Movie review: The Half of It

This one had intrigued me a bit and today I got around to watching it. It was decent/I liked it, but it wasn't spectacular. A particular scene at the end (the climax of the plot, I suppose) seemed a bit contrived.

The premise is that a high-school student ghostwrites love letters for a football player to a girl that they both like. The letter-ghostwriting intrigued me, though as a whole I think I prefer the movie "Her," even though the letter-ghostwriting has a smaller role in the plot there. 

I think I generally prefer movies that are either a bit more intense and/or profound in some way. Ones with a bit more depth somehow. This one was... relatively light, all things considered. Which is reasonable, it's just not necessarily my thing. 

I'm not generally too keen on movies set during high school/portraying high school students (or at least where the fact that they're in high school is a prominent aspect of the plot), so that also may have been a slight factor in my thoughts here. 

It could've been interesting if the movie developed the character of Ellie's father a bit more; I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity there. 

Oddly I don't have a ton more to say here. I think overall I'd say this movie was just a bit above mediocre, but I just wasn't particularly thrilled with it. Regardless, if the premise interests you, I think it's worth a watch.  

Movie review: An Education

Well, I finally watched this one! What a concept! It certainly has been quite some time since I initially wanted to watch it. It's back on Netflix this month and I've got loads of free time, so I figured why not. It has Peter Sarsgaard in it, which is why I decided to watch it. 

It takes place in the 1960s in Britain and is about a 16-year-old girl's love affair with an older man. In general, the movie wasn't bad, though I think it could've had a bit more depth to it -- as it stands, it seemed a bit superficial. It just didn't quite have the amount of substance that it theoretically could've had -- I was curious to know more specifically about the man's motivations for having the affair; the movie really left that unspecified. 

I actually don't really have a ton to say about it; it was... decent, though not particularly remarkable. Peter Sarsgaard seemed to be able to do a pretty passable British accent, though that's just from my American perspective. 

Watch this movie if you're for some reason interested in it, but don't expect a ton of depth. I suppose that's okay though; not every movie will necessarily be particularly deep or thought-provoking or that sort of thing. I guess I just sort of like my movies with a bit more of an edge to them, and/or a bit more substance to them. This one didn't quite hit the mark on that front. Maybe that was the point though; maybe we're meant to come away from it thinking the relationship portrayed in the movie was ultimately/inherently superficial... 

Postsecret review 21

For the month of August...

"The boy I love told me that he murdered someone. It doesn't bother me at all." (there's an illustration of some sort of Aztec human sacrifice ritual or something, cut and pasted)

Oh, how fascinating to think about! I really wonder more about the context of this one -- who got murdered, what the circumstances and motivation for it was, all that... I wonder how I might react if I met someone and then eventually they told me that they'd murdered someone... 

"If you betray me again, I will tell your family, your friends, your boss, and the IRS EVERYTHING."

Sounds like something out of a show like Ozark (which I never finished watching...) or that sort of thing. The intrigue and money laundering and all that!

"Fuck that! I'm not paying my ambulance fees!" (over the outside of an envelope which appears to be a medical/ambulance bill; postage is from Canada and the envelope says "The Scarborough Hospital")

Well, this is sort of a clever/unique way of avoiding paying ambulance fees. I wonder if it worked?

"I lost my respect for the U.S.M.C. when they tried to coax my fiance to re-enlist through BRIBERY, BLACKMAIL, & THREATS." 

This one is unique; I wonder if this is a common practice? And I wonder what exactly the bribery, blackmail and threats entailed. And I guess it sort of relates to my wonders about what motivates people to join the military in general, in the first place.