My Favorite Films of 2019 (Favorites, 2019)

So, I decided to go with a list of fifteen films on my list of favorite films for the year. I missed Parasite in theaters and so have not yet gotten to see it and I have not seen 1917 since it does not go into wide release until Friday.

Knives Out
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out was the most fun I had in the theater this year. I loved this movie. Original characters in a story that pays homage to classic whodunnits, it is filled with nothing but terrific performances with some fun twists. Johnson has announced a new Benoit Blanc mystery and I am excited.
Jojo Rabbit
You could never make Blazing Saddles today. Comedy is too hard in today’s woke environment said Joker director Todd Phillips. Boo hoo, folks. Taika Waititi tells the tale of a young boy so dedicated to the Nazi cause, his imaginary best friend is Hitler. A surprisingly funny and touching film, Jojo Rabbit is a gem.
Little Women
I have never read the book, nor seen any of the prior adaptions. But this movie worked so well. Gerwig and her cast weave together a beautifully engaging film.
Uncut Gems
Adam Sandler’s best performance since Punch Drunk Love, the Safdie Brothers give an intense story of human greed and misery.
Midsommar
Ari Aster does it again. Where Hereditary was full of darkness, Midsommar attempts the rare choice of a well lit horror. Tense, unnerving and a tad goofy, this film is terrific.
A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood
While not flawless, this film is a beautiful exploration of love and forgiveness through the eyes of a heartbroken cynic who meets the beloved Mr. Rogers. Marielle Heller makes some beautiful choices (such as imitating the television show’s models for transitions).
Dolemite Is My Name
Eddie Murphy gives a great performance here. The movie itself manages to be a crass love letter to Rudy Ray Moore, a man determined to make it against a world that seems to not be interested in his success.
Ford vs Ferrari
Really enjoyed this supposed “Dad Movie”. Genius in the face of corporate roadblocks push the drama here. The racing scenes are exciting and the film is inspirational.
The Lighthouse
I still do not know what to make of the film, but it is so visually beautiful, I still think about it.
Us
Some people got really hung up on the “how does it work” aspect. But honestly, Jordan Peele’s followup to Get Out had my attention from the beginning and just never lost me.
Avengers Endgame
Technically, I think Infinity War was the better movie…but this one was so much more satisfying.
the Irishman
While I think this has some great performances, I was not nearly as pulled into this one as I hoped. It was good, but was not my favorite Scorsese film. I know a lot of people praised this as a great triumph, but honestly, part of me feels like those folks felt obligated to really hype the film over the silly Scorsese/Marvel brouhaha.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Fun film from Tarantino, not his greatest film, but entertaining and great performances.
John Wick 3: Parabellum
The weakest of the three films, but still an amazing feat of action choreography and enjoyable performances.
Ad Astra
A thoughtful Sci-Fi film with Brad Pitt as a detached astronaut on a mission to discover if his presumed dead father may still be alive. Beautiful visuals and a quiet pace make this a solid sci-fi film.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Doctor Sleep- I am almost tempted to switch out John Wick 3 for this one. Doctor Sleep was a real surprise.

Ready or Not- This was just a fun and ridiculous horror film.

Spider-Man: Far From Home- I enjoyed this one a lot. Mysterio was a cool villain and it was nice to see a villain we had not seen before. Plus, the mid credit scene.

Klaus- A beautiful little animated film.

Godzilla: King of Monsters- I had a blast with this one.

Shazam!- This is a fun movie. I had a great time.

January 6, 2020 0

Take a Stab At It (Knives Out, 2019)

Famous Crime novelist Walter Thrombey is found dead after his birthday party. At first, declared a suicide, famous detective Benoit Blanc arrives and sees possible suspects in every member of his family. Caught up in it all is his nurse Marta who may have the most to gain.

I cannot really say more…so I am just going to say this:

SEE THIS MOVIE.

It is superbly written, directed and performed. It is hilarious and a rewarding watch. This was the most fun I had at the movies all year.

December 15, 2019 0

Who Can You Trust? (Goodnight Mommy, 2014)

Lukas and Elias have been waiting for their mother to return to their remote home after some surgery. But when she arrives, face encased in bandages, the twin brothers instantly start to question if their mother has truly returned.

What unfolds is a terrifying tale of parental and child relationships gone terrifyingly awry.

It is really hard to talk about this film without giving away some of the most horrifying twists and turns of the story. But this slow burn ends in an excruciating crescendo of horror.

If Hereditary and Midsommar engaged you, this is likely to be your jam. It becomes painfully uncomfortable to experience towards the end, with a very bleak set of reveals and resolution.

October 24, 2019 0

The Cruelest Joke (Joker, 2019)

This review is going to focus on the movie itself…the final product. I will be including a post soon that gets into the controversies. But most of my issues with the Joker are, in fact, not with the film itself. They are with the director and how he has reacted to the controversies with the movie.

The Joker is a character with a long history, both in print and film. He is, really, nearly as popular as his great nemesis Batman. Of all of the comic book villains, it was always likely that he would get the movie treatment as “the star”.

Enter Todd Phillips, of Old School and the Hangover fame and Joaquin Phoenix with a decidedly retro take. Set in a pre-Batman Gotham City, Arthur Fleck is a man who is struggling with his own darkness and delusions. He wants to believe he is here to bring joy and happiness, but every day pushes him further into believing this world is too far gone. It has lost its way and people treat each other terribly, society favors the rich and the rich don’t care about the rest of us. And yet, at times, this just seems like a cover that Fleck uses to fool himself.

It is after committing an act of self defense that sets off the city pitting the citizens against each other that he starts to just give up and tumble towards the darkness. And it is indeed a dark tale. The Joker becomes a cult hero to the oppressed citizens of Gotham, used to fight back against economic injustice. Citizens wear clown masks and paint their faces in solidarity with the mysterious “vigilante” who stood up to the 1%.

The cinematography of the film is amazing. There are so many beautifully dark and unnerving shots framed in this film. It all feels very late 70’s Scorcese grit. It is hard to turn away. And yet, at times, you really want to. Phoenix gives an impressive performance as Fleck. He is constantly unnerving (much like the best moments of Ledger’s Joker in the Dark Knight). There are scene that are shocking and scenes that are genuinely scary.

While Phoenix carries the film, The Joker has an excellent supporting cast as well. While largely a stand alone, a few of the moments that kind of bring the film down a little are connections to Batman. It is not the mere presence of the Wayne family, but rather certain ways they are used.

The film is also struggling at times with how it wants us to perceive the Joker. He is clearly dangerous, and flat out commits murder, but he also is treated as an anti-hero.

Overall, however, this is a very good movie. It is not as groundbreaking as some want to make it out to be (It is literally “what if Scorcese made Taxi Driver, but with the Joker, instead of Travis Bickle). But the cinematography and the performances definitely make for a challenging but engaging watch.

October 5, 2019 0

Apex Predators (Crawl, 2019)

Haley is somewhat estranged from her parents, but when her father is unresponsive to calls from her and her sister in the face of an impending hurricane, she drives into the storm to find him. When she finds him wounded in a crawlspace beneath the home, she discovers they are trapped by alligators. As water fills the crawl space they struggle to find a way out.

Director Alexandre Aja delivers a very tight thriller. It is exciting and dramatic, rarely slowing down. The performances from Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper are quite effective. Their relationship feels real as a father and daughter whose relationship is strained by unspoken issues-but they still love each other.

Really, Crawl is a great B-Movie in the man vs nature vein. It has some good scares and keeps a brisk pace. I definitely recommend this for folks wanting a good thriller.

July 29, 2019 0

A Superman Only a Mother Could Love (Brightburn, 2019)

A couple that lives in a rural area struggles to conceive a child, but one night, they discover a crashed spaceship containing a baby that they choose to raise as their own. The child is revealed to have great powers. But in spite of their best efforts…young Clark…uh… Brandon is corrupted by his power to do awful things.

So, yeah, Brightburn is basically, what if Superman was inherently evil. This is not a terribly original idea, though not one I am really opposed to being explored. But if you are going to explore Dark Superman, I would rather you do it with a stand in, like the Gunn Brothers and director David Yarovesky have done here.

They use some interesting symbolism (early in the film there is talk of a wasp that inserts their offspring into other hives). Visually, they stay very simple, with a clear Superman analog, the visual effects work quite well.

The performances are pretty strong. Denman is able to sell a father who knows something is wrong, but is unsure how to handle it. Meanwhile, Banks really clicks as the devoted mother who sees her son as a blessing and cannot accept he might be something darker.

And the story is dark. Among the creepier aspects is the hints of his twisted crush on a fellow student…and it insinuates a creepy future plan from Brandon for her (but thankfully the film never indulges in this…it is more subtextual). Jackson Dunn starts out sympathetic, but switches gears early on to be super creepy.

I enjoyed the film as a grim take on Superheroes and it works pretty well on it’s own. It is the Superman film Zack Snyder wishes he had made. An uncomfortable, creepy horror version of Superman, and it really does work quite well.

May 25, 2019 1

I Hate Mondays Chapter 3 (John Wick 3: Parabellum, 2019)

John Wick was one of those suprirse franchises. I went into the first film with low expectations…and had a great time with a basic revenge action film. I was sure that John Wick Chapter 2 would be the failed follow up and instead it turned out to be even a little better than the first.

So, does John Wick 3: Parabellum keep the momentum?

For the most part? A big yes.

Picking up directly on the heels of Chapter 2, there is a bounty put on Wick’s head and he is essentially excommunicated from the elite assassin community he had originally sought to get out of in the first place. But now it is a matter of survival. And Wick plans to go to the top. But his situation now means he cannot get any help from the support network he has had access to previously. This puts him in a situation where he spends much of the first act without guns.

But then, this is the trick of John Wick. Anything is a weapon in the hands of John Wick…anything. Take away the simplest and most obvious weapons? He will figure it out.

The weakest part of the film is that the film does not expand on the existing mythology in a way that is terribly interesting. The auditor who arrives to hold everyone who has helped Wick to account is okay, but I found the people above her less impressive.

On the other hand, the assassin fights are a lot of fun. And Mark Dacascos is highly entertaining as Wick’s direct opponent during the third act. The action choreography is a wild watch, especially some of the earliest confrontations.

The casting of these films is impressive. Every character, even the most minor, feel like the actor was cast with a serious intent. And the new additions, such as Halle Barry, are great.

One of the things that make the Wick films so enjoyable is that the action is pretty easy to follow. The fact that all three films were directed by Chad Stahelski is a strong argument for keeping a single visionary at the helm for a franchise. While not quite as good as John Wick Chapter 2, this film is a strong follow up that means the franchise has yet to truly falter.

May 24, 2019 0

Don’t Trust Yourself (Us, 2019)

But I care about love
I care about truth
And I care about trust
And I care about you
I care about us

~Michael Been, Us, On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough, 1994

Get Out made people step back and reassess their perception of Jordan Peele. Known for his comedy work, the biting horror thriller that took aim at white liberal racism, viewers took notice. For a lot of this, that made us want to see what came next. And the fact that he had more ideas in the realm of horror no longer seemed a question.

Going deeper down the horror rabbit hole, Us tells the story of young Adelaide. In the eighties, her parents take her to the Santa Cruz beach. She wanders away from her parents and enters a strange hall of mirrors. There, she meets a little girl who looks exactly like her. She is traumatized by the event. The film picks up years later with Adelaide, now married to Gabe, on their way to the family cabin with her children. When they go to the beach, her son Jason disappears briefly, causing a dread in Adelaide. And with good reason. That night, they find themselves under siege by…themselves. A warped set of duplicates seemingly full of malicious intent.

Saying much more just gives away the film. Astute viewers will likely start to put things togethers fast and start seeing where the story is going. Others will be blindsided. Unlike Get Out, Peele has formulated a far more… complex plot. The twists and turns start coming fast after the initial frights of the home invasion.

Peele has a terrific eye, and the film is a visual feast. There is, for instance, a really nice arial shot looking down on the family as they walk along the beach, attached to their shadows. He and his team of film makers use light and shadow masterfully to create discomfort and fear. In one scene, a person appears from the shadows of the background seamlessly.

You cannot ignore the performances here. Everyone has a dual role…and pretty much everyone gets to shine. The doppelgängers are chilling in their simple outfits and creepy makeup. Lupita Nyong’o is especially compelling, with her dual role. Red speaks in a disturbed creaky voice and moves in ways that are psychologically unnerving.

One of the things that makes the film so effective is how much I found myself liking the family. They draw you into their world making it impossible not to become invested in their survival.

Some have suggested Us marks the reveal that the director Peele most reflects is M. Night Shyalaman. And while I did not really see it in my viewings, I get what people are saying, mainly in the fact that this is a film with some big ideas that then throws a lot of twists and turns, yeah. But I am inclined to agree with the people who are saying this is a good thing, that this shares more in common with Shyalaman’s best work.

People who are bothered by smaller questions with struggle hard here. The film aims big, but leaves some stuff off. Because, honestly…where do the doppelgängers all get their matching red outfits is not important to the story.

Us is a terrific follow up to Get Out, and Jordan Peele has delivered a new an original vision.

April 1, 2019 0

A Time For Grief, A Time for Theft (Widows, 2018)

Veronica, Linda and Alice have lost their husbands in a tragedy. They discover their husbands were professional thieves. To add to their grief, they find their lives under siege, specifically from Jamal Manning. While he is running for public office, Manning is also a local crime lord…and it so happen’s the women’s husbands died stealing from him. He wants his money and gives them a month.

When she discovers her husband’s records of all her heists, Veronica brings the other widows together to try and complete the next heist that her husband had planned.

Widows is one of those movies that you don’t really get prepared for from the trailers. Most Heist films are heavily focused on the planning and the heist. Widows is more interested in setting up its characters. Everyone feels important. We walk with them as their lives intersect. This is to the film’s benefit. We get to really know everyone involved, both the heroes and villains of the tale.

Viola Davis gives a great performance as Veronica. She is both vulnerable and tough as nails. Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall play son and father of a political dynasty that are at each other throats. Daniel Kaluuya is riveting and immensely terrifying as Manning’s right hand man.

Director Steve McQueen makes some bold choices in the film (one sequence takes place within a car, and we only hear the actors as the camera stays outside, as the focuses on the car itself). The end result is a very compelling character film that happens to feature a heist. Managing some excellent surprises before it ends, I found Widows a very satisfying watch.

February 7, 2019 0

The End (Glass, 2019)

After 2000’s Unbreakable, there was a lot of talk that this was almost meant to be part of a trilogy. Shyalaman has been all over the map. He claimed he had no such plans when Unbreakable first came out…but about a year later talked about sequels. And I really loved Unbreakable. I wanted to get those follow ups. I wanted to see what David Dunn would do next.

When Split was revealed as a stealth sequel to Unbreakable, I was thrilled. And the trailers had me quite excited for Glass. So, did Shyalaman create a great trilogy?

Well, when David Dunn and his son (who run a security business together, and also work together in stopping crime) interfere with the Horde’s (the nickname for the character from Split) attempt to kill another group of young women, the two are captured by the authorities. They are sent to an institution where they are introduced to Dr. Ellie Staple. She specializes in people who believe they have powers.

Her goal is to help them realize they are suffering a delusion.

The film makes it very clear that she is wrong, of course…and that is one of the problems of the film. Staple clearly represents Shyalaman’s critics. This is a petty bit of behavior that stretches back to at least Lady In the Water, in which Bob Balaban’s critic is presented as a fool who does not understand true genius. And that gets portrayed here. Except it is a little worse. Here, Ellie is an insincere critic, and she is arguable a central villain, rather than an oblivious one.

The film has some annoying retcons in its plans of revealing that Glass is an even bigger architect than we realized (to be fair, the retcon does not suggest Glass intended for this, it was just a convenient byproduct of his acts in Unbreakable).

Add to this the fact that the film does lean hard into the notion that the Horde is actually a separate thing from his superpower…it really undermines any defense agains criticisms of the portrayal of the Horde and mental health.

There are some things I like. McAvoy does a great job in his performance. Jackson gives the kind of solid performance I expect. I also appreciate that both David Dunn and Mrs. Price are played by the same actors who played the roles in Unbreakable (the same for the Comic Shop Owner).

The reveal that all three films represented an origin story is a bit…deflating. I mean, people complain about the decompressed storytelling of modern comics…but Brian Michael Bendis never took nineteen years to tell one story.

The film seems to unload twist upon twist in the final act and that gets tiring. Glass is an underwhelming and disappointing ending to the Unbreakable story.

February 1, 2019 0