Movie Reviews

So I guess this is going to be a movie review blog for a little while now that Kari has discovered the wonders of Netflix (not that I'm complaining, I love movies).

Anyway, I watched four movies this weekend so let's get cookin'.

On Friday at midnight, we went to see Surveillance as part of the Cleveland Film Fest. Important side note while I'm thinking of it, the film fest apparently did really well this year! They had record attendance every weekend night of the fest and made their $33,000 goal, which will be matched in an effort to make the fest as great next year. So, a big thank you goes out to all the Clevelanders who (like me) did their part buy going to see movies! This is probably my favorite cultural event of the year in Cleveland (the Rock 'n Roll flea market and Collinwood Arts Fest are way up there, too) so I'm glad it's getting some serious recognition. Ok, done gushing about the fest.

Surveillance is a classic "who dun it" with a not so classic twist to it. It's funny, smart, creepy, and disgusting all at once. If you're a "who dun it" movie buff at all, this may sound like David Lynch to you and you would be on the right track there because this was directed by his daughter Jennifer Lynch. She has a similar style to her father, but the movie was very straightforward and it doesn't beg you to constantly question everything the way a David Lynch movie does. Also, French Stewart and Cheri Oteri are in it and it is very weird. This would have been 5/5 for me if I didn't totally figure out "who dun it" right away. 4.2/5

On Saturday evening, we saw our final film fest screening, Sparrow (dir Johnny To). This movie was really sweet. It is a story of four men who are very talented pick pockets in Hong Kong. At the beginning, a sparrow flies into one of their rooms and according to the other men, sparrows bring bad luck. At this point, the movie basically turns into a romantic comedy of sorts where all four men fall in love with the same woman who is very unhappily married. Throughout the rest of the movie, they plot against her husband to get him to release her. It's funny, cute, and delightful all the way through. Also, the score was amazing and I actually heard a few people say the same as we were walking out. 4.5/5

On Sunday, Tim and I typically have dinner with his family, but they cancelled on us so we watched some more movies. First, we watched Rosemary's Baby, which (with lack of a better adjective) was amazing. If you haven't seen it, do it. Now. (Kari, I'm talking to you.) It was creepy beyond all belief and definitely holds its own as a thriller today when thrillers are usually filled with blood and gore. 5/5

To round out the weekend of movie going and watching, we decided to lighten up a bit with Role Models (dir David Wain). This was, as Tim put it, definitely worth renting. It was cute, funny, silly, heartwarming, etc., just the kind of thing you would hope for from Wain. 3.8/5