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)
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)
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)
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).
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)
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)
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)
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!
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