The Official Review Thread of 2019

Sabin
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by Sabin »

The best thing I can say about Honey Boy is that it's good enough that I wasn't overwhelmingly distracted by the fact that Shia LeBoeuf was playing his own horrible father. Fundamentally, the main draw of this film is a double-edged sword. There's a charge to watch anyone work out something so achingly personal on-screen in any kind of competent fashion. I don't know if it's possible for someone to go into Honey Boy blind (if only because, why would they see it otherwise?), but I'd imagine even still there's a charge of authenticity underneath that would make it a nonetheless affecting drama.

Honey Boy is more than competently acted, directed, and written (the script doesn't break any new ground, but it's quite good). The flip side is that through no fault of Shia LeBoeuf's, it's difficult to watch his scenes without remembering that this is a therapy. This is a shame because LeBoeuf is playing a memorable douchebag, and his relationship with Noah Jupe as young LeBoeuf have a remarkable spontaneity to them. Much of this is due to Jupe, who is an INCREDIBLE find. Also helping the film is another exceptional performance by Lucas Hedges, playing the adult LeBoeuf, capturing his squirrely, faux-tough guy energy, and again demonstrating new layers of range heretofore unexplored by probably the best actor of his generation.

Honey Boy is a film that seems like it could go wrong at every turn but it doesn't. There's enough talented people on board keeping it from trainwreck territory and instead it's a moving little novelty. Not essential viewing by any stretch but it's clearly a very personal confessional that lands.
Last edited by Sabin on Sun Nov 17, 2019 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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anonymous1980
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by anonymous1980 »

THE TRUTH
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke, Clementine Grenier, Manon Clavel, Roger Van Hool, Ludivine Sagnier.
Dir: Hirokazu Koreeda.

A famous French actress has written an autobiography and her daughter and her family comes to visit and this reopens some old wounds. I was very much looking forward to this. Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche (along with Ethan Hawke) being directed by one of Japan's current major auteurs, Hirokazu Koreeda in his first non-Japanese film! It turns out to be my least favorite Koreeda film....but that doesn't mean I disliked it. Far from it. This is still a very lovely film, feeling like a sort of less bleak version of Autumn Sonata. It just feels a bit minor compared to his other master works. Binoche and Deneuve are great together of course. It's worth watching just for that.

Oscar Prospects: None.

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

Post by anonymous1980 »

DOCTOR SLEEP
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Carl Lumbly, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lynd, Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Zackary Momoh, Jacob Tremblay, Henry Thomas.
Dir: Mike Flanagan.

This is the sequel to The Shining has an adult Danny Torrance battling both alcoholism and a religious cult of sort-of vampires called the True Knot who prey upon the "steam" (or life force) of children who "shine". The Stanley Kubrick adaptation of the previous book is now widely regarded as a horror classic and Stephen King famously did not like it (and still don't). This adaptation of King's own sequel to the book tries to honor and reconcile both of them and to me, it was around halfway successful. The first two-thirds or so of the film has pretty creepy and horrific stuff, the kind writer-director Mike Flanagan is great at doing. Both Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson give wonderful performances. But the film goes off the rails when it produces one too many climaxes in an effort to bridge the visions of both King and Kubrick. That said, it's solid enough for a mild recommendation.

Oscar Prospects: None.

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

Post by anonymous1980 »

Reza wrote:
Yet you don't cite either of the two actors for acting nods?
I don't think the acting branch of the Academy will take to this. Too weird. I'll be glad to be proven wrong. This is basically a two-character piece so before I saw it, I was kind of puzzled why Dafoe was being pushed for SUPPORTING. But I can see the logic: The film is primarily from Pattinson's POV and Dafoe has slightly less screen time.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by Sabin »

Reza wrote
Yet you don't cite either of the two actors for acting nods?
I posted about this film on The Lighthouse thread. Robert Pattinson's accent is come and go but he's more than a match for Willem DaFoe. But this is DaFoe's show. I wish he would win for something a little less silly but he's a lot of fun.

I think Willem DaFoe has an uphill battle because it looks like his Best Supporting Actor competition will be big dogs (Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Brad Pitt) in Best Picture heavies whereas The Lighthouse is clearly art house fare. But I think he'll be nominated because his performance is such a show. At this point, if I had to guess, I'd say he sweeps the critics awards for his performance. He's also on something of a hot streak. Admittedly, his Best Actor nomination for At Eternity's Gate likely only happened because of a weak Best Actor field (John David Washington, Lucas Hedges, Ryan Gosling) plus they just couldn't stomach First Reformed. Plus, he's in their club now with two nominations in two years.
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Reza
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by Reza »

anonymous1980 wrote:The filmmaking here is first-rate and so is the acting. Robert Pattinson continues his rise as one of his generation's finest actors and Willem Dafoe is out of this world as some sort of almost a Shakespearean pirate. He does this long, crazy speeches and you can't take your eyes off him. Yet another great work writer-director Robert Eggers. I'm really looking forward to his next one.

Oscar Prospects: Should be a contender for Cinematography.

Grade: A-
Yet you don't cite either of the two actors for acting nods?
anonymous1980
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by anonymous1980 »

THE LIGHTHOUSE
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe.
Dir: Robert Eggers.

Two 19th century lighthouse keepers suffer cabin fever and all sorts of horrors when they find themselves stranded for longer than expected during a storm. This film is really something else and I mean that in the best possible way. The best way I can describe is it feels like The Shining as directed by David Lynch. It is strange and at times defiantly strange. It has images that I will probably never forget. The filmmaking here is first-rate and so is the acting. Robert Pattinson continues his rise as one of his generation's finest actors and Willem Dafoe is out of this world as some sort of almost a Shakespearean pirate. He does this long, crazy speeches and you can't take your eyes off him. Yet another great work writer-director Robert Eggers. I'm really looking forward to his next one.

Oscar Prospects: Should be a contender for Cinematography.

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

Post by Big Magilla »

I had to quit Dolemite Is My Name after about 40 minutes. I understand it gets better, but I could only take so much of Eddie Murphy's "muthafuckas" routine. Golden Globe and Satellite nominations maybe, but Oscar? How many Netflix releases can AMPAS consider for Best Actor nods in one year?

While I still haven't seen Hustlers, I have warmed in my appreciation of Jennifer Lopez. I watched her the other day in an HBO showing of Second Chance, one of her numerous forgettable films of the last twenty years but one in which she nails the down-and-out older woman who refuses to give in to her situation. I can see a nomination coming for her in what has been a very weak year for supporting actresses if indeed she is supporting. I'll have to wait until the film hits DVD early in December to see if she'll make my list, but it wouldn't surprise me to see her pick up a few year-end awards on the way to an Oscar nod. It does amuse me, though, that IMDb. still points to Gigli as her best-known film.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by Mister Tee »

A number of the bloggers are pushing Dolemite is My Name, but, honestly, I don't see why. The film is very reminscent of the same writers' Ed Wood and, maybe even moreso, The Disaster Artist -- all three films have basically the same "the people love us" finale. I found the opening half-hour of this one a bit hard to take -- it felt like being at a party where everyone there had a totally different sense of humor (and outlook on life) from mine. Things picked up some when the actually filming began, but, again, I've seen this movie before, including quite recently, and there weren't enough big laughs to make this worth the revisit.

And, small point: it may well be the truth that Rudy Ray made his "I must make a movie" decision while watching The Front Page, but 1) I doubt white audiences were howling as they're depicted watching the film in 1974, as it was a box-office dud (what white audiences loved at the time was Young Frankenstein, which the filmmakers would not have dared mock); and 2) it irks me that filmmakers who can't hold Billy Wilder's coat would take such a cheap shot at his decline-period work (which was probably still better than Dolemite).

A lot of the push for the film is for Eddie Murphy, because, you know, big star, but I don't see him standing out as much as JLo does in her film. Wesley Snipes is also getting touted, I guess because he's playing something way beyond type, but I just find his performance odd. The one I liked most is Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who brings much-needed warmth to the film. She'd be the contender I'd have the least problem with getting a nomination, but I'm not sure she has quite enough material to climb into a category that seems to have filled up recently.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by anonymous1980 »

THE KING
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Robert Pattinson, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily-Rose Depp, Tom Glynn-Carney, Thomasin McKenzie, Dean-Charles Chapman.
Dir: David Michod.

This is a loose adaptation of sorts of William Shakespeare's historical plays, ditching the Shakespearean language in favor of a bit more of a modern edge. Basically, it's about the rise of young King Henry V. This has been done before and done far better, most notably by Orson Welles in Chimes at Midnight (which I now feel like watching again). This kind of feels like it's trying to be Game of Thrones without the dragons. That being said, the performances are faultless. Timothee Chalamet is great (of course) but Robert Pattinson is kind of a hoot as the Dauphine. It's also very well shot and designed and undeniably beautiful to look at. It's overall a handsome, well-made production but it doesn't do anything particularly unique or special with the material.

Oscar Prospects: Cinematography, Production Design and Costume Design are possible.

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

Post by Sabin »

I don't have a lot to say about Scott Z. Burns' The Report outside the fact that I enjoyed it mainly for how it contrasts with other similar films. Not just Zero Dark Thirty, to which it is pretty much a direct rebuke. We've seen Hollywood dress up as politicians in films like Rendition for years. The Report is one of those done really well due to a few small foundational decisions. I think a stronger director (like producer Steven Soderbergh) could have brought it to life a little more. Scott Z. Burns (who collaborates with Soderbergh frequently and clearly took a page from him) seems mostly concerned with actualizing his script.

The first half of The Report is dedicated to the researching of our use enhanced interrogation techniques and the second half is about making the document public. The second half is substantially more interesting. At first, I found it a bit dry and tonally inconsistent with shots of brutal torture (which are the worst moments in the film), but as the film goes along, it finds suspense in the stall of government. Adam Driver's Dan Jones has no personal life to speak of. The film doesn't make a meal out of his drive to finish the torture report. Instead, the film makes a handful of references to his lack of sleep and personal life and plunges forward. Casting Adam Driver was a major coup for the film. He strikes the right balance between conveying an obsessed character and staying out of the way. He's so good, I'm confident he won't win awards for this one. With the exception of Annette Bening's dead-on Dianne Feinstein, that's pretty much the mode everyone in the film is in. Watching The Report doesn't feel dissimilar to watching an audiobook or a scripted podcast -- in a very good way.


Perhaps not for everyone, but I found it very commendable.
Last edited by Sabin on Sun Nov 03, 2019 2:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by anonymous1980 »

THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler, Alison Janney, Elsie Fisher, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Titus Burgess, Snoop Dogg (voices).
Dirs: Conrad Vernon & Greg Tiernan.

The latest cinematic incarnation of the creepy, kooky, mysterious spooky Addams Family is a CGI animated feature in which the Addamses are threatened by a home improvement reality show host obsessed with assimilation and gentrification. Tim Burton, I heard, was supposed to do this as a stop-motion animated film and THAT would've been a sight to see. Here, it's just fairly generic PG-level animated fare which is too bad because I think Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron are both well-cast (and would've made great Gomez and Morticia if it had been live-action). This film is entertaining and harmless enough with a radical-in-the-Trump-era message of tolerance and acceptance and stuff like that. Stick to the live-action early 1990's films for the best cinematic versions of these characters.

Oscar Prospects: None but Animated Feature and Original Song are remote possibilities.

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

Post by anonymous1980 »

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE
Cast: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta.
Dir: Tim Miller,

This is the sixth film in the Terminator franchise. This one follows a timeline in which John Connor is dead and Sarah Connor and an enhanced soldier from the future helps out another target for the Terminator, a Latina woman. The good news is that this film IS in fact the best Terminator movie since the second. The bad news is that it is damning it with faint praise. It's not really all that big of an achievement to be an improvement over Rise of the Machines, Salvation and Genisys. The film does have some really cool, very well-staged action set pieces. Mackenzie Davis is a great addition to the franchise and it's wonderful to see Linda Hamilton be a badass again (and at her age!) alongside Arnold. I enjoyed it very much but it's nowhere near the classic status of the first two.

Oscar Prospects: Visual Effects is a strong possibility.

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

Post by Sabin »

Reza wrote
Ok I get it finally.

You needed it spelt out to you with the character behaving a certain way in gradual doses throughout the film to justify his final action.

While many of us didn't need the director / screenplay to spell it out for us. We just got it because we understood where the character was coming from in the first place.
Mostly.

I don't need it spelled out to me. I only need to know this issue is important to Kim. I don't need to be hit on the head. I just need to be informed, as a viewer, that being treated like this is important enough to Kim that he would... do what he does. That being treated like that is worth DOING THAT.

After he did it, I understood perfectly why he didn't. It wasn't confusing for me. But it wasn't dramatically satisfying.
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Re: The Official Review Thread of 2019

Post by Reza »

Sabin wrote:Kim's action is an abrupt, emotional reaction that was given no emotional weight throughout the film.
Ok I get it finally.

You needed it spelt out to you with the character behaving a certain way in gradual doses throughout the film to justify his final action.

While many of us didn't need the director / screenplay to spell it out for us. We just got it because we understood where the character was coming from in the first place.
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