shaughne1

IMDb member since September 2012
    Highlights
    2013 Oscars
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    2011 Oscars
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    2010 Oscars
    Lifetime Total
    5+
    IMDb Member
    11 years

Reviews

Crossfire Hurricane
(2012)

If you're looking the story of the Stones, this isn't it. If you're looking for a little added color, this can work.
This movie is a lot of archived shots of the Stones from (I think, not an expert) about '64 to '72, often overlaid with commentary by the Stones themselves recorded in 2012, with a bunch of unnecessary directorial flourish added on.

I'm a big fan of the Stones, but I'm not a super fan, and I was born after the events covered in the film. For me, this movie does a nice job filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge. There are revelatory quotes, the band members are extremely insightful, there are some awesome photos and clips, and the movie does a great job showcasing what makes the Rolling Stones so cool. There's a lot to really like.

On the other hand, the editing is hit or miss, the direction is all over the place, it fails to tell a comprehensive, or even coherent story, and the scope is unclear throughout. And the lack of comprehensiveness is significant. Few band members are introduced, some are never even mentioned, and that's to say nothing of producers, managers, girlfriends, Gram Parsons, etc. Important context and parts of the story are completely ignored.

If you're obsessed with the Stones there's probably nothing interesting besides some of the interviews, if you don't know them pretty well it will be confusing, but as someone inbetween it stoked my imagination, and the band always radiates.

Atomic Blonde
(2017)

Lots to admire, but kinda nonsensical.
Some parts of this movie were really fun: great Bourne-esque action sequences, Charlize dialed up to 11, kitschy 80s soundtrack. That said, the plot was convoluted, and even once I checked wikipedia to make sure I understood, still not that interesting.

There were some things this movie did so well. Well, basically it did action sequences really well. The stairwell scene that everyone was talking about is basically something out of The Raid, but with at least some plot and acting behind it. Even though the movie takes itself really seriously and wants its audience to devote a ton of energy into understanding what the hell is going on, it's more fun if you just don't pay that close attention. My recommendation is to accept that it's too much work to justify keeping track of who's double crossing who and what's actually going on, forget James McAvoy exists, and just enjoy all the fun songs and absolutely wild action sequences.

This was a tough pill to swallow, but if you just take the good parts at face value this is an extremely entertaining action movie.

Springsteen & I
(2013)

Makes you feel like you're among friends
This movie is probably FUBU: For Us By Us. I doubt this movie is useful to people that weren't Springsteen fans going into it. It doesn't explain what Bruce did, where he came from, or anything like that. It just tries to show you how much he means to his fans. How much we look at him as part of our own identity. This isn't about understanding Bruce, it's about understanding us.

I've been a fan for most of my life, since I was listening to Live 75-85 on the cassette player in my dad's car. This movie just killed me. It was the closest thing to seeing him live. Not that the live footage they used was actually that good, that wasn't the point. It makes you feel like you're a part of a community. And it lets you revel in that sense of community, and feel connected to some people who approach Bruce a little different than you, but probably feel the same thing... I was crying like half the time.

If you've ever been at a Bruce Springsteen concert and hugged a stranger for the first time in your life, this movie wants to explain why. "Springsteen and I" resonated to me as a Bruce Springsteen fan in a huge way. I can't evaluate it objectively as a film, but it rang true in the most important way for me.

Tig
(2015)

Funny, touching doc about an empathetic person
I love Tig. The movie captures an incredible person doing her goddamn best. I literally cried, and I came out of it a little more hopeful, at least right now. I didn't even notice if the movie was well made or making some big point or anything, I just know that it got across an incredible human struggle and an incredible human. The movie was consistently sad, consistently funny, and in depth into someone's life in a fairly unique way. No matter how you slice it, a lot of objectively interesting stuff, great and horrible, happened to Tig in a pretty short time-span, and this movie shows us how it happened. This movie probably won't change your life, but it definitely turned my day around.

Mad Men: My Old Kentucky Home
(2009)
Episode 3, Season 3

Understated masterpiece
Mad Men doesn't always try and hit you over the head. A lot of the most beloved Mad Men episodes are the ones where all of a sudden we learn something that dramatically alters our perception of a character. That only happens a few times a season. Besides the perfect moment when Peggy decided to smoke marijuana, this episode is not about those moments. This is not a big episode, but it's the kind of episode that makes Mad Men the best show on TV. There are a dozen believable but absurd moments and some of them are truly hilarious. "I am so high." Ultimately, this is a show about character development, and even though Don Draper is far and away the show's greatest accomplishment, Paul, Peggy, Trudy, Sally, and even the brief moments of Roger making a crowd pleasing fool of himself are what make this a special episode. And then there's the Joan subplot. For most of the first two season's it seems like Joan is loosing her grip on the perfect world that she created, where she's queen bee, beloved by the boss, and feared by her coworkers. We see the epitome of Joan in her element and in her nightmares in this episode. In "My Old Kentucky Home," Joan is capable, even dominant, but she can't compete with the world she lives in. And even though she controls what's around her, she's never truly in control. Joan can'r be happy in her own world, while Peggy is finding satisfaction in a world completely alien to her.

This is one of the quiet Mad Men episodes, but it's pitch perfect. Little moments, like Don grabbing the beautiful grass beneath his feet, or the camera panning to the trees and then suddenly cutting to explain it steal the show over and over. This isn't an episode for new viewers or for people who aren't completely sold on the show, but for people who know and love the characters, this is an episode packed with exposition on who these people really are and if you really commit to loving this episode, it's one of the greatest character oriented episodes of TV I've ever seen.

"The thing is, I have a job. I have my own office, with my name on the door. And I have a secretary. That's you. And I am not sacred of any of this. But you are scared. Oh my god, you're scared. Don't worry about me. I am going to get to do everything you want for me. I'm going to be fine, Olive. I really am." -Peggy Olson

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