Malcolm1980's 2020 Review Thread

[malcolm1980]

2/2

Honey Boy (Alma Har'el) ***1/2 - Shia LaBeouf wrote the script and portrays his own father in this thinly veiled autobiographical film about the troubled relationship between a successful child actor and his abusive alcoholic rodeo clown father. At first I thought this is a crazy gimmick. But as the film went on, you actually get over the meta and the self-reflexive aspect of the film and you become invested in this compelling examination of a very complicated (to say the least) relationship between a father and a son. Both Shia LaBeouf and Noah Jupe (one of the finest young actors working today) give superb performances. So great are their scenes together, you can't take your eyes off of them, even when things get rough. The film loses steam a bit during Lucas Hedges' scenes but overall, this is an extremely well-crafted drama.


Judy (Rupert Goold) **1/2 - Based on a stage play, this film chronicles the final year in Judy Garland's life from her engagement/marriage to her last husband and her series of performances in England. I was very skeptical of this film. I mean, I actually really liked the Judy Davis miniseries from years back and I felt that was the definitive Judy Garland biopic and you don't need another one. Certainly, not one starring Renee Zellweger. Well, you still kind of don't. It's not a bad movie. It doesn't really rise above the standard biopic trappings. I wasn't even sure of Zellweger's performance at first but as the film went along, she won me over. I can at least understand why she's an Oscar front-runner. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a must-see but it has some really genuinely nice moments in it.

[malcolm1980]

2/6

The Joke (Jaromil Jires) *** - After being kicked out of the Communist Party for a joke, a scientist returns from "re-education" (harsh prison labor) to exacts his revenge in an unconventional way. Despite the title, this is actually not a comedy (or at least not my idea of a comedy). It took a while for me to get into the rhythm of the film because it does sometimes feel like a Soviet propaganda film especially in the first half but the film takes flight in the second half when you finally realize what's going on. As an overall film, it is a solid drama but it didn't blow me away. It's worth checking out on YouTube if you're in the mood for an austere Eastern European drama.

The Cave (Feras Fayyad) *** - This is a documentary that focuses on a Syrian woman who works as a pediatrician at a Syrian hospital and her efforts to both save those who are injured from the bombings and to keep her patients safe. This is nominated for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar and the only one of the nominees I haven't seen before now. It shares a lot of similarities with fellow nominee For Sama (both are female-centric films about the Syrian war) but the film takes a more matter-of-fact approach in its subject matter even though the footage is no less harrowing. This isn't the best film I've seen of this subject but it is a very well put-together documentary that's worth seeing nevertheless.

[malcolm1980]

2/7

Strangers When We Meet (Richard Quine) ***1/2 - A happily married man and a contently married woman meet, fall in love and begin an affair. Kirk Douglas recently passed away. As is my personal tradition, I now have to see a film of his I've never seen before. This is an adultery drama made in 1960. I admit I wasn't excited to see this since we've all seen a lot of adultery themed films and TV shows in our lifetime. But somehow, this film makes it quite compelling. It must have been quite radical at the time to make cheating spouses sympathetic and would even make understand them but this one did. It feels like a film that's testing the waters for more boldly grown-up and adult themes in mainstream Hollywood films. Kirk Douglas and Kim Novak have good enough chemistry that makes you understand why these two are drawn to each other. It's definitely a film to check out if you haven't yet.

[malcolm1980]

2/8

1917 (Sam Mendes) ***1/2 - It's the First World War. Two young British soldiers are tasked to cross enemy lines to get to another battalion who are walking into a trap. The entire gimmick of sorts of this film is that it is crafted to look like one continuous shot. I must say that it absolutely works. It immerses you into the action and makes the film feel urgent, brisk and more suspenseful. I was also surprised by how emotional I got at some points. Suffice to say, that it really, really works. It is an impressive, technical feat of filmmaking. Roger Deakins' cinematography is simply outstanding. At one point in one sequence, I actually said under whispered breath, "Roger Deakins, you beautiful motherfucker, you!" Seriously. This is truly one of his best works, as well as one of Sam Mendes' best works. Overall, an excellent picture.

Birds of Prey, or The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (Cathy Yan) ***1/2 - This is Harley Quinn's solo film and a follow up of sorts to Suicide Squad....and it's a heck of a lot better. In this film Harley Quinn breaks up with the Joker and gets entangled in the scheme of an even worse super villain, the Black Mask. I was quite impressed by the visuals in this film. I'm not too familiar with director Cathy Yan but I'm not eager to see more of her work. Some of the scenes here are quite impressive. I hope that this film is a big hit and we get to see more of her work. The film has great energy and that's thanks to the cast. For all of Suicide Squad's faults, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is not among them. She now gets to shine here with a better movie around her. This is a solid first 2020 flick.

[malcolm1980]

2/9

Wild Rose (Tom Harper) ***1/2 - A young woman is released from prison. She tries to get her life back together, be a better mother to her two children and of course pursue her dream of being country and western singer. This film is surprising to me: I had no idea there are country & western fans in the UK. LOL. Anyway, this feels like one of those classic kitchen sink dramas the UK put out during the 1960's updated for today's sensibilities and blended with the usual drama of an underdog wanting to fulfill their dream type movie. The film more or less goes the way to expected it to but the performances here are outstanding that it makes the familiar ride worthwhile. Jessie Buckley and Julie Walters are both fantastic. The soundtrack is great too and this is coming from someone who's not that big of a country music fan.

The Insect Woman (Kim Ki-young) *** - A school girl becomes prostitute then cures the impotence of a professor who turns her into his concubine. Three things are going on in my mind at the same time as I was watching this film: One, this film is kind of crazy. Two, the style kind of reminds me of Filipino films, the artsier, stranger films of Mike de Leon, Celso Ad. Castillo, etc. and I have a feeling I may be missing something here, not being Korean and not being fully familiar with the history and the culture. Nevertheless, this is a mighty interesting film from the director of The Housemaid. Though it doesn't go beyond interesting for me.

[malcolm1980]

2/14

Duvidha (Mani Kaul) ***1/2 - A young man leaves to try and make his fortune elsewhere. Then a ghost takes his form and steals his wife and his life in general. Now if that doesn't sound like a perfect Valentine's Day movie, I don't know what is! Anyway, this is another film from director Mani Kaul and it is his first film in color. This filmmaker continues to fascinate me with his unique style. I would love to call him sort of like an Indian Robert Bresson but that's not completely accurate. There's this vibe to him that is quite unlike any filmmaker, Indian filmmaker at least, I've encountered. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes hypnotic, at times quite unpredictable. It's definitely something you should see.

[malcolm1980]

2/15

White Shadows in the South Seas (W.S. Van Dyke) *** - A white man is disgusted by the exploitative practices of his fellow Westerners. He sets sail and finds himself shipwrecked in an island and gets to know a village of natives. This is quite possibly one of, if not, the earliest examples of the White Savior trope that we see a lot in mainstream Hollywood cinema. I do give it a lot of points for being progressive for its time, calling out the exploitative nature of Western civilization on other peoples. Beyond that though, it is a beautifully shot film with some stunning underwater and location footage (which I think was shot by Robert Flaherty). It's worth checking out just for those.

[malcolm1980]

2/16

Equinox Flower (Yasujiro Ozu) ***1/2 - This is director Yasujiro Ozu's first color film and his exploration of the generation gap between parents and their children during post-WWII Japan specifically when it comes to marriage. Parents, the older generation, want to pick and arrange their marriages while the children wants to find their own happiness. The film is not as serious or as sad as Ozu's more famous films but it does still feature a lot of his beautifully delicate work. His empathy towards every character in this is impeccable. He intersperses humorous moments with the more serious and sadder moments with ease. Of course, the cast is great. I may not be Japanese who grew up in this era but I really felt like I got it. A great picture.

A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater) *** - Based on a work by Philip K. Dick, this is about an undercover agent trying to stop the spread of a new designer drug called Substance D and it of course messes with his mind. This is one of those films that I waited far too long before getting around to actually seeing it and I actually love writer-director Richard Linklater and this is one of his more highly regarded works. This is actually a rotoscoped animated film (the animation is actually worked into live-action footage) and it does actually give it a unique look that is totally appropriate for the theme. This is an interesting film and though it was made fourteen years ago, it still tackles topics that are still relevant today. However, I think this is mid-tier Richard Linklater at best. I like Richard Linklater better when he doesn't have to deal with plot too much. But it's still a solid film.

[malcolm1980]

2/19

The Executioner (Luis Garcia Berlanga) ***1/2 - An undertaker falls in love (and knocks up) the daughter of a death penalty executioner who will only allow him to marry her....if he agrees to take over the family business (which he really doesn't). I was kind of surprised by this film. I was expecting something maybe a little darker, maybe a little more serious. While this film certainly dark and serious undercurrents (this film is pretty much all about death after all), it is actually kind of a delightful and pretty funny comedy. Call me crazy but I could actually sense this is almost like a proto-Woody Allen film in both its tone and the way it handles its dark subject matter. The performances are terrific all around. Yeah, I kind of loved this one and it's worth seeking out if you haven't seen it.

[malcolm1980]

2/21

Confidentially Yours (Francois Truffaut) *** - A secretary finds out her boss is accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Even though she's not fully convinced of his innocence, she tries to help him anyway. This is director Francois Truffaut's final film before he passed away at a way too young age of 52. It's a film noir with very heavy Hitchcock elements. As I was watching this, knowing that it's Truffaut's last and he had a few projects being prepped after this, I can't help but notice this isn't a work of a person who was wrapping things up. It feels like he's more like actually ramping things up. Even though this is far from my favorite Truffaut (it's not even my favorite Truffaut noir), the youthful movie-loving energy of this film still shines through. Both Fanny Ardant (who's super beautiful in this, btw) and Jean-Louis Trintignant are terrific.