morganbird's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed some parts but on the whole I think "over-the-top snarky plot summaries" just isn't my genre. I think I remember I enjoying the title piece when I read it online (and have liked some of her regular essays) but a whole book of them turned out to be a bit much.
A bunch of reviews suggest you need to have seen the movies to really appreciate it but I mostly felt the opposite? For a lot of the movies I've seen the style got tedious very quickly (The Rock and The Fugitive possible exceptions). Having not seen Twilight or Garden State I kind of enjoyed getting a harshly funny recap!
The Reality Bites piece is the exception that shows the clearest gap between what was and what could have been. She opens with a few interesting paragraphs about how when she saw it in the 90s she wanted to be Lelaina but now realizes Vickie is obviously the better person/character. I would gladly read a whole essay about that. The rest is just a bunch of movie quotes with no context followed by comments like OMFG THIS IS THE WORST. And if you haven't already seen it and agree it's the worst
A bunch of reviews suggest you need to have seen the movies to really appreciate it but I mostly felt the opposite? For a lot of the movies I've seen the style got tedious very quickly (The Rock and The Fugitive possible exceptions). Having not seen Twilight or Garden State I kind of enjoyed getting a harshly funny recap!
The Reality Bites piece is the exception that shows the clearest gap between what was and what could have been. She opens with a few interesting paragraphs about how when she saw it in the 90s she wanted to be Lelaina but now realizes Vickie is obviously the better person/character. I would gladly read a whole essay about that. The rest is just a bunch of movie quotes with no context followed by comments like OMFG THIS IS THE WORST. And if you haven't already seen it and agree it's the worst
laynescherer's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ⭐️ funny, a bit hard to follow if you don’t know the movie. Amusing, although the critiques felt a bit one note. Don’t need to read the whole collection to enjoy the idea.
sarahannkateri's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
Lots of snicker-out-loud moments, whether I had seen the movies or not.
Warning: may cause you to want to watch The Rock and Face/Off.
Lots of snicker-out-loud moments, whether I had seen the movies or not.
Warning: may cause you to want to watch The Rock and Face/Off.
mdettmann's review against another edition
4.0
I love Lindy West and this was a pretty laugh out loud collection of essays about movies. I liked the ones where I had seen the movie or at least knew a decent amount about the movie.
graamcracker's review against another edition
5.0
Honestly was very bummed when this was over. Loved listening to the audiobook, Lindy reading it just made it more hilarious than it already was.
11/10 DVDs of The Fugitive.
11/10 DVDs of The Fugitive.
jayfr's review against another edition
4.0
Snarky, funny and made me look at 'classic' movies another way. Really really enjoyed this.
euridice_itis's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
trapdoor's review against another edition
it was funny but i hadn’t seen all the movies she was talking about