2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action

Movie: 2016 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action
When: 7:15 PM, Friday, January 29
Who With: JL, KB, NB, KP, MF, JM
YTD Movie Count: 10!
Snacks: Taco Sano, pop and popcorn bowl 

Reaction: So this is where we’re hiding all the minorities! #WhiteOscars redeems itself with plenty of international representation in this category. I think every human emotion was also represented. Good lord, these filmmakers do a lot very quickly. The whole theater was completely invested with loud exhaling, exhausted laughter after some of the more intense films. Here’s the order we saw them and a quick reaction: 

Ave Maria, Palestine/France/Germany: One of the more lighthearted ones, although still dealing with Arab/Jewish divides and family dynamics.
Shok (Friend), Kosovo/United Kingdom: Heart breaker. A bike in the middle of the road triggers a memory of friendship during the War. Based on real events, we remember life is hard, but harder for some more than others.
Stutter, UK/Ireland: Oh, you need a little relief? Here’s a sweet story about a nice guy with a stutter, learning sign language as strategy to get through the day and pursuing an online relationship to help get through life. What will happen when they meet IRL? Just lovely.
Alles Wird Gut (Everything Will Be Okay), Germany/Austria: No it won’t. Not if you park your car like that. In my mind, it’s between Shok and this one for the Oscar win. This is my pick. The young actress, Julia Pointner, and her furrowed brow are everything. Remember that kid-feeling of not having a say and not being in control and stuff not being fair? Ugh, this movie.
Day One, USA: A translator’s first day of her first job alongside a US Army Unit. Apparently also based of real events, this feels artificially heightened and sanctimonious for my taste. After talking this one over with the group at Flipper’s I realized I was just manipulated to an extreme that was kind of unnecessary. The director having been in the military fills up this mo

vie and spills over into something maybe akin to what soldiers feel when they have to readjust to civilian life. I’m not used to these scenarios and they seem unbelievable. Plus, this translator is so beautiful I’m sure she is good at everything and can’t feel pain.

Be sure to leave time to digest these with your group afterward. Our experience was that wherever the conversation meandered, it always veered toward the depressing.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you | Let it pass

Next Up: Maybe the Animated Shorts tonight or Planetary tomorrow. Stay tuned for my first month in review post!

Janis: Little Girl Blue

Movie: Janis: Little Girl Blue

When: Thursday, January 28, 5:15 PM
Who With: JL, JG
YTD Movie Count: 9
Snacks: Popcorn and pop 

Reaction: Wow! I loved this documentary and was not expecting to. JL always says that for my family, pop culture stopped in 1967. He’s not wrong. The Pixies…okay so this is the perfect example of my relationship with Music…I was about to list a bunch of bands I tried to get into in college, could only think of The Pixies (which didn’t take), so I googled “bands similar to The Pixies” and didn’t know any of the results. Anyway, on a defensive note, Baby Boomer nostalgia generally gets lost in translation for me, so I went into this doc with low expectations. I would not have gone if it wasn’t free.

I knew embarrassingly little about Janis Joplin before taking my seat in Roxy Theater #3. Like, did you guys know she was in a band?! Ha, I didn’t even know that! I always assumed she was a solo artist. And my word, what a voice. Out of control and in control; feeling all the feels and making sure you feel them too. This lady was about to go to a whole other level thanks to a producer on her last album teaching her how to not blow out her voice. Instead, she left us with just a taste of her capacity and a heartbreaking missed telegram. 

She carried a loneliness around her that, if you allow me to project a little, comes from feeling different as a kid. Good different, obviously, but that’s just a hard thing to shake. The internet credits her with saying “I’m one of those regular weird people.” How perfect. Regular weird. That’s all us misfits want to be, right?

I do not trust that sister or brother for a second. Janis Joplin’s siblings talk to the camera, kind of a lot without adding very much insight, they get a special thank you, and some kind of advisory production credit. I say no thank you. Sure, be the gatekeepers to footage, letters, and licensing. Fair enough, but do not put you and your stupid sweater sets in the movie. You didn’t know her. I KNOW HER.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you | Let it pass

Next Up: Oscar Nominated Shorts

The Baby

Movie: The Baby
When: 9:00 PM, Saturday, January 23, 2016
Who With: JL
YTD Movie Count: 8
Snacks: shared a popcorn bowl with butter, salt and dill, Diet Coke for me, Cold Smoke for JL

Reaction: “You’ve gotta see the baby,” mockingly said by Elaine and Jerry. And, oh my god, are they right. The only way to describe this 1973 movie is factually: it’s about a social worker trying to save a 21-year-old-man-baby from his terrible family. The only way to see this movie is during The Roxy’s Movie Mockers with live heckling by local comedians, like Mystery Science Theater 3000…or on YouTube. The whole thing is on YouTube. I don’t really know how to talk about this one. There’s no way it could have been any other movie than the one that it is. Something inevitable about the story, characters and the ending. It’s not good but it’s a must see.

I’ll also point out that this movie started at 9 at night and it only took three naps to make my attendance at this movie possible.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you | Let it pass

The Big Sleep

…Snooooooze…

When: Sunday, January 17, 2016
Movie: The Big Sleep
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 7
Snacks: Popcorn bowl and Double Haul IPA

Reaction: Talk about a big sleep. It’s a terrible line, too easy, and I’m not proud of it, but if I hadn’t napped during this movie I wouldn’t have use it. Promise.

Anyway, it’s always fun to see a classic on the big screen. Lauren Bacall has never been younger and Humphrey Bogart now reminds me of my at-work lawyer. This kind of movie, it’s a hard one for me to maintain the story line. My mind is all “What’s happening now?” “Who this guy?” “Oh, those are two different people.” “Why are we mad at her?” You throw a nap in there, you may as well throw the whole plot out the window. But it’s a fun flick that’s not hurting anyone, if you can ignore some ridiculous sexism in a bookstore (Humphrey: “You don’t really need those, now do you?” Lady Bookstore Clerk: let’s down her hair and takes off her glasses [awesome glasses that appear to just rest on her nose without the earpiece stick things—they’re called pince-nez, you guys!]).

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: Possibly Miller’s Crossing tonight; definitely The Baby on Saturday (with live heckling
comedians, whaaa!)

Carol

Saw this movie about 1950 lesbians
with a bunch of 2016 lesbians.

Movie: Carol
When: Saturday, January 16, 2016
Who With: JL, MF, KP, JC, AC
YTD Movie Count: 6
Snacks: We met up at the Bridge before the show. I’ve had a goal to go off-pizza here for a while. They have a pretty robust menu but those slices greet you so welcomingly I’ve struggled to succeed. Not this night! The chilly weather made Thai Chicken soup the perfect substitute and the speediness between order and eating is sure to pave the way toward other non-pizza options. The soup went nicely with bites of JL’s cheese slice and the
Ubuntu Robust Porter on tap from Imagine Nation Brewery.
Then we went to town on using the perks included with our movie membership. We got everybody in for free using guest passes. JL and I shared a requisite popcorn bowl with nutritional yeast and masala spice (very tasty) and these fools kept getting us Cold Smokes. Everybody wins in the friend department.

Reaction: I liked it! There was a weighted intensity to the story that some (JL) might interpret as sloooow. And there’s probably a scene or two that could have been cut, but I enjoyed a feeling of watching the story unfold on the outside. I’ve always said my favorite part of any movie is before anything really happens. To a certain extent, that’s this whole movie. So, I’m not sure that’s a super convincing argument to go see this but it is in the running for WhiteOscars and Rooney Mara is Audrey Hepburn, so that’s a fun facet added in.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Big Sleep (Also anxiously waiting to learning whether all my Roxy links will break when we move on to the February movies…)

The Thing All Women Do That You Don’t Know About

One of those internet things I have to read every time is crosses my path. No wonder we’re so tired.
The Thing All Women Do That You Don’t Know About

An Alien Place and Here's To The Future!

Movie: An Alien Place / Here’s to the Future!

Date: January 10, 2016

Who With: KC for An Alien Place/JL for both

YTD Movie Count: 4/5

Snacks: 3 popcorn bowls total - mine had nutritional yeast and sesame seeds (included) 1 Diet Coke and JL got a beer ($6.00)

Reaction:  Well, that first one wasn’t an hour and that second one definitely was. The Fort Missoula Alien Detention Center depicted in “An Alien Place” is forever interesting. This half hour doc is a good intro and had the feeling of those video at national park visitor centers. Not necessarily surprising since it was funded by the National Park Service. Makes me wonder is there’s a new designation heading the Fort’s way…

“Here’s to the Future!” is an experiment. It starts in fits and starts with the lens cap on and sound levels that tear your ears out from the insides. The bulk of the movie is running a scene from “The Cabin in the Cotton” over and over and over with different scene partners. It’s a fun invitation into movie making magic but sometimes the “6 Minutes Staring at a Table Listening to Fleetwood Mac” magic can be cut down.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you [you may have to find them] | Let it pass

Next Up: Not sure, maybe Carol

Orion

Perfect Orion seats at the Roxy!

Date: January 6, 2016
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 2
Snacks: 2 popcorn bowls with nutritional yeast (included) and 2 Cold Smokes ($10.00)
Movie: Orion: The Man Who Would Be King

Reaction: A pretty fun documentary through a story I knew nothing about. Jimmy Ellis is Elvis’s voice twin and becomes Orion. Success in the music business only found him after Elvis died and Jimmy connected with a novelist, song writer, and Sun Records. He donned a Lone Ranger type mask, recorded and toured for fans, perpetuating the fantasy that maybe Elvis was still alive. A little long and slow at times, this doc is worth seeing for the quirkiness of squeezing an Elvis character into the 1980s. A personal highlight was during an attempt to shake the Elvis connection, one of the personas Jimmy used was Steven Silver, which is my brother-in-law’s name. Gotta find that record! He also has an amazing website.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you | Let it pass

Next Up: James White

James White

Date: January 8, 2016

Who With: JL
YTD Movie Count: 3
Snacks: 1 popcorn bowl with garlic powder (included) and 1 Diet Coke ($4.00)
Movie: James White

Reaction: Hard to look away from, this movie holds tight to the main character’s face for the majority of our time together. James White is struggling. His mother is struggling. His friends want to help. Boof, this is a hard movie. It’s good though. That last scene…that will stay with me. We’re rooting for you James. 

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you | Let it pass

Next Up: An Alien Place

Spotlight

Date: January 2, 2016
Who: JL, KC
Movie Count: 1
Non-Member Ticket Price: $8.00
Snacks: 2 popcorn bowls with butter and salt (included) and a large Diet Coke ($4.00)
Movie: Spotlight

Reaction: Some wowsa investigative reporting is on display in this movie. I saw this midway through “Making a Murderer”. Both demonstrate how critical journalism is in the justice system, at least when skilled people do it and there’s some funding behind it. Is it too strong to call for journalism to be included as a new branch of government? Just graft it right on there, no biggie. Trees are meant to grow.

“Spotlight” did a good job of portraying the work that goes into a story and knowing when to publish. Along the way, we see the characters discover the scope of the story and wrestle with having information that puts them inside the Catholic church’s systematic abuse of children. Have they become part of that system by waiting for the “right time” to publish? Everyday they didn’t run a story must have felt like they were enabling the enemy. I appreciated the way the story was told. Not overly sensationalized but not void of the sensational.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you | Let it pass

Next Up: Orion: The Man Who Would Be King and trying some other popcorn seasonings available at the Roxy.

Roxy Membership

Thanks to some holiday generosity, JL and I are now proud Dual Cosmic members of the Roxy Theater in Missoula, MT.

Why not blog my way through a year of unlimited popcorn, indie movies, cult favorites, and sing-alongs? All are hashtagged with #AYATM, which hasn't yet turned up any encroachers, nice!

I’m not the best at remembering character names or every single plot point, but sometimes I come up with droll quips (Example: Not even Once). If you're just starting, check out my first AYATM Month in Review for a quick intro.