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
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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
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!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment