The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Stiller knocked this out of the park with gorgeous direction & a heartfelt story. Lovely. Bonus treat - I don't think Stiller's ever looked this good, not even in "Zoolander". 4/5

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on Netflix

Bad Country

This hokey thriller had such poor direction it stifled the plot - this would have been a great southern gothic. 2.5/5

Bad Country on Netflix

World War Z

I don't know the book, but the plot was implausible but the action was good in this zombie apocalyptic horror. 3/5

World War Z on Netflix

Before Midnight

I loved "Sunrise" but have strongly disliked most things about "Sunset" & now "Midnight". I don't get the adoration. 3/5

Before Midnight on Netflix

Some Velvet Morning

LaBute is back with this gorgeously twisted drama that features amazing acting by Tucci & Eve. Marvelous. 4/5

Some Velvet Morning on Netflix

EDtv

An extraordinarily average script with extraordinarily amazing actors. An odd dichotomy - the actors deserved more meat. 3/5

EDtv on Netflix

Pompeii

For disaster porn it's adequate but it could have been much more - woeful casting & very light on plot, just okay. 3/5

Pompeii on Netflix

Kick Ass 2

A very solid sequel to the original, which I admit I don't remember well. Good action & fun to watch. For the record, I had no idea that was Jim Carrey until I started to input my review to my site, so DAYUM. 4/5

Kick Ass 2 on Netflix

Dinner for Schmucks

Surprisingly faithful to the French original, this remake is more absurdist with a blah end but still good. 3/5

Dinner for Schmucks on Netflix

Closed Circuit

A solid action/crime thriller with solid acting by Hall and Bana, although the ending was unfulfilling. 3.5/5

Closed Circuit on Netflix

Last Night

This amorphic indie end of the world drama was engaging & interesting but not quite believable. Good concept. 3.5/5

Last Night on Netflix

Milwaukee, Minnesota

This indie dramedy had a good premise but such abysmal acting it was honestly hard to watch. Not good. 2.5/5

Milwaukee, Minnesota on Netflix

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

This latest installment of the Ryan franchise was solid action with good acting - enjoyable. 4/5

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit on Netflix

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks

A comprehensive, well directed & reasonably well balanced documentary on Wikileaks, Assange & Manning. 4/5

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks on Netflix

August: Osage County

This is a powerhouse of acting, just amazing performances. Should have been nominated for best picture. 4.5/5

August: Osage County on Netflix

Tim's Vermeer

OH WOW. This movie should be required viewing for all lovers of art. I'd say that was theory proved! 5/5

Tim's Vermeer on Netflix

Her

A perfectly brilliant & poignant film wonderfully acted by Phoenix. It just needed some editing to make it perfect. 4.5/5

Her on Netflix

Small Time

A solid indie drama with good performances & a simple yet strong story, but more detail would have been nice. 3/5

Small Time on Netflix

Zero Charisma

This indie comedy had the potential to get very dark & I wish they had gone for it in the end. Good, not great. 3/5

Zero Charisma on Netflix

Resolution

I don't know how to describe what I just watched. It's billed as a horror film, but it doesn't fit into any part of the horror mold that I can ascertain. I would call it a psych thriller, but that isn't right either. What I know is that it scared the hell out of me, I'm not going to sleep well tonight (or probably tomorrow as well), I have a lot to think about, and the ending of this film is really, really incredible and daring and wonderful. If you like your horror with scares and action and effects, this is not for you. If you want to really know what you saw, this is not for you. If watching two people in a room bores you, this is not for you. But if you want to be challenged, to think for yourself, and to come away from something still unsure of what you saw... RENT THIS FILM. I don't know what I saw, but I know I loved it. 4.5/5

Resolution on Netflix

Gamer

The natural evolution of Running Man, this action flick is smart, stylish & well acted. I don't get the negative reviews. 4/5

Gamer on Netflix

Philomena

This Frears drama is beautiful, poignant & emotional with wonderful acting, but Best Picture worthy it's not. Don't get me wrong - it's a fantastic film. But I expect a level of immortality in a nominee & I don't think Philomena had it. 4/5

Philomena on Netflix

The Motel Life

The acting by Hirsch & Dorff is excellent but the plot thready & uneven - I needed to understand more. 3/5

The Motel Life on Netflix

Becoming Chaz

This insightful documentary pulls no punches in its subject matter & paints a true portrait of its subject. 4/5

Becoming Chaz on Netflix

Black Butterflies

This biopic of Ingrid Jonker is beautifully acted by van Houten but I wished for more details on her life. 3.5/5

Black Butterflies on Netflix

Five Favorites - "Five Most Overrated Films of All Time"

Donna: Welcome to another edition of "Five Favorites" with myself and Mike Siegel! This month we're straying from our favorites format to tackle a different sort of list - what we think are the "Five Most Overrated Films of All Time". We wanted to look at films that are revered or considered truly great cinema, and yet seem to us to be either fundamentally flawed or just plain bad. Our inclusion criteria for this list was that the films in question had to be either on the AFI Top 100 list, a best picture nominee or winner, or on the IMDB top 250. In other words, we only wanted to consider films that have been truly lauded as landmark, important, or extremely popular.

For myself this was a difficult task. Because I haven't seen a lot of classic cinema or recent popular films, I found that I had seen maybe seen fifty percent or less of the movies on each inclusion list. On one hand this made my selection easier as I simply had less to work with, but on the other I feel Mike will have a far more comprehensive list than I will because of my lack of knowledge in this area. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't simply picking movies I didn't like. Quite honestly there are plenty of movies I just don't like on these lists - "2001: A Space Odyssey", "A Few Dollars More" or "V for Vendetta" are good examples. But I can recognize that all those films have true goodness and even genius in them, even if I don't enjoy them. It was important to me to only pick films I felt were either truly flawed or ones that defied my every attempt at understanding why they are so loved. In the end, yes, whether or not I liked a film was part of the equation, but I did my best not to make it a popularity contest.

Mike: My approach was identical, although I’m probably not as versed in classic cinema as Donna likes to think! J I’ve already done a long series of posts on my own site where I went through the Oscar Winners one at a time to see which ones were bad. So I excluded Best Pictures from that list. One tweak I put in was to recommend better movies, when I could think of them. I also, like Donna, left off movies that I think are over-rated but where I can see why people like them, such as “Donnie Darko” or “A Christmas Story” or “Forrest Gump”. I found that a number of my picks were stand-ins for general categories of movies I think are over-rated.  You’ll see what I mean when we get there.

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Donna's #5: "The Green Mile" - At the time of writing, this film was #45 on the IMDB's Top 250 list, and I have never ever understood why this film was so loved. I know I am treading on somewhat sacred ground for putting this on my list, but hear me out. I read "The Green Mile" books when they came out - I think most every fan of King did given that these were his first releases after a long spell of silence. I adored the books and have always thought that the detail of them was their genius - it was possible to live in and fully understand the world Kind created in this tale. Most importantly, there was a "why" for everything. Nothing happened in these books for no reason - King always gave us a "why" for each and every moment. When I saw the film, I was angered beyond belief at it, as was my husband, so much so that we had to keep pausing the film to yell and complain about it. Why? Because all that precious detail, all the "whys" that made the book so believable, was missing from the film. Now, I realize that most book-to-film adaptations suffer from a loss of detail, but in this case I feel that loss is egregious. The "why" for nearly everything that happened in the film was omitted, and without that "why" the film made little to no sense. In the world of the film, there was simply no reason given for most of what took place, and that, for me, destroyed the integrity of the story. I would start a list of examples but honestly I would be here all day. The only reason I felt I could even follow the film was that I was filling in the missing details from my reading of the books. I believe that is why most people don't notice how many things have been stricken from the film - they remember the books too well. Without those books this film would have no context or rationale to it, and that is why I feel it is one of the most overrated films of all time. I could go on, but I won't - I've ranted enough as it is I think.

Mike’s #5: “Rope” – Regarded as a marginal classic, rated #242 on IMDB and praised effusively for inventive technique of using long unbroken takes, I find this film to be over-rated like a lot of Hitch’s early stuff. I haven’t seen it since college, when I reviewed it for the Carletonian. But I found the characters to be wooden, the suspense to be a bit trite and Stewart’s character to a bit of a snotty professor type.  It’s not a bad movie and I would recommend seeing it.  But IMDB gives it an 8.0 and many critics give it four stars.  I’d say it’s a 6 at best.  Stick to the meat of the Hitchcock cannon.

Donna's #4: "Hachi: A Dog's Tale" - At the time of writing, this film was #189 on the IMDB Top 250 list, and this entry on my list probably needs far less explanation than  my last. I mean... seriously? "Hachi"? Sure, it's a cute enough movie. It's sweet and sappy and sentimental and based on a true story, so I get that people enjoy it. But a Top 250 movie? Not a chance. It just isn't good enough in any way. The acting is stiff, the plot overly saccharine, the directing absolutely average. In fact, "average" is probably the best way to describe this film - there is simply nothing extraordinary about it. So why is this film so beloved? It's honestly beyond me. If you want to watch a tearjearker animal move, why not "Black Beauty", "Old Yeller" or "Lassie Comes Home" - they are all superior films and will certainly make you cry. I simply have never understood why this film seems to hit people as hard as it does, and I certainly cannot understand how it wound up on the IMDB Top 250 list, so I am including it as my #4 pick.

Mike’s #4: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” - This is another pick that isn’t a bad movie, per se. It’s been 20 years since I watched it and I probably should watch it again.  But it’s status as a classic (on the AFI and IMDB lists) is unmerited.  It drags in the later parts and I didn’t care for the characters. This is representative of a class of movies from the 60’s and 70’s that are badly over-rated.  Movies like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Six Easy Pieces” and “The Graduate” are frequently over-rated because, in their day, they were revolutionary.  Now that the language of cinema has evolved, they’re still good, but not amazing. “Butch Cassidy” is not bad and IMDB gives it a sterling 8.1 rating. I just don’t think it’s that good. I’d give it a 6, maybe. You’d be much better off watching The Man With No Name trilogy, which is truly great.

Donna's #3: "Bringing Up Baby" - This film appears at #88 on the AFI's Top 100 of all time list, and I know I'm not alone in not understanding the appeal of this movie. This film has divided audiences from the start. Some think it a hilarious and side-splitting romp, while others find it contrived, unbelievable, silly and inane. I'm solidly in the latter camp - I disliked this film immensely. I didn't enjoy the comedy, I hated the acting, and I found the whole setup ridiculous and cringe-worthy. I do not understand what about this film is appealing or funny, I really don't. And it's because I, like so many others, just cannot understand the appeal, I have to put this on my list.

Mike’s #3: “Django Unchained” - #51 on IMDB and regarded by many as the best film of 2012, this is really a stand-in for over-rated Quentin Tarantino films in general. “Reservoir Dogs” is good; it’s not a classic. “Pulp Fiction” might be great. “Kill Bill” is a great 150 minute film squeezed into four hours. “Ingorious Basterds” is a great two hour film squeezed into 150 minutes.  And “Django Unchained” is a great two hour film squeezed into 165. It pains me to write this because Tarantino has a very real talent and an extraordinary feel for the language of film. His dialogue is fantastic, his characters memorable and the look of his films is amazing. In every film, there are at least a half dozen shots that make me say, “Wow, that’s great cinema.”  But he badly needs an editor. If his last three films were each about half an hour shorter, I would regard them as classics, rather than bloated. The line between classic and over-rated can often come down to editing.  (There are a lot of recent films you could throw into the pile of “awesome if half an hour shorter”, including both Hobbit movies and the Dark Knight Rises.)

Donna's #2: "Duck Soup" - This film appears at #60 on the AFI Top 100 list, and again I realize I may be ruffling feathers with this pick. But, honestly, I cannot stand this film, nor can I even begin to understand the appeal of it to anyone. When I started trying to watch more classic films I saw how highly this movie was regarded. I has a vague memory of not enjoying the Marx Brothers as a child, but gladly rented this to see what it was all about. I hated it so very much I could barely finish it. It was the single most inane and insufferable film I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot. I seriously do not understand how this film is funny for anyone, I really really don't. I grant I'm not a slapstick, screwball comedy fan, but I can appreciate pretty much anything in one way or another. Not this. Never this. I don't get it and likely never will. I grant that this film is landing at my #2 spot due to a sheer hatred of it more than a quality issue, but that's how strong my dislike for it is.

Mike’s #2: “Birth of a Nation” This was originally on the AFI list but was eventually removed in favor of Griffith’s “Intolerance” likely because the voters became uncomfortable with the racism apparent in the film. It seems odd to compare this to Butch Cassidy above but it’s in a similar boat.  The methods and techniques it invented were revolutionary; but they don’t stun the senses as much almost a century later. What we’re left with is a film that glories the antebellum south and the Klan. Defenders will tell you to put aside the racism and admire the technique.  But it’s difficult to put aside the racism, especially when the technique is no longer that revolutionary. If you want a silent classic, Griffith’s “Intolerance” and “Broken Blossoms” are much better. And “Wings” has all the beauty of a silent epic and the captivating Clara Bow.

Donna's #1: "Easy Rider" - This film appears at #84 on the AFI Top 100 list, and I have long felt this must be the most overrated film of all time. This film is loved and revered by so many and I have never understood why. What happens in this film? What plot actually exists here? If someone knows please tell me as I still have no idea. Fully half of this movie is long shots of Fonda and Hopper riding motorcycles, which simply bored me to tears. The acting was nonexistent, the directing ridiculous, the plot absent. Why is this a cinematic masterpiece? For what reasons? There is nothing here of value in my opinion, and I just don't see how it got included in the AFI list. Considering I generally like films with very little plot you'd think I'd love this, but it just annoys me to no end. Putting this film at the top of my list was a no-brainer to me.

Mike’s #1: “Easy Rider” - Honestly, Donna and I did not coordinate our answers on this!  But I agree with everything she says and then some.  One of the first negative reviews I wrote back in my college days was of Easy Rider.  And it has not improved with age.  It barely has a plot.  The symbolism, such as it is, is obvious (I could see Fonda was the Christ figure about 18 seconds in).  The fates of the characters is not foreshadowed at all but just occurs randomly (and I didn’t care anyway).  It glorifies dim-bulb hippie “culture”.  The LSD sequence set the stage for every incomprehensible drug montage to come.  The film is frequently praised as “revolutionary” and “ground-breaking” – like just about all the films in my list.  But the difference that elevates it to #1 is that the ground it broke was almost everything that went wrong with film for the next ten years.  I really can’t understand why this movie is so well-regarded other than people’s misguided fascination with the lifestyle depicted. (Interestingly, IMDB does not regard this as a classic, giving it a 7.4 rating — good but not great.  I would say even that was over-rating. I’d give it a 4 or a 5.)  The soundtrack is OK, I guess.  But I mostly watched this movie with a look on my face saying, “Really?”

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Thanks for joining us again for another edition of "Five Favorites" and we'll see you all next month!

 

Daybreakers

Another interesting sci-fi idea, like "I, Frankenstein", that I never thought of. Well acted & executed. 3/5

Daybreakers on Netflix