A rich year at the dark house where even the middling and low points had something to offer (well most of them). MIFF was fun (if its overengineered series of daytime solo screenings bordered on misanthropy) but the best, pleasantly, were from the normal schedules. The last time a year at the cinema was so rich was twenty years ago.
The High
The Nightingale - for having the courage to introduce difficult themes and then to follow through with complicated responses. Far more than a revenge movie.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire - a love story that yet manages to comment on the process of portraiture, make poignant use of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and so strongly insist on the importance of moments that its final shot is of a face changing by the second as it relives each one.
Parasite - Sociopolitical fable of wise down and outers gaming the system with a mix of comedy and dark drama that only the likes of Bong Joon-Ho can provide.
Midsommar - a break-up story set in an allegorical explosion that involves paganism, dance, ritual, extraordinary violence and wondrous hallucination to achieve its final, hard-won smile.
In Fabric - Peter Strickland takes swatches from everything he has encountered and quilts them together in a tighter knit than all the post-modern popsters of the '90s put together. Adding warmth to technique he presents something very funny and often genuinely eerie.
Border - so intense that this is a once only view (currently viewable on SBS on Demand, at the mo) this powerful piece about identity and self-acceptance is like nothing else you have seen this year (and chuck in next year and any other bloody year)
US - Get Out was not a fluke. It was a well-crafted first step into cinema by an accomplished comedian and storyteller. Jordan Peele's reboot of The Twilight Zone had its issues but US avoids them in a show of profound WOW.
Pain & Glory - I prefer Almodovar when he is self-reflexive to his giddy sex comedies. Does that sound obvious? Well, it shouldn't: the latter formed a solid bridge from the lightless oppression of the Franco years and work perfectly well as funny movies. But every time he gets more seriously autobiographical he seems to hone his skills' blade.
Something Else - mumblecore breakup story complicated by what might be a monster of imagination or something far more real. Same universe as that of the rising talents Benson and Morehead
Mrs Lowry & Son - Tim Spall and Vanessa Redgrave shine in a tale of a complex mother and son bond that compresses yet allows for strong personal vision.
The Swallows of Kabul - like a folktale but in the reality of Taliban Afghanistan lifted by entrancing animation and a breezy pace and no shyness from showing atrocity
Jojo Rabbit - improves massively in retrospect as the whole picture has formed and the expectations of the misleading trailer are dispelled. Wonderful fable of ethics from Taika Waititi
Middle
The Day Shall Come - Chris Morris comes through with more subtlety than his last feature (Four Lions) and the ending kills but maybe too much meandering in the second act.
Ready or Not - unsubtle and mostly two dimensional, this us vs them black comedy is lifted into glory by its dizzying central performance.
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood - too long but continuously enjoyable.
Stan and Ollie - Dug deeper than the average biopic but retained a little too much of what bothers me about them.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote - instead of "is that all there is?" after all this time we might rather say "well, that works fine". So it does. As well as Brazil or Fear and Loathing did.
The Long Shot - potentially subversive rom com never quite breaks out of pleasant
The Realm - fine political thriller of manners from Spain takes us effectively from sympathy to a fascinated antipathy as a bad guy is shunned and then threatened by worse guys but needed trimming
Rocketman - music biopic makes one good decision to be a musical first and biography second so that the famous songs match the life lesson rather than the timeline. Some thrilling setpieces but eventually falls into serving the timeline rather than the idea
The Keeper - efficient tale of a struggle for acceptance in the face of mass hostility could have afforded to be a lot harder than it was.
Animals - joys and infuriations of friendship well served by good casting and writing but felt overlong
Low
Knives Out - decent whodunnit promises extras that it doesn't quite deliver
Judy & Punch - great idea shoots itself in the foot at the end of the first act and never quite recovers
Joker - like an efficient cover version of '70s Scorsese with a startling lead vocal
Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach almost breaks through the quirk barrier with some well-nurtured performances from Scarlett Johanson and Adam Driver and doesn't return to the atrocity levels of Frances Ha but it almost feels like this screen divorce is happening in real time. Not for me.
Palm Beach - constantly embarrassing reunion tale of privileged Australians misses every single mark
Brightburn - a dark anti superman tale with surprising gore doesn't exceed its routine approach
The Lodge - horror by numbers constantly annoys with obvious revelations and unremarkable twists. Couldn't care less.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire - a love story that yet manages to comment on the process of portraiture, make poignant use of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and so strongly insist on the importance of moments that its final shot is of a face changing by the second as it relives each one.
In Fabric - Peter Strickland takes swatches from everything he has encountered and quilts them together in a tighter knit than all the post-modern popsters of the '90s put together. Adding warmth to technique he presents something very funny and often genuinely eerie.
Pain & Glory - I prefer Almodovar when he is self-reflexive to his giddy sex comedies. Does that sound obvious? Well, it shouldn't: the latter formed a solid bridge from the lightless oppression of the Franco years and work perfectly well as funny movies. But every time he gets more seriously autobiographical he seems to hone his skills' blade.
Mrs Lowry & Son - Tim Spall and Vanessa Redgrave shine in a tale of a complex mother and son bond that compresses yet allows for strong personal vision.
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood - too long but continuously enjoyable.
Stan and Ollie - Dug deeper than the average biopic but retained a little too much of what bothers me about them.
The Long Shot - potentially subversive rom com never quite breaks out of pleasant
Knives Out - decent whodunnit promises extras that it doesn't quite deliver
Judy & Punch - great idea shoots itself in the foot at the end of the first act and never quite recovers
Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach almost breaks through the quirk barrier with some well-nurtured performances from Scarlett Johanson and Adam Driver and doesn't return to the atrocity levels of Frances Ha but it almost feels like this screen divorce is happening in real time. Not for me.
Palm Beach - constantly embarrassing reunion tale of privileged Australians misses every single mark
Brightburn - a dark anti superman tale with surprising gore doesn't exceed its routine approach
The Lodge - horror by numbers constantly annoys with obvious revelations and unremarkable twists. Couldn't care less.
No comments:
Post a Comment