Serenity (2019)

One minute into the movie, I went "Oh damn, is this a fishing movie?" I walked in knowing nothing about this movie. And I was not ready for a fishing movie. This turned out to be much worse than a fishing movie. There is a small nugget of inspiration in the idea but it's done so poorly. It could have had interesting things to say about free will and consciousness but it doesn't go there. The writing is god awful. And the acting by ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS is embarrassing; they must have paid Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey quite a bit of money. This has The Room written all over it. Maybe one day this will become a cult classic known for being bad.

Hamilton (Broadway) (2015)

I finally got to see the sensation that is Broadway and it is really that good. One thing that struck me was how fast it is. I feel like the tempo is faster than in the cast recording. Keep in mind these are songs that have very complex lyrics and rhythmic patterns that are already very fast. It is literally non-stop, the songs flow into each other, and there are no dialogue parts between songs. The talking is in the song. You have to concentrate really hard to appreciate the genius of the writing. The songs are brilliant (I don't need to tell you how brilliant the show overall is). There are so many double meanings in the lyrics, some of which are not obvious the first time around. The internal rhymes and repeated words (Aaron Burr, sir) are so well done. The themes, musical and otherwise, recur to great effect. And the counterpoint is amazing. I was pretty familiar with the soundtrack but there were some songs that have a different meaning when seeing it staged. I think Satisfied is the best example. The song has totally different meaning in the show than just listening to the music. The set is simple so as not to distract. The lighting is excellent. The cast was obviously not the original, but James Monroe Iglehart is playing Lafayette/Jefferson. He is great, he looks like he's having so much fun. We got an understudy Hamilton and the whole cast seemed really happy for him. He's the only one that his own bow. But he's not the sole lead. If you really think about it, he's a co-lead with Burr, and even with Eliza. These are all meaty roles. Their story lines are all complete. They each have something profound to say about history. That's what you get from an excellent historian like Ron Chernow. He really understood these characters and it shows in how richly developed they are.

On the Basis of Sex (2018)

On the Basis of Sex is a fine biopic with solid acting. It's a pretty ordinary telling of an extraordinary life. It focuses specifically on one case in Ruth Bader Ginsburg's illustrious career. The movie does not benefit from choosing to spotlight a tax case. Yes, obviously it is the case that "topples the whole system" but even she knew that there is nothing interesting about tax law. The courtroom scene, I presume, is dramatized. I'm not going back to the court transcripts, but I have to imagine that Ginsburg, the brilliant perfectionist she is, didn't botch her submission. Like many biopics, it ends with words on the screen detailing what happens next. It ends with a short sentence on her confirmation vote of 96-3. But that's of little significance. Ginsburg is a pioneer in the women's rights movement. Who cares what the confirmation vote was? It really detracts from the theme of the movie.

Lazzaro Felice (2018)

This Italian magical realist movie is like something out of a dream. It moves cautiously, slowly, ethereally. The movie is so mysterious, you never quite know what to make of it. You have to sort of just enjoy the ride. I'll give you a hint--Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. That's the second half of the movie. We are transported (or returned) to a contemporary impoverished city, and the contrast to the first half is stark. It's still slow, and it's more challenging. There is a feeling of melancholy that pervades the whole movie; but even through disappointment Lazzaro is happy as per the title. It's a really interesting movie, but I admit I don't know what to make of it. I'm not sure what the ultimate message is. But it has stuck with me.

House of Cards (2013-8)

It's the show that put Netflix on the map. And I think that's why they kept it around for so long; they just couldn't bear to see their firstborn go. But since then, Netflix has introduced a full slate of original programming. Some of it is bad, some of it is good, and some of it is excellent. House of Cards was all those things. Season 1 was excellent. House of Cards dove deep into the most obscure clauses of the Constitution to make interesting drama. But after a certain point, it got so ridiculous and aimless that it was hard to care anymore. Each season introduced new characters that I could neither keep straight nor invest in. I think it's when Frank finally became President that it really became unredeemable. That would have been a fine place to stop; he achieved the pinnacle and the show could end. But they kept going and in the subsequent seasons, there's only one moment that stood out for me. It was the scene at the Democratic Convention with the rousing music from the titles. Even good acting can't save this one. And when they got rid of Kevin Spacey, they another perfectly good opportunity to call it quits. But they kept going and I didn't follow any of the final season. One thing worth noting is House of Cards brought much needed jobs to Baltimore and more shows taking place in the Beltway should consider filming in Charm City.

Cold War (Zimna wojna) (2018)

2018 was the year that two foreign auteurs directed very personal black-and-white dramas placed within a wider political context. Roma and Cold War are both beautiful; both directors are Oscar winners; and the movies are being distributed by competitors Netflix and Amazon. Roma is getting all the press and I think it's because Cold War is a more difficult movie. They both move very slowly but Cold War is thematically darker. Though there is tragedy in Roma, they experience joy. Even when Wiktor and Zula are madly in love, their joy is brief if they're feeling joyous at all. Eastern Europe in the Cold War seems miserable.  This is not a happy musical. It is melancholy. It is depressing folk music. Folk music doesn't really excite people the way it apparently used to. Even the jazzed up version is the depressing kind of Parisian jazz. The leads are alluring at both ends of the spectrum. Mirroring the Cold War that heats up and cools down, their relationship is all over the place. They separate and get back together, back and forth, and the actors are fabulous in both states of togetherness.

Three Times (最好的時光) (2005)

Three Times is a triptych, three separate stories on the related topic of love featuring the same two actors at three periods of Taiwanese history: A Time for Love (1966), A Time for Freedom (1911), and A Time for Youth (2005). The line between beautiful and boring is blurry. A Time for Love is literal perfection, 5 stars. A Time for Freedom is also very good, 4 stars. But the last third, A Time for Youth, is nearly unwatchable and really dragged it down for me. I'm afraid there's something I'm missing. I just did not understand the last one. There are not many words said. Not much needs to be said. Love is communicated in looks and The Platters over billiards (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is such a cinematic song, used in 45 Years too).And if you think there was little dialogue in the first third, just wait till the second third, entirely silent, but with notably more dialogue in intertitles. And the accompanying piano music is extraordinary. I can't find sheet music online though. I get echoes of Wong Kar Wai's trilogy of love stories told through Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung--maybe because they're Chinese but I like to think it's the evocative visual poetry of Mark Lee Ping-bing. Hou Hsiao Hsien's camera placement is so careful. It moves very little because he's already found the perfect spot. He is undoubtedly slow and that's not bad...but slow does not even begin to describe A Time for Youth. He does period pieces better than contemporary ones.

Bumblebee (2018)

I'm happy to say that Bumblebee is actually an enjoyable Transformers movie. It's an homage to the eighties, full of eighties music and design. Is it kind of cheesy? Sure, but eighties nostalgia is going to be kind of cheesy. It's undeniably fun. Hailee Steinfeld is a refreshing lead in a series that once featured Megan Fox and Shia Labeouf. Why not have a brave, independent female lead with a penchant for cars? Don't let her pop star turn make you forget that she is Oscar-nominee Hailee Steinfeld. The ending is really unique. The charming love interest tries to make a move and he is rebuffed. She evidently doesn't dislike him but she's not ready. And that's that. It's not creepy and he doesn't make a big deal about it. On the surface it appears anticlimactic, but the movie is not actually about them. Her transformation comes through her friendship with Bumblebee, not the boy. The studio must have made them add in the boy, but the filmmakers showed 'em just whose movie this is.

The Mule (2018)

I admit I missed the first ten minutes. But I think I got the gist. Clint Eastwood plays Earl, an old man who was never there for his family. As a result, he is estranged from his family. His good driving record allows him to become a drug mule for the cartel. And no one ever suspects this crazy old gringo that's just trying to enjoy life. His family wasn't what gave him joy in his earlier years. And he realizes he was wrong. The movie is actually quite enjoyable. Clint Eastwood is intense. His acting is effortless; he basically variations of the same character in all of his later movies, but you suspect that's just him playing himself. He's not charming like Robert Redford, he's more stereotypical old white guy. Nonetheless, the story is engaging as we just wait in anxiety for the law (or the outlaws) to catch up to him.

Minding the Gap (2018)

Bing Liu has quickly become an essential filmmaker, documenting American life with humanity and empathy. Along with Chloe Zhao, he makes another Chinese-turned-American filmmaker turning a camera on middle America. This film making process is deeply personal for Liu. There is some amateur footage from his early teenage years and he has honed his craft beautifully. The visuals are striking and his storytelling ability is developed far beyond his years. In his debut, he vulnerably puts himself in the hot seat in addition to two of his friends. They know each other from their shared hobby, skating. And we come to learn that each of them skate to escape something, different problems in their home lives revolving around the same theme of domestic violence. Airing the family's dirty laundry for an audience is profoundly brave and therapeutic. You get the feeling that these kids have never talked about their problems out loud, but that being encouraged to is liberating.

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.

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".