MyMovies: 2018
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- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsMatt DamonChristoph WaltzHong ChauA social satire in which a man realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself to five inches tall, allowing him to live in wealth and splendor.1/1/18 Already, Downsizing is totally misunderstood. People are either digging too deep to try and find satire that's really not there or dim-bulbs aren't trying at all and labeling this pretty brilliant movie "boring". Ultimately the story is pretty simple even though it's built off a high concept, and the movie is filled with greatness, especially Hong Chau, whose brave, multifaceted performance is one of 2017's best.
- DirectorJake KasdanStarsDwayne JohnsonKaren GillanKevin HartFour teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.1/4 It captures the spirit of the original without fully capitalizing on the concept. For instance, Bobby Cannavale's villain does not feel like something out a videogame (Raul Julia's performance in Street Fighter would have been perfect here). Also, just having the players get sucked into a jungle quest is a bit of a cheat. It doesn't stop this from being a ton of fun. The leads are game, especially Jack Black, who destroys!
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsMargot RobbieSebastian StanAllison JanneyCompetitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.1/5 It's sags just a bit in the middle, but everything else is on. Robbie, Janney, and newcomer to me Paul Walter Hauser give insanely great performances. Craig Gillespie does something I never thought would be possible, he makes us sympathize for Harding.
- DirectorRalph FiennesStarsRalph FiennesFelicity JonesKristin Scott ThomasAt the height of his career, Charles Dickens meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death.1/6 I found myself losing interest. The chemistry is off, and the stories drive is absent. I'm not sure if we are suppose to care for Dickens, or even Nelly, because the only character worthy of any sort of sympathy is Mary (Susanna Hislop), Dickens' seemingly aloof put-upon wife, who is given nothing to chew on.
- DirectorLee UnkrichAdrian MolinaStarsAnthony GonzalezGael García BernalBenjamin BrattAspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.1/7 Wonderfully rich and textured, both on the screen and on the page with a payoff that yanks on your tear ducts.
- DirectorJohn DoyleStarsColin FirthEllen BurstynPatricia ClarksonDurham is slowly dying like the tobacco business it once depended on. Leroy comes to Durham with a business plan. He rents an old warehouse from a cash-strapped old tobacco heiress.1/7 I got to praise Ellen Burstyn for turning in a truly excellent performance. There is a lot of talented people on screen, and she's the only one that was able to squeeze any juice out of this material.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMichelle WilliamsChristopher PlummerMark WahlbergThe story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.1/8 It's a provocative story with Williams turning in yet another great performance in the lead role, and Christopher Plummer bringing the goods. The problem lies in Scott's direction, whose signature cool touch, and Charlie Plummer's equally cool performance, works against the material.
- DirectorRoel ReinéStarsRandy OrtonTom StevensBrian MarkinsonA man's kidnapped paramedic Nick's wife, forcing him on phone to play a "game of death" with 12 rounds, directing Nick to different locations.1/11 The performances are flat, but director Roel Reiné knows how to keep this thing going. It hits the ground running and it doesn't let up until the credits role.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsTimothée ChalametArmie HammerMichael StuhlbargIn 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.1/13 There is plenty to admire here from a technical standpoint. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom cinematography is beautiful, and often lends itself to visual storytelling. The music also helps tell the story as if Elio is scoring his own story. Michael Stuhlbarg, again, proving he is one of our best character actors. But man, I just kept thinking, When is this going to get going? I never felt the development between these two, at least in the first hour. It all felt like a slog.
- DirectorAaron SorkinStarsJessica ChastainIdris ElbaKevin CostnerThe true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.1/14 Get rid of one scene and one extraneous character (The Crucible reference is not that important), and maybe re-dub some of Elba's shaky line readings (psss....your British is showing), you've got a perfect movie.
- DirectorJaume Collet-SerraStarsLiam NeesonVera FarmigaPatrick WilsonAn insurance salesman/ex-cop is caught up in a life-threatening conspiracy during his daily commute home.1/15 The last 30 minutes are entertaining, but the lead up to that back end is a little dull and very predictable.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsVicky KriepsDaniel Day-LewisLesley ManvilleSet in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.1/21 The dialogue is rich, with sweet touches that add to the characterization. It's also a bit too long, and with an interesting story point that plays like a twist in the last moments, a bit too short. Anderson ends the movie when it starts to get really interesting.
- DirectorDavid ChungStarsMichelle YeohRichard NgTung-Shing YeeAction film about Chinese resistance after Japanese invasion in 1930's.1/22 I'm giving it a generic 6. I really didn't pay that much attention, opting to watch it in English dub. What I did watch was silly fun, with goofy fight sequences and a on-the-nose Chinese propaganda, the movie delivered on it's minor Jackie Chan aspirations.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsMeryl StreepTom HanksSarah PaulsonA cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushes the country's first female newspaper publisher and her editor to join an unprecedented battle between press and government.1/24 Even though Spielberg has trouble finding the emotional center of the story, it's a very well made and acted historical account.
- DirectorMalcolm D. LeeStarsRegina HallQueen LatifahJada Pinkett SmithWhen four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there's enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.1/25 It's funny at times, Hall and Latifah are terrific, but it misses a lot. Most of the big set pieces are never quite as funny as they seem. Also, as much as I liked Haddish on The Carimichael Show, hit and miss and miss for me here.
- DirectorChristian GudegastStarsGerard ButlerPablo SchreiberO'Shea Jackson Jr.An elite unit of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and the state's most successful bank robbery crew clash as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank.1/28 Where does the rooting interest lie? If it didn't open with the thieves laying waste to innocent people, would we even be on these hard-on jerk cops side? It's a huge problem, but it doesn't keep these overlong action vehicle from being at mildly entertaining. And it certainly feels like a movie that will have a long shelf life.
- DirectorGillian RobespierreStarsJenny SlateJay DuplassAbby QuinnIn 1995, a teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan discovers that her father is having an affair.1/28 It's a bit derivative, with material we've seen done many times before. Thanks in large part to a fantastic cast, it works.
- DirectorWes BallStarsDylan O'BrienKi Hong LeeKaya ScodelarioYoung hero Thomas embarks on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease known as "The Flare".1/31 I'm a fan of this series, so the hokier elements work for me. What I like about it is you can see every cent spent up there on the screen with characters worth investing in. That being said, I feel the other two are better, strictly based on running time. It would have been a better movie at a leaner 2 hours.
- DirectorDavid LoweryStarsCasey AffleckRooney MaraMcColm Cephas Jr.In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.2/1 You can make the argument that this could have made a better short, but what is done within the frame of each scene is beautiful, and meaningful and ultimately heartbreaking. The melancholy malaise adds to the experience, sinking us into the mind a person who wasn't ready to go.
- DirectorNicolai FuglsigStarsChris HemsworthMichael ShannonMichael Peña12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.2/4 I've seen so many of these kinds of movies at this point, the manly men on a mission, incorporating that pseudo-Black Hawk Down veneer that never quite gets there. I have trouble engaging with this material at this point, even though the movie is full of talent, with some "neat" action sequences. I get this somewhere else, and better.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsVivien LeighMarlon BrandoKim HunterDisturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.2/5 With tall the talk about Marlon Brando here, you would think he stole the show. Oh no, this Vivian Leigh acting her ass off, handling some very impressive dialogue.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsKristen StewartLars EidingerSigrid BouazizA personal shopper in Paris refuses to leave the city until she makes contact with her twin brother who previously died there. Her life becomes more complicated when a mysterious person contacts her via text message.2/9 I went into this with very little information, not knowing it was the thing it is, and I finding myself getting swept into it.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.2/10 It's quite a journey. Even though the first hour could have been tightened, it really adds to the duality of Colonel Nicholson and deepening the questions of his ultimate motivations at the end.
- DirectorJulius OnahStarsGugu Mbatha-RawDavid OyelowoDaniel BrühlOrbiting a planet on the brink of war, scientists test a device to solve an energy crisis, and end up face-to-face with a dark alternate reality.2/13 Focus on the central story and you got yourself a pretty decent movie. But there is also a lot of loose ends and wtf? moments that make little to no sense, and/or never explained with any kind of reason. It's the great cast that carries this along, helping gloss over some of the convoluted material.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsGary OldmanLily JamesKristin Scott ThomasIn May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.2/14* The projector broke, so I ended up missing the last 10 minutes or so. My reaction to that mishap coincides with my reaction to the film. Typically, I'd be pissed; but with this movie, I shrugged it off. As directed by Captain Hindsight, I mean Joe Wright, it's a reflection of what we know has come to pass, that Churchill was right; not a true portrait of what was happening in the moment. With the portrayal of the teeth-sucking liberals, who, God-forbid, wanted to find a solutions that didn't involve getting a thousands of young men killed, the phony villianization of them felt false. But Oldman is good, not great. The make-up and cinematography are great, with Wright shooting the sh*t out of this thing.