Best Movies of 2019 so far

[Chris Knipp]

Best Movies of 2019 so far

This list from the NYTimes today inspires me to begin a thread on the year's best. They give eight. I know as one who makes best lists of my own, I ought to have seen these. But three, Her Smell, Gloria Bell and The Edge of Democracy, I have not seen. I was frankly a bit put off by Alex Ross Perry's title. Didn't see the point of seeing a remake of such a great film as Gloria, even with Julianne Moore. The documentary The Edge of Democracy I haven't heard of before. I hate Booksmart. It so disappointed me as a reminder of how crude and lacking in wit today's youth comedies are.Rolling Thunder Review - yes, I enjoyed that; hardly something new, though! The Last Black Man in San Francisco didn't grab me as much as it did many, though I can see it has a fresh local flavor, which as a former San Francisco resident I am well placed to appreciate - and see the limitations of. The Souvenir is where I and Manohla and Tony come together. It seemed an amazing find, because Joanna Hogg was new to me. It bowled me over. It's my favorite movie of the year so far. As for Transit, I like Christian Petzold's films very much, though I have some reservations about Times.


The Best Films of 2019 (So Far) from the New York Times (June 28, 2019).
Want to catch up on your moviegoing? Here’s what our chief critics say is worth checking out.

THE SOUVENIR (Joanna Hogg)
THE STORY Based on an episode in the life of its writer-director, Joanna Hogg, this drama follows a British film student (Honor Swinton Byrne) and her relationship with a boyfriend (Tom Burke) who may or may not work for the Foreign Office but is certainly a heroin addict.
A.O. SCOTT’S TAKE This is “one of my favorite movies of the year so far, but I almost want to keep it a secret. Partly because it’s the kind of film — we all have a collection of these, and of similar books and records, too — that feels like a private discovery, an experience you want to protect rather than talk about.”

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (Joe Talbot)
THE STORY In this quiet tale that touches on issues of race, class and gentrification in the Bay Area, Jimmie Fails (played by the actor of the same name) is determined to take possession of the Victorian house that was once his family home.
MANOHLA DARGIS’S TAKE In this film from the director Joe Talbot, “the desire for home is at once existential and literal, a matter of self and safety, being and belonging. This is of course part of the story of being black in the United States, which perhaps makes the movie sound like a dirge when it’s more of a reverie. Or, rather, it’s both at once and sometimes one and then the other.”

HER SMELL ( Alex Ross Perry).
THE STORY Elisabeth Moss is Becky Something, a rock ’n’ roll singer who bears more than a passing resemblance to Courtney Love in this tale of art and dysfunction from the writer-director Alex Ross Perry.
A.O. SCOTT’S TAKE “Moss is deep in Becky’s skin, and Perry is steadfastly on her side. Not that he condones or forgives. She is gleefully cruel and monstrously inconsiderate to everyone around her, daring them to fight back or flee.”

GLORIA BELL (Director Sebastián Lelio's English language remak starring Julienne Moore e of his own Chilean Spanish original, GLORIA.
THE STORY This character study follows Gloria Bell (Julianne Moore), middle-aged and divorced with grown children, as she seeks to connect and find fulfillment in Los Angeles. It’s a remake of the Chilean film “Gloria,” by the writer-director of that movie, Sebastián Lelio.
MANOHLA DARGIS’S TAKE Working with “a transcendent Julianne Moore,” the director “is acutely sensitive to the absurdities of everyday life, including the comedy of humiliation, both petty and wounding.”

BOOKSMART (Olivia Wilde)
THE STORY Headed to the Ivy League in the fall, Molly and Amy are dismayed to learn that their far less studious peers are going to top colleges as well. On their last day in high school, the best friends (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) decide they need to gain a reputation for partying before they graduate.
A.O. SCOTT’S TAKE “Infusing some familiar situations with an exuberant, generous, matter-of-factly feminist sensibility,” this comedy directed by Olivia Wilde is “sharp but not mean, warm without feeling too soft or timid.”

ROLLING THUNDER REVUE (Martin Scorsese)
THE STORY Subtitled “A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,” this documentary chronicles the free-form concert tour that Dylan and assorted colleagues began in 1975 and blends scenes shot at the time with new, fictionalized episodes.
MANOHLA DARGIS’S TAKE “It’s at once a celebration and a rescue mission (it draws heavily on restored film footage), as well as another chapter in Scorsese’s decades-long chronicling of Dylan.”

THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY (Petra Costa).
THE STORY This documentary examines Brazilian politics — two recent presidents in disgrace, the current one leaning toward authoritarianism — from the outraged point of view of the filmmaker, Petra Costa.
A.O. SCOTT’S TAKE Costa’s take “is by turns incredulous, indignant and self-questioning.” Her film is “a chronicle of civic betrayal and the abuse of power, and also of heartbreak.”

TRANSIT (Christian Petzold)) (In German).
THE STORY Set in an indeterminate time when soldiers are invading Paris, a German émigré (Franz Rogowski) there flees to Marseille, where he meets other refugees as he awaits the papers that will let him leave the country.
MANOHLA DARGIS’S TAKE The director Christian Petzold “doesn’t over-explain the trickier plot entanglements, confident in his audience’s ability to sort through its thickets. He embraces ambiguity as a principle but also sometimes gives the movie the accelerated pulse of an action flick.”

[Chris Knipp]

A couple days ago I see that Mike D'angelo, whose lists I like to follow, tweeted as follows:

Mike D’Angelo
‏@gemko
Jun 28
We’ve reached the year’s actual midpoint (since nothing else will open ’til July), so here are my 5 favorite theatrical releases of 2019 thus far. Several are divisive!

1. Under the Silver Lake
2. Sunset
3. High Flying Bird
4. Too Late to Die Young
5. They Shall Not Grow Old
I like that he likes Under the Silver Lake, though I can't rate it quite as high, and I understand the Hungarian film Sunset being respected. But of the last three there are two I've never even heard of. And he admits a tweet or two later:
Should note that there are a bunch of highly acclaimed films from the first half of the year that I intend to see but haven’t yet. Most notably THE SOUVENIR, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO, BOOKSMART, and SHADOW. I have said I rate The Souvenir highest, respect but have reservations about Last Black Man, and simply hate Booksmart and think it overrated, while I am like him on Shadow: I know I should see it, it's probably excellent.

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/VItp.jpg

New contenders near year's end.

The Carpetbagger (Kyle Buchanon), the Times movie columnist, published a more up-to-date list (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/movies/oscars-best-picture-contenders.html) today. Featured are these six, and four more. Warning: he's interested in the Best Picture race, not the best pictures, which is what we're interested in. Aren't we?


Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood
The Farewell
Joker
Jojo Rabbit
Little Women
Marriage Story

Jojo Rabbit won People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

I wonder if Johann is going to take a stand on Jokeer? It makes a strong first impression, Joaquin Phoenix provides an attention-getting performance, but critically it hasn't got as much to stand on, in my opinion.

I don't think Little Women is out yet. It seems sure to be a crowd pleaser - for some crowds. I mean to see Jojo Rabbit, which has not gotten good reviews and which sounded silly, but has gotten good buzz lately. I realize I was wrong to avoid The Farewell just because I saw that it was not made for me. It has legs. As for the Tarantino and the Baumbach, I'm full of enthusiasm. Those two are at the top of my list

Buchanon aso mentions:


Bombshell
The Irishman
Parasite
The Two Popes

[Chris Knipp]

New York Film Critics' Circle announces
2019 awards, THE IRISHMAN top film; AFI picks their ten best features of the year, led by 1917


NYFCC
Best Film
The Irishman

Best Director
Josh and Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems

Best First Film
Atlantics

Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain And Glory

Best Actress
Lupita Nyong’o, Us

Best Supporting Actor
Joe Pesci, The Irishman

Best Supporting Actress
Laura Dern, Marriage Story and Little Women


Best Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Cinematography
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Best Foreign Language Film
Parasite

Best Non-Fiction Film
Honeyland

Best Animated Film
I Lost My Body

Special Awards
IndieCollect
Randy Newman
Cole Kronman (st


AFI
1917
Universal

THE FAREWELL
A24

THE IRISHMAN
Netflix

JOJO RABBIT
Fox Searchlight

JOKER
Warner Bros

KNIVES OUT
Lionsgate

LITTLE WOMEN
Sony

MARRIAGE STORY
Netflix

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
Sony

RICHARD JEWELL
Warner Bros

Special Award

PARASITE
Neon See DEADLINE (https://deadline.com/2019/12/afi-awards-film-2019-top-10-list-1202800630/)

[Chris Knipp]

FILM COMMENT end of year best lists.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/ucvyt.jpg

Film Comment is the publication of Film Society of Lincoln Center, now renamed Film at Lincoln Center.


Film Comment’s Top 20 Films Released in 2019:
1. Parasite Bong Joon Ho, South Korea
2. The Irishman Martin Scorsese, USA
3. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood Quentin Tarantino, USA/UK/China
4. Transit Christian Petzold, Germany/France
5. Atlantics Mati Diop, France/Senegal/Belgium
6. The Souvenir Joanna Hogg, UK/USA
7. High Life Claire Denis, Germany/France/USA/UK/Poland
8. Ash Is Purest White Jia Zhangke, China
9. Pain and Glory Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
10. Uncut Gems Josh and Benny Safdie, USA
11. Marriage Story Noah Baumbach, USA
12. La Flor Mariano Llinás, Argentina
13. An Elephant Sitting Still Hu Bo, China
14. Long Day’s Journey Into Night Bi Gan, China/France
15. Synonyms Nadav Lapid, France/Israel/Germany
16. Asako I & II Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Japan/France
17. Us Jordan Peele, USA
18. The Image Book Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland
19. Portrait of a Lady on Fire Céline Sciamma, France
20. Ad Astra James Gray, USA


Film Comment’s Top 20 Unreleased Films of 2019:
1. State Funeral Sergei Loznitsa, Netherlands/Lithuania
2. Endless Night Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro, Spain
3. To the Ends of the Earth Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan
4. MS Slavic 7 Sofia Bohdanowicz and Deragh Campbell, Canada
5. Present.Perfect. Shengze Zhu, USA/Hong Kong
6. Oh Mercy! Arnaud Desplechin, France
7. Tommaso Abel Ferrara, Italy
8. Bait Mark Jenkin, UK
9. Belonging Burak Çevik, Turkey/Canada/France
10. Midnight in Paris James Blagden and Roni Moore, USA
11. No Data Plan Miko Revereza, USA
12. It Must Be Heaven Elia Suleiman, France/Qatar/Germany/Canada/Turkey/Palestine
13. Wasp Network Olivier Assayas, France/Spain/Brazil
14. So Pretty Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli, USA/France
15. Just 6.5 Saeed Roustayi, Iran
16. Bird Island Sergio da Costa and Maya Kosa, Switzerland
17. What We Left Unfinished Mariam Ghani, Afghanistan/Qatar/USA
18. You Will Die at 20 Amjad Abu Alala, Sudan/France/Egypt/Germany/Norway/Qatar
19. Lina from Lima María Paz González, Chile/Argentina/Peru
20. The Devil Between the Legs Arturo Ripstein, Mexico

The complete list of films (https://www.filmcomment.com/best-films-of-2019/) and participants can be found on FilmComment.com (https://www.filmcomment.com/), on the Film Comment app, and in the January/February issue, which hits newsstands the second week of January.

(Of the first list I've seen all but the Godard. I've seen hardly any of the second list; or maybe only Oh Mercy!

[Chris Knipp]

My tentative 2019 ten best list

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/ADAM95.jpg
SCARLETT JOHANSSON AND ADAM DRIVER IN MARRIAGE STORY



1. Marriage Story
2. The Souvenir
3. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
4. Pain and Glory
5. Ash is Purest White
6. Honeyland
7. Knives Out
8. Synonyms
9. Transit
10. Rolling Thunder Review

I haven't yet seen: 1917, Little Women, The Favorite, Uncut Gems, among others.

[Chris Knipp]

Barack Obama's favorite films of 2019 list;

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images///jkt4.jpg

[Chris Knipp]

Chris Knipp’s ten best of 2019

1 Marriage Story
2. The Souvenir
3. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
4. 1917
5. Pain and Glory
6. Ash is Purest White
7. Uncut Gems
7. Knives Out
8. Little Women
9. Synonyms
10. Transit

Coming:
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Les Miserables

Also liked:
Under the Silver Lake (2018)

Favorite TV:
Fleabag (Amazon)
High Maintenance (HBO)
Succession (HBO
Chernobyl (HBO))
Dix pour cent/"Call My Agent" (Netflix)

To Be Added:
The Lighthouse

[Chris Knipp]

Esquire's 50 Best Films of 2019 (Nick Schager)

For full list go HERE (https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/g24561951/best-movies-of-2019/)


1. The Lighthouse
2. Marriage Sstory
3. The Irishman
4. Transit
5. A Hidden Life
6. Little Women
7. Uncut Gems
8.. Hagazussa
9. Under the Silver Lake
10. Climax
11. The Beach Bum
12. Gloria Bell
13. Monos
14. An Elephant Sitting Still
15. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
16. Diane
17. Apollo 11
18. The Souvenir
19. Long Day's Journey into NIght
20. In Fabric
21. Pain and Glory
22. Parasite
23. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
24. Ash Is Purest White
25. Birds of Passage
26. Shadow
27. John Wick: Chapter III - Parabellum
28. The Edge of Democracy
29. High Life
30. The Mountain

[tabuno]

I actually forgot this site existed. Been really busy with personal health issues and trying to get elected to the Utah House. Here's my mainstream movie list:

1. Rocketman (2019). Taron Egerton (2019 Golden Globe winner) stars and sings in this biopic musical that offers up a compelling, creative, and artistic depiction of Elton John’s life through both an absorbing storyline and a dazzling array of musical dance numbers. Reminiscent of the Oscar winning best picture Chicago (2002) in its brilliant display of innovative choreographed numbers, the multi-media display of a nominee for a Golden Globe for best musical or comedy Across the Universe (2007) and the heart throbbing excitement of the contemporaneous award-winning musical La La Land (2016). Rocketman does well in its powerful display of Elton’s many songs with its lyrics in sync with an easy to follow editing of the chronological story of Elton’s life from his terrible parents through to his sexuality and drug use and his struggle to become famous and then coping with his fame. The performances, the script, and the amazing creative endeavor all come together in a perfect fusion of sight and sound on the big screen. [Reviewed 6/2/2019]. 10/10.

2. Judy (2019). Oscar winning Renee Zellweger (2019 Oscar and Golden Globe winner and starred in Chicago 2002) portrays Judy Garland in an amazing and so authentic performance that is also Oscar-caliber material. The director Rupert Goold is spot on in an unusual narrative that isn’t really a traditional chronological story like John Elton’s Rocketman (2019). Instead Judy is a much more difficult execution that takes a slice of life Lost In Translation (2003) approach and instead of a cultural immersion into Japan, Judy immerses its audience into the very life of Judy towards the end of her life along with well executed flashbacks to enhance the present moments that Judy is presently experiencing on the screen. The naturalness and the excellent editing of everyday moments that emotional captivate makes this movie quite special in its complex but compelling delivery in both song and performance acting. [Reviewed 10/22/2019]. 10/10.

3. Hustlers (2019). Constance Wu who shot to fame for her starring role in the American Asian breakout film Crazy Rich Asian (2018) appears to have the lead role in this movie even though Jennifer Lopez has a starring role and the possibility of her receiving an Oscar nomination that has been talked up. This female directed and written movie by Lorene Scafaria along with co-producing credits going to Lopez and interestingly enough Will Ferrell displays on screen an edgy and authentically, finely balanced mood and tone film imbued with both sharp drama and a genuine comedic humor rarely enveloped into one movie. While there are a lot of titillating suggestive scenes, this movie avoids the glamorization of the striptease unlike that overly stylized in the musical and Oscar winning Chicago (2002). Instead Hustlers focuses on a raw look at women living a life that is both hard and reflective of the struggle that every woman faces, including the responsibility of caring for one another and their children. This amazing and compelling experience of a slice of life is powerful and sensitive portrayal of the connections and the travails of the lives of what seems to amount to be essentially single women living in a high-stakes life in an effort to survive. The only weaknesses that stand out are the absence of a more descriptive understanding of Wu’s interaction with her boyfriend and their evolving relationship and Lopez’s apparent willingness to retain a connection with one of her more questionable hustlers. [Reviewed 9/15/2019]. 9/10.

4. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019). Quentin Tarantino’s homage to the film (2019 Golden Globe best screenplay) industry of fifty years ago, to the brief sparkle of life of Sharon Tate, and one fictional story of an actor becoming a has been played by Leonardo Dicaprio and his stunt man sidekick played by Brad Pitt (2019 Oscar and Golden Globe winner) becomes a rather bittersweet in a good way experience so intermingled with nostalgia that any review might be inseparable from those old enough to have actually lived through the many joyous and melancholic moments displayed on the big screen. This is a rather amazing and detailed visceral production of movie making behind the scenes along with the personas writ large that evoke deeper sad and happy emotions that even perhaps goes beyond even the extravagant and powerful presentation by Dicaprio in The Revenant (2015). Quentin’s is also intriguing storyline in how he blends separate character storylines in ways that avoid mainstream expectations. There is both a carefully crafted, photographed choreography by the director and a stunning, intimate display of acting, especially by Dicaprio. As almost in a fairy tale dream, this story offers up a memorable but haunting story about the life of actors and the historical outcomes of what life could be. Without having lived the sixties, it is almost impossible to really know how this movie really instills the rich, provocative history to those that never experienced it. A biased, yes biased, commendation to a movie of yesteryear brought back to rich living life in sweeping but well cared for dramatic fashion. [Reviewed 7/28/2019]. 9/10.

5. JoJo Rabbit (2019). Taika Waititi, director and screenplay writer (2019 Best Oscar Adapted Screenplay), as well as co-star has created an artful, wily serio-comic period movie that brings Adolph Hitler as an imaginary friend to the big screen. This carefully balanced tragic-comedy boldly incorporates fabulous performances from Waititi as Adolph Hitler with some entertaining dialogue that refuses to descend to mere dumb and stupid humor. This well-paced and at times even suspenseful movie even contains some sobering scenes about Germany’s World War II and its tragic consequences. At the same time though there is an exuberance and playfulness of youth cut short and found again, the retention of hope and delight even as an adult experiencing traumatic times as displayed by Scarlett Johansson as the mother. Jo Jo, the young aspiring Nazi, played by Roman Griffin Davis brings a solid and endearing performance to the film. Without much in the way of spectacular special effects, Adolph Hitler’s antics and physical comedic behavior brings back Charlie Chaplin in style and humor. The witty and well written screenplay forms the basis of this quality and impressive experience that JoJo Rabbit gifts its audience. One of the best and most delicate of comedy-dramas in years. [Reviewed 11/3/2019]. 9/10.

6. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). Director Marielle Heller brings Tom Hanks to the screen as Fred Rogers in a fascinating supporting role and a personally, riveting, and compelling one-minute of silence that deeply resonates. It’s also the adapted screenplay inspired by the real life Tom Junod that is transformed by the fictional addition of a fight between son and father that somehow captures an important elemental piece of Fred Roger’s existential existence without which the movie might not have had the emotive intensity to make it sufficiently inviting to audiences. Heller also introduces a series of surrealistic scenes from Mr. Roger’s rebuilt sets that blend back and forth into the real world on screen as well as an extended scene which the primary character of Tom Junod’s alter ego in the movie, Lloyd Vogel seems to enter into an intriguing Mr. Robert’s neighborhood sequence. Overall, this otherwise typical movie is enhanced by efforts to bring the audience a movie with more intimate emotional depth and numerous creative cinematography and photographic design that raises this movie’s qualitative ambitions and relative sociological and personal value as a film. [Reviewed 1/26/2020]. 8/10.

7. The Upside (2019, USA release date). Drama. Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston along with Nicole Kidman in a supporting role star in this apparent drama of a rich quadriplegic needing an auxiliary helper, starkly in contrast to the deceptive trailer depicting this movie as a comedy. This movie is one of the few instances where Hart’s character comes across so much of an asshole and jerk in both the immediate current time frame and the following flashback that takes up almost the entire rest of the movie in the first five or ten minutes of the movie that supposedly foretells how bad this movie is to become but actually doesn’t. Instead this stunning movie with its storyline somehow evolves and merges right back onto itself by the end in such a compelling way that The Upside actually becomes one of the most stirring and dramatically powerful movie in years. There is some remote resemblance to The Blind Side (2009) in which a young homeless African American is taken in by a well to do white family. But unlike The Blind Side, The Upside somehow introduces Hart’s rather unique comedic side in various funny episodes which allows him to show off a rather restrained and remarkable humorous presentation. Yet it is in the dramatically heightened performances that the icy tension and stirring and powerful relational moments become movie gems. The Upside is bold in its delivery, hard-hitting in its emotional, human dilemmas. Kudos must also go to Nicole Kidman who offers up a very restrained and surprisingly sensitively strong and feminine presence on the screen that supports and never upstages Hart nor Cranston, one of the stronger supporting roles in recent memory. There appears to be absolutely no downside to this movie, except the terrible trailer that fails to capture the nature of this movie and also includes a sliver of a spoiler much to the discredit of the marketing people behind this movie. [Reviewed 1/16/2019]. 10/10.

8. Dumbo (2019). George Clooney’s Tomorrowland (2015) has arrived in more than one way. Firstly, the special effects technology of tomorrow has arrived today and developed sufficiently to offer the audience a seamless experience of animated animals and razzmatazz to engage with the audience without ever appearing to be obviously special effects. The audience can immerse themselves in both the live action performances, the natural setting, and the script without ever having to become distracted by technology. CGI has finally found its proper place, as an amazing background to the greatly enhance production of the story itself. Secondly, the darker themes presented to the audience makes this a wonderful family fantasy drama for young children that Tomorrowland offered its young adult audience in a science fiction format. The story is pungent with themes of loss, including references to the flu epidemic of 1919, about relationships between parents and children, about corporate greed and animal abuse, and personally begins in Sarasota, Florida where I spent several months at New College in my late teens many years ago. Perhaps the only dissonance that possibly occurs during this movie is Michael Keaton’s casting as Vandavere whose personality is sublimely, elegantly rough and coarse. These universal themes resonate even today, perhaps, even more so as our current civilization has forgotten the epidemic tragedies of the past that could so easily sweep up against us again or how we can cope when something really important is torn away from us, and the importance of acknowledging the old and new connections between people and family. This emotionally infused movie is delightful, exciting, and a worthy contribution to the stable of films. [Reviewed 3/31/2019]. 9/10.

9. Gemini Man (2019). Ang Lee has set a new bar for precision and life-like 3-D projection onto the movie screen. It’s really difficult to review this movie as to determine whether or not the amazing clarity of the photography like Avatar (2009) a decade in the past allowed the backdrop of the movie to rival the actual performance and storyline of the movie itself and to impact the rating of this film. However, Will Smith’s performance along with his CGI counterpart (that foretells a revolutionary transformation in how the role of movie stars are managed in the future) do offer some very emotive and relational elements that offer this movie a distinctive and compelling storyline. The humanity of the movie comes across as well as the action thrills making this movie a well-rounded and intriguing, engrossing experience. Ang Lee has brought elements of Kurt Russell’s Soldier (1998) and Hitman: Agent 47 (2015), along with an amazing visual technology into a film that becomes a distinctive action thriller. The few weaknesses remain such as the idealistic 100% virtual movie experience of which Ang Lee has almost achieved, except for a few remaining near and far away focus issues, the lack of the ideal projection system now available in most movie theaters to take advantage Ang Lee’s superior camera work, and some of the not quite so convincing action sequences on the motorcycle and later in the catacombs that almost seem more like videogames than movie production scenes. Overall, Ang Lee has brought a refreshing, very entertaining and quite improved dynamic to action thrillers. [Reviewed 10/11/2019]. 9/10.

10. Toy Story 4 (2019). There is something of the same entertaining and emotional connectivity as Incredibles 2 (2018). There’s a point in Toy Story 4 (2019 Oscar winner) that made it appear that this sequel would be decent if not great movie, but then later on as the movie literally worn on, it became stronger and stronger until by the end the compelling and heart-felt storyline blossomed fully by the end of the movie. There is an important conceptual insight about the perceptions and assumptions about human nature that oddly enough results from an animated feature about toys themselves. This is a solid, funny, sad, and humanly amazing experience about both toys, human beings, and relationships. [Reviewed 6/23/2019]. 9/10.

11. Ready or Not (2019). In the same style as Kate Winslet’s The Dressmaker (2016) and Nicole Kidman’s Dogville (2004), this very dark comedy horror movie maintains the difficult balance between grotesque and weirdly appealing immorality of evil death. The script and director successfully maintain a difficult but nicely paced movie along with an amazing absence of overly imbued supernatural features. Instead Ready or Not holds the audience attention more for its humanness than monsterness. The lead character played by Samara Weaving is allowed to perform with a more realistic and Hitchcockian motif using scary elements of timing, audience expectation, well-deserved cinematography, and music to create a technically well-crafted scary movie. For the most part, the movie is well-tied together with a compelling sprinkle of twists and delicious sordidness. Except for perhaps a tinge of the loss of the fun balance of darkness and comedy towards the last half of the movie, it still ends with a nice sense of humor. [Reviewed 9/8/2019]. 9/10.

Honorable Mention

1917 (2020). Sam Mendes has put together a compelling immersive film experience by a seemingly continuous moving camera record of two soldiers assigned the job of saving a battalion of 1,600 soldiers from a German entrapment and potential bloodbath. This is the second major film to provide its audience with a one streaming shot experience, the first being Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman (2014). There is a lot to commend here in terms of cinematography reminiscent of some of the best war and survival movies from the best directors in the business, including: Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998), a rescue mission set in World War II Germany and War Horse (2011), an animal story set in cruel trench warfare of World War I; Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant (2015) a period survival, revenge piece the wilderness; Ron Howard’s The Missing (2003) a rugged and stark Western rescue story; Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (2001) a contemporary military rescue effort in war-torn Somalia; Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) a horrifying, intense Vietnam War story; John Ford’s, Henry Hathaway’s, George Marshall’s How The West Was Won (1962), an epic Western classic; John Sturges’s The Great Escape (1963) an escape attempt from a notorious World War II prison camp; and even Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto (2006), a story of survival in the perilous jungles of the declining Mayan empire. What is fascinating is the parallel to the breathtaking, pulsating science fiction thriller of Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (2013) a survival story in outer space. The camera work, the music, the storyline of survival and loss are intense in both these movies. What minor flaws or manipulative script devices that occur in 1917, can be somewhat forgiven: the coincidences of the terrible circumstances and friendly soldiers that may be nearby, a mouse and tripwire, an obvious overlooked advantage the protagonist had in regards to a potential duel with a silhouette who becomes an enemy soldier. Mendes comes close to transforming this movie into but somehow avoids turning it into an extended virtual amusement thrill ride experience. Whether or not this war movie will join the ranks of Black Hawk Down or Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves or Sam Mendes’ own war movie Jar Head (2005), only time with time as the technology and cinematography continues to innovate to bring fresh and exciting visual and audio experiences to the audience. [Reviewed 1/20/2020]. 8/10.

Ad Astra (2019). Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, and Donald Sutherland star in this sci fi, psychological thriller. This gorgeous visual extravaganza on the scale and look of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Ad Astra attempts to replicate the big screen space drama of the likes of Gravity (2013) and Interstellar (2014). The beginning space scenes are strongly reminiscent of the commercialization of space and how sharply distinctively the cinematography resembles that of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 work. What makes this movie more intriguing is the strong father-son relational aspect. However, this movie suffers from an exploitative script that both underwhelms and overwhelms the audience in various ways even as the amazing special effects literally explode on film. The audience becomes unnecessarily confused without more narrative or explanation about the geo-politics and the state of the world and Moon. The drama that takes place on the Moon is rather unconvincing and rather manipulative in its depiction more along the lines of an action movie instead of the more believable drama that occurs in Black Hawk Down (2001) or We Were Soldiers (2002). Even the moon parallel or actually different mode of travel as shown in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) makes the idea of the drama that occurs on the Moon in this movie even less convincing than it would actually have occurred in the way it did. The landing on Mars as shown in Ad Astra might also be somewhat suspect, especially considering thinness of the Mar’s atmosphere. The distress call scene is both overkill and yet in some ways well done for its horror-like tension, though it’s hard to believe that either the Captain or Brad Pitt’s character would have been the ones to actually directly investigate the SOS distress call. While the special emphasis on the relational psychological impact was worthy, it still didn’t seem as consistently or sufficiently developed as could be. Solaris (1972, 2002) and Moon (2009) offer a more poignant relational and psychological depiction. As for the ending, several alternative endings may have been worth considering including whether or not to follow in one’s father’s footsteps. Even the actual conclusion of this movie could have been cut earlier and having an even better impact or the transition towards the actual ending could have been improved with better fleshed out scenes between father and son. Overall, this visually amazing movie in the company of similar such major sci fi movies doesn’t completely succeed with its somewhat inconsistent and weaker storyline as it was developed. While Brad Pitt does a commendable job in this movie, it feels like he could have done much better if he hadn’t been so constrained by the script as it was written. The script needed a least one more do over before it could have been made into what might have easily been the best sci fi movie of the year. [Reviewed 9/22/2019]. 8/10.

Alita (2019). This digitally enhanced human actress sci fi action movie makes its mark as coming closer and closer to breaking the artificial animated characters barrier (as with Avatar, 2009) threatening to take the place of live actors in the near future of movie making in the years to come. This rather sophisticated movie full of derivative elements from a number of classic sci fi movies brings to the big screen a rather good emotional and cerebral manipulation of compelling human sensitivities. This movie resembles a composite of movies including: Robocop (1987) and mechanical war machines; Soldier (1998) and a garbage planet; Serenity (2005) or Hannah (2011), and Ghost in the Shell (2017) and enhanced assassins; Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the Borg Queen; Ready One Player (2018) and futurist cities and; Elysium (2013) or Insurgent (2015) and bifurcated worlds. In many ways this populist movie caters to the appealing but stereotypical black and white emotional triggers inherent in the movie going audience. One example is the over-emphasis of mechanical replacement limbs that seem to be everywhere in the movie. Nevertheless, this movie is a contradiction in that even though really unoriginal and oozing with drama appeal to the masses over a more award-winning authenticity, the script retains credible pacing, audience interest as its supposed to, and incorporates a nicely accomplished fusion of elements from other movies. [Reviewed 2/19/2019]. 8/10.

Anna (2019). This Luc Besson multi-twist on his classic female assassin thriller 1990s La Femme Nikita which personally was actually improved upon by John Badham’s 1993 American version entitled “Point of No Return” incorporates among the most twists of any thriller movie. Even more amazing, all the twists really work and the audience is able to easily comprehend each one and so can enjoy the film even more by just sitting and experiencing the delicious sensation of all the new reveals in this somewhat complex movie. Using a multitude of flashbacks which ultimately and surprisingly work, the audience is made aware of the real story behind what seems to be occurring on screen and the audience is led to relive many extended scenes from a different perspective. There are a number of parallels between Anna and La Femme Nikita/Point of No Return. Luc Besson has extended the psychic drama of the female assassin even further in this new version of the female good/bad persona. Besson doesn’t spend a lot of time on specialized training as in his original work leaving a lot of room for the many interplays between Russian and American intelligence agencies in the field, with the American’s presence actually seemingly dissipating from the movie for awhile but coming back with a vengeance later. Besson at two places in the movie appears to have fallen into the trap of the current violent mayhem fashions of the latest spy movies such as John Wick 3 (2019) or Hitman 47 (2015). Such scenes seem to be a sort of fantastic stylized Kill Bill Vol 1 (2003) and for Anna seems to be a little overkill to be taken seriously. To give credit to Besson, his choreographed fight scenes are deliciously photographed and well prepared, even standing out a bit from the many bloody shoot outs recently seen in other movies including Brian Miller’s The Prince (2014) or Edward Zwicks’ Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016). The plot in some ways takes from the more moody and psychological spy thriller Fred Schepisi’s The Russia House (1990) adapted from the spy master novelist John le Carré and then adds its own attempt to create an intricately plotted spy movie but with a lot more sustained action. The more convoluted relational aspects of this movie also provide a more juicy and intriguing set of humanistic circumstances. Overall, this movie is well executed and almost becomes its own classic, almost setting a new bar for espionage movies. Susha Luss as a new refreshing face and performer brings a nice vitality and picturesqueness to her role. Yet there are few shots that either she or the director miss in terms of the sustained, expected professional character of her role even though the movie is supposed to have a renewed focus on an assassin as a human being. Especially problematic is a pivotal scene where she is confronted with the possibility of a point-blank death. And the ending is solid and creative, it just doesn’t quite have that amazing, huge breakthrough that would make this movie into a new class of its own. [Reviewed 6/24/2019]. 8/10.

Avengers: Endgame (2019). More is not always better and a lot more is definitely mind-bogglingly hard to wrap one’s senses around. After a slow build that effuses with emotional and relational devastation the movie that turns towards a building resolution with multiple scenes of bravery and sometimes sacrifice. With so many super characters and subplots, it’s pretty difficult to really absorb the more intimate prolonged exposure that most dramatic movies offer. There are numerous attempts of pushing the audience’s emotional buttons that abound in this superhero finale and in that effort there are a number of typical and well-execute ploys by scriptwriters to milk the scenes for all their worth. This grab bag of personas and dramatic and comedic turmoil all come together in a pretty full package that at times bulges at the seams. This is a movie that tries really hard to encompass the full panoply of the Marvel Universe which is likely too big for just one or perhaps two full length films to capture comprehensively or adequately. But nice, if impossible try. [Reviewed 4/30/2019]. 8/10.

Captain Marvel (2019). In a rather surprising turnaround, what seemed mostly a good, but not really that great superhero movie turned on its afterburners for the last twenty minutes of the movie to make quite a show of it. Most of this movie was pretty much simplified overkill, token humor, and a lot of show off special effects, action sequences that really felt like a pretty masculine derivative. The tone of the movie also uncharacteristically wavered some during the first half of the movie. A disoriented and disjointed first half of the movie which was supposedly part of the nature of the storyline of this movie, but it wasn’t effectively presented. With a little bit of Ender’s Game (2013) intrigue the movie twist was pretty effective, if not stunning along with a smidgen of reverse ethnic psychology. The observable 3-D technological enhancement continues to progress helping to offer an almost awesome display of immersive reality. Not quite there yet. Overall, this movie almost didn’t come through and can’t really be considered a complete success owing to its rather average beginning. But the storyline and the ending performances shine resulting in of the few movies to make it out of its crash dive with a stunning and heartful conclusion that just barely earns a nine out of ten. [Reviewed 3/12/2019]. 9/10.

Charlie’s Angels (2019). This newest version has the girls more chic, more sharp, and more authentically vulnerable which makes this version somewhat better. The twists in this Charlie’s Angels kept coming, some predictable, some not. Perhaps the turn of events were such that some audience members frowned on the outcome making this newest outing the worst box office performance in the franchise history. Maybe the twists became too confusing or disturbing. Or making the Angels more vulnerable might have been off-putting. One of the few weaknesses like using an over-powering 50 caliber Gatling gun that didn’t seem to make any real big holes in the Angels getaway vehicle and unable to literally destroying it may have been too damaging to the credibility of the film. Maybe only having two primary Angels carrying the load instead of the three Angels that prior films used may have put a limp in the usual expected action, while a Bosley and a client took slightly different roles. However, the snappy, contemporary humor was finely balanced into a much more edgy Angel version (quite an accomplishment in itself) where deaths seemed to puncture that tonality of earlier Charlie’s Angels films. Yet it is this edginess, contemporary updated vernacular, and the more plausible yet well executed action fighting scenes made for a cleaner and more appreciative theatrical experience. Ultimately there is a more human and meaningful feminine touch (even more so than In Like Flint (1967), especially towards the end that help to lift up the qualitative depth of this movie version. Less entertainment, more sophisticated humor and authentic action. [Reviewed 11/30/2019]. 8/10.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019). This adaptation of the popular cartoon series brings to the big screen an upbeat and lavish story that is bubbly, optimistic with a good message in this entertaining comedic adventure. The central character of Dora is infectious and inviting with her authentic and valuable intelligent naivety. Her ability to make friends and her ability to both physically and mentally bore through obstacles instills hope and encouragement as a model to younger audiences. This is a decent and fun movie, sort of a Mr. Rogers in the wild. [Reviewed 12/29/2019]. 8/10.

The Highwaymen (2019). Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson star in this serious crime thriller about the hunt for Bonnie and Clyde, the notorious crime couple who along with their gang robbed banks, killing police officers during The Depression of the thirties. This thriller focuses on the lives of two former Texas Rangers, Frank Hamer and B.M. "Maney" Gault who endeavor to take Bonnie and Clyde down. With amazing shots of the flat landscapes of middle America, Texas, and Louisiana and the rural poverty and dilapidation of the Depression, this relatively low-key non-action oriented and deliberately under-dramatized version of Bonnie and Clyde is somber and strangely riveting for its unorthodox portrayal of crime fighting unlike the typical, mainstream popularized crime action movie, even Costner’s own starring role in The Untouchables (1987). For those who askew constant action and violence and instead looking for a more sedate and psychological bent to a period crime movie, then The Highwaymen is a solid production. [Reviewed 4/7/2019]. 8/10.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019). This sequel to the 2014 fantasy original offers up a more emotional intense and mature movie that contains more malevolent violence as well as deeper feelings of betrayal as well as binding love. The basic elements of the original are retained including the glorious musical accompaniment but many of the details and characters seem quite different. The dramatic stakes are raised to a level almost too graphic for younger audience members while at the same time evolving along with the maturity level of those children who saw and remember the original movie. The end result is a solid and meaningful contribution to the 2014 original and nicely complements it without being a mere copy nor just more of the same. [Reviewed 10/19/2019]. 8/10.

Parasite (2019). 2019 Best Picture Oscar. This supposedly best film of 2019 South Korean venture into mystery, comedic thrills is for some hard to digest with not so likeable characters. There are grifters and then there are likeable grifters like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), The Grifters (1990), and Heartbreakers (2001). This movie in a fascinating way has similarities to an “evil” version of The Pink Panther (1963) or a more frightening chilly version of The Ice Storm (1997). Over time, the movie does seem to increase in its compelling mystery including a number of well-done tense scenes and twists. It’s problematic though that such talented grifters would be living in such a disheveled, shoddy accommodations almost as if the director scripted it that way for dramatic effect and the father’s outrageous behavior at the end seems a little over the top without real sense of consistency with the storyline, except again to adhere to some dramatic script design to impress critics or audience members. Admittedly this movie succeeds in its intensity and captivating ambiance while building a sense of off-balanced comedy psychological drama. Yet the overall impact is an unsympathetic resonance that while attractive is also quite repulsive. [Reviewed 12/28/2019]. 8/10.

Polar (2019). Overall, this movie starts well but eventually descends into a more mundane finish with a sort of interesting twist that still felt unfinished. This Netflix production of the assassin genre presents a youthful, techno-film (with a distant resemblance initially to some of the art work from last year’s Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse) commingled with a more sedate, independent movie cinematography. By the end, the movie has lost its originality and the hoped for amazing twist just seems to be a cute afterthought that seems to go nowhere, except for the unlikely sequel. Other similar movies include The Prince (2014) especially with Bruce Willis in his antagonist role; Tokyo Tribe (2014) for its sadistic stylized Japanese gang violence; Dune (1984) for its evil Baron Harkonen. Also V for Vendetta (2005) is another nicely stylized, polished movie about revenge on a huge scale. Interestingly, this movie also has an echo of the ultimately lone hero from the sci fi movie Oblivion (2013) and Hanna (2011) about an adolescent female assassin. [Reviewed 1/30/2019; 11/23/2019 moved to Honorable Mention from Good]. Note the performance by Vanessa Hudgens in comparison to her performances in The Knight Before Christmas (2019) or Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012). 7/10.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). Linda Hamilton, age 63, is to be commended for her starring performance. She really offered up a solid and smooth maturing character display on screen. The typical who’s good and bad start like earlier Terminator versions was effective, but the early going seemed to be almost too derivative except for the stark and hard-edged physical violence that the movie began with which seemed to be superior stunt action and cinematography work than the original Terminator movies. With a bit of a confusing plot outline that really should be explained in order to avoid unnecessary early mental gyrations which shouldn’t be considered spoilers but plot corrections: This Terminator movie appears to start off where the original 1984 movie left off as if the rest of the series didn’t happen. Some of the dialogue especially during the first half, seemed just a bit to common, almost like a kindly, older gentlemen had written the script. Some of the dialogue could have been sharper and edgier. There is also a scene where instead of blowing up a house, it’s left intact so anybody could go through it for clues. Nevertheless, the action and the persistent bad Terminator is almost continuous with one action scene after another action scene and somehow most of it somehow seemed dramatically and theatrically believable. The tension between Sarah Connors (Hamilton) and later in the movie an important older character is meaningful and nicely accomplished. Overall, this Terminator version is solid, entertaining, along with a touching emotional whisper of some of the finer Terminator predecessor movies. Yet, there are just some few elements that could have been improved that would have provided a nicely shining polished finish to the movie. [Reviewed 10/31/2019]. 8/10.

Good But Failed to Make the Grade

Aladdin (2019). With musical elements oddly reminiscent of the most recent and compelling James Bond’s melodies along with the television hyped musical series such as Glee, Aladdin presents a sort of glorified musical version of those 50s movies attempts at ethnic diversity, but with mixed results. There are several points in the movie where the editing and transition between a some of the later scenes seem rough and uneven. Wil Smith as the genie along with his accompanying dazzling special effects really maintains the energy for this movie and offers up his own Robin Williams antics that has Smith’s imprint solidly established in his own right. Jasmin’s strong woman’s character is undeniable and the musical and singing performances are decent from the original animated version, if not all memorable as could be said of the contemporaneous and memorable music from movie Rocketman (2019), the biopic of Elton John. [Reviewed 6/5/2019]. 7/10.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). This action thriller starring two of the bona fide action stars, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham starts out smart and deliciously edgy. Yet it eventually descends into a predictable, repetitive, mindless endeavor of special effects and R-rated Disney adventure rides on the big screen. Yes, the scriptwriters attempted the emotional, relational connections to try to give the movie more substance, but in the end, Hobbs & Shaw became boring in places and stale in some of its more and more staged productions. This Predator (1987) meets a less intelligent version of The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) which had Ryan Reynold’s snappy performance underused in this Fast & Furious spin-off. While the stunts were amazing, they have come of the point of being overly staged, trying to outdo all the past action movies. The scriptwriters have also pressed the envelope of logical, reasonable believability with holes developing in the plot development, such how the female lead can so easily and conveniently escape in the opening scene. A decent, but not totally convincing nor engrossing action movie. [Reviewed 8/7/2019]. 7/10.

Hustle, The (2019). Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star in this feminine version of Michael Caine and Steve Martin’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) comedic grifters movie. Along with Heartbreakers (2001) starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt, The Hustle offers up the sophisticated and the crude approaches to pilfering off the mostly unsuspecting male of the species. We have had the female Ghostbusters (2016) and the female Ocean’s Eight (2018) that also co-starred Anne Hathaway. Anne is back again to bolster the female reign of comedy with an unfortunate accent to her voice that just doesn’t quite ring true. But she does get to show off her usual talent for underplayed comedy and a nice diversity of character performances. Rebel Wilson gets to show off her more vulgar behavior like Melissa McCarthy undertook in the comedy crime thriller The Heat (2013) with Sandra Bullock. Somehow Chris Addison manages to keep the mixed personality comedy together where Anne and Rebel scenes come together to retain an acceptable, fluid dynamics without becoming annoyingly repugnant or overly crass. There isn’t much new in this female version to Dirty Rotten Scoundrel’s and even the ending of The Hustle seems somewhat diminished and derivative. Yet there are moments that shine, especially regarding the innocent mark who provides a good performance. This is an entertaining and fun summer movie that while not in any way really remarkable is competently directed, nicely performed in a risky movie genre oftentimes quite difficult to accomplish well. [Reviewed 5/24/2019]. 7/10.

John Wick Chapter 3 (2019). There may be a point when martial art, continuous movie violence, and stunt action on film becomes almost an overdone video game instead of an artful movie. With this third iteration, Keanu Reeve’s seems to have relied almost too heavily on a stunt director who is unable to maintain a consistent, reliable movie fantasy tone as better accomplished by Aleksander Bach’s Hitman: Agent 47 (2015) or Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). There were several scenes where it appeared that John Wick somehow avoided being killed because the stunt action either goofed or the script attempted to be just too coy and cute allowing John to escape certain death. There were several scenes where the assassins that John encountered significantly became less adept at fighting from their earlier appearances or as in one scene with motorcycles, while John was permitted to use a gun, his opponents were oddly restricted to only using swords. In a strangely predictable twist towards the end, the movie plot outline seemed to attempt to please a larger audience incorporating both hardcore nasty shocking character denouements while also providing for a more pleasant audience experience which only seemed to result in a lazy compromise in scriptwriting. There are a number of nice tender, emotive points in the movie and a modicum of expressive qualitative moments, but overall, this action movie doesn’t quite have the same depth and integrity as the previous two Wick movies. This third Wick movie had the basic outline for a really creative and powerful action movie, but it took the easier video game approach interspersed with a few human moments and overly cute inserts. [Reviewed 5/17/2019]. 7/10.

Little Women (2019). With fresh, innocent eyes and mind that never experienced a “Little Women” movie or novel, this apparently seventh version of the well-read book by little women themselves seems to offer a rather difficult to follow movie. Too many jumps, flashbacks, and chaos seem to reign, chaos while understandably a part of living with the March family becomes a rather unsettling blur to the uninitiated. What is strikingly and perversely amusing is that even the author of this well received movie, Louisa May Alcott agreed that even her book that so many movies were based on was not a work that she enjoyed writing, never liked girls, and that the book in fact was “dull.” When compared to Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, especially the 1995 television mini-series, this Little Women perhaps unfairly doesn’t provide the newly initiated audience with an easy flowing and immersive experience. Admittedly the performance of Saoirse Ronan stands out with her Elizabeth Bennet-like fierce character, albeit Elizabeth Bennet had an even more of cultural restrictions on women. [Reviewed 12/25/2019]. 7/10.

Wonder Park (2019). This fanciful animated movie that interlocks a child’s imagination with the creation of an imaginary but perhaps actually real wonderful, almost magical park seems to lose a bit in its lack of a compelling engaging nature of animation as depicted on the screen. Unlike Toy Story 4 which offers up an even more sharp, detailed rendition of life like characters having much more distinct line between animated real life characters and the imaginary animated characters in Wonder Park seem to distance the audience from becoming more directly involved in the movie. In Last Action Hero (1993) a fun superhero action movie has a real boy enters into the world of a fictional movie world and remains more compelling because of its reality-tinged depiction. In contrast, George Clooney’s more vivid and compelling live action sci fi Tomorrowland (2015) immerses its audience in the much more real, yet intertwining divergent future reality. There is a lot of emphasis on action to propel this movie forward with less of a direct threat to the entire planet earth than Tomorrowland. Even so, the dazzling animated Inside Out (2015) while not involving a dramatic threat to the entire world still retains its intensity of emotional connection to its characters by its very nature sustained in the movie while also introducing a continuing series of action scenes throughout the movie. My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (2010) is an amazing example of a funny romantic comedy based on the interaction of writing and how it can become real. Even Christopher Robin (2018) has a fanciful charm where storybook characters can interact well with real people on the screen that involves deeper human emotions and interesting storylines without the continued use of action. Or take the imaginative Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) or Welcome to Warwen (2018). where adult men can also have a fascinating life both real and unreal on the big screen. Perhaps the definitive live action fantasy movie might be Robin Wright’s performance as herself in an amazing fusion of live action and animation in Congress (2013 which may never be replicated or approached again in its depiction of its subject matter. Overall Wonder Park is fun, entertaining, and theme park derived, with its heart and playfulness in the right places. It just could have been better designed and portrayed. [Reviewed 7/3/2019]. 7/10.

Yesterday (2019). Sci-Fi, Fantasy Comedy, Musical. It’s hard to classify Yesterday. It prominently uses Beatle’s lyrics and song. It’s funny but with a twinge of melancholy. And mostly it’s a fantasy of what ifs. It’s also predictable with a sad whimsical elemental surprise towards the end. For Beatle purists, this movie would be hard to accept and enjoy. Somehow the interplay between Beatle songs and the movie plot doesn’t quite run smoothly and easily play out like Across the Universe (2007). Nor does Yesterday incorporate the creative movie magic that Across the Universe used with a compelling lavish way. This alternative reality fantasy appears to be a somewhat new take on the more oftentimes comedic or dramatized versions of reality such as John Candy’s Delirious (1991) or Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle series (2015) which make more of their own focused intensity in their delivery. This fusion of so many genres coming together in Yesterday ultimately changes the movie into more of an experimental film genre in progress. As a musical Yesterday doesn’t sustain the intimacy of lengthy sweeping musical pieces as experienced in Rocketman (2019), La La Land (2016), Les Miserable, or Chicago (2002). Overall, the movie stands on its own, in its own way, but as a tribute to the Beatles, only the Beatles themselves can really authentically hit the original notes of emotional integrity with their own tributes. [7/16/2019]. 7/10.

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019). This comedy horror movie comes just in time (released October 18) for Halloween offers up a light, but reasonably violent, and only a few scary pulsing moments to entertain its audience. The humor dialogue was well written, the all the characters including the undead are charming or endearingly gross. Not quite as compelling and embracing as Warm Bodies (2013), Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone offer solid performances for the genre. [Reviewed 10/20/2019]. 7/10.

Disappointments

The Alien Warfare (2019). This low-budget sci fi military mystery thriller attempts to exude a superior script, yet it can’t manage to avoid the many clichés and standard dialogue that traps it into an average typical sci fi movie that doesn’t offer much new. There are hints and suggestions and efforts to bring to the screen that will allow this military search team ordered to check out the strange break off in communication with a secret lab operated by the United States government to be something better than the rest. But just because the President of the United States has requested specifically this supposedly amazingly brilliant special ops team of four, doesn’t mean the movie will be better. In the style of Dwayne Johnson’s Doom (2005) and Ghost of Mars (2001), there is the supposedly the scary exploration into the unknown along with a relational turmoil among brothers that may resolve itself predictably. There is the female specialist who knows more than she lets on as already portrayed in one of the best of its sci fi/horror genre The Devil’s Tomb (2008). Unfortunately, the creative inspiration runs dry so that the classic substantive clout of the movie is lost unlike those established already as far back as Forbidden Planet (1956) and more recently achieved in Aliens (1986) and Alien: Resurrection (1997), and Sphere (1998). Better analogous films instead of Alien Warfare would be the more passive, but nevertheless intriguing Wavelength (1983) or even Alien Hunter (2003). This movie doesn’t offer the realism nor vicarious intensity of such movies as The Andromeda Strain (1971) or the more brilliantly produced Arrival (2016) or Annihilation (2018). Overall, Alien Warfare comes across as decently scripted, acceptably performed, but lacking in terms of qualitative innovations and freshness required of sci fi movies these days. [Reviewed 6/27/2019]. 6/10.

Santa Girl (2019). There something that just doesn’t work in this movie. There are cheesy performances and scenes, distracting changes in photographic techniques that don’t appear to have any artistic value. The editing and shot selections sometimes seem jostled and cobbled together. Even some of the dialogue and acting seem haphazard and spontaneous but not in a good comedic way. While the story outline held promise, the script needed a lot more work. The typical triangle of one girl and two boys doesn’t come across the screen in smooth way as they struggle to relate to one another, it’s almost as if the actors themselves were unsure of how to play their parts. It’s not that the movie is a tangled mess, the plot somehow holds together and the effort to make this a palatable movie is more than apparent, it’s just that it doesn’t quite come together as a finished product. It’s not absolutely terrible and it may be worth seeing if one is really bored and there don’t seem to be many other options. [Reviewed 4/19/2020]. 4/10.

Terrible

None.

Haven’t Seen Yet


Bombshell (2019). About the life and fall of Roger Ailes of FOX news fame.

The Irishman (2019, Netflix).

Marriage Story (2019, Netflix).

The Two Popes (2019, Netflix). Anthony Hopkins as Pope Paul XVI and Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis to be.

[Chris Knipp]

tabuno - first, best wishes for your health and good luck with your political campaign. This list is nothing less than two dozen reviews, so too much to read in one go, but skimming it I was impressed by your observation about PARASITE, that if they're such skilled grifters as they're made out to be in the movie, how can they be living in such a shabby, lowlife habitation? I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. I hope you see and like MARRIAGE STORY.

[tabuno]

I am in the minority of those who loved Harrison Ford's voice over narrative in Bladerunner. It seemed to fit the whole film noir of the classical 50s crime thriller. Yet we'll have to see if I can get through what I found to be a useless, lazy voice over narration at the beginning of both Marriage Story and The Irishman. I attempted to start watching both films on Netflix and I just wanted to plug my ears and somehow struggle through the beginning scenes, but I couldn't. Maybe like the Frank Herbert's Dune, I'll eventually be able to reach the point of really getting through both movies.

[Chris Knipp]

I too like the voiceover of BLADE RUNNER a lot. But do you like voiceovers or don't you? I guess if BLADE RUNNER is the only movie with a voiceover that you like, the answer is no. For me, voiceovers add a charming literary touch, and they are routine in French Ne Wave films, which I love.

[tabuno]

Unless there is really an artistic need for a voiceover that enhances a movie scene, a lot of times, I find voiceovers just a lazy way of offering up explanations that would be much better communicated with just actors expressing themselves with nonverbal behavior or some other visual shots that convey the same message. So the use of voiceovers is a really nuanced cinematic concept that directors and scriptwriters need to have a good grounding of filmmaking if their voiceover is going to be made that's worthwhile for me to experience.

[Chris Knipp]

Yes, you are absolutely right. A voiceover has to be done by a filmmaker who knows what she is doing. But that goes for everything, doesn't it? In the French New Wave, the voiceovers are a way of establishing a mood and a style, a chatty, intimate feeling. When they're just filling in explanation ("telling" instead of "showing) that is indeed lazy and - gives voiceovers a bad name! But they can be fine, and they have seemed to be coming back lately, being used by good filmmakers. Here is a list I just found (cheating, as usual) of good narrators of films:

Joe Gillis - SUNSET BULEVARD
Oh Dae-su - OLDBOY
Narrator - THE ROYAL TENEBAUMS
The Narrator - FIGHT CLUB
Travis Bickle - TAXI DRIVERS
Joel Barish - ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

In the Nouvelle Vague the "voix-off" as they call it provides an autobiographical tone sometimes, and also has a literary effect. Two notable examples: Francois Truffaut's JULES ET JIM and Jean-Luc Godard and LE PETIT SOLDAT. Other flms with voiceovers (a more random, popular list):

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Kubrick)
BARRY LYNDON (Kubrick)
FOREST GUMP (Zemeckis)
GOODFELLAS (Scorsese)
CASINO (Scorsese)
APOCALPUYSE NOW (Coppola - three narrators)
AMELIE Jeuneet)
AMERICAN BEAUTY (Mendes)
Everything by Terrence Malick - you may get sick of it there, or feel he's entering into self-parody. But at his best, it's essential to the magical mood he weaves.

And a recent French film I like a lot that consciously evokes the Nouvelle Vague is Louis Garrel's A FAITHFUL MAN (L'HOMMME FIDÈLE), which has three different "voix-off" narrators, Abel (Garrel), Eve (Lily-Rose Depp) and Marianne (Laetitia Casta). The more the merrier! This way the film's not dominated by a single point of view.

[oscar jubis]

The experience of cinema changed a lot since my boyhood in the 60s and 70s(obvious opening line). Television was never as good as the best films and the best films were never half as good when broadcast in crudely edited, censored chunks and watched on crappy sets. It was easy to figure out what was released and when. It was easy to pretend one had seen the films that count, the ones that may have a claim to a place on any list of, say, the ten best. We watched movies in one theatrical sitting, in public, a social event that begins and ends at predictable times. If you missed something, and you always overlook something from the hyperexpressive, meaning-sprouting, audiovisual products of the cinema, then you had to wait until the next show and buy another ticket; no click-quick reprise; no reliving the moment. For me, the life changing technology was not the vhs in the late 70s but the dvd in the late 1990s, when I began to watch movies at home.

In the 2000s, I started to watch movies at home in better sets (while still going to theaters a couple times a week). I also studied cinema in graduate school, which deepened my interest in both film history and history through film. I started to work at the school's art cinema which gave me access to optimal projection. Now, about half the films I watch are films from the past 2-3 years, and the other half are older films, including silents. It takes me a while to watch enough films from a given year to offer a Top 10 list. I give these movies a lot of thought. I like to watch anything I list more than once, but this hasn't happened in many cases. I also have a longer list of the best 25 from the rest of the 2010s. Did I post it? Where would one do that? I am also motivated by the thought that there is so much production that some of the films one loves really need promotion in order not to be completely ignored or certainly under appreciated.

BEST CINEMA OF 2019

3 FACES
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL
THE BEACH BUM
THE IMAGE BOOK
MARRIAGE STORY
LA FLOR
LITTLE WOMEN
THE SOUVENIR
SUNSET
TRANSIT

[tabuno]

oscar jubis has class. Talk about credible. He he writes he has substance behind it.

[oscar jubis]

Thanks Tab; I enjoyed reading your post about your best personal films, as you well put it. My aim is to hope that anyone reading this thread decides to watch a movie from my list of 10. Nonetheless, there is that "personal" aspect that you recognize that almost demands that I acknowledge that some will find La Flor way too long and inconclusive, The Image Book too ugly and intellectual, and The Beach Bum too silly and grotesque. I'm debating how to characterize the other films on my list. I guess someone might called them "middlebrow" or "middle-class"; certainly the other 7 films would and have, done better at "art cinemas" like the one where I work, or used to work.

So getting back to basics: I am writing because I keep running into films that are deserving of the kind of attention great films used to get back in my boyhood in the 60s and 70s. However, nowadays there is so much "content" available, on so many different platforms, in several media, that it's easier for great achievements to go practically ignored. So I take the opportunity to promote my 3 best personal films of 2018: The Other Side of the Wind, Zama, and A Bread Factory which has very wide appeal in my opinion, perhaps because it's American, and it has famous actors like Tyne Daly.

[Chris Knipp]

As you know, I spend most (but not all!) of my time watching newer films.

I'm glad that Joanna Hogg's THE SOUVENIR got wide US distribution and I learned about it and her and saw it on the big screen, then watched her three earlier films online.It looks like a forgot to see THE BEACH BUM. Maybe you will inspire me to watch it. I did see SPRING BREAKERS and put it in a list of favorites of hat year. I would not want to watch THE IMAGE BOOK. I have had my fill of late Godard at Lincoln Center in several NYFFs.

I didn't like SUNSET, though it's very interesting, an interesting failure. Strange. I saw it at the London FF with a friend. He agreed. SUN OF SAUL was a hard act to follow. TRANSIT I liked, also LITTLE WOMEN. MARRIAGE STORY is officially my favorite film of the year, simply because it gave me the most pleasure to watch.

I saw AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL in ND/NF. I remember the experience. I also remember that Ed Lachman came, who had seen it in a European festival and couldn't wait to see it again, which impressed me. Working on movies all the time, he's still so enthusiastic about them. It's inspiring. I don't remember it as pleasurable but I remember it.

I had free online access to LA FLOR but I didn't get round to it. Maybe you should warn people that it is 13 and a half hours long. You talk about yourself, but you don't talk about these films. I didn't either, about my list, which is a shame. I didn't put as much into my list-making this year.

As for formats. Surely the life-changing format is to see a movie in a theater, with an attentive audience, and I did so decades before you. I would give VHS the edge over DVD's because with my best VCR, I could examine films frame-by-frame and backwards and forwards. Now the format that's dominant is online screening, Vimeo, and being sent so many screeners with links and passwords, which is so easy, or being to watch films instantly as one can watch great TV series (there was classy TV in the Fifties, by the way; it went downhill after that) like Mad Men or Babylon Berlin or The Crown or Succession or you name it, instantly online. But what we miss now, I do anyway, is the quality projection you speak of. My greatest experiences, but there have been many, have been watching all the movies I've seen at Lincoln Center at the Walter Reade Theater. The last one I saw was UNE FILLE FACILE/AN EASY GIRL in the Rendez-Vous in the Walter Reade Theater Thursday, March 12, when they told us afterward in the lobby that the rest of the series had been cancelled due to the pandemic.

I've seen MARRIAGE STORY, LITTLE WOMEN, THE SOUVENIR, AND TRANSIT twice.

[Chris Knipp]

I enjoyed reading tabuno's list of personal favorites too and his descriptions of them.

[oscar jubis]

One thing that interests me is how the movie experience has changed. It's easy for me to watch movies in a theater because I run one; and for me, Blu-rays are tax-exempted work tools. However, I'm interested in the film experience of someone not in my unique circumstances, and that means, as you say, online streaming. Now that I will be doing all my teaching online, at least in Summer and Fall semesters, I am thinking more seriously about how cinema changed ...is changing....as a result of changes in exhibition and reception, as a response to viewing in smaller screens by people who may regard watching as one task out of multiple, simultaneous tasks such as making a cup of coffee and monitoring text messages. Does the cinema seem smaller and more disposable in this era of plenty when cinema is, for a significant number of people, a solitary activity?

I did "talk about these films" a little. I said that I tend to divide the films I love that were released in 2019 into two groups. Films that "my audience" at the cinema watched or that I would program for them (an audience very similar to the average audience at art cinemas) and films I estimate this audience would not enjoy. I think it's interesting that the 3 of my Top 10 that I place in the latter category are the 3 you have not seen. However, The Image Book, La Flor, and The Beach Bum are to be found in the lists from Film Comment, etc., so that tells me others also find great value in them.
(What about "3 Faces"? IMdb gives a 2019 release date so I included it in the 2019 list. I'll have to check the 2018 version of this thread and see if it was listed for that year.) So I used two adjectives each to warn readers about their likely responses to these 3 movies. I think the other 7 movies I listed are the 7 movies I have watched that I would generally recommend and that is probably the biggest reason to write a post about movies: to encourage others to appreciate a few movies one regards as special achievements.

So, that's where my head is right now. I'm glad you have so much time to dedicate to cinema and to share what you learn with me and everyone else here and in other places. It's great you have been able to watch some of the best movies twice. This British film The Souvenir has a second part(let us know if you hear of a released date Chris) I had forgotten or did not know, when I watched it, the habit hidden by the love interest of the film student protagonist. This ignorance is important because the audience knows exactly and only what the protagonist knows, in this film, from beginning to end. What the viewer knows, when, and how this compares with what different characters know or don't know is often a most important narrative aspect (and not only in cinema, of course). Some of my favorite films provided restricted or partial knowledge of plot events and character traits. I think a great deal of the enjoyment of narrative, and most films we love are narratives, is in what the viewer feels and thinks about not knowing something we know is there to know. The grave and great emotional impact of The Souvenir on me derives from finding out two major revelations at the same moment as the protagonist and feeling this intimacy with her.

[oscar jubis]

One claim I brought up in the previous post involves the relationship between technological developments in terms of access, exhibition, and reception of movies and the movies themselves, their production or creation, the filmmaking. I wonder what readers think about the received wisdom (fact?) that the reduction in average shot length in feature films since the 1980s was mostly a response to the editing rhythms of music videos me and my MTV-addicted college friends devoured in that decade. Is there any doubt that the increase in fantasy films (or films involving fantasy sequences) has something to do with how special effects became easier and cheaper to produce in the digital era? Do you doubt that the smaller size of the screen in which people watch films has something to do with the popularity of shots in which only one person is prominent? The camera got closer because the screen got smaller, to get to the point. Is this of interest to our readership?

[Chris Knipp]

For 3 FACES under Rotten Tomatoes on Goggle it says In Theaters‎: ‎Mar 8, 2019 limited.

A New York Times piece (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/technology/movie-screens-small-to-big-to-small-again-digital-domain.html) by Randall Stross from eight years ago argues that in the solitary, small screen viewing predominating now, we've simply come full circle; it was like that at the beginning. I personally don't get involved much in cinema history. My interest is in individual movies, taken one at a time. For that reason I'm glad there's now a decent new documentary about our most important film reviewer, Pauline Kael. You can watch it online (https://paulinekaelmovie.com/), alone, on your little screen. The trouble is that at this point the people who remember reading Kael's reviews in the magazine are literally dying out. If you weren't there you don't know what it was like. It wasn't about the opinions. It was that it was stimulating and very rare to encounter such passion and quickness of intelligence focused on movies.

Re: THE SOUVENIR as I've often said, I do not think that one's pleasure in seeing a new film depends on knowing nothing about it. I know this is widely believed. It does not apply to the arts in general. The most knowledge you bring has a lot to do with your appreciation, along with the taste and common sense you already have. I'm a longtime student of literature, comparative literature and English literature, where you approach a read by learning as much about it as you can, not by maintaining a blank mind. Well prepared as I was for THE SOUVENIR, it was still surprising and fresh every step of the way. I still saw everything from Julie's semi-blind point of view. The film is dominated by her point of view. It's still a shock at the end to realize how blind she was.

The big screen is still always the defining experience and I have great big screen experiences (as I mentioned, especially the Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln center) in my head all the time as the ideal. As for the audience, first of all, we're not necessarily more alone watching on a small screen at home, we could be less so. We're usually alone - together - in the movie theater. The audience varies. My best memories are new movies watched in a full house with a crowd that is totally excited about it. That actually happens only rarely. When the audience is sparse, that opens up the possibility for people to be assholes, to talk, to make noise. If they're shoulder-to-shoulder twith strangers intent on the screen, people shut up.

For the best audiences, go to Paris. Not always but generally there in a theater you can hear a pin drop, it's the civilized standard and love of cinema that prevails. I've enjoyed this for decades. It greatly enhances the experience of movie watching that here in my suburban California cineplex can be diluted by inattentive popcorn munchers. I've been told this by a friend who lives in Paris too who growing up lived in many countries and is half Swedish. She said nobody can touch the French for attentive, respectful, silent movie watching.

I'd agree he said/she said closeups work better than panoramic outdoor action shots in a small-screen format but I guess my background as an artist helps me watch a small screen and imagine a big one. A beautifully composed image can be appreciated even postcard size. Statistics on shot length or closeup frequency don't interest me that much, frankly, or seem relevant to the individual films I see.

I have examples from classical music that show how you first encounter great art can vary hugely and still be an equally tremendous experience. Two of the most momentous musical introductions of my youth were 1. first hearing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony played over the radio on the family radio-phonograph in the dining room; 2. Hearing the Berlin Philharmonic live in a concert hall conducted by Herbert von Karajan play Beethoven's Seventh. Sonically and technically those two experiences were worlds apart. Yet for me, they were equally life-changing.

[oscar jubis]

We have retreated (devolved?) to what the cinema was for those 3 or 4 years years before the Lumiere brothers decided to project the images onto a screen: a Kinetoscope viewing box. At its best, cinema is an immersive, sensual and social experience. The lockdown serves to remind us what a precious experience it is. I enjoyed reading about yours; and about the Paris cinemas you visit.

I wonder how popular this forum is... Do I need to say "spoilers ahead" to those who will listen to Chris and I and watch "The Souvenir" soon? I can only go by my viewing of the film; I must say that as the film unfolds, I was fascinated and thoroughly engaged by my evolving assessment of "the love interest" in relation to the affections of the extremely simpatico protagonist. Part of the artistry in this film resides in the gradual, subtle realization in the first half that there's something "majorly wrong" with this man; and that it's going to have a profound effect on the extremely likable character whose partial perspective we share. Part of the pleasure of "not knowing" resides in the weighing of evidence, the consideration of hypotheses, the development of expectations about the nature of characters and predictions about their behavior. Knowing the guy is a heroin addict before watching the film would not have spoiled (as in "ruined") the experience but it would have diminished it. I can always watch the film again, as I have, to enjoy it now that I know how it is resolved. It was great to watch it once without knowing much more than "it's a British film a lot of critics love".

So I was right to list Jafar Panahi's 3 FACES on my 2019 list. It seems to be the great film of last year everyone has managed to ignore. It's the film I should say something about. It won Best Screenplay at Cannes 2018.
======
A figurine is as much a work of art, potentially, as a monument.

[Chris Knipp]

In my original review (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4646-THE-SOUVENIR-(Joanna-Hogg-2019)&p=37644#post37644) I laid out that I'd read a good bit about THE SOUVENIR before seeing it, but it still seemed fresh to me - as I said here too. That's my rule for myself, that I welcome "spoilers," but I try to avoid them in reviews. Nonetheless I gave away the fact you have mentioned, contradicting myself.

Your "figurine" remark, which I agree with, reminds me of the famous remark of Jane Austen who alluded to her novels as "the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work. . ."

It seems to me your description of your experience of watching the film focuses a lot on you. Again referring to my literature background, I was originally taught to focus on the work itself, and I like to focus on what goes on in the film, not so much what happens in my mind as I watch it. We could argue about this endlessly, but I think the discovery that the is something "majorly wrong' with this man" is as fascinating whether you know what it is or not. Another thing I learned as a literature student, from Alain Renoir at Berkeley especially, is that traditional audiences, such as of Beowulf or the Song of Roland or the Odyssey, always knew what happens, but their pleasure was in seeing not the WHAT but the HOW of its telling.

[oscar jubis]

I'm reading 2 fiction novels relevant to the pandemic, but I do make time for film reviews, mostly reviews of films I particularly like shortly after watching them. So I read your review, Chris, of Hogg's "The Souvenir" as well as the other two for which you provide links (in another thread). I find statements about her signature shots and characteristic practices most interesting, and may have something more concrete to say soon, especially after watching another of her films.

My major impulse nowadays is to be grateful for so much good cinema from now, from the past, and from the future that I have to discover. I'm thinking about how there is so much good stuff out there that I managed to totally miss the three features by Joanna Hogg that precede "The Souvenir". It's the sheer volume of movies and television programs out there, and our busy lives...

I could have easily come across Hogg's "Archipelago"(2010) a decade ago, the way I managed to take notice of another movie by a female, British director that totally impressed me: Clio Barnard's "The Arbor" (2010). It mixes documentary and fiction aspects. Her features since then: The Selfish Giant and Dark River are excellent, if less experimental. Barnard is a filmmaker many people have failed to notice I think. The way I failed to notice Ms. Hogg, until now. I just received in the mail a dvd of her "Archipelago". I wonder if Hogg and Barnard would be better known if they were male. Anyway...it's great there are filmmakers this good awaiting broader recognition and acknowledgement.

[Chris Knipp]

I recommend watching all Hogg's other films if you can. I did right after cseeing THE SOUVENIR. It's worth it. They're not long. Don't blame yourself for missing them: there was no attention paid to them or to her, in the US at least, till THE SOUVENIR.

Clio Bernard is a strong UK director, and I can see you'd particularly like THE ARBOR (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3054-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2011&p=26028#post26028) with its use of documentary elements. I reviewed it as part of the SFIFF of 2011. But the social worlds of the two director are worlds apart, though they might have much in common being women and English. I loved THE SELFISH GIANT (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3651-THE-SELFISH-GIANT-(Clio-Bernard-2013)&p=31502#post31502), can remember exactly where I saw it, the tiniest auditorium at IFC Center in NYC. I missed DARK RIVER.

The reason why I discovered Hogg is because I'm a regular reader of the weekly New Yorker magazine. The background piece there on her and the making of THE SOUVENIR made me eager to see it right when it was coming out in theaters, and quite unlike her first three, it was shown at a big local chain movie house, AMC Bay Street. Wish I could go there now - or the Century Hilltop in the opposite direction, which I've discovered in the past year is cheaper, easier to get to, and has better buttered popcorn. When open, that is.

[oscar jubis]

BEST CINEMA OF 2019

Updated list of favorite films from the last year before the pandemic.

SORRY WE MISSED YOU (Ken Loach/UK)
VITALINA VARELA (Pedro Costa/Portugal)

3 FACES (Jafar Panahi/Iran)
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (China)
MARRIAGE STORY (Noah Baumbach)
LA FLOR (Mariano Llinas/Argentina)
LITTLE WOMEN (Greta Gerwig)
THE SOUVENIR (Hogg/UK)
SUNSET (Nemes/Poland)
TRANSIT (Petzold/Germany)

Guilty Pleasure: THE BEACH BUM (Harmony Korine)
Most promising film not yet see: IT MUST BE HEAVEN (Suleiman)