Christmas Is All Around Us

With the work of gardening, cooking, blogging, reading, and enjoying nice weather when it happens, we haven’t had the chance to watch as many movies lately as we usually do. These are our May selections, accompanied by my moderately harsh criticisms. (Stars given are out of 5 total, btw.)

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Dear Zachary—5 Stars—Wow. Just…Wow. This could easily be the most gut-wrenching and heart-breaking documentary I have ever seen. Of all these movies, this is the one you should watch. Keep the tissues handy.

127 Hours—3.5 Stars—This movie was surprisingly entertaining. In fact, I think that was one of its drawbacks for me. I was hoping to get more of a stuck-in-a-canyon-going-out-of-my-mind kind of feeling. A little more tediousness, please.

Kick-Ass—2 Stars—I was only mildly entertained by this movie. It’s meant to be completely over the top, but it just didn’t do it for me.

Before The Rain—3.5 Stars—This movie starts out really cool, but then switches gears into something far less interesting. And, I get the whole “circle is not round” theme, but I don’t think that justifies a cyclical time frame that just doesn’t make sense.

All the Days Before Tomorrow—1 Star—The description sounded really cute, but it ended up being dreadfully obnoxious. The characters were extremely annoying. The lack of story bored us. And the worst part? nobody changed. We celebrated when it ended.

The Twilight Zone Season 1—4.5 Stars—An oldie but a goodie. We’re only about 12 or so episodes into the first season, but they are strangely addictive. The cinematography can’t be beat, and I like the short-story feel and ’50s morality. Plus, it’s been making us have the strangest dreams.

Good Neighbors, Season 1—3.5 Stars—I’m not big on ’70s British comedies, but this one is pretty cute. Just when you think the husband is being a complete ass, his wife yells at him. While somewhat satisfying, this can get old, so I don’t know if I will bother to rent the next season.

The Pleasure of Being Robbed—3 Stars—This artsy movie follows a pick-pocket through NYC on her daily routine. It’s somewhat interesting, definitely very indie, and the main character is endearing. Unfortunately it lacks much of a story and gets tedious.

Billy Elliot—4 Stars—I love this movie for the soundtrack more than anything else. The story is cute too. I’ve seen this enough times that I should really own it by now.

The Shining—4.5 Stars—Not my favorite Kubrick, but definitely a good one (aren’t they all?). And I sometimes relate to certain scenes when anyone distracts me while I’m trying to blog 🙂

Deliverance—4.5 Stars—One of the rare occurrences when I like a movie more than the book. That says a great deal for any movie.

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June starts off with a movie marathon tonight, so be sure to check back for this month’s reviews! Happy June everyone!