Tag: actors

ALL SAINTS – IF YOU LIKE:

KAYCEE’S MOVIE JUNKIE CRITIQUES: ALL SAINTS – IF YOU LIKE…

If you like stories about real people who face a challenge and conquer it with faith, love and community, you will like ALL SAINTS. It’s a true story and many of the “actors” are the actual people involved in the task to save a church. Slated to be demolished and made into condos, the building and the land have become a safe haven for a few refugees and other people who have been forgotten. The new pastor (John Corbett) decides he doesn’t want to close this sanctuary, but he has to create a miracle to save it. Heart-warming, endearing, character-driven movie.

Details: The film trailer states: “ALL SAINTS is based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all.” It’s a slow-moving story in some ways, but could be a film for the whole family (though not very young children, due to its unhurried, quiet style). Pastor Michael Spurlock decides the way to save the church is to use the land. Plant essential crops, sell them, and pay the mortgage with the profit. The Pastor and the community that surrounds him experience a great deal trying to make this plan work and they are all tested in different ways. In the end, faith and love prevail.

KayCee Movie Junkie Critique: I Do…Until I Don’t

If you like quirky romantic comedies with classic happy endings, you’ll like I Do…Until I Don’t. A bitter documentary director decides to push the notion that marriages should only last seven years. She’s on the look-out for relationships that are about to crash. Enter our three flawed, eccentric, but likeable couples. There are lots of laughs and the characters are endearing.

Details:

The film trailer says it’s “a comedy investigating the concept that marriage should be a seven-year contract with an option to renew. The story is told through the lens of a pretentious documentarian and follows three couples at various stages in their relationships.” The style of the movie mimics the filming of the documentary and switches back and forth to tell their stories in regular format as well. The audience gets quite attached to the characters who are essentially loving and kind. It’s fun to watch their antics and satisfying at the end. The acting is excellent. Written and directed by one of the lead actresses, Lake Bell.

Jungle: If You Like…

If you like edge-of-your-seat tension, true stories, survival tales, and great acting, JUNGLE is a movie for you. Daniel Radcliffe is almost unrecognizable, has a credible accent, and is terrific in this role. You will be breathless by the end and awed by the real-life men who survived a terrible ordeal.

The trailer reads: “A group of friends join a guide for a trek into the Bolivian jungle, searching for an Indian village. The men soon realize that the jungle is a difficult place to be.” Unfortunately, the guide leads the friends into some untenable situations. The will to survive is very strong in this film. There are several times when less determined people would have been forgiven if they had given up.

A great tribute to courage and persistence.

Wind River: If You Like…

If you like powerful, emotional films with a message, WIND RIVER is a movie for you. Great acting, a murder mystery, based on a true story and with a morality lesson.

WIND RIVER’s trailer says: “A veteran tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service helps to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, and uses the case as a means of seeking redemption for an earlier act of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy.” WIND RIVER is a tearjerker, beautifully acted, particularly by Jeremy Renner, but all the actors are great. The story is sad but hopeful. The characters are intriguing. There is an interesting storyline, poignant moments, and gorgeous scenery. The music is wonderful.

This was Movie Junkie’s pick of the week.

 

 

 

Welcome to Kaycee at Movie Junkie!

Welcome to our blog/critique! We are a daughter-mother duo. Kristen (the daughter, the K) is a Casting Director and Owner/Operator of Movie Junkie, a video rental store in Brantford, Ontario. Cathy (the Mom, the C) is an award-winning author and a (as yet pre-produced) screenwriter.

Your first thoughts might be: a video rental store? I didn’t know any of those existed any more. Why would anyone go to a rental store these days?

Kristen’s customers are people who don’t want to pay the high cable fees. They are people who want to watch movies legally. They are film buffs, movie junkies. They like the customer service that Kristen and her manager Mary offer. MOVIE JUNKIE is a place where everybody knows not only your name but your film preferences. People who are MJ clients receive advice about the new movies they might like and suggestions about older films they might not have seen. Not only that, the movies are a lot cheaper than various cable companies charge for rental.

We thought we’d offer another online advantage to being a MOVIE JUNKIE: this blog reflection on the films we’ve both watched. (Kristen watches them all and Cathy tries to keep up!) Even if you live too far from Brantford and therefore can’t be a customer of the store, but are still a MOVIE JUNKIE, you can follow our blog.

We’ll give you the details about our reactions, as well as hints about your own possible preferences (e.g. if you like action, you’ll like this and vice versa). We hope you enjoy the blog. Feel free to comment, make your own film suggestions, or describe your own reactions to the critiqued movie.

The first film we’re going to discuss is MAUDIE. The movie stars Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke and was filmed in Eastern Canada (mostly Newfoundland, particularly Brigus). It’s a true story about Maud Lewis, who was a folk artist. The logline reads: “An arthritic Nova Scotia woman works as a housekeeper while she hones her skills as an artist and eventually becomes a beloved figure in the community.”

It’s also a love story, though not a “modern” romance, in the sense that these are not people you’d see half-naked on a book cover.  They are flawed, homely and unlovable except to one another.

MAUDIE is beautifully shot and magnificently acted. It’s sweet and sad and funny. Inspiring for artists who struggle. The film is a tribute to anyone who lives with and rises above physical and mental challenges.

MAUDIE explores and portrays the desire to create in a thoughtful, joyful way.  Part of the message is that beauty and love can be found in the most unexpected places or people.

If you like action and fast paced story lines, this is not a movie for you.

If you appreciate great acting and character studies, this is a movie for you.

Kaycee