The Official Review Thread of 2019

anonymous1980
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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WILD ROSE
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Julie Walters, Sophie Okenedo, Jamie Sives, Craig Parkinson, Daisy Littlefield, Adam Mitchell.
Dir: Tom Harper.

A young woman is released from prison. She tries to get her life back together, be a better mother to her two children and of course pursue her dream of being country and western singer. This film is surprising to me: I had no idea there are country & western fans in the UK. LOL. Anyway, this feels like one of those classic kitchen sink dramas the UK put out during the 1960's updated for today's sensibilities and blended with the usual drama of an underdog wanting to fulfill their dream type movie. The film more or less goes the way to expected it to but the performances here are outstanding that it makes the familiar ride worthwhile. Jessie Buckley and Julie Walters are both fantastic. The soundtrack is great too and this is coming from someone who's not that big of a country music fan.

Grade: B+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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1917
Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Madden, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong, Claire Duburcq.
Dir: Sam Mendes.

It's the First World War. Two young British soldiers are tasked to cross enemy lines to get to another battalion who are walking into a trap. The entire gimmick of sorts of this film is that it is crafted to look like one continuous shot. I must say that it absolutely works. It immerses you into the action and makes the film feel urgent, brisk and more suspenseful. I was also surprised by how emotional I got at some points. Suffice to say, that it really, really works. It is an impressive, technical feat of filmmaking. Roger Deakins' cinematography is simply outstanding. At one point in one sequence, I actually said under whispered breath, "Roger Deakins, you beautiful motherfucker, you!" Seriously. This is truly one of his best works, as well as one of Sam Mendes' best works. Overall, an excellent picture.

Grade: A-
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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This is a pretty neat double-feature, I must say.

HONEY BOY
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, Laura San Giacomo, FKA Twigs.
Dir: Alma Har'el.

Shia LaBeouf wrote the script and portrays his own father in this thinly veiled autobiographical film about the troubled relationship between a successful child actor and his abusive alcoholic rodeo clown father. At first I thought this is a crazy gimmick. But as the film went on, you actually get over the meta and the self-reflexive aspect of the film and you become invested in this compelling examination of a very complicated (to say the least) relationship between a father and a son. Both Shia LaBeouf and Noah Jupe (one of the finest young actors working today) give superb performances. So great are their scenes together, you can't take your eyes off of them, even when things get rough. The film loses steam a bit during Lucas Hedges' scenes but overall, this is an extremely well-crafted drama.

Grade: B+

JUDY
Cast: Renee Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon.
Dir: Rupert Goold.

Based on a stage play, this film chronicles the final year in Judy Garland's life from her engagement/marriage to her last husband and her series of performances in England. I was very skeptical of this film. I mean, I actually really liked the Judy Davis miniseries from years back and I felt that was the definitive Judy Garland biopic and you don't need another one. Certainly, not one starring Renee Zellweger. Well, you still kind of don't. It's not a bad movie. It doesn't really rise above the standard biopic trappings. I wasn't even sure of Zellweger's performance at first but as the film went along, she won me over. I can at least understand why she's an Oscar front-runner. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a must-see but it has some really genuinely nice moments in it.

Grade: B-
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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SPIES IN DISGUISE
Cast: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Reba McEntire, Rachel Brosnahan, DJ Khaled, Karen Gillan, Masi Oka (voices).
Dirs: Troy Quane, Nick Bruno.

After being framed for treason, a super spy teams up with a nerdy young, recently fired scientist and gets accidentally turned into a pigeon. This is essentially an animated mismatch buddy action-comedy that pretty much follows the familiar narrative beats of that particular subgenre. There are also quite a few genuinely funny gags and jokes here as well. But what surprised me is the fact that this film has an anti-violence message which kind of subverts this genre quite a bit and it largely works. It's one of the reasons that makes this film quite watchable. Tom Holland and Will Smith make a good team too even in cartoon voice form.

Grade: B.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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JUST MERCY
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Karan Kendrick.
Dir: Destin Daniel Cretton.

Based on the true story of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who takes it upon himself to provide legal aide for death row convicts who can't afford it. His crusade focuses on getting a wrongly convicted man Walter McMillian out of death row. As I was watching this, I can't help but wonder, had the film focused primarily on Brie Larson's character, would it have done better at the awards circuit? It's a cynical thing to think about but after last year's Best Picture winner, I can't help but think about this. It is in fact an extremely well-made and excellently acted legal drama that ticks everything you expect at this particular sub-genre but is refreshing to see it done this way. It's nothing groundbreaking but you can't help but feel inspired by it and its heart is definitely in the right place.

Grade: B.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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RICHARD JEWELL
Cast: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Nina Ariadna.
Dir: Clint Eastwood.

This is the true story of Richard Jewell, a security guard whose actions saved lives during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombings but whose life turns upside down when he becomes the prime suspect. This is a story that needs to be told. This film certainly had everything it needed to tell it properly. Clint Eastwood is a fantastic and he has a good cast especially Paul Walter Hauser whose plain, everyman look makes him quite effective as Richard Jewell. This film is fatally hobbled by its decision to overly-vilify both the FBI and the media in the form of Jon Hamm and Olivia Wilde respectively. Especially the latter: It's almost as if she walked in from another film altogether where she plays a nasty temptress in a Christian movie. Though it's far from awful, it's still kind of a middling effort.

Grade: C+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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JOJO RABBIT
Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Archie Yates.
Dir: Taika Waititi

It's World War II Germany and a 10 year old boy joins the Hitler Youth and has Hitler as an imaginary friend. In the meantime, his mother hides a Jewish girl and is secretly helping the Resistance. I actually didn't expect to love this as much as I did. I kind of love the way writer-director Taika Waititi just kind of goes for it. Yep, they went there and it really mostly works. It's very funny when it needs to be, dark when it needs to be, sweet when it needs to be and heartbreaking when it needs to be. The performances are great. Roman Griffin Davis is a real discovery. Thomasin McKenzie further proves she's one of the best young actresses out there. Archie Yates is a funny scene stealer. This is a solid comedy. Another thing, I'm on Twitter and I see that a lot of people, not only hated this film, but are absolutely offended by it to the point where they think it's wrong to even like it which I'm really dumbfounded by.

Grade: A-
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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CATS
Cast: Francesca Hayward, James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, Ray Winstone, Laurie Davidson, Robbie Fairchild, Steven McRae, Laurent and Larry Nicolas Bourgeois.
Dir: Tom Hooper.

Here we go: The film adaptation of the Broadway musical has a cat named Victoria discovering a group cats gathered for the Jellicle ball to pick which one of them gets to go to the Heavyside Layer. Now, I will admit it: I actually do like Cats, the musical. I consider it a guilty pleasure of mine. (I like Andrew Lloyd Webber, sue me) I listened to the cast album and I saw the filmed performance of it so I knew what it was. I thought this film did kind of a good job for structuring it as a film and being faithful to the musical. But, and there's a big but, where this film falls flat is what everyone is saying: The notion of having actors CGI'd to look kind of like cats, making them look like human-cat hybrids, is INSANE and not in a good way. If I was forced to do an adaptation of Cats, this would be the last thing I'd pick. I honestly don't know why Tom Hooper or anyone, really, would think this was a good idea. But...surprisingly, I didn't really hate it. It's not good though.

Grade: C-
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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UNCUT GEMS
Cast: Adam Sandler, Lakeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett, Julia Fox, Eric Bogosian, Idina Menzel, Judd Hirsch, Mike Francesca, Kevin Williams Richards.
Dirs: Josh & Benny Safdie.

A jewelry store owner is in over his head in gambling debts and in trouble with the wrong type of guys makes a series of high-stakes bets on an NBA game thanks to a precious stone and meeting the acquaintance of an NBA player. The hype is real: Adam Sandler is really good in this (truth be told, he's so good in this, I almost forget it's Adam) and it's a really, really excellent film. It's a nice, taut thriller that puts you at the edge of your seat. I mean, this movie made me care about the outcome of a basketball game and I'm not a sports fan. Haha. It is intense, overwhelmingly so at times. But you stay riveted. Anyway, I really should check out more films from the Safdie Brothers. They are becoming major American auteurs. Between this and Good TIme, they're a force to be reckoned with.

Oscar Prospects: Best Actor (Adam Sandler), Original Screenplay and Editing.

Grade: A-
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BOOKSMART
Cast: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow, Billie Lourd, Skyler Gisondo, Diana Silvers.
Dir: Olivia Wilde.

Two overachieving senior girls realize they've missed out on all the high school fun and decided to party on the night before graduation. It's a tried and tested formula of the R-rated teenagers party, get drunk and try to laid comedy. But somehow director Olivia Wilde and a team of writers found a way to make this formula fresh and funny. Some trolls will disagree but actually updating the formula with more progressive mores is actually one of the reasons this is more refreshing than tired. Both Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are wonderful and gives this film sweetness and depth which actually helps it rise above your average bawdy teen comedy. This is officially my last film of 2019 and this was a nice way to cap the year.

Oscar Prospects: Has a long-shot chance at Original Screenplay.

Grade: B+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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KLAUS
Cast: Jason Schwartzman, JK Simmons, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, Norm MacDonald, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Sergio Pablos (voices).
Dir: Sergio Pablos.

This is actually a rather imaginative re-telling of the origin story of Santa Claus. A spoiled son of a postmaster general is sent to run a decrepit post office in an isolated Scandinavian town and befriends a lonely woodsman who makes toys. First off, I would like to say I love the look of this film. It's a unique blend of both hand drawn animation and 3D computer animation and the result is quite lovely to look at. As a film, even though it doesn't break new ground in terms of the narrative and it's fairly predictable, it's still quite enjoyable. It's actually quite funny when it needs to be (one gag involving the reindeer was a particular highlight for me) and actually sweet when it needs to be. This was a fine Christmas viewing on Netflix.

Oscar Prospects: Animated Feature.

Grade: B+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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THE TWO POPES
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins, Juan Minujin.
Dir: Fernando Meirelles.

This film depicts a largely speculative meeting between the soon-to-resign conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the soon-to-be Pope Francis, a progressive, as they argue about the fate and direction of the Catholic Church. As someone who still identifies as Catholic, I found this to be a really fascinating and humanizing look into two larger-than-life figures. Of course they're brought to life by two world-class actors who are at the top of their game here. Jonathan Pryce is great but I do think Anthony Hopkins does a fine, fine job of making me feel some actual empathy for someone I actually dislike in real life. The film is at its best when it focuses on these two but the film does become rather dry and dull when it does the flashbacks despite being well-directed and it keeps it from being great. It's still worth a look on Netflix, no matter what your faith is.

Oscar Prospects: Actor, Supporting Actor, Screenplay, Production Design.

Grade: B.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Cast: Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domnhall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong'o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, Billie Lourd, Dominic Monaghan.
Dir: J.J. Abrams.

This is the concluding saga of the nine-film series chronicling the Skywalker family who lived a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. So J.J. Abrams goes back into writing and directing duties from the previous writer-director Rian Johnson who gave the franchise much needed new blood and bold narrative choices that really invigorated this over 40-year-old saga. But unfortunately, Abrams, under pressure from the Evil Corporation to give the fans what they want cowardly rolls back most of it at least on the thematic level. This film is nearly wall-to-wall nostalgia fan service. Though it's largely enjoyable on the popcorn level, it's quite a bit of a regression to appease a loud, noxious, entitled fan base who demand to be catered to. It could've been great but it's just....okay. It's entertaining anyway.

Oscar Prospects: Visual Effects, Score, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing.

Grade: C+
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

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I have three knocks on Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The first is minor: her students take a painting out of the closet that they're not supposed to and ask what it's called and she says "Portrait of a Lady on Fire." We KNOW that's what it's called because it's the title of the film. I just bought a ticket for it! The second is there are a few too many moments in the later parts of the second act that feel too floating and the film revisits scenes we've seen before. Like many movies about attraction, the longing contains the biggest charge. think a few minutes could be trimmed, but you certainly understand the director wanting these characters to have every second they can. And third is I can't shake the feeling that I've seen this kind of film before. It's a good one, but it doesn't break new grounds. It just repaints old canvases.

It's a beautifully shot and directed film, but it's also beautifully written. It's Best Screenplay award at Cannes was very deserved. I haven't even gotten into how instantly gripping the film is. No sooner than Marianne (Noemie Merlant) arrives on the island to paint Heloise, a subject she's yet to meet. She's informed by Heloise's mother that she must do it in secret, that Heloise refuses to pose. So, she must pretend to be simply her walking companion. That in and of itself is beyond enough because it means Marianne has to memorize Heloise's face while lying to her. But we learn so much more about Heloise and the way the information unfolds is fascinating. And just as engaging is Marianne who comes off as a stoic study of the world around her at all times.

Beyond that, this is just an incredibly moving film. It's the story of one woman in the past remembering her time with another woman in the past, so there's something terribly sad about it -- and infuriating. It posits that only in a world devoid of men could these women be this happy if ever so fleetingly. It's hard to deny that point. This is a very modern film full of very contemporary frustrations but it's no screed. On this island in this castle, Portrait of a Lady on Fire manages to say so much about the world they lived in. It explores what it must be like to have your period in the 18th century. I've never thought about that. In the film's most writerly masterstroke, their love affair coincides with the maid requiring an abortion. It's possibly the most beautiful depiction of an abortion I've ever seen on film.

It also has twin climaxes that are so moving. The audience was sobbing. I couldn't quite join them but since I've found myself overcome with emotion. It's the kind of movie that you experience once in all its beauty and then afterwards it hits you in little waves.
"How's the despair?"
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by OscarGuy »

I should invest in a jewelry company for all the pearl-clutching going on here.
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