I think if I do this, I won't review every single movie I see, or else I'd be updating this blog almost daily. Especially because I watch a lot of low-budget, awful "horror" flicks, and nobody cares about the reviews for those. I'll probably just review the movies I like or feel like reviewing.
As such, review is a term I use very loosely. I'm not Roger Ebert. And I don't have any background in film or anything like that... I just know what I like and what touches me, makes me laugh, freaks me out, etc. So I will mostly just be talking about that... not so much analyzing the film or different aspects of it. Plus, I am not sure how many "spoilers" I want to post... maybe for newer releases, I'll go light on that, in case anyone who reads this wants to see them.
ANYWAY... So to get started, I thought I would review two movies I watched this weekend. The first is a movie I went and saw in theater with my mom on Saturday...
Country Strong
2010
2010
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555064/This movie was not the greatest movie of all time, but I liked it for a few reasons.
1) The music was amazing. It's all country, of course, and that's something I've been drifting back to lately. Not in its entirety, but I've been listening to more of it, more often, and not just bypassing it because it's "new" country -- which I haven't had as much of a taste for as I used to. There are SEVERAL songs that I love, but I'd have to say my favorite is "Give in to Me" which is sung by the actors, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester. I also really loved:
So anyway, the movie soundtrack came in basically 2 discs. The "official soundtrack" and then, "other songs from the movie." Haha. So I bought the official soundtrack and realized that a lot of the songs weren't sung by the actors, which is who I wanted to hear. So I picked out some of the songs from the second album to buy on iTunes, so I could get the versions I wanted.
Basically, the music rocks. In my opinion.
Another reason I liked the movie: 2) The acting. Okay, so GP has never been my favorite. I usually find her kind of flat and annoying. But in this movie, she hit the dramatic acting spot on. The only part that was hard for me to swallow was when she was on stage singing. I think she's a decent singer; I like her voice. But she didn't look completely comfortable on the stage. That's okay, I guess, because she's NOT a singer... but she is an actress and I'm supposed to buy what she's selling. So, it goes both ways. (Also, she looked a little bit like a retarded giraffe trying to dance around on stage, but I digress. She can't act her way to good dancing.) But the drama stuff she excelled at.
Tim McGraw played her husband/manager in the movie and this is his like... third film. Maybe more, but I just remember "Flicka," "The Blind Side," and this. And I am too lazy/don't care enough to look it up on IMDB to see if he's been in anything else. And he's not bad, for someone who has primarily been a musician throughout his career. Before he started doing movies, I never would have thought of him as an actor. But he's not doing so bad for himself. His character wasn't very likable, in my opinion, but that doesn't make him a bad actor. The character was written kind of flat, anyway. I can't fault him for that.
The other main actor was Garrett Hedlund. I've never heard of him, so I didn't have any preconceptions or anything like that. He's kinda cute, in a "he hasn't showered in several days" greasy kind of way. A little scruffy. When I see pictures of him outside the movie, you know, as himself, he looks a lot different. And doesn't really look country at all, but he worked it for the movie. I read on IMDB that he likes punk music... but he sings country really well. So yeah, it worked for him.
And the other girl... Leighton Meester. All I knew about her was that she is on "Gossip Girl," which I don't watch. Her character was slightly annoying in the movie. But I didn't have any complaints about her acting. Also, throughout the movie, I had this thought a lot: She's cute, but goofy looking at the same time. Haha. Anyway, she is also a good singer. I like her sound.
As far as what I didn't like about the movie... the plot was kind of... I don't even know the words for it. There was too much going on and I felt a lot of it was never resolved. Plus, some of it wasn't believable. Like, I didn't buy certain things... But something I did find interesting was that the writer & director, Shana Feste, said that "American pop singer Britney Spears inspired Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the film." I found that out after I saw the film and it amused me.
ANYWAY... I am seriously rambling. This is a bad first movie review. I'm all over the place... kind of like the movie.
I do want to mention one more thing, though. My favorite scene in the movie was the scene in which GP's character went to a school to visit a little boy with leukemia for the Make-a-Wish foundation. It was really cute and she made up a song on the spot for him. You could tell that GP is a mom, because she had a really good chemistry with the child. It was adorable and touching.
Overall, despite all the plot holes, for lack of a better word, I might buy the DVD, just because I liked the music so much. And I could see myself watching it again.
If I had to give this movie a grade, I would probably give it a B- ... maybe a B, depending on what mood I'm in. :)
Now, I was going to review another movie I watched, but I think it needs to go in it's own post. And I am not sure if I am going to do that right now, or just go to bed. Decisions, decisions...
1) The music was amazing. It's all country, of course, and that's something I've been drifting back to lately. Not in its entirety, but I've been listening to more of it, more often, and not just bypassing it because it's "new" country -- which I haven't had as much of a taste for as I used to. There are SEVERAL songs that I love, but I'd have to say my favorite is "Give in to Me" which is sung by the actors, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester. I also really loved:
- "A Little Bit Stronger" by Leighton Meester
- "Timing is Everything" by Garrett Hedlund
- "Country Strong" by Gwyneth Paltrow (click the link for official music video)
So anyway, the movie soundtrack came in basically 2 discs. The "official soundtrack" and then, "other songs from the movie." Haha. So I bought the official soundtrack and realized that a lot of the songs weren't sung by the actors, which is who I wanted to hear. So I picked out some of the songs from the second album to buy on iTunes, so I could get the versions I wanted.
Basically, the music rocks. In my opinion.
Another reason I liked the movie: 2) The acting. Okay, so GP has never been my favorite. I usually find her kind of flat and annoying. But in this movie, she hit the dramatic acting spot on. The only part that was hard for me to swallow was when she was on stage singing. I think she's a decent singer; I like her voice. But she didn't look completely comfortable on the stage. That's okay, I guess, because she's NOT a singer... but she is an actress and I'm supposed to buy what she's selling. So, it goes both ways. (Also, she looked a little bit like a retarded giraffe trying to dance around on stage, but I digress. She can't act her way to good dancing.) But the drama stuff she excelled at.
Tim McGraw played her husband/manager in the movie and this is his like... third film. Maybe more, but I just remember "Flicka," "The Blind Side," and this. And I am too lazy/don't care enough to look it up on IMDB to see if he's been in anything else. And he's not bad, for someone who has primarily been a musician throughout his career. Before he started doing movies, I never would have thought of him as an actor. But he's not doing so bad for himself. His character wasn't very likable, in my opinion, but that doesn't make him a bad actor. The character was written kind of flat, anyway. I can't fault him for that.
The other main actor was Garrett Hedlund. I've never heard of him, so I didn't have any preconceptions or anything like that. He's kinda cute, in a "he hasn't showered in several days" greasy kind of way. A little scruffy. When I see pictures of him outside the movie, you know, as himself, he looks a lot different. And doesn't really look country at all, but he worked it for the movie. I read on IMDB that he likes punk music... but he sings country really well. So yeah, it worked for him.
And the other girl... Leighton Meester. All I knew about her was that she is on "Gossip Girl," which I don't watch. Her character was slightly annoying in the movie. But I didn't have any complaints about her acting. Also, throughout the movie, I had this thought a lot: She's cute, but goofy looking at the same time. Haha. Anyway, she is also a good singer. I like her sound.
As far as what I didn't like about the movie... the plot was kind of... I don't even know the words for it. There was too much going on and I felt a lot of it was never resolved. Plus, some of it wasn't believable. Like, I didn't buy certain things... But something I did find interesting was that the writer & director, Shana Feste, said that "American pop singer Britney Spears inspired Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the film." I found that out after I saw the film and it amused me.
ANYWAY... I am seriously rambling. This is a bad first movie review. I'm all over the place... kind of like the movie.
I do want to mention one more thing, though. My favorite scene in the movie was the scene in which GP's character went to a school to visit a little boy with leukemia for the Make-a-Wish foundation. It was really cute and she made up a song on the spot for him. You could tell that GP is a mom, because she had a really good chemistry with the child. It was adorable and touching.
Overall, despite all the plot holes, for lack of a better word, I might buy the DVD, just because I liked the music so much. And I could see myself watching it again.
If I had to give this movie a grade, I would probably give it a B- ... maybe a B, depending on what mood I'm in. :)
Now, I was going to review another movie I watched, but I think it needs to go in it's own post. And I am not sure if I am going to do that right now, or just go to bed. Decisions, decisions...
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