Loveless (Nelyubov) (2017)

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev. Cast: Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin, Varvara Shmykova. 127 min. Rated R. Russia/France/Germany/Belgium. Drama.

I don't recall watching a movie where characters thrived through such simmering hate - without inflicting bodily harm on each other. The story is about a couple going through an ugly divorce, and the gnarling hatred between them (and an in-law) is so brutal, it's eating them alive ... in lieu of their son going missing. Not sure if this is a reliable snapshot of the current Russian society, as the director has been accused of casting a negative spotlight on his country. Still, I found myself deeply involved, wondering how these characters are able to function, carrying such heavy burdens.

Mo says:

I, Tonya (2017)

Director: Craig Gillespie. Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Bobby Cannavale. 119 min. Rated R. Biography/Sport.

In preparation, I recently watched the 30 for 30 documentary, The Price of Gold. Then during I Tonya, realized the movie attempts something confusing: it assumes you already know the story with all the details (weird expectation), but never uses the extra luxury it provided itself by passing that narrative hurdle, to deliver director/writer level introspection into the real-life characters; which begs the question: is this solely an opportunity for Margot Robbie to prove how well she can impersonate? Because after all, she's one of the producers. Supposed to be a movie; not a half-baked reiteration. Not a photo-op.

Mo says:

The Shape of Water (2017)

Director: Guillermo del Toro. Cast: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg. 123 min. Rated R. Canada/USA. Fantasy. 

Guillermo del Toro continues his Pan's Labyrinth style of telling fairy-tales for grownups containing sex, violence and profanity, but fairy-tales nonetheless. Here he counteracts an American subculture of racism and homophobia by trying to promote and normalize diversity, through (of all things) ... bestiality. The ensemble of Hawkins, Shannon, Spencer and Jenkins shine throughout, and del Toro again boasts his usual strong, captivating visual style, but I have yet to click with the man's concept of a good movie - even though evidence (e.g., the Netflix documentary Five Came Back) suggests he's probably a lovely guy to chat with.

Mo says:

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Director: Luca Guadagnino. Cast: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg. 132 min. Rated R. Italy/France/Brazil/USA. Drama.

This tale of unrequited homosexual love set in 1983 Italy (possibly intentional, right before the AIDS scare), makes the age-old mistake of LGBTQ films: to create a palatable setting, it switches heterosexual and homosexual demographics, and creates an imaginary world where the majority of people are homosexual, and the last remaining heterosexuals never blink an eye. For every Call Me by Your Name, I would take a The Kids Are All Right, which takes place in the real world and talks about real interactions. But of course, people will be admiring this film in droves ... many before even seeing it.

Mo says:

Darkest Hour (2017)

Director: Joe Wright. Cast: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn, Stephen Dillane. 125 min. Rated PG-13. UK. Biography/History.

Scent of a Woman was all about Al Pacino, There Will Be Blood was all about Daniel Day-Lewis, and there's not a single moment in Darkest Hour you're not thinking about the actor, buried under all the makeup, who plays Churchill. Of course, the movie is about how Churchill persevered against Nazi appeasers during WWII, how he "mobilized the English language and sent it into battle". But while Gary Oldman doesn't look like Churchill one bit, by the end of the movie, you're thinking maybe Winston Churchill mysteriously looked like Gary Oldman; you just never noticed. Expecting an Oscar win.

PS: The second time Dunkirk is being mentioned in a major movie the same year.

Mo says:

Victoria & Abdul (2017)

Director: Stephen Frears. Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Micahel Gambon, Olivia Williams. PG-13. 111 min. UK/USA. History.

In the late 19th century, Queen Victoria finds an unlikely acquaintance in a significantly younger Indian teacher. Judi Dench is an actress whose mere presence is sufficient to watch a movie, but her motivations to strike a relationship with a socially inferior constituent of the British Empire in such a astoundingly racist court, are quite vague. How come only she is so enlightened? Does she have a crush on this man, or just feels indebted for his teachings? Either way, is offering him such high honors considered ... wise? These ambiguities are never resolved, and the viewer is abandoned in confusion.

Mo says:

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore. (2017)

Director: Macon Blair. Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood. 93 min. Comedy/Crime.

Comically-easy setting to empathize: middle-aged female wonders why every single living creature around her is a jerk. So she decides to fix one such occasion, and with the help of a weird associate, sets out to deliver vigilante justice on someone who robbed her home. This derails the story off its original concept, into a violent realm that's not quite funny anymore. In the meantime, I'm amazed (and admire) how out of the Winslet-Lynskey duo first recognized in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994), one become Titanic-level famous, while the other to this day successfully continues to brave the indie scene.

Mo says:

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Director: Elio Petri. Cast: Gian Maria Volontè, Florinda Bolkan, Gianni Santuccio. 115 min. Rated R. Italy. Crme/Drama.

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner boasting an interesting concept. Vain police chief murders female companion, just to prove to himself he's above the law. Even when an innocent person is implicated, he drops clues for the investigation to reroute them towards himself, because hey ... if an innocent is taken in, that wouldn't prove he's untouchable, right? The story is mixed with Italy's contemporary fascist politics to further advance that point, but the grand message of how humans behave when absurdly secured in their comfort zone, even without the ingredient of fascism, holds true to any time or place.

Mo says:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Director: Rian Johnson. Cast: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro, Justin Theroux, Frank Oz. 152 min. Rated PG-13. Fantasy/Adventure.

It'd been so long since we'd seen a real Star Wars story. So long since we'd seen worlds we never knew we craved, since we were untouched by the wonders of the Force ...  we were losing hope. Then The Last Jedi came along, and the impossible became possible. From showing the origins of blue milk to some of the most breathtaking light-saber fights to undiscovered uses of the Force to surprise after surprise after surprise, Rian Johnson has delivered: he has satisfied fan expectations. Recall that even Lucas came up short in that department. And I didn't spoil a thing.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Stronger (2017)

Cast:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Frankie Shaw. 119 min. Rated R. Biography/Drama.

It's a Boston marathon survivor true story, so you predict it'll be another "if-we-give-up-the-terrorists-will-win" kind of movie. But then you realize it's a heart-wrenching exploration into a handicapped person's life: how he/she is totally misunderstood, how close ones act out by annoyingly rambling on, how others compensate by just quietly leaving the room. You build hope that this movie is different. But then ... the last half hour, with admirable intent, devolves into another "if-we-give-up-the-terrorists-will-win" kind of movie. Of course it's an inspiring tearjerker, but if not for spellbinding performances by Gyllenhaal, Maslany and Richardson, this would've been a So-So.

Mo says:

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Director: James Franco. Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Ari Graynor, Alison Brie, Jacki Weaver, Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson, Megan Mullally, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Bob Odenkirk, Kevin Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Danny McBride, Kristen Bell, J.J. Abrams, Lizzy Caplan. 104 min. Rated R. Biography/Comedy/Drama.

Movie adaptation of how The Room became the worst movie of all time. Too much to discuss, including:

a) how James Franco translates exactly the feeling from reading the book,
b) why divide art to "good" and "bad", when you can enjoy the bad even more than the good,
c) what the meaning of loyalty in friendship is, and how far you'll take it,
d) when to cooperate with versus stand up to a friend's delusions,
e) how to deal with a friend's delusion when uncertain whether it's a real delusion, or there's secondary gain involved ...

The list goes on.


PS: Stay for a post-credits scene starring none other than the great master, Tommy Wiseau himself.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)

Director: Chris Smith. 94 min. Canada/USA. Documentary.

Briefly in the 90s, Jim Carrey was a phenomenon.We laughed at his body-contorting comedy, but then ... we saw through him. He turned to dramatic roles, married Jenny McCarthy, joined the Anti-Vax movement - none of which worked. So in a final redemptive attempt, he reminisces on his role in Man on the Moon (one of the greatest of 1999), where he method acted Andy Kaufman to life. And while Carrey offers some good philosophical mesmerizing, we're never sure addressing his own "Andy" in third person is the real thing, or just another gratuitous publicity stunt. Just look at the film's title.

Mo says:

Mudbound (2017)

Director: Dee Rees. Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Rob Morgan, Jonathan Banks, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige. 134 min. Rated R. Drama.

There is a powerful vignette on display in Mudbound: two young officers, one black and one white, return from WWII Europe to their common Mississippi hometown, both to learn that in terms of the racism and hatred gnarling through America's South, the devastation of war was immensely more preferable to what they see at home. Considering now there's doubt whether that Southern mentality has improved much during the past 70 years, this is a shocking concept. If not for a few distracting subplots which unnecessarily prolong the movie, Mudbound could've been one of this year's masterpieces.

PS: Also created by and available on Netflix. For the past 10-15 years, from mail-in DVDs to online streaming to creating their own original material, the Netflix platform has truly changed (IMO, worsened) the 'movie-going experience'. Mudbound is an epic movie that should've been watched on a big screen, not on your insignificant smartphones.

Mo says:

Voyeur (2017)

Director(s): Myles Kane, Josh Koury. 96 min.

Initially reminding me of The Dog, this documentary made me wonder why waste time on a motel-owner who was spying on guests for thirty years. But the film was not about voyeurism. Rather, about humans falling prey to their vanity, their search for fame, their search for something as 'dumb' as money - and risking their entire reputation in pursuit of those goals. And by that, ... I don't only mean the voyeur of interest here. In an era when sketchy journalism, "tailoring" facts, and prioritizing "appearance" to core reality (metaphors scattered throughout the film) are magnified, Voyeur becomes an important story.

PS: Available on Netflix.

Mo says:

Wonder (2017)

Director: Stephen Chbosky. Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Mandy Patinkin. 113 min. Rated PG. USA/Hong Kong. Drama/Family.

We already know: a film about a facially disfigured boy, how he is bullied at school, creates a network through hardship, and builds some courage to react. But that's just the surface. The core is, we're living in dark times, and rarely do you see a movie exude such innocence, reminiscent of Spielberg's 80s concept of 'family'. Which is what makes the honesty in Roberts' and Wilson's performance so appropriate and powerful (noticed how they've never played villains?). We need more movies like this ... to calm us down. Bring some napkins along.

PS: Thank you for recommendation, Peter J. Almost brushed it off.

Mo says:

Brad's Status (2017)

Director: Mike White. Cast: Ben Stiller, Austin Abrams, Jenna Fischer, Michael Sheen, Luke Wilson. 102 min. Rated R. Drama.

Before taking his teenager on an East Coast college tour, academic father has a mid-life crisis that is triggered by ... Facebook pics of former classmates boasting how financially successful they are. In other words, the setting is somewhat pathetic. While the dialogue is engaging (and funny), and even though during the course of the film he is told how petty his first-world scruples are, I was still never able to empathize with this character. Similar to The Meyerowitz Stories, Ben Stiller falls into crying spells, which makes you think: maybe some of his own personal issues are playing out here.

Mo says:

Brigsby Bear (2017)

Director: Dave McCary. Cast: Kyle Mooney, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear, Claire Danes, Andy Samberg. 97 min. Rated PG-13. Comedy/Drama.

I bet SNL star and writer Kyle Mooney watched Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth, the story of kids held captive in their house by parents who've brought them up in an imaginary world, then asked himself: What if one of those teenagers escaped, and impossibly tried to adjust to the new, real world? Because that's where the tough questions start. Brigsby Bear shows different possibilities, one of which includes shouting and yelling in hope of ramming your logic into your opponent's brain. And that is why this movie is important for our times. Or any time.

Mo says:

Tulip Fever (2017)

Director: Justin Chadwick. Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Jack O'Connell, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, Christoph Waltz, Cara Delevingne. 105 min. Rated R. UK/USA. Drama/Romance.

Seventeenth century Amsterdam, two parallel story-lines: one the period's tulip business craze, the other some trickery between two women (one pregnant, none feverish). The hilarious part is, except for one common character, the two stories almost never meet! Even worse, there's some parallel editing between two! So if one was planned as a metaphor for the other (tulip for pregnancy, or pregnancy for tulip), that metaphor was lost on me. We're dealt a movie with a nonsensical structure, and popular actors in throwaway roles - who probably just signed up to pay the bills (Vikander did 5 obscure movies in 2017).

Mo says:

Detroit (2017)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow. Cast: John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Hannah Murray, John Krasinski. 143 min. Rated R. History/Crime.

When projecting the feeling of the 1967 Detroit riots, Kathryn Bigelow takes a page out of Ava DuVernay's Selma notebook by interposing actual footage, and expanding that technique throughout the opening moments; filming documentary-style, without claiming to be a documentary. But the major blow comes from Bigelow reminding us of a feeble-minded official's recent "very fine people on both sides" quote: that if a narrative is told or interpreted by a low intellect mindset, even KKK members could be considered 'fine'. This is a long movie, but it made me think ... maybe Trump is honestly unable to analyze any better.

Mo says:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Director: Martin McDonagh. Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, Clarke Peters. 115 min. Rated R. UK/USA. Drama/Comedy.

Martin McDonagh's third feature (In Brudges, Seven Psychopaths) is a film that juggles too many subjects, and almost resolves none. And by that, I don't mean the seemingly incomplete ending, which is actually perfect. You're not sure what the director's main concern here is, but my guess: the universal racism embedded in all of us. This in itself could be an opportune message for our times, but then you have subplots that almost take over the main plot, and a pivotal while impossibly coincidental moment towards the end. As a result, you have superb acting wasted on unforgivable mistakes.

Mo says: