It's Oscar week, so we did some catching up and tried to see as many nominated movies as possible. Up first was "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" starring Frances McDormand ("Fargo"), Woody Harrelson ("Edge of Seventeen"), and Sam Rockwell ("Moon") and directed by Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges"). We'll discuss our thoughts more on this one below. |
Up next was Lady Bird, starring Saorise Ronan ("Brooklyn"), Laurie Metcalf ("Scream 2") and Lucas Hedges ("Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri") and directed by Greta Gerwig in her feature film debut. Brent's review - "I actually liked this movie a bit more than 3 Billboards, but it was close. This was a nice story about a teen girl graduating high school the same year we did. It felt very authentic, and there were some really memorable and shocking moments. It almost made me like Dave Matthews, and that's saying something. 9 out of 10." Beth's review - "I thought this was a good movie, I liked Three Billboards more. I think what I liked so much about this movie is that it did a great job of catching a more realistic outlook of a quirky teenage girl. So many movies make the teenagers overly witty or quirky, but this one does a better job grounding it. 9 out of 10." |
After that was "The Shape of Water," starring Sally Hawkins ("Blue Jasmine"), Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor"), and Michael Shannon ("Take Shelter") and directed by Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth"). Beth's review - "Guillermo Del Toro's movies are always weird, but that is what I think makes him so interesting. He always tells an interesting story you know you will never see any place else. Michael Shannon was super creepy in this movie and was effective in his part. This is not my favorite Guillermo Del Toro movie, but it was a good movie. 9 out of 10." Brent's review - "For as weird as this movie it, it was equally delightful. I'm writing this before they announce best picture, but my guess is it will win as it definitely had a tribute to classic Hollywood cinema feel. I'm also a huge fan of Michael Shannon, who always steals any movie he is in. The end of the film went a bit too far into fair tale mode, but it was still one of my 20 favorite films of the year. 9 out of 10." |
Finally we watched "Darkest Hour," starring Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"), Lily James ("Cinderella") and Ben Mendelsohn ("Mississippi Grind") and directed by Joe Wright ("Atonement"). Brent's review - "Much like Atonement or Bridge of Spies, every year there's an award nominated period piece movie that feels like it was made just to compete for best picture, and it is usually the worst one nominated. This movie felt very calculated, and the roles of women seemed inserted just to diversify the cast, not to add anything to the plot. Gary Oldman is great in everything, but here the movie wasn't great enough to recommend the film. 5 out of 10." Beth's review - "The subject of this movie is actually pretty interesting, however, I thought the movie was pretty boring. It felt just like a bunch of scenes of meetings put together with some weird shots of zooming out of locations mixed in, instead of telling a story. I was disappointed because Gary Oldman is a great actor. 4 out of 10." |
This week we ventured down to Indy to an eye specialist to check on Cliff. We are so proud of how good our little boy is and this trip was no exception. All the doctors and nurses he saw even made comments about how good he was being. He sat in the eye doctor chair all by himself and happily completed all the tasks they asked him to do. In the end it was decided that he was going to get glasses. He was so cute when he got to pick out his glasses. They tried the all rubber kind on him first which he promptly took off. Then she gave him a pair of adult looking glasses that he did not want to take off. When she tried one last time to give him the rubber glasses he took them off and said "These won't do" and put on the other pair and said "These will do." Stay tuned for pictures of him is his adorable glasses when they arrive in the mail |
When we moved into our house last year we got a couple weeks of nice weather, but not enough to fully enjoy our spacious new yard. Although it is cold again, we got a nice day this week to take the boys out, walk around our yard, pick up sticks, and let Cliff ride his bike. We are excited to work out some of our outside projects as the weather starts to get nice. Beth also really likes this picture because you can really see that Dean is starting to look a lot like his dad. |
This week's Beth's mom officially retired from working all together (except for her duties as babysitter for the boys). Well at the surprise party at our house, Uncle Toph invited us up to check out the fire trucks, which we took him up on. Cliff is obsessed with fire trucks. We drove up to Hobart where Uncle Toph is a fire captain. He got Cliff and Dean their own firemen helmets and let them crawl on, ride, and drive the firetruck and ambulance. Uncle Toph even took Cliff all the way out on the big ladder on the top of the fire truck. Cliff was definitely in heaven, he made up songs he sang while driving the fire truck, he told us that him and his dad were real firemen now, and he even tried to get us to drive back the next day to play with the fire trucks more. Dean loved the spot in the front of the truck you see to the left, mostly because it was so clean he could see his reflection. |
10. Split Brent's thoughts - "This was my second favorite movie of the year. I thought it was a pretty perfect little thriller that told an exciting story, had unexpected twists and tied into one of my favorite movies from twenty years ago in a surprising manner. After a decade of stinkers, M. Night Shyamalan has gone back to his winning ways of his first few films." Beth's thoughts - "I'll admit this movie didn't make my list, but I agree with Brent that it is a great movie. It had some good twists and **spoiler alert** I really liked that it tied into the older movie "Unbreakable." |
9. Thor: Ragnarok Beth's thoughts - "I think this was the best Thor movie to date and was more on par with the rest of the Marvel movies. I like that he finally is getting a good supporting cast. Like all great Marvel movies there is a good amount of humor in this film. I really like the part where Hulk turns back into the human form." Brent's thoughts - "I'm a big a Marvel films fan, but I'd be the first to admit the first two Thor films weren't exactly the best entries in the Marvel film catalog. Thor: Ragnarok was such a fun surprise, being the most fun superhero movie I've seen since Guardians of the Galaxy. The film worked on every level for me." |
8. The Foreigner Brent's thoughts - "We just wrote about this movie a few weeks ago, but I'll restate what I said there. This was a very interesting and clever action movie that was also surprisingly touching. I think it benefited from casting two actors that audiences will bring lots of their own memories of watching to the film, and use their advanced years to add stakes to the drama." Beth's thoughts - "I think this is my favorite Jackie Chan movie. His performance as a dad seeking revenge was completely believable and interesting. I would recommend this film to everyone not just your normal action movie people." |
7. The Founder Beth's thoughts - "This is an interesting film about a really interesting story. I personally like good movies about corporate stories. Michael Keaton does a great job of making a really unlikable guy someone you want to watch in a movie." Brent's thoughts - "I think this movie stuck with me more than any other film I watched this year. I think about it just about any time I see a McDonalds or hear the word 'Founder." It's a great story and it was told in a quick and funny manner that almost makes you take for granted what a great film it was when it's over." |
6. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Brent's thoughts - "I know Beth and I both loved the Woody Harrelson character/storyline in this film, and that was enough for me to put it in my top twenty. I didn't think all of the scenes with Frances Mcdormand or Sam Rockwell entirely worked, as both were so amped up they didn't feel like real people. Still, it's the type of movie that sticks with you after you watch it for provoking a response from the viewer, much like early Spike Lee movies." Beth's thoughts - "I think Woody Harrelson's performance in this movie was by far the best performance in any movie we watched this year. I agree with Brent that not ever part of this movie was perfect, but the Woody Harrelson storyline and performance really puts this movie up towards the top for me. I actually was thinking about Harrelson's performance earlier today and it was still close to bringing me to tears again two days later." |
5. Wind River Beth's thoughts - "Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen and their chemistry together really make this movie. I just loved watching those two characters every time they were on the screen. Besides those two performances, the mystery was actually pretty good too. There were some twist that I did not see coming." Brent's thoughts - "This movie would have been even higher on my list if not for a stupid caption at the end that turned the final shot of the movie into an after school special feel. Up until that last shot however, this was a great drama with really well executed action scenes and likable characters." |
4. Baby Driver Brent's thoughts - "This was my favorite movie I saw this year. Although the plot is just a heist movie with good car chases, the execution of the film was perfect. I loved however ever scene was choreographed to music and the bad guys were really great in the forms of John Hamm and Jamie Foxx. Highly recommended." Beth's thoughts - "This movie had an amazing cast and the music synced to the movie was done so well. I was worried that the music gimmick would take me out of the movie, but they did it in a way that really added to the movie. I agree with Brent that the bad guys are great. My favorite character was Ansel Elgort." |
3. Get Out Beth's thoughts - "This movie was different then anything else we watched this year and it is so different from what is normally nominated as a Best Picture film. I'll admit I did not see any of the twists coming in this movie. It had horror, suspense, and some great comedy. I recommend watching" Brent's thoughts - "I guess this is our pick for best picture based on the rankings, and it would be my pick out of the nine films nominated. This is a great comedy/thriller in the vein of the original The Stepford Wives. There was a ton of memorable scenes in this film, and I think just about anybody would at least enjoy the ride this crazy plot takes." |
2. Logan Brent's thoughts - "What a great way to send off Hugh Jackman from so many appearances as this character. If you think we're overrating it, I'll just point out it became the first superhero movie to get nominated for an Academy Award in the screenplay category. This felt like a western and a science fiction action movie all at once. Also, any movie that mentions how awesome Shane is deserves bonus points in my rankings." Beth's thoughts - "I'll admit the Wolverine movies are not my favorite superhero movies, but this one was amazing. In fact, I am not ashamed to admit that this was my favorite movie of the year. The relationship between Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart has stayed with me even though we watched this movie months ago. It was also great to see X-23 introduced to the movie world in such a great fashion." |
1. The Big Sick Beth's thoughts - "I love finding good movies that have a romantic element to them, even though most of the good ones are not the same ones that everyone watches. This movie was funny, sad, and sweet all at the same time. This was a movie about people you really like to watch." Brent's thoughts - "This was just such a nice movie, it's the kind of film that reminds you that people are good, and that happiness can come from finding somebody that makes you happy. It's featured some of my biggest laughs of the year, and also some very somber moments as well. I think Kumail Nanjiani deserves all the accolades he is getting, and I can't wait to see him in more films." |
Beth's top 20:
| Here's Brent's top 21 (he cheated):
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And our worst films of the year are: 5. Lost City of Z 4. Everything, Everything 3. The Florida Project 2 Hamilton: One Shot at Broadway 1. Captain Underpants We don't want to keep complaining about any of these movies if others enjoyed them, if you want our deeper thoughts feel free to go back through our blog and see our reasoning for not liking them. |