This list includes some movies I streamed because they were about to disappear from the Netflix instant view list. Also, I thought I was through with newer movies for a while, but several more managed to trickle in. But the best this time around was the HBO series, The Wire, which I finally started watching.
So again, here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.
The Wire – [Season 1] 2003 (3.7). Telling the story of drug dealing in the Baltimore projects by getting inside the dealings of the pushers and the strategies of the police and by beginning to track how the money from the drugs buys corrupt influence, the first season of this highly recommended HBO series is impressive. At first there are so many characters it is hard to keep them straight, but gradually their individualities emerge, even as we see how they play roles that are stereotyped in real life. Lines between good and evil get blurred by a fatalistic cynicism. Even those who want to try to do the right thing can easily become frustrated, but a few manage to succeed, if success is measured by integrity rather than organizational status. Though the episodes use different script writers and directors, the overall story arc is well maintained by the underlying core writers.
Ira & Abby – 2006 (3.1) Streamed. Jennifer Westfeldt wrote and starred in this NYC movie about a neurotic male psychology PhD candidate who meets an outgoing young woman who always seems happy. A sudden, serious unexpected relationship arises, followed by various relationship problems. A good ensemble of actors complements the leads as the story pleasantly unfolds, even in the face of problems. Co-writer of Kissing Jessica Stein, Jennifer tells fun stories with a laid back message.
Red Rock West – 1993 (3.0) Streamed. The script is the strength of this movie, a thriller harkening back to film noir, with good roles for Nicholas Cage and Dennis Hopper. Competent direction keeps things moving along, while our guessing what’s coming is sometimes a half step ahead and sometimes a half behind.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work – 2010 (2.9) Streamed. A fairly intimate look at Joan, over the course of a year, this documentary, also using archival footage, showed a woman who wanted to be an actress, supported herself as a female standup comic pioneer for several years until Johnny Carson showcased her into fame, then made a mistake for which Carson never forgave her, lost her husband to suicide and has had her ups and downs ever since. At 75 she is a workaholic who supports a fairly lavish lifestyle by taking virtually any paying job, and whose comedy, though still very funny, has become much more raunchy.
Farewell – 2009 (2.9). The title of this French spy drama is the code name of the reluctant French operative in this true story of a Soviet spy who in the Reagan years passed to the West information about Russian infiltration of the US intelligence community, in the hopes the pressure this would put on the USSR would lead to needed changes in that communist country. The movie is quite watchable, though not entirely clear at first. Rather than concentrate on scenes of spies about to be caught in the act, this film focuses more on the personal lives of the spies and includes aspects of the dealings between the governments of the US, USSR and France as the espionage came to their knowledge. Gorbachev is portrayed as using the affair to take the USSR in a different direction in dealing with the West.
The Company Men – 2010 (2.8). Numerous interviews of long term unemployed people and their family members were composited to form the characters in this movie about a greedy corporate executive who ruthlessly downsizes his workforce in order to pump up the stock price to maximize his gain when the corporation is bought out. The villain is a caricature and the other characters don’t seem to develop their own personalities enough to make them feel like individuals rather than composites. There is not much to learn from this movie, except for those who are quite uninformed.
Legendary – 2010 (2.8). A wrestler friend loaned me this movie [also available on Netflix instant view] with WWE wrestler John Cena playing his first straight dramatic role as the estranged older brother of a high school boy. Their father and the Cena character were both champion wrestlers, but when the father was killed in a traffic accident, the older son started a downhill skid and fell out with the family. A desire to take up wrestling and help his family reconnect prompts the younger brother to seek out the older one, in this indie film, which concentrates on the drama without overplaying the wrestling matches.
Secretariat – 2010 (2.8). Disney did this family friendly drama about the great racehorse and the woman who knew from day one her horse was going to be a special winner, and had to balance her roles as housewife, mother and race horse owner to achieve that goal. The horse and lady are the heart of the story and fairly well presented here. The other characters are not portrayed much beyond the minimum required by the formula.
True Grit – 2010 (2.8). I never saw the John Wayne version of this movie, so make no comparison. This one, though telling a story of a time and place where such things as it portrayed were not that uncommon, did so in a way that was too caricatured to be believable, but taken as a sort of filmed dime novel story intended for greenhorns it was passable.
Mine – 2009 (2.8) Streamed. Hurricane Katrina took a huge toll on the dogs and cats of New Orleans. They were not evacuated with their owners but instead abandoned in their flooded homes. Most of them died, but volunteer animal rescuers from around the country rushed in to save many others, quickly shuttling them on to various shelters where they were cared for and eventually reunited with their owners or adopted out. This documentary follows the story of five owners trying to find their dogs and then contending with adoptive owners who are reluctant to give them up. Straightforward work from a first time film maker.
The People vs Larry Flynt -1996 (2.8). This well enough done biopic concentrates on the pornagrapher’s legal battles against censorship, but also includes a little too much about one of his five wives. His battles resulted in a historic first amendment decision from the US Supreme Court, but the fine points of the legal arguments were minimally portrayed. There is a 2008 documentary which is supposed to provide better information, but for now, this film is enough Flynt for me.
In a Day -2006 (2.8) Streamed. I streamed this on impulse, supposedly being a short British romantic comedy about strangers who spend a day together. It was short and British but not particularly romantic and not funny at all. A low budget indie, it was a bit amateurish and boring at first, but then picked up a little steam and actually finished with an ending that was better than the rest of the movie.
Another Year – 2010 (2.7). Mike Leigh wrote and directed this disappointing movie about a year in the life of an older couple and some of their family and friends. Supposedly character driven, there is no plot, drama or character development to speak of and about the only reason to watch it is to see Lesley Manville deliver a top performance as a woman who is over the hill but pathetically does not realize it until near the end of the film, when she manages to bring some emotional impact into this otherwise lackluster movie.
It Could Happen to You – 1994 (2.6) Streamed. A cop in NYC really did win the lottery and share it with a waitress, but this movie reinvented the story to create distress in both their marriages, apparently hoping for more drama. The drama is tepid, as is the romance and the comedy. I didn’t expect much when I streamed this, and got even less. I hung in for the ending, which turned out to be stolen from It’s a Wonderful Life. So again, a 2 ½ star movie gets rated a 3 at Netflix.
Tattoo: A Love Story – 2002 (2.4) Streamed. This indie romantic comedy did have some funny dialog, but also a little too much profanity, especially from the supposedly straight laced heroine teacher of the year who falls for the biker who runs the tattoo parlor. Though it is pretty amateurish all around, especially the acting, it is not too unpleasant to watch.
Valley of the Bees – 1967 (2.2). Don’t bother with this old Czech movie. I expected a story of a medieval teenager in a monastery questioning religion, but instead got a tale of an adult runaway monk in a low budget semi-slasher film.
