Green Book (2018)

Green Book is a good movie thanks to the strength and charm of its leads, Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen. To be clear, Mortensen plays the very stereotypically Italian lead though he's the less interesting character. I think Ali actually doesn't get enough screen time because he's so good. I thought there would be more piano. And more Green Book but it barely even features. But the movie is much more about the alleged friendship between Tony Lip and Don Shirley. It's a pretty conventional story. In fact, so conventional that we've seen it before in Driving Miss Daisy.

Captain Fantastic (2016)

I missed this one when I was at Cannes. And I'm very glad I finally got around to it, because it is incredible. Viggo Mortensen plays the anti-capitalist patriarch of a family that lives deep in the wilderness. They have survival skills and in-depth knowledge about very specific things, including philosophy and the US Constitution. But they struggle to reintegrate into society lacking "normalcy." Is normalcy a good thing? With a thought provoking screenplay and commanding performances, it is an excellent film. And there is a big splash of family drama and emotion to make you feel for these characters. It's really touching.