2021 Capsule Reviews

The Last Duel

rating: *****

review: You can tell how lousy critical standards have gotten when a movie that would've been universally acclaimed twenty years ago, been hailed as innovative, and boasted career-defining performances is instead derided, ignored, shunned.  This is a masterpiece.  Besides Matt Damon and Adam Driver you've got Jodie Comer in a career-making role as each of their perspectives is tracked, separately, until the truth (Comer's) closes out Ridley Scott's spectacle (no one has come remotely close to matching him in terms of consistent achievement in historic epics).

The French Dispatch

rating: *****

review: Wes Anderson's most laconic film is basically a glorified anthology, in which he's clearly indulging himself.  Another great film that in any other era would've been celebrated as such.  This is what you get when the pandemic is still happening and streaming services are hogging all the attention.  No perspective.

The Courier

rating: ****

review: My biggest surprise discovery of the year would've been standard acclaim material in any other era: Benedict Cumberbatch in a spotlight as he suffers the depravities at the height of the Cold War.  If I hadn't randomly decided to watch it in the theater early in the year, I probably would never have known it happened at all.

The Green Knight

rating: ****

review: David Lowery has been one of the premier artistic directors of the modern era, but it somehow took for this for the mainstream to notice, and even then it wasn't hailed as the huge achievement it really is.  A classic retelling of a classic tale.

No Time to Die

rating: ****

review: The second and only other time critics actually liked Daniel Craig as Bond (Skyfall, basically a desperate attempt to justify Judi Dench in the franchise) is basically also the only time I didn't.  The audacity of No Time is that it dares to complete the story, which Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace had originally suggested was this version of the character's hallmark.  This, then, is the first time the story has an ending, that James Bond has an actual arc.  It's the Dark Knight Rises of 007.  It's a new wrinkle in the mythology.  

Boss Level

rating: ****

review: Qualifying as one of the miracles of the pandemic was the actual release of the much-delayed Boss Level from Joe Carnahan, which was the first of a one-two punch from him for the year.  A classic example of the time loop genre.

Snake Eyes

rating: ****

review: If not quite The Dark Knight, this is probably the closest we're liable to see anytime soon to G.I. Joe being taken seriously as a cinematic property.  Another unfairly dismissed film from the year.

Die in a Gunfight

rating: ****

review: What I'd like to consider an easy candidate for cult status, a retelling of Romeo & Juliet that also recasts the gang film genre into something more artistically ambitious.

Last Night in Soho

rating: ****

review: A spellbinding time travel experience that combines the unique charms of Edgar Wright and Abya Taylor-Joy.

Settlers

rating: ****

review: For my purposes I include only cinematic releases.  I'm not sure this was, but I don't really care, as it's worth the exception.  A fine space western centering around a young girl struggling to survive terrible circumstances.  Worth considering for cult status for anyone who bothers to seek it out.

Needle in a Timestack

rating: ****

review: Another genre spectacle, this time from John Ridley, involving more time travel hijinks in innovative ways, someone changing the timeline trying to find their perfect reality, and finding poignant results.

Judas and the Black Messiah 

rating: ****

review: Explosive drama featuring a standout lead performance from Daniel Kaluuya that would have been instantly iconic in any other...

The Mauritanian

rating: ****

review: The trilogy of great historic dramas concludes with this look at Guantanamo Bay.  Add Tahar Rahim to the list of those robbed of their just acclaim from the year.

Free Guy

rating: ****

review: This was basically Ryan Reynolds' audition for the Disney version of Deadpool.  A very rare original blockbuster idea for the modern era.

Belfast

rating: ****

review: Kenneth Branagh has been successfully navigating an era in which his kind of career shouldn't still exist, so he got to make a personal film along the way, a throwback to the kinds of movies they were doing back in the '90s.

Dune

rating: ****

review: Denis Villeneuve has stepped away from his solo auteur status to embrace his unique role as a successful director of auteur blockbuster adaptations.  An incredible ensemble of acting talent came along for the ride in this first installment.

Pig

rating: ****

review: The very rare exception to the modern rule that you probably won't personally be interested in Nicolas Cage's further career if you liked him in his earlier stages when he was doing serious material.

Zola

rating: ****

review: I found Taylour Paige to be exceptionally magnetic in this small-scale drama based on a series of tweets.

Copshop

rating: ****

review: If you loved Robert Rodriguez's early films you'll probably enjoy this second Joe Carnahan romp from the year.  Both are also excellent showcases for Frank Grillo, by the way.

Sing 2

rating: ****

review: I came for U2, but it was actually Coldplay that stole the movie for me.  Also some typical but enjoyable animated material around the music.

Death of a Telemarketer

rating: ***

review: Silly and yet enjoyable.  Haley Joel Osment pulls in a supporting role!  He looks like a teddy bear these days.  Put a few more years on him and I think he can use that for a career revival.

Chaos Walking

rating: ***

review: Spider-Man and Rey help each other survive a weird planet.  I think this was interesting.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

rating: ***

review: Maybe if they make enough of these they'll just let Tom Hardy exist on his own wacky terms with his goop doppelganger.

Old

rating: ***

review: M. Night Shyamalan rediscovering his classic footing.  A minor but welcome addition to his filmography.

Every Breath You Take

rating: ***

review: A nice actors' drama revolving around Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, and Sam Claflin.

The Little Things 

rating: ***

review: Denzel Washington, Jared Leto, and Rami Malik in another throwback to the '90s.  Well worth watching these guys work alone.

House of Gucci

rating: ***

review: Come for a much more odd Leto turn in a supporting role, stay for Adam Driver and Ridley Scott in a second, minor triumph to bracket the year together.  Marvel that Lady Gaga doesn't seem as wildly out of place as she did, when not singing, in A Star Is Born.

 King Richard

rating: ***

review: Destined to be known as the movie that led to the Oscars moment, this is also Will Smith's latest attempt to be taken seriously as an actor.  He got the Oscar to show for it.  But he kind of blew the moment anyway.

Our Friend

rating: ***

review: Affleck again, this time with Jason Segal, whose star potential is once again lost in a year that saw no point in paying attention to cinematic releases.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

rating: ***

review: If anything, this gimmick-infused belated sequel knew even better how to be frivolously enjoyable than the first one.

City of Lies

rating: ***

review: Well, it was still mandatory to shun Johnny Depp at this point, so there was no way anyone would admit this Biggie Smalls movie was worth anything.

F9

rating: ***

review: Very surprisingly for me, since I kind of got over John Cena and his shameless mugging years ago, but I think he proved a worthwhile addition to the series.

The Matrix Resurrections

rating: ***

review: I love the original trilogy, all of it.  This is a worthy and clever coda.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

rating: ***

review: Basically this whole era of Spider-Man only exists because the MCU was looking for a boost of interest.  Otherwise it's really had no clue how to justify itself.  This incredibly gimmicky third entry finds it in shamelessly bringing back characters and actors from the prior two.  But it works.

In the Heights

rating: ***

review: No one has a better grasp of smug self-satisfaction as Lin-Manuel Miranda these days.  The storytelling is decent.  He needs to work on writing actual songs.  He's capable.  He just doesn't want to.

A Quiet Place Part II

rating: ***

review: I still haven't seen the first place.  Presented no discernable problem to enjoying this one.

Mortal Kombat

rating: ***

review: A fine pivot into a more serious direction for the franchise.

Profile

rating: ***

review: Far more movies than you'd think believe the gimmick of presenting themselves solely from the lens of social media exist.  This one's worth watching.  It revolves around the horrors of terrorists recruiting unwitting victims.  This one is using herself as bait.

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

rating: ***

review: Both of these films are enjoyable throwbacks with excellent casts.

Voyagers

rating: ***

review: I'm not overly fond of material that actively seeks to make its audience uncomfortable, and so that's the weakness of this one (it costars Colin Farrell, although he's dispatched relatively early) about teenagers stumbling over themselves to survive a long journey in space.

Black Widow

rating: ***

review: The much-much belated solo film from one of the characters who debuted earliest in the MCU is fairly standard material for the franchise(s).

Nomadland

rating: ***

review: Periodically the Oscars insult the demographic it otherwise abhors by lavishing praise on movies that star Frances McDormand.

Wrath of Man

rating: ***

review: I wasn't really into Guy Ritchie earlier in his career, but I am now, and this was a fine way to help segue to what I consider 2023 being a career year.

Naked Singularity

rating: ***

review: I'll be honest; I really just need to watch this one again.  Mind-bending spotlight for John Boyega.

Reminiscence

rating: ***

review: Between this and The Fountain, Hugh Jackman seeks to corner the market in sleepy high concept dramas.  But it's nice to see him in something, anyway.  Always likeable.

State Like Sleep

rating: ***

review: I actually liked this one starring Katherine Waterston.

Lansky

rating: ***

review: A fine minor mob movie featuring Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington.

Spiral

rating: ***

review: To get me interested in the Saw franchise again, you really do need an infusion of Chris Rock.

The Virtuoso

rating: ***

review: A nice spotlight for recent Star Trek renaissance actor Anson Mount.  His narration as the start of the movie is itself worth watching to experience.  I guess I just like his voice.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

rating: **

review: Really, even before the climax proves to be an exact copy of the original, I wasn't as wowed as I expected to be by this.

The Suicide Squad

rating: **

review: I'm hoping James Gunn isn't as enamored with his weirder tendencies with his further DC duties than he allowed himself to be with this one.

Till Death

rating: **

review: Proof that Megan Fox is still hot even if she's handcuffed to a corpse.  So there's that.  Really not that bad.  Just not much compared to other movies.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

rating: **

review: There's really nothing wrong with this Angelina Jolie vehicle, either.  Just needed more, I guess.

Godzilla vs. Kong

rating: **

review: I actually haven't seen the whole thing, but from what I did see it seemed much more interested in continuing one of the two monster movies series than both.  But it's both anyway.

Midnight in the Switchgrass

rating: **

review: The latter-day Bruce Willis has now been explained, so we all understand what's happened to the quality of his acting and career.  I caught this one since it was filmed and had its premiere here in Tampa, and has an interesting title.  Will watch again at some point to see if it's worth anything.

Lady of the Manor

rating: **

review: For years now critics have been trying to convince me that Melanie Lynskey is worth more than the character of Rose in Two and a Half Men.  I think this movie officially convinced me otherwise.

Crisis 

rating: **

review: An excellent cast.  Not the firebrand it otherwise wishes it were.

Licorice Pizza

rating: *

review: I'm just not a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, I guess.  I find him needlessly indulgent.  This particular version of his work stars the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is no Philip Seymour Hoffman, but Paul Thomas Anderson will indulge his belief that he is anyway.

The Flash (2023) Review

the rating: ****

the story: Barry Allen attempts to rewrite his own history, and instead breaks the timeline.

the review: It's going to be completely impossible for anything resembling a reasonable popular consensus on the DCEU to exist for years, decades.  Its proximity to the height of the MCU created a huge distorting effect in much the way DC and Marvel in the comics have competed for top placement for sixty years.  Simply put, their coexistence could not be reconciled by the mere weight of pop culture.  The Flash is a last attempt to conclude the DCEU, in the most dramatic way possible, and to my mind a hugely successful one, although it has features that are admittedly hard to appreciate.

Chiefly, its special effects, especially the crucial depiction of the Speed Force, where Barry Allen watches outside regular time the effects of his speedy travels.  After the high water mark of Quicksilver's appearances in the X-Men movies, the superpower of speed was always going to be difficult to depict in a truly satisfying way.  Actually, The Flash opens with a scene that tops them, improbably saving the lives of a bunch of babies while looking like it's the last thing on his mind.  I work with babies.  This is the kind of scene that will win easy bonus points for me.  Otherwise, Barry looks unreal on his feet, in ways Spider-Man never did slinging through New York City in the Sam Raimi movies that set the new bar for the genre twenty years ago.  But it's because, dude's ability is running.  This is never going to look awesome.  Not if you're forced to depict it.  

There's really no way around that.  But the story itself is absolutely killer.  Geoff Johns first wrote this story in the breakthrough event comic Flashpoint, which has already been adapted twice, once in the Flash TV series (third season) and the animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, which like the comic depicted Barry brutally electrocuting himself with lightning to try and get his speed back.  For me this is iconic material.  For me, when Barry has to say goodbye to his mom at the end of the film, it means more than Rocket Raccoon, the b-plot in his starring role for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, gets some kind of comeuppance.  It's earned.  

And around that, you've got Barry, the version of Barry Allen that could only exist as portrayed by Ezra Miller, essentially first and foremost essentially starring opposite himself.  And then you've also got Michael Keaton returning as Batman.  This was heavily promoted in exactly the opposite way as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield showing up in Spider-Man: No Way Home (uh, spoiler?), since you can't hide such a crucial point.  In a lot of ways, it's almost the whole point.  We're in an age where seeing old stars in old roles is supposed to be the selling point.  This isn't even nostalgia but awareness that some franchises were abandoned, or changed, too quickly.  Keaton only made two Batman movies, and while one of them isn't as fondly remembered as the other, everyone was always bummed he didn't appear in the other two.  It's the same impulse that brought Connery back to Bond, eventually, at least for one more movie (even if it's technically unofficial), forty years ago.  This is really nothing new.

The movie climaxes on Barry's fight against himself, a third version who couldn't let go.  It's not really the fight with Zod, the deaths of Batman and Supergirl, although this part of the movie is directly addressing the DCEU, the controversial way Man of Steel ended, the "original sin" that needed erasing a decade ago.  Most MCU movies only ever have the one kind of ending.  Guardians 2 had "Mary Poppins," which is what redeems it for some fans.  That's a rare exception.  Usually the villain is meant to be the villain, and the hero just needs to defeat them.  They don't really learn anything.  They just move on to the next one.  For a long time, that formula worked, and a DCEU trying a different narrative was cognitive dissonance: "That's not what these kinds of movies should be doing!"  They're supposed to be emotionally simplistic.  Their ambition is just building to Thanos!  

In a lot of ways, the implosion of the DCEU resulted in something far more interesting.  The Flash might have been envisioned in its basic shape this way all along, but it has far greater symbolic meaning.  You get to see all those digital cameos, and even the official ones, because this is an ending.  Its story takes on greater resonance for it.  Barry needs to let go, and figure out that it's better that way.  Same, The Flash.  Same.

Asteroid City (2023) Review

the rating: ****

the story: Young achievers are unexpectedly at the heart of an unlikely alien encounter.

the review: So I've really gotten into Wes Anderson, finally, and predictably it's just when critics have gotten over him.  I mean, they've been over him for at least a decade, and I didn't get into him, really, until a few years ago, so it's not that surprising.  Of course I had to see Asteroid City.  Of course it was likely that I would enjoy it.  I expected to like it more, but I definitely liked it.  The appearances of Tom Hanks and Steve Carell actually created a kind of uncanny valley, that breaks the typical mold of total control on Anderson's part.  Most actors who appear in his films fit the mold perfectly; Hanks can't help but be Hanks, and the same is true of Carell.  Everyone else (Owen Wilson is atypically absent, but Jason Schwartzman, another longtime collaborator, is back in a starring role) very much fits in nicely.

"You can't wake up if you don't go to sleep."

That's how the movie ends.  This is not a spoiler.  Just as Amsterdam ends with each of the principle characters reciting the eponymous city name to the audience, and Cradle Will Rock builds to the climactic moment from the 1937 play it's built around, Asteroid City concludes with the cast of stage actors reciting this line.  How much you appreciate the movie is likely tied to how much thought you put into it.  The movie preceding it plays out along two separate tracks: one is a presentation of a play, and the other as if the play were happening in reality and not on a stage.  Schwartzman's character pulls himself out of the play when he struggles to understand why his character chooses to burn his hand on a grill, and so clearly Anderson's intent is for his audience to figure out his intent, too.

"You can't wake up if you don't go to sleep."  There will be plenty of speculation about it for those interested, and so maybe this review isn't really the place for it, but the story pretty happily busies itself with the story of Schwartzman's character in the story trying to have an honest reckoning with himself and his young family, something he's been avoiding for the past few weeks.  Eventually an alien shows up (an absolutely perfect moment, a perfect marriage of Anderson's best live action and stop-motion instincts).  Around all this, as Anderson movies tend to go, a niche community (well, in this case, two) is explored, although it's not really the point, but how the community(s) reacts to circumstances.  

Me, I'd choose, if forced, to interpret the point of Asteroid City to warn against comforting complacency, that in order to make progress you have to challenge yourself.  But this isn't possible unless you're first willing to admit your complacency.

At any rate, Hanks and Carell are the signifiers that although this acts and behaves like a typical Anderson movie, it really isn't.  He is very obviously trying to make a point.  It's very possible this will raise Asteroid City's value for me, later, when I will have more fully digested the results.  But it's certainly another excellent effort on his part.

Marlowe (2023) Review

the rating: ****

the story: Private detective Philip Marlowe searches for a dead man.

the review: Some movies get dismissed by critics seemingly without their ever having watched them at all.  I assume Marlowe was simply because it was another Liam Neeson movie in the era of Taken, when he's chosen to star in an endless series of movies of that ilk.  The other reason would be the pointless crusade of the media to protect Old Hollywood by immediately rejecting anything that could possibly evoke it.  Raymond Chandler's Marlowe was of course the character Bogart played in The Big Sleep, one of his Big Three roles alongside The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.  

At its heart Marlowe is of course evoking classic film noire, but not as obviously as, say, the Sin City movies.  It isn't shot in black and white, for instance.  The storytelling beats are all there.  The end of the movie evokes Maltese Falcon, even Raiders of the Lost Ark, making a joke of the whole idea of the maguffin, since the real point was exploring the nasty secrets of Hollywood (apparently no way to make a living making movies these days).  Having recently rewatched The Third Man, I couldn't help but think of Marlowe as more that kind of movie, although of course its inversion, since Third Man famously stars Orson Welles, whom we don't see until about the third act, whereas Neeson is obviously the star of Marlowe and its "third man" is another very capable Mexican actor doomed to be ignored by mainstreatm modern Hollywood (hello, Die in a Gunfight!), who just so happens to sound like Brad Pitt.  The whole point of casting Neeson in a movie like this is to draw on the Taken mystique, to find Marlowe credible in all his story beats.  But Marlowe is otherwise nothing like Taken.  In fact, most of Neeson's Taken movies try to find some interesting variation.  I remember Unknown finding interesting things.  Marlowe has more in common with A Walk Among the Tombstones than Taken.  But critics want Neeson to star in another sad Irish epic like Rob Roy or Michael Collins, or Schindler's List.  Forget that they ignore stellar work in Silence, A Monster Calls.

The director is the reliable Neil Jordan, the screenwriter William Monohan, neither of whose work deserves such casual dismissal.  Neeson has Jessica Lange and Diane Kruger as his dames to kill for, the likes of Danny Huston (born for this role, possibly his best iteration of it, in such a pure state), Alan Cumming, even Colm Meaney, Adawale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (playing the role Dennis Haysbert did in the second Sin City, but a heroic version).

This is a version of classic Hollywood, sure, but the version that was possible to make in 2023.  You don't win any points by claiming "they did it better back then."  There are so many versions of so many stories told over so many thousands of years, you don't win points by stating, "they did it a hundred years ago."  Characters like Marlowe are liable to disappear if they don't resurface every now and then.  Eventually no one will care Bogart played him.  If he's no longer relevant, it doesn't matter.

This is an excellent way to bring him back around again.  If the critics want to contradict themselves and claim there's no point bringing Marlowe back and that it's just another forgettable post-Taken movie for Neeson...It's their loss.  For the art of film, this is everyone's gain.  A movie I was very pleased to press "play" again when there were things I missed.  

2020 Capsule Reviews

Crazy Samurai Musashi

rating: *****

review: Wow! In recent years an increasing number of filmmakers have pursued the "single tracking shot" concept, from Birdman to 1917 to even One Shot, and as far as I'm concerned it's always on the face of it impressive on that level alone.  Musashi is much like One Shot insofar as it's a horribly obscure movie, but it's such a brilliant execution of the concept, one samurai facing off against an entire clan, just a constant stream of sword-fighting, but always staged with keeping the action interesting.  For me I fell instantly and hopelessly in love with the results.  I doubt this even received a theatrical release in the States.  As far as I can tell distribution was negligible, and I only even knew it existed when I saw the movie at Walmart (and since physical media is rapidly declining, the chances of finding something like this outside an equally lucky find at Dollar Tree have only further diminished), and reviews have been hopelessly dismissive.  So this won't even show up in streaming platforms, probably.  I don't care.  I discovered it.  It's now one of my favorite movies.

Waiting for the Barbarians

rating: *****

review: Hollywood, and the press, and critics, often collude in destroying careers, and there's not a reasonable argument against this.  Barbarians costars Johnny Depp, in the period where everyone still believed he was probably the bad guy in the Amber Heard situation.  Now, of course, there's far more wiggle room, but people don't really re-evaulate movies, especially ones that were instantly obscure.  But this is another work of genius.  No doubt in my mind.

True History of the Kelly Gang

rating: *****

review: For me, Russell Crowe was one of the big cinematic heroes of the early pandemic, between his small role here and one of the wide releases that dared open in 2020.  Another hopelessly obscure work of genius.  That's three.

Emma.

rating: *****

review: Anya Taylor-Joy in a joyously inventive revisioning of the classic.

WW84

rating: ****

review: Everyone went gaga over the first one, but I instantly preferred this one, which was a better overall showcase for Wonder Woman, and had a memorable villain or two besides.  The opening sequence alone is a classic, and I guess I'm a sucker for ones showcasing someone in a cathartic flying experience, since I loved that best about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, too.

Tenet

rating: ****

review: Christopher Nolan was cinema's big champion that year, and he was widely criticized for it, but for me all I cared about was that Tenet was as close to matching the action scope of The Dark Knight as he'd attempted to that point.  I also love how it audaciously tackles the idea of combatting terrorism, which is basically the whole point of the movie.  Plus a lot of visual gimmicks to satisfy viewers who still think Inception was his best movie.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

rating: ****

review: One of the pandemic miracles, or so it seemed then, was the appearance of this late third entry in the series, thereby further solidifying Keanu Reeves as a modern master of franchises, if somehow anyone still doubted it.  Probably bolsters the reputation of the whole series.

The Gentlemen

rating: ****

review: Critics kind of fell all over themselves trying to explain why Guy Ritchie no longer had it (they're still trying to make the fatuous argument here in 2023), but at least this played out before the pandemic hit.  For me, a great cast, and a standout supporting role for my favorite actor, Colin Farrell.

Capone

rating: ****

review: I can think of very few actors who without the benefit of some scandal have garnered such undeserved scorn from critics as Tom Hardy.  For anyone else this would've been hailed as a genius showcase.

The Way Back

rating: ****

review: Gavin O'Connor has been one of my favorite directors of the past decade.  Ben Affleck has surprised a lot of people by how much they liked him in the same period.  Here they work together for an affecting sports drama that's heavy on the drama and light on the sports. A great combination.

Sonic the Hedgehog

rating: ****

review: The hedgehog is entertaining, but for me it's a hugely welcome spotlight and return to form for Jim Carrey after years of exile.

News of the World

rating: ****

review: For years I was uninterested in the movies Tom Hanks was making.  For me this was a comeback of interest.  Kind of a later spiritual sequel for Road to Perdition, but one that allows him to have a little fun, too.

Downhill

rating: ****

review: Wow, so Will Ferrell, I don't know if you've noticed, isn't as popular as he once was.  Downhill came and went I think without the pandemic affecting no one noticing.  But it's a great dramatic film for Ferrell, from filmmakers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, both still somehow highly underrated.

Greenland 

rating: ****

review: Gerard Butler can sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) seem as if he chooses projects without regard to quality, but this was an exception, a standout survival drama that feels like a blockbuster in the style of Independence Day, but keeping things at a strictly human scale.

Ava

rating: ****

review: I keep mentioning in these capsules how critics are inexplicably undervaluing major talent, and Jessica Chastain is a favorite victim of this.  Here she's combining her penchant for human drama with the needs of action films.  Another supporting spotlight for Colin Farrell.  He had a banger year for those.  I never have gotten around to seeing the Disney+ exclusive Artermis Fowl, in which Farrell is literally plugged into the movie post-production to try and save it.

Let Him Go

rating: ****

review: One of the benefits of starring in a critic-proof, stubbornly hugely successful TV series like Yellowstone seems to be Kevin Costner gets to once again revive his movie career, and this was well worth his time in doing so.

Unhinged

rating: ****

review: A critical darling for a few years, Russell Crowe fell from grace years ago, and it's only freed him to make increasingly interesting choices.  Here he's an unabashed villain.  Whatever publicity he gets now shamelessly mocks his weight gain, in an era that's supposed to be tolerant of such things.  So you kinda know how hollow such campaigns really are.

The Night Clerk

rating: ****

review: For me much of the early pandemic meant as releases thinned out there was at least a greater chance of minor films getting noticed, and many of them evoked classic Hollywood, and while all the attention of course instead went to streaming services (critics ended up being slavish in their new devotion, so that if awards are given out, they go to streaming releases almost exclusively), films like Night Clerk gave good material to stars like Tye Sheridan.

Bloodshot

rating: ****

review: An attempt at jumpstarting a new cinematic superhero universe for most viewers, even before the pandemic, was instead a nonstarter, with Guy Pearce gamely trying to rub off whatever remaining Memento magic he had on Vin Diesel.  But Vin Diesel never really has fans outside of the Fast & Furious movies, alas, even if he makes decent action movies out of the concepts driving them.

Birds of Prey and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

rating: ****

review: After the belated popular failure of Suicide Squad (one of those unpopular box office successes), even if Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was an instant icon, it really didn't matter what she appeared in next.  But for the life of me I don't understand ignoring an obvious spotlight like this, and object lesson in proving that no matter what's happening around her, she still shines.

Bad Boys for Life

rating: ****

review: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return for this belated sequel that revived interest in Smith's career, and wisely acted as if it was basically a Smith spotlight in the style of the bright '00s period of it.

The Burnt Orange Heresy

rating: ****

review: Like Night Clerk a bright throwback spotlight vehicle for a worthy aspirant, this time Elizabeth Debicki.

The Rhythm Section

rating: ***

review: Tagged with some of the worst reviews of the year (and before the pandemic!), this one stars Blake Lively and Jude Law, and it's a movie I'll need to revisit, since I remember liking it, but I have few specific memories of it.

The New Mutants

rating: ***

review: Holds the dubious distinction of being the last of the Fox productions of X-Men movies, with a troubled release date history that no doubt benefited from the pandemic for finally happening.  Not a bad movie by any means, but its existence in a vacuum is disappointing given how most of the other films in the franchise went out of their way to provide some tangible link to the rest of it, usually with a throwaway cameo or two.

The Last Full Measure

rating: ***

review: In a prior era this would've been a standard adult drama anyone would've known existed, but in this one it falls into instant obscurity.  Features the likes of Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Peter Fonda...Worth assembling such talent.

Mulan

rating: ***

review: For me the original animated version was Mushu (as voiced by Eddie Murphy).  This live action version doesn't even have Mushu.  But I guess the greater point of the story still stands.

Archenemy

rating: ***

review: After The Man Who Killed Hitler and then the Big Foot, I kind of wanted another cult-sized experience.  Joe Manganiello, as great as he is, turns out to not quite be Sam Elliott, but the results are still worth a look.

Irresistible 

rating: ***

review: It turns out Jon Stewart reuniting with Steve Carell wasn't quite the second coming of The Daily Show for critics.  But it's still a biting political satire well worth checking out.

The Hunt

rating: ***

review: A totally different political satire!  But worth watching, too!

Jungleland

rating: ***

review: Not quite Warrior.  But worth a look.

The Tax Collector 

rating: ***

review: David Ayer's career plummeted after Suicide Squad.  But that doesn't mean he's any less interesting a filmmaker. If you still like End of Watch, you'll like this, too.

Infidel

rating: ***

review: Jim Caviezel still gamely pursuing the audience of The Passion of the Christ.

Emperor

rating: ***

review: It's a testament to how shallow the movie era is when one of the most famous and infamous figures in American history, John Brown, shows up as a supporting character in this and the results are completely ignored.

The Vanished

rating: ***

review: There was a time when Jason Patric's unusual career choices interested critics.  That time is long past.  But this is another of those, and it's worth a look.

Fatman

rating: **

review: Mel Gibson has been pumping out b-movies.  They're not all terrible.  In fact he's made some brilliant choices!  But this Santa Claus thriller ain't necessarily one of 'em.

Legion

rating: **

review: Mickey Rourke was another critical darling tossed to the scrapheap whenever the mood struck them, and this is another lean period.  It was suggested his turn here was an embarrassment.  It isn't, and it's also the best reason to watch.

Robert the Bruce

rating: **

review: Another very belated sequel!  This one sees Angus Macfadyen reprise his most famous role, from Braveheart.  This one's less rousing.

The Empty Man

rating: *

review: Very, very unfortunately, James Badge Dale cashed in all his chips from his small-scale career revival for this mainstream horror movie.  If I ever try watching it again, it'll again and this time emphatically be for Dale alone.

The Warrant

rating: *

review: I remain a big fan of Neal McDonough, who I first saw in Star Trek: First Contact and later starred in the brilliant but short-lived TV series Boomtown.  This is a low budget western.  Alas.

2019 Capsule Reviews

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

rating: *****

review: Terry Gilliam's much-delayed masterpiece probably works better than it would have originally infused with Adam Driver.  I don't suppose critics were disposed to adoring the results anyway, so forget their lukewarm reception.  Gilliam is always just this side of genius, and sometimes is firmly on it, and this is his best film.  Absolutely worth all the hassle to get it done, worth the wait, and all the needless later loopholes to actually see it.

Yesterday

rating: *****

review: Critics were equally dismissive of this one, since they couldn't wrap their heads around the Beatles being popular today, and maybe it's because I'm unabashedly a fan, but I put well aside my usual apathy for romantic movies for this, and eagerly so.  Between the Beatles themselves, Across the Universe, and now this, I've witnessed the same songs executed to perfection in widely different ways.

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

rating: *****

review: Quentin Tarantino returns to the laconic form of Jackie Brown to rewrite history in a story about two lives that really had nothing at all to do with the Manson murders, but comment on the nature of living the film life better than anything I've ever seen.

Joker

rating: *****

review: Opinions range from brilliant to apathy, depending on how invested the viewer is in the legacy of the character.  The stairway sequence alone makes the results iconic, and Joaquin Phoenix a worthy successor to Heath Ledger.

Knives Out

rating: *****

review: Daniel Craig powers an ensemble that redeems Rian Johnson's reputation after The Last Jedi.

Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

rating: ****

review: At this point you were either onboard with the sequels or had already dismissed them.  I found the conclusion of Rey's journey, her relationship with Kylo Ren, to be perfect, a response and the antithesis to how things played out in the original trilogy (and even the prequels), daring to believe in hope in a most cynical age.

Zombieland: Double Tap

rating: ****

review: An underrated gem of a series in the modern era, and a worthy follow-up to the original, both of which I've grown to appreciate more over time.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

rating: ****

review: The bombastic third entry in this series turned it into a legitimate blockbuster, and knew exactly what it was doing, turning John's survival into a true epic experience.

Jojo Rabbit

rating: ****

review: Burned by my experience with Thor: Ragnarok, I was hesitant to follow Taika Waititi down this, heh, rabbit hole, but once I did, I fell in love with its unlikely magic.

Hotel Mumbai

rating: ****

review: The age of terrorism finds perhaps its perfect cinematic depiction in this unheralded ensemble drama.

Serenity

rating: ****

review: My appreciation for this one is possibly only beginning; where others were baffled by its twist, I thought it added to the movie's power, and all the same, became another great example of why Matthew McConaughey should never, ever be underestimated.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

rating: ****

review: Actresses often find it hard to star in truly worthy vehicles for their talent, and Cate Blanchett has been no exception, but this is one of them.

1917

rating: ****

review: Presented as one long cut, a truly harrowing depiction of WWI trench warfare.

The Standoff at Sparrow Creek

rating: ****

review: James Badge Dale saw a resurgence of interest from filmmakers at this time, and this was the best result, a riveting look at the preppers phenomenon.

Terminator: Dark Fate

rating: ****

review: Ever since the second one, this franchise has been hellbent at sabotaging itself. Dark Fate was the rare instance of everyone sort of agreeing to trust the results. I've generally enjoyed every film, but this one was a cut above.

The Lighthouse

rating: ****

review: Robert Pattinson has been keen to find oddball projects, and this was perhaps his most successful at getting the mainstream to notice.  Personally I need to watch it a few more times, since I find his performance to be unusually showy, but I guess others didn't.

Detective Pikachu

rating: ****

review: A genius depiction of the Pokemon franchise, starring Ryan Reynolds in another perfect role.

The Hustle

rating: ****

review: Trashed or outright dismissed otherwise, I found the comedic pairing of Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson to be irresistible (between this and Serenity, as far as I'm concerned this was a career year for Hathaway).

Dumbo

rating: ****

review: I'm not overly attached to much of Disney's animated canon, so this particular live action edition landed well with me, which was certainly helped along by costarring Colin Farrell.

Glass

rating: ****

review: Putting the focus squarely on the franchise's best character helped achieve a solid hit for me from Shyamalan.

High Life

rating: ****

review: I actually like this Pattinson (performance) better, but the films in this de facto ranking are still probably accurate in terms of overall worth.

Ad Astra

rating: ****

review: Falling in the same basic range is the similar Brad Pitt experience, made before Hollywood realized Tarantino was revitalizing his career.

The Upside

rating: ****

review: The film that made me a fan of Kevin Hart.  I guess I could care less for him as a strictly comedic performer, but he plays dramatic roles surprisingly well.

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot

rating: ****

review: The movie with the most ridiculous title ever is absolutely worth experiencing, especially the tense first half, which leads to getting to just spend time with Sam Elliott, since the actual climax isn't worth as much.

Ford v Ferrari

rating: ****

review: Christian Bale as a loose cannon racecar driver trying to prove Ford can make something good is worth Matt Damon not particularly clicking with the material, mistaking smugness for confidence.

Donnybrook

rating: ****

review: Another career seeing a bit of sunlight during this time was Frank Grillo, who unlike Dale carried the momentum further along.  Here he's stuck in a rut of being a thug, but it's still a far cry from not even knowing he was an actor in Warrior.

Under the Silver Lake

rating: ****

review: Basically the Andrew Garfield version of Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood.

Motherless Brooklyn

rating****:

review: Edward Norton made this one happen, otherwise he'd still be looking for another starring role. Also Bruce Willis' last shot at legitimate cinema.

Richard Jewell

rating: ****

review: I figure Clint Eastwood was being allegorical with this one.

Toy Story 4

rating: ****

review: For me the third one was needless rehash, but I figure there was actual new ground in this one, chiefly in the existential crisis of the toy that was made by a kid.  Although if there's another one they might validate the idea a little better.

Captain Marvel

rating: ***

review: Nothing wrong with it, except there's no way it can validate the hero's claim to icon status, which is the one thing it really needed to do.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbes & Shaw

rating: ***

review: If Johnson & Statham had to be relegated to their own vehicle (heh), it could've been worse.  

Frozen II

rating: ***

review: I still don't know what my niece thinks of this one.  So I don't really know, either.

Fighting with My Family

rating: ***

review: Being familiar with the source material, these results are okay, but at least they depict in cinematic terms The Rock's persona.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

rating: ***

review: Can't really compete with the poignant twist at the end of the first one.

Men in Black: International

rating: ***

review: There's nothing wrong with this, except it doesn't have Will Smith.  Or Tommy Lee Jones.

Dark Phoenix 

rating: ***

review: Kind of ironic that the end of the Fox franchise proper circles back to the point everyone thought killed it in the first place.

Avengers: Endgame

rating: ***

review: I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the whole Thanos experience.  They just didn't know what to do with him, so fittingly, he's barely in this one.  This is the definition of the MCU's villain problem.

Alita: Battle Angel

rating: ***

review: Nothing wrong with this one except it feels like small potatoes compared to most of the other things from the year.

Shazam!

rating: ***

review: As it turns out, if people keep saying your movies are too grim, it's not the appropriate response to make a movie that features a kid in the body of an adult.  The results aren't bad, but keeping them disconnected from everything else is definitely the wrong move.

Gemini Man

rating: ***

review: I have a full review with a much different rating (I'm pretty sure), but this one's more accurate to relative results.  I guess I really would rather watch Men in Black without Will Smith than two Will Smiths.  This is '00s Smith rewarmed.  He'd already moved past this kind of material.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

rating: ***

review: I just wasn't a fan of the MCU Spider-Man, until he was joined by the other Spider-Men in No Way Home (which like Far needlessly belabored the title of the first one).

The Secret Life of Pets 2

rating: ***

review: I'll clue you in on a little secret: usually when I don't have strong memories of a movie I don't include it in these things.  This one was close, and I only saw it at all because of my niece, and isn't exactly something I'd go out of my way to watch again (unless I was still living with her and she insisted, which could just as easily turned its reputation around).  But I remember enough.  It was basically a decent experience.  Gruff Harrison Ford.  That's what I remember most.

Hellboy

rating: **

review: I was never the biggest fan of the original films.  This one is a marked step down from them.

Midsommer 

rating: **

review: Florence Pugh is the golden child of critics these days (she also starred in Fighting with My family, which is probably the only reason it was taken seriously by them).  And mostly, I just don't get it.  This was one of her breakout movies.  I found it needlessly impressionistic.  Because it's really just one of those weird movies that desparately wants to be profound but isn't.  The exact opposite of the movie at the top of this.

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) Review

rating: ****

the story: The band gets back together.  Again!

review: The original Blues Brothers was so iconic, and so closely identified with John Belushi, it was always going to be a tall order to make another one without Belushi, who had been dead for years by the time production began.  Blues Brothers 2000 became, as a result, a poster child of unwanted sequels.  It does not deserve such a reputation.

Filling in for Belushi are John Goodman and Joe Morton, who are nothing like the brash Belushi, but who nonetheless step into the act with Dan Ackroyd in such fashion that you really have to be committed to hating the results to hate.  Morton, a reliable hand who has never gotten his due in general, has an actual plot behind his character, an arc that culminates in a tent revival scene that has one show-stealing (and for me, movie-defining) song, "John the Revelator," leaning heavily into the supernatural elements that allowed the original band to survive all manner of '80s mayhem without a second's thought.  Watching Ackroyd in all this is to reconcile Blue Brothers with Ghostbusters, a logical leap that should also not be so difficult to manage.

But the real charm of Blues Brothers 2000 is that it actually features blues music!  The music here isn't just memorable pop songs from days past, but blues acts getting to sink their teeth into their craft.  You have the likes of B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, and even Eric Clapton putting on appearances, plus Erykah Badu immersing herself deep into a character role, and Blues Traveler!  One has the idea that the whole point of the movie is celebrating these and other acts, to give back after the first one, and this is a most worthy cause.  To watch this one is to experience the world the brothers celebrated in the first one.  Is that really so hard to love?  These are both movies that are elaborate excuses to enjoy some good music.  They happen to have different vantage points, even if on the surface they look exactly the same.

I think it's well worth revisiting.