The Baltimorons

I go through phases where i take in a lot of one type of media, and vice versa, and I've been back on films. Usually when i enter a phase like this it because i have some new outlook, and the thought thats really been guiding me along this time is that "I think I like a public 6 more than a public 7" (funny enough i always rate them 8 XD)

My last 2 movie phases were "I want to find my absolute favorite films of all time" and i did, and "Maybe popular movies are not bad" and i was wrong, they are. So i looked back at all my favorites, including childhood ones I'd somewhat abandoned, and i realized i really movies that fall in the mid-6's.

A lot of these movies use well-tested setups but take risks with them, and i think thats what i like. They tend to be well made indie films with great casts and low budgets that are very heartfelt. My favorite movies ever are certainly great, but the upper 6's are what get me through life, something that everyone needs. If they tried to be 9s or 10s, they'd probably be 4s or less. Rather than trying to change your life they just reflect it, and there'll be a few moments you always remember and you can share with others, like its your special movie.

I didn't talk about the movie at all hahahaha. The leads are fantastic, its a movie about people talking, people changing. Its got some piercing dark moments that really touch home, and a ton of funny scenarios. Its best you go in without me coloring your view of the thing. Watch the trailer for the movie, if it interests you in any way, put it on, it might make a really important memory.

A newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together.

Directed by Jay Duplass. Written by Michael Strassner and Duplass.

Thisne stars Strassner as Cliff a man struggling with sobriety an the direction his life has taken. After a dental emergency on Christmas Eve leads him to the only dentist available on the holiday, DiDi played by Liz Larson. Struggling with the direction her own life has taken.

Both Strassner and Larson shine with so much personality. Strassner with the quick wit and Larson with her captivating smile and independent personality.

This film grabs your attention from the opening scene and carries you along with the characters as they spend the day together exploring Baltimore and sometimes committing felonies. You can't help but root for them. They are two broken people whose broken pieces just somehow fit together to make a whole.

The feel of Baltimore looms large over the entire production. The streets, the Ravens, 34th Street. Even the weather. As a lifelong Texan I just felt cold. The music slow and steady Christmas tunes played on the piano, should've dragged scenes down yet managed to fit firmly in place.

The idea of a mismatched couple isn't a new one but this one worked on so many levels. Funny, heart warming, heart breaking and even frustrating at times.

IMDb has this one at 7.5/10 For me it's a 8/10

A very solid movie that just pulls you in and keeps you emotionally invested for the entire 101 minutes.

Right or wrong, weak or strong...these are my opinions.

This movie really surprised me cause I started really annoyed at this guy, he's such a douche, so, so annoying and basically a pest for these women and then, gradually, he became tolerable and even okay. Still not cool about his fiancée but damn they really built that chemistry. And again in the beginning I was really hoping, praying even that this wouldn't go the romance route but I can kind of see it, at least for one crazy night these two go together and she kind of is a beacon for him actually, or they take turns, but I guess it's been a while since a woman looked at him like that and who wouldn't get drunk on that... I mean it's good it ended when it did cause where would you go with this story and even in real life to have that even is rare but to keep it going is surreal so... This Duplass guy has a knack for these stories of awkward, very different people somehow relating to each other and connecting and emoting a bunch and that's why the first 20 minutes got me so upset cause I wasn't seeing it, but they got it on track thankfully. Still not cool about the fiancée though.

I hadn't appreciated Baltimorons was a Christmas film so seeing it at a festival in July was an unusual experience but to the film's credit it quickly immersed me in Christmas vibes. It successfully creates an appealing wintery aesthetic that is often the foundation of a seasonal film that stands the test of time.

Baltimorons for me falls into a genre of the 'elevated Christmas film'. It has a very modern and serious topic at its centre while still deploying heartwarming, familiar troupes.

The lead character is obnoxious and overbearing while simultaneously charming and vulnerable. The film centres on an eventful, spiralling Christmas eve spent with an unexpected companion. Both characters are well developed with their own issues to contend with and there is genuine chemistry in the performances.

The Baltimorons is funny and charming and is certainly a successful Christmas film. Occasionally straining believability, as you wonder why the central characters stay with each other and how they manage to engage in so much madcap misadventure more or less unscathed. But it's nothing unusual of a film in this genre and I was very willing to go along with it.

There is also a degree of insufferable behaviour from the main character as he pushes through with sheer force of will. But this is also key the the character himself and his own struggles. In fact I found him quite realistic to people I have have met in real life, just perhaps slightly exaggerated.

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable experience and well worth a watch when winter comes round.

A newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together.

Directed by Jay Duplass. Written by Michael Strassner and Duplass.

Thisne stars Strassner as Cliff a man struggling with sobriety an the direction his life has taken. After a dental emergency on Christmas Eve leads him to the only dentist available on the holiday, DiDi played by Liz Larson. Struggling with the direction her own life has taken.

Both Strassner and Larson shine with so much personality. Strassner with the quick wit and Larson with her captivating smile and independent personality.

This film grabs your attention from the opening scene and carries you along with the characters as they spend the day together exploring Baltimore and sometimes committing felonies. You can't help but root for them. They are two broken people whose broken pieces just somehow fit together to make a whole.

The feel of Baltimore looms large over the entire production. The streets, the Ravens, 34th Street. Even the weather. As a lifelong Texan I just felt cold. The music slow and steady Christmas tunes played on the piano, should've dragged scenes down yet managed to fit firmly in place.

The idea of a mismatched couple isn't a new one but this one worked on so many levels. Funny, heart warming, heart breaking and even frustrating at times.

IMDb has this one at 7.5/10 For me it's a 8/10

A very solid movie that just pulls you in and keeps you emotionally invested for the entire 101 minutes.

Right or wrong, weak or strong...these are my opinions.