Monday, August 31, 2015

Two Days, One Night

This French drama is so intriguing & subtle, it really makes you think about morality & reality. Bravo! 4/5

Two Days, One Night on Netflix

Sunday, August 30, 2015

nbt: Never Been Thawed

This mockumentary is genuinely funny & different with interesting characters & irreverent humor. 4/5

nbt: Never Been Thawed on Netflix

Friday, August 28, 2015

The Trip to Italy

As a huge fan of British comedy, I am extremely familiar with the works of both Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. I felt "The Trip" captured these two wonderfully and I found the whole film charming, funny, and a poignant insight into their characters. But that magic I felt in the first film is strangely absent in this sequel. Gone were the long sequences of obviously ad-libbed scenes where the two gifted actors just riffed off each other, replaced instead by too much script and rehearsed moments. I also felt the actions of Brydon's character were in direct violation with what we know of him from the first film. I do acknowledge that there were attempts to deal with this breach of character, but not enough to repair the damage in my eyes. On the whole this film felt forced where the original felt fresh and vibrant. If I'd not seen the first film this might have fared better with me, but as it is, it feels stale and not representative of what these two can really do together. 3/5

The Trip to Italy on Netflix

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

CITIZENFOUR

Regardless of your views on Snowden, this documentary was fascinating and chilling to watch. Interesting. 4/5

CITIZENFOUR on Netflix

Friday, August 21, 2015

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Strangerland

Kidman is wonderful in this tense drama that offers no easy answers. The ending was brave, I liked this film. 3.5/5

Strangerland on Netflix

Monday, August 17, 2015

Last Weekend

I kept expecting the plot of this drama to go somewhere, anywhere, but it just didn't. A non-eventful film. 3/5

Last Weekend on Netflix

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Entrance

This thriller has an achingly slow & understated build, so when the last 20 minutes hit, they hit HARD. By the way, after viewing, I think the title of this film would not be pronounced "EN-trance" but rather "en-TRANCE", as in hypnotic. Intriguing film. 3.5/5

Entrance on Netflix

Soaked in Bleach

I still vividly remember the day we heard Kurt Cobain killed himself. I was shocked and spent most of that days and the days following in tears. I remember hearing Courtney read the note on TV, the vigils, and the copycat suicides all over the world. In the weeks that followed Kurt's death, I grew more and more suspicious that Kurt's death was in fact a suicide. It just seemed incredibly weird to me, the details and timelines never made sense, but I never had enough information to be more than suspicious. Well, that and the fact that I know enough about Courtney Love to believe she was capable of anything. After watching this film, I feel almost convinced Kurt Cobain was murdered. I wish that it was possible to reopen the investigation, but my guess is we'll never have the evidence from that day to ever know for sure. This documentary lays a lot of the facts for murder out, including damning recordings from Love and Frances Bean's godmother that are just awful to hear. Kurt, wherever you are, I wish you peace. 4/5

Soaked in Bleach on Netflix

Thursday, August 13, 2015

McCanick

I found the structure of this film to be quite confusing but David Morse was excellent as was Cory Monteith. I just read a review on Netflix that said that there was no transitional cue to indicate the flashback sequences - that's spot on. I spent most of the movie confused about when this section of story occurred. 3/5

McCanick on Netflix

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Bird People

The first half of this was intriguing & well done. The second was incomprehensible & vapid. Way to kill a film! 2/5

Bird People on Netflix

Monday, August 10, 2015

Love Streams

This overly long sappy drama featured characters I hated doing things that made no sense. Really disliked this 1.5/5

Love Streams on Netflix

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Days and Nights

I think had I not seen a spectacular version of "The Seagull" just last summer I might have felt a bit lost in this. I knew the story and I thought the adaptation was brilliantly handled. The acting was stellar throughout and I thought the carefully slow pacing was just right. My only problem was with the ending, as the filmmaker did not make clear to whom the final scenes occur. Since I know the story I have a good guess, but without more clarity there I feel the film lost a star. 4/5

Days and Nights on Netflix

Friday, August 7, 2015

Children of Invention

With this plot this film should have been much darker - too cutesy & lighthearted for my taste. 2.5/5

Children of Invention on Netflix

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

The Pact

There was so much missing information from this film that it's full of plot holes. Hokey & badly acted as well. 2/5

The Pact on Netflix

Saturday, August 1, 2015