Rambling Film

The Walking Dead The mid season premiere came back with doing something that TWD does frequently: killing off the black men on this show. You can't expect a show that seemed to have a "one black man at a time" rule in the past to actually keep three? So for those reasons, they had to chop Tyreese. It was heartbreaking. As a Walking Dead spoiler addict, I knew Tyreese was going to die in either episode 9 or 10 for months now. But that didn't make it any easier. I liked that they brought back dead characters like Lizzie, Mika, Bob, Martin, and The Governor to "talk" to Tyreese as he spent nearly the entire episode hallucinating. (Though I had to be subjected to Emily Kinney's "acting" for a few more minutes, that was painful)  Chad L. Coleman owned this episode and gave a great performance. I also like that other characters like Glenn and Michonne got more to do. The Terrence Malick style directing definitely doesn't suit Greg Nicot...

Are you rushing or are you dragging? I played the drums all through high school. When I was in junior high, I had an awful band teacher. He was rude and picky and he kind of made me hate the instruments I had grown to love so much. Seeing Fletcher in action made me realize I had it easy. Andrew (Miles Teller) is a jazz drummer that has been accepted into the most prestigious music school in the country. One that has a studio band run by a very aggressive conductor, Terrence Fletcher. (J.K Simmons) Fletcher pulls Andrew from practice one day and lets him sit in the studio band. He feels a little cocky about it, and soon Fletcher begins to break him down in some pretty extreme ways.  When you think of intense movies, you think of thrillers, war movies, car chases, probably not jazz music. This is honestly one of the most intense movies I've ever seen. I thought I was going to have a genuine anxiety attack on behalf of Andrew a few times. This is brillian...

They know what it feels like to have everyone against them. Pride follows a group of gay activists who help support striking miners during the summer of 1984. Margaret Thatcher hates them, and hates the miners, so they feel they have something in common. The unique thing about Pride was how well the cast worked together. There's some great actors here; Paddy Considine, Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott, etc. But not one stands out above the rest. The entire cast is equal here.  The gestures in this film were sweet, and the story very fast paced. As I type this review, it's been a few days since I've seen it. I'm still struggling a little to put my thoughts to words, but I enjoyed this very much. Grade: B Memorable Quote: "...my mother." - Gethin (Andrew Scott)

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves in romantic comedies! I hate these, really I do, but these three are some of the bigger ones I actually enjoyed. Mean Girls                                      Words cannot describe how much I love this movie. High school girls are awful, and this is pretty much spot on. Especially the comment about dressing like a slut on Halloween. I still laugh at that. The Girl Next Door This film is kind of a stupid comedy, but I think it works. I love Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, and Chris Marquette. They're a good team.   10 Things I Hate About You Heath Ledger AND Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the same movie? I love it. Here's the part where I admit I loved some rom coms as a teen, this is one of the few I can actually say I still love. 

You can say whatever you want online. Some of my friends were talking about this documentary, made back in 2009. I had never heard about it. I never heard the real story, I didn't know that it spawned an apparently awful Lifetime movie directed by Courteney Cox. But when they explained the premise, it was instantly interesting to me. Luckily, it was on Netflix Instant. This doc is about a man named Thomas Montgomery who is currently serving a jail sentence for murdering his young co worker Brian Barrett. The reason for that murder? The 46 year old Thomas had been having a relationship with a teenager online, (her screen name: talhotblond) lying to her about being a teenager himself, and after he was outed as a fake, he turned jealous that she was now talking to the much more age appropriate Brian. It actually gets even weirder than that. I found the story fascinating. I hate to refer to a documentary like an actual feature, but there's even a twist in there. The ...

How long are we staying here? Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) is a wannabe musician who ends up filling in for a keyboard player in a small band after he witnesses his suicide attempt. That band is lead by an eccentric front man, Frank, (Michael Fassbender) who never takes off a giant head he wears. Other band members are angry Clara, (Maggie Gyllenhaal) the mutes Nana and Baraque (Carla Aazar and Francois Civil..okay they're not actually mutes but they might as well be. They're strictly background) and Don (Scoot McNairy) the one Jon initially gets closest too. Soon he realizes that he's in over his head when they invite him to help make their album. I had really high hopes for Frank, but honestly I feel a little disappointed now. The film had some funny moments, but those became less and less as we went on and the film ends up very muddled towards the end. I ended up feeling really bad for Jon towards the end, and I don't think that was the desired feeling the film ...

What the hell happened to us? Twins Milo (Bill Hader) and Maggie (Kristen Wiig) haven't spoken to each other in ten years. Coincidentally, they both attempt suicide on the same day, though Maggie gets stopped before the act while Milo gets stopped after it. She decides he should move back to New York with her to figure things out. I was a little worried about this film because I'm not a Kristen Wiig fan, and her attempts at drama in the past have been very lackluster. She's clearly the weakest link in this cast, but she's not bad. She and Hader have excellent chemistry, though it's him that soars in this film. Supporting cast includes Luke Wilson and Ty Burrell, who are all great in their roles as well. The film finds a good balance between comedy and drama, even if the ending is eye rolling predictable. Suicide is the main theme here, and the film goes to some dark places, but never for long Grade: A- Memorable Quote: "I've never tak...