I've been meaning to write this post for awhile now, but you know how time can get away from you. Anyway, I want to write about some movies I have seen in the last month or so. Well, not really movies, DVDs. As new movies come out, I read the reviews and decide which ones I am interested in receiving from Netflix. Then I put them in our queue, and, soon after they are released to DVD, they show up in the mailbox.
First is Milk, with Sean Penn, a docudrama about Harvey Milk, a gay elected official who was killed back in the 1970s in San Francisco. Sean Penn did a superb job of acting, but the movie is a not-so-interesting documentary. I got bored in parts of it. I say, see Milk if you are gay, live in San Francisco, or worship Sean Penn.
Next is Rachel Getting Married. I expected this to be a frivolous movie, and was pleasantly surprised to find some depth. It is all about Rachel’s sister Kym (played by Anne Hathaway), who comes out of a rehab facility to attend Rachel’s wedding. Rachel is more than tolerant of Kim’s antics, way beyond what I would be, but because of Kym’s many problems in life, it doesn’t seem too unrealistic. I give this movie a big thumbs up!
Then there is Happy-Go-Lucky. What an unusual film this is – it is British, which may explain a lot. It is about a young woman named Poppy who decides to take driving lessons. Poppy seems like a total ditz, but it turns out that she is an elementary school teacher who shows at least some sense in dealing with her students. Anyway, it is an interesting movie, and I enjoyed it a lot, even though I couldn’t relate in any way to the characters.
Finally, Synecdoche, New York, with Philip Seymour Hoffman. I had periods of understanding the movie between flashes of puzzlement about his marriages and his daughter (and did he have a second daughter with his second wife?). The main character is a playwright who decides to write his own life story as a play, but instead of writing about the past and then stopping, he continues writing about writing the play, and he constantly updates the play to include what is happening in producing the play. It is weird! See it if you have patience with weird; otherwise, maybe not.
The only movie I've seen on your list is Milk and I too though Sean Penn did a great job. Jim started bringing movies home from Redbox faster and cheaper than I could get from Netflix so we canceled our membership. Competition is fierce these days!
ReplyDeleteNot familiar with Redbox, although I see that there is one in a grocery store in Tumwater. Maybe we'll try it out.
ReplyDeleteHi Nan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Milk and can better appreciate the Best Actor win for that performance. Rachael Getting Married is on my list of movies to see next. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it - I've heard good things about it.
Thanks for the sweet note about the kids picture on the trampoline. So far, no injuries. Hoping it stays that way.
We just watched Doubt and were very disappointed. Meryl of course is great but the movie seemed such a waste of time. Did anyone else see it and like it?
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Doubt yet but some friends of mine went to see it in the theater after it first came out and they came back totally disappointed in the movie and the waste of money.
ReplyDeleteI liked Doubt until the end and just thought huh--what are they trying to say? Doubt bonds us all? Great. Still, I like Hoffman and Streep. I also liked Rachel Getting Married except for the excessive music-filled scenes that didn't move the story along. There's been a dearth of truly good films lately (for my tastes.)
ReplyDeleteI watched Doubt last night. Paddy started it with me but gave up fairly early. I thought it was a good movie, especially Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I believe the end was meant to leave the viewers in doubt, which it did. We'll never know what was really going on with the priest. Or with the nun.
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