Everybody Wants Some!!

Movie: Everybody Wants Some!!
When: 7:45 pm, Friday, May 6, 2016
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 29
Snacks: Popcorn

Reaction: We're back! This was the first movie we'd seen in a while. Well, looking back, there were only 12 days in between hitting up the Roxy. Not too shabby any other year but worthy of a welfare check nowadays.

The tone of Everybody Wants Some!! was the perfect remedy for working hella hard cleaning and moving out of our condo and into the new house (!). This movie follows a 1980s college baseball team and the few days leading up to the first practice. Honestly, it's pretty dumb but fun and just what we needed. It takes you back to a day when dudes were bro-ier, ladies were barely human, and movies knew no other way of being movies. There is a thin layer of struggling with identity but mostly its beer, boobs, and baseball. Maybe surprisingly shallow from Linkletter but he seems to capture the era well and brings something that was probably true for him to it. If you're up for relaxing your standards, or you're mid-move, or you yourself are a white guy feeling slightly threatened in these times, it may be the perfect movie.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Room

Hello, My Name is Doris

Movie: Hello, My Name is Doris
When: 7:15 pm, Friday, April 9
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 25
Snacks: I'm guessing we split a bowl of popcorn

Reaction: This is a joyful movie that gets into some of the harder stuff of life when it should but doesn't leave you there. Sally Field is pretty magical as Doris - an awkward older lady who is somewhat emotionally stunted, naive, and relatable.

Director and co-writer Michael Showalter does almost too good of a job looking at young people through a Baby Boomer/Gen X resentment-filled lens. He picks fun at their crafting, tech, music, and lingo while also relying on these ideas to move the story along. The bit that made my brain talk to itself was when rather than establish a dummy social network, the movie oddly relied on THE social network, Facebook, but makes up an alternative interface for it. Why?

Stephen Root is one of those people who makes me laugh by just appearing on screen. Even in this more serious role, his humor seeps out. Part of me wants to think this is a bizarro side story within the Office Space universe, in which Milton's issues have been addressed and now it's time to deal with sister Doris's. All in all, it's a fun sweet movie that I'm glad I hadn't seen the trailer to prior. Semi-spoilers all the way through! Whoa, I just learned that this movie is rated R. That is ridiculous - it's pretty tame.

If you're wondering, "Why the long break between posts, Christine?" well, it's because I had a conference in Phoenix. I was able to sneak into "Chongqing Hot Pot," which I don't think I liked - too violent but the food looked great. I'll let this Variety article explain. It was in a great theatre though, the Valley Art, It's part of the Harkins chain and a 2001 renovation kept the charm and still feels recent 15 years later. They have a great gimmick: if you buy and wear their $25 t-shirt, you get free popcorn for the year. Since returning to Missoula on April 6th and the Roxy on April 9th, I've seen four membership movies and will be getting around to posting-o-plenty.

Recommendation: Let’s Go! | Let it come to you  | Let it pass
Next Up: The Maltese Falcon

The Lady in the Van

Movie: The Lady in the Van
When: 7:30 PM, Tuesday, March 22
Who With: JL
Movie Count: 22
Snacks: Dino Cafe Apparently their last FB post was in 2012.  I got the gumbolaya for the first time and JL got the brisket po boy. Both were great and followed our traditional orders - me getting something stew-ish and JL going for the sammy.

Reaction: Maggie Smith maggiesmiths her way through this movie with all the defensiveness layered on top of sass, on top of snark, on top of vulnerability that you come to expect from her but also surprises you with her depth. I think I first met Maggie Smith in Hook. She stays with you through it all, doesn't she?

This story speaks to the shared humanity and individual dichotomies with which we all get through life. There's an interesting character device in the non-caring carer that expands the movie beyond what you may expect from the trailer. I read that there are plenty of Brit cameos throughout; the only one I spotted from across the pond being James Cordon.

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

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!)

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