I registered the domain name ireviewflicks.com a few months ago with every intention of reviewing movies on a regular basis (right now it just redirects to my site ireviewalbums… another well-intentioned but unutilized site). I love movies. I have a decent collection of Blu-Rays and DVDs and even VHS tapes… a paid subscription to Netflix, a paid subscription to hulu and make regular use of the local RedBox. But most movies leave me with little to say anymore. They’re okay or they’re alright. But few are game changers.
So I was surprised when two movies in one week really stuck with me. Fair Game and The Next Three Days. If you haven’t seen them yet, rent them this weekend.
Fair Game is a dramatized retelling of Valerie Plame’s life. You’ll know the name Valerie Plame if you followed politics closely a decade ago… or if you’re a huge Decemberists fan. Plame was a CIA secret agent, whose identity was leaked by our own government, putting her and her family’s lives in danger.
The story was told well and I went into Fair Game not knowing anything about it. I didn’t even know her name until half way through watching, at which point I paused the film, started singing her song and looked up her actual biography on Wikipedia. The dynamic between Naomi Watts (who played Plame) and Sean Penn (who played Plame’s husband) was especially realistic and well performed.
The Next Three Days is a remake of some French film I’ve never heard of. In The Next Three Days a man plots to break his wife out of prison after she is convicted of a murder he doesn’t believe she committed.
The Next Three Days is a long movie. But for the entire duration of the over two hour long running time I was mesmerized. This is not a heist movie, this is not a James Bond blow-‘em-up movie, this is a simple movie about a simple guy who breaks a jail’s simple daily routine and believes he’s able to free his wife.
The last half hour is intense. My heart rate shot up and remained elevated until the credits rolled. I would easily watch The Next Three Days again tomorrow I enjoyed it so much.
So there, I scratched the movie reviewing itch I’ve had, and hopefully encouraged you to go rent two better-than-average movies. If you’ve seen them, or watch either of them after reading this, let me know what you thought in the comments section below.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The next three days was an awesome movie. One of the best iv seen in a wile
You ever get the itch again, Alan, my site is always available for guest posts!
Hmm is anyone else having problems with the pictures on this blog loading?
I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any responses would be greatly appreciated.