Point Break

I first saw Point Break at least 10 years ago and remembered it as a surfer movie. I remembered liking it, but these days that did not make sense to me. To alleviate my confusion I watched it again recently, and realized that it's really a crime movie. That's why I liked it. An FBI agent goes under cover to try to infiltrate a band of bank robbers who are also surfers. The cast is great, the story is great and the scenes are great. This movie is action-packed. There is a skydiving scene near the end that was my favorite. This is an enjoyable film to watch and re-watch.

Book Club

The premise of Book Club was interesting to me, but when the books in the title were The Shades of Gray books I was out for seeing this in the theater. After renting the movie I was correct in my assessment. Four women over 60 go down their different paths of life.No matter how successful, they are all mooning over men and their relationships or lack thereof. I found their complaints to be trite and their solutions often immature. Interestingly, the least annoying part of the movie was the third act, the beginning was a mess. This was an OK rental.

Deadpool 2

I had forgotten how raunchy the first Deadpool movie was. Deadpool 2 continues in the same style. The character is so inappropriate, that it almost gets old. The jokes and snark are still there and I do like the characters. The story is typical superhero stuff. This was an OK rental. Glad I waited to rent it.

Bamboozled

The social satire Bamboozled is a look at historic culture in black America, specifically, black-face. It takes on the tough subject of the misrepresentation of blacks in entertainment throughout history. Spike Lee has been called a universal humanist and tries to present this from the modern-day perspective. A thought provoking subject and film. Excellent film.

First Reformed

In First Reformed a clergyman is riddled with grief over the death of his son. In trying to counsel a parishioner and organize an event at the church, he is overwhelmed with emotion and inner turmoil. This drama plays well until the last 10 minutes.  The ending of this film is odd, abrupt and not very conclusive. I usually find that thought provoking, but in this case it was just annoying. It was an OK rental.

Kodachrome

The premise of Kodachrome has to do with a dying man's last wish. The problem with the dying man is that he's an arrogant asshole who has been estranged from his son. The son is a sympathetic character, the father is not. This is a road-trip movie with good performances and a bit of an edge. A decent rental.

McQueen

IN 2011 I saw the exhibit Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met in NYC and was blown away. The work was creative, raw and gorgeous. The way I looked at fashion was changed. The documentary McQueen digs into the career and motivations of the young artist and his all too short life. It is inspiring, but ultimately very sad. The walk through his shows and collections is a pleasure.

BlackkKlansman

The true story of a black man infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs the 70s is depicted in the film BlackkKlansman. Ron Stallworth was a young police officer with the state police. He found an ad recruiting members for the Klan and called the number. When a meeting was arranged a surrogate white officer had to go in his place. He and other undercover officers infiltrate and thwart the Klan. This is an interesting story in which the period is represented well. The racial tones are disturbing, but that is the intent. Well done.

Pollyanna

When I was a kid, I used to watch the movie Pollyanna on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on Sunday nights. If memory serves, they showed one hour one week and the second hour the next. I probably saw it two or three times over the years. I loved the characters and the story, it hit my sweet spot for optimism. A group in the DVD Nation Facebook page for Netflix got to chatting about movies we loved as kids, wondering if they still held up. I rented the film for a look. The film is still strong for me. The performances are outstanding and serve the characters well. The story has an interesting social message as well. I wish I had counted the number of times the word glad was used, it was a lot, but always to effect. I was happy to see that this movie was still pleasing, and I hung the prism I've had since childhood in the window so I could have my own rainbow-maker in my home. The movie reminded me that it had been tucked away in a keepsake drawer. Glad I watched this again. Thanks Netflix!

Shock and Awe

The film Shock and Awe is a reminder that the Bush administration got this country into a war on very flimsy evidence. The war in Iraq was sold to the American people as retaliation for 9/11, defending the US from weapons of mass destruction. 15 years later, we have lost thousands of young soldiers and have no evidence of these weapons. This film follows a group of journalists who pursued this story before the 2003 war began. It is a painful reminder of where this began, for apparently no reason at all. This film is excellent. The story is very sad.

Like Father

The movie Like Father is running on Netflix. It has OK reviews so I gave it a look. A driven young woman is left at the altar and ends up on her honeymoon with her estranged father. The story is treated lighter than it should be and there are huge plot holes. The cast keeps it going though, not bad.

On Chesil Beach

On Chesil Beach is a story of young love gone awry. As a young couple falls in love, there is sweetness and chemistry, but once they marry the woman has no interest in a physical relationship. There re back stories, there are emotions. I was not very invested in this story. OK rental.

Aardvark

In the film Aardvark, a man has delusions. Many involve his older brother whom he idolizes. He is seeing a therapist of sorts, who ends up getting involved with his brother. This is a story where it is hard to tell what is real and what is in the character's head. I had to watch a few scenes twice to keep things straight. I thought the performances were very good. This was a twisty film I liked.

Eighth Grade

Having been both an eighth grade girl and also the parent of eighth grade girls, I thought the character portrayals in the film Eighth Grade were pretty accurate. This film follows Kayla through the insecurities and discoveries in her last week of middle school. We get inside her head through the YouTune videos she makes while watching her struggle with the realities of adolescence. This film is smart and realistic. I liked it a lot.

Elvis: The Miniseries

A fascinating interview with Johnathan Rhys Myers brought up the TV series Elvis. When I learned how the actor developed the character I decided to rent it. Rhys Meyers gives a convincing performance as the late singer in his early career. A good dramatization of an interesting life. Good series.

Private Parts

After seeing Howard Stern interviewed by David Letterman on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, I realized that I've never seen Private Parts. This biopic is interesting because some of the characters are played by the actual people. The film is made by Stern, so it presents him as a sympathetic character. I find him interesting, but he always seems to go to a place that makes me very uncomfortable. He's a smart guy, and the events of the rise of his career are interesting, but in true form, this film goes to places that make me want to change the channel. This was an OK rental..