Skip to main content

July and August Movies - 2018

  1. The Salesman - My least favorite Farhadi film is difficult to say, as it's so powerful.
  2. Luther - Feels like Prime Suspect with better co-stars, with Ruth Wilson's Alice Morgan is tops!
  3. III - The Ritual - Russian fairytale which is as beautiful as it is haunting.
  4. Good Time - Robert Pattinson definitely shines, but this one has me on the fence.
  5. Jaws - For probably the 2000th time. Still amazing how good this film is. 
  6. Jim Jefferies: This Is Me Now - The man is hilarious, often with stinging social commentary.
  7. The Tag-Along - Taiwan horror folklore is reminiscent of some Japanese films but works well.
  8. Manhunt - A John Woo films I really didn't like. Felt like an odd homage to himself!
  9. Thoroughbreds - Yelchin's last film. More like a play, which works, but confines it. 
  10. !2 Years A Slave - Slow start, somewhat uniform storytelling ends powerfully. 
  11. A Quiet Place - Lacks any tension, despite what people tell you. Complete dud.
  12. Spring Breakers - See my blog if you want to know my feelings. I'm so confused/torn.
  13. The Break with Michelle Wolf - Binge-watched every episode so far and it's hilarious.
  14. Rear Window - First time in over 30 years. It's lost a bit, but the setting is always a pleasure.
  15. Chimes at Midnight - Welles and Co shine. The acting outshines any lags or flaws. 
  16. The Idiot - Kurosawa's take on Doevstoyosky. Laboriously long, but the acting is top notch. 
  17. Red Sparrow - Great cast makes up for some shaky writing and tons of cliches. Entertaining!
  18. The Flowers of St. Francis - Rossellini's almost whimsical tale of the greatest saint.
  19. The Man From London - Bela Tarr takes patience, but a handful of scenes make this worth it.
  20. The Snowman - Amazing cast. Decent plot. Nicely shot. What a dud of an ending though. 
  21. The Magician - Ingmar Bergman's personal film about public rejection. Simple and solid. 
  22. Sucker Punch - CGI and beautiful women. Not bad, but the soundtrack elevates it greatly. 
  23. Trespass Against Us - Fassbender, Gleason, and terrific supporting cast keep it above water.
  24. Unsane - Shockingly below average being it's Soderbergh. Cast tries, but too many gimmicks.
  25. Trespassing Bergman - Some of the best actors and directors discuss the Master.
  26. Lake Mungo - Horrible documentary-style horror film

Top Three: Chimes at Midnight, The Idiot, The Flowers of St. Francis
Worst Three: A Quiet Place, Lake Mungo, Manhunt
Biggest Surprise: Spring Breakers
Biggest Letdown: A Quiet Place

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

White Privilege

This was a post I wrote on Facebook after surprisingly not seeing any moaning about the Documentary by Jose Antonio Vargas, titled White People Dayyum! I just scrolled my timeline and not a single white person got their feelings hurt by White People. I unfortunately haven't seen it, but the number of fake accounts that popped up on twitter, tells me it was a damn good show. Here's the thing. If someone of color aka non-white says "White Privilege," are you offended? If you said yes, then you are exhibiting white privilege. It has nothing to do with how hard you work or study, how you stayed out of trouble, because here's the thing, that is entirely the point. Somewhere out there, there are 100 Black, Spanish, Native American, Arab, Asian, who worked and studied as hard as you and never got in trouble, but they don't have what you "earned" or achieved. Stop looking at the one person you know who isn't white that achieved as your benchmark. Loo

11 Rules of Life - Bill Gates?

I read this on Facebook this morning.  A friend had posted it and said that every child should have to receive this. I of course read it and started to think.  I immediately wondered who really wrote this, as I rarely see things like this attributed to the proper person.  I immediately found it was written by Conservative Charles J. Sykes when he wrote a book about how America is dumbing down our youth.  I read it twice and started to wonder how true it was.  Below is a link to the actual picture I saw. So let's look at each of the rules and analyze them. Rule 1: Life is not fair — get used to it! - Life is not fair in that we are not all afforded the same opportunities based on race, creed, color, socio-economic background, but in general, those who are afforded the same opportunities to succeed are very often rewarded for their individual efforts.  Sure there may be underlying circumstances, but hard work is proven to pay more often than not and those who strive for succ

Quickie Review - Finding Vivian Maier

While I thoroughly enjoyed the film, especially the first 15-20 minutes, I was a little bothered by the way the film played out. The interviews with the clearly disturbed brother, sister and the mother, who obviously, was in for a cut, didn't need to be in the film. Then the woman who suggested abuse, yet seemed to have her life defined by Maier, as she tried to muster every ounce of emotion and fake guilt. Her friend, more than happy to be party of the charade. People who talk about abuse for the first time, usually don't do so on camera. The fact these scenes were so prominent, shows that they felt wronged that they were not rewarded. Maloof on the other hand, seems to disappear from the documentary during this part, almost hiding away from the fact, he went from complete praise, to even making money off of her, to destroying her personal legacy. He almost mentions the family of boys taking care of her rent, as an afterthought. Her burial spot, never shown, yet a video of her