Procrastination Central

A place to empty my head

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Weiner (2016)

Directed by Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg. With Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, Jordan Zain Weiner, Barbara Morgan. An examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and today's political landscape.

My Review

I actually really enjoyed this. Maybe because I’m not used to the amount of publicity and attention the politicians get in the US (the last time an Aussie Poli got mass attention that I can think of is when one was caught sniffing chairs, I’m not joking, google it) or maybe Anthony Weiner is just strangely likable. I actually found it kind of funny, I also felt like people were making a mountain out of a mole hill when it came to what they thought he had done wrong. I don’t like to pass judgments on other people relationships but I could see both sides to the situation with him and his wife. I would be curious to see if anyone else felt the same way as far as the whole situation not being entirely black and white and more like many shades of grey Give it a watch if you’re a fan of political documentaries, I’m not big in to politics but found it interesting all the same. 

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Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan. With Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges. A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.

My Review

Ok so this has been winning awards all over the place and it’s IMDB rating was really high so I thought why not give it a crack and boy did I waste more than 2 hours of my life! The entire time I was watching this I was wondering when something even remotely interesting was supposed to happen. Maybe I completely missed the point or I’m not artsy enough to fully appreciate it but I really didn't find anything about this very special at all. I get it... it’s a movie about people...people with issues. But the problem for me was that I didn't find any of the people even remotely likable, even when the whole sad back story unveils itself I didn't find myself being all that sympathetic because their personalities before these sad incidents were exactly the same as they were after them! It’s not like they were perfect people and everything went downhill after bad things happened. Honestly, this went for sooo long just to end up with almost zero resolutions to any of the issues. I would definitely not watch this again unless I was having trouble getting to sleep and wanted to nod off quickly. It’s a total snooze fest from start to finish. 

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Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Directed by Mel Gibson. With Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer. WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.

My Review

This was actually pretty good. I have to admit I’m a sucker for anything war/history related so was expecting to enjoy it based on everything I had heard about it. I wasn't aware of how many religious connotations would be present and did find myself rolling my eyes a bit although I shouldn't really have been surprised given that it was directed by Mel Gibson. The story is a great one and I never cease to be amazed by these incredible stories of bravery during war time. You will either find it admirable or ridiculous that a soldier will refuse to fire a weapon, maybe a little bit of both if you’re anything like me but at the end of it you can’t fail to be impressed by the sheer tenacity it took to save so many lives without taking any in the process. The acting is very good and I loved seeing a cast that was heavily populated with familiar Australian faces. Obviously being a war movie it has it’s moments of gore for what feels like the sake of shock factor but the effects are well executed in general. If you’re into this kind of thing you should definitely give it a watch. 

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American Honey (2016)

Directed by Andrea Arnold. With Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough, McCaul Lombardi. A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.

My Review

This had popped up on a couple of lists of movies worth watching from last year so I thought why not give it a go. I didn't mind this but I wouldn't say I found it overly enjoyable. That might just be because I didn't find the characters to be all that likable which made it difficult to empathize with them. The style of filming was quite nice and visually it had it’s redeeming moments but it did not seem to have a clear ending/resolution to the story so when it finished I kind of just sat and went ‘oh all right then’ and then got on with life. I came away from this thinking that no matter how bad things were made out to be for all these flaky young people on the road in this seriously dodgy line of work it was probably still a huge improvement on the situations they left behind at home or at least it appeared to be so for the main character. I mean at least they all had freedom, income, and a roof over their heads. 

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The Kings of Summer (2013)

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. With Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman. Three teenage friends, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.

My Review

I enjoyed this because it was refreshing as far as coming of age films go. It put a smile on my face many a time and gave me some laughs which were mainly thanks to Nick Offermans character as Joes dad. I was envious of the boys freedom living out in the woods in their little shack and wished I could do something similar. Then I remembered that I live in Australia and if I was in some ramshackle little cabin I would probably wake up to an angry horde of Redbacks, a furious King Brown snake, and a couple of warring clans of Koalas. There’s also the Drop Bears to worry about 0_0

Anyway, this was a pleasant little watch and I would happily watch it again. 

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Short Term 12 (2013)

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. With Brie Larson, Frantz Turner, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever. A 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.

My Review

This was so much better than I expected it to be. Who would have thought a story about at risk kids in a foster care facility could make me smile so much. Yes this is sad story and moments of it are incredibly depressing but it also has really lovely moments that are so very heartwarming. I enjoyed this from start to finish and thought the young talent was very impressive. The biggest thing I took from this was how resilient children can be and how naturally they make friends based on the circumstances they are thrown in to. I guess I had forgotten that I was a kid once and made friends the same way. Brie Larson is so natural in this role as an adult dealing with her own issues while trying to help the kids work through theirs. Obviously this kind of movie isn't going to be for everybody, I can see how people would just think the entire thing is depressing given the content but if you actually like watching things with a bit of depth to them I suggest you give it a try. 

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War Dogs (2016)

Directed by Todd Phillips. With Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Steve Lantz, Gregg Weiner. Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.

My Review

I enjoyed this quite a lot, mainly because of the balls of steel clearly possessed by the main characters. This is based on a true story but it’s always safe to assume some poetic license has been taken to jazz things up a bit. The characters personalities are pretty transparent so it’s fairly easy to see which direction the story is going to take without needing to know the back story. As an Australian I was shaking my head through a lot of this because I found so much of it to be completely bizarre, mainly because the military/gun culture is so completely different here. It just goes to show that there can be a very fine line between what is considered illegal and what is just profitable business activity. Despite the somewhat predictable storyline it managed to give me quite a few chuckles throughout and I have to admit I did marvel at the genius behind the schemes these guys came up with. 

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Me Before You (2016)

Directed by Thea Sharrock. With Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance. A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of.

My Review  

This is a very sweet little movie with a cast overflowing with familiar British faces. I was told it would be a bit of a tearjerker and expected something along the lines of P.S I Love You but I didn't shed one tear watching this. Not that parts of it weren't sad, I guess I just knew how the story was going to pan out and there were plenty of adorable little happy moments to permeate the sadness. Emilia Clarke is so endearing in the main role although I did keep getting distracted by her incredibly expressive eyebrows. I also wanted to steal almost every item of clothing she wore throughout this movie regardless of how bonkers they were intended to look. It’s definitely worth slipping in to your romantic movie line up as it’s not the standard boy meets girl, they get married and live happily ever after story. 

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Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Directed by Travis Knight. With Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes. A young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armor worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past.

My Review

This is one of my new favorite movies. Visually it is just so incredibly beautiful, I was already falling in love with this by 3 minutes in and my adoration only grew as time went on. Everything about the styling of this is stunning; the costumes, the scenery, the music, down to the unbelievably human facial expressions. I feel like I could watch this a million times over and my eyes would still relish in the beauty of it all. This kind of film deserves so much praise not only for the sheer amount of work required to make it but for the copious amount of creativity and imagination needed to produce something that is such a joy to watch. Seriously, just watch it. 

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Ready for viewing again 👏

So I've been on holiday with family for a little while which meant a serious lack of movie watching 🎥 looking forward to getting back in to it.

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Swiss Army Man (2016)

Directed by Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert. With Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Antonia Ribero. A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.

My Review

I read this plot description and honestly had no idea how this movie would play out. I absolutely loved this movie. I loved it from start to finish and everything in between which is so incredibly rare for me. It’s warm, it’s funny, it’s heartfelt, it’s beautiful and the fact that almost the entirety of the film is focused on the performance of only two people makes it all the more impressive. There is so much creativity overflowing from this and so much humour. I honestly can’t praise this enough, or the unbelievable talent of Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe. It’s quirkiness only adds to its immense appeal. 

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Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. With Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes. A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio's stars in line.

My Review

I decided to give this a shot because it had popped up on a few lists of top films for the year. I have to admit that I was pretty reluctant to watch this, from what I had seen it didn’t seem like my type of film. It’s pegged as a comedy/mystery and despite having what seemed like quite a good cast I just wasn't sure what to expect. This films star rating on IMDB has been steadily declining for a little while now and I kind of understand why. For a comedy it’s not that funny and for a mystery it’s not all that mysterious. I’m not saying I didn't have a little chuckle at some of the one liners but the stand out for me was the sets and costuming. There’s also a couple of visually impressive dance numbers which are a nice tribute to the films of the era in which this is set. To me this films redeeming quality was how it seemed to pop on the screen, it just looked rich and luxurious with plenty of sunshine and plush textiles. Obviously you don’t generally choose a movie to watch based on it’s appearance and ignoring the faults in the story but hey, at least I can commend something about it. 

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The Lobster (2015)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. With Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman. In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

My Review

This was one of those movies that had such an odd concept it could either be amazing or awful. I actually really liked the way it started off, I thought Colin Farrel was perfect as this kind of stiff character with underlying emotional turmoil. It was really different to watch a movie with all of these characters that are so blunt and stiff, they say exactly what they are thinking or feeling at any time. Then it started to drift off in to something else, I’m not entirely sure what that was supposed to be but I started to feel like it wasn’t really going anywhere anymore. I realize this is essentially a film about people, about their similarities, their differences, and about relationships. Unfortunately that didn't change the fact that the last third of this just become tedious viewing without any real outcome. Maybe I will need to watch it again and see if I still feel the same way about it but i’ll put that off for at least 6 months so I can forget all about it first. 

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The Fits (2015)

Directed by Anna Rose Holmer. With Royalty Hightower, Alexis Neblett, Antonio A.B. Grant Jr., Da'Sean Minor. While training at the gym 11-year-old tomboy Toni becomes entranced with a dance troupe. As she struggles to fit in she finds herself caught up in danger as the group begins to suffer from fainting spells and other violent fits.

My Review

This did absolutely nothing for me. I’m not saying I thought it was bad it just left me feeling completely indifferent and that’s not the desired feeling to have after committing 72 minutes to a film. It just seemed like it didn't really go anywhere and never really became anything more than time ticking on. I thought the young cast was quite talented but that’s the only thing that stood out to me at all. I found the music distracting at times especially in a few scenes when it was leaning towards the more sinister tones and nothing was happening in the scene to reflect that vibe. Maybe I missed the point of the film altogether but this was the first movie in a long time that I actually checked to see how much viewing time was remaining. 

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Brooklyn (2015)

Directed by John Crowley. With Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent. An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.

My review

This movie was pretty much exactly what I was expecting it to be and I actually don’t think that’s a bad thing. For me this was very easy viewing and I really enjoyed that about it. It’s just a lovely story. Saorise Ronan is so likable and relatable in her portrayal of Eilis. I was able to feel all of the emotions along with her and I think that’s the mark of a good performance. Not only was this easy to watch as far as the storyline and characters it was also visually satisfying. The scenery and costuming was lovely and I’m sure even people without my love of the 50′s would agree that it’s a beautifully presented film. This movie was just really nice, like drinking tea in a comfy chair while it’s raining outside and I loved that about it. 

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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. With Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman. High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

My Review

This movie is one of the best I have seen in a very long time. It’s just a great big serve of lovely, quirky, funny goodness and of course some heartbreak which is to be expected from a film where the main plot centers around a teenager being diagnosed with cancer. It’s so delightful to watch a film in which the characters are anything but generic and i’m assuming this is primarily thanks to the novel this is based on which I am now very eager to read. Even the parents were a breath of fresh air as opposed to the kind of side thought characters that tend to pop up in stories about teenagers. It’s definitely worth the watch and I can guarantee I will be watching it again at a later date.  

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Bridge of Spies (2015)

Directed by Steven Spielberg. With Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan. During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

My Review

This attracted me because it fulfilled a couple of primary interests of mine. The first being that it’s based on a true story, the second being that the story occurred during the Cold War. There are obviously embellishments to the story for dramatic purposes but far less than you may imagine. Tom Hanks is (as per usual) brilliant in his role as James Donovan, the insurance lawyer chosen by the Brooklyn Bar Association to defend the soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Hanks is wonderful throughout his portrayal of Donovan and his performance completely stole every scene apart from the ones in which he was competing with Mark Rylance who plays Abel (possibly the worlds most likable spy). I enjoyed this from start to finish, it ticked all the boxes a film like this should.