes by so fast I don’t think I felt any of it as strongly as I would have liked.
It was still pretty good for a teen-oriented summer action movie, but not much more.
Grade: ***
Spoilery postscript (book and movie)…
I liked this. I can see how some people might not, because at times it’s almost so Cameron Crowe that it borders on self-parody, but I dig those moments. People holding their arms out by their side, adorably precocious children, people making big public declarations about life, relentless cool music: I’m down with it all. And, sure, it does feel like Crowe simply found a project on which he could easily superimpose his style rather than presenting something heartfelt and original, but whatever. I thought it was sweet anyway.
Grade: ***
I don’t have much to say about this that I didn’t say the first time. Mostly while I was watching I wondered how long it will be until I can read the books and have them feel kind of fresh again. I guess a consequence of that ferocious intimacy you build with things as a nerd means it will take quite a while. It’s already been years since I’ve read any of the books and the memories are still too vivid. I look forward to the time when they’re not.
Grade: ***
It’s not the most cinematic affair and the two lead impersonations were slightly distracting throughout, but I enjoyed watching this. I watched it after hearing about it on the Nerdist podcast with Conan O’Brien and, in the context of all that drama with him and The Tonight Show the other year, this made for pretty compelling viewing.
Grade: ***
