First Man |
The Wild Pear Tree |
02. First Man (Chazelle) ****1/2 I saw this in IMAX and it was worth every penny. The experience of watching it was so, so tense that I found myself being literally physically stressed at times. Gosling's acting is precise, as usual, and Foy carries her part well. Damien's best seems to also be most ignored, which is a shame because the film really is deeply moving and an important account of the risks these amazing people put themselves in to push beyond the bounds of our obvious limits.
03. Roma (Cuarón) ****1/2 What a marvelous time capsule for Cuarón and all those who had the nurturing love of a supposed stranger growing up - be it a nanny or a babysitter. Beautifully and sensitively rendered - it is big time epic. Beware though, lots of dog crap!
04. Annihilation (Garland) **** Part Aliens, part psychedelic psy-fi, all Garland. It's simultaneously a story about a personal journey of a woman into herself, and a story of humanity struggling to right itself in the world. Everything here is startlingly darker and more beautiful than you'd expect. There's a sequence with a particular beast that is the stuff of total nightmares. You've been warned.
05. Widows (McQueen) **** Unlike Ocean's 8, Widows delivers on the promise of a proper action film that treats women like people who matter. It is exciting, tense, and dangerous in all the right ways. McQueen outlines the women's relegated characters in broad strokes, and gives them space to fill the screen with their character's anger, anguish, and determination. This has become one of my favourite heist films, regardless of the gender of the protagonist. That's such a pleasure to say.
06. Beoning (Burning; Lee) **** Expect Lynchian-like throughline, if you're not familiar with the strange metaphysical world of Haruki Murakami. It's a lot of fun to dissect the many mysteries it offers, and viewers are asked to be patient as it lucidly moves through unexpected turns. Steven Yeun is an inspired casting choice here.
07. Mademoiselle de Joncquieres (Mouret) ***1/2 A fun and breathtakingly beautiful tapestry of romance and revenge. The story is beside the point - the storytelling is the point. If you delight in witty bantering, this is a delicious feast for you.
08. The Favourite (Lanthimos) ***1/2 This is the most straight forward Lanthimos film yet, and another great outing for one of his regulars, the wonderful Rachel Weisz. This time, he adds the heartbreaking Olivia Colman, and the spunky Emma Stone for good measures. Tremendous fun - expect a generous helping of woozy fish eye lens shots and pointed physical (if not a little juvenile) comedy.
09. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (Ramsey, Persichetti, & Rothman) ***1/2 An unexpectedly on-point interpretation of the Spiderman spirit - a distinct sweetness colours both its dramatic and comedic turns, imbuing emotional heft that belies an animated superhero film such as this. In other words, I cried and laughed a lot.
10. A quiet place (Krasinski) ***1/2 Oh Emily Blunt. Is there any genre you can't do? I had such a fun time waiting to be scared at the theatre. To its credit, the 'silence' gimmick seems to be a starting point rather than the whole story. This is an affirming film for loving parents everywhere.
Widows |
Grin and Pulse
The most fun I had watching a movie this past year
First Man
Avengers: Infinity war
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
The most fun I had watching a movie this past year
First Man
Avengers: Infinity war
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
Widows
A quiet place
Frames
Impressive, memorable staging of a shot or series of shots
Cruising and descending on the moon, First Man
The 'confrontation', Burning
New York battle, Avengers: infinity war / Washroom brawl, Mission impossible: Fallout / the heist, Widows
Hatice meeting Sinan, talking shots interspersed with silence, The Wild Pear Tree
Through-the-window, framed by rustling trees shot of the artist looking at his canvas, Never look away
Director
Confident storytelling, with a touch of "wow"
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, The wild pear tree
Damien Chazelle, First Man
Lee Chang-Dong, Burning
Alex Garland, Annihilation
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Performance
I feel you
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Bradley Cooper, A star is born
Ryan Gosling, First Man
Viggo Mortensen, Green book
Mahershala Ali, Green book
Zain al Rafeea, Capernaum
Matej Zemljic, Consequences
Emily Blunt, A quiet place
Joanna Kulig, Cold War
Regina King, If Beale street could talk
Special mention: not an acting performance, but made me feel so much anyway
Fred Rogers, Won't you be my neighbor?
Writing
Create interesting, layered, cohesive universe; would make for a great read on its own
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ebru Ceylan & Akin Aksu, The wild pear tree
Emmanuel Mouret, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Alex Garland, Annihilation
Oh Jung-mi & Lee Chang-dong, Burning
Olivier Assayas, Non-fiction
Editing
Interesting, effective cuts and stitches that support and move the story visually
First man
Widows
The wild pear tree
Burning
Monrovia, Indiana
Cinematography
Takes my breath away
The Wild Pear Tree
Roma
Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Frames
Impressive, memorable staging of a shot or series of shots
Cruising and descending on the moon, First Man
The 'confrontation', Burning
New York battle, Avengers: infinity war / Washroom brawl, Mission impossible: Fallout / the heist, Widows
Hatice meeting Sinan, talking shots interspersed with silence, The Wild Pear Tree
Through-the-window, framed by rustling trees shot of the artist looking at his canvas, Never look away
Director
Confident storytelling, with a touch of "wow"
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, The wild pear tree
Damien Chazelle, First Man
Lee Chang-Dong, Burning
Alex Garland, Annihilation
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Olivia Colman in The Favourite |
I feel you
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Bradley Cooper, A star is born
Ryan Gosling, First Man
Viggo Mortensen, Green book
Mahershala Ali, Green book
Zain al Rafeea, Capernaum
Matej Zemljic, Consequences
Emily Blunt, A quiet place
Joanna Kulig, Cold War
Regina King, If Beale street could talk
Special mention: not an acting performance, but made me feel so much anyway
Fred Rogers, Won't you be my neighbor?
Writing
Create interesting, layered, cohesive universe; would make for a great read on its own
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ebru Ceylan & Akin Aksu, The wild pear tree
Emmanuel Mouret, Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Alex Garland, Annihilation
Oh Jung-mi & Lee Chang-dong, Burning
Olivier Assayas, Non-fiction
Burning |
Interesting, effective cuts and stitches that support and move the story visually
First man
Widows
The wild pear tree
Burning
Monrovia, Indiana
Cinematography
Takes my breath away
The Wild Pear Tree
Roma
Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Cold War
First reformed
Annihilation
The Favourite
Black Panther
Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Loro
Effects
Movie Magic
Annihilation
First man
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant man and the Wasp
Isle of Dogs
Sound
Amplify the visuals and enrich my sensory experience
First Man
A quiet place
Roma
Widows
A star is born
Score
Was it memorable?
First Man
Mademoiselle de Joncquieres
Loro
Effects
Movie Magic
Annihilation
First man
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant man and the Wasp
Isle of Dogs
Sound
Amplify the visuals and enrich my sensory experience
First Man
A quiet place
Roma
Widows
A star is born
Score
Was it memorable?
First Man
Cold War
Isle of dogs
Widows
Isle of dogs
Widows
Stray comments:
- Buckets of tears ranking: Won't you be my neighbor, Spiderman: into the Spiderverse, First Man, A star is born, Roma
- So glad to see such a weird sci-fi picture featuring black protagonists in Sorry to Bother You
- Cooper bested Gaga
- The action films this past year were on point - Henry Caville in Mission Impossible was just impeccable.
- Man, do I hate Ocean's 8.
Uncharted
Films I'm intending to see that could make a dent on the list above
The rider
Eight grade
Can you ever forgive me?
Suspiria
Vox Lux
Paddington 2
Leave no trace
Minding the gap
The sisters brothers
Charted
Ranked out of *****
****1/2
The wild pear tree (Ceylan)
First Man (Chazelle)
Roma (Cuarón)
****
Annihilation (Garland)
Widows (McQueen)
Burning (Lee)
Mademoiselle de Joncquieres (Mouret)
The Favourite (Lanthimos)
***1/2
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (Ramsey, Persichetti, & Rothman)
A quiet place (Krasinski)
Shoplifters (Kore-eda)
Mission Impossible: Fallout (McQuarrie)
Avengers: Infinity war (Russo)
Sorry to bother you (Riley)
First reformed (Schrader)
Hereditary (Aster)
Cold war (Pawlikowski)
The ballad of Buster Scruggs (Coen)
If Beale street could talk (Jenkins)
Monrovia, Indiana (Wiseman)
Hold the dark (Saulnier)
Border (Abbasi)
Consequences (Štante)
Free Solo (Chin &Vasarhelyi)
***
A star is born (Cooper)
Won't you be my neighbor? (Neville)
Non-fiction (Assayas)
High life (Denis)
Green book (Farelly)
BlacKkKlansman (Lee)
Isle of dogs (Anderson)
Black Panther (Coogler)
Solo: a Star Wars story (Howard)
**1/2
Incredibles 2 (Bird)
Deadpool 2 (Leitch)
Antman and the Wasp (Reed)
Loro (Sorrentino)
Bad times at the El Royal (Godard)
Red sparrow (Lawrence)
3 faces (Panahi)
Museo (Ruizpalacios)
Capernaüm (Labaki)
The hate u give (Tillman, Jr.)
Tomb raider (Uthaug)
**
Game night (Daley & Goldstein)
Werk ohne Autor (Never look away; von Donnersmarck)
The spy who dumped me (Fogel)
Ready player one (Spielberg)
Ash is purest white (Jia)
Winchester (Spierig & Spierig)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Bayona)
Vice (McKay)
*
Ocean's 8 (Ross)