5Get Out is astonishingly fresh and new. This is a horror film from Jordan Peele, half of the comedy duo Key and Peele. That said, Get Out is far from funny. I'm not the biggest horror fan, but I've seen the essentials and appreciate when it's well done or thought provoking. Trading in the over-the top gore we've grown accustomed to, for something more sinister, works wonders here. Trading in torture-porn for a slow-burn psychological romp does the trick. This film is really something different, and it's about time. Also, what a GREAT cast! 5/5 |
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Moonlight is exquisite. This astonishing film is the second feature from Barry Jenkins (Medicine 4 Melancholy, 2008). Told in 3 chapters Moonlight follows Chiron, a young gay man, from his schooldays in inner-city Miami, through high school, and into adulthood. Moonlight is based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell McCraney. This is the most beautiful, and important film of the year. I have never seen anything like this before. From the casting to the sound editing, Moonlight is stellar. Moonlight has won a lot of awards and I predict Oscars this coming February. Moolight is a MUST SEE! DO IT! 5/5 I often have a tough time with "Cripspiration" and stories of human triumph over illness. There's nothing really quite as dismissive than hearing from someone "Ooooh! You're soooo strong! You've been through so much! What a hero! What an inspiration!" No one is sick to inspire you. You're not a hero for having a chronic illness, that's just part of your daily life. It's heroic to be sick. That said, I quite enjoyed "Miss Sharon Jones!" the new music documentary from Barbara Kopple. Miss Sharon Jones! is about the soul singer Sharon Jones of the Dap Kings, focusing on a year in the life of Jones as she struggles to beat pancreatic cancer at the peak of her career. The cancer forced Dap Kings to delay their tour and record album Give Them What They Want in 2014. Jones was roughly 40 years old and a wedding singer when the Dap Kings started in the late 1990s, and she was nominated for her first Grammy for GTPWTW in 2014 at the age of 58. 4/5 Wake Up! Chiraq is a fantastic new Spike Lee joint. This star-studded satirical musical comedy is a modern retelling of Lysistrata by Aristophanes set in South Chicago. It's been a while since I've seen a Spike Lee joint. I'm a fan. Chiraq stars Jennifer Hudson, Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, John Cusack and, rounding it out, Samuel L Jackson. Here, Lysistrata convinces an army of women to vow chastity until there is world peace. It's extremely relevant and timely taking on gun violence, poverty, racism, sexism, and crime in the US. I loved this film! It's bold and new. I thought Samuel L Jackson was great as the narrator/Greek chorus and I thoroughly enjoyed the bold rhyme scheme. 4/5 Son of Saul is a Hungarian film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year. It is absolutely incredible. First of all this is a Holocaust film about 36 hours in the life of a Sonderkmmando at Auschwitz working in the gas chambers, and disposing of the dead. Yes, it's completely brutal. That said, it was not the most gruelling 100 minutes. This is achieved primarily in terms of its technical brilliance. This is a very quiet film, with little dialogue so you really are just watching this man go through this one particular day and you can't look away. The film stays with Saul the whole film, and makes ample use of moving camera with very long takes. The audience only sees and hears what Saul sees and hears. He is held in a medium close-up for the majority of the film. There are very few reverse shots, accomplished simply by falling behind Saul keeping both him and what he is seeing both in the same frame without cutting away. Likewise, the film lacks establishing shots. The effect is disorienting and claustrophobic. Son of Saul is simply not your typical Holocaust film. I tend to cringe when a new one comes out, not because the subject matter but because of my personal assumptions about Holocaust films being often exceptionally long and very brutal. While everyone should see at least a few, and I can certainly recommend some really excellent ones, it's a pretty vast sub-genre of the War Genre. I guess I'm trying to say that I am certainly not opposed to War or Holocaust films, I have to be in a certain mood and frame of mind before committing to something that I know will be so emotionally gruelling. When I walked into the projection booth and saw 6 absolutely pristine, perfect, brand new reels, it ceased to matter what kind of film it was. I was over the moon that the Telluride Film Festival was once again able to bring in a few prints to screen--most of the festival program is now digital, and most festivals are now strictly digital. Géza Röhrig (Saul) is riveting. He's not an actor actually, he's a poet and musician. He's VERY interesting, I recommend that you look him up on Wikipedia. 5/5 Dancing Arabs is the newest film by Eran Ricklis. This is a coming-of-age dramedy about a Palestinian Israeli boy who is given the opportunity to attend Jerusalem's most prestigious boarding school and has trouble fitting in but befriends a classmate with muscular dystrophy and who, over the course of three years, develops a secret relationship with a Jewish girl, Naomi. This is a delightful coming-of-age film that is lighthearted and enjoyable. Nothing too political or heavy here. I'm a Riklis fan and have to recommend The Syrian Bride. 3.5/5 Black or White is a family drama starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer. After the sudden death of his wife, a grandfather finds himself in the middle of a racially heated custody battle with the paternal grandmother of the granddaughter he has raised from birth--after the sudden death of his 17 yr old daughter during childbirth. This movie family dramas all over the place. I guess it's inspired by real events... Nothing's perfect, this is an adequate drama. The young Jillian Estell is great as Eloise the granddaughter. Bill Burr shines as the totally straight laced lawyer/friend. I've never been a Costner fan; he's solid here. 3/5 Middle of Nowhere is about a young nurse who drops out of medical school to stay nearby, while her husband is incarcerated. Then, 4 years into his 8 year sentence she meets a divorced bus driver and falls in love. This was stellar. David Oyelowo is magnetic. Emayatzy Corinealdi is brilliant as the wife, Ruby. This is a film by Ava DuVernay, who directed Selma, and its heavy and serious and sincere with just enough hope and light. Nothing schmaltzy or cheap here. More of this kind of stuff please! 5/5 |
LindseyHere is where I post new reviews as I see films throughout the year. Archives
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