First Man (2018)

Damien Chazelle is our American wunderkind. In many respects, he shares similarities with Xavier Dolan, the Canadian counterpart. They even kind of look alike. Chazelle takes a page out of Dolan's book with a format change a la Mommy. Except when Dolan does it, it's pretentious and forced, we watch a box format for the whole length of the movie so he has the chance to stretch it out in one scene. Chazelle does it more seamlessly, and with better finesse. The moon landing scene is filmed in glorious IMAX 70mm, while the rest of the movie is on beautiful grainy 35mm or 60mm. Film ain't dead.

Linus Sandgren's cinematography is breathtaking accompanied by Justin Hurwitz's hypnotic score. What's really extraordinary is how intense this movie is. Much like Chazelle's brilliant Whiplash, he manages to make something that is not obviously intense unbearably intense. Despite knowing how it's going to turn out, it is still exciting. We are fully immersed in the space missions, with the shaky cameras, close-up shots, and thrilling soundscape. We feel the anxiety that Gosling's enigmatic Neil Armstrong does when a mission fails. At the end of the day, it's not actually about the moon landing. It's a character study on the Armstrongs (yes, Janet too), one of whom happens to go to the moon. Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy are both excellent.

Game Night (2018)

Game Night is fun. It kept me awake on the plane. The premise is way out there, but the actors play along. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams especially are quite good. It's kind of funny not in a haha way but in a situational absurdist way. It's so ridiculous, it works.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

By no means is it a fun film. No, it's about as depressing as it gets-. I really appreciated the storytelling. Kenneth Lonergan's script is well developed, unfolding in stages, weaving in flashbacks seamlessly, slowly revealing how our characters became the characters they are. It is an emotional story made more so by full fledged characters. Casey Affleck plays the troubled brother of the deceased. He is very good, dealing with grief in his own way. His expression does not change when he is first informed of his brother's death. Grief is a process, and we watch him go through various stages. Lucas Hedges, too, is excellent. His is another approach to grief. He provides some comic relief to the audience. What is perhaps so impressive about the characters are how real them seem. That's why it's so powerful.

Carol (2015)

Carol is a gorgeous love story by Todd Haynes,  a pure romantic drama at its core. Haynes is a master of his craft, creating a beautiful depiction of 1950s New York (the costumes!). Haynes loves the time jump and there is one major time jump in the beginning that is not immediately obvious but very important and well executed. We start in the future and witness the dynamic between Carol and Therese from a third party perspective. Then we go back to see how their relationship evolved interestingly alternating perspectives between Carol and Therese.

The screenplay is very well written. The story moves along very slowly, but that is all the better to bask in its beauty. What moves the film forward is the music. I love the score. The piano plays heavy chords in the recurring theme that are mostly steady save for a single measure that is played in double time. It is subtle, but it builds anticipation just enough. The music adds to the mysterious atmosphere, along with the clever cinematography. Many of the images are indirect, like how Therese sees the world through her camera and how we watch reflections in murky windows. It adds to the aura, as does the divine (yet undoubtedly mysterious) Cate Blanchett.

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are both brilliant. They both show extraordinary vulnerability and immense passion for each other. Their love is forbidden in their time and it tortures them so. They show restraint. They are simply a joy to watch.