kbermancpa

mark ruffalo's (very good) character was supposed to be charming, and he was, a little, but he was mainly a jerk and an overgrown child. i was hoping that zoe soldana's (also very good) character would kick him to the curb. in the end, ****, i'm not gonna be a spoiler.

will arnett was very good, and laura dern was, of course, excellent - she's laura dern. my only complaint - a good amount of the dialogue sounded like it came from a screen writer or a psychologist, rather than a regular person.

One of the dumbest movies i have ever seen, but I got to look at Anne Hathaway the whole time.

i scrolled for something to watch and this happily just fell out of the sky. i love a strong, interesting female character (scarlett o'hara, becky sharp) and lily tomlin's elle was that. tomlin carried the movie on her talented shoulders. some of my favorites - julia garner, judy greer, marcia gay harden - also were excellent.

nicely crafted, deeply emotional but never cloyingly so. naomi watts is in just about every shot, and despite the lack of hollywood-style dolling-up, she is gorgeous, and what a fine-fine actress she is.

the movie is unrelentingly condescending to women that choose to give up careers to stay home with their kids. they become empty souled empty-headed versions of their formerly magnificent selves. the mother here was a successful artist - most women making this choice are giving up more mundane, less creative pursuits. but the magnificent amy adams turns in another magical performance, and scoot mcnairy does his usual excellent job as the dad.

i'm a big chloe fineman fan, and she was terrific. the other lead, sam morelos, was also very good. the movie was beyond stupid, but it seems that what was intended. in any case, because of chloe fineman mostly, and sam morelos also, i liked it.

good flick, compelling story of a complicated and interesting man. the dancing and music scenes were excellent. i am surprised that such a big british star did not make a splash here in the states - i never heard of him until now. and it was ok but, just me, i am not a fan of the whole monkey thing.

'the end' kept keep me watching for 2h 28m not because i enjoyed it, just because i was interested enough to want to see how it ended. the actors were all excellent, but they frequently broke out into song, and only one of them, moses ingram, is very good at it. the songs were not good, and occasionally they danced, also not well. nuff sed.

diana nyad is an amazing, inspirational person, and annette bening and jodie foster are great actresses, and the movie was skillfully made, BUT...when she bullied everybody into the penultimate attempt despite the terrible forecast, and the boat was taking on water as she continued to swim, it occurred to me that somebody (not me, but somebody) might have been thinking that they would not be upset if she drowned.

i watched it 2 nights in a row because there is so much in it. the second time knowing what would happen did not diminish it at all. i knew before this performance and this confirms it - emma stone is a great actress.

the performances were excellent (after all, paul giamatti is in it) but i found it too predictable and formulaic. SPOILER ALERT - the crusty nasty teacher becomes buddies with the troubled rebellious student - saw that coming. the protagonist tells off his oppressive boss in the end - saw that coming. but i'll give it credit for things i predicted that didn't happen. SPOILER ALERT AGAIN - he didn't end up in a relationship with the pretty school employee, and the chef didn't end up with the maintenance guy. still, overall, the movie is worth seeing.