A to Z Challenge 2020 - A

Here’re some movies that begin with “A”:

A Ghost Story (2017) 

Directed by: David Lowery (The Old Man & The Gun)

Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara

Brief Thoughts: Lowery is unquestionably one of the best directors working today. You don’t have to worry about him being poached for a blockbuster project, since that already happened (Pete’s Dragon), an artist in the order of Terrence Malick who crafts his movies with exquisite patience, with increasingly fascinating results. It took Malick decades to reach the breakthrough that was The Tree of Life; Lowery’s first major release (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, which also stars Affleck and Mara) was released a mere four years prior to Ghost Story, which spends its time obscuring Affleck under one of those traditional bedsheet looks as he watches time progress for Mara, and eventually later occupants of his house.

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

Directed by: Seth MacFarlane

Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris

Brief Thoughts: MacFarlane is far better known for his TV show Family Guy and the movie Ted, but for me he will probably never top Million Ways, a ruthless western satire that will forever appear irrelevant to movie fans who can’t make room, for one more movie,  next to Blazing Saddles. Fun fact: Theron and Neeson later made appearances in MacFarlane’s Star Trek tribute series The Orville. Features Neil Patrick Harris’s fourth most iconic performance, after Doogie Howser (pretty sure I’ve never seen this show), Dr. Horrible, and Barney Stinson, but his best mustache ever, and the best song  about mustaches ever. I mean, if that is not praise enough, I do not know what is.

A Monster Calls (2016)

Directed by: J.A. Bayona

Starring: Felicity Jones, Liam Neeson

Brief Thoughts: Jones plays a mother dying of cancer. My mom died of cancer the year before the movie was released. Watching it (and reading the book on which it’s based) was part of my grieving process. Originally I wasn’t sure how much of the story’s impact came from the confluence, but I think I’ve settled into admiring the breathtaking creative achievement as much for its own sake as for its resonance. Doesn’t hurt to capture Neeson (there he is again) in a perfect vocal performance, one of his best parts ever, in a career with no shortage of contenders.

A Thousand Words (2012)

Directed by: Brian Robbins 

Starring: Eddie Murphy

Brief Thoughts: Maybe it’s because my first Eddie Murphy experience wasn’t Saturday Night Live or Beverly Hills Cop or 48 Hrs. (I still haven’t seen any of that material), but rather Trading Places, but I’ve never had a problem separating the legend from the talent. I watch movies like Bowfinger, Life, and A Thousand Words, and it’s the sonic genius in Murphy’s vocal performances (Mulan, Shrek) that I experience. The particular genius of Thousand Words is that it has Murphy play completely against type, forced to display his considerable physical comedy chops (an art that has been ignored since the golden age of film) rather than his famous mouth, in a twist that is usually reserved for Jim Carrey movies.