The Little Drummer Girl (2018)

I usually find John le Carre's spy thrillers to be slow and boring. But honestly I thought The Little Drummer Girl was a brilliant slow burn. It was intense and legitimately thrilling. It's a tight six episodes. The Mossad don't mess around. They recruit an English actress to go undercover and infiltrate a Palestinian group plotting terrorist attacks in Europe. What's especially interesting about that is that she's an actress playing a part. Of course, that's all undercover work, but it's not usually framed as acting. Usually, the spy has certain sympathies but we're never quite sure where her sympathies lie. She waivers because she's an actress first. In the Mossad agents too, Gadi acknowledges that they may not be the good guys. That's a devastating admission for a spy. 

Park Chan-wook's production is ravishing. The colors, the composition and the camera movement are distinctive Park.  After watching Decision to Leave, I wanted more Park and I'm glad to have finally checked this one off the list. I hadn't realized what a great starry cast he had but was pleasantly surprised. The undercover actress is played by a never better Florence Pugh. She is good in everything. Her handler is played by Alexander Skarsgard. He too plays a part, her target. It allows her to rehearse and learn her character. It reminds me of In the Mood for Love because as they role play, they too begin to fall in love. They blur the line between acting and reality. Michael Shannon plays the leader of the Mossad team and he is fantastic.

The Shape of Water (2017)

This is a brilliantly, confidently composed creature/romance movie. It may seem like an odd combination, but Guillermo del Toro knows exactly what he's doing. It works on both levels really well as he waivers on neither front, including an out of place yet appropriate black-and-white dance sequence.  The whole concept derived from an (allegedly real) Islamic poem del Toro remembered coming across is very creative. The beast is a gorgeous, intelligent, godly anthropomorphic sea creature.  He is just a pawn in the context of the Cold War. But to Sally Hawkins's mute janitor, the creature is so much more. They connect on a deeper level beyond the superficial romances Hollywood typically produces. There are a number of amazing underwater shots that I'm assuming must have been computer generated. I don't know how else everything could have been so perfectly suspended in the water. The production design transports the audience to 1960s Baltimore, which contrary to Michael Shannon's villainous words, seems pretty cool. The acting is fantastic all around; shout outs to Hawkins (did she learn sign language?), Jenkins and Spencer.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Tom Ford's second feature film has the visual style that you would expect from a designer. The cinematography is striking. The use of color and bold costuming is fitting with the dark theme of the movie with the West Texas twang. The acting is phenomenal across the board. I especially liked Michael Shannon's performance, but he is good in everything. Aaron Taylor-Johnson surprisingly won the Golden Globe--no one was predicting that. He is good, as a crazy person, but the role isn't as interesting as Shannon's. The casting of Isla Fisher is brilliant because it's like a little inside joke that she looks exactly like Amy Adams. At first, I couldn't tell if she was supposed to be playing a young Amy Adams, but it's a separate story line (though very purposeful). The writing is drawn out making the film thrilling and suspenseful and multilayered. Tom Ford is a storyteller too. He can just do it all. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. Every time Amy Adams had to close the book and just take a break, I was breathing deeply right in sync, my heart beating fast. 

Loving (2016)

Loving is a beautiful movie I missed at Cannes. It is an understated love story directed deliberately with such control. The movie is not about the case that made them famous. That is almost an afterthought in the final act of the film. It is not a legal drama. It is a movie about love and life, simply following their daily life. The audience is never allowed to forget that our heroes thrust into the spotlight are just people. They just want to go on with their lives normally. Love is love. Joel Edgerton plays his role with sensitivity. And Ruth Negga is simply radiant, acting with careful restraint. The movie doesn't build up to some grand big monologue. No, it's thoughtful, it simmers and it stays with you. It is people like this that foster change in our society, who are brave enough to quietly fight the system. The relevance of the film in today's society is not lost on Jeff Nichols. 

Midnight Special (2016)

This movie has a Steven Spielberg feel to it. It is his brand of science fiction. It is a little bit Close Encounters and a little bit Super 8--all very prominently feature the night. It is about a young boy with mysterious powers who needs to get to the right place at the right time for something. It is all shrouded in mystery. There are three parties who have competing stakes. One party is the FBI, joined by Adam Driver from the NSA. Adam Driver is a little subdued, he kind of under acts. It is the same bland delivery of lines as in Paterson and Star Wars. Sure, I guess it fits the role but it's always the same with him. Another party is a religious cult that reads prophecies from the boy's powers. And the third party is made up of Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, and Joel Edgerton. All three of them are excellent. I particularly liked Shannon's intense performance as a concerned father. The movie is engaging and mysterious, not to mention visually striking. 

The Runaways (2010)

This biopic about Cherie Currie and Joan Jett of the Runaways is a very stylish film by music video director Floria Sigismondi.  It is a very formulaic biopic following the typical plot of the protagonist's rise to stardom and subsequent fall (in the music industry, it's usually drug-related).  Child star Dakota Fanning and Twilight star Kristen Stewart play the two leads.  Stewart is uncanny in her portrayal of the pioneering Joan Jett.  She captures her style, her attitude and her drive, proving once again that she is a much better actor than appeared in Twilight.  Dakota Fanning transforms into Cherie Currie representing the wild glamour of the punk rock scene in the 70s in Los Angeles (and in Japan where the Runaways were a huge hit). Visually, the movie is kind of trippy and the extreme low angles are disorienting.