MOVIE - Manchester by-the-Sea

R (2:15)

Wide release 12/16/16

Viewed 1-30-17
IMBd: 8.3/10

RT Critic: 96   Audience:  79
Critic's Consensus:  Manchester by the Sea delivers affecting drama populated by full-bodied characters, marking another strong step forward for writer-director Kenneth Lonergan.

Cag:  6 - It was generally an awesome movie in every way (though very sad and depressing if you dwell too much).

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Amazon Studios

Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler

My comments:  A happy-go-lucky family man that drinks a little too much becomes a hollow shell of a man after a great tragedy.  The story isn't sequential, it's cyclical, so the story of Lee's past slowly unfolds and we see why he is the empty man of the present day.  And this story doesn't get the happy, hoped-for ending -- he's lost too much and knows what he's capable of.  And more importantly, what he's no longer capable of.  A great movie.  One of the most depressing movies ever.  
AFTERWORD:  Casey Affleck got the Academy Award for his performance.  Well deserved.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Lee Chandler is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, north of the city. His brother's heart has given out suddenly, and he's been named guardian to his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren't enough, his return to the past re-opens an unspeakable tragedy.

MOVIE - Triple 9

(R) 1:55

Wide release 2/26/16

Viewed Tuesday, 3/1/16 at ElCon with Sheila

RT Critic:  54  Audience:  50
Critic's Consensus:  Triple 9's pulpy potboiler thrills don't quite live up to the ferocious talents of its cast, but the film's efficient, solidly crafted genre fun is often enough to balance its troublesome flaws.

Cag: 4 - this was a good movie, had to pay close attention to "get" it all (I hate that I love dark, gritty, full-of-murder books and movies)

Directed by John Hillcoat

Open Road Films

Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Chiwetei Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie

My comments: Very entertaining, once you got past two things.  One: very, VERY violent. Two: shows the "underbelly" of cities in the US in a really shocking way.  Even though I was aware of gloom, gangs,guns, drugs, darkness, crazy people this really, REALLY showed it - too well.  It was really unsettling.  The story was intricate and interesting.  You had to pay attention.  It wasn't until the drive home afterward that something said at the very beginning of the film was remembered and made sense (the three in the car were talking about their upcoming heist, and the guy in the back seat said he didn't worry about Marcus, but wasn't sure about the "other guy."  I'm glad I remembered that later!  (It always amazes me how Woody Harrelson totally takes on a role - he definitely becomes the perosn he's portraying.  He was great!)

RT Summary:  In TRIPLE NINE, a crew of dirty cops is blackmailed by the Russian mob to execute a virtually impossible heist and the only way to pull it off is to manufacture a 999, police code for "officer down." Their plan is turned upside down when the unsuspecting rookie they set up to die foils the attack, triggering a breakneck action-packed finale tangled with double-crosses, greed and revenge.