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Movies From The First Quarter Of 2019


I've promised myself I'd laugh more in 2019, so I've been watching a lot more stand-up and I've also made decided to venture into some British (and soon American) TV series'. My film list might look a little slower, but nothing can be worse than the last two years. I am committed to getting back to exercising my mind and watching classics. Just not every night. I have Oscar winners to catch up on; some new, some very old.

The Top Three: Winter, Sleep, First Man, The Age of Shadows
The Bottom Three: Mandy, Neruda, The Innkeepers
The Biggest Surprise: Eighth Grade
The Biggest Disappointment: The Avengers Trilogy as a whole
Best Series: River 

  1. Bird Box - Tense, amazing acting, social commentary, homages. It lived up to the hype!
  2. Marvel: The Avengers - Fun, tons of action, corny humor. Comic book comes to life
  3. Avengers: Age of Ultron - nowhere near as much fun as The Avengers.
  4. Spider-Man: Homecoming - Great fun despite the lack of a bigtime villain.
  5. Avengers: Infinity Wars - Action-packed, decent humor early on, but lacks depth. 
  6. Annihilation - Trippy, but wondering if it is really as shallow as Ex Machina
  7. The Night Manager (series) - Hiddleston's best work. Bier's direction is incredibly tight!
  8. A Scandal in Belgravia - Lare Pulver's Irene Adler is worth the rewatch. Sherlock S2 E1
  9. Watchmen - Revisited one of my favorite comic book movies. Still amazing and relevant.
  10. The Truth About Alcohol - Silly documentary dispelling myths that were already dispelled.
  11. Russell Brand: Rebirth - I like Brand. He's smart, funny, and charming. This was a snoozefest.
  12. Tumbbad - Slow burn, literally. The ending may make it worth it. May have to try again. 
  13. Lucero - Solo descent into madness. No dialogue. At a brief 69 minutes, it works. 
  14. Treasure Planet - Animated Disney adaptation of R.L. Stevenson classic. Works well.
  15. The Long Good Friday - Epic Hoskins, plus solid, as always, Mirren, makes for a fun ride.
  16. Ted Bundy Tapes - Not much new information, so a bit of a waste. Surprisingly stale.
  17. Sebastian Maniscalco: Stay Hungry - One of the worst standup acts I've ever seen.
  18. Bill Hicks: One Night Stand - Still relevant and always hilarious
  19. Bill Hicks: Reflections - Great social commentary and always that biting wit!
  20. Morgan - Amazing cast makes up for a dull script and missed opportunities. 
  21. Venom - Great fun and often quite funny. Hardy is perfect and good chemistry with Williams.
  22. Morvern Callar - Morton is tops, but feels disjointed. Influenced by Varda, Influenced Korine!
  23. Polar - Graphic novel comes to life. Comic book feel, Mads is good, Hudgens is better. 
  24. Frozen River - Melissa Leo & Misty Upham shines in this simple story of desperation. 
  25. River - Exquisitely written, incredibly acted British drama with a dazzling cast. Amazing! 
  26. Neruda - Horrible script and acting with gimmicks that simply don't work. Bernal is trash! 
  27. Winter Sleep - Caylan does it again with an epic film about those rich and poor; in every way.
  28.  Inside the Mossad - Fascinating documentary inside Israel's incredible intelligence outfit
  29. What Makes A Psychopath - Average documentary with tiny glimpses that are scary. 
  30. Cargo - Feature adaptation of brilliant short horror film. Not as good, but acting is good.
  31. Ron White: If you quit listening, I'll shut up: Often hilarious, but pretty much standard Ron.
  32. Ant-Man and The Wasp - Good fun, but not as good as the original. 
  33. Leave No Trace - Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie are amazing. Film just misses greatness.
  34. Zodiac - Revisited this for 4-5th time. It gets better each and every time. Amazing cast!
  35. Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale - rewatched for hot pockets. Hilarious!
  36. Three Monkeys - Ceylan's early work is tedious but shows glimmers of his vision.
  37. The Emperor's New Groove - Fun Disney film. Familiar funny voices make it better.
  38. First Man - Exceptional look at Neil Armstrong, the man, and the struggle. Foy is superb!
  39. Hold the Dark - Consistently misses the mark. Riley Keough needed a bigger part.
  40. The Innkeepers - Ti West norms: Bad direction, bad writing, bad story.
  41. Sixteen Candles - Hard to not cringe in today's climate and that doesn't excuse the 80's.
  42. Only Lovers Left Alive - Only my second viewing since 2015 and I still adore this film.
  43. Mandy - Over-hyped Nic Cage horror flick that tries to look unique, but fails miserably
  44. Eighth Grade - Wonderful coming-of-age story. Elsie Fisher and Josh Hamilton are perfect
  45. The Kirlian Frequency - Animated short miniseries starts strong, fades, then ends well.
  46. The Silence of the Lambs - Yes, again! I love this movie more each time! Foster! Hopkins!
  47. Solo: A Star Wars Movie - Much better than the last six movies. Interesting side characters.
  48. The Age of Shadows - Another epic adventure by Jee-woon Kim. Stunning, as expected. 
  49. Forgotten - Korean drama. Starts off slow, gets interesting, then somewhat silly.
  50. Broadchurch (Season One) - Solid acting saves it from red herrings and predictable end.
  51. Broadchurch (Season Two) - Absolute rubbish, saved (almost) by Jodie Whitaker.
  52. Broadchurch (Season Three) - The best of the lot, despite not a likable male character.
  53. Martial Arts of Shaolin - Standard Shaw Brothers fare, with very young, charismatic, Jet Li.
  54. Jim Gaffigan: Beyond The Pale - And the world was given "Hooooot Pockets!"
  55. Jim Gaffigan: Cinco - Hilarious as usual.
  56. Jim Gaffigan: Obsessed - Gaffigan in Boston talking about what he talks about best.
  57. Jim Gaffigan: Mr. Universe - Not my favorite of his, but still better than most
  58. Close - Noomi Rapace action flick is much better than it's getting credit for.
  59. The Favourite - Acting, music, and Cinematography is A+, but the story is painfully dull.
  60. Marie Kondo
  61. The Bride with White Hair - One of the best martial movies ever made. Huge surprise.

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