Friday, March 30, 2018

Movies of the Month {March}

Even though we were gone on our road trip for the second half of March (and are technically still out on the road), we did our darnedest to take advantage of our MoviePass membership. Call me frugal (or even cheap... hey, ain't no shame - I own that title), but if we are paying $9.95 a person a month, I want to make sure we are getting our moneys worth! {FYI - On Tuesdays, our local theater movie tickets are on sale for $7, but otherwise the cheapest you can find is $10.70 for a matinee... which means if you go to more than one movie a month you are technically saving money!}


So, let's get into it already, shall we?! I mean, that's why you are visiting the blog today, right?! You all are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to get our thoughts on the movies we saw... I guess you can call us the new Siskel and Ebert!


Primal Rage - Bigfoot Reborn

Okay, so if you know my hubby, you know he legit believes in Bigfoot. Not like "maybe they might exist", but he believes down to his core that Bigfoot is out there. So when there was a one night event for the premier of this "film", you better believe we had to hit up our local theater! I know I've said it in the past, but scary movies are NOT my jam. In fact, if there is a scary movie preview on the TV I normally close my eyes and plug my ears. Although this is a "thriller" I guess I knew going into it that it would probably be hokey and not something I would be concerned could ever really happen so I wasn't worried. Obviously since this was a one night event, if you missed it you probably won't see it in the theaters again, but I still figured I'd share our thoughts... First off, before the movie started there was Bigfoot trivia instead of your standard previews which was sort of fun. The movie itself reminded me of something I would see on the SciFi channel (and would normally have kept flipping past). It was an interesting take on the legend because the writer/ director made Bigfoot into a "bad guy" with tools and weapons and definitely was the aggressor of the film. Let's just say it was entertaining but I normally wouldn't have spent $12.50 to see it (but there were more people in the theater than I was expecting - maybe like 15 folks). At the end there was a little "behind-the-scenes" and Q&A with some of the cast members and crew. Learning more about the film did make it a little more impressive (they did their own stunts, they only had 8 crew members, the writer/ director was also the one who wore the Bigfoot costume, one of the main actors was in a car accident while filming was on a break and had to have his foot amputated, etc), but I don't know that I would have the need to see it ever again.

Source

The Dark Crystal

This is another special presentation that if you missed earlier in the month you probably are out of luck. In fact, this film is originally from 1982! At one of the previous movies we had gone to we saw the ad letting us know this one would be re-shown in the theaters soon. I had never seen it before, so I figured why not?! (The hubby saw it "back in the day" and was pretty busy with work stuff so I ended up heading over to the theater on my own for this one.) Although I would probably say that The Muppets are a little more my speed, I did appreciate this movie for what it was. There was a little spiel at the beginning by Jim Henson's daughter and it really opened my eyes. This movie was all done with puppets... before CG, green screens or after effects to remove cords, cables, etc... At the time it was really pushing the envelop with the technology available (the animatronics in the puppets). Jim Henson wasn't even sure the concept would work, especially since it was one of the first movies with no humans featured in it. In fact, when they originally shot it there were no speaking parts at all but the test screens flopped so they had to go back in and dub words (and had to make sure they fit with the movement of the mouths - how crazy is that?!). If you've watched an older film recently, you probably can tell how slow the older movies feel compared to the constant stimulation of current movies, but even still I was entertained.

Source

Kirk Cameron: CONNECT

I guess you can see a pattern here, right?! This was another special event that was only in the theater for two nights, so I thought it was worth the mile and a half drive over to our theater. Although this movie is about parenting kids in a social media world (and the hubby and I have decided to pass on grass when it comes to having children), I still thought the premise of the movie was interesting. Now I guess I should have expected it because it was Kirk Cameron, but the movie was very Christian based (which isn't a bad thing, just something I guess I wasn't expecting to be so much of the focus). With that said, I think they brought up quite a few great points (everything from the science of the brain to the lies culture has tricked us into believing). Obviously this won't change the way we parent Walt the Wiener Dog (no smart phone for him... EVER!), but I did walk away thinking about how I really want to focus more on my genuine friendships. When I'm with people, I want to be WITH THEM. I already try my best to keep my phone off when I'm hanging out with others, but this helped remind me how valuable those relationships can and should be. Let's put the phones down and CONNECT!

Source

Red Sparrow

I'll be honest, I don't think I've seen a movie that Jennifer Lawrence has been in that I haven't enjoyed... She's pretty much a rockstar in my book! But I've gotta #KeepItReal (because you better expect that when you come to me for my opinion) and say this is not one of my favorite movies she's ever been in. I thought the twists and turns throughout the movie kept me guessing and intrigued (although the accents seemed a bit rough and all the sex/ torture are definitely NOT my jam). Spy thriller films are normally not my genre of choice, so I may be way off base when I say this because I don't have a ton of expertise in this area, but I felt like this movie was pretty unique and original (more psychological warfare than bang-bang shoot 'em up type action). Again, I wouldn't say it was the best movie I've seen all month (and probably wouldn't normally have seen it in the theater without our MoviePass), but it was entertaining enough to spend 2 hours watching.

Source

Every Day

The hubby's dad came into town to take Ryan snowboarding for the weekend (they went to Mammoth) so I had a couple solo days. I figured along with getting ready for our road trip, filing our income taxes and everything else I do on a normal basis I thought I'd hit up the theater to see a couple of the movies I knew the hubby wouldn't necessarily want to see. This was the first one in that category. I recently had a friend suggest I read this book, but other than the approval from that person I didn't know much about this title. Well, if you guys read my book recaps you've probably noticed that I love me a good YA {young adult} read. This movie was definitely right up that alley. I thought the premise (a soul inhabits a new body every day and becomes that person for 24 hours) was definitely an interesting and intriguing one and I appreciate that it's an original idea. The movie is cute and I totally enjoyed it (but I wouldn't say it needs to be seen at the theater).

Source

A Wrinkle In Time

Another one I figured the hubby wouldn't be dying to see so I hit up solo. Going into the film I only knew what I had seen on the previews. I heard it was based on a book (written in 1962) but had never read it. Overall I thought it was good (wouldn't say it was terrible, but definitely wouldn't say it was amazing). Love the idea that light and love are the way to overcome darkness and hate, not to mention embracing one's faults, but other than the overarching ideas I was left wanting more. It sort of felt a bit disjointed (like maybe they were rushing the storyline or leaving out chunks of the plot), even if it was visually appealing. Overall I probably wouldn't see it again, but think kids might like it a little more.

Source

Thoroughbreds

This one wasn't actually playing at our local theater (which is like a mile from our house - hence why it's so convenient to hit up the movies on a few moments notice), but I decided to head down the road to check this one out. I had heard folks comparing this to Mean Girls or Heathers (which I haven't seen), but I am glad I didn't take the comparison to heart. This isn't your typical teen drama, it's much darker than that. If you are used to fast-paced action films it may take a moment for your to get into this one, but it's worth the time. This one is nasty... but in a good way. I mean, as long as you are okay with two teenage sociopaths. And I am pretty surprised that this was the director's first film. I thought the cinematography was awesome, the use of chapters to divide the story was great and the acting was all stellar. This was Anton Yelchin's final film before he died in 2016. I enjoyed him in everything I saw him in, and this movie was no different. 

Source

Game Night

The hubby and I have some couple friends who LOVE playing games, so when we saw this preview we knew we would need to see the movie. I'll admit, I didn't go in with high expectations. I figured it'd be stupid funny with a few funny parts, but I was wrong. The hubby and I both really liked it (and laugher throughout the entire thing). The plot was fun (and wasn't as predictable as I was expecting), the characters all seemed to have great chemistry, the one liners and wit were spot on, and they actually touched on a few more serious topics at the same time. Now obviously you aren't going to walk away with some earth shattering revelations, but we were thoroughly entertained and both would recommend it to friends.

Source

Gringo

This wasn't a move that we necessarily HAD TO see, but the hubby had a slow afternoon with work stuff and suggested we head over to the theater. We weren't expecting great things from this one, but it was interesting enough that we were willing to splurge the $2ish on it (or whatever our membership broken down per movie was at that point). There were actually a few more twists and turns in the plot than we were expecting and it definitely kept us entertained. Both of us walked away saying it was enjoyable, but definitely not one that we would have wanted to spend a full ticket price to see.

Source

Love, Simon

If you read my February Books post then you probably saw that I read the book this movie was based on (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) last month. I actually had seen a preview for this movie a few weeks ago, found out that it was first a book and had to grab it from the library. Before I get into the review, let me confess, I would say 99% of the time I enjoy the book more than the movie, and I'll be honest, I felt the exact same way in this situation too, but (and this is a BIG but) I still really enjoyed the movie! There were definitely some details that were changed in the movie (Leah's love interest, Leah and Abby's relationship, what exactly was leaked, etc), but for the most part it was similar enough to the plot of the book. The hubby went in knowing nothing about the story and really liked it as well. He said that it sort of reminded him of more indie type films like Charlie Bartlett. Even though I will always recommend the book over the movie, I am stoked that this movie is in the mainstream and that the experience of coming out (especially in this social media driven society) is being touched on. Representation matters and I am pumped to see the LGBTQ community getting more love.

Source


7 Days in Entebbe

We were in Los Angeles for the marathon and could either hang out in our hotel or go see a movie... so we went over to the theater (it helped that it was only a quarter mile from where we were staying and could "check in" to the movie from our hotel room). Neither the hubby nor I were born when this event actually occurred so I didn't know anything about the specifics prior to going to see the movie (even though apparently there are quite a few movies on the topic). I realize it is "based on true events" meaning it isn't 100% accurate but I do still appreciate more historical films because I feel like I am doing a little learning while being entertained. I'll be honest, I didn't love it (although you feel for the hostages I didn't feel really invested in any of the characters). I also wasn't sure how the choreographed dance fit in to the story line (maybe it was to build the drama, but I didn't feel like it totally worked). All in all, it was a decent way to kill two hours and keep our legs rested for the race the following day but I would have been bummed had I paid for a full priced ticket to see it.

Source

And with that our March movies have come to an end. I definitely saw my fair share of movies alone this month, but with the hubby out of town for a few days (or not really interested in some of the special events) it just worked out that way. In fact, I was able to see 11 movies while the hubby only saw 6. Even still, with our MoviePass membership, my movies cost approximately $.90 a viewing and the hubby's were $1.66 - still a MAJOR savings compared to actual box office prices!

What was the last movie you saw in the theater?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Dark Crystal was a childhood fave. I even bought it for my dad a few years ago for Christmas :)

Terra Heck said...

I'm not so sure I'd see any of them with the exception of Game Night. It looks good. You did well with getting in quite a bit of movies in March! I'm still debating on whether I want to get a Movie Pass or not.

Anne said...

I really don't go to or watch movies, so this is fascinating to me! Two things...
1) I don't know if you ever want to go there, but I would be interested in learning more about your decision not to have kids. We came to the same decision and it's a hard one to, well, get other people to understand sometimes. Just a random question - sorry!
2) RE a Wrinkle in Time. I would highly recommend the book, based on what I've heard about the movie. Just my opinion - I have read and love the books, and don't plan to see the movie because the one in my head is so established. :)