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Movies from The Nutshell (1 Viewer)

JohnRice

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I've been wanting to start a thread with short reviews (and discussion, if anyone wants to chime in) of some of the movies I watch.

My viewing tastes seem to be a little different from most others here, and I wanted to shed some light on the lesser viewed movies I tend to see.

I know a lot of people have a name for their home theater, and mine is "The Nutshell", derived from one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes, from Hamlet.

"I could be bounded in a nutshell,
and count myself a king of infinite space,
were it not that I have bad dreams."


I rarely watch old movies. Besides, Robert Crawford already has a long-running thread that is an excellent source in that area. I tend to focus on lesser-known movies, mainly from the 21st century.
 

JohnRice

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I'll start off with Martha Marcy May Marlene, the 2011 movie that introduced Elizabeth Olsen in her first movie role.

Olsen portrays Martha, a woman who reappears after a two year disappearance during which she lived in a Catskills commune led by the charismatic and malevolent Patrick, portrayed by John Hawkes in one of his many excellent roles. Martha's mind has come away from the experience rather fractured and suffering from the inability to separate present and past. The film is presented from her POV, so the audience is taken on the same disorienting existence Martha experiences, where events are often blended into a baffling montage.

The result is extremely effective, but also the reason many viewers will find the movie infuriating. On first viewing, I was left suitably confused, but on the second viewing, understanding better that was going on, the storyline fell perfectly into place. The reactions of her sister and brother in law (Sarah Paulson & Hugh Dancy), while being understandable, are a perfect example of how difficult a task Martha has ahead of her to find any type of functional life.

This is impeccably written, directed and acted, on all fronts. Impactful, dramatic filmmaking at its best, even if it is extremely difficult to follow the first time through. Of course, that's the point. Don't expect an impeccable visual presentation, though. Contrast is often extremely flat, with drab, grey, muddled blacks and dull whites. I don't know if this is intentional, or just a result of a limited budget. In the end, it shouldn't matter.

Highly recommended.

 
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JohnRice

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I've been watching several of my favorite movies from the last two decades, trying to decide which snobby bit of Sundance bait to write about next. Instead, I decided to go with an example from one of my (possibly surprising) favorite genres. Adaptations of Young Adult novels. There are plenty of them in the dystopian, conquering evil sub-genre, but what I particularly enjoy are the ones that explore the possibilities of that time in life.

There's no doubt that adolescence is often a terrible time, but it's also the time when possibilities are at their greatest. It's just at the cusp of becoming an adult and everything can seem possible. Dreams can be accomplished. There's a sense of wonder and ambition, usually amplified by a hefty dose of adolescent narcissism.

Which brings me to Paper Towns.




Paper Towns is based on a novel by John Green, who also wrote the source novel of the much more popular and well received The Fault in Our Stars. The problem is, I find Stars almost maudlin in its relentless tugging at the heart strings. While Stars is probably the better made movie, I much prefer the less conventional and ultimately more meaningful theme of Paper Towns. What I suspect throws off a lot of viewers is that Paper Towns ultimately isn't about what it appears to be at the beginning. I know that the first time I watched it, I was surprised by the direction it ultimately went. But, like a lot of movies that eventually become personal favorites, it stuck with me. I purchased the Blu-Ray, which absurdly costs less than the streaming version, even though it includes that as well, and have probably watched it four more times over the last few months.

Like with pretty much any movie, it's probably best to know as little as possible going into watching Paper Towns. Fortunately, the trailer is a rare example that doesn't just summarize the entire movie. It conveys the basis, but doesn't spoil any of the real meaning.

For me, the real appeal of Paper Towns comes together during a roughly 20 minute sequence late in the movie. When it changes direction. Something in it is simply a concept that appeals to my middle aged mind. Is that ironic, considering it's a YA novel? I don't know. There are several times I've just watched that 20 minutes by itself. Unfortunately, the impact of that 20 minutes is tempered a bit by the few minutes that finish up the movie. When it takes a much more obvious turn. All in all, Paper Towns is a movie I expect to continue enjoying for years.
 

JohnRice

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Last Friday I watched the NetFlix documentary Behind the Curve, which chronicles the recent growth of flat earth belief and follows a few of its biggest proponents. I find the entire phenomena fascinating. The devout commitment to such an epically disprovable belief. The tunnel vision. The clearly false claims of commitment to science. Most of all, the communal aspect of it. I think there's a lot to learn from the tribal mentality on display. The psychology of it all is amazing. I actually watched it again the following day.

At a time when the ability for critical thinking seems to be at an all-time low, it's also a good exercise to engage in some reality, explore beyond the most fundamentally observable, and exercise your own mind to explain some of the myriad facts which contradict flat earth beliefs. Australia is not upside down. There are 24 time zones. Seasons are simultaneously different at different points on Earth. There are non-stop flights between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. There are non-stop flights which fly across the South Pole. that's just a few.

 

ManW_TheUncool

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I'll start off with Martha Marcy May Marlene, the 2011 movie that introduced Elizabeth Olsen in her first movie role.

Olsen portrays Martha, a woman who reappears after a two year disappearance during which she lived in a Catskills commune led by the charismatic and malevolent Patrick, portrayed by John Hawkes in one of his many excellent roles. Martha's mind has come away from the experience rather fractured and suffering from the inability to separate present and past. The film is presented from her POV, so the audience is taken on the same disorienting existence Martha experiences, where events are often blended into a baffling montage.

The result is extremely effective, but also the reason many viewers will find the movie infuriating. On first viewing, I was left suitably confused, but on the second viewing, understanding better that was going on, the storyline fell perfectly into place. The reactions of her sister and brother in law (Sarah Paulson & Hugh Dancy), while being understandable, are a perfect example of how difficult a task Martha has ahead of her to find any type of functional life.

This is impeccably written, directed and acted, on all fronts. Impactful, dramatic filmmaking at its best, even if it is extremely difficult to follow the first time through. Of course, that's the point. Don't expect an impeccable visual presentation, though. Contrast is often extremely flat, with drab, grey, muddled blacks and dull whites. I don't know if this is intentional, or just a result of a limited budget. In the end, it shouldn't matter.

Highly recommended.



Odd. Coulda sworn I own the BD of this, but it's not in my DVD Profiler -- maybe it's one of the rare cases I missed adding on there... and I can't doublecheck if I actually have it in my collection right now.

It's been a long while since I've watched it -- probably back around 2012 or so during the 1st year of the BD release. Don't remember too much of it anymore, but do recall roughly what you described... and that I appreciated (enough to keep the BD) even if it's not exactly the kind of movie one "likes" or "enjoys"...

_Man_
 

JohnRice

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Wow, I started this thread nearly 18 months ago with the intention of chronicling and commenting on the movies I watch. Mainly because I tend more toward movies that aren't exactly in the mainstream, or at least that don't get much if any discussion here.

Life got complicated, very suddenly, with a middle-of-the-night call that had me taking my mother to the ER, followed bit by bit with taking over the management of their lives and finances. During that time, I've found it almost impossible to put my mind at rest enough to watch the type of movies I generally prefer. I've only been able to watch an occasional, big, loud movie that's easy to follow and doesn't put any psychological demands on me.

As of about ten days ago, my parents are finally in an excellent assisted living facility, many months later than anticipated. Now they have the support structure they need and I can stop jumping every time the phone rings, often running out the door to deal with an emergency.

So, I decided to get back to the movies I really want to watch. A lot of these will be revisits, but I'll throw in plenty of new ones as well.

Out of the blue, I decided to go with a "Six Degrees" method of deciding what movies to watch. With every movie I watch and write about here, I'll select an actor from it, sometimes in a minor role, and choose a movie from that actor's repertoire for the next feature. I mean, why not?
 

JohnRice

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The 2003 movie My Life Without Me has been stuck in my mind lately. So that's my first choice.

Ann (Sarah Polley) is a 23 year old married mother of two whose life isn't exactly going the way she probably expected. She lives with her husband Don (Scott Speedman) in a trailer behind her mother's (Debbie Harry) house and cleans the local university on the night shift. After experiencing severe abdominal pain, she learns she has late stage cancer and only has a couple months to live. Ann makes the decision to compile a somewhat unusual list of how to live her final days and what goals she hopes to achieve.

My Live Without Me is cinema stripped to the bone. Made on what must have been a micro budget, it also feels like a lot of the dialog was probably improvised. However, there are supremely talented people involved, ranging from production by the Almodóvar brothers and starring Sarah Polley and Mark Ruffalo, back when he was a genuine actor.

It's a movie populated by people who have been let down by life. A fact which will alienate more than a few, but it's Ann's desire to change as much of that as possible where it's heart is. For those who don't fall asleep, or just get frustrated with its glacial pace, the payoff can be more than worth it.

I had watched My Life Without Me several times when it first came out, and was extremely fond of it, but I don't know if I'd seen it in 15 years. This time around, I started wondering why I had liked it so much, but stuck with it. Then, without even realizing it, once the final sequence started, I realized how thoroughly I had become engrossed in the story. Sarah Polley's final soliloquy, with that wonderful, musical voice of hers, cut right through me. Just like it did the first time 20 years ago.



The next degree actor is: Mark Ruffalo.
 
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JohnRice

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My next "Six Degrees" movie is You Can Count On Me (2000).

Sammy (Laura Linney) is a single mother who is a loan office in a bank, and lives a rather quiet, solitary life in a small, upstate New York town. She takes 15 minutes off from work every afternoon to pick her eight year old son Rudy (Rory Culkin) from school, and that's about the high point of her day. Out of the blue, her brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo) shows up, after being absent and out of contact for a few years. Terry's never quite gotten his life together and only seems to show up when he's in trouble or needs money. However, he really strikes up a good relationship with Rudy, which Sammy is a little less than thrilled about.

That's pretty much the movie in a nutshell. You Can Count On Me is real Sundance bait, evidenced by it winning best picture and best screenplay at that festival. It's a nice little movie, with some decently cathartic resolutions to what has been decades of dysfunction between two siblings. It's not exactly anything deep though, beyond those factors. Laura Linney is excellent as always. I wish she was in more movies I'm interested in.

I recall seeing You Can Count On Me about 20 years ago and thinking it was a nice little movie, but not much more. I had the same feeling this time around. I actually bought it on sale on iTunes last week, but I sort of doubt I'll watch it again. At least not any time soon. There's just too much other stuff to take the time seeing.

The next "Six Degrees" actor will be: John Tenney.

 

TonyD

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Ok. Hope you are able to keep going this go round.
 

JohnRice

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Ok. Hope you are able to keep going this go round.
I'm glad someone's reading. I've actually watched the next two movies. My weekend was taken up with NFL playoffs. I just need to sit down and write something. I want to come up with a good explanation of why I like the next movie SO much, considering it has a stunning RT rating of 12%. Sometimes critics can be idiots, and unable to see beyond the surface.
 

JohnRice

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I'll go ahead reveal the next movie, while I try to figure out what to actually say about it.

How do I explain my fondness for movies based on Nicholas Sparks novels? Especially The Best of Me, which is near the top of my favorites, and is also one of the generally least liked? As I said, a 12% on RT.

While I figure out how to explain that, I'll quote from film critic Mark Kermode's review, who I think is a better film critic than all other film critics combined.

You can sneer, but I don't care - the heart wants what it will, and my heart wants Sparks. So there.

 

JohnRice

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I've already watched the next three movies, so I guess I better catch up.

The Best of Me (2014)

Oil rig worker Dawson Cole (James Marsden) is blown off the oil platform by an explosion, and into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. He manages to survive, and once he is back home, he receives a call that someone named Tuck Hostetler (Gerald McRaney) has passed away and he needs to return to his Louisiana childhood home town. Once there, he crosses paths with Amanda Collier (Michelle Monaghan), who is clearly a significant person from his past.

We are then taken back 21 years to Dawson and Amanda's teen years, where they are portrayed by Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato. We learn Dawson comes from a family of criminals, led by his sadistic father Tommy (Sean Bridgers) who commands a collection of assorted relatives. Amanda, on the other hand, comes from an extremely wealthy family. This is all a rather common plot element in Nicholas Sparks novels, which The Best of Me is adapted from.

The rest of the movie moves back and forth between the past and present, filling in the pieces of the story, which is another common Sparks storytelling technique. Also like all Sparks adaptations, there is a thick veneer of melodrama to the story and filmmaking technique, such as the textbook, rain-soaked, dramatic expression of love (think The Notebook) and generally relentless tugging at the heart-strings. What interests me about Sparks adaptations is that there is actually a lot more complexity, and yeah, I'm going to say it, reality to his stories. His couples tend to follow a formula. The woman is headstrong and at least a little flighty, and often comes from a wealthy family. The man is usually from a working class family with one missing parent, but is strong, quiet, and deceptively intelligent. That probably applies to at least half of Sparks novels that have been adapted to film.

What sets Sparks stories apart for me is, as I said, their reality. I know that might seem like an odd thing to say, but these stories don't tend to be what they appear to be. In them, life is difficult. I mean, really stinking difficult. A lot of crap gets in the way of dreams, just like in real life. The couple at the center of the story (and there are sometimes two couples woven in) often does not end up together, because a lot of shit can happen in real life.

That is particularly the case with The Best of Me. There's the typical "opposite side of the tracks" theme, but also the problem of Dawson's family, which is something I want to specifically address. I know it's easy to believe Dawson's family, and especially his father, is too horrible to believe. One thing I enjoy about Sparks stories is that he often incorporates real people into them. The most obvious is that the character of Jamie Sullivan in A Walk to Remember was inspired by his sister Danielle. There are other examples I won't go into now, but I have no doubt that Dawson's father and family are inspired by an individual named Bruce Johnston Sr. The similarities are too numerous. The cold, hard fact is that no matter how horrible Tommy is, the real-life Johnston was worse. So, he's really not unbelievable at all. BTW, as noted in the linked article, Bruce Johnston Sr, was also the inspiration for the movie At Close Range, which appears to be a surprisingly accurate telling. I believe this detail is critical to accepting the story of The Best of Me, because it's necessary to believe what happens, and things like that DO happen.

So, despite a whopping 12% critics rating at RT, I've really come to love The Best of Me. I could say more, but I'll just leave it at that.

The next "Six Degrees" actor is Liana Liberato.

 
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JohnRice

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BTW, I think Michelle Monaghan especially shines in The Best of Me. I think she truly embodies what Amanda would be like after all she goes through. She really chews up the role.
 

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Ok, I played that trailer... and for 40secs I'm thinking if there are two other (younger) actors named James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan whom I've never seen before, LOL.

Yeah, I didn't read the whole post before skipping to the trailer... or I woulda probably realized sooner (those were just supposed to be their younger selves), haha...

The trailer certainly looks like something that might well get extremely low marks on RT though -- it has some of that Hallmark movies vibe/look, but maybe a bit more polished perhaps, if that's possible... :P

_Man_
 

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John. This is a excellent idea and one I've also considered. I decided against it as I figured no one would be interested in my thoughts on older titles. Thanks to you, people may now have to suffer. :) I'm happy to see this thread and will be keeping an eye on it.
 

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I’ll peek at this thread on occasion. The only film John wrote about that I’ve seen is You Can Count On Me. I saw it when it was still a relatively new film, and I remember liking it.
 

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I’ll peek at this thread on occasion. The only film John wrote about that I’ve seen is You Can Count On Me. I saw it when it was still a relatively new film, and I remember liking it.
I’ve already watched the next two movies. One more melodrama, but then a true little gem of cinema, as in 98% on RT.
 

JohnRice

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The next "Six Degrees" movie is...

If I Stay (2014)

Mia Hall (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a serious, 17 year old cello prodigy, lost in a family of bohemian, grunge rockers. After a tragedy during a school snow day, she is faced with the decision of whether or not to continue living. In an interesting storytelling twist, her consciousness watches as she fights for her life in intensive care, wondering if she'll have any family to go back to.

If I Stay belongs in another film group I enjoy, adaptations of Young Adult novels, not all of which are post-apocalyptic or dystopian. Refer back to Paper Towns, early in this thread, another absolute favorite. The fact is, I love this movie. I don't know how many times I've seen it. As with The Best of Me, there is a lot more to this movie than it might seem. I enjoy Mia's love of Beethoven, how her parents marvel at her talent and dedication ("We made that."), and just the general contemplation of what makes life worthwhile. There are some wonderful, nuanced performances and some surprisingly philosophical speeches, ("You'll go to Juilliard, or you won't."), especially from Mia's grandfather (Stacy Keach) in a small, but impressively powerful performance.

That's about all I need to say.

I'm glad I looked around and found this wonderful, spoiler-free trailer, which I admit, might be more artfully done than the actual movie.

My next "Six Degrees" actor is Gabrielle Rose (in a truly great little gem of cinema.)

 

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