Geeking out about higher ed since 2013.
This month had a wide array of movies available to stream instantly. Each week I hope to bring you a fresh new review of a movie in the Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime streaming library (or perhaps even somewhere else). Recommendations for films to check out are always welcomed!
This week's film is the 2011 romantic drama One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.
The plot of this movie utilizes an interesting device. Every year, on the anniversary of their college graduation (July 15), we see where each character is in their lives. Sometimes they are together, and others they are apart.
Emma (Hathaway) is an aspiring writer, and Dexter (Sturgess) struggles to find himself and become grounded. Both acknowledge a connection, but neither allows themselves to fully commit. Emma loves Dexter, but worries about his loyalty, and Dexter can't figure out what he wants from much of anything in life. We start in 1988 and go up until 2011. While Hathaway's British accent isn't convincing for me (I just can't reconcile it with knowing she is American) she gives a decent performance. Sturgess is a bit stronger, and both are nevertheless able to carry the film.
One Day was not what I expected. I thought I was going to get a bit more fantastical elements, but regardless of this, the emotional impact of the film is not lost. While I won't spoil anything here, the takeaway is apparent of how much of an impact a single day can have on our lives. We should make the choices for ourselves to make the most of each day we have.
While it isn't the best movie around saying this sort of thing, I enjoyed how it portrayed life and it's ups and downs. While I would hope that we all have more ups than downs, life is journey and it is a long one. We can never really tell where we're going for sure, but we can decide what we make of ourselves and can decide to make ourselves happy before it is too late. One of my only complaints, probably as an eternal optimist, is some of the darker elements of the story of this movie. At times it seems to be unnecessarily grim and bleak.
You can check out One Day streaming right now on Netflix.
This week's film is the 2014 crime thriller, Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
The story follows Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal), who searches for crime scenes around Los Angeles to film and sell to local news channels. The more violent and sensational, the better. From the first scenes of the movie where we meet Bloom, we immediately see him as an amoral, anti-social character who is intense and is willing to do whatever he needs to to get what he wants.
After some initial stumbles, Bloom eventually becomes very good at getting the shots he needs, going to whatever lengths he has to. The stakes increasingly get higher, and the movie does really well building the tension. Bloom is a strange character, but you can't help but be fixated by his wild exploits and behavior. Gyllenhaal carries the movie wonderfully, with only a few brief supporting roles. Rene Russo is the main supporting character we see, with her playing Bloom's local news station contact, Nina.
The film reminded me a lot of the Ryan Gosling movie, Drive, which is appropriate since Nightcrawler was produced by the same people who made Drive. Both are great, dark, character driven thrillers that you can't help but watch.
I definitely recommend checking out Nightcrawler (even if it isn't about the X-Men character of the same name). You can stream it right now on Netflix!
This week's film is the 2002 sci-fi action thriller, Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise.
This is another sci-fi movie that has been on my list to check out for some time now. I rented it on iTunes for full transparency (it isn't on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime yet) so this will be a review with that in mind, meaning is it worth paying for outright (short answer: yes).
The plot follows John Anderton (Cruise) who works in the prototype "Pre-Crime" division in Washington, DC in the year 2054. Utilizing special individuals who can tell the future, "pre-cogs", Anderton and his team prevent crime from happening and imprison the individuals for their future crime. Everything is going well until Anderton gets caught up in a conspiracy and finds himself alleged of the future murder of someone he has never met.
Minority Report is carried mostly by the performance of Cruise, and it works. They build a universe around him and give some depth on his character's personal struggles and drive. Anderton fully believes in the system he works in, until he has doubt in it and then is alleged of a crime himself. The twists and turns all make sense and add to the fun of the movie, which has some great action and a solid performance from Cruise.
This movie is certainly worth paying a few dollars for to rent. It's not the best movie or a perfect movie, but it works and is entertaining. It is also certainly of it's time. With the John Williams score and early 2000s CGI, it reminded me of Star Wars Episode II, but this movie is far better than that. Colin Farrell gives a strong turn as a skeptical federal agent in one of his earlier major film roles. It also has some substance, depth, and a dark angle to it as Anderton is a depressed, grieving, drug using cop who is compelled by a regret for losing his young son years before.
I recommend checking out Minority Report if you are looking for some unique, original, modern sci-fi. I also enjoy finding new, different stuff in the genre, so I am happy I was able to watch this movie.
You can find Minority Report on any and all of your favorite VOD services!
This week's film is Welcome to Me, starring Kristen Wiig alongside a splendid ensemble cast.
The plot of this movie surrounds Kristen Wiig's character, Alice Klieg, who wins the lottery and then creates a daytime talk show centered around her and whatever she feels like doing or talking about. She is obsessed with Oprah Winfrey, and has been off her mental health medication so the results are odd, goofy, surreal, and absurd, but very entertaining to watch in a strange sort of way.
Seeing what Alice decides to do with her newfound show is awkwardly cringeworthy, but fascinating to watch. If someone (a little off-centered) with millions of dollars had their own talk show all about them for hours a day to do whatever they want, I feel like the product would be very similar to what we see in the film. It's funny to see the reactions of the television production team, who have no choice but to indulge the eccentric desires of Alice since she is paying them millions of dollars. Her family and friends also have reactions to her antics, but try to be supportive of her new endeavor. This is where the film gets a little deeper.
As Alice goes all in on this vanity project, she becomes egotistical and distanced from the people she cares about most. It's nice to see the film sort of ground itself like this, since it could have just been about the silliness of Alice's show and not much else, but the conflict arises in a natural way that allows the film to move forward to a conclusion.
This is an odd film, but a good one. Kristen Wiig is great in it (as she always is) and the supporting cast is wonderful as well. I definitely recommend checking it out.
You can catch Welcome to Me, streaming right now on Netflix!
This week's film is the 2004 action adventure National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Bean.
The plot surrounds a secret treasure that has been hidden for hundreds of years, with clues to its location scattered throughout the United States on historical artifacts, put there by the Founding Fathers (among others). It's up to Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) and his team of historians to track it down before Cage's evil ex-partner Ian Howe (Bean) gets to it.
What I like about this movie is that it is a unique combination of elements. It's a historical action movie with aspects of Indiana Jones, and Ocean's Eleven. While it has some cool historical aspects to it, the depth is pretty shallow so it focuses mostly on the fun of it all. While I wish there was more historical influences, the movie is simple, silly, and fun, which is all that is ever really warranted of a movie experience as far as I'm concerned.
I had felt like I'd seen the movie before from it's repeated airings on cable and references from other things, but finally sitting down to watch it in it's entirety was nice. You can sort of check your brain at the door and just have some simple fun. It didn't challenge any of my expectations of it, and it could have been better, but it is a watchable and enjoyable movie.
Check out National Treasure streaming right now on Netflix.
This week's film is the dramatic comedy The Skeleton Twins starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.
Skeleton Twins surrounds the troubled lives of two siblings, Maggie and Milo (Wiig and Hader, respectively), who come together after both experience failed suicide attempts after having grown apart for the past ten years. They reconnect, reassess their lives, and find a new direction for themselves.
Oddly enough, my partner and I just watched another movie about suicide on Netflix, Before I Disappear, which hits on many of the same notes as Skeleton Twins. Both are darkly comedic looks at how one person can have a profound impact one someone else, especially when they need it the most. Before I Disappear is a much smaller, and at times surreal, story where Skeleton Twins focuses much more on the relationship between Wiig and Hader's characters than the other film does.
Wiig and Hader are easily the best part about Skeleton Twins. Their interactions are engaging, raw, real, and fun. They feel like real siblings, and the movie benefits from that credibility. While the ending isn't definitive, since the film is sort of a slice of their lives, their lives go on as they will, and we just get this snapshot. The impact of the plot carries through nonetheless.
Both of these movies emphasized the power of our friends and family for our mental and emotional well-being, so be there for the people you care about and reach out when you need help.
Check out Skeleton Twins (and Before I Disappear) both streaming right now on Netflix.
Each week I hope to bring you a fresh new review of a great movie in the Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime streaming libraries. This past month had a unique set up, as I was traveling a lot and saw a hodge podge of movies in the theaters, rentals, and on streaming services.
This week's film is 1991's Star Trek: Insurrection, the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise and the third film in the Next Generation series of feature films.
I've reviewed some of the Star Trek films on here before (Generations & The Motion Picture) and I have seen all of the films now with my recent viewing of Insurrection, and I must say, none of them really live up to the television series for me.
Insurrection follows a plot by the Federation to take advantage of the unique life preserving properties of a remote planet. Once Captain Picard and his crew discover this, they rebel against the officer responsible to protect the peaceful citizens of the planet.
The story borders on potential depth, but ends up just being a shallow action movie with some decent twists and turns. Star Trek is always at it's best when it deals with moral and philosophic quandaries and none of the movies (this one included) ever seem to really live up to that mark like the various shows did. All this movie made me want to do is go dig into Deep Space Nine (since so many people have recommended it to me).
I'm bummed that Insurrection wasn't better. It could have been much better but the end product isn't bad in itself, it's just disappointing in comparison to what it could have been.
I'd be interested to hear what others thought of this movie (and the other feature films of the franchise).
So I finally watched Admission the other day, as it had long been sitting in my watch list but it never found its way to Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime (as far as I could tell), so I rented it from iTunes with a gift card I had. I had high hopes for the movie and felt intrigued (as I often am) about it since it was all about higher ed. I always find myself interested in how movies and television shows depict college, and this movie was just another recent movie on the list to check out. With all that considered, I felt the need to write down my thoughts on the movie since it seems especially relevant to me and my intended audience for this site.
Unfortunately, Admission is a mixed bag for me. It felt original and fresh in some ways, but frustrating in others. Part of both the good and bad with this is that the story doesn't give you what you expect. There are twists and turns but some of them feel unnecessarily forced. The plot feels very jerking in the sense that it seems to be going somewhere and then just stops, and then goes somewhere else, and then stops. There is a lot going on in the story that all does get resolved, but I'd say it doesn't get resolved terribly well.
The basic premise is that Tina Fey plays an admissions staff member at Princeton University and has her world turned upside down by an old college acquaintance, played by Paul Rudd, who reaches out to her about a special student of his. Much of the story is revealed in the trailer, and the whole experience is enjoyable but as a dramatic comedy, it doesn't go far enough in on either of these to either just be fun or deep.
Admission does feel like it has something to say about higher education and their admission processes but it gets lost amongst the jumble of everything else for me. The whole final product feels like it must have been tinkered with too much with edits and notes from too many people to where the message gets too mixed up in the end. The best takeaway I gathered after I watched Admission is that colleges should try to take a chance on students that have potential and would benefit from the higher education experience, rather than those students who have been given every opportunity already and college is just another road mark to them.
I'd be interested to hear other's thoughts on the movie if they've watched it.