AMERICAN REUNION- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “The four lustful buddies of American Pie return to East Great Falls for their 10-year high school reunion and a flood of memories. In the franchise’s latest installment, the guys look back at their quest to lose their virginity in the first film.”
4/6/12- Weak review in today’s NY Times and weak professional reviews elsewhere as well. Audiences seem to like it. TRDB.
Add comment April 6th, 2012
HOW TO GROW A BAND- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “In How to Grow a Band, 26-year-old Chris Thile is at a crossroads. His marriage has ended, and his platinum-selling band, Nickel Creek, has gone on “indefinite hiatus.” But Thile, a perfectionist prodigy who’s defied expectations since he learned the mandolin at age five, has a plan. Step 1: Write a 45-minute, four-movement elegy to your failed marriage to be played by a bluegrass quintet. Step 2: Recruit the only musicians around talented enough to play it and crazy enough to sign on. Step 3: Make a record, launch an international tour and brace yourself. Filmed with uncommon access, How to Grow a Band provides a rare look at the start of one of America’s most promising young bands and explores the tensions that test young artists: individual talents and group identity, craft and commerce, innocence and wisdom.” No reviews yet. TRDB.
Add comment April 4th, 2012
HIT SO HARD- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “This compelling documentary chronicles the life of former Hole drummer Patty Schemel, from childhood through her rise to fame and beyond, revealing her near-destruction by the personal demons that too often accompany celebrity.”
Mixed reviews with better ones from audiences than from critics. TRDB.
4/14/12- Good review in yesterday’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment April 4th, 2012
LATE BLOOMERS- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “After 30 years together, a married couple confronts the unpalatable realities of getting older and concludes that emotional absence is the easiest way to cope. But at what point does distance become divorce?” Poor reviews. TRDB.
4/13/12- Weak review in today’s NY Times and mediocre ones at best from other critics. TRDB.
Add comment April 4th, 2012
BLUE LIKE JAZZ- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Life in a devout family has given Don a unique view of religious hypocrisy, so when choosing a college, he picks “the most godless campus in America.” This rebellion against his upbringing changes Don, often in ways he never sees coming.”
4/13/12- OK review in today’s NY Times and excellent audience reactions so far. TRDB.
Add comment April 4th, 2012
POST MORTEM- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “The bloody 1973 military coup in Chile is the center of this gripping drama about Mario (Alfredo Castro), a lonely morgue worker caught up in the chaos tearing apart his country. When the woman he loves, Nancy (Antonia Zegers), goes missing, Mario’s political awakening begins. Mario’s search for Nancy is interrupted when soldiers kidnap him and his boss (Jaime Vadell) and force them to conduct an autopsy on a secret and highly important corpse.” Very good professional reviews but just so-so audience responses. TRDB.
Add comment April 4th, 2012
THE RAID: REDEMPTION- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “When an elite SWAT team goes after a drug lord holed up in Jakarta’s most notorious tenement building, they find themselves trapped and forced to fight their way out through brutal gangsters loyal to the kingpin they were trying to assassinate.” Very good reviews but this movie sounds violent as hell and I think I’ll skip it. TRDB.
Add comment April 3rd, 2012
PLAYER HATING: A LOVE STORY- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Half-a-Mill is a 26 year old hip hop artist from the Albany Projects in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. By the time he was seven, Half was sharing a gun with his brother, ’cause he was sick of people putting their guns in his face in the elevator of his building, and not being able to do anything about it. Half’s been running with the same ten guys, since he was real little, and they’re his crew. But he’s the one that will take all of them out of the projects because he’s been signed by the indie music label, Warlock Records. Half and his crew are doing most of the work to launch his first album Milion, but that’s ok because there’s the chance they’ll blow up, and Half wants that so bad he can taste it, and he’ll do whatever he has to do, in order to support himself, his family and his music.”
An OK early review. TRDB.
Add comment April 2nd, 2012
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “In Whit Stillman’s offbeat comedy, three pretty friends plan to use music, dance and perfume to brighten the lives of their fellow college students. But before long, the girls find themselves busy dealing with problems of their own.”
This sounds silly but it’s received good early reviews. TRDB.
4/6/12- Good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
4/29/12- This movie, while done in a clever manner, was way too cool for itself and I really didn’t care for it. TRDB. At the Theater.
Add comment April 2nd, 2012
BRAKE- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Secret Service agent Jeremy Reins awakens in the trunk of a car driven by terrorists who are hunting for the president’s secret bunker. For Reins, escaping means more than just his own survival: The nation’s future hangs in the balance.”
3/23/12- Bad review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment March 23rd, 2012