Author: Ga2so

  • Retro Movie Pass Adventures: Sidewalk Stories (1989)

    Sidewalk Stories movie bar

    All I knew about this movie before I saw it was that it was in black and white. It turns out it’s a modern (well, 35 years ago “modern”) retelling of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid.” It’s the kind of movie where a homeless artist witnesses a murder, takes home the toddler daughter of the victim and raises it while looking for the mom, and everyone’s cool with it. It works better if you pretend it was made in 1939 instead of 1989.

    Also: there’s a brief bit with a couple making out in a horse drawn carriage. It’s Edie Falco’s third acting credit.

  • Hey- a bike video!

  • Movie Pass Adventures: Babes and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

    Two movies in a day!

    Babes

    Babes movie bar

    You know how old low-budget R-rated sex comedies like to show boobs really early so you’ll spend the rest of the movie anticipating more? Babes does the same thing with raunchy language. Sure, it’s never puritanical, but it sure felt like the bulk of the naughty talk happens in the first fifteen minutes. The Required Meaningful Moments fall a little flat, but the funny stuff is strong enough to support the weak bits.

    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

    Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes movie bar

    I was going to try and write a bunch of monkey puns, but it’s late and I should be asleep so you get two or three flat sentences that will do the required job without being offensive, but also without much to make them interesting. Which it turns out is a pretty good way to describe this film; no monkey business in this monkey business.

  • Movie Pass Adventures: I Saw The TV Glow

    This movie was creepy, but it would have been much creepier if I knew nothing about it going in. Too many surprises are given away in the trailer. Not all of them, but too many. Even with the spoilers I was unnerved enough that I walked a little faster than normal through the silent parking garage and locked my door as soon as I got in my car.

    And an entirely different creepy thing: the last two times I’ve gone to the movies by myself, I bought my ticket ahead of time and went out of my way to sit with space on either side. Then, right before the movie started, with a hundred empty seats to choose from, some random dude picks the seat right next to me. Come on, dude- let me have some space!

  • Movie Pass Adventures: Challengers

    Challengers movie par

    Do you like sweaty people? Thumping music? Different points in time marked by Zendaya’s haircuts? Balls (type: tennis)? Then I’ve got a movie for you!

    Also: I’m not a fan of exposition dump scenes, but I really needed someone to tell my non-sports brain the rules of tennis.

  • Movie Pass Adventures: Evil Does Not Exist

    Evil Does Not Exist movie bar

    I had a hard time slowing down enough to appreciate this movie. I’m also having a hard time figuring out how to describe it without making it sound like a horror film. It’s a meditation on humanity’s connection with and responsibility to nature seen through a small village and a proposed glamping site. Go when you’re in a more contemplative mood and ready to bask in long quiet scenes of of passing trees and chopping wood- but also be ready for some unexpected turns.

    Also: It’s in Japanese with subtitles, but it isn’t exactly dialogue-heavy.

  • Movie Pass Adventures: The Fall Guy

    Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy

    I expected a movie about a stunt guy directed by a stunt guy to be full of stunts, but there’s a lot more to enjoy here. The mystery plot isn’t much more than what you would have seen on the TV show that this is loosely based on, but that’s not important. What’s important: Gosling & Blunt have great chemistry, the depiction of the movie industry feels wildly cartoonish yet somehow believable, and most importantly the stunts are a blast. The end credits are what every stunt man movie needs: an eighties-Burt-Reynolds-movie style flashback of behind the scenes shots showing the real stunts behind the movie stunts. There’s also a mid-credits scene that’s exactly what you expect. I saw it in IMAX for maximum explodey goodness. Thumbs up!

  • Movie Pass Adventures: We Grown Now

    I really wanted to like this movie more. The lead kids have tons of charm, and their performances carry real weight when they aren’t trying to make the dialogue work. It’s not just them; the rest of the cast has to deal with the same problems. Add in some saccharine music and the whole thing falls apart. Even the color grading seems off, way more amber colored than the trailer.

    By the way, I seem to be in the minority on this one. It has really strong critic and audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and a pretty strong showing on Metacritic.

  • Movie Pass Adventures- Double Dunst, Day 2: Spider-Man 2

    My brother and I saw the original 2002 Spider-Man movie in a theater last week, and it was great to see it with an audience. This week we went to Spider-Man 2, and the audience… sucked. Look, I know James Franco has been exposed as a less than stellar human, and I know his part is mighty melodramatic, but that doesn’t mean you should laugh every time he appears. Stay with the movie, people! I should have gone to the Alamo Drafthouse instead; audiences there are rarely jerks.

    Rosemary Harris is the Aunt Mayest of Aunt Mays. Her Aunt May is also mighty strong: she hangs from an umbrella off the side of a build for nearly two minutes! I couldn’t do that.

  • Alamo Drafthouse plays some wild stuff.

    A poster for "Alamo Mind Cinema" featuring images and titles of multiple imaginary movies, including Chubby Rain, Simple Jack, Satan's Alley, and Da Derp Dee Derp Da Teetley Derpee Derpee Dumb

    Update:

    Someone pointed out that a movie called “Bitter Harvest” was actually made a few years ago. If you want your poster of imaginary movies to avoid having real counterparts, steal this version instead:

    A poster for "Alamo Mind Cinema" featuring images and titles of multiple imaginary movies, including Chubby Rain, Simple Jack, Satan's Alley, and Da Derp Dee Derp Da Teetley Derpee Derpee Dumb. Bitter Harvest has been replaced by Habeas Corpus.
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