Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Director: Marielle Heller. Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells. 106 min. Rated R. Biography.

True story of an out-of-work author with writer's block in the 90s, who with the help of a loyal friend, forges letters of famous authors, based on her knowledge of their style. McCarthy again proves she's a force to be reckoned with (I dare you not laugh when she's laughing), and Grant comes out of the shadows to make a stance on his own. The film has its moments (is a "rejuvenating" life of crime worth living?), while the noteworthy material (e.g., the collector's mindset, the value of copy versus original) is sourly downgraded. Nominated for 3 Oscars? Really?

Mo says:

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

Director: Peter Jackson. 99 min. Rated R. Documentary. UK/New Zealand.

Why lie? I've always been against colorizing (i.e., popularizing) old films. But if we're in the same league, watch this - it'll change your mind. While not necessarily an attack on classic film sanctity, Peter Jackson's collage of restored, colorized and re-timed old World War I films, with background narrations from deceased veterans, will blow your mind. It provides a new back-drop for what it meant to go to combat one hundred years ago, and still comes to the same conclusion: that in war, the real enemy, is war itself. A nice example where form empowers content.

Mo says:

Free Solo (2018)

Director(s): Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. 100 min. Rated PG-13. Documentary.

Watching films like Everest and Meru, I've always questioned the logic behind such life-threatening sports. Free Solo finally helped me understand. Mountain-climbing, specifically free soloing, without ropes or gear, is about an obsession for perfection - about defying what the universe talks you down and says cannot be done. About knowing when to be scared, and when to move and plow ahead. Alex Honnold's attempt to literally "conquer" Yosemite's El Capitan Wall, is a spectacle that provoked palpitations in me watching a documentary for the first time. This is another film where the larger the screen, the more magnificent the message.

Mo says:

MoMagic!

Mirai (2018)

Director: Mamoru Hosoda. 98 min. Rated R. Japan. Animation.

A baby sister is added to a 4 year-old boy's life, and sibling rivalry drives him to imagine himself coming into contact with family members from the past and future - including his own grown-up sister. That plot-line not only makes this animation specifically addressed to adults who may not understand it (let alone kids), it also renders the film too exotic, and therefore, ... boring. I'm assuming if the idea was for children to watch this and be more accepting of new additions to the family, at least the final product could've been made more palatable to them.

Mo says:

Shoplifters (Manbiki kazoku) (2018)

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda. Cast: Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Kirin Kiki. 121 min. Rated R. Japan. Drama.

Last year's Cannes Palm d'Or winner from Japan is about a manufactured family of small-time crooks, who may be good-natured, but justify their methods (".. it's not stealing because in the shop doesn't belong to anybody yet"; "... it's not kidnapping because we didn't ask for ransom"). But the film poses a grander question: can you choose your family - choose who to call brother, sister, or dad? This film, like other Hirokazu Koreeda films, is very slow-paced (even including an opening shoplifting scene). But that may be the point, because the lives of these people is anything but exciting.

Mo says:

A Private War (2018)

Director: Matthew Heineman. Cast: Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan, Tom Hollander, Stanley Tucci. 110 min. Rated R. UK/USA. Biography/War.

Based on the true story of Marie Colvin, the journalist who braved Middle-East conflicts to report under the heaviest gunfire of the 2000s. With Pike playing the trademark eye-patched role in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, especially during a final scene, we understand what made this particular reporter a celebrated one. But at the end of the day, the heroine's death-defying endeavors to give voice to the voiceless people of these regions, fall under the spell of a white savior narrative, as there is no mention of which countries were really the cause of such brutal conflicts in the first place.

Mo says:

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Director: Mike Mitchell. Cast (voices): Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Jason Momoa, Cobie Smulders, Ralph Fiennes, Will Forte, Bruce Willis. 106 min. Rated PG. Animation.

Rarely remember a sequel ... so despicable! There was always this criticism hanging over the original Lego Movie (or any Lego-based movie that followed), that they were made solely for the purpose of selling Legos. But this one is shameless! Through the dumbest story, the most shallow characters set out to achieve: absolutely nothing palatable. And there's even a plot-line where (yes, I'm spoiling the movie) kids outgrow Legos and box them up ... only to open the boxes and play with them again! Strong candidate for my worst movie of the year - and we're not even past February.

Mo says:

The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)

Director: Fede Alvarez. Cast: Claire Foy, Beau Gadsdon, Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield. 117 min. Rated R. UK/Germany/Sweden/Canada/USA. Action/Thriller.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo films have become afflicted with "franchisitis" - they've become weaker by the sequel. This is primarily due to its switching (and choice) of the actress who plays heroine Lisbeth Salander: Noomi Rapace brought fiery originality to the role, Rooney Mara weakened it by her wooden presence, and now Claire Foy ... with all her acting competence, I'm uncertain what she's brought to it. And the story (not written by the original trilogy's Stieg Larsson) adds an evil sister, numerous impossible situations, and a warning: this franchise is far from over.

Mo says:

Glass (2019)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan. Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark. 129 min. Rated PG-13. Sci-fi.

Imagine the potential: the (super)hero and (super)villain of one of the best sci-fis of the 2000s, together with the villain of the sequel, here to complete a trilogy. Then imagine how that potential falls flat on the face. More than half the movie goes by in preamble, for it to end in a boring anticlimactic final battle ... in an asylum's front yard? And finally a Shyamalan twist at the end which is supposed to lead to more sequels but nobody really cares about. This is "the curse of the threequel" in full force.

Mo says:

My Top 10 Movies of 2018

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I consider 2018 a somewhat boring year for movies. It was good for musicals (Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star is Born), and unbelievable for superheroes (Aquaman, Spider-Man: Spider-verse, Black Panther, Ant-Man 2, Deadpool 2, and of course, Infinity War - to the extent that nobody asked: what's going on with Episode IX?).

And in essence, all this means ... it was a boring year for movies. Like other years, it was full of sequels and prequels and remakes (a major Oscar contender is a third remake!) - but that's nothing new. We rarely got anything new or exciting or thought-provoking like Annihilation.

So as usual, right before the Oscar nominees are announced, let's just cut to the chase. My top 10 movies of 2018, in alphabetical order:

1. Annihilation

2. Avengers: Infinity War

3. BlacKkKlansman

4. Crazy Rich Asians

5. Fahrenheit 11/9

6. First Man

7. Green Book

8. Hereditary

9. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

10. Roma

Best Movie of the Year: I've seen this twice already, and I want to see it again. The layers of meaning this film hurls you into (what was it about anyway?), keeps you thinking for a loooooong time after it's over. I've heard sequels are in the works. I hope that doesn't happen.

MoMagic!

Annihilation

Worst Movie of the Year: Never thought this day would come. Well ... I did, just not this fast. They made a Star Wars movie with a story that made no sense, with flimsy characters that had no logic, and resurrected a dead villain from the past that should've stayed dead. Summarily, they made a spin-off that was never needed in the first place. Other than filling some fat pockets.

MoCrap!

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Discovery of the Year: This will be strange for film aficionados, but I found two classic movies by a French director that blew me away: Les diaboliques (The Devils), and The Wages of Fear. You can't make exciting black-and-white movies that'll grip the audience on the edge of their seat very easily -even by today's standards.

Discovery of the Year: 

Henri-Georges Clouzot

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Director: Barry Jenkins. Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Dave Franco. 119 min. Rated R. Drama/Romance.

I was never impressed by Moonlight, but watching Jenkins' latest, everything started to fall into place. The idea of using a slow rhythm, a very slow rhythm, to project pure emotions. Not only love. Any emotion. Look at If Beale Street Could Talk through that lens, and suddenly everything makes sense: a young couple in love could be any couple; not a couple defined by their skin color. And that's what makes the cruelty of racism that's unleashed upon them, so disturbing. You're forced to contemplate: what if a white couple was treated exactly the same way? Intrusive film.

Mo says:

Vice (2018)

Director: Adam McKay. Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Eddie Marsan, Jesse Plemons, Bill Camp, Lily Rabe, Tyler Perry. 132 min. Rated R. Biography/Comedy.

We already knew Dick Cheney was an historically despicable entity. So when you make a movie about a despicable concept, you better make him interesting - not just something as abhorrent as expected. Otherwise, you're just displaying your inner masochism. Undoubtedly, the viewer will be blown away on how closely Bale, Carell and Rockwell resemble Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush, respectively, but there's nothing conceptually interesting in their resemblance. And Cheney breaking the fourth wall at the end to talk to us, as supposed proof on the movie's fair approach, only adds to confusion on the director's stance on the subject.

Mo says: