seamysmama Reviews

Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets (2023)

More of an indictment of IBLP

[8/10 · 14 June 2023]

I expected the Duggars (specifically Jim Bob and Michelle, not the children) to be absolutely evicerated during this series. While their hippocracy is indeed exposed, this is more or less a documentary exposing the IPLB and it's cult-like teachings. I think even when the show with the Duggars was at it's apex, even then people with eyes could see that something wasn't quite right with them, how they were raising their kids, or their nutty Christian belief system. This documentary doesn't really explore that much more than what we've all come to learn about them already. What this documentary does explore is the IBLP and how influential it has become to so many families, and how the Duggars made it all look so normal. If anything, it's a great watch exposing another cult, and how so often organized religion is bent and warped in a way to keep people (primarily women and children) down while a precious few thrive at their expense. Good watch overall, just don't expect to learn much more about the Duggars than you already know though.

I Feel Pretty (2018)

Funny, sweet movie

[8/10 · 21 February 2021]

I really enjoyed this movie. First, I think it's ridiculous to think Amy Schumer is a 'plain Jane' relegated to wearing Spanx cuz she's supposed to be fat(?), and working in a dead-end job. She's not model (which that is driven home during the course of the film), but that's kind of the point. To think that a funny, sweet girl can't get ahead or get a date is sad. Then you figure out it's really just her own insecurities holding her back, because once she is full of positive confidence (new personality traits her character chalks up to a supernatural experience), everything starts going her way. It's a sweet and funny movie that of course does the whole "beauty is on the inside" trope, but in Any/Renee's case, it's on the outside too. It just shows how it's often our own limited perceptions of ourselves and the world around us that hold us back. This goes both ways, even showing pretty, successful Avery struggling with her own insecurities. Pretty doesn't automatically equal self love. Once we learn to embrace who we are, warts and all, we can really be anything we want to be.

Little Women (2019)

Had to watch it more than once to appreciate it.

[8/10 · 30 April 2020]

I'll say up front, I am a fan of the 1994 version, so I came to this movie with mixed expectations. What I found was I needed to watch the 2019 version more than once to like it, but it is good and has it's own energy that's different from the 1994 version. This update is beautifully shot (the scenes at the beach are like a painting), and all the actors do a fine job. I didn't really care for the non-linear story telling (the movie starts with the modern March sisters - Meg married with her twins, Amy already in Paris, Jo in New York), and then after their brief introductions, we are transported to Concord 7 years prior. There are a few more instances of this time play that I didn't really care for, and for the few people who don't know the story of Little Women, it can feel like some of the story is missing or disjointed. The story of Beth was quite truncated, and you never really get to build a relationship with her in order to feel the pain of her death, where literally she's there one minute and gone the next. The part of Professor Bahr (?spelling) is reduced to hardly more than a cameo appearance. How are we to believe he's somehow Jo's love when the movie doesn't bother to build any relationship between the two? He's there towards the beginning, and he doesn't show up again until the end out of nowhere to try and tie up the Jo storyline neatly so that's she doesn't remain single in the end (per her publisher's instructions). This movie does hit all the high parts (Meg's burned hair, Amy burning Jo's manuscript, Jo and Laurie's meet-cute at the dance, Beth dies, etc.) , and I can certainly enjoy this movie on it's own (the scene where Jo turns down Laurie's proposal is beyond heartbreaking), but it has it's own flaws that I think fans of older renditions of the story will see immediately. That said, I do own the movie, and will watch it again until it grows on me more, because it is good, but I still feel the 1994 version is better.

Marriage Story (2019)

Not as great as anticipated

[5/10 · 20 January 2020]

Very slow, the only scene that got anything out of me is towards the end when the 2 main characters have the huge fight and say all the nasty things to each other that you're not supposed to say when trying to take the high road, but you can't hold it in anymore. One great scene, and the rest very plodding, depressing and just meh. I mean, divorce is supposed to be depressing, but these two married people are so underwhelming personality-wise, it's hard to care about either of them. We do get a fairly good education on slimy LA lawyers and how hypocritical they are. It's all kiss-kiss, hug-hug for appearances, but when it's time for the big show and screwing people over to get everything at any cost, they are snakes! Yes, all the performances are good, but the material is nothing new or ground breaking. Based on all the hoopla of the main character's performances, I was expecting to be blown away. Instead, I was waiting endlessly for something epic to happen, but instead, it was another movie about getting divorced, which we've all seen already in one form or another.

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)

"Change is possible..."

[9/10 · 24 December 2019]

Loved this movie! I've watched it several times; sometimes I just skip to the end because it's so inspiring. Brittany is an almost-30-year-old woman living in New York with a passive-aggressive best friend/roommate, a dead-end job and a party lifestyle whose life is going nowhere. In what appears to be an attempt to score some Adderall, she goes to see a doctor (who she found on Yelp no less), and instead of getting her "Addy," she gets a diagnosis of high BMI, high blood pressure and possible fatty liver disease thrown at her. After being told she should eat better/loose some weight (remove the equivalent of a working-class dog off her body as Brittany tells it), she begins to reexamine her life. She decides to start running - "one block," but it's a rough start, as she's plagued by insecurity and self doubt, chronically avoiding what she thinks is "pity" from people who see her struggles and just want to help. She starts running more, eating better, loosing the weight, and begins to feel better about herself, even as her "best friend" Gretchen tries to sabotage her at every turn with pizza, back-handed complements about her dedication to running and successful weight loss. In an attempt to find a better job, she winds up as a dog sitter and meets Jern, a nice guy who is also floundering in life with his own indecisions. Brittany and her new running buddies ultimately decide to train for the NYC Marathon, and Britanny's judgment of other people ("moneybags Martha, who shows that just because you have money doesn't mean your life can't be sht*t, becomes her close friend, Seth. a gay man trying to expand his family, her confidant) begins to slowly soften, but her own vicious judgments about herself rear their ugly head when she injures her foot and can no longer train. Terrified that the weight is going to come back and she'll no longer be "treated like a woman," she leaves New York (after being "evicted" by the real homeowners where she was dog sitting), stops contact with her friends, grows more sullen, and unloads all of her demons on an unsuspecting, overweight woman at her BIL's b-day party. You see, Brittany eventually figures out that just because you're "fat" doesn't mean you are unhappy, deserve less, or people think less of you. She, and we as a society, do that to ourselves. Loosing weight doesn't equal instant happiness; we still have to deal with our stuff. Once she gets her stuff together and makes amends with everyone she's hurt, she trains again for the marathon, and the following year, surrounded by the support of her friends, she does it! Completing the marathon isn't just about running 26+ miles; it's about a journey in life, the decisions we make, the turns we take. She makes it with her own hard work, but also being surrounded by people who love her and support her, and that's why I cry every time I see the ending. She has crazy love and support at the end that she didn't have before, and she got that by letting go of her crap, getting rid of toxic people, letting people in and allowing them to support her, and stopping all the judgment. Can you imagine how great we'd all feel if we could accomplish that? So, so inspiring that it actually makes me want to get off my own fat ass and make the hard changes necessary to bring happiness to my own life, so thank you Jillian Bell and team for picking me up and inspiring me to start a new journey for myself, because as Catherine (moneybags Martha) says: "Change is possible..."

The Big Chill (1983)

I remembered it being better....

[5/10 · 8 November 2019]

So I remember watching The Big Chill multiple times throughout my life, and I had a fond nostalgic feel for it since it's been about 20 years since I have watched it. Now it's playing in heavy rotation on my cable provider, so I watched it again, and apart from the music, I couldn't figure out what was so great about it. What a sad group of selfish, narcissistic tools! Their characters play this to varying degrees, but they're all jerks one way or another. Sarah and Harold are a super successful couple who have supposedly put Sarah's affair with the deceased behind them by soldering on in a public perfect couple 2-step, but Sarah clearly never got over the deceased (several subtle scenes demonstrate this). Apparently, she ends up salving this wound by allowing her husband to impregnate their lawyer friend, Meg, who is also a guest for the weekend and refers to old clients as "repulsivos" and to her need to earn a good living as "El greedo strikes again." Who wrote that crap?! Then she tries hooking up with virtually every man under the roof (save for lonley housewife Karen's husband, Richard) before finally nailing the seemingly perfect Harold. Karen has a long-burning crush on now tv star Sam, and tells him she's leaving the boring, predictable . Richard, only to plan on returning to her married life after ultimately seducing Sam. Nick is a self-loathing drug dealer who is impotent, and that's about as far as his character development goes. Michael is a lecherous magazine journalist who starts pursuing the deceased's much-younger girlfriend AT THE FUNERAL while also having a girlfriend at home, and basically has zero redeeming qualities. Finally, Chloe, the girlfriend, who gives us no useful information regarding her boyfriend's suicide, who was only with him for 4 months, and adds essentially nothing to the story (though I adore Meg Tilley, it's just a shame her character didn't have more to do). I know it's not great to review older movies though a modern lens, because times change, and whatever year a movie comes out, it's largely relevant to that time, and should be appreciated as such. But no matter what year it is now, the main reason this movie doesn't hold up is that it's impossible to care about these people because they are so awful, and it drags the entire movie down.

Submission (2017)

Only good if you like Tucci

[4/10 · 16 September 2019]

Stanley Tucci plays a professor at a mediocre college (the way his character would let you believe, it's barely one step up from a trade school) that he teaches at in between gigs as a sometime author (and for the "medical insurance") who is dissatisfied at where he's ended up at this point in his life. Student Angela seems to admire the bored professor, and when she catches his ear, timidly asks him to review chapters of a book she's written to get his feedback. Unbeknownst to him (and initially, us), she is manipulating him from the get go. He doesn't even necessarily develop any feelings for her (he states later he was sidelined by a notion of adolescent romance), but he does get sucked into her doe eyes and fawning admiration of his opinion - until it doesn't suit her needs anymore. His distaste for the daily minutia of dinner parties and clueless students allow him to let his guard down, pulling him towards a clumsy tryst in Angela's room that is satistying for neither, except she now uses this new level of intemacy to essentially harangue him into showing her chapters to his agent/publisher. When this produces a dead end for Angela, she of course accuses him of sexual harrasment, at which point you really learn how twisted this girl really is and who she'll hurt to get what she wants. The supporting roles of Tucci's vanilla wife and distant daughter are apparently part of the story to show how much the professor has risked, but the daughter is so briefly added to the story and so unlikable, and the wife so bland, that their presence isn't even necessary. It's mostly a story about how when we feel lost in our life, we can be easily manipulated, especially when we're unsure about who we are and what we're willing to do in order to capture a glimpse of who we want to be.

Sex and the City 2 (2010)

Strictly eye candy; all sweet, no substance.

[2/10 · 28 May 2019]

I did enjoy the clothes, even the awful ones, but that's it. I don't think I've ever seen such gluttonous extravagance put to film. All the 1st class, one car/butler for every gal, desert excursion complete with clothes, camels and food.....not only unrealistic, but not even something you'd fantasize about. Then they plunk Aiden down in the middle east to make it even more unbelievable. I don't need to elaborate on what the other reviews say about being culturally insensitive. Whose idea was it to have them go to the middle east? Just tragic.

Abduction (I) (2011)

Fairly action packed

[8/10 · 12 April 2019]

First off, this movie is not bad. It starts off slightly slow with Lautner's character Nathan coming off a bit of a bad boy; he rides on rhe hoods of cars, drinks to the point of passing out, and sees a therapist for his anger issues. To spice things up, he has a thing for the literal girl next door, Karen, that he doesn't pursue. Then, surprise! He is paired up with Karen for a school project. It's during this project that involves looking stuff up online that the duo come across a missing kids website that shows a profile that is clearly Nathan. He pursues this info, which brings the bad guys to his house, where they kill his undercover agent parents who really aren't his parents, sending Nathan and Karen on the run for the rest of the movie. The bad guys, the CIA - everyone is in pursuit as Nathan comes into some info everyone wants. Sure, there are cliches and moments where he is tracked in the most impossible ways where everyone in pursuit is only 2 steps behind. Some of it really makes no sense - but - it's entertaining. Lautner does a lot of his own stunts here, and they are pretty cool to see. Don't go into this with preconceived notions. Just enjoy this guilty pleasure for what it is.

View from the Top (2003)

Entertaining fluff

[8/10 · 3 April 2019]

I know this movie gets a bad rap, but I liked it. No, it's not Oscar-worthy material, but it's certainly entertaining. It's fun watching Donna (Gwyneth Paltrow) go from small-town Wal Mart (no offence, I do like Wal Mart), to Paris and designer clothes. That's the fun part. This movie is a rags to riches if you work hard, and everyone is dressed up for the ride.

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Feminist Fairytale

[3/10 · 23 February 2019]

I recently revisited this movie since my cable provider is playing it in heavy rotation, and I found myself thinking at one point "it's only halfway over?!" I mean, I've seen the movie one hundred times before (who hasn't), and I had always remembered liking it, but now that I'm older, I find a lot of it trite and full of boring cliches that I just don't find entertaining anymore. And why does it seem to take a damn month to get to Mexico, and they still only make it to the Grand Canyon? What's up with that? Thelma's husband is a caricature of all the neglectful, boorish husbands you'll find on any Lifetime movie, and Thelma is the ditzy, oppressed housewife with the best friend who just gives her "ideas" about boorish husbands (from the husband point of view), and they all suck. Of course, in the world view of this cinematic journey, there are only two choices: live in a world where men are evil and women have no control over their own destiny, or don't live in this world, choosing instead to become outlaws and then kill ourselves in protest. Hmmm. The scene where Thelma is almost raped at the bar is terrible, and when Louise shoots the lout, he gets his just desert. But as Thelma states later, they could have claimed self defense, and there aren't any witnesses, so why the outlaw road trip? Oh right, because Louise has baggage from an assault she apparently suffered from in her past, so we can't trust the law either (well, that's probably true, but it's still just a plot device). I mean, robbing a convenience store and putting a cop in the trunk of his cruiser? In the beginning of the movie, Thelma wouldn't have known how to survive camping, their original vacation plan. Now she's wielding pistols, day drinking, and sleeping with Brad Pitt! All of this would only happen in a twisted fairytale, which is all it is. If you think this is a piece of feminist art, you're fooling yourself. If this were turned around, and it was a couple of dudes pulling these shenanigans, you'd be pissed at how stupid they were, and deride them for being a couple of jerks. Since it's two women though, we're supposed to sing "go sister, go!" I don't think so.

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

A familiar movie for a rainy day.....

[8/10 · 12 February 2019]

First off, I love this movie. When it happens to come on tv, or recently, available again on a premium channel, I will watch it. You've watched it before, you'll watch it again, and it's a comfortable, sentimental movie. From that point of view, I cannot fault it. Like many movies you haven't seen for several years, but then creep back into your life, you start to notice different things and see situations from a different perspective. And that brings me to the character of Carrie. What a horrible person! She hooks up with Charlie, and that's fine enough, but it clearly means more to Charile, and then Carrie is off to America. The 2 run into each other again at another wedding. Charlie is excited to see her again, but she has brought her much older fiance to the event, putting a damper on Charlie's plans to reunite. But wait! The fiancee goes back to Scotland again, and Carrie makes herself available to Charlie that same night, further stringing him along with no hope of a relationship because she's engaged to someone else! Further down the road, the two cross paths again, and she takes Charlie wedding dress shopping of all God-forsaken things, while regaling him with tales of all the men she's slept with. When he tells her, awkwardly, that he loves her, she WALKS AWAY! She then marries the old Scot, and Charlie comes to the wedding so he can continue to torture himself, pining away for the love he cannot have. When he himself decides to settle for a past girlfriend he doesn't really love, Carrie shows up to his wedding with the news she has separated from her husband (after less than a year of marriage), so the tortured Charlie calls off his wedding in the middle of the ceremony so he can finally be with the love of his life, a manipulative woman who clearly can't be trusted with his feelings. Why did I root for these two to get together all those years ago? He should have ran screaming in the opposite direction by the time she took him dress shopping to marry someone else. Other than that......the funeral scene still makes me cry buckets, and I will still watch this movie because I love it, but now I see Carrie for what she really is.

Acrimony (2018)

Entertaining, but cliched....

[5/10 · 27 December 2018]

First, this is a very entertaining piece of stereotypical fluff, and I don't mean that in a bad way. However, it's super predictable and at the end, almost cringe-worthy. Psycho girl (Melinda) marries slacker/user/dreamer (Robert)? Check. Shrill family/sisters always ragging on your decisions/husband, who all the sudden change their tune when the now ex-husband strikes it rich? Check. (One sister, after Robert gets his money, tells Melinda how she always knew he really loved her, after encouraging her divorce. Huh?!). Ex wife going over to ex-husband's dream apartment wearing lingerie under the trenchcoat to win him back after he gets the money? Check (and cringe worthy). Oh, wife can't give hubby kids, but new wife can (a Tyler Perry staple), check, check. There's more. Definitely has a Betty Broderick (look it up if you don't recognize the reference) quality due to the fact that Melinda can't move on, even after the ex pays her back all the money he sponged off of his former wife, plus millions more, and buys her back her family home (that admittedly, his slacking for 18 years was the reason it was lost in the first place), and the ex wife still obsesses over her former husband moving on and remarrying. When at the end (SPOILER ALERT) Melinda shows up on Robert's honeymoon yacht with his new wife, yielding a gun (forcing the crew to jump, one guy yelling as he jumped off, plus a view from under the water shows them plopping in the water, which made me laugh out loud it looked so silly), and shoots him. When Melinda gets pushed overboard, she shows up a few minutes later, brandishing an ax. Come on! Cringe.....worthy. Robert is not a one-note looser, and Melinda is not a saint who merely put up with him for 18 years and is a woman wronged. There are layers to both of them, and in the end, you're not quite sure which one is worse, and that's where the movie missed the mark. Melinda's character is so over-the-top, off the rails, that's it's hard to sympathize with her, and Robert actually living in a shelter at one point while not giving up on his dream doesn't make him look like a complete user either. You can't root for or hate either one, because who is worse? You decide......

Destination Wedding (2018)

Love the banter between these two!

[9/10 · 12 October 2018]

Watching this movie felt like what Reeves and Ryder would sound/be like in an alternate universe, like a "real world" version of their celebrity, if the real world was two miserable strangers brought together by a.......destination wedding. You must love these two in order to watch this; they are the only ones with speaking roles, and it's all talk all the time. Even during their awkward, hilarious "sex scene," neither character ever shuts up (the constant tie flipping of Reeves had me hyperventilating, because it was an insignificant activity that was also so real, and it was funny because it was something that you could see happening to someone in the heat of the moment). These characters are so miserable, that they can't even enjoy their random hookup. It has all the passion of ordering a pizza, and getting the toppings wrong, and it's part of that mundane-ness that is so amusing. The banter is sharp, real and even a little sad. Their disdain for basically everyone at the wedding, and their constant criticisms aren't because they necessarily think they are better than the rest; these two are acutely aware of their own flaws, and are simply commenting on their surroundings. If misery loves company, then these two are a match made in heaven. Loved it!