Hustlers

— I missed this in theaters and ended up watching it on a flight to California. Had it not been for Jennifer Lopez’s performance, I’m not sure I would have stuck with it. A group of former strippers show how smart they are by ripping off wall street clients in a nod to Robin Hood, feminism, and a whole lot of pop culture. It’s all a bit much but there’s no denying Lopez’s magnetism.

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[2019. 110 min. Directed by Lorene Scafaria. Starring Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, and Julia Stiles.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hustlers-movie-review-2019

1917

— It takes ten or fifteen minutes before you realize that this is about the best, seemingly continuously shot scene you can remember and then, as the movie continues, it sets in that the entire film is one scene. It’s hard not to be impressed if you’re at all susceptible to being wowed by the technical aspects of filmmaking or the wiles of a great cinematographer. It’s a compelling story. Two British soldiers must get a letter to another battalion to avoid 1,600 men, including one of the soldier’s brothers, being slaughtered in an ambush. The camera follows them through trenches, fields, forests, and towns of war-ravaged France for their harrowing and unblinking journey. Surprisingly, it’s fast-paced too. This is careful planning and judicious shot set-up, followed by precise editing to give you not something shot in one take, but something you believe was shot in one take. The two soldiers are well cast; both Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay manage to convey, mostly through expression, the mix of hope and dismay, that comes from a task where the odds of success are slim and failure is death. They are two of too many boys too young to see such horrors. The careful choice of images offers some shock, but not in as visceral a manner as that to which we’ve become accustomed, giving the story the feeling of a dream, something I liked, but something others could easily fault as a failure. I can easily see why the film is on so many lists of best films of 2019.

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[2019. 119 min. Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, and Daniel Mays.]
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/25/1917-review-sam-mendess-turns-western-front-horror-into-a-single-shot-masterpiece

Best of 2019

— Here are my twenty favorite films from 2019, including two I haven't seen yet but feel pretty confident they won't disappoint me. I've boldfaced my five favorites:

• "Ad Astra"
• "Booksmart"
• "The Farewell"
• ”A Hidden Life"
• "The Irishman”
• "Jojo Rabbit"
• "Knives Out"
• ”The Last Black Man in San Francisco"
• "The Lighthouse"
• "Little Women"
• "Marriage Story"
• "The Mustang"
• "1917"
• "Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood"
• ”Pain and Glory"
• ”Parasite"
• "The Peanut Butter Falcon"
• ”Richard Jewell"
• ”The Souvenir"
• ”The Two Popes"

Five other films just missed the list:

• ”Bombshell"
• ”Judy"
• ”Midsommar"
• "Uncut Gems"
• "Us"

Had I included documentaries and quasi-documentaries, six would have been in or almost in the list:

• ”American Factory"
• ”Apollo 11"
• ”The Biggest Little Farm"
• ”Knock Down the House"
• ”Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice”
• ”One Child Nation”

The Aeronauts

— One of those films where likable actors make you think you’re in for something better. Eddie Redmayne plays a scientist who dreams of making meteorology a legitimate field and Felicity Jones plays the widowed, idealistic aeronaut, eager to soar upwards instead of following the path traditionally mapped out for Victorian women. The two end up in a hot air balloon for most of the CGI-heavy film, becoming gaga over their environment and each other, as they journey higher than anyone had been before and figure out "you don't change the world simply by looking at it; you change it through the way you choose to live in it." It’s pleasant enough, but nothing special. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2019. 100 min. Directed by Tom Harper. Starring Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, and Himesh Patel.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-aeronauts-movie-review-2019

Little Women

— Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” is filled with all the positive values of sacrifice, generosity, love, honesty, forgiveness, etc., we’ve come to associate with Alcott’s novel about four, free-spirited sisters coming of age in an age when those who married well, did well. This version dwells on gender inequality a little more than I remember from previous versions, but I may only now have begun to question if there was more to the rebellion seen in behaviors I previously thought of as just part of being a “tomboy.” The messages conveyed are positive, the acting first rate, and the cinematography is gorgeous. This is good film and one you’ll enjoy.
     I saw it the day after seeing “Uncut Gems” and was struck that two such vastly different films were both released on Christmas Day, wondering just how diverse the Christmas Day market is.
     I was lucky enough to see "Little Women" from a 35mm print where black is black and every color seems more vivid, something we’ve forgotten in the digital age where cheaper production has encouraged new voices and wider distribution, but at a cost to viewers since the large majority of theaters just don't seem to have projectors with resolutions that can hold a candle to film.

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[2019. 134 min. Directed by Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, and Timothee Chalamet.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/little-women-movie-review-2019

Atlantics

— [Netflix streaming.]

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[2019. 106 min. Directed by Mati Diop. Starring Mame Bineta Sane, Amadou Mbow, and Traore.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/atlantics-movie-review-2019

Uncut Gems

— Adam Sandler deserves the rave reviews he’s been getting for this film but, after watching it, I was exhausted and felt like I needed a shower. It’s a throwback to 1970’s filmmaking, with that gritty New York edge where everyone’s moving quickly, shouting, and cursing. Sandler’s character is a brash, Jewish, jewelry store owner who is always just seconds away from being discovered for juggling too many promises with too little to back them up. His gambling habit and poor luck leave him constantly trying to keep a step ahead and not always succeeding. It’s a film with flawed and not very likable people living in a world you remember in black and white even if it’s a color film. It’s harsh and chaotic with lots of quick cuts, close-ups, and multiple conversations on vying for your attention, spiraling toward a conclusion that only seems expected after the fact. The film depends on Sandler, but the Safdie brothers make sure everything else fits too. I wouldn’t say I “liked” the film, but I admired it. It’s worth mentioning that Martin Scorsese is an executive producer.

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[2019. 135 min. Directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie. Starring Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, and Kevin Garnett.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uncut-gems-movie-review-2019

Bombshell

— With Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie, you get a film where the actors put their all into the characters and, in this case, those characters are Megyn Kelly, and Gretchen Carlson, along with Kayla Pospisil, a fictional Fox employee. The three women become the focus of this based-on-fact telling of Fox founder Roger Ailes’ fall after being exposed as a sexual harasser. The story is a good one, and one of the first of the news and entertainment industry scandals, but there’s something a little off about the film. It’s a wonderful script with some of the same feel as “The Big Short,” a film co-written by the screenwriter of “Bombshell.” Unfortunately, “Bombshell” probably needs fewer attempts at humor and less narration. After all, this is a cast that’s more than up to conveying a dramatic moment. Sadly, the women are also left a little too removed from the audience so they come off as somewhat unfeeling, instead of giving us a deeper look into their hearts. These aren’t terrible things, but enough to keep “Bombshell” off my “top 20 of 2019” list. It’s still well worth seeing and it’s a good film, just a little disappointing given the talent and the story.

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[2019. 108 min. Directed by Jay Roach. Starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, and John Lithgow.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bombshell-movie-review-2019