serenity is no longer wishing you had a different past

Four "guy" movies and one...gah, if this is what passes for girl movies, no wonder I generally don't see them. One very new one (an Oscar contender?) and the rest older, as usual. Mostly worth watching. 

Sound of Metal (2019) - "A heavy-metal drummer's life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: it was on my recommendations list and looked good, like something I would enjoy or find thought-provoking
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 91%

notable quote: it's not about what's said, but about the silence
visuals: kinda drug-trippy and over-stylized
acting: Riz Ahmed has been nominated for several awards for his portrayal of Ruben. I was drawn to Olivia Cooke's Lou, the multifaceted singer / protege / girlfriend / daughter / independent woman / overgrown child.

intangibles: the film has a lot going for it, but I did not particularly like it. In an effort to bring the audience into the sensation of being unable to hear, there are whole sections of dialog and effects that are muffled (or more). While this is certainly instructive, it is not a very engaging tactic. I also found Ahmed's Ruben to be unsympathetic and abrasive. It is not terrible, but there are more enjoyable, more interesting, more instructive ways to spend one's time.

Academy Award winner:

• Best Sound—Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés Navarrete, Phillip Bladh

• Best Film Editing—Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Academy Award nominee:

• Best Picture—Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche

• Best Actor—Ahmed

• Best Supporting Actor—Paul Raci

• Best Original Screenplay—Darius Marder, Abraham Marder, Derek Cianfrance
overall: I do not not recommend against it, but...

For Keeps? (1988) - "After she gets pregnant, a teenage girl must decide whether she should keep the baby or not."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it's Molly Ringwald - how bad could it be?
IMDB: 6.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 17% Audience: 71%

notable quote: "It wasn't lame. It was love."
costumes, hair & makeup: straight out of the 80s
acting: this is the qualitative equivalent of a Saturday afternoon movie-of-the-week from Canadian TV, played during hockey season when they know nobody will be watching. It is THAT bad. Every stereotype, every bad pun and hackneyed storyline, every cardboard caricature... they're all trotted out here as if it's an actual movie that people could care about.

intangibles: hideous
overall: not recommended

Blown Away (1994) - "An Irish bomber escapes from prison and targets a member of the Boston bomb squad."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from a friend's collection
I watched it because: I've really gotten into Tommy Lee Jones lately, and this is an early one
IMDB: 6.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 38% Audience: 40%

notable quote: "You disobeyed orders. You betrayed the cause."
story: a little bit convoluted, but it makes sense in the end. Don't look around for coincidences, just enjoy the show.
visuals: if you like shit blowing up, you'll LOVE this
acting: Tommy Lee Jones (Ryan Gaerity) was lovely, and displayed a real facility with both accents and disconcerting creepiness. Forest Whitaker (Anthony Franklin) was awesome in a role unlike anything I'd seen him in before.

intangibles: it was kind of hard for me to like - for reasons entirely based on the hero/antihero conundrum that I attach to movies - but by the time it was done I was breathless and happy that I'd watched it
overall: recommended

For a Few Dollars More {Per Qualche Dollaro in Più} (1965) - "Two bounty hunters with the same intentions team up to track down a Western outlaw."

Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: Clint. Awesome.
IMDB: 8.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 92% Audience: 94%

notable quote: "The question isn't indiscreet - but the answer could be."
story: one of those amazing Westerns where the good guys are bad and the bad guys aren't so bad and it's fun to watch from start to finish
costumes, hair & makeup: that poncho - man oh man
acting:  Clint. Always fun to watch.

intangibles: it's not the best of his filmography but certainly not the worst. See it.
overall: recommended

A Bridge Too Far (1977) - "Operation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies' attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from a friend's collection
I watched it because: classic European theater film
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 64% Audience: 86%

notable quote: "Jesus Christ... Shit."
story: if you don't know the story of the actual event, you might be lost. Read up on Market Garden, watch the film, and then we'll talk.

visuals: spectacularly detailed
costumes, hair & makeup: this is a HUGE cast needing differentiation, which is a massive undertaking for costuming
acting: were there any stars of the time who were not in this movie? The fine actors on screen for 2 minutes... it was almost painful how many "blink and you'll miss it" moments there were. 

intangibles: it's 3 hours long, but worth the investment in time and popcorn. 
overall: recommended

[the title quotation is from Sound of Metal]