Terrible Plan! Movie Reviews

What I liked: This is a happy movie. I liked the dresses and especially how very happy seeing all of the dresses made Mrs Harris. I liked how her enthusiasm wins over the tailor and almost everyone else. Mrs Harris was so delighted with Paris and the people she met that she motivated them to live just a little more enthusiastically and optimistically. From the philosophical model, to the intellectual accountant, to the withdrawn Marquis and the cold director the characters were all imaginatively Parisian (assuming your an American author in the 1950s). I liked that they drove a vespa. I was glad that while Mrs Harris got a fresh view of the world and had a wonderful time in Paris, they steered clear of the potential cliche plot pot holes they could have fallen in. I especially liked her friends who helped her live her dream of going to Paris to buy a dress while really not understanding it at all.  What I didn't: Mrs Harris did such a great job agitating in Paris she really could h...

What I liked: I liked that for a feral child she was exceptionally well socialized and educated. Her art really was quite beautiful. I liked that they made it a mystery and a pretty good one. The people I went with were flabbergasted walking out of the theater. I liked the friendly couple in the store, their kindness and involvement made it much more believable that she was able to survive in the swamp/marsh all by herself. In most movies narration does not work it's just boring and a lazy, but efficient, way to tell us a lot of backstory very quickly. It worked ok here since she was talking with her lawyer.  What I didn't: Where were the crawdads? The titular character had exactly 0 screen time and was mentioned only once. What does a crawdad song sound like? Do they have like a little nightclub or something for Karaoke? The most important mystery of this movie went completely unaddressed. Much less important, in a town of 300 if the quarterback was cheating on his fiance with...

What I liked: I aspire to someday be a ballerina sheep. I guess the 1600's is the time I could have been a professional dancer. I liked that throughout the whole movie there are people sprinkled in the background with ridiculous nose masks. Cyrano's problem in this one isn't that his nose is huge, so it was a nice nod to the original. Surprise! It's a musical. That was unexpected. But somehow it worked since Cyrano is a poet it kind of made sense. And the rap battle was pretty great. There was some pretty arts dancing but, again, it's a musical so that makes sense. I liked that they made all the characters more likable than I remember them being in the book for example Christian wasn't an idiot just uneducated. I liked Cyrano's excellent sword skills and his friendship with the guard captain.  What I didn't: Not sure about the over the top costuming and make up. It definitely placed us in the right time period and sets a very unique feel for the film. I ...

  What I liked: Much like Murder on the Orient Express, this movie was beautiful there were pristine sets with bright colors and long single shots with lots of movement. I liked that they laid some clues to help you if you are trying to solve the murder and that there was some cool blues music. The cruise looked quite luxurious, apart from the death, and I'm impressed that the company could make a profit with so few passengers in such a large ship.  What I didn't: Despite being a cruise on the Nile, there was not a single crocodile. Historically this takes place around the same time as The Jungle, but even without that expose of food processing, I hope that someone would have recognized that or is terribly unhygienic to store bodies near the ham and asparagus. Maybe the doctor or nurse could have thought of that. Poirot didn't seem to solve the mystery as much as narrate it. As with all detective stories who's the detectives. If you hear there will be one on the boat wi...

What I liked: The little boy was super cute. Everything felt very real and authentic. It felt very much like a modern grapes of wrath, a family trying to make it against mounting pressure and challenges. Visually the film was very interesting with recurring themes and a bright happy pallet despite the obstacles the characters encounter.  I like that all of the characters felt very real. They weren't stand ins for archetypal protagonists or villains and they weren't presented with much judgement about their actions or whether they were good or bad. They just were. If I were still in a position where I needed to analyze things I think this film would be a great option. What I didn't: They randomly switch sometimes to English and sometimes it took me a second to realize that it was English. I went in expecting more plot and less just human drama so was a little confused.  Who should watch this? People who like soulful dramas. Would I watch it again? It was really good and I wa...

What I liked: I liked the friendship that developed between the main characters. I like to believe that they had the same resolving interactions as were in the movie. I liked the trade craft when we got to see it, much less flashy than in fiction films but apparently effective. I like that the probability of me ever ending up in a Russian prison is very very low. Kind of like the probability of me ever being on a nuclear submarine. These are both things that I very much want to avoid. I also liked that, probably in keeping with history, there were more than two spies in the movie. Admittedly, it did look a bit unbalanced East vs West but I did appreciate that there were spies, plural, and some degree of counter intelligence.  What I didn't: Is that really how you get recruited to the CIA? It seems awfully...mundane and risky. Like maybe they contact you first with someone who isn't in charge of the Europe office. I also think it is quite risky to have very high ranking intellig...

What I liked: This adaption tells the stories of the March sisters non-linearly. This approach does a good job of capturing the emotions of the moments and the sisters' characters. I really liked seeing Jo and Laurie's friendship develop and Meg's relationship with the tutor grow. I particularly liked dancing past windows at the big party. There were also some additions from Louisa May Alcott's life that I thought fit in nicely with the rest of the story. What I didn't: More than any other adaptation, this one convinced me that Beth is super boring and kind of useless. This really detracted from the famous line that "she really was the best of us." Yes, we love her because she is the sister, but that's about it. She was by far the least developed character. Similarly, I left unconvinced that Jo should end up with the Professor. I liked him, especially his exchange with Jo about her manuscript, but they didn't have a relationship. I kept forgettin...

What I liked: The house. Someone comments that the guy practically lives in a clue board, which appears to be true. There are an absurd number of rooms, all of which can conveniently eavesdrop on each other, and every piece of decor reminds you that this is the location of an absurd, over the top murder mystery. My personal favorite was the multitude of crystal skulls tucked into the background (eat your heart out Indian Jones), the ridiculous knife circle thing, and the creepy pictures. Nana. We don't know how old she is. We don't know how with it she is. But we do know she is amazing. The car chase. If you have read my other reviews you know that I am a sucker for a good car chase. I like them all from Fast and Furious parachuting out of a plane to the Italian Job mini coopers in the subway. This one had great elements and unexpected elements and I thought it was great, not least of all because I was decidedly unimpressed with James Bond's driving. That the main charact...

What I liked: I few years ago I had the great adventure of a cruise. The cruise line was targeted to people my grandmother's age, so every night somewhere on the ship was a Beatles tribute concert. I listened to a lot of Beatles music. Yesterday is not like being on a ship full of grandparents trying to remember the lyrics to the third verse of "In My Life." Instead we get some long shots of English cities as people hear Beatles' songs for the first time. It's charming. It's creative. And despite being the length of a Beatles tribute concert it is more engaging and more fun. I mostly liked how very normal all of the people were. The struggling musician living with his parents who wish he'd get a real job. Trying to put on a tiny concert for the neighbor but being constantly interrupted. Their moron friend and the weedy recording artist. It all felt just right. I must say never before in my life has a plastic submarine bath toy inspired more dread. Admitt...

What I liked: One of the earliest scenes has a flurry of social media. I liked the way it was filmed and thought it was funny and effective. The best friend is remarkably well prepared for almost any eventuality. If she could fit her closet in a utility belt she would be a fashion batman. Without all the cool gadgets and fighting. Just clothes and accessories. Worst Batman ever. I liked her collection of outfits in her trunk. The whole family making dumplings together was surprisingly cute. Until it reminded me of the recent Pixar dumpling short . You can't unsee it now can you? Really, that short is this movie in about 5 minutes. So if you want to save your self some time... The mom is a very effective villain, I think she and Lady Tremaine would get along well. I liked the proposal scene. Of the whole movie this is the part the seems the most realistic. What I didn't: Ok even if we buy the "I just wanted to be a peasant and my true self with you" non-sense, unde...

What I liked: So, the overall premise is the standard Dad prioritizes work over family and needs to learn to have fun again and lay off working so much. Usually, this is clunky and not well executed, but Christopher Robin pulls it off well. I liked the chapters (illustrated like the chapters in Winnie the Pooh) that gave us a montage of Christopher’s life and the events that led him to become so serious, like that he fought in a world war. We also get a compelling reason why Christopher has to work late so much, he’s trying to keep the company from going under and the staff being laid off. You get the sense that his priority is his family but that life is just hard in recovering post-war England. I liked that we got the Winnie the Pooh music, usually as themes in larger songs. I liked the balloon, i t was like the balloon itself "I know I don't need it but it did make me very happy." I was impressed with the stuffed animals, I’m not sure how much was puppe...

What I liked: The book A Man Called Ove is very funny and touching. It pretty much reminds you of every old grouchy person you know and love. The movie captures some of that. They do a good job of bopping around through his life history. I liked the way that they worked in the flashbacks on Ove's life. There was a lot of cutting but they did an admirable job of streamlining the story to drive the current plot. They also did a good job with Rune and I liked the clown. The main "White shirt" adversary was less evil, which I suppose is a good thing. I also liked the driving lesson. Mostly, I was glad that the whole thing felt right. It was a little movie about a little man, filled with complexity and emotion. The ending was well done. What I didn't: Pravaneh says it best "Ove, you are really terrible at dying." I imagine that Ove could commiserate with the guy from Groundhog's Day. The main thing that it seemed like it was missing was humor. The book is...

What I liked: This is an inspiring story. Not, as one might imagine from the title and cover art, in an early 20th century "We bought a zoo" kind of way or even a look at all these cute zoo animals kind of way. It is inspiring in a Schindler's List kind of way, the story of a Polish family who used their destroyed zoo as a cover to smuggle more than 300 Jews out of the Warsaw ghetto. This is similar in scale to the efforts of the ten Boom family and about 1/4 the scale of Schindler's operation. But it this endeavor, in addition to hiding the Jews and passing them on to other safe houses, included a massive smuggling operation to extract them from the ghetto. The characters make courageous decisions in terrible terrible circumstances. Clearly the main characters are brave and mastermind an elaborate rescue operation, but all of the side characters ring true too. I don't know if the characters represent individuals or are composites but the film did an excellent j...

What I liked: The lemonade stand. The tie ins to Water Gate (though I'm not totally convinced that the two events were that closely related). I didn't really know anything about this event, so it was interesting to learn about what was at least characterized as the rise of the Washington Post to a respected national newspaper and the rise in animosity between the press and the presidency. I liked the linograph machine. I've seen those in museums. What I didn't: Paisley. The formal MuMu. Mustaches. Excessive side burns. Polyester. So essentially 70's fashion. Also rotary phones and pay phones. Some one should really invent an automatic page feeder for xerox machines, not that I don't enjoy dramatic photocopying, it just seems like it could be a whole lot more efficient. Who ever decided to stage a loud heartfelt conversation in a room with sleeping children clearly did not consider the fact that those children's parents would probably prefer that they sta...

What I liked: This was a solid musical. There was a little tap dancing. There was a whole lot of chorus lining. There was minimal dialogue. The plot proceeded whether it seemed likely or not. And unlike LA LA Land, this movie committed to being a musical the whole way through. I liked the aerial silk number and would have liked to see more of it. I definitely thik that next year show choirs will be performing numbers from this musical. The daughters had a great suggestion that there were too many dead things in the museum. They were ahead of their time, interactive museum exhibits are all the rage now. Also when your centerpiece exihibit is a guilotine beheading a mannequin, the call for somehting less dead is just good sense. I aspire to be a tree in a ballet production. What I didn't: Since this whole thing was a giant anachronism anyway I really wish that they had put in some really awesome circus routines. The chorus line was quite impressive, but they would have been even ...

What I liked: This was a beautiful movie. Every frame is an oil painting in the style of Vincent Van Gogh. It took the team 9 years to complete. As a visual the film is a masterpiece. It even managed to include a few jokes. I really liked that most of the characters were people who Van Gogh painted portraits of. It was fun to see the portrait along side the stills from the movie. What I didn't: Some of the frames were very busy with brush strokes making the whole image looked like it was crawling. The plot is centered around the mystery of Van Gogh's death: was he murdered or did he commit suicide? The whole thing follows one character as he goes around interviewing people who knew Van Gogh or spent time with him in the last few weeks of his life. While informative, this is never the most exciting plot arc. Who should watch this? People wanting to see a unique movie and enjoy some beautiful animation. Would I watch it again? I'm very glad I saw it and it was worth i...

What I liked: Inspector Poirot was very fun. I'm always a fan of Kenneth Branagh but usually I don't get to see him in what I would characterize as a comic role. I like stunning scenery. I like absurd mysteries with crazy elaborate plots that materialize out of nowhere. I love the Inspector's mustache cover. I like that the whole train only has 6 cars including the engine, this may not be the most effective money making venture. I liked how much Poirot liked Dickens. I liked that the train got derailed on a really tall trussel bridge which withstands that impact only to sustain significant damage during a fist fight. I like how incredibly dramatic the whole thing was. I  like that there are as far as I can tell no limits on Poirot's jurisdiction. What I didn't: I am concerned that Poirot did not consider the possibility that he was drugged. Early evidence in the film indicates that he is a light sleeper and as he says he would not be likely to sleep through some...

What I liked: Winston Churchill is a fascinating leader who accomplished remarkable things in a very trying time. He was also stubborn and abrasive and had a whole slough of other personal failings. The film did a good job of capturing his skills as a leader, the gravity of the situation, and many of his odd quirks. I liked the actor who played Churchill, I think he did a great job. And I liked that they were able to work in as many of his ridiculous quotes as they did.  Normally I don’t like lots of extreme close ups in movies but they worked in this one. I like the War Rooms but more just because they are cool not necessarily because they are particularly well depicted in the movie. I like the reactions of the Londoners when they meed Churchill in the underground.  I like that between this movie, Kings Speech, and Dunkirk we have the initial phase of the UK’s involvement in WWII dramatized from three very different perspectives. Although it is a matter of record, I like tha...

What I liked: I liked that everyone was so excited about everything and that there were parties and snacks at the evil company. I want the cool I liked the IRB approval process. I like that no one is concerned with things like laws, ethics, or economics. I liked that we are back to stories about massive conspiracy theories. What I didn't: This was a terrible plan. Every plan was a terrible plan. The main character has a terrible plan, several times. The evil corporation has a terrible plan. Both friends have terrible plans. The friendly associate has a terrible plan. The government no plan. I didn't like that there was no resolution. I also didn't like the antler lamps. Who should watch this? I'm not sure, it seems like a cautionary tale for high school- college age audiences but was a little too slow paced for that. Would I watch it again? Probably no.

What I liked: The battle of Dunkirk is an amazing story of both strategic failing and civilian courage. I liked seeing the snapshots of soldiers on the beach, pilots, officers, and civilian boaters. The main thing this movie did well was capture the urgency and desperation of the situation. A lot of this was achieved by some pretty impressive sound engineering. If you liked the sounds in Inception (not the music part, just the BAAAAAAAM BAAAAAAAAM BAAAAAAM part) then you will love the sound effects in Dunkirk. I liked the effective building to the climax there was a palpable release of tension when the boats appear. I also liked the ending which was the Churchhill speech about "we shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds..." It was a good reminder that this is just the very beginning of a long and terrible war and that the courage and resourcefulness demonstrated in the movie is pattern that persisted throughout the rest of the war. What I...