Rate That Movie Part IV: Movies Never Sleep

[Buscemi2]

21 Bridges 2/10

A lame-brained and predictable mishmash of Blue Lives Matter propaganda and conspiracy thriller (as co-scribe Matthew Michael Carnahan loves conspiracies as much as he does name-dropping Iraq and Afghanistan, which also happens here) that wastes its talented cast in a series of cliches directed flatly by a TV hack being watched by a pair of TV hacks. There's not much of a story or anything remotely original. It's just shoot the unarmed man, transfer the dirty money, question your partner's motives, rinse and repeat. This film only seems to exist to get Marvel fans interested in seeing Chadwick Boseman doing a Russo Brothers project that's not Avengers-related. But there's no reason to pay to see this in a movie theatre (even the morning pricing at AMC was too much).

Just watch Dragged Across Concrete instead, which at least seems to question the motives of its cop characters and has more than just violence in its story.

[numbersix]

For Sama: 6/10
Solid documentary about a young mother charting the rise of the resistence in Syria's Aleppo, and the fall as it remains under siege for a year. It very much feels central to what's going on, without preaching politics too much, instead focusing on those dedicated to helping others.

I Lost My Body: 7/10
Another film about refugees, this time an animated film about an adopted kid in France whose hand wakes up, severed from his body, and goes in search of his owner. It's a beautiful, imaginative film.

Synonyms: 6/10
One of the wildest uneven films I've seen in some time. It's about an Israeli guy who runs from his past by moving to Paris, as he struggles to keep afloat. But it's more about identity, and hiding from your past. The film has some incredible scenes, led by a manic performance by the lead actor. And then some scenes are pretentious and dull. Definitely a film that's less than the sum of its parts, but fascianting for its brevity.

The Nightingale: 6/10
A sort of arty revenge thriller, in which an Irish woman in Australia hunts down the British soldiers who abused her. It's more a weird buddy movie, as the woman gradually understands her Aboriginal guide's frame of mind. The film is let down by being too long, its one-dimensional villains, and some poor directing.

Knives Out: 7/10
A hugely entertaining murder mystery. It's roughly the same length as The Nightingale, but feels like a breeze. That's due to Rian Johnson's understanding of how to subvert the genre and keep the film exciting, while also throwing in some great lines and funny moments. Performances across the board are enjoyable, although by the end the film doesn't quite subvert the genre as much as you'd expect. But as fun goes, this beats the pants off any blockbuster.

Little Women: 7/10
I've never seen any of the other films, nor read the book, but it seems like Greta Gerwig has taken some bold risks in adapating this classic story, making it non-linear without feeling cerebral. It's a clever, light film that captures the joy of sisterhood. Arguably, its heavier moments don't quite land, but that's compensated by a somewhat self-aware and smart conclusion, and a great cast led by Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh, both of which deserve endles awards.

[Buscemi2]

I think you're being a little too nice to The Nightingale.

Marriage Story 4/10

What I got out of this Oscar bait film from Noah Baumbach is that he really loves himself, seems to be unable to get over his divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh, and he hates lawyers, especially if they are women. The film seems to be unable to figure out if it wants to be a film or a play, as many moments feel too stagey and not very realistic. The film is at its best when it's firmly a film, mainly in the courtroom scenes (Alan Alda might be the best actor in the film). Otherwise, the film feels very pretentious, with its well-off main characters difficult to like and a lot of telling but not showing.

Baumbach thinks he's Bergman (he even name-drops Scenes from a Marriage in one scene) but it ends up feeling like an overlong imitation of bad Woody Allen. It simply doesn't ring true.

[W]

Has anyone else seen Waves? I thought it was the best thing I've seen so far this year. 10/10. Best cast so far this year by a lot. It doesn't matter who's on screen you get one of the best performances of the year. If you have a chance to catch it, I suggest you do.

Dark Waters was pretty good, but copycat of Spotlight-type films. They even pulled in Mark Ruffalo. It's a great true story I'd never heard, but does nothing new. 7/10

[Buscemi2]

Waves won't play near me until December 20th. Instead, we got In Fabric, which got no marketing whatsoever despite positive reviews and a Metacritic Must-See seal.

[transformers2]

Saw Waves a little over a week ago. Haven't been more conflicted about a film all year long. Its narrative approach made it feel really disjointed at times and the whole "kumbaya" feeling that occupies the last 10-15 minutes didn't feel earned at all given how horrific the events that lead up to it were. Taylor Russell, Sterling K. Brown, the soundtrack and a handful of scenes were superb though.

[JohnErle]

I know people love to complain about trailers that reveal too much, but Waves is an example of a trailer that reveals too little. I've seen it several times the past few months and still have no idea what the movie is about. A black family has to deal with... something, I guess. Not nearly enough there to pique my interest.

[Buscemi2]

A24 just doesn't market their movies well. Funny that they get so much love among film circles for just existing.

They're nothing more than the new Miramax.

[transformers2]

I think A24 had to be especially ambiguous when advertising Waves. The plot goes to some stunningly dark places and I think not even really hinting that tragic event is in its marketing was a wise choice.

[Buscemi2]

In Fabric 3/10

Giallo probably should have stayed in the 70's and not been resurrected in this 90's-set horror film that makes absolutely no sense and barely has anything to say in its two hour run time (and I just found out A24 released an even longer version on demand). The story has about 30 minutes of actual material and even then it's pushing it. And just when you think the story's over, we get a completely unrelated subplot involving characters that have more or less no connection to the main characters in the first hour.

So what works? The performances for the most part aren't that bad. But the rest of it just seems to exist in a format that only has a purpose in the director's mind. It wants to be Suspiria but ends up being something like The Love Witch: overlong and unsure of what exactly it's trying to do.

[Buscemi2]

Queen and Slim 9/10

It seems like Universal really wanted to bury this film over its themes and its very unmainstream nature. Which is too bad it might be one of the best American films this year. A modernized Bonnie & Clyde, newcomer Melina Matsoukas shows a really good eye for vision and style as she creates a film that manages to effectively mix its message with a style that feels authentic without pandering. Daniel Kaluuya might actually be better here than he was in Get Out, playing a straight-laced God-fearing Clevelander who finds himself on the lam with his date after killing a cop in self-defense. But rather being your typical "clear my name" thriller, it's a slow burning exercise that is high on getting the audience to know its characters. Jodie Turner-Smith, making her acting debut, isn't as impressive as Kaluuya but makes for a likeable anti-heroine. Also, the film works as a romantic film better than most mainstream romances.

I'm surprised that the film hasn't gained more traction (though it has performed above the studio's meager expectations), as you'd think some cineastes would be all over it. The themes are hot-button, it's the discovery of new talent, and dare I say it, it feels like the kind of film A24 would be hailing as a new revision of the crime genre. Even the director has been critical of the industry, mainly AMPAS,'s indifference towards the film (I've seen this be called career suicide but 1. she has a point and 2. if Alfonso Cuaron said the same thing, they'd been kissing his ass and gift-wrapping him Oscar No. 5).

So in the end, this is the kind of fresh new talent we should be embracing. Not the well-connected actors and/or offspring of famous people that's become the new normal, making the same ideas that have done before. But filmmakers who dare to break down what's been accepted and fight for what they believe in. Queen and Slim is that.

[Screen203]

Dark Waters

This was a very generic - white man becomes obsessed with wrongdoing of some kind to the point it takes over his life - Oscar-bait type film, based on a true story to boot. Despite the cliches, it's not a bad film. It doesn't feel like a Todd Haynes film, mostly because of the grey color palate and the utter lack of female characters (besides Anne Hathaway as the stereotypical "the wife"). The marketing has been pretty misleading - it's more of a straight drama than a thriller - most of the scenes that are in the marketing happen in the first 30 minutes. While I'm sure this is reflective of what happened in real life, much of the movie is padded by courtroom scenes that always have the same outcome (Ruffalo's firm gets a small victory, but DuPont stalls). The movie picks up again when the firm get the tests for C-8 in the bloodstream, and Ruffalo starts to fear for his life, but leads to more padding after. The first 30 minutes the marketing heavily featured for a reason - they are easily the highlight of the film (along with the acting, in particular, Mark Ruffalo's and Bill Camp's performances). As W said earlier, it is also very redundant of based on a true story of journalists-exposing-crime movies that have flooded awards seasons in recent years. It feels very procedural, but it's not necessarily a bad film - it just peaks way too early.

5 out of 10

[Screen203]

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

After the first actually compelling Star Wars film (I like Rouge One quite a lot as well) divided audiences, the franchise returns to mediocrity with a film that feels like a two hour "apology" to fix what wasn't broken. Technically, Star Wars is still among the best - the set design, sound editing/mixing (although the actual soundtrack is the same music as in all the others), and special effects are incredible. The story, though, ties itself up into knots about an hour in trying to undo some of the more controversial elements in Rian Johnson's film the scene where Rey contacts the ghost of Luke is kind of when it fell apart for me. The tide turned way too quickly in the final battle. Also, who was the older woman that Rey went to see at the very end when she hides the lightsabers on the Dune-esque planet? As entertainment, it's not bad, but it isn't anywhere as thought-provoking as the previous film.

6 out of 10

[numbersix]

Jojo Rabbit: 6/10
Despite the premise, this is a lesser Waititi film. Too soft to hit home but its Nazi Germany setting prevents it from ever being just a fun film. There is lost of potential here, but it's really just a soft adventure in whimsy. It really fails in handling the tone of its final act, yet there's enough charm and decent supporting performances (particularly Thomasin MacKenzie) to make it worth a watch.

Queen and Slim: 5/10
A film that really really wants to be significant but never earns the mythic status it tries to have. It starts off well, particularly when it comes to the dialogue, but descends into a collection of unconvincing characters and developments. What's worse is so much of the logic of actual scenes, in how people act and how things work out (including the initial cop attack, or a scene in a gas station where the clerk wants to see the guy's gun) are baffling unrealistic.

Marriage Story: 6/10
Despite the rave reviews this isn't that good if you've watched a bunch of Bergman or Woody Allen films. This film struggles because it can't decide if it wants to be a Woody Allen comedy or one of his dramas. So there are scenes and characters which are heightened for comedy, but they clash with the more authentic and serious moments. Still, the film has a seriously impressive cast, not just with the leads but with every supporting character, including the young boy in the centre of this divorce mess.

Honey Boy: 6/10
It's a brave and bold move for Shia LaBoeuf to not only write a film about his relationship with his abusive father, but the play that father too. The film is overlong and repetitive and the resolution at the end isn't convincing, but the detail in a difficult dynamic between a child actor and his deadbeat dad who is hired as his son's chaperone, has great moments.

Judy: 5/10
Another decent, if very technical performance, and that's about it. The film deals with Judy Garland's last few months as she performs in England to earn money to be with her kids, with some on-the-nose flashbacks to smash sympathy on our heads. A decent first 30 minutes descends into some tried old cliches and some cynically woke scenes. I'm not sure what the film really has to say except how hard it is for celebs at the end of their careers.

Good Kids: 6/10
A fun if forgettable comedy that's essentially Superbad but younger. But that works as a premise, because the trio's understand of life and sex is completely different, completely naive that you can't help but laugh at how they think anal beads are a necklace, etc. There's not much of a story going on, but it's a brief and watchable flick.

[transformers2]

Have to agree with six on Queen & Slim. There were a number of many scenes/creative choices that baffled me to no end. In addition to the gas station scene you mentioned, the sequence where the teenage son of the mechanic that fixed their car shoots a cop at a protest served absolutely no purpose to the story. The fact that this shocking moment was juxtaposed with a long sex scene between the protagonists only added to the oddity. Also, the decision to paint Queen's uncle in a relatively redeeming light even though he's an abusive asshole who killed her mother really irked me. It's a shame that parts of the script was so messy because there is a lot of really good stuff here underneath the shoddy, WTF-inducing writing (namely the cinematography, the development of the romance and performances-especially from Daniel Kaluuya-who continues to solidify himself as a top-tier acting talent).