Rambling Film

I wish we could be like everybody else. We start off by seeing a very nervous looking Emma Parker. (Kassie Wesley DePavia) She's jittery, disoriented, her nose starts to bleed and she falls back, hitting her head and landing in a deep rain puddle during a downpour. She's dead. Her daughters, Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner) are forced to fill her place in an ancient custom their secluded family follows. Their father, Frank (Bill Sage) grows even more paranoid while the doctor performing the autopsy on Emma (Michael Parks) realizes what exactly caused the illness that plagued her before her death. I've had this film in my Netflix queue for awhile, but after a few new recs I finally got around to it. It sets a very creepy atmosphere. The score is beautiful, yet haunting. While it's not a huge secret what this family is up to, it's still quite jarring when the climatic scenes happen. The whole cast is perfect. Childers and Garner carry the ...

This week's All in the Family theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is movies with Twins. I wanted to BE an Olsen Twin when I was a kid, so I probably could've made this all about those movies, even though they're the same movie just in different locations. But I refrained. Here's some films with Twins that I adore. Spoiler alert for my last two picks! 1) The Dreamers So what if Theo and Isabelle go full Lannister? This film is actually quite beautiful and it's one of my favorites. Saying they have a unique twin bond is kind of an understatement. 2) The Prestige  The twins here may come as a shock at first, but you have to admire their dedication. That finger scene.. 3) Avengers: Age of Ultron Okay, so I had some major problems with Ultron, but I kind of love it on principle just because of the Twins. Wanda and Pietro were two characters I anticipated the most. It's a shame Whedon fucked it up in the end. Hopefully the new directors retc...

Lucky Ryan Reynolds kept his shirt on. There's no way these accounting chicks wouldn't be throwing themselves at him otherwise. I mean, the women in the accounting department at the company I work for are all somewhere in their 40's-60's and make a ton of dick jokes. Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is extremely awkward. He hears voices, mainly from his beloved dog and asshole cat. He doesn't exactly admit this to his shrink, Dr. Warren. (Jacki Weaver) He has a massive crush on Fiona (Gemma Arterton) and jumps at an invitation from their fellow coworker, Lisa (Anna Kendrick) to join them on an outing. When Fiona stands him up on a later date, he accidentally kills her, and of course he just can't go to the police with something like that.  It's always amusing to me when a film like this gets all these good actors in it, because it's weird as fuck. It has it's amusing points, and all the actors do well. (Even Arterton, whom I normally hate) I woul...

Katy over at Girl Meets Cinema has a wonderful idea for a blogathon . She asks us to pick places in films that we'd like to visit, and to pick characters to tag along on our journey. I've been thinking on this for awhile, and I couldn't just decide on one place or one person. So my dream vacation will be about jet setting all over.  Who I'm bringing: I decided to make this a group thing. Luis from Ant-Man - because you know he'd tell a good story. Plus he likes art and wine so that makes him perfect in my book. Ariande from Inception  - because she's clever and down for adventures. (And the least crazy of most of Ellen Page's roles)  Adam and Kyle from 50/50 - because 1) I'm a shameless JGL lover and 2) Kyle is fun. Kim from Trainwreck - Amy might be the party animal, but Kim is level headed and funny. She can leave her weirdo husband at home and join us.  I'm bunking with Adam if you're wondering.  First stop P...

That's too much routine! Cameron (Mark Ruffalo) suffers from manic depression and bi polar disorder. When we first meet him, he's having an episode. He lost his job, keeps his kids out of school, and is running around in a speedo. His wife, Maggie (Zoe Saldana) is patient and understands that he's ill. After he's committed, they lose their house and Maggie and their two daughters, Amelia and Faith (Imogene Wolodarsky and Ashley Aufderheide) are forced to live in a small apartment, with Maggie barely making ends meat. She gets a scholarship to Columbia for their business program, determined to get a better job and get her kids a better education. Cameron stays back in Boston to watch the girls while Maggie is away. Ruffalo is so great here. It's almost weird for me to think that about 5 years ago I didn't like him as an actor at all. Now I think he's just brilliant. Having been around people suffering from these illnesses, I think Ruffalo was reall...

Hippies, man! Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a PI in 1970's Los Angeles. His ex girlfriend, Shasta (Katherin Waterston) comes to him for help when she believes her current boyfriend is about to get into a load of trouble. Soon, that boyfriend goes missing, SHE goes missing, and Doc is being set up as a suspect in a murder and is found by LAPD Detective Bjornsen (Josh Brolin) who has an interesting relationship with Doc. I have to be blunt, this movie is fucking weird. It's very weird, and very long. It's an interesting, and often times very amusing ride, but since it dragged out so much it got a bit hard to follow, for me anyways. I can appreciate the complex layers this film had even though I'm not sure I'm fully comprehending them yet.  I have to say, I love this cast Joaquin and Brolin are fantastic. Reese Witherspoon makes a bit of a cameo, and I really enjoyed seeing her chemistry with Phoenix again. They play off each other so well. I really...

Parenting isn't easy. No one knows that more than Diane. (Anne Dorval) Her son, Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) has recently been kicked out of a detention center. She sent him to that one in the first place to avoid a stricter jail-like setting that wouldn't help him. He suffers from ADHD, ODD, and as she puts it "some attachment disorder." After losing her job, she's forced to try to raise him herself, despite is violent outbursts. Their quiet neighbor, Kyla (Suzanne Clement) eventually becomes an important part of their lives.  This film got so much buzz at Cannes that it's not one of the most unheard of "gems" that I talk about here on my blog, but the release this got in the U.S was so pathetically limited. It's a shame, because this film, like nearly all of Dolan's work is stunning. Sure, the ratio that this film is shot it a bit hard to get used to at first. But Dolan wanted the focus to be on the characters and nothing else, ...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is sequels. I'm going to go all Kanye for a minute and just say THE DARK KNIGHT WAS THE GREATEST SEQUEL OF ALL TIME! But I already used it, so that's why it isn't here. In fact, I left all super hero movies off because I could've easily made this list all out of sequals. Here are some of my favs, and no they're not very original. (Can sequals really be original? Only popular movies get sequals) 1) The Empire Strikes Back This is my favorite of all the Star Wars movies. It just worked so well. It was action packed, it had a lot of character development, and even though I knew Vader was Luke's father before I saw it for the first time, that reveal was still intense.  2) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King I suppose it's technically a "threequel" but, the Lord of the Ring movies got better as they went, and this is one by far the best. I wasn't even mad at the movie's...

This excellent idea for a blogathon comes from the lovely Mariah at A Space Blogyssey . Since my own work life has been a bit ridiculous lately, I spectacularly missed the cut off date for this one. (My drafts folder is ridiculous) So hopefully no one minds my late entry - totally unacceptable for work by the way. It's less about the movies, and more about the blogger process. She asks us to answer these simple questions: What apps can you not live without? - Twitter and Netflix. Twitter is my #1 way to stay in touch with my fellow film fans. There are no video stores near me so Netflix is how I rent and stream. Plus, being the mother of a three year old, Netflix is so nice to have at a restaurant.  What is your favorite blogging app? I don't actually blog with any aps. I think Blogger's mobile app is genuinely terrible. I do it all on my computer. What gadgets (besides your phone) you can't live without? My lap top, obviously. I'm way too addicted to...

"Monogamy is not realistic." Amy (Amy Schumer) is completely content on only having one night stands. Sure, she's sort of seeing Steven (John Cena. No seriously, John Cena) on the side, but that crashes and burns. Amy writes for a magazine and her editor, Dianna (Tilda Swinton) tells her to write a story on a sports doctor, Aaron (Bill Hader) who is saving athletes' careers one surgery at a time. The two meet and eventually start dating.  Amy Schumer is hilarious. She's vulgar in the best way possible, and a director like Judd Apatow is a perfect fit for her. The cast is wonderful. John Cena, a guy I cannot stand in the ring is actually pretty damn funny here. (And since Schumer dated fellow wrestler Dolph Ziggler in real life I can't help but wonder if this was a bit of a dig towards him) Lebron James is another popular athlete that gets a lot of face time here. The always wonderful Brie Larson plays Amy's sister. Ezra Miller plays an intern wh...

True Detective. This was probably my least favorite episode of the series so far, but I have to admit it built interest like nobody's business. I'll get what I didn't like out of the way. HATED Paul's fight with his mother. Kitsch has been doing a really good job in this series, but this scene reminded me of why I can never fully get behind him as an actor. It was just bad. Plus, who hides 20k cash in a duffel bag in their drunkie mother's house and expects NOTHING to happen to it? Come on... Too much of Frank and his wife. I get it, they're having marital problems. They're broke but they want a baby, but that's not the interesting part of the story here, they focused on it too much. LOVED Ani's comment about dicks in her sexual harassment group gave me life. I hate that she's stuck logging evidence, but it's interesting to see her going back to the missing girl case we saw in the first episode.  I liked her meet up with Ray, ...

Be the person they think you are. Scott (Paul Rudd) has recently gotten out of jail for grand larceny and it determined to set himself straight so that he can spend time with his young daughter. He finds it hard to get a job with his record and reluctantly takes a job offer from his friend, Luis (Michael Pe ñ a) to help rob a rich man's mansion. That rich man ends up being Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and it turns out he lets Scott break in. He wants his talents specifically to become the Ant-Man and steal back some tech Pym hid from the world, only for his former protege Daren Cross (Corey Stoll) to dig up and try to perfect for himself.  Not surprisingly, the best parts of Ant-Man are the references made to the Avengers. Another Peggy Carter cameo, an "old storage shed" turning out to be the Avengers' new headquarters, a brief fight with The Falcon himself. Rudd is a very charismatic lead, but he's almost overshadowed by the awesomeness that is Michael...

The 2015 Emmy nominations were announced Thursday. While I knew the wonderful Melissa McBride and Andrew Lincoln would get snubbed because they happen to be acting on a show called The Walking Dead, I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of the nominations. (Except for the part where the weakest Game of Thrones episodes got the directing/writing nominations) Here are the major acting and series nominations, my thoughts as always follow in green .  Outstanding Comedy Series Louie Modern Family Parks and Recreation Silicon Valley Transparent Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Veep This is exactly how I expected this category to look. Veep and Louie are my favorites. Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Lily Tomlin - Grace and Frankie Amy Schumer - Inside Amy Schumer Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation Lisa Kudrow - The Comeback Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep AMY SCHUMER! God I love that. Same with Poehler and Louis-Dreyfus. Also what the fuck is ...

Hope you like cursing. Liam (Martin Compston) is a 15 year old boy from a rough part of town. His mother (Michelle Coulter) is in prison because she took the fall for her asshole boyfriend, Stan. (Gary McCormack) Liam lives with his sister Chantelle (Annmarie Fulton) who isn't nearly as forgiving to their mother. He wants to buy a place for he and his mother when she gets out so that she can get away from Stan, unfortunately Liam's upbringing pretty much ensures that any means of cash flow won't be legal. This film feels very authentic, and that's partly why I brought up the cursing. There's a lot of swearing in this movie. Almost every other word coming out of someone's mouth at any given time has a swear word in it. Yet, it worked and it wasn't distracting. (Think   Rob Zombie's movies, for example, and how ridiculous all of the dialog ue sounds) These actors could all be randoms found on the streets of Scotland for all we know, they feel ho...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is Science Fiction movies. The kicker is, they cannot include space or aliens. So there goes 95% of what you know about sci fi, right? Here are three of my favorite sci fis that do not involve either of these things.  1) The One I Love This little gem I cannot stop raving about. It's one of those films that you would not expect to be sci fi at first glance, but it is and it's wonderful. I know some interpreted this as having aliens, I didn't.  2) Never Let Me Go I practically forced my friend to see this with me by telling him "It's a sci fi movie, don't worry!" He loved it, so I succeeded there. It looks like a simple period piece/probable love story on the surface, but it's kind of twisted when you think about it.  3) Sound of my Voice Creepy cults with a person that says they're from the future? This movie stars the fantastic Brit Marling and I just love it so much. Pl...

 Yeah, popular cartoon side characters! The break out stars of the (in my opinion) ridiculously overrated  Despicable Me now have their own origin story. After a little lesson in Minion evolution, and many "bosses" of theirs crashing and burning, three Minions, Kevin, Stuart, and Bob set off to find the baddest villain of them all to follow. The end up in Orlando, FL at a "VillainCon" and set their sights on Scarlett Overkill. (voiced by Sandra Bullock) She wants them to steal the Queen of England's crown for her, but of course things don't go as she planned. Like last years Penguins of Madagascar, the side characters popularity has grown enough to warrant its own film. I'd say they're on par with each others. (Penguins eventually grew on me since my kid has made me watch it with him 1000 times) There were a few good laughs throughout. I have to give the filmmakers credit, it's ballsy to make the lead characters in a kids movie speak ...

Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is an author famous for writing a series about a girl named Misery. He decides to kill her off in the final novel so that he can move on to other things. His car skids off the road in a snow storm and he's saved by Annie (Kathy Bates) a nurse who patches him up and calls herself is "number one fan." But whens he gets her hands on his final Misery book, she keeps him captive and forces him to re-write it so that Misery doesn't die. It's really sad how long it's taken me to watch this film. I always got the references when people made Annie Wilkes jokes about super fans, but it's nice to finally watch the whole thing. Aside from the performances, especially Kathy Bates, she was wonderful here, I loved the score. I loved how it was sweet, almost music box like when we first meet Annie, then it gets harsher every time she does something crazy. The suspense is excellent and the film ages well. I never did read the book, though I...

I skipped last week because the only new thing I watched was True Detective, so I'll be talking about both episodes here: True Detective Last week's episode started off a bit slow, but towards the end we get to know a bit more about Paul and what's eating at him. This week, it turns out everyone's suspicions that he was closeted were spot on. He had a one night stand with his old friend, but now his girlfriend is pregnant, and he responds with the worst thing ever to a surprise pregnancy: "We should get married." Ani found an interesting link between her case and the cult she belonged to as a child. Then she get slapped with probation for dating (fucking) a male colleague. She tells her boss "This wouldn't be happening if I were a man." Truth. Ray actually has his shit together, he's not drinking as much, Frank even commented on it.  Frank, after pulling a dude's teeth out last week is now back in the shady drug business. Le...