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Post by StevePulaski on Jan 2, 2019 13:24:10 GMT -5
 John Cho in Searching.
1. BlacKkKlansman: Those saying that BlacKkKlansman is Spike Lee's return to form obviously turned the other cheek when Red Hook Summer and Chi-Raq, two glorious, textured works from the accomplished man himself, came out. But those who say the film is his best in years — I'll give you that and then some. BlacKkKlansman is a bold, challenging work of revenge for a veteran director clearly sickened by gutless racism and the unconscionable state of American politics. It shows in nearly every minute of this engrossing picture.
My full review of BlacKkKlansman: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6152/blackkklansman
2. Private Life: Private Life is one of the year's finest comedy-drama thus far and one of the most outstanding films of the year by any measure. It's no wonder it comes from writer/director Tamara Jenkins, whose last film was the Philip Seymour Hoffman drama The Savages all the way back in 2007. In an effort to make another deeply moving yet often uproariously funny picture, Jenkins so intelligently infuses this story with prickly humor, raw drama, and themes that, without the respective weight and emotional depth, would've rendered this a frothy, feel-good picture. Instead, we get something much more earnest and a lot more entertaining.
My full review of Private Life: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6171/private-life
3. Bodied: Joseph Kahn's Bodied is a visceral knockout of a movie. It combines a delusional anti-hero with a countercultural underbelly that's explored in the fullest, rawest sense. An in-depth look at the battle-rap scene that's both praiseworthy yet introspective as it turns a critical eye to the impact of snappy wordplay and cutthroat insults, the film is both captivating for any hip-hop fan on the basis of its premise alone. Where it soars, however, is in its ability to be a complex, racially incendiary examination of privileged liberalism while holding nothing back in neither its exposition nor its copious amounts of memorable bars — from the mouth of some of the game's most loquacious spitters. One background character late in the film summarizes it best: "get woke, c***sucker."
My full review of Bodied: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6197/bodied
4. Searching: If Aneesh Chaganty's Searching was released ten to fifteen years ago, at the dawn of an internet that was becoming more prominent in the homes of everyday folks, it might've been seen as overblown. Why would anyone want to video-chat with strangers, let alone wire funds/bank online? Why would anyone think to meet someone with whom they've only communicated virtually? It might all seem too unrealistic, or too incredulous to comprehend. I was just talking with a coworker about how everything we were told not to do as children — don't talk to strangers, don't get in a random person's car, and don't meet up with people we speak to online — most of us do every day; especially if we use Facebook, Uber, or any of the umpteen dating sites out there.
My full review of Searching: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6156/searching-2018
5. American Animals: American Animals is a real delight; it provides a dash of zest during a sometimes frustrating summer movie-season. A lot of films think they're hitting the accelerator in the third act when really they're showing us what we've already seen with a few additional doses of mayhem and camaraderie. American Animals punches hard enough to make you believe you've just gotten whiplash.
My full review of American Animals: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6118/american-animals
6. Support the Girls: Andrew Bujalski has always been a gentle filmmaker, so to speak. His earliest efforts, Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation, belonged to the subgenre known as "mumblecore," which predicated itself on novice actors, no real budgets, hyper-realistic settings and situations, improvised dialog, and what could be called the antithesis of production values. His films, while stylistically admirable, have often had one or two major issues in my mind (his last film, Computer Chess, was one I so desperately wanted to love for its concept and aesthetic but had a difficult time finishing). Still, Bujalski feels like he's been building towards a film like Support the Girls for quite some time — a film that fits comfortably in his zeitgeist, expands upon his earliest tendencies as a filmmaker, but embraces greener, richer pastures in themes and tone.
My full review of Support the Girls: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6157/support-girls
7. Won't You Be My Neighbor?: The critically acclaimed documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? paints Fred Rogers in a manner not too dissimilar from a teacher and the way most of us used to view them. I don't know about you, but when I was around seven or eight years old, I was a bit shocked to learn teachers didn't live at school and in fact had private lives and their first names weren't "Mr." or "Mrs." It's the same sort of subtle surprise I had learning about Mr. Rogers' insecurities, anxieties, and personal struggles in being both good and morally good on public television and in the company of children and adults who looked to him for guidance in times of tragedy. If you have any interest in seeing Won't You Be My Neighbor?, you likely don't need my confirmation, as you've probably already heard what millions have been saying. And yet, it bears repeating: this is a wonderful, affectionate film as softspoken as the man it profiles over the course of 93 minutes.
My full review of Won't You Be My Neighbor?: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6117/neighbor
8. Unsane: Steven Soderbergh's Unsane is a troubling film for troubling times. In a moment of great domestic unrest for the United States, it adds more logs to a burning fire by further magnifying a smorgasbord of problems that have sprouted from ignoring other problems. In his second film after announcing his initial retirement from directing movies, Soderbergh delivers a bone-chilling exposé on the commodification of mental health. In doing so, he successfully directs one of the first great films in the #MeToo age that shows the vulnerability of women in an era where gaslighting, assault, and manipulation are disgracefully seen as problems emblematic of the victim's shortcomings. This was a perpetually uncomfortable sit for me. I can't imagine someone who has been through something similar enduring this.
My full review of Unsane: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6023/unsane
9. Thoroughbreds: A film so creative and strange it's surprising A24 didn't call dibs the instant it premiered at Sundance last year, Cory Finley's directorial debut Thoroughbreds is a slickly made production. Initially conceived by Finley as a stageplay until it found itself reconceptualized as a work fit for the big-screen, it's a film I personally would've loved to see play out on-stage. The claustrophobic elements in Finley's film, from the lavish mansion setting that serves as the primary location, complete with spotless furniture and expensive decor complimenting the vapidity of this particular culture, would've been captivating to see in-person. Yet by housing a nasty, morally bankrupt story of youth in a gigantic palace, Finley allows these contrasting elements to culminate into a well-made burst of originality.
My full review of Thoroughbreds: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6004/thoroughbreds
10. Widows: Stylish, tense, and melancholic, Steve McQueen's Widows initially had me worried it would succumb to the weaker tendencies of modern heists. Its trailer didn't sell me on much other than my confidence in McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Hunger) as a director along with the unbelievably stacked ensemble cast. I should've known better than to doubt one of the kings of modern drama. McQueen's newest puts story first, infusing troubling commentary with characters less confident about pulling off a robbery, and more desperate and fearful about what might happen if they don't. Through top-notch cinematography and an army of great actors showing why they're mostly A-listers, Widows manages to be a great film and also another sad look at how those who play by the rules often get screwed.
My full review of Widows: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6191/widows-2018
Honorable Mentions: The Mule, Pass Over, A Quiet Place |
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Post by StevePulaski on Jan 8, 2019 15:18:06 GMT -5
 Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in Fifty Shades Freed.
1. Life of the Party: With Life of the Party, however, McCarthy is back to her usual, lame routine, and hits an all-time low in what is destined to be one of the worst films of this year. The film is another directorial fail from Ben Falcone, McCarthy's husband, who ostensibly loves to place his wife front and center in embarrassing situations in hopes of achieving comic success; he did the same with Tammy, which wasn't the least bit successful either. Falcone and McCarthy co-wrote the film's screenplay, which is rife with subplots that aren't meaningfully developed into a story that can reasonably sustain 105 minutes. Consequently, the film is a desperately unfunny series of episodic sketch-comedy that points and laughs at McCarthy's hopelessly inept social skills while pretending to speak volumes about female empowerment all the way through.
My full review of Life of the Party: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6076/life-party-2018
2. The 15:17 to Paris: The 15:17 to Paris, in its odd commitment to capturing the banality of everyday life by showing ordinary people are just as terrible at acting as we'd believe they'd be in theory, sometimes appears as if it is a cheap Army recruitment video within one of those dreadful independent Christian films. Consider a line early in the film when one of the boys' mothers claims, "my God is bigger than your statistics" when Spencer and Alek's teacher suggests the boys are among many children who suffer from ADD. Inclusions like this show Eastwood and company come with a political and social agenda. Maybe in an effort to be unbiased, its core audience will blast the film for yet again politicizing their entertainment. That would be the day indeed.
My full review of The 15:17 to Paris: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5967/15-17-paris
3. Fifty Shades Freed: When the credits of Fifty Shades Freed rolled, concluding a film that only wasted about an hour and forty minutes of my time as opposed to its two predecessors, which both felt it necessary to keep me in my seat for over two hours, I felt a sort of liberation myself. I was freed from a franchise three films too long, all short of a shred of realism. Fifty Shades Freed lives up to the standards set by its offensively bad and pathetically sterile BDSM-lite fanfiction source material that somehow captivated an entire audience of people that couldn't make the effort to dig a bit deeper and find erotic literature that was well-written and respectful to their female characters as well as a larger community. Three years after the first film hit theaters, you might claim you saw it just to bear witness to the sex scenes in the film. Frankly, it would be less upsetting to hear you went for the plot.
My full review of Fifty Shades Freed: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/5968/shades-freed
4. Death of a Nation: Death of a Nation is designed to get a reaction, positive or negative. There are a few great ironies here. One in particular is that the more people blast D'Souza's film, like myself, and call it a dangerous piece of thoughtless, partisan trite, the more emboldened that makes his press tours and Fox News appearances. Suddenly, his new documentary is the film "the lame-stream fake news media doesn't want you to see." Two, moments such as D'Souza reading over the Nazi Nuremberg laws and saying they'd be endorsed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders is just the kind of nebulous, knee-jerk claim that will convince the ignorant they are all-knowing (this statement stemming from the laws saying health-care should be government-funded). Finally, there's perhaps the greatest irony that comes during one of the repugnant dramatized scenes that shows Hitler saying "if you tell a big enough lie, and tell it frequently enough, people will believe it." Good to see that theory in practice.
My full review of Death of a Nation: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6141/death-nation
5. The Hurricane Heist: I'm going to call for something I've never called for in a review, and that is for The Hurricane Heist to be remade down the road. This is a premise that shouldn't go out with the kind of ineptitude brought to it because a series of studio executives and shot-callers completely lacked a sense of humor when handling the material. Perhaps a formula ala Mad Max: Fury Road could work, where the film would be a lengthy action sequence with the immensity of the hurricane lurking in the background, once again, an idea that comes at the conclusion reminding you what the film might've been. Maybe someone like Steven Quale, who realized disaster so effectively in his tornado flick Into the Storm, could make the material here a real visual treat. Almost anything would be better and more laudable than what was presented in Cohen's film, the cinematic equivalent of a firework show in a hurricane.
My full review of The Hurricane Heist: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6005/hurricane-heist
6. Best F(r)iends (Volume One and Two): My beef with Best F(r)iends as a whole is the same I have with the ongoing Sharknado franchise and other films I'm told I'm supposed to enjoy because they're "so stupid" or "so bad, they're good." I simply can't get on board with its brand of lackadaisical filmmaking. On top of being a shameless cash-grab of a project with a story that could debatably fill 120 minutes into one that's split into two-parts (totaling three and a half hours), it's abundantly clear how little effort Sestero put into his screenplay. Furthermore, most of the actors obviously phone-in their performances by purposefully being campy or lethargic because they know the material calls for it. Watching a film where everyone has collectively decided it should be bad and written/promoted with broad statements such as "it will change your view on friendship" and "you need to learn to trust people" shows it's about as genuine as the messages in mass-produced fortune cookies. You could at least laugh at The Room for its checked production history, confused plot, and initial freshness due to the aura of Wiseau/Sestero being nonexistent at the time of its release. Best F(r)iends is just pitiful in its contentment with the bottom of the barrel as a place to aim, not avoid.
My full review of Best F(r)iends (Volume One and Two): stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6030/best-iends-volume
7. Show Dogs: So, Show Dogs is a bad movie, but you probably already knew that, and its legacy will live on as one of the second-tier features shown in theaters for summer camps or youth groups, perceived as inoffensive babysitters for rambunctious children, in years to come. Need I remind you that Paddington 2 is one of the year's most charming family comedies? It's much quieter, funnier, and didn't need to be sent back to the editing room because of its tone-deaf sensibilities.
My full review of Show Dogs: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6089/show-dogs
8. Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell: Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell shows what happens when the heart outpaces the head, and a series comes to terms, perhaps unconsciously, with the fact that it was never conceptualized to have gone this far. That's the flaw in nearly all sequels and breakout successes, especially one like Tremors, for had it not been for the original outselling every other VHS on the Blockbuster shelf, a host of followups would've never materialized. Regarding this sixth installment, it's practically a disaster on all fronts. With an incompetent script turning the cherished Burt Gummer into a sociopath spewing one-liners, D-grade special effects that do not come close to matching the look of the first two sequels, a pitiful crop of supporting characters, and a misrepresented setting, even the most optimistic fan will be hardpressed to defend the mess that transpires on-screen.
My full review of Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/1204/tremors-franchise?page=1&scrollTo=27608
9. The Cloverfield Paradox: My review of The Cloverfield Paradox on my radio show Sleepless with Steve: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwUktZX-obY
10. The Week Of: The Week Of is not as bad as The Ridiculous 6, Adam Sandler's first film for Netflix, but it's not as enjoyably different as The Do-Over. In fact, it's the kind of lazy, directionless film that made Netflix the destination for Sandler's projects until further notice. Studios got tired of shelling out an upwards of $50 - $80 million (!) for each of his films, which looked more like all-expense paid vacations for him and his closest friends. Now, you don't even have to put on clothes to watch the new Sandler offering nor do you have to feel obligated to pay attention. Film critic Brian Tallerico has coined a term for the comedian's latest films I can't even match: "Movies You Can Watch While You Play Games on Your Phone."
My full review of The Week Of: stevethemovieman.proboards.com/thread/6063/week
Honorable Mentions: Gotti, The Miracle Season, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness |
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