Chloe Zhao's The Rider was my top pick for 2017. Werner Herzog said it restored his faith in cinema. I agree. The Rider is docu-fiction, which means that the people in the film play versions of themselves and acting out scenes that are true to their real lives. Set in the Heartland of South Dakota, The Rider follows a young Lakota horse trainer and rodeo rider as he reconciles his life and limitations after a traumatic head injury that prevents him from continuing as a rodeo rider. This film is so beautiful! Do It! 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 Toni Erdmann is a miracle. I went to see Toni Erdmann because I didn't feel like going to a sobfest, I wanted to laugh. I thought "a 3-hour German comedy? How could this possibly work?!" Let me just say, it worked. It really really worked. I can say with confidence that not only was Toni Erdmann 900 million times better than anything I could have imagined. I have also never laughed so hard at a German-anything before. This is a bizarre story about a goofy aging dad who goes to visit his daughter who lives and works in Romania. He creates a goofy character, Toni Erdmann, complete with nutty wig and silly teeth. And so, the daughter plays along halfway mortified. This film could have easily veered into cringe comedy territory. I loathe cringe comedy. I don't think humiliation is funny. Somehow, Toni Erdmann avoids meanness and sticks with silly fun. Without saying too much, Toni Erdmann is reminiscent of a Mike Leigh anti-farce. 5/5 Science Fiction is not my go-to genre but a good Sci Fi is always a good thing. I tend to prefer quiet slow movies, so this being both quiet and slow, as well as being a stellar Sci Fi, has a lot going for it. This film is about a linguist hired by the US government to find a way to communicate with aliens who have come to earth with a message that needs translation. This is a meditation on language and making meaning, the nature of communication, and about meaningful connections. Amy Adams is excellent as the linguist struggling to translate and make sense of the mysterious, visual language. Villeneuve is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. 5/5 Bright Lights is a documentary from Fisher Stevens about the incredible mother-daughter relationship between Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. This doc provides unprecedented access to the behind the scenes lives of the two screen legends as Debbie battles some health issues in her old age. Carrie Fisher is my idol -- for her books and being a brave face of Bipolar disorder and less for Star Wars, though Leia is a legendary badass -- so this was very exciting for me to see Carrie in action after reading all of her books. One aspect that I knew very little about was Carrie as a singer and part of her mothers nightclub act. Fascinating, entertaining, touching, fun, and funny! 5/5 If I could rename Wakefield, I'd call it A Selfish Man. It's been a month and I still do not know what to think of Wakefield. I was very tired, which didn't help. I admittedly watched a portion of this film through one barely open eye. That said, this was the world premiere of the film and I don't think anyone knew quite what to do with it. No one really laughed, and I feel like this is one of those films where experience hinges on audience reaction. It was adapted for the screen by Robin Swicord, who also directed the film, from a short story of the same name by E.L. Doctorow. The film was largely produced and financed by women, and this makes it a curious beast. The film's premise is that a married business man lives out a midlife crisis turned psychotic break, festering in resentment, when he suddenly decides that instead of returning home one night he'd spy on his family from the attic of the adjacent garage. The film has little dialog and is, instead, comprised mainly of voiceover narration. The result is disturbing, problematic, and bizarre. 3/5 Through the Wall is an Israeli romantic comedy about a hasidic woman who wants to get married but doesn't have a groom. It's a little predictable, but what romantic comedy isn't? Are we ever actually surprised by the coupling at the end? No. No we are never surprised. Through the Wall is quirky and funny and cute and delightful. It's easy and breezy with the right amount of silly and sad. It was a little as though Muriel's Wedding and My Big Fat Greek Wedding had an Orthodox baby. I enjoyed this one. Give it a try! 4/5 I love a good boxing picture but, in my opinion, they are tough to pull off. I am already bored to death of the straight-ahead Aristotelian three-act structure, in general. Apply it to the rise-fall-redemption classic fighter/warrior narrative and it's usually snore city. Bleed For This is up against all the same tired tropes and cliches of that dull old boxing movie narrative and, alas, it is also a bio pic. I find bio pics extremely difficult to pull off. Again, they tend to conform to this predictable three-act structure, and the majority of them end up largely fabricated; It's always dizzying just how invented most bio pics end up. Bleed For This is running up against a brick wall, trying to be both a good bio pic and a good boxing pic. As a boxing pic, it is as standard as they come. He rises, he falls, he is redeemed; sorry to spoil it for you. As a bio pic, it falls into all the trappings of cripspiration. This is the story of the working class, New England lightweight boxer Vinny Pazienza, who broke his neck in a car accident but wore the Halo brace, trained against doctors' orders, and made a comeback in the ring! The story is impressive, and yes, it's inspiring. Yet, it still manages to be utterly mainstream about it all. Miles Teller, Ciaran Hinds and Aaron Eckhardt are all terrific. The performances are the truly the film's saving grace. This is no Creed. If you like bio pics and you like boxing pics you will not be disappointed. If you want something fresh, exciting, new that doesn't rely on cliches about the triumph and the human spirit and overcoming disability, you will probably leave unfulfilled. 3/5 Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary is a new film that explores the life and music of famed jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. While the subject matter, footage, and interviews make for a fascinating look at Coltrane it is also fairly standard, by-the-book documentary that formally has nothing new or interesting to deliver. That said, the film itself is a compelling watch. 3/5 |
LindseyHere is where I post new reviews as I see films throughout the year. Archives
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