The Favourite (2018)

The Favourite is raucously brilliant. The writing is hilarious and it's even more amazing for being a true story. And I am willing to overlook the abrupt and unsatisfactory ending because I so enjoyed the rest of it. Yorgos Lanthimos really has some original, quirky ideas. I also quite enjoyed the premise of the Lobster, but it's another one where I didn't like the ending. He can't finish. In this case, maybe it's actually that I just didn't want it to end. It's a really good time. The actors are all superb, not just the trio of ladies but Nicholas Hoult too. The way they deliver their lines are almost Shakespearean. The moments pass so quickly and effortlessly that it's easy to miss the punchline if you're not paying attention. It's a masterclass in acting. The cinematography is certainly a choice. For some shots, but not all, they employ a wide angled fish-eye lens. It intentionally distorts the image and makes the subjects appear small in these grand rooms. I personally didn't like the cinematography, but it is certainly notable. The costumes and production design are delightful!

Vice (2018)

There is something quite underwhelming about Vice, and it's the music. Nicholas Britell composed the most beautiful soundtrack of the year for If Beale Street Could Talk. So I had some high expectations for Vice too. But the music is disappointingly bland, typically Washington DC invoking West Wing or House of Cards. Compare this to the really slick, snazzy trailer so sharply edited to the music. The movie really misses out on the style that made The Big Short and even the Vice trailer unique and fun. The movie does have a style, it's mockumentary without the talking head interviews. I really dislike the ending in which the Dick Cheney turns his head to break the fourth wall for the first time. It's unnecessarily jarring and so clearly copying House of Cards. I guess we're supposed to draw a parallel to Frank Underwood's iconic evil, but Cheney's real evil can stand on it's own. He's already sitting for an interview; he could have said the exact same monologue to the interviewer. Overall, the movie feels tonally awkward. The narration feels very out of place.

There are some things done well. Adam McKay draws an abundantly clear line from Dick Cheney to Donald Trump. He hears all the rank and file Republicans crying that this is not their GOP, and he demonstrates plainly how wrong they are. Trump naturally emerges from the traditions of Cheney-style conservatism. And McKay will not let them deny it. Call it a primary source on our contemporary times. The situation is so dire that you can only laugh to not cry.

The acting is superb all around. Steve Carrell has been acting in dramas lately, but you really see him shine in comedies. Amy Adams is stellar as usual. And Christian Bale is phenomenal, as is his make-up artist. He is absolutely unrecognizable and looks uncannily like Dick Cheney.

A Touch of Sin (天注定) (2013)

A Touch of Sin preceded Wild Tales by 2 years. It's hard to believe that Damian Szifron was unfamiliar with this movie. I assume that someone in film would be familiar with the works of Jia Zhangke. But Szifron essentially remade A Touch of Sin in Spanish. They are both anthology movies based on a theme of revenge or anger (except the second story doesn't quite fit the theme, and is my least favorite of the four stories). I quite like both movies, but I think I liked Wild Tales a little better because it's comedic. But Jia's movie is enthralling nonetheless. It is surprisingly critical of Chinese society. Well, it's not surprising that Jia is critical of Chinese society, it's surprising that China allowed him to be so critical. It's pretty bleak, dare I say an accurate portrayal of China.

Roma (2018)

Roma is beautiful. Mexico is beautiful. Life is beautiful. The gorgeous black and white cinematography (done by Alfonso Cuaron himself while Chivo was busy) evokes memory. Cuaron lovingly paints a picture of the Mexico City of his childhood, growing up in a middle class neighborhood in the 1970s, raised by his housekeeper. It is a very personal project, Cuaron supposedly drawing on memories from his childhood, how many of them actually happened I don't know. But such is memory, flowing back in a rush like a wave, or like buckets of water washing a stone driveway. The story starts very close, honing in on a family. But eventually he zooms out, to reveal political context in a changing Mexico affected by the Cold War (ironic that Cold War came out this year too). It is done so seamlessly and effectively really grounding the story in a particular time. Ultimately this movie is a love letter to the housekeeper that raised him. Housekeepers are not the supporting cast in this movie. No, Cleo is the heart of this movie, and the glue keeping this family together. Some of the most beautiful shots to highlight: inside the theater and the beach.

Aquaman (2018)

There are some really good things about this superhero movie at a time when we're all sick of the genre. James Wan's direction is notable. I saw tinges of Furious 7 in the action sequences (and the final battle is Tolkien-esque). I love the zooms, in and out, in the Sicily scene, giving us a sense of scale and continuity between the separate chases. The underwater visuals are spectacular. The production design for Atlantis and the other underwater realms is visually stunning. And I also liked some of the music. There are some interesting choices (Pitbull singing Africa?). But every now and then, you hear music reminiscent of Vangelis's score for Blade Runner. I thought I might have caught a reference in the beginning too, when Nicole Kidman's character says the sea washes away tears in Atlantis, like teardrops in the rain (from the monologue at the end of Blade Runner). That's the best line in the movie. The rest of the dialogue is really cheesy. And it's a shame because there are some real nuggets of inspiration in the writing. The central conflict between Aquaman and his brother is quite interesting. We are engaged in the war between land and sea over pollution and warships because these are genuine problems in our world. Much less consequential is the conflict with Black Manta. It's obviously setting something up for a future movie, but he is totally insignificant and uninteresting  in this movie. Finally, I have to mention the acting because Amber Heard and Jason Momoa are just terrible. They can only do so much with bad writing...

RBG (2018)

RBG is a pretty standard documentary about a pretty extraordinary woman. She is reserved and brilliant and an icon. I do think the movie misses two major points in understanding Ruth Bader Ginsburg's career. She was allegedly thought that Roe v. Wade was the wrong case to set the precedent legalizing abortion, as the privacy standard the Court decided on was too weak. As co-founder of the Women's Rights Project at the ACLU, and following Thurgood Marshall's legal strategy for securing civil rights for African Americans, Ginsburg supposedly laments that Roe v. Wade beat her own stronger case to set the important foundation for abortion. The other point that was missed was Bill Clinton's saga of a nomination process. Ginsburg was not always viewed with the admiration that we have for her today. Feminists distrusted Ginsburg, misunderstanding her calculating approach. She was a polarizing figure and it was not a given that she would get on the Court. Though the movie is all about praise, it would have been interesting to explore that polarization during her pre-Court career. And of course, today she is the most iconic Justice of the Supreme Court. The elderly woman is a cool badass. And the movie amply explores her celebrity status.

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

Yes, it is an unbelievable story. But what makes this documentary so special is the storytelling. The story unfolds piece by piece very deliberately, revealing left turn after left turn while giving hints along the way if you were paying close enough attention. I often do not pay close enough attention, and so the filmmakers replay key foreshadowing moments. And then it clicks and you go "oh, of course".