Abominable (2019)

Yes this co-production between Dreamworks and Chinese studio Pearl Studio is charming and inspirational. Yes it's centered around a young Chinese woman who breaks the animated heroine mold. Yes the animation is stunning at times making for a visually breathtaking film. So why did Abominable feel so average?

In reality the story being told here is the story told 100 times before in animated adventures. A missing parent and the void that creates. An outsider needing to be brought back to where they come from. Disparate characters brought together on a quest. There really isn't anything new here. While I appreciate the film expands on who can be the hero of the story, it still just tells the same old story, and within that it doesn't really offer us as much new as everyone thinks it does.

Other than redundancy I don't really have any issue with the movie. It is good for what it is. I think it will appeal to mainstream audiences for that very reason, how comfortable and accessible the story is. I just wants something more...

Abominable
Starring: Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tasi Chin, Michelle Wong
Writer/Director:  Jill Culton

Parasite (2019)

I am not a huge fan of director Bong Joon-ho. None of his films, despite being popular and trendy, thrill me. I don't hate any of them and have enjoyed them enough. But I don't see the reason film buffs fall all over themselves for him and his work. Parasite might be the film that turns a corner for me in my appreciation of his work.

Parasite begins as a comedy of errors, almost a Three's Company episode which starts to get more and more absurd as it progresses, but also as it progresses it gets darker and darker, until it becomes a almost terrifying, before ending on a note of hope, tragic but palpable hope. The film is funny even as it becomes disconcerting and uncomfortable. Bong Joon-ho has been interested before in class stratification analysis but Parasite might be his most daring and complete critique of social hierarchy. He merges recent masterpieces Us and Shoplifters into a comedy which makes you truly uncomfortable.

Parasite isn't without its flaws in my mind. The film's story is truly absurd and requires quite a bit of suspending reasonable doubt. At times this hurts its message. If the film had only aspired to be the absurdist comedy of people hiding under the table and mistaken identities, perhaps this would be easier to swallow but due to the heavier overtones that end up taking over, they are weakened by this.

But the power of the performances and the Bong Joon-ho's pacing, deliberately placing us in the hearts of the characters, on all sides, makes it worth suspending that belief enough to get there. The film is entertaining and engaging all the way through and takes us successfully to its end, and ending which will bring a little tear to your eye. And it will certainly make you think about it after.

Parasite
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Jang Hye-jin, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam
Writer/Director: Bong Joon-ho

Rambo Last Blood (2019)

Oh my God this film is boring. At less than an hour and a half it is a snooze fest where people spout platitudes for a while until they finally get into some action. It takes a while to get going and once it does it just overdoses on gore. It feels like they just had ideas for over the top action sequences and didn't quite know what to do with the rest of the run time.

You could get into the way the film infantalizes women, sterotypes Mexicans, and sets up men to be the protectors. Men can't be good the film posits, they can either use their evil to overcome worse evil or be the worse evil. It's a sick and twisted view of the world but really audience lapping up this stuff don't like to think about stuff. They just want their action and have it justified in simplistic terms so there really isn't much reason to deconstruct all that is ethically irresponsible about Rambo Last Blood.

It's hard to believe the man who makes the Rocky/Creed films also makes the Rambo films.

Rambo Last Blood
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Yvette Monreal
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Writers: Matthew Cirulnick, Sylvester Stallone

Monos (2019)

There is a moment near the end of Monos, just as the film is starting to reach it's climax, where writer/director Alejandro Landes throws away any pretense and shows us that he is telling us a Lord of the Flies story. He puts a pig head on a spike and has it covered with flies. His version of this story, set in the modern context of Latin American civil unrest, is a powerful update of that morality tale, that examination of the dark side of human nature, as it doesn't separate its audience from its subject by putting them on a desert island, but setting it in a modern reality.

As a film, Landes has made a stunning work of art. Monos is gorgeous and painful. It wrecks you while it fills your eyes with the kinds of sights and sounds that impact you emotionally and aesthetically. Monos takes advantage of its beautiful setting and the stunning cast but it is Landes eye for capturing the colours and textures of the scene which truly makes Monos so riveting to watch.

Monos' story is one of true tragedy in the classic sense. Landes chooses not to dwell in the depths of that tragedy, often moving on quickly to the next chapter, and all of that makes it even more unsettling as we are left to deconstruct what we are experiencing. So we are left shell shocked, rocked by how astute Landes' look into how we can justify horrors and how separated we get from our ideals.

Monos will be one of the more challenging films you see this year and it is all the more reason to let it take you.

Monos
Starring: Julianne Nicholson, Moises Arias, Sofia Buenaventur
Director: Alejandro Landes
Writers: Alexis Dos Santos, Alejandro Landes

Judy (2019)

It is good to have Renee Zellweger back. She takes this tour de force role and owns it, making an incredibly watchable tribute to a legend and reminding us that she is a tremendous actor. Actors playing famous actors have a unique challenge is making sure they don't fall into parody or mimicry but also making us see that actor and not themselves. Zellweger pulls of a fabulous performance.She pulls off the singing remarkably, paying highest respect to Garland.

I'm not sure there is anything truly revelatory in Judy. Hollywood planted the seeds of destruction in her, the way the Hollywood machine does to women in its industry, and eventually those seeds destroyed her. But along the way her magic shone through and inspired people, even when she was struggling the hardest. But that rather predictable story doesn't stop director Rupert Goold from making a lush and delicious movie which is entertaining and tragic like its subject. Judy is a delight to watch with just the right amount of rose coloured glasses and lavish production numbers making this film a treat for audiences and a love letter to Garland.

Judy
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Jesse Buckley, Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Finn Witrrock, Royce Pierreson
Director: Rupert Goold
Writer: Tom Edge

Ad Astra (2019)

Find the biggest screen you can to this gem on. A deeply personal and intimate story told on a vibrant mega canvass. It is the universe in one person.

Director James Gray is making a name for himself by making not quite mainstream films of high quality both in terms of story telling and visual dynamics. Ad Astra might be his magnum opus. Each scene is a gorgeous painting. You could take a snap shot of any frame and hang it on a gallery wall. The art direction and cinematography are astounding. Yet little of that would matter without what is important here, a beautiful and painful little story of huge emotional significance.

Ad Astra is best seen without knowing anything, and I don't give plot details unless they are essential to understanding the critique anyway. But I can say this is a film about fathers and sons or the distance between them, the loss of connection between masculine identified generations. And it's told, as men tell stories, across the entire galaxy. The film's story does take a few cheap shots, requiring us to suspend some disbelief at plot points which are more than unlikely, but I think most will forgive it for the sheer power of the narrative.

This is Pitt's film as hardly any other character has near the screentime he does. The supporting case from to the always compelling Donald Sutherland to the fascinating Ruth Negga all steal their scenes, but it is Pitt who carries this story and does so admirably.

Beautiful and powerful and surprising. Despite its emotional tone, Pitt's calm characterization (a plot point), and a rather plodding pace, Ad Astra is never boring. The film surprises with intense moments of heart racing excitement creating a perfect balance with the somberness of the rest of the film. In so many ways Ad Astra finds just he right balance between all its contradictions.

Ad Astra
Starring: Brad Pitt, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, Tommy Lee Jones
Director: James Gray
Writers: Ethan Gross, James Gray

Downton Abbey (2019)

As someone who has never seen an episode of Downtown Abbey (the series) I cannot comment on how the film works in the context of the series. Perhaps it will meet all the fans' hopes and dreams. I hope it does. I cannot contribute to that discussion. The only thing I can comment on is whether the film of Downton Abbey works for audiences who have never watched the show.
I will say that for fans of the show whether or not the film is entertaining for the rest of us doesn't really matter. The film could exist solely for the purposes of satisfying long time fans. But, wouldn't it also be a treat if the rest of us could pick it up and enjoy it as well?

There is a lot to take on here. There are endless characters and back story which have to be sort of introduced and glossed over so the film can start its story and suck us in. I felt writer Julian Fellowes and director Michael Engler did a pretty efficient job of setting up the world of Downton Abbey for the uninitiated. I got enough of a sense of who's who and why's why even while recognize that likely there is a great deal of richness behind each face and around each corner that would make it even more satisfying. But for what I needed to get into this singular tale, the film sets it up in a satisfactory manner. I did feel I was likely missing what could have made it truly magical but the only way to remedy that would be watch through the series first.

The film wastes little time getting right into its story. The film cleverly creates a moment in time to focus on through its plot device of the King and Queen coming to visit. It focuses the characters' intertwining histories on a single event which can be followed easily. It also creates a delicious disruption to the status quo which is gripping. Downton Abbey has a very classic upstairs/downstairs tension vibe and this plot perfectly exploits that. But I'm not sure as someone who is not dedicated to this Downton world already the entirety of the film works.

There are elements such as a brief royal assassination plot which falls pretty flat. It has a long set up and then just is dropped. Also I have to admit after all I had heard about the scenery chewing Maggie Smith does in this show I was disappointed the film doesn't exploit this to a very impressive degree, even in light of the way it sets up her rivalry with Imelda Staunton. The fireworks just were rather mild.

But other parts of the film are charming and touching. I found some of the plotting of the downstairs staff fun and entertaining if, it wasn't overly revolutionary. Also a plot exploring the danger posed to homosexuals in the era is played very well. But even in these moments the film lets me down a bit. It all gets resolved a bit too easily and without a lot of satisfactory solutions. Perhaps it has to do with just fitting too many stories into 2 hours. Or perhaps the film just isn't interested in wrestling with some of the difficulties raised in these stories.

The film looks at the injustices of the British class system in almost each story but never fully embraces attacking those injustices. The film (and likely its source material) is so enamored with the system it can't fully critique it. Characters never fully do what it takes to abolish the systems which we are to be frustrated with. So it pays a bit of lip service to our modern values but remains a celebration of a way of life that is based on a highly stratified culture. 

So perhaps Downton Abbey, the film at least, but I assume the series as well, just isn't quite what I'm looking for in entertainment. As I said, I am sure that for fans of the show this film is the bees knees, and I do think overall it works for an audience that hasn't followed the series. I'm just not sure it offers enough to that audience. I think most of what could make this film special is tied into the love its audience must have for these characters and these stories. Without that larger connection the film feels a bit... common.

Downton Abbey
Starring: Maggie Smith, Matthew Goode, Imelda Staunton, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Penelope Wilton, Allen Leech, Jim Carter, Robert James-Collier, Phyllis Logan, et al
Director: Michael Engler
Writer: Julian Fellowes

Hustlers (2019)

Heist movies are fun and have a very strong appeal. writer/director Lorene Scafaria has embraced her genre by telling a tantalizing caper that is stylish and colourful and a fun trip. She also embraces her subject, making her strippers fully realized women who are in control of their lives in the way the men who are usually the stars of these sorts of stories are in control of theirs. Her stars are sexy and smart and talk like adults. She's made a film starring women of colour who live in the real world and make their own dream fantasy out of it.

Scafaria doesn't sugar coat her heroes. They aren't Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. They are living breathing adult women who live in a world that treats them as a commodity and find a way to make that work for them. We're used to seeing men do this. They can behave "badly" and be heroes. These women take that on.

The set up is classic heist. We get to meet our heroes, their situation presents them being desperate enough to cross a line, and the opportunity to take advantage of bad marks. And then the plan goes into place and we're along for the ride. But perhaps Scafaria understands that this sort of fantasy doesn't play out like it does in the movies and decides her movie is too honest to play tricks at the end. So she rounds out her story in a way that's a bit more realistic then the Oceans' movies.

With a cast doing some of their best work and the film maker at the top of her game (so far) Hustlers turns out to be a winner.

Hustlers 
Starring: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Styles, Keke Palmer, Lizzo, Cardi B, Mercedes Ruehl, Usher
Writer/Director: Lorene Scafaria

The Goldfinch (2019)

Perhaps some stories work better in novels.

The Goldfinch, lushly shot in soft lighting with a cast who can act circles around anyone, ends up being an anemic snooze over which it is hard to muster any emotions. It has the sort of plot which is common in award winning books filled with unlikely characters and meaningful coincidences. But what it doesn't have is the sort of story that is interesting to watch people go through. I am a big believer that no novel is "unfilmable." One just needs to find a way to take the story and make it cinematic. Unfortunately pretty lighting just isn't enough to save this rather pretentious story.

Filled with all the Hallmarks of awardsbait The Goldfinch attempts to tell a grand meaningful narrative but barely manages to tell a compelling tale. Each and every character is a 2 dimensional set of cliches who are everything your stereotype of them would have them be. At the centre of this is a poor damaged boy who convinces himself he's done something terrible even thought we're all clear that he hasn't. He is the most vanilla of vanilla characters and since the whole movie hangs on how we're supposed to feel about him, and it's ever so hard to have any feelings for him, the whole movie ends up feeling lifeless. No one around is anything more than a stock character and he has no soul whatsoever. The film lurches through its unlikely coincidences and then wraps up in the most unbelievable manner in the last 20 minutes by having a character explain what happened off screen.

This is not how you make a novel like The Goldfinch "filmable."

The title refers to a painting referred to throughout the film. If ever there was an object in a movie that is the textbook definition of a "McGuffin" this is it. The painting is so irrelevant to the plot and the character's journey yet the story acts like everything hinges on it. This highlights what is essentially wrong with the film, a film that has so little to say and is about no one and nothing.

The Goldfinch
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Nicole Kidman, Jeffery Wright, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Ashleigh Cummings, Denis O'Hare
Director: John Crowley
Writer: Peter Staughan

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)

I was cautious going into Brittany Runs a Marathon, a film which sells itself as an inspiring story of a "fat" woman who "improves" herself through exercise. Yeah it's a pretty problematic plot line. These sorts of things tend to end up fat shaming the characters we're supposed to love despite their size, and celebrate them as they shed the pounds. The trailer fell into all the typical jokes and patterns we would expect from this sort of thing. But it also centres on Jillian Bell who is hilarious and magnetic to watch, so I hoped the film wouldn't be as troublesome as it suggests.

And it wasn't. From the get go Brittany Runs a Marathon is a much darker, complicated, and nuanced film than the trailers make out. It's adult and smart and tackles the very problem I laid out with sophistication. Brittany's problem isn't her size or her looks, it is something more devious than that and the film handles it all in ways that are both clever and affirming... and funny. Without spoiling the film I can say the film starts out with her feeling she needs to loose weight. But it quickly comes to her that she needs to let go of why she thinks she needs to loose weight. It needs to be about something else.

Bell is the star of this show and she delivers on all counts. She does a very good job on the dramatic elements, making her Brittany feel completely authentic. And she is as funny and entertaining as she always is. Her interpersonal relationships with those in her life feel real and inspired. There are a few moments where the film feels like it rushes some plot elements, for example her romance transitions from annoyance to friendship to sexual feelings fairly quickly. This is likely more a product of the film's run time than the script itself. Her chemistry with her supporting cast is top notch.

Sure Brittany Runs a Marathon hits all the notes one would expect in a film like this but it does so with style and grace, and by exploring the themes a bit deeper. There is a moment with a side character which is extremely moving where forgiveness is given which touches on so much of what the Brittany in all of us is struggling with.

So Brittany is a little guilt free indulgence, a sentimental journey which crosses the finish line.

Brittany Runs a Marathon
Starring: Jillian Bell, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Michaela Watkins, Lil Ray Howery, Micah Stock
Writer/Director: Paul Downs Colaizzo

It Chapter Two (2019)

For me It works best when it is being a drama about the horrors we face as children and the way we reckon with that as adults. When It's trying to be what it's sold as, a horror film, It tends to loose me. Perhaps even more so with Chapter Two than the first film. As I am not a fan of the novel, with its dues ex machina resolutions and its reliance on horror cliches, the films have both been an improvement for me, but some of the problems with the book seep through for me into the films. But there are ways that the films do reach me and transcend some of Pennywise stuff.

For me, the moments when It is working is when director Andy Muschietti focuses on the characters, their interpersonal relationships, and their personal growth. I enjoyed the way the characters in the first film as children each faced the terrifying things in their lives, reminding so many of us of the things we survived. In It Chapter Two we get to see the legacies of those developmental moments, the ways adults are broken by their pasts, and the healing that come come through connection. It is in these moments when It shines and offers something more. The best horror always finds something to offer its audience beyond scares, something cathartic and cleansing.

But perhaps some of the success of the first film hinders this one a bit. Like with The Lord of the Rings, the runaway success of the first film gave permission to err on the side of excess. The film is long and likely doesn't entirely need to be. There are parts where I truly appreciated the film taking its time to tell its story, but other times when the film seemed to be playing up stuff that just didn't add value or emotional weight. The film, like the first, is heavy on the CGI and although its good CGI, never looking cheap, it also never feels quite real.

It as a story suffers from so lack of constraint. The evil entity at the heart of the tale is never defined, which in someways is good but in many ways it means the film can just have it do whatever the film needs it to do taking away any sense of real threat. The parameters of the confrontation are never laid out clearly so what happens often feels random, without purpose.

But the biggest downfall for me was that I want a horror film to scare me and It doesn't scare me. The film relies on what we are supposed to be scared of (clowns, creatures with crazy teeth, naked old ladies???) as opposed to building up real fear and existential dread. So when we cut away from the stories of our characters and their wrestling with their own demons, we are then supposedly entertained by jump scares and CGI effects. It never quite did it for me.

But once it comes back to the heart of It, the story of who we are and how that is formed through the adversity we face, the film becomes fascinating again. Muschietti is a beautiful director how can tell a compelling story. For me the horror part just wasn't all that compelling.

Still, overall this is my favourite telling of this narrative. For me it had more impact than the book or the TV series.

It Chapter Two
Starring: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Skarsgard, Jay Ryan, Bill Hadar, Isaiah Mustafa, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Wyatt Oleff, Teach Grant, Nicholas Hamilton, Xavier Dolan
Director: Andy Muschietti
Writer: Gary Dauberman

Good Boys (2019)

Good Boys is exactly what you would expect. Pretty much down to every joke. With little surprising or shocking and a heavy dose of adorability, Good Boys ends up being perfectly average. In all its attempts to be provocative it fails to be at all. Mildly amusing, sailing by mostly on the charisma of the three leads, Good Boys is forgettable but somewhat charming. Especially with its messages of friendship. So for all the hype of what this movie could be, it ends up being just another film with sex jokes, mild ones at that.

Good Boys
Starring: Jacob Trembly, Keith L Williams, Brady Noon, Will Forte
Director: Gene Stupnitsky
Writers: Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky