FAMILY GET AWAY: a review of "Downhill"

"DOWNHILL"
Based up on the film "Force Majeure" by Ruben Ostlund
Screenplay Written by Jesse Armstrong and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Directed by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
**** (four stars)
RATED R

Ah...the trouble with coming attractions trailers.

As much as there is an art and artistry of creating a motion picture, I woud greatly argue that there is the same yet decidedly different art and artistry of creating an effective coming attractions trailer. To be able to take all of the existing material from a film, dissect it, re-contextualize it and then, almost magically convey a sense of what the full experience of the entire movie will approximate thus attracting an audience to come and see it once the film in question is released...and then, to perform this feat in under a three minute running time. I do not envy those cinematic magicians whatsoever, especially as I think about the actual process of deciding what to show and how much and even then, what overall tone does the trailer strike.

In the case of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's "Downhill," I would not be surprised at all if audiences that have ventured out to see the film based upon its trailer (and its stars) exited the film in a state of confused depression for this film is not anything that could be described as a "romp" as it is completely unlike anything as presented in the film's own trailer. This film, itself a remake of a Swedish film, while containing some funny moments as well as pointed cultural satire, is in actuality a drama that makes for boldly uncomfortable viewing while also containing two searing leading performances and a storyline and screenplay that dives deeply into the dark heart of a marriage in crisis.

"Downhill" stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Pete and Billie Staunton, who along with their two sons Finn and Emerson (played by Julian Grey and Ammon Jacob Ford, respectively), take a family ski vacation in the Alps, where a near death experience of believing themselves to being killed by an on-coming avalanche, an experience which is compounded by the fact that Pete runs away, leaving his family behind, forces the couple to re-evaluate their lives and existence together.

Now at this time, I wish for you to contemplate some past films. Imagine, if you will, Harold Ramis' "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) if it were actually a drama. Or for that matter, let's take Ron Howard's "Parenthood" (1989) and cleave away all of the comedy. Writer/Director Judd Apatow has often professed that due to the extensive takes he shoots for his films, he could easily compile different versions of his work, some that lean more heavily into either comedy or drama. To that end, think of his film "This Is 40" (2012), which could easily be re-configured into an experience that took its inherent dramatic qualities into a much ore wrenching direction.

OK...now let's take all three of those films, and then completely drain them all of the warmth they all possess, the very warmth that endears those movies to us...and in doing so, you now have an approximation of what the experience of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's "Downhill" actually is, a film that is as cold as the Alps yet filled with an unsettling emotional, existential urgency.

The film's first scene, where the Staunton family is attempting to pose for a family photo in the Alps, could easily be staged as a slapstick moment (and you may be tempted to try and laugh as if you are seeing a slapstick comedy) but in actuality, and rapidly so, we are witnessing an intense scene of a fractured family whose fault lines are cracking.

Yes, aside from this opening moment, the vacation seems to be fairly smooth sailing with crisp sequences of the family skiing happily and furthermore, with Pete and Billie's clear love for each other from sex in the shower to sharing the same bathroom. Yet, it is after Pete's flight from the family after the fear of being killed by an oncoming avalanche, where the troubling undercurrents are impossible to ignore and the reverberations are fraught with potentially irreparable damage, and even provoked by the presence of Charlotte (Miranda Otto), the sexually voracious resort manager and also Pete's younger co-worker Zach (Zach Woods) and his girlfriend Rosie (Zoe Chao).

For Pete Staunton, we are given the portrait of a husband and Father who does clearly love his family and wants to provide them with a memorable vacation but that said, he is also terrified of his family. Being constantly distracted by his smartphone and following the vacationing exploits of Zach and Rosie, even going so far as to secretly invite them to visit the family at the resort, showcases his own sense of married middle aged ennui. But he is also caught within a quiet sense of parental competition with Billie, as she is clearly in control of the events, and is also judgmental of Pete's choice of resort due to the lack of it being more family friendly for the sake of their sons. In essence, Pete feels past his prime and emasculated with only his money being able to be used as any sense of a "bargaining chip," as he is paying for the entirety of the vacation. And ultimately, we wonder, just as he does, if he ever even wanted children in the first place or did he have them with Billie because that is just what married couples do?

Additionally, Pete is consumed by grief over the death of his Father months earlier thus amplifying his own sense of mortality and existential crisis that is now contained within a "live in the moment" attitude which is also compounded by a fear of death. And it is this very internal quandary that infuses his snap decision to flee as his wife shields their children and awaits death from the on-coming avalanche, a decision which only emasculates him further in the eyes of Billie, his children and himself.

Billie Staunton is exceedingly more complicated than simply existing as the "long suffering wife," a role this character would most likely be relegated to in a mainstream comedy. As with Pete, Billie is also undergoing her own sense of married middle aged ennui, which feels to be released in her drive for control of the family, most especially their children, both of whom she micro-manages to point of denying her children a voice, unless she can weaponize their voices against Pete. After the avalanche incident, and Pete's subsequent refusal to own up to his own cowardice and failures, which in turn only increases Billie's rage, driving that wedge even deeper between herself and Pete, and fully explodes when Zach and Rosie make their "surprise" visit.

Egged on by Charlotte's sense of sexual freedom, a late film sequence during which Billie wishes for a "solo" day from her family and finds herself in the company of a younger man, the sexy, Italian ski instructor Guglielmo (Giulio Berruti). It is here where, she is not only tempted by infidelity, her sense of womanhood is at long last validated, rather than existing as someone's wife or Mother--to that end, Billie is also able to (kind of) validate her own sense of sexuality to herself. Yet, her intense need for control never lets up for even one moment and to a detrimental point of not being able to hear any other points than her own.

As Pete and Billie, both Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus excel. With Ferrell, he has already shows off his dramatic chops in two truly tender, layered performances in both Marc Forster's surreal comic fantasy "Stranger Than Fiction" (2006) and Dan Rush's excellent "Everything Must Go" (2010). In "Downhill," Ferrell succeeds again with a rich performance that sits in the muddled center of love, fear, pain, mourning, failure and fight and flight against the passage of time and life as it relates towards marriage, parenting and even his own survival, whether from a literal avalanche or the avalanche of life itself. As his character expresses to his friend Zach, "When you lose a parent, that ticking gets LOUD!!"

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is a national treasure! Throughout her entire career in television and film, recently capped off by a superlative run on HBO's "Veep" (2012-2019), Louis-Dreyfus has demonstrated an uniquely skilled ability to mine the wells of comedy and drama and emerge with a level of pathos that is always so brilliantly earned and performed.

As Billie, we are given a portrait of a woman filled with a righteous and rightful fury that only builds as the film continues, and reaching a level where it does indeed threaten to lose any and all sympathy that she has gained from the audience. It is that sense of high-wire delivery is absolutely brilliant as she has found herself increasingly in the head-space of a person who possesses no nuance and solely a black/white vision of the life experience, which is threatened by Pete's behavior and challenged throughout the film up until the final moments, where her viewpoints are ambiguously upended.

Now, I do not wish to make you think that Nat Faxon's and Jim Rash's "Downhill" is akin to a film like Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes From A Marriage" (1972). But that being said, Faxon and Rash's film does carry a more European tonality that just might alienate American audiences who are indeed just looking for a lighthearted, laugh filled good time at the movies--especially the very one that is advertised in the film's own trailers. And "Downhill" is defiantly not that good time movie whatsoever, making for often uncomfortable viewing as it does force us to confront ourselves, our relationships, our families (especially parenting) and failings.
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And that is what made "Downhill" work for me so powerfully because it was so properly uncomfortable and frankly, art should not be here to make us always feel comfortable. No matter what the trailers have tried to present to us, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's "Downhill" is an unapologetic, unrepentantly uncomfortable ride into the downward spiral of a marriage, a family, and middle aged existential crisis where every BOOM from the ski resort cannons sound like impending doom.

SLOW LOVE: a review of "The Photograph"

"THE PHOTOGRAPH"
Written and Directed by Stella Meghie
*** (three stars)
RATED PG 13

My first film screening of this new year, and therefore, this new decade in cinema resulted in a response that was rather muted for me. Not every film can be that grand slam, but not all good but not great and near misses are devoid of value.

At this time, I turn my attention to Writer/Director Stella Meghie's "The Photograph," an elegant, soulful, dual and inter-generational love story that succeeds on multi-levels but does falter due to a lack of inherent momentum and a tendency to lean towards cliches of the movie romance genre. That being said, the film exists like a fine glass of wine as it shimmers and glistens but perhaps it could have used a little more heat and romantic urgency.

"The Photograph" stars the magnetic and malleable Lakeith Stanfield as Michael Block, an up and coming journalist who dreams of one day joining the ranks at the Associated Press. While on an assignment to research and write a magazine piece about the famous, and now deceased, photographer Christina Eames (Chante Adams), Michael meets the photographer's estranged daughter Mae Morton (Issa Rae), a museum curator, whose discovery of her Mother's photography--including one specific photograph of her Mother--plus two letters written by her Mother, one addressed to her and another addressed to her Father, whom she left behind to pursue her career dreams.

As Michael and Mae find themselves in the throes of a deep attraction towards each other, possibly building into love itself, we also learn the backstory of Christina Eames and how her actions in late 1980's Louisiana have reverberated through time to affect Mae, who is confronted by questions and fears that perhaps, her own life may be fated to follow a similar path, a path that sacrifices the potential for true love.

Stella Meghie's "The Photograph" is a smart, sophisticated, and sultry romantic drama that thankfully presents and treats adults behaving like recognizable adults in a very real world asking tough questions of themselves as well as each other as they each pursue what it means to love and be loved. It is classy slice-of-life film that possesses no villains, no hyperbole, no prefabricated plot twists or anything that feels inauthentic to the experience as a whole.

While working beautifully with Cinematographer Mark Schwartzbard's lush visuals, Meghie knows precisely the mood she is attempting to conjure which feels to be of the very type and tenor that one feels when listening to adult soul and R&B songs, the very kind that just happen to luxuriously populate the film's soundtrack directly alongside Composer Robert Glasper's atmospheric jazz score. All of these aesthetics and more all contribute to elevate "The Photograph" from some of its movie love story genre elements and trappings, thus establishing its own sense of character. But even so, Meghie is not quite successful on this front, as her sense of pacing is a tad drowsy and the predictable nature of the beats contained within the romantic drama genre do indeed rob the film of some of its romantic tension as you will easily know exactly where this film is headed, provided you have seen movie love stories before.

This is why casting is as crucial as the actual screenwriting and storytelling because with all of the correct ingredients, a filmmaker is able to take the most mundane and over-utilized pieces and spin gold. While Stella Meghie does not fly that high, she did indeed populate her film with a first rate cast that upon further rumination may be even better than I originally thought while watching.

Lakeith Stanfield remains one of the most interesting and compelling young actors on the current scene as his versatility and ease allow him to superbly slide into every role given to him like a tailor made glove. As Michael Block, Stanfield again showcases his range with subtlety, charm, strength and a welcome amount of sensitivity, making him a romantic hero we only root for. Michael is indeed the 21st century Romeo, the almost poetic figure who is in love with being in love despite any and all romantic failings of his past. The root of his desire is within the wish that there will be someone out in the world for him and it is through that innocence that he becomes increasingly endearing over the course of the film.

As the famed and mysteries photographer Christina Eames,  Chante Adams delivers the film's most mesmerizing performance as well as the one that contained the greatest depth of sorrow, remorse, determination, as well as a feminist strength and resolve to not solely live her life, but to create her life upon her own terms and without answering to anyone else while also conveying the romantic pain and existential guilt from turning her back upon the man she loved and the daughter she has become estranged from.

As Mae Morton, the performance of Issa Rae has just now begun to reveal itself to me, making me wonder if it was more skilled of a performance than I am giving it credit for. While watching the film, I distinctly felt that while Rae unquestionably possessed screen presence, there was something rather one-note to her performance that belied the complexities of her character who is facing herself in ways she had not previously accomplished.

The anger and hurt of Mae Morton and her reluctance to defy her better nature and take that leap of faith with Michael does not exist through any sense of facile "will they-won't they" tactics that would truly be uninteresting. What Mae Morton is confronting is her own sense of self and how her life choices may or may not be mirroring her Mother's life choices, and in doing so, is she fated to just be as emotionally distant. To be creatively fulfilled yet romantically empty or can she possess both or is she doomed to neither is the quandary of this character and as I think of Issa Rae's performance now, I am finding myself feeling that that her somewhat static nature was purposeful, that she is playing a character who is intentionally holding herself at bay out of a self-preservation that is in conflict with  her truest desires and needs.

Issa Rae's chemistry with Lakeith Stanfield is exquisitely palpable, showcasing a romantic relationship, while predictable, always felt real and true and representative of life and how it is really lived, especially 21st century African-American life.

To me, the presentation of Black life in America is the greatest accomplishment of Stella Maghie's "The Photograph," as not only representation matters but so do Black lives. The film is downright remarkable in the sense that we have a a mainstream film in which Black characters are not slaves, criminals, secondary characters or solely existing as victims or being killed.

The characters of "The Photograph" are Black people simply getting up each day to live their lives just as White characters perform in every other movie. These characters are Black people with careers, with families, with children, hopes, foibles and fears just like White characters are presented in every other movie. And to that end, "The Photograph," which does feel like a close cousin to both Spike Lee's "Mo' Better Blues" (1990) and Theodore Witcher's "love jones" (1997), feels like a quietly revolutionary act due to the rarity of the presentation and exposure...and just for that,  feel the film is to be celebrated for even existing let alone for being good.

Stella Meghie's "The Photograph" in essence feels like the just right way to begin this next journey through the world of the movies. No, it is not a grand slam by any means. But it is a good film, strong enough to keep us hopefully for the movies to come, especially Meghie's next project.

SAVAGE SCORECARD 2019: MY TOP TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019

SAVAGE SCORECARD 2019: MY TOP TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019

Here they are, all in descending order all the way to my favorite film of 2019. Please enjoy!!!

10. "AVENGERS: ENDGAME" DIRECTED BY ANTHONY & JOE RUSSO
The one and only finale of 2019 that completed its journey with equal parts triumph, tragedy and tremendous presentation and execution. Anthony & Joe Russo's sprawling, lavish, wonderfully ambitious and downright rapturous three hour "Avengers: Endgame," the conclusion to not only their sensationally devastating "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) but the entire 22 film cycle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, essentially performed the impossible with inventive, impassioned storytelling that demonstrated that the over-stuffed and exhausting superhero film genre can indeed extend itself far beyond being theme parks rides and become breathtaking cinema to behold.
(Originally reviewed April 2019) 

9. "BLINDED BY THE LIGHT" DIRECTED BY GURINDER CHADHA
Breezy and profound, Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded By The Light" light-footed, life affirming triumph. Set during the late 1980's England under Margaret Thatcher's reign, Gurinder Chadha deftly executes a coming of age and generational comedy/drama, a sharp cultural critique, an empathetic exploration of racial self-identity, a tender and tense Father/son dynamic, and most of all, an earnest ode to the power of the written word, our intense and individualistic connection to art and a tribute to the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen as experienced by the film's main protagonist, a teenage Pakistani-British young man and aspiring writer.

While Springsteen's music  plays rapturously throughout the film, Chadha firmly ensures that her film is no mere "jukebox musical," for as Springsteen's music is the catalyst that propels the film forwards, without our teenaged hero (so well played by Viveik Kaira), there would be no movie at all. To that end, Chadha has delivered a multi-layered experience that looks and feels like a teen film from the 1980's while using its socio/political backdrop as a mirror to our current turbulent political landscape. And even further, the film is an absolute joy!!

This is the film that Danny Boyle's "Yesterday" wished it had been and frankly, should have been.
(Originally reviewed September 2019)

8. "MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL" DIRECTED BY STANLEY NELSON
Enormously entertaining and unquestionably essential in our continuing exploration into the peerless, inimitable and timeless artistic complexity and combustible life of Miles Davis, Stanley Nelson's superlative documentary works seamlessly as both primer to novices and enhancement to lifelong devotees.

Meticulously and lovingly researched and then, beautifully contextualized into a richly flowing and briskly paced narrative always feels full, complete and revealing. No small feat as the life and music we regard throughout this film could have easily stuffed three documentaries as it feels that Miles Davis lived a series of lives within his 65 years. Beyond even this success, Nelson allows his film to transcend the music bio-pic" genre by also exploring themes of child abuse, depression, addiction, toxic masculinity, female subjugation and empowerment, Black masculinity and Black excellence while all set to a soundtrack starring one of the most untouchable bodies of work.

Cool, sophisticated, angry and clean, Stanley Nelson's "Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool" is resplendent, raw and remarkable. 
(Originally reviewed November 2019)

7. "JOJO RABBIT" DIRECTED BY TAIKA WAITITI
My estimation of this film has only grown since the two times I have seen it and I am already looking forward to experiencing it again. Taika Waititi's self described "anti-hate satire" is like something akin to a Wes Anderson movie as the surroundings feel to be of a completely different universe but the emotions, motivations and sentiments are 100% real.

In "Jojo Rabbit," we have the tale of a lonely 10 year old aspiring member of the Hitler youth seen entirely through his eyes, giving the proceedings a disturbingly hallucinogenic quality, especially since a vision, albeit ridiculous, of Adolf Hitler himself (as played by Waititi) serves as the boy's imaginary friend. Throughout the film, our titular protagonist finds his worldview forever altered upon the discovery of a teenage Jewish girl hiding within the attic of his home and hidden there by his own Mother (Scarlett Johansson in one of her warmest, most playful performances). His ensuing relationship with the girl instigates a moral quandary of severe complexities and consequences and Waititi handles all of the comedy and sacrifice with a steady directorial hand, a gentle blend of satire and silliness and a sobering moral fortitude making for one of the most unique and singular films of the year.
(Originally reviewed December 2019)

6. "THE FAREWELL" DIRECTED BY LULU WANG
Lulu Wang's tenderly melancholic film about an aspiring Chinese-American writer (richly played by Awkwafina) living in New York City, struggling with impending grief over the news of a terminal illness diagnosis for her beloved China based Grandmother (the superbly warm Zhao Shuzen), is further compounded by her family's collective and culturally bound wishes to shield the news from the Grandmother is absolutely beautiful.

Pure of heart and intent, smartly matter-of-fact and without any shred of prefabricated emotions and situations, Wang has delivered a slice-of-life film that allows every single moment to live and breathe as if we were watching a documentary and through Awkwafina's character, it is also a film about physical and emotional displacement as we regard China and Chinese culture through her Americanized eyes. Superbly individualist to the Chinese/Chinese-American experience yet simultaneously universal to the heart and soul that exists within ALL families, Lulu Wang's "The Farewell" is exquisitely perfect.
(Originally reviewed August 2019)

5.  "JOKER"  DIRECTED BY TODD PHILLIPS
Appropriately and uncompromisingly horrifying while also surprisingly empathetic, Todd Phillips' "Joker," his origin story of the figure who would become Batman's arch nemesis is the anti-comic book movie by existing within a real world populated by real psychological and societal trauma.

A towering Joaquin Phoenix stars as the miserable Arthur Fleck, whose downfall (or ascension) is chronicled not through special effects and all manner of escapist pyrotechnics but through the lens of a cinematic world clearly inspired by Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (1976), "The King Of Comedy" (1983) and "Bringing Out The Dead" (1999), where societal and psychological decay run hand-in-hand. Phillips' film, while set in a world that appears as the late 1970's/early 1980's, holds its cinematic finger upon the precarious pulse of the rancorous 21st century with all of its mounting fear, anxiety, and rage and entirely housed within the film's titular character study that displays how the chaos of the mind explodes into chaos in the streets.
(Originally reviewed October 2019)

4. "US"  DIRECTED BY JORDAN PEELE
First things first, it is a complete awards season crime that Lupita N'yongo's searing performance(s) were entirely ignored! Beyond that, Jordan Peele demonstrated that he is no flash in the pan that he brilliantly evaded a sophomore slump, with an even darker nightmare than his outstanding juggernaut of a debut feature with "Get Out" (2017). This time, Peele's story of an affluent African-American family being terrorized by a quartet of red jumpsuit wearing, scissor wielding dopplegangers served as a chilling societal warning about our own individualistic and collective sense of duality and how our darkest natures may be conspiring against us or inversely how our better natures are fighting for survival. With a broader visual palate and a concluding image that shuddered me into silence from the theater, all the way home and with every subsequent viewing, Jordan Peele's "Us" is horror film of great humanity yet filtered through relentless doom.
(Originally reviewed March 2019)

3. "AMAZING GRACE" DIRECTED BY SYDNEY POLLACK/RESTORATION PRODUCED BY ALAN ELLIOT
Filmed in 1972 yet shelved for 47 years due to a filmmaking error, "Amazing Grace," the live performance which was recorded for what remains the highest selling gospel album ever made is a documentary of riches and revelations, as well as a posthumous celebration of the life and artistry of one of the world's greatest voices in the late Aretha Franklin.

And what an artist she was as her untouchable voice and superlative skills certainly did seemed to be blissfully influenced by something not of the material world. Franklin, who, for this project, and already at the height of her fame, returned to her gospel roots with a power that did indeed feel designed of her spirit for the sole purpose of directly touching the spirits of any and all who listened. Her collaboration with the iconic Reverend James Cleveland, the Southern California Community Choir and her own band was stunning in its seamlessness, agility and ability, after all of these years to being able to elicit physical responses (goose pimples, chills, tears, etc...) signifying a greater force at work, thus making this performance a treasure, a gift and a jewel that we are able to see in 2019.

Beyond the performances themselves, the film also works as a powerful document of the 1970's Civil Rights Era, with Franklin's song choices serving as personal messages to the Black community and the soundtrack and soul of the movement as a whole and to, again, have this document right here and now in 2019, with its visual messages of Black excellence upon display, we hold something that can be utilized to keep ourselves marching forwards in these even darker times. 
(Originally reviewed May 2019)

2. "PARASITE" DIRECTED BY BONG JOON-HO
For the purposes of t hose of you who still may not have seen this film, I will keep my remarks to a minimum and in doing so, I have given you quite a mammoth of a reason as to why Bong Joon-ho's Parasite" is an absolute masterpiece of a film that reminds us miraculously of what it means to go to the movies.

This story of two families, one wealthy, one poor and what occurs when they intersect gave me a feeling that has been of such rarity and kind of unlike anything I have seen since Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994). The level of storytelling, direction, performances and especially the set design, as this specific element exists as much of a character in the film as the characters themselves, is unquestionably masterful. From its cultural satire to its Hitchcock-ian level of suspense and surprise as the way the film begins does not in any way prepare you for how it unfolds, reveal and concludes...and yet, as I think of it now (and without spoiling) it truly feels like the culmination of shared themes from Jordan Peele's "Us" and Rian Johnson's "Knives Out."

Foreign and familiar, intimate and universal, claustrophobic and cavernous, hilarious and horrifying, Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" is cinematic storytelling at its most feverishly original.
(Originally reviewed November 2019)

1. "1917"  DIRECTED BY SAM MENDES
As I wrote in my original review, Sam Mendes' "1917," his World War I epic presented to appear as if filmed in one of two single take sequences, is also a masterpiece. It is the best motion picture in his filmography and for me, it is one of the finest films of the decade of 2010-2019.

The story of two young British soldiers given a mission to hand deliver a message that would save 1600 troops from a massacre, including one of the soldier's older brother is deceptively simple as it is the framework for the cinematic grandeur upon display that merges the intimate with the epic. It is a revelatory piece of art as this film contains multi-layers of juxtapositions, from the story,itself to the nature of the film as a whole, that we are fully engaged with the journey fraught with the random violence and carnage of war while also being superbly awed with the meticulous, soaring filmmaking of the sort that inspires us to shout out loud, "How dd they do that??????" No small feat in an age when special effects are no longer special and cinematic spectacle is commonplace to the point of being boring.

Sam Mendes' "1917" is artful, graceful, mammoth, and often just flabbergasting making it a movie that again reminds of why we go to the movies.
(Originally reviewed January 2020)

SAVAGE SCORECARD 2019: NUMBER 11

Now, I present the second installment of my annual "Savage Scorecard" series in which I detail the films of 2019 which all sit at "Number 11," all films that just did not make the final Top Ten list. Afterwards, you will find the film that I have crowned as the Worst Film I saw in 2019.

As always, if you wish to read the entire review, I have listed the month in which you will be able to find the original postings.

SAVAGE SCORECARD 2019: NUMBER 11

"A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD"  DIRECTED BY MARIELLE HELLER
Vital, resonant, tender and deeply empathetic, Director Marielle Heller's film concerning the relationship between a cynical journalist undergoing an existential crisis (Matthew Rhys) and his interview subject, who is none other than Mr. Fred Rogers himself (Tom Hanks), is richly patient and quietly wonderful, as if it was written by Mr. Rogers himself.

In fact, part of the film's excellence rests within the film's structure which Heller has fashioned to almost exist as an episode of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," complete with the miniature sets as transitions throughout as well as its meticulous re-creations of the sets, television studio and all of the elements of the Land of Make Believe. Yet beyond its aesthetic triumphs, this is a deceptively "little" film as it does possess a large reach and depth. Through its wisely understated approach, the film is a celebration of the act of listening and having our true selves being heard and accepted without question as we grow and again an increasingly anxiety ridden world. Yes indeed, the film works as an antidote to the rancor and vitriol of our current 21st century landscape, a gentle and all inclusive Sunday sermon without any stitch of dogma tenderly pushing all of us to care for ourselves and the people and world around us. 
(Originally reviewed December 2019)

"DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME" DIRECTED BY A.J. EATON
It was just this close to making the Top Ten!!! Director A.J. Eaton's debut feature is a first rate documentary that transcends the rock and roll documentary genre by delving further and deeper than the standard chronological driven fare and emerging into a stirring narrative that is as warm, engaging and enveloping as it is unflinching and raw.

While we do explore the primary subject matter of David Crosby's legendary career as a pioneer of the Laurel Canyon sound of the early 1970's plus his work within The Byrds, Crosby, Stills Nash (and Young), as well as a solo artist, who continues to record creative peak albums and tour despite his failing health, Eaton, working in collaboration with Producer/Interviewer Cameron Crowe, builds into the film's grander themes of what makes and therefore, breaks a life.  Now at the age of 77 and having burned bridges with every single one of his former collaborators and friends, the film finds David Crosby at a stage where he is possibly seeking some sense of atonement as there is less of his life in front of him compared to what is behind. Through the entirety, Crosby exists as one hell of a raconteur, fully engaging, refreshingly matter-of-fact and brutally honest. And yet, there still sits that mischievous look in his eye, making us question for split seconds if it is all an act. A quietly wrenching confessional of a rock and roll lion deep in Winter.
(Originally reviewed September 2019)

"KNIVES OUT" DIRECTED BY RIAN JOHNSON
One of the year's most enormously entertaining films. Rian Johnson, who previously enriched the "Star Wars" saga with his controversial, polarizing and as far as I am concerned, absolutely brilliant "The Last Jedi" (2017), he has all but resurrected the all-star murder mystery with a crackerjack screenplay, tight direction and that aforementioned all-star cast, who are clearly relishing every moment on screen, especially Daniel Craig as the intrepid Private Investigator who is determined to solve the case of the murder of celebrated mystery author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) and the luminous newcomer Ana de Armas as the young nurse at the center of it all.

For those of you who still have not seen the film, I refuse to say any more so as not to produce any spoilers. And that is probably the very best thing that I can say about "Knives Out," as it is exceedingly the type of film that is filled with a sense of joyous surprise and that you also wish to race to tell everyone to go see for themselves. And yes, that final shot in the film is KILLER!! 
(Originally reviewed December 2019)

"ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD"
 DIRECTED BY QUENTIN TARANTINO
I would not be surprised if you are surprised that this film is not in my Top Ten of the year, just as it is for so many established film critics, a sentiment that is being enormously advanced by all of the awards season love that is flowing in its direction. It is an extremely strong film with the caliber of first rate performances, meticulous production design, rapturous cinematography and a brilliant end-to-end musical soundtrack we would expect from a Quentin Tarantino experience, which this time, makes his lovingly presented ode to Hollywood circa 1969, easily his most affectionate film to date, serve as nothing less than his version of George Lucas' "American Graffiti" (1973), with the joys, insecurities and the end of the innocence all firmly intact.

I have seen the film a few times now, each viewing growing in admiration than the one before and still, for me, in a career that has delivered no less than five masterpiece efforts--"Pulp Fiction" (1994), "Kill Bill" (2003/2004), "Inglourious Basterds" (2009), "Django Unchained" (2012) and "The Hateful Eight" (2015)--"Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood" just is not one of them.

Hollywood loves movies about itself and one would indeed be hard pressed to find a more devotional one, a film that uses its language and artistry to again use cinematic revisionist history to save the life of Sharon Tate. That being said, it was a film where Tarantino seemed to be a bit too lost in his own reverie as it meandered more than necessary making the entirety feel as if it was in need of editing, an emotion I have not once felt in a Tarantino film. And even so, I have to applaud him as for his ninth film arriving essentially 30 years after his debut feature, Quentin Tarantino can still surprise and upend me as he has created a film that is unlike anything else in his filmography while also existing as a document of why he loves and makes films in the first place.
(Originally reviewed August 2019)

"QUEEN & SLIM" DIRECTED BY MELINA MATSOUKAS
Multi-layered, meditative and maddening, Melina Matsuokas' atmospheric lament for what it means to be living while Black in 21st century America as our titular characters (portrayed by Jodie Turner-Smith and the haunting Daniel Kaluuya) undergo a life-altering odyssey that begins as a bad date, continues with the accidental fatal shooting of a White police officer by their hands and the subsequent manhunt, which makes for an experience like Arthur Penn's "Bonnie And Clyde" (1967) by way of Ridley Scott's "Thelma & Louise" (1991).

Yet, through the film's somber, sobering narrative, which is indeed an up to the second commentary of the Black Lives Matter movement, Matsoukas and Screenwriter Lena Waithe have also fashioned an impassioned yet evocative and nuanced exploration of the illusion of freedom as well as a variety of prejudices and stereotypes as held and often upended by both protagonists, characters met along the way and for all of us in the audience. And in the role of Queen's Uncle, a PTSD suffering Iraq war veteran and now a pimp, Bokeem Woodbine is especially magnetic and deserving of a film all his own.
(Originally reviewed December 2019)

"STAR WARS: EPISODE IX-THE RISE OF SKYWALKER"  DIRECTED BY J.J. ABRAMS
No, this was not my favorite "Star Wars" film. It was easily the weakest entry in the current trilogy and furthermore, out of all of the films--from the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, a stand-alone and one origin story--this film was truthfully the very first time, when I did feel a certain sense of artistic/storytelling struggle and I actually wished for the movie to slow down a hair just to allow myself to catch up and for everything to resonate properly.

Yes, this ninth entry in the Skywalker Saga was problematic. Not surprisingly due to the difficulties in wrapping up a complete story that one did not originate himself, and also due to reports of Disney's behind the scenes meddling. But, all of that being said, J.J. Abrams' finale to the tale that began 42 years ago was a titanic effort. Resoundingly well made, furiously executed, performed with verve and passion from the entire cast and completely reverential to the galaxy far, far away that George Lucas built.

Despite its flaws, "The Rise Of Skywalker" is a space opera/fairy tale that is encased in the love that Abrams has always held for it, which mirrors the love generations upon generations of fans have held for it as well. Our connections to these characters and this story of a family, merged with all manner of misfits, outcasts, loners, and cast aways who have all found each other to join forces, to become unlikely heroes against tyranny, always holding each other upright while standing upon the shoulders of all who came before them. It is that very love of hope that the act of love itself will be the only thing to save us from the end of of all things, and in that message, we have been given a film of poignancy and even poetry.

Enthralling, excessive, exhilarating and profoundly emotional with one grace note after another, I found my eyes flowing with tears over and over again as this film brought this mountainous saga to a close.
(Originally reviewed December 2019)

THE WORST FILM OF 2019

"YESTERDAY" DIRECTED BY DANNY BOYLE
The concept is ingenious. The existence and knowledge of The Beatles is inexplicably wiped from existence save for the mind of one person, a struggling singer/songwriter who soon becomes famous plagiarizing the eternal music of the Fab Four as his own.

The execution, on the other hand, is unforgivable.

Danny Boyle's "Yesterday" is a complete failure of a film as it is housed with this aforementioned ingenious concept and then, never for an instant gets itself beyond the idea stage...and frankly, never seemed remotely interested in doing so in the first place. Honestly, a film that concerns itself with The Beatles but never harbors or expresses an opinion about why The Beatles are important and why it would be such a tragedy to have a world that never knew they existed. It is as if Boyle and his Screenwriter Richard Curtis felt that since we all know the songs anyway, that would be enough. But knowing and loving Beatles songs does not make a movie. 

Despite a terrific leading performance by Himesh Patel as the singer/songwriter, "Yesterday" is a film that never bothers to try, making for a completely wasted opportunity. The elements of music business satire, while fine, is toothless and obvious. And to that end, even the satire plus The Beatles felt to be entirely abandoned in favor of a dead as a door-nail love story between Patel and the lovely Lily Allen, sandbagged with a criminally underwritten role, that wouldn't have made the cut as an outtake in Curtis' own "Love Actually" (2003). And even then, do not get me stated on a bizarre sequence late in the film designed to conjure tearful whimsy but I felt to be shamelessly cheap and tasteless. 

Danny Boyle's "Yesterday," so far, is the worst offender in this latest sub genre of "jukebox musicals," movies that do not exist to be movies, per se. They exist for us to sing the songs that we know and love regardless of what is occurring upon the screen and therefore, to crassly sell the back catalogs of the artists whose music the film revolves around.

In fact, after sitting through this terrible experience, I went to my local record store and purchased a Beatles album as an antidote!
(Originally reviewed July 2019)

STAY TUNED: MY TOP TEN FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019!!!!

SAVAGE SCORECARD 2019: THE HONOR ROLL

Ten years in with Savage Cinema and my, how the movie going landscape has changed...and frankly not for the better. 2019 was actually a year in which I saw the least amount of movies. Not necessarily due to the quality of what was being released (although that sometimes was a factor) but the new reality that less films of all genres are finding their ways to our local theaters, thus making me less interested in seeing what actually is being released, since it is typically all manner of franchise material. Don't get me wrong. I want to see the latest "Star Wars" or Marvel adventure too but I don't wish to see moves of that nature every week and the lack of diversity in our theaters is indeed damaging the movie going experience overall.

All of that being said, I now arrive with my annual Savage Scorecard series, which is indeed a tad shorter due to the very reasons I detailed above. But, the series does remain mostly intact and it will arrive in three segments instead of four, with the first one being this one, the 2019 "Honor Roll," films that I felt were strong to varying degrees but did not make my personal Top Ten or my "Number 11." As always, these are solely my opinions and if you do wish to read a review in its entirety,  I have indicated which month in the year 2019 you may find the review up on this blogsite.

With the Oscars occurring in one week's time, I want to see if I can crank this series out for you so with further hesitation...

SAVAGE SCORECARD 2019: THE HONOR ROLL

"BOOKSMART" DIRECTED BY OLIVIA WILDE
Brazen, brash and bold, "Booksmart," the filmmaking directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde, is an unrepentantly foul mouthed, hard R rated coming-of-age comedy that often feels like a throwback to the teen sex movies of the early 1980's. Unlike those films, which were heavily populated by a sea of horny boys and nameless girls ready to display their bare breasts on camera, "Booksmart" stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as two over-achieving best friends, long considered to being pretentious by their peers, who embark upon their one wild night of high school hijinks on the eve of their graduation. While the plot itself is a teen film hallmark, what sets "Booksmart" apart from other films in its genre are our two unapologetically formidable, feminist and ferociously foul mouthed heroines as well as the restlessly inventive, take-no-prisoners aesthetic of Wilde, who clearly announces herself as a filmmaker to watch closely.
(Originally reviewed May 2019)

"GLASS" DIRECTED BY M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN
I firmly and proudly concede that the film career of M. Night Shyamalan is an acquired taste...and it is a taste that I enjoy, as his style of storytelling and cinematic wine, so to speak, is a flavor that provides a unique taste unlike anyone else's. With "Glass," the finale to his surprise trilogy which began with his finest film "Unbreakable" (2000) and continued with the wild freak fest of "Split" (2017), Shyamalan enlivened our over-saturated superhero film genre with a fresh, idiosyncratic perspective, also within a genre that does carry a certain directorial anonymity. Without falling into ADD editing techniques, CGI bombast and comic book movie genre sameness, "Glass" placed us firmly within the M. Night Shyamalan universe, and in doing so, I was engaged and often enthralled by his creepy, atmospheric, mesmerizing production which featured strong performances throughout, especially from James McAvoy (clearly having the time of his life) and in the titular role as the ingenious supervillain, Samuel L. Jackson.
(Originally reviewed January 2019)

"HARRIET" DIRECTED BY KASI LEMMONS
I am still a bit troubled by aspects of this film, from its facile, superficial presentation to even some specific scenes and sequences. But, it is a film that has not escaped my brain and I am further convinced that Director Kasi Lemmons' artistic choices were firmly intentional, especially in our current superhero franchise dominated movie culture, as "Harriet," her film about the ascension of Harriet Tubman (performed with a mournful fury by Oscar nominated Cynthia Erivo), from slave to fearless freedom fighter, is decidedly not a stately, nuanced epic but one that is more direct and even pulpy.

In essence, Kasi Lemmons has taken the historical and transformed it into the aesthetics of the superhero origin story as well as a propulsive chase film that culminates into a story of Black female empowerment and a war cry in the Black Lives Matter movement. And most importantly, Lemmons' approach will get you in the theater seats but you will leave inspired to know more about the real history, in a time when knowing one's history is not en vogue.
(Originally reviewed November 2019). 

"HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD" 
DIRECTED BY DEAN DeBLOIS
While more than a little padded and not as wondrous as the first two installments, Dean DeBlois' finale was indeed a lovely conclusion to an especially classy animated film trilogy, that solidified the enormously emotional bond between the young adult Viking Hiccup and his relationship with the Alpha dragon Toothless and therefore, our bond with them. I deeply appreciated how DeBlois allowed the characters to grow with each film and how he also allowed all of the dragons to exist as animals in their own right and not as extensions of their human counterparts, making for a film that truly celebrated the mysterious yet unquestionably unbreakable relationships between human and animals. And man, the final scenes between Hiccup and Toothless are just crystalline in their purity and beauty. 
(Originally reviewed March 2019)

"JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3-PARABELLUM" DIRECTED BY CHAD STAHELSKI
I have to admit that I am still perplexed at the general public's full embrace of a film series that has only grown in its graphic violence as well as its own sense of ridiculousness, but I have to say, Chad Stahelski's "John Wick: Chapter 3-Parabellum" is an exhilarating, often hysterical and downright spectacular opera of brilliant, beautifully orchestrated ultraviolence.

The odyssey of Keanu Reeves' reluctant killing machine is indeed giving us more of the same but not quite as it takes its bare bones revenge story and deepens its own increasingly surreal mythology while devising one astounding action/fight sequence after another that has to be seen to be believed and are all richly choreographed and filmed as if they were scenes in a musical. Building in intensity and insanity and concluding with a killer cliffhanger, this third installment is an action film triumph over-flowing with imagination and invention.
(Originally reviewed September 2019)

"LONG SHOT" DIRECTED BY JONATHAN LEVINE
The completely unlikely combination of Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron made for the best romantic comedy I have seen in quite a long time and I am stunned that it did not find a larger audience when it was released last Spring. Regardless, "Long Shot" was a winner as it was smart and vulgar, sexy and sharp and filled with a romantic longing that ensured the film possessed an urgently beating heart.

The story of Seth Rogen's recently unemployed political journalist who becomes a speechwriter for Charlize Theron's Secretary Of State who is eyeing a possible run for President (and who was also Rogen's childhood neighbor and crush), was a refreshingly direct and gently satirical take on our current political landscape while also existing as a brisk, breezy and deeply effective love story filled with rapid fire dialogue, rich characters and a absolutely dazzling leading performance from Theron, who wonderfully evoked the quandary of an adult woman wishing, hoping and worrying if she is up to the task of being the woman her 16 year old self wanted to one day become. 
(Originally reviewed May 2019)

"SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME"  DIRECTED BY JON WATTS
For as exhausted as I am with the superhero movie genre, when I see a goo done, I have to give the films its due and Jon Watts' "Spider-Man; Far From Home," the final entry in the Marvel Comics cinematic universe of 2019 was an especially good one, making for the perfect epilogue after the events of "Avengers: Endgame."

Deftly closing the book on all that has arrived before and setting the stage for the future with a terrific cliffhanger, "Spider-Man: Far From Home" finds the resurrected Peter Parker (again engagingly portrayed by Tom Holland) recovering from the triumphant and tragic events from "Avengers; Endgame" nearly wanting to leave his superhero life behind via a class Summer trip to Europe. But trouble keeps finding him and imploring him to life out his destiny saving the world, this time from the duplicitous Mysterio (a terrific Jake Gyllenhaal). Watts improves upon his already high-flying first installment with a smart, snappy screenplay, strong performances throughout and superlative special effects. Feeling like a John Hughes film funneled through a comic book adventure, Watts has delivered a coming-of age film, romantic comedy as well as a self-reflexive escapade that regards how we interact with the nature of believing the unbelievable.
(Originally reviewed July 2019)

STAY TUNED FOR "NUMBER 11" and MY LEAST FAVORITE FILM OF 2019!

SAVAGE CINEMA'S COMING ATTRACTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2020

I cannot believe that the Oscars are happening in one week's time!!

So, because of this rapid reality, I am going to try my best and have my annual Savage Scorecard series that compiles my 2019 rankings up and posted before then. One is written and ready to go, so let's keep chugging along.

After Oscar season, I am hoping to catch two movies this month (while finally placing the finishing touches over a review I have been poking away at for some time).

1. "The Photograph," starring Issa Rae and the exceedingly versatile Lakeith Stanfield, is first upon my list, which would make this the first film I would have seen in this new decade of motion pictures. 

2. "Downhill," starring Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus has already fully captured my attention as well.

And then, I also wish to begin my "Time Capsule" series commemorating my favorite films from the decade of 2010-2019, so I have more than enough to keep me busy.

As always, wish me good luck and good health and I will see you when the house lights go down!!!