Roma (2018)

Director: Alfonso Cuarón. Cast: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey. 135 min. Rated R. Mexico/USA. Drama.

The story of a maid (has anyone ever checked how she's doing?), in an affluent family, in Mexico. Pan shots (lots of pan shots) show this young maid, how she holds the family together, but is always in the corner, always in the background, without anybody acknowledging her existence, her qualms, her fight for survival. Alfonso Cuarón's most recent masterpiece (Gravity, Children of Men) had numerous moments that kept me thinking for days - culminating in an unbelievable beach sequence that defies you to hold back tears. Are we having a Mexican sweep at the Oscars again this year?

PS: Available on Netflix. Don't miss it.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Cold War (Zimna wojna) (2018)

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski. Cast: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot. 88 min. Rated R. Poland/UK/France. Drama/Romance.

A music instructor and a fledgling singer meet in post-War Poland, and continue following each other, impossibly, from country to country to country. By the director of Ida, the strongest component here is the same that made the Oscar-winning Ida memorable: the deep, stark black-and-white photography (not even cinematography; the still images here are photography). And while the story has merits on its own, it would be difficult for me to grant a high score to a movie exactly for the same reason a filmmaker (in my worldview) scored on his prior endeavor. Hence ... the SoSo.

Mo says:

I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) (2009)

Director: Xavier Dolan. Cast: Anne Dorval, Xavier Dolan, François Arnaud. 96 min. Not Rated. Canada. Drama.

Dolan stars in his semi-autobiographical directorial debut, a movie about a concept he later perfected in Mommy: his love-hate relationship with his mother. The curious element is the film's title - if he'd truly killed his mother, this couldn't have been made, right? But the astonishing aspect, is how a 20-year-old newcomer incorporated stellar acting, wise camera angles and editing, and a perfect soundtrack, into a mature, professional film that rivals the career of many old-timers. Watch this and feel guilty about what you were doing when you were 20 years old.

PS: Thanks for the recommendation, Atoosa! Made me want to seek out Dolan's more recent Cannes winner, It's Only the End of the World.

Mo says:

Aquaman (2018)

Director: James Wan. Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison. 143 min. Rated PG-13. Australia/USA. Fantasy/Action.


DO NOT WATCH THIS ON A SMALL SCREEN.

The larger the screen, the better. IMAX is ideal.

That's all I'll say, because that's what this movie is all about.

Mo says:

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Director(s): Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey. Voices: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Lily Tomlin, Zoë Kravitz, Nicolas Cage, Liev Schreiber, Chris Pine. 117 min. Rated PG. Animation.

A Spider-man with a Black dad and a Latino mom - so via animation, we're already setting up examples to expand the Hollywood hero territory into minority domain; namely, preparing the audience for a gay superhero someday, or even, a Jane Bond. But the fact that Spider-man is a dark-skinned teenage superhero here isn't just a device for political-correctness; this is a spectacularly dazzling animation that seamlessly blends African-American culture into the superhero genre. I rarely recommend a movie to be seen in 3D, but this is one of them. 

Mo says:

The Wild Pear Tree (Ahlat Agaci) (2018)

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Cast: Dogu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir, Bennu Yildirimlar. 188 min. Turkey/Republic of Macedonia/France/Germany/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Bulgaria/Sweden. Drama.

Another long movie, by award-winning Turkish director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, about a self-righteous young man who thinks he's seen them all and knows them all (like we all used to), but is in for a very harsh lesson. Ceylan's recent boasts neither the originality of his Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, nor the intensity of Winter Sleep. It felt as though the director had lost his magic touch, and while I was interested in what went on in each long scene, wasn't as much in the grand whole. Curious how fast the man's style has died out on me.

Mo says:

Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben) (2018)

Director: Asghar Farhadi. Cast: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín. 132 min. Rated R. Spain/France/Italy. Drama.

Farhadi goes to Spain and employs the Oscar-winning superstar couple (Cruz-Bardem) to establish the same structure he built for About Elly: after a prolonged family/friend get-together (this time, a wedding), a young female goes missing. This hurls the family into disarray, lies are told, scandals are discovered, and after awhile, the disappearance becomes secondary. While Everybody Knows is engaging, I found About Elly a more tightly written script, with a tenser atmosphere, and a less predictable ending. Still, worth the ride.

Mo says:

The Hate U Give (2018)

Director: George Tillman Jr. Cast: Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie, Common. 133 min. Rated R. Drama/Crime.

A rare film that forces you to become an African-American teenager in America. The "talk" your dad gives you on how to handle bogus police arrests, the dual life you lead to masquerade among white Americans, the blind eye you turn away from the blatant racism disguised as political correctness, every single day, just to survive "the democracy". As such, this movie becomes very hard to watch at times, because the empathy hurts. And when the story climax becomes the actual cinematic transliteration of Tupac's words (The Hate U Gave Little Infants F*cks Everybody - THUG LIFE), you'd rather stop watching.

Mo says:

The Equalizer 2 (2018)

Director: Antoine Fuqua. Cast: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Sakina Jaffrey. 121 min. Rated R. Action/Crime.

A collection of short stories told in parallel, devoid of any connection to one another - just that one is longer and becomes the main one. Otherwise, again we have Denzel in the omniscient/omnipotent superhero role, waiting in the shadows for his moment (this time as a Lyft driver), with a supposedly surprise villain spotted from a mile away (a far cry from the original's), and Bill Pullman repeating his throwaway loser role as the husband of the strong-willed Melissa Leo (where did the actor go anyway?). While hoping for a third installment, the second is obviously a mashed-up dud.

Mo says:

The Equalizer (2014)

Director: Antoine Fuqua. Cast: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo. 131 min. Rated R. Action/Crime.

A movie that knows exactly what it wants, and delivers it. Washington plays "the Man", a role only McQueen or Newman used to handle; the cool, suave avenger with a stare that kills and skills that deliver vigilante justice. Add to that one of the most ruthless and cunning villains of recent memory, and you have an engrossing action movie that comes along only every few years. And who knew Home Depot could act as the most advanced armory of stealth weapons? Fuqua has become the auteur of great crime movies among lower socioeconomics - a Spike Lee/Michael Mann combo.

PS: Thank you, Mohammad Reza I., for the recommendation!

Mo says:

The Wages of Fear (Le salaire de la peur) (1953)

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot. Cast: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Véra Clouzot. 149 min. Not Rated. France/Italy. Adventure/Thriller.

Another (long) gem I finally set time aside to watch, by the French master of suspense, Henri-Georges Clouzot. Four men are chosen to drive a cargo of nitroglycerin on an impossible road up into the South American mountains, and "fear" is what defines these men: though closeups of wheels, speedometers, and faces, we see how they are transformed into ruthless goal-oriented beasts, or crippled into walking corpses. The 1978 remake by William Friedkin is quite eloquent, but seems to miss Cluzot's mastery (e.g., we never know how some characters die here). Classics-avoiders, you don't know what you're missing.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (2018)

Director: Wim Wenders. 96 min. Rated PG. Switzerland/Holy See (Vatican City State)/Italy/Germany/France. Documentary.

Coming from acclaimed director Wim Wenders, I was hoping to watch something beyond a 90-minute sermon by the Pope. What I almost received was ... a 90-minute sermon by the Pope. Yes, the documentary tells us about his Argentinian roots, and interjects with humanizing moments of interactions with regular people and his thoughts on a gamut of subjects from the definition of evil to the Church pedophilia crisis, but we also have numerous exclusive scenes with the Pope speaking directly into the camera, preaching to us. At the end we never know: why is this Pope so outspoken, and different?

Mo says:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Director(s): Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Cast: Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco) Liam Neeson, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson, Saul Rubinek, Tyne Daly. 132 min. Rated R. Western/Comedy.

The Coen Brothers' return to Westerns, an anthology of 6 short stories, works as an emotional sine wave: the first two stories (with TB Nelson and Franco) are decent, the third (with Liam Neeson) the most engaging/devastating, the fourth (Tom Waits) again decent. But then the movie takes a nosedive with the sluggish fifth (Zoe Kazan), and struggles to get back up with the last (Gleeson). This is odd, because anthologies usually save the best for last. All its surprises notwithstanding, I'm not sure I'd recommend this to everybody, even if to watch the perfect Neeson segment.

Mo says:

Outlaw King (2018)

Director: David Mackenzie. Cast: Chris Pine, Stephen Dillane, Rebecca Robin. 121 min. Rated R. 121 min. UK/USA. Biography/War.

Strange. This Robert Bruce biography doesn't avoid becoming a Braveheart sequel; it's actually dying to become one. It goes beyond beautiful swooping panoramas of the Scotland countryside for the story of a quiet man with fire in his eyes who's pushed over the edge ... to include a "Hoooold! Hoooold!"scene with horses impaled on sharpened poles (I kid you not). So if you're going down that route, Chris Pine is no Mel Gibson, and King Edward I here is not even a shadow of King Edward 'Longshanks' there. Sequels should attempt an identity of their own - not become a copy.

Mo says:

Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Director: Boots Riley. Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer, Patton Oswalt (voice), Lily James (voice), Forest Whitaker (voice), Rosario Dawson (voice). 111 min. Rated R. Comedy.

Telemarketers' plan to go on strike is the setting for a satire on African-American stereotypes, almost to a fault, as it elaborates on stereotypes I wasn't even aware of. But as soon as you think you've seen this all before ... the story suddenly flips on its head, the genre switches, and the entire event becomes very reminiscent of two groundbreaking movies from 2013 and 2017 (I'll avoid spoiling which two, and which genre). Characters fall into of a vicious cycle of simultaneously rebelling against and feeding the system, and one word comes to mind: "dystopia". Surprise yourself.

Mo says:

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Director: Bryan Singer. Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Aidan Gillen, Mike Myers. 134 min. Rated PG-13. UK/USA. Biography/Musical.

Yet another film making abundant use of an artist's music, making you wonder what would be left of the film if you excluded the music. In this long-awaited Freddie Mercury biopic, the immortal songs (and the story of their making) are undoubtedly exhilarating beyond entertainment. But there's not much drama between those songs. Silly dialogue obstruct us from understanding his inner feelings about parental rejection, his approach to the tabooism of bisexuality, or his closure with contracting AIDS. Don’t get me wrong - especially with Rami Malek's performance, this is a film to be seen. But this is no masterpiece.

Mo says:

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)

Director(s): Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston. Cast: Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren. 99 min. Rated PG. Fantasy/Family.

Two words: eye-candy, and Tchaikovsky. Glittering CGI imagery feasts the eyes, and charming classical music (with its inspired soundtrack) reminds you why the story still lives on through numerous renderings and remakes. But remove those (one of the two already made more than a century ago), and you have a movie with a boring nonsensical story, a group of professional actors led by a miscast Mackenzie Foy (from Interstellar) and supported by the miscast Mirren and Knightley, and god-awful direction of non-professionals by the master director of melodrama (Hallström), whose talents are ruined by the Hollywood system. Just stay away.

Mo says:

Burning (Boening) (2018)

Director: Chang-dong Lee. Cast: Ah-In Yoo, Steven Yeun, Jong-seo Jeon. 148 min. Not Rated. South Korea. Drama.

This movie is based on a Haruki Murakami short story. I've read Murakami novels. They're engaging, they're mysterious, and boy ... they're weird. You're never really sure whether things are truly happening, or are just a figment of the protagonist's imagination and desires. The film gets as close as possible to project that feeling - but this has been hailed by numerous accounts as the movie event of the year, with a surprise ending that makes the two and half hour wait worthwhile. It wasn't, or at least I didn't get the ending's significance. Because it was as weird as the rest.

Mo says:

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:

The Nun (2018)

Director: Corin Hardy. Cast: Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons. 96 min. Rated R. Horror.

The Conjuring universe just keeps on giving, now addressing the origin story of the sequel's villain. This one opens with high hopes, in a Gothic castle in 1950s Romania, but silhouettes of nuns creeping out from the shadows become such a normal flora, it's just not funny anymore. And a touch of nepotism goes a long way, as Taissa Farmiga plays the younger version of her real life sister Vera from the Conjuring movies (or wait ... doesn't she?). This movie is so boring, you wish one of these messed up nuns would at least haunt you to wake you up.

Trivia: Bonnie Aarons, the actress who has played the Nun, was also the bum who jumped out from behind the wall in Mulholland Drive's freakiest scene. This lady needs no make-up to look scary.

Mo says:

The First Purge (2018)

Director: Gerard McMurray. Cast: Y'lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Marisa Tomei. 98 min. Rated R. Horror.

I understand there's no point making up my own film, but this was how I envisioned a prequel to the Purge movies: a story setting the sociopolitical background for needing such a once-a-year legal violence with numerous Trumpian correlates, introducing the masterminds for and against such a plan, exploring the scheming and backstabbing through which "the experiment" flourishes, and an ending scene showing the alarm announcing the commencement of the first Purge. Actually, the presence of the likes of Marisa Tomei nourished those hopes for a cerebral movie (must've seen something here). But then ... we just got the first Purge.

Mo says:

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Director: Stefano Sollima. Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine. 122 min. Rated R. USA/Mexico. Crime/Action.

After a somewhat distracting prologue about ISIS in America, the sequel hurls us into the original's familiar ground: wide areal shots of the US-Mexico border, hovering over the gritty world of drug cartels, with sudden explosions in the narrative shaking the viewer, and a replica of the late Johann Johannsson's menacing synthesizer soundtrack. But the sequel lacks the original's dark sense of urgency, facilitating one to guess it wasn't directed by Villeneuve. By the end, you realize the Del Toro-Brolin camaraderie has been the backbone of the two films, and hope to see them in a third installment.

Mo says:

The Predator (2018)

Director: Shane Black. Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Yvonne Strahovski. 107 min. Rated R. Canada/USA. Sci-fi/Horror.

Sad how they try to polish every Predator installment (all titled the same!) by adding a new aspect - only for them to never get off the ground. This time they satirize the absurdity by trying a comedic approach, using a who's-who of actors you've seen before and not sure where - but ... hello? This is a Predator movie, and quite difficult to laugh at one-liners in the midst of the extreme violence the franchise has become notorious for. You just feel embarrassed to giggle. And the producers are so self-assured, they end this in sequel preparation mode.

Trivia: Shane Black, the director, is the soldier who ended up gutted and hanging from a tree in the original 1987 movie.

Mo says:

RBG (2018)

Director(s): Julie Cohen, Betsy West. 98 min. Rated PG. Documentary.

The story of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the hurricane who took the Supreme Court by surprise in her 60s, and with her 5 foot height, is still running like wildfire in her 80s. A compilation of numerous interviews with RBG and her acquaintances, this documentary is a biography of the judiciary titan, which while tremendously inspiring in how one person can become the centerpiece of so much change, does not offer much innovation on a cinematic level, and resorts to being an informative newsreel. Oh wait ... this is a CNN production.

Mo says:

The Black Stallion (1979)

Director: Carroll Ballard. Cast: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Hoyt Axton. 118 min. Rated G. Family/Sport.

No, I hadn't seen this classic yet - and I'm glad I hadn't. Because now, with all the fast editing afflicting even kids movies, you appreciate the calm of a movie about the friendship between a child, and his horse. You let the beautiful vistas set in, wonder how such a slow film is so enjoyable, and not care whether the boy wins the race at the end. And when you watch the two creatures make contact, remember how three years later, two other creatures (a boy and an extra-terrestrial) made a similar contact; because the writer, Melissa Mathison, wrote both.

Mo says:

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Director: Jon M. Chu. Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong. 120 min. Rated PG-13. Comedy/Romance.

The melodrama is not the point. This is Black Panther on so many levels. How there's an unbelievably rich exotic world out there, unknown to us. How there's xenophobia against those who immigrated from that world to America. How an entirely minority-based cast with a story set in a foreign land conquered the US box office on its opening weekend. And in the meantime, upping the ante on Black Panther ... how behind all the lovey dovey stuff, there’s a real struggle fought by real people, stuck between tradition and modernism. America, I introduce to you Wakanda 2.0.

PS: Funny that yesterday I wrote how boring Awkwafina was in Ocean's Eight. Here, she totally shines. The definition of miscast versus well-cast.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Juliet, Naked (2018)

Director: Jesse Peretz. Cast: Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Chris O'Dowd. 105 min. Rated R. Comedy/Romance.

Starts as a light romantic comedy, about the accidental relationship between the girlfriend of a crazily obsessed fan of an obscure forgotten rocker (whom she rolls her eyes about) - and the obscure forgotten rocker. But then the story develops a concept significantly more engaging, culminating in a fascinating table talk in the second half, about the bitter truth behind fandom, and maybe ... following a religion? I've never doubted Ethan Hawke's acting skills, but Rose Byrne (here with Chris O'Dowd again after Bridesmaids) and her knack for comedy through the most subtle gestures, is the true gem of the movie.

Mo says:

Disobedience (2017)

Director: Sebastián Lelio. Cast: Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola. 114 min. Rated R. UK/Ireland/USA. Drama/Romance.

US-based photographer returns to the England Jewish Orthodox community she was shunned from years ago, to attend her rabbi father's funeral. From then on, the sex-obsessed campaign of the film have so shamelessly spoiled the story, almost two thirds in is predictable. So while refusing to participate in this act of treason, I'll summarize to say that the movie is extremely brave at not only affirming an individual's freedom in relationships, not only questioning the imprisonment of one's will in Judaism, but also questioning any religion's control over freedom. Surprised why the movie didn't make more noise. Wrong marketing, anybody?

PS: Available on Amazon Prime.

Mo says:

What Is Cinema? (2013)

Director: Chuck Workman. 80 min. Not Rated. USA/France/Canada. Documentary.

The question excites any movie-lover. And how not enjoy a collage of some of the most mesmerizing images in movie history, as an answer to that question? The documentary employs quotes from some of cinema's grand-masters (e.g., Hitchcock claiming if a painter paints an apple beautifully, who cares if the apple is sweet or sour?) to make a case for avant-garde cinema, and how story in film is secondary, as long as you "project an emotion" - a message I humbly doubt, given that the livelihood of cinema depends on commercial success. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the imagery.

Mo says:

Ocean's Eight (2018)

Director: Gary Ross. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Dakota Fanning, Elliott Gould.

Things go wrong on so many levels. Starting (again) with the basic Ghostbusters fiasco, where equal opportunity in Hollywood translates to inserting women in men's roles (without any gender-specific justification to do so); continues with bad directing by a good director, who wastes time on unnecessary listless scenes; accompanied by an entirely uninteresting Asian actress (who among such superstars should actually prove herself the opposite), placed for the sole reason of political correctness ... among other failures. The film is merely a showcase for some of the beautiful faces in showbiz today, at the service of undermining women in the mainstream.

Mo says:

Searching (2018)

Director: Aneesh Chaganty. Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee. 102 min. Rated PG-13. Mystery/Thriller.

After a perfectly-devised "silent" tragic opening (inspired by Up), in another modification of the found-footage genre, the story of a father searching for his missing daughter is told entirely on laptop/iPad/smartphone screens. Distracted for a second, and you miss a crucial plot element in this tightly-written script - most brilliant at how it conveys the main character's thought process by the sudden halt of a moving cursor onscreen. Sole criticism: how a movie so disturbingly portraying the horrors of social media exposure, suddenly ends as a whodunit - leaving one thinking: now what? Still, one of the year's memorable movies.

Mo says:

BPM (120 battements par minute) (2017)

Director: Robin Campillo. Cast. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel. 143 min. Not Rated. France. Drama/History.

HIV-positive youth in 90's France struggle to hasten research on anti-retrovirus medication, before they run out of time and die. While the common theme of such films is usually to see which major character is still alive by the end of the story, this one seems intentionally prolonged by slowing the pace of extended scenes, probably to make us feel the meaning of waiting as time runs out on you, day after day. But two characters talking for 10 minutes in the dark? Apparently, there's a fine line between driving your (very admirable) point home, and testing your audience's patience.

Mo says:

The Meg (2018)

Director: Jon Turteltaub. Cast: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis. 113 min. Rated PG-13. USA/China. Thriller.

You go into these movies, knowing they'll be Jaws lookalikes - shark cage and comparing shark bite span and child going into the water and beach goers running out of the water and all. And honestly, they might not go wrong anywhere. Just that ... nothing really happens. You just sit there, watch these images pass by, and think: if they're not even hoping to top Jaws (like The Shallows did), if they don’t even make an attempt to better Jaws, then why try? Unless they're just Chinese productions promoting the Chinese. Not that I have anything against the Chinese.

Mo says:

Tehran Taboo (2017)

Director: Ali Soozandeh. Cast:  Farhad Abadinejad, Jasmina Ali, Rozita Assadollahy. 96 min. Germany/Austria. Animation.

Interconnecting motion-capture animated stories of three women in current day Tehran. I have issues with films delivering an opening shock of either strong language, strong violence, or perverse sexual themes (a sign of a filmmaker's low confidence in his/her own material), and I have issues with stories that go from filth to filth to filth, with no chance for the viewer to breath, and absolutely no hope in sight (a.k.a. propaganda). Everything you see in this film, or even worse, may be true. But good things happen in Iran (or any other place) also. This is agenda-driven movie-making.

Mo says:

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Director: Spike Lee. Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Alec Baldwin, Michael Buscemi, Harry Belafonte. 135 min. Rated R. Biography/Comedy/Crime.

It's not about the true story of a black police detective who devised a plan to infiltrate the KKK in the 70s. It's about how Spike Lee, after 30 years of movie-making, has perfected his own personal style and angry message - at one time considered propaganda or manipulative, but now ... undeniable. Certain lines of dialogue are right out of Trump's manifesto, which hurts the movie's true-story credibility. But that's not the point. You see perfectly-positioned current-day footage at the end, about how the once-ridiculed horror has taken form today, and you leave the theater in silence.

Trivia: Keeping it in the family! Main hero John David Washington is Denzel's son, and Michael Buscemi is Steve's brother. Seriously, not knowing this, I thought John David acted like Denzel because they'd both been under Spike Lee's tutelage, and kept waiting during the end credits for Steve's name to show up.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

The Glass Castle (2017)

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton. Cast: Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts. 127 min. Rated PG-13. Biography/Drama.

The relationship between a father, and a child. It's complicated enough, and when Woody Harrelson and Brie Larson play out that complication, with Naomi Watts as the mom, via a true story ... it can't get any better. Through flashbacks and flash-forwards, we watch a girl's rags-to-riches tale, how her father (intentionally?) held back from making her life easier, how she tries to stay away, how she cannot ignore the pull. While newcomer Cretton, who brought us Short Term 12 (and Brie Larson) maneuvers dangerously close to cheesy melodrama, you'll feel closer to your parents (or miss them) after watching this.

PS: Thanks for the recommendation, Farzaneh! Had no clue this was out there.

Mo says: