A to Z Challenge 2020 - Films That Begin With “S”

Serenity (2019)
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke
Brief Thoughts: I’ve seen Serenity on “worst of the year” lists, and... I can only assume it’s people who didn’t actually see it but heard about the twist. I don’t know, maybe these people watching movies like this and not getting it are real, and maybe it’s just people who didn’t see it and just couldn’t fathom the results. I mean, both are certainly possible. But the movie itself is completely legit. The hook is the classic thriller material surrounding the proposition Anne Hathaway makes Matthew McConaughey concerning her husband Jason Clarke, but the movie actually and quite deliberately revolves around McConaughey. The logic is sound, and the results are one of the best movies I’ve seen in recent years.

Seven Pounds (2008)
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Barry Pepper, Woody Harrelson
Brief Thoughts: Much like Collateral Beauty nearly a decade later, Will Smith stars in an intellectually and emotionally complex movie filled with moral quandaries, which few Hollywood stars are likely to do once, let alone twice in their careers. Naturally, both are overlooked in the list of Smith’s impressive accomplishments.

Sicario (2015)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin
Brief Thoughts: The movie that made Denis Villeneuve a truly undeniable talent, an unflinching (with Emily Blunt as our guide) look at police tactics in the drug trafficking trade. The sequel, which isn’t directed by Villeneuve but reunited Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, is a more than worthy follow-up, with a brilliantly-staged, unsettling act of terrorism setting its stage.

Sideways (2004)
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh, Virginia Madsen
Brief Thoughts: Might as well be subtitled “For the Appreciation of Unexpected Pleasures,” the film that proved Paul Giamatti, after years of brilliant supporting roles, could carry his own weight. And at the same time, forced a reevaluation of Thomas Haden Church. And proved that Sandra Oh had a long career ahead of her. And gave Virginia Madsen her her most notable role. And yeah, suggested, at least as far as Giamatti is concerned, that I probably ought to skip merlot.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Director: Kerry Conran
Starring: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie
Brief Thoughts: Along with Sky Captain there’s the two Sin City movies I could be talking about here, in how audiences (and critics) seem inexplicably and irrationally afraid of advancing filmmaking techniques when they help usher the future of art in the medium. In any other era (just imagine! film noir being rejected as “ostentatious”) this would have been unthinkable. But that’s how we do things now...

Source Code (2011)
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
Brief Thoughts: One of my favorite movies, a classic time loop narrative that takes a giant intellectual leap at the end that solidifies its place in film lore for me. Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright end up embroiled in a dispute as to what exactly they’re accomplishing, while the heart of the film concerns Gyllenhaal’s relationship with Michelle Monaghan. It’s a movie that fires on multiple cylinders, and rewards on all of them.

Stick It (2006)
Director: Jessica Bendinger
Starring: Missy Peregrym, Jeff Bridges
Brief Thoughts: A movie (and storytelling) genre that’s not usually my wheelhouse, but I’ve been obsessed with Stick It since randomly deciding to watch it in theaters. Missy Peregrym plays a rebellious gymnast coached by Jeff Bridges, in the role where he officially became a personal favorite.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman
Brief Thoughts: Will Ferrell’s Truman Show. Or his Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Brilliant surreal experience. Doesn’t get near enough attention.