Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters
from real noirs appear as scenes from various films are intercut.
Writers:
Stars:
From S.O's collection, watched together.
I always enjoy Steve Martin's silliness and it was nice to see how they creatively paid homage and poked fun to the detective genre and old Hollywood legends. If I were a better film studies student, I would have been able to identify the actors and movies without the end credits, but alas, it's been a while. If you aren't familiar with Old Hollywood or the actors, or the detective genre, this movie might go over your head a bit, but you'll still enjoy all the site gags and jokes. P.S. After watching the trailer, I remember that we kept saying "Cleaning Woman!" the rest of the weekend. Haha.
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Marwencol (2010)
After a vicious attacks leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark
Hogancamp seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era
town he creates in his backyard.
Director:
Rented from library, watched sola.
This was a great documentary. It really takes the viewer into Mark's world. It's really an interesting way how he was able to give himself some hope and a new life after he was beaten. He's very creative and it was great for me as a writer to see his story unfold both in real life and in his created outlet of Marwencol. Definitely a great find.
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In the Garden of Sounds (2009)
"Nel giardino dei suoni" (original title)
Director:
Deprived of his sight at an early age, Wolfgang Fasser turns to his ears for access to a world he once feared would be closed off forever. Awed by the restorative powers of sound, Fasser established a physical therapy retreat for disabled children where they use music and noise to communicate with others and gain control of their own bodies. As they embrace the physicality of sonic vibrations, the children's bodies slowly begin to move in harmony with the world around them. - See more at: http://omaha.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1509921060_in_the_garden_of_sounds#sthash.l1NfRAqw.dpuf
Rented from library. Watched with my mother, a piano/voice teacher.
I actually saw the trailer for this while watching the previous movie and thought it looked interesting. Music really does have healing properties and it was very cool how Wolfgang was able to use it to bring about change in those with developmental disabilities. When he continued working with one of the girls, at the end you could tell her mental capacity exceeded that of her body. She seemed intelligent and as if she was trapped in her body but Wolfgang, in his infinite patience with all the students, helped her develop and it was really great to see. The film really makes you take stock of your blessings. The trailer is subtitled German but the DVD actually has English subtitles, so no worries.
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Deprived
of his sight at an early age, Wolfgang Fasser turns to his ears for
access to a world he once feared would be closed off forever. Awed by
the restorative powers of sound, Fasser established a physical therapy
retreat for disabled children where they use music and noise to
communicate with others and gain control of their own bodies. As they
embrace the physicality of sonic vibrations, the children's bodies
slowly begin to move in harmony with the world around them.
- See more at:
http://omaha.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1509921060_in_the_garden_of_sounds#sthash.l1NfRAqw.dpuf
Identity Thief (2013)
Mild-mannered businessman Sandy Patterson travels from Denver to Florida
to confront the deceptively harmless-looking woman who has been living
it up after stealing Sandy's identity.
Director:
Seth Gordon
Writers:Seth Gordon
Stars:
Jason Bateman,
Melissa McCarthy,
John Cho |
See full cast and crew »
Rented from library, watched sola.
This movie was too long and I didn't really care for it. I think that might be because it tries to get us to feel bad for someone who really messes up people's life/credit score... and I didn't want to feel sympathy for a person like that. And the fact that she kept getting hit by vehicles and could just shake it off... that was dumb. And the stuff she said at the end to the kids? Parents would have cut her off before that. Everything in here was done for laughs. Sometimes that worked, but overall, not so much. I like the actors though, if that helps.
Stars:
Rented from library, watched sola.
This movie was too long and I didn't really care for it. I think that might be because it tries to get us to feel bad for someone who really messes up people's life/credit score... and I didn't want to feel sympathy for a person like that. And the fact that she kept getting hit by vehicles and could just shake it off... that was dumb. And the stuff she said at the end to the kids? Parents would have cut her off before that. Everything in here was done for laughs. Sometimes that worked, but overall, not so much. I like the actors though, if that helps.
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Cutie and the Boxer (2013)
This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of
famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to
shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an
identity of her own.
Director:
Zachary Heinzerling
Writer:
Zachary Heinzerling
Stars:Zachary Heinzerling
Ushio Shinohara,
Noriko Shinohara,
Alex Shinohara |
See full cast and crew »
Rented from library (at suggestion of S.O.) watched with S.O.
It's no wonder this film was nominated for an Oscar. It does a great job at showing the tumultuous relationship between these two artists. One really got to see their personalities and see a bit of the struggles of artists, even those with relative fame. Definitely should watch this film.
Rented from library (at suggestion of S.O.) watched with S.O.
It's no wonder this film was nominated for an Oscar. It does a great job at showing the tumultuous relationship between these two artists. One really got to see their personalities and see a bit of the struggles of artists, even those with relative fame. Definitely should watch this film.
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Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the
system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is
himself diagnosed with the disease.
Director:
Jean-Marc Vallée
From collection of and watched with S.O.
This film is astounding and it's no wonder it has so many wins and nominations. The amount of physical and emotional dedication of McConaughey and Leto is incredible. It was painful to watch but really brought the full impact of the true story home. It was a reminder at the unethical business practices that exist in the medical field and government regulation. My S.O. and I are both screenwriters so we like to identify the certain moments in a story, like "dark moment of the soul" but this whole movie was so fraught with realistic heartbreak that the punches kept on coming. Definitely a heavy film to watch, but it is very much a great movie.
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Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light American Masters: Season 10, Episode 3 (24 Jan. 1996)
Director:
Helen Whitney
Writer:
Helen Whitney
Stars:Helen Whitney
Richard Avedon,
John Lahr,
Mike Nichols |
See full cast and crew »
Rented from library. Watched sola/with S.O.
This was another 'artist film' (like above Cutie and the Boxer) but this one managed to showcase a bit more the pretentiousness of the art world (some present in Cutie too), specifically the critics, those who talk about the profoundness of another's art. It makes their praise ring hollow and silly to hear them praise Avedon so highly. Make no mistake, Avedon's photos are iconic and specially crafted; he knows how to elicit emotions from his subjects to get the desired effects, and sometimes in a less than kind manner. You could tell though, that the photos DO have impact; several people in his photos, or related to someone in the photos, were able to provide truth of the effect it had on them to see the photos. I was glad that the soundbytes of people talking about Avdeon were overlapped soundbytes without seeing them because it saved time on identifying the speaker and helped to get the point across while providing us with more important visuals. Most of it was redundant praise, so it wasn't necessary to see the speaker. It was a great chance to see how lucky Avedon was and that he does of course have the vision and talent they say he does. It was cool to see with whom he has worked and the person responsible for some very iconic images.
WATCH FULL MOVIE BELOW:
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Rented from library. Watched sola/with S.O.
This was another 'artist film' (like above Cutie and the Boxer) but this one managed to showcase a bit more the pretentiousness of the art world (some present in Cutie too), specifically the critics, those who talk about the profoundness of another's art. It makes their praise ring hollow and silly to hear them praise Avedon so highly. Make no mistake, Avedon's photos are iconic and specially crafted; he knows how to elicit emotions from his subjects to get the desired effects, and sometimes in a less than kind manner. You could tell though, that the photos DO have impact; several people in his photos, or related to someone in the photos, were able to provide truth of the effect it had on them to see the photos. I was glad that the soundbytes of people talking about Avdeon were overlapped soundbytes without seeing them because it saved time on identifying the speaker and helped to get the point across while providing us with more important visuals. Most of it was redundant praise, so it wasn't necessary to see the speaker. It was a great chance to see how lucky Avedon was and that he does of course have the vision and talent they say he does. It was cool to see with whom he has worked and the person responsible for some very iconic images.
WATCH FULL MOVIE BELOW:
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Angel-A (2005)
A beautiful woman helps an inept scam artist get his game together.
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Rented from library. Watched sola.
This movie is a bit of a surprise coming from the same man that did Léon: The Professional (1994) but I guess every artist is multi-faceted. It was funny to see the disparity in height between the two actors (which was intended of course). I don't think I really liked the ending and actually wasn't happy with some of the aspects in the film because our main character mainly relied on the actions of his counterpart and didn't seem to grow in that regard. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy the film. I think it was a fresh take and actually I had an idea for something similar... I might watch it again.
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Frozen (2013)
Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey,
encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf
in a race to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the
kingdom in eternal winter.
Writers:
Jennifer Lee (screenplay), Hans Christian Andersen (inspired by the story "The Snow Queen" by), 3 more credits »
Stars:Jennifer Lee (screenplay), Hans Christian Andersen (inspired by the story "The Snow Queen" by), 3 more credits »
Kristen Bell,
Josh Gad,
Idina Menzel |
See full cast and crew »
Watched in theater (gasp! But it was $5 night so of course); watched with 3 co-workers (and the rest of the audience)
I really enjoyed this film because it turned some fairy tale/kids' movies stereotypes on their heads, which I assume is because a female writer/director had her hand in it ;) That made it quite refreshing. My companions LOVED the sidekicks of Olaf and Sven. I thought they were okay, a little goofy and convenient, but I guess that's what sidekicks are for. I had heard a LOT of good things about this movie but was a little foggy about who it was really about. I thought it was gonna be like Wicked on ice or something. lol. The songs got to be a little much at times. At the beginning, it seemed like everything was being sung, and I'm glad that kind of petered out a little bit. Okay, SPOILER TIME: I was really glad the movie was about sisters more so than finding a man. Including the line from a man "You can't marry someone you just met". THANK YOU, DISNEY, for coming THAT much closer in touch with reality! haha. I really liked how the act of love had to come from the main character herself instead of something happening TO her. She was more active that way. Although the females were still unrealistically skinny and there were no non-white characters that I can remember, so that's kind of lame. And yes, I was singing "Let It Goooooo" after the film ended. And the next day. :)
Watched in theater (gasp! But it was $5 night so of course); watched with 3 co-workers (and the rest of the audience)
I really enjoyed this film because it turned some fairy tale/kids' movies stereotypes on their heads, which I assume is because a female writer/director had her hand in it ;) That made it quite refreshing. My companions LOVED the sidekicks of Olaf and Sven. I thought they were okay, a little goofy and convenient, but I guess that's what sidekicks are for. I had heard a LOT of good things about this movie but was a little foggy about who it was really about. I thought it was gonna be like Wicked on ice or something. lol. The songs got to be a little much at times. At the beginning, it seemed like everything was being sung, and I'm glad that kind of petered out a little bit. Okay, SPOILER TIME: I was really glad the movie was about sisters more so than finding a man. Including the line from a man "You can't marry someone you just met". THANK YOU, DISNEY, for coming THAT much closer in touch with reality! haha. I really liked how the act of love had to come from the main character herself instead of something happening TO her. She was more active that way. Although the females were still unrealistically skinny and there were no non-white characters that I can remember, so that's kind of lame. And yes, I was singing "Let It Goooooo" after the film ended. And the next day. :)
Deprived
of his sight at an early age, Wolfgang Fasser turns to his ears for
access to a world he once feared would be closed off forever. Awed by
the restorative powers of sound, Fasser established a physical therapy
retreat for disabled children where they use music and noise to
communicate with others and gain control of their own bodies. As they
embrace the physicality of sonic vibrations, the children's bodies
slowly begin to move in harmony with the world around them. - See more
at:
http://omaha.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1509921060_in_the_garden_of_sounds#sthash.l1NfRAqw.dpuf
Deprived
of his sight at an early age, Wolfgang Fasser turns to his ears for
access to a world he once feared would be closed off forever. Awed by
the restorative powers of sound, Fasser established a physical therapy
retreat for disabled children where they use music and noise to
communicate with others and gain control of their own bodies. As they
embrace the physicality of sonic vibrations, the children's bodies
slowly begin to move in harmony with the world around them. - See more
at:
http://omaha.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1509921060_in_the_garden_of_sounds#sthash.l1NfRAqw.dpuf
