A Star Is Born (2018)

Director: Bradley Cooper. Cast: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle, Ron Rifkin, Alec Baldwin. 136 min. Rated R. Musical/Romance.

In preparation, I recently saw the Barbara Streisand version (the second remake). Bradley Cooper's boasts a better screenplay: the romance is better paced, the ending's logic much clearer. Meanwhile, both Cooper (posture and voice changes) and Gaga (deep gazes, powerful singing) revel in acting. What bothered me, was being cognizant of Cooper's insistence (as director) at keeping the camera, in long takes, in close-up, on himself. This self-aware movie kept waking me up from the dream. Cooper proves he knows the medium, and will someday become a great actor-director (Eastwood, Gibson, Allen). But first, he needs to find his place.

Mo says:

Halloween (2018)

Director: David Gordon Green. Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton. 106 min. Rated R. Horror.

When you hear Jamie Lee Curtis agreed to reprise her role, again, forty years after the original, you'd think: this must be huge. But aside from some present-day cinematography techniques, and a very encouraging opening sequence, this becomes anything but. Again we have the notion of Michael Myers as the personification of pure unstoppable evil, numerous slayings, and numerous homages to the original to keep fans happy. Not even Laurie Strode has made much of a Ripley-like transformation to wisdom and maturity in the past four decades - not even among the climactic grandmother-mother-granddaughter team. I preferred the Rob Zombie interpretation.

Mo says:

Galveston (2018)

Director: Mélanie Laurent. Cast: Ben Foster, Elle Fanning, Beau Bridges. 91 min. Not Rated. Crime/Drama.

Terminally-ill hitman is set up by his boss to be killed, and he picks up a runaway teenage hooker on his way back for revenge. This forms the oddest of odd couples in this noir crime movie, with a  result that is predictably heartbreaking. Both indie darlings Foster and Fanning again and again prove they're waiting for their huge upcoming break, and actress Mélanie Laurent (Shosanna from Inglourious Basterds) surprises with her directing skills (she's been directing for quite some time). The hard-to-look-away Galveston is one of those rare gems people like me run into by watching too many movies.

Mo says:

Operation Finale (2018)

Director: Chris Weitz. Cast: Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley, Mélanie Laurent, Greta Scacchi, Haley Lu Richardson. 122 min. Rated PG-13. History.

A companion piece to The Eichmann Show, which happens after the story of this movie: the plot to capture Adolf Eichmann, the engineer of "The Final Solution", in Argentina, and transfer him to Israel for prosecution. After one incredibly-edited opening credits scene, mostly credited to Alexander Desplat's music, the movie has only one slight advantage over the above-mentioned one: the company of more skilled and photogenic actors (Isaac, Kingsley, Laurent, Richardson). Otherwise, films like Argo have created such a bad taste of manipulating history (especially with another climactic airport escape scene here), you're not sure which thrill to believe anymore.

Mo says:

The Wife (2017)

Director: Björn L. Runge. Cast: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Elizabeth McGovern, Annie Starke. 100 min. Rated R. UK/Sweden/USA. Drama.

Towards the end, someone asks the Glenn Close character: "What's your occupation?" She responds: "I'm a King-maker." That's the universal marital theme/complaint touched upon here: wives upset about husbands taking credit for the success wives precipitate. To that effect, we're shown an extreme situation: woman acting as ghost-writer, for man to receive the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. As if that corollary wasn't extreme enough, I learn the story is fictitious. Why? Wasn't the basis discussion-worthy enough? After 6 no-win nominations, Close may finally win her Oscar, and we're introduced to newcomer Starke, who has a shot at stardom.

Mo says:

First Man (2018)

Director: Damien Chazelle. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Ciarán Hinds, Lukas Haas. 141 min. Rated PG-13. Biography/History.

It's not about the first man who walked on the moon. Not about the space race, and an obsessed U.S. beating the Russians. Not about how Armstrong's famously quiet attitude was pivotal in his life story, nor how many people died for the dream to happen. While these do have a role, it's about Chazelle putting you in the cockpit of that module, placing you in that person's life, making you feel the weight, the fear, the joy of being him - almost to a fault, because the movie is only those moments. But then, that's what cinema is all about.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Eighth Grade (2018)

Director: Bo Burnham. Cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson. 93 min. Rated R. Drama.

In my age, it's tough to empathize with a teenager who's ending middle school. The means of communication today are vastly different, the teenagers much more ruthless, the desperation to fit in more dreadful - since I was in middle school ... 30 years ago. But Eight Grade helped me understand exactly how this eighth grader felt, especially how gloomy and uncertain her future looks. Watch it if you want to see the world from her eyes; definitely watch it if you have a child this age.

Mo says:

Miami Vice (2006)

Director: Michael Mann. Cast: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Li Gong, Naomie Harris, Ciarán Hinds, James Marsan, Justin Theroux, John Hawkes. 134 min. Rated R. USA/Germany/Paraguay/Uruguay. Crime.

Sometimes it's worth going back to see why some movies by acclaimed directors were so dismally scored by critics - because when you're talking Michael Mann, you're expecting way better than this. The 80's TV show remake contains the essential Mann elements: big city, heavy-hitting criminals, soul-searching conversations in diners, themes and decisions about what really matters. But something is missing, and even though many unknowns here went on to win Oscar nominations through the next decade, there's nothing, like in Thief or Heat, that made me want more, or to contemplate when it was over.

Mo says:

Three Identical Strangers (2018)

Director: Tim Wardle. 96 min. Rated PG-13. UK. Documentary.

We already know the opening: a triplet who were separated at birth, in the early 1980's accidentally find each other at the age of 19. But that's nothing compared to what comes after. The answer to why they were separated leads to surprise after surprise, questioning nature versus nurture, and the dilemma of how research ethics evolve over time. It's a documentary, and you're glued to the screen till the very end. The filmmakers do eventually take a position, but their superficial and limited discussion of some very deep subjects is still a worthwhile ride.

Mo says:

Leave No Trace (2018)

Director: Debra Granik. Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Foster. 109 min. Rated PG. USA/Canada. Drama.

With a PG movie by the director of Winter's Bone boasting a shocking 100% score, you'd expect one of the greatest family movies ever made ... not. A father and daughter living in the Oregon wilderness (à la Captain Fantastic) are being chased by officials into normalcy - the imposing father doesn't want to hear it, the timid daughter does. The struggle between the two is the story core, and the resolution to the struggle, the ending. And while the acting skills of newcomer McKenzie are impressive, this is in no way the movie everyone should be flocking to see.

Mo says:

Beast (2017)

Director: Michael Pearce. Cast: Johnny Flynn, Jessie Buckley, Geraldine James. 107 min. Rated R. UK. Drama/Mystery.

The last time I remember an actress' red hair being a character on its own was Run Lola Run. In a small English island, a serial killer is on the loose, and a twenty-something year old (the redhead in question) gradually falls in love with a hunter who may or may not be the killer. I started watching this just for its impressive Tomatometer rating, thinking I'd leave in 15 minutes if nothing happens, but found myself engrossed more and more into the drama. And after much debate, the answer to the crime still came as a surprise.

Mo says:

Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)

Director: Michael Moore. 128 min. Rated R. Documentary.

There's a good chance America will collapse soon, and no matter what you think about Michael Moore's politics, you have to give it to the man: the filmmaker in him knows how to tell you why. Through ingenious editing (including blatantly syncing Trump's words on Hitler's mouth), he doesn't just go after the current POTUS, but while ruminating on "How the f*ck did this happen", hangs Obama and Hillary out to dry also. Not entirely a doom-and-gloom picture, Moore provides glorious moments of present-day Americans rising to the occasion to slightly reverse the process. But boy, you will get worried.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

A Simple Favor (2018)

Director: Paul Feig. Cast: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding. 117 min. Rated R. Comedy/Crime.

In a twist on the classic 1955 French thriller, Diaboliques (an attempt that failed with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani in 1996), this husband-wife-mistress triangle will keep you guessing who's conniving, who's alive, and who's still dead, till the very end. Fieg keeps it honest by not only using French songs in the soundtrack, but also mentioning the movie Diaboliques in the dialogue, and seems to have finally made a movie where everything falls into place - mostly thanks to Kendrick and Lively's undeniable star quality, and partly to newcomer Golding, boasting a second great presence within a month.

Mo says:

Hotel Artemis (2018)

Director: Drew Pearce. Cast: Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista, Jeff Goldblum, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day. 94 min. Rated R. UK/USA. Sci-fi/Action.

A hotel/hospital in 2028, run by an inappropriately old-looking Jodie Foster, is a refuge for wounded criminals. Things don't make sense, as you never know why the movie is set in the future (the story doesn't run on any futuristic sci-fi concept), and Jeff Goldblum's crime boss acts like an idiot, moving around a criminal-infested building without any protection. And while two players, Sterling K. Brown and Sofia Boutella, continue their sky-rocketing paths into stardom, you're still left scratching your head, thinking who got excited about this project in the first place.

Mo says:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

Director: Mike Newell. Cast: Lily James, Matthew Goode, Tom Courtenay. 124 min. UK/France/USA. Historical/Romance.

In post-war England, a writer becomes curious about a war-time book club's name (the movie's title), and later, how a certain member of the club vanished during the war, and how the guilt of her vanishing had kept other members up at night since then. While there are some romantic/melodramatic subplots, and while the prolonged duration hurts the film's momentum, the common theme is: doing what you think is right, instead of stalling to regret it later. Actually, the movie provoked me to take action on something I was hesitant about for some time, and it worked out well.

PS: Thanks for the recommendation, Maryam!

PPS: Available on Netflix.

Mo says: