Movies Graded

Director: Greta Gerwig Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh Runtime: 135 minutes Synopsis:   Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women each determined to live life on their own terms. Performances: 9/10 Screenplay: 8/10 Costumes/Makeup: 9/10 Editing: 9/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Score/Soundtrack:  9/10 Verdict: I'm not the biggest fan of period pieces. And while I liked "Lady Bird", which was Greta Gerwig's massively acclaimed directorial debut, I can't say that I loved it. I wasn't sure what to expect from what is the fourth adaptation of a novel I'm not familiar with at all. And to be honest, I'm glad I watched it with next to no expectations, because I ended up absolutely loving every second of it. "Little Women" may be set in the mid-1800s, but that's hardly what the movie focuses on. It's much more interested in recounting t...

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton Stars: Brie Larson, Michael B. Jordan, O'Shea Jackson Jr. Runtime:  137 minutes Synopsis:   World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner. Performances: 8/10 Screenplay: 4/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 4/10 Cinematography: 5/10 Score/Soundtrack:  4/10 Verdict: Back in 2013, Destin Daniel Cretton gifted us with a wonderful surprise by the name of "Short Term 12". Since then, the Hawaiian director, aside from a timid outing a couple of years ago that saw him reunited with Brie Larson in "The Glass Castle", sort of disappeared from the Hollywood scene and it wasn't until a few months ago, while I was randomly checking if he was up to anything new, that I discovered that he was adapting the true story of Johnnie D., a wrongfully convicted man sentenced to death in Alabama. And while the story itself is one that has a lot to say about...

Director: Fred Durst Stars:   John Travolta, Devon Sawa, Ana Golja Runtime:  88 minutes Synopsis:   A rabid film fan stalks his favorite action hero and destroys the star's life. Performances: 1/10 Screenplay: 1/10 Costumes/Makeup: 2/10 Editing: 3/10 Cinematography: 3/10 Score/Soundtrack:  2/10 Entertainment Factor: 8/10 Verdict: Remember "Joker"? Now imagine if it was written by a 9 year old and starred someone who turned up high to set every single day. You get "The Fanatic", a film starring John Travolta as a mentally challenged fan turned stalker. And yes, it's absolutely amazing. The film made a mere $3,153 at the box office, and that's quite frankly one of the biggest tragedies in Cinema history. Because this is a film I'll most definitely be revisiting more than once, preferably with a bunch of drunk friends. The fact that Travolta actually started a For Your Consideration campaign hoping that this masterpiece woul...

Director: Trey Edwards Shults Stars:   Taylor Russell, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Alexa Demie Runtime:  135 minutes Synopsis:   Traces the journey of a suburban family - led by a well-intentioned but domineering father - as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss. Performances: 9/10 Screenplay: 6/10 Editing: 6/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Score/Soundtrack:  8/10 Verdict: As a big fan of Trey Edwards Shults' "It Comes at Night", I was eagerly waiting for his follow up project, once again produced by A24, a studio that never fails to deliver. And one thing the young director proved for sure with "Waves" is that he has range like very few others do, because this particular one's style is vastly different than the one used to create an atmosphere of dread in "It Comes at Night". Fueled by incredible performances all over the board, gorgeous cinematography that played with aspect ratios in a very s...

Director: Taika Waititi Stars:    Roman Griffin Davis ,  Thomasin McKenzie ,  Scarlett Johansson Runtime:  108 minutes Synopsis:   A young boy in Hitler's army finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Performances: 7/10 Screenplay: 6/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 7/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Score/Soundtrack:  5/10 Verdict: Taika Waititi is an international treasure and every movie of his is a little gem. "Jojo Rabbit", which marks the first time that one of his feature films gets recognized by the Academy (6 times, nonetheless!) is no exception, despite the fact that it's probably my least favorite entry in his already rich filmography to date. The self-proclaimed "anti-hate satire" follows a young, determined boy in Nazi Germany whose life is changed when he discovers that his mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in the walls of their home. In old Waititi fashion, the film is mostly a comedy, but is also hi...

Director: Terrence Malick Stars:  August Diehl ,  Valerie Pachner ,  Maria Simon   Runtime:  174 minutes Synopsis:   The Austrian Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II. Performances: 6/10 Screenplay: 3/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 3/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Score/Soundtrack:  7/10 Verdict: Terrence Malick is a polarizing director to say the least. I for one have seen all of the movies he released in the past decade and while I absolutely adored "The Tree of Life", I also couldn't stand "Knight of Cups" and "Song to Song". The premise of his newest film sounds promising. It's the true story of an Austrian man's struggle to fight for a cause he doesn't believe in during World World 2. That cause being of course the Nazi regime. And while the premise was indeed promising, watching it felt like some sort of punishment I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy. Ob...

Directors:  Waad Al-Kateab ,  Edward Watts Runtime:  100 minutes Synopsis:   FOR SAMA is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. Verdict: "For Sama" broke my heart, man. I can't stress how brutal, raw, and tragic that documentary is and I'm going to take this chance to warn you that it contains images you'll probably have a hard time forgetting as the sight of hopeless children losing their loved ones is one I wish I never had to see in my life. But sadly, this is happening on a daily basis, and being aware of the atrocities the totalitarian Syrian regime is committing feels almost like a duty. "For Sama" lets us experience that from both the comfort and discomfort of our own house, through the eyes of Waad Al-Kateab, one of the bravest women the world has ever seen. As soon as the protests against Bashar Al-Assad's regime broke in 2012, she grabbed a camera and never let go of it, documenting every sec...

Director: Guy Ritchie Stars:  Matthew McConaughey ,  Charlie Hunnam ,  Michelle Dockery Runtime:  113 minutes Synopsis:   A British drug lord tries to sell off his highly profitable empire to a dynasty of Oklahoma billionaires. Performances: 8/10 Screenplay: 7/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 6/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Score/Soundtrack:  7/10 Entertainment Factor: 8/10 Verdict: Guy Ritchie's had a rough couple of years with the releases of "King Arthur" and more recently "Aladdin". Big budget, studio-backed movies are not his thing, and he learned that the hard way, even if the latter did gather a few fans. With "The Gentlemen", the British director signs a glorious return to what made him such a recognizable name in the first place: Crime thrillers with a touch of dark humor. And boy am I glad he made that decision, because I had a blast with that movie. And that's coming from someone who doesn't really consider him...

Director: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert Runtime: 115 minutes Synopsis:   In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America. Verdict: "American Factory" was made famous recently for two reasons: It was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary category and it made Barack Obama's personal list of favorite films of 2019, which isn't really a surprise considering the fact that it was produced by the former president's production company "Higher Ground Production", which he formed alongside his wife Michelle. And I have to say that I found the documentary to be an absolutely fascinating watch. The film takes place in Ohio, where a Chinese conglomerate decides to open a factory in which he promises to create thousands of jobs for a community t...

Director: Kasi Lemmons Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn Runtime:  125 minutes Synopsis:   The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history. Performances: 6/10 Screenplay: 4/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 5/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Score/Soundtrack:  6/10 Verdict: Harriet Tubman is a fascinating historical figure that I only very recently learned about. I was excited to check out the very first film to be made about her, mainly because I wanted to understand the struggles faced by the character more thoroughly. But unfortunately, I can't really say that Kasi Lemmons' dramatization of her story is one that did her justice. "Harriet" was not bad per se, but was a very safe adaptation of a person whose story deserves much more. It had the production of...

Director: Pedro Almodóvar Stars: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia Runtime:  113 minutes Synopsis:   A film director reflects on the choices he's made as past and present come crashing down around him. Performances: 10/10 Screenplay: 8/10 Costumes/Makeup: 7/10 Editing: 9/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Score/Soundtrack:  8/10 Verdict: Pedro  Almodóvar is one of today's most respected directors and I'm ashamed to say that I'm not very familiar with his work. This is a crime I'm most certainly going to fix as soon as possible, especially after watching "Pain and Glory", a semi-autobiographical film starring Antonio Banderas as a fictional dramatization of the director himself. The Spanish actor's performance is easily one of the best of the year, and his Oscar nomination (a first for him) for that role is entirely justified. He mentions at one point in the movie that he prefers actors who hold back their emotions r...

Director: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov Runtime:  86 minutes Synopsis:   The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood. Verdict: Directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, "Honeyland" is a Macedonian documentary that achieved the rare feat of being nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary category as well as the Best International Film category. The film follows  Hatidze Muratova, a wild beekeeper living in isolation with her mother, as she must deal with unexpected new  neighbors who pose a threat to her livelihood.  What I loved about the Sundance sensation is its insight about the life of a very likable, hard-working, and struggling woman whose only friends are her aging mother and Mother Nature itself as well as its approach to themes bigger than its simple premise, "Save the bees" is ...

Director:  Alejandro G. Iñárritu Stars: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton Runtime:  119 minutes Synopsis:   A washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production. Performances: 5/5 Screenplay: 5/5 Editing: 5/5 Cinematography: 5/5 Score/Soundtrack:  5/5 Verdict: Perfect is not a word I regularly use to describe movies. However, an exception has to be made for "Birdman" since using any other adjective wouldn't do it justice. Alejandro G. Iñárritu is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious directors working today (and one of my favorites), and that movie is here to prove that. Only a handful of filmmakers have the ability to pull off something as demanding as "Birdman", and  Iñárritu may be the most qualified between that small lot. In it, the Oscar winner blurs the line between fiction and reality by casting actors with histories similar to the...

Director: Justin Dec Stars: Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Eliana Bateman Runtime:  90 minutes Synopsis:   When a nurse downloads an app that claims to predict the moment a person will die, it tells her she only has three days to live. With the clock ticking and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out. Performances: 3/10 Screenplay: 2/10 Special Effects: 3/10 Editing: 3/10 Cinematography: 4/10 Score/Soundtrack:  3/10 Entertainment Factor: 4/10 Verdict: We've had films about haunted cameras, haunted car wheels, haunted tomatoes and even haunted operating systems. So it was only a matter a time before we got one about a haunted phone app. "Countdown" can be downloaded for free and after accepting the terms and services, will tell you the exact moment of the user's death. And yes, it's kind of funny. I'm not entirely sure if director Justin Dec used a self-aware approach to that ridic...

Director: Sam Mendes Stars: Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays Runtime:  119 minutes Synopsis:   Two young British soldiers during the First World War are given an impossible mission: deliver a message deep in enemy territory that will stop 1,600 men, and one of the soldiers' brothers, from walking straight into a deadly trap. Performances: 8/10 Screenplay: 5/10 Special Effects: 7/10 Costumes/Makeup: 8/10 Cinematography: 10/10 Score/Soundtrack:  9/10 Verdict: If movies were judged on their technical achievements only, then "1917" would and should without a shadow of a doubt be considered an instant classic. But unfortunately for Sam Mendes, their main objective is to tell a compelling story, and I believe this is where the film fell a little flat. I could go on for days praising Roger Deakins' work in this movie, and I'd recommend it for his input alone. He made the entire film look like it was happening in real time by pr...

Director: Alejandro Landes Stars:  Moises Arias, Karen Quintero, Sofia Buenaventura Runtime:  102 minutes Synopsis:   On a remote mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow. Performances: 8/10 Screenplay: 6/10 Costumes/Makeup: 9/10 Editing: 7/10 Cinematography: 9/10 Score/Soundtrack:  8/10 Verdict: "Monos" takes place in the Colombian wilderness and follows a group of children-commandos tasked to watch over a hostage. Starring a cast of mostly unknowns (Julianne Nicholson and Moises Arias are the only actors with a history in the field), the film serves as both a beautiful portal to a civilization unknown to us as well as sort of a study on the emotional and psychological weight that comes with being a child soldier for a military-like, likely terrorist organization. And saying that Alejandro Landes absolutely nailed it would be an understatement. Because what he manages to achieve on his second outin...

Director: Clint Eastwood Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates Runtime:  131 minutes Synopsis:   American security guard  Richard Jewell  saves thousands of lives from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Olympics, but is vilified by journalists and the press who falsely reported that he was a terrorist. Performances: 9/10 Screenplay: 6/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 5/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Verdict: The world is a dangerous place filled with injustices, and Richard Jewell was the unfortunate victim of one back in 1996. We're at the Olympics in Atlanta, and the American security guard is hailed as a hero when he saves hundreds of lives from a bomb. But his moment of fame quickly turns against him when the FBI names him as the primary suspect of the terrorist act. Clint Eastwood is a Hollywood legend, there's absolutely no denying that. But his directorial efforts as of lately have been a little rough on the edges. Now I wouldn't...

Director: Alessio Cremonini Stars: Alessandro Borghi, Massimiliano Tortora, Milvia Marigliano Runtime:  100 minutes Synopsis:   The incredible true story behind the most controversial Italian court cases in recent years. Stefano Cucchi was arrested for a minor crime but in just one week's time, a family is changed forever. Performances: 8/10 Screenplay: 7/10 Editing: 6/10 Cinematography: 7/10 Score/Soundtrack:  6/10 Verdict: One thing I love about Netflix is the fact that you can randomly stumble upon hidden gems no one's even heard off before. "On My Skin" appeared on my home page under the Recommended for You section. I clicked on it out of curiosity and saw that it was a 98% match with my taste. So I gave it a shot. And I do not regret it for a second. The movie is based on the true story of Stefano Cucchi, a young Italian man convicted for a minor crime which led him to a highly controversial week in prison. Filmmaker Alessio Cremonini d...

Director: Luca Guadagnino Stars: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg Runtime:  132 minutes Synopsis:   In 1980s Italy, a romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant. Performances: 10/10 Screenplay: 9/10 Costumes/Makeup: 10/10 Editing: 9/10 Cinematography: 9/10 Score/Soundtrack:  10/10 Verdict: Summer 1983, somewhere in Northern Italy, Elio's world is turned upside down when he encounters his father's research assistant, Oliver, invited to spend a few weeks at their residence. What follows is a journey of self-discovery told like no other before it. It's euphoric, poetic, immersive and beautiful all at once, and the beautiful Italian setting is to thank for that dream-like, heavily cultural trip into the past. But what works best in the movie is the growing relationship between the two leads, flawlessly portrayed by Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and paral...

Director: Noah Hawley Stars: Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz Runtime:  124 minutes Synopsis:   Astronaut Lucy Cola returns to Earth after a transcendent experience during a mission to space, and begins to lose touch with reality in a world that now seems too small. Performances: 5/10 Screenplay: 3/10 Special Effects: 6/10 Costumes/Makeup: 6/10 Editing: 3/10 Cinematography: 4/10 Score/Soundtrack:  5/10 Verdict: I guess the best way to describe Noah Hawley's directorial effort would be to compare it to someone's first attempt at making a balloon animal. I hope I don't sound too mean with this juxtaposition, but "Lucy in the Sky" felt empty on the inside and was at the same time a stylistic mess on the outside. Hawley is most known for his work on the small screen, where his writing skills resulted in hits such as "Legion", "Fargo", or "Bones". For his jump to the big screen, he chose to adapt the true...

Director: Tom Hooper Stars: Francesca Hayward, Idris Elba, Judi Dench Runtime:  110 minutes Synopsis:   A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life. Performances: 6/10 Screenplay: 2/10 Special Effects: 4/10 Editing: 5/10 Cinematography: 5/10 Score/Soundtrack: 7/10 Entertainment Factor: 5/10 Verdict: As soon as the trailer for Tom Hooper's adaptation of the Broadway musical "Cats" was released, the movie was doomed. Endless mockery about the effects used to transforms the actors into human-feline hybrids buried the film before it was even released. The overwhelmingly negative reviews and disappointing box office numbers only came to confirm the inevitable. But is "Cats" as bad as people are making it out to be? I personally didn't think it was. Don't get me wrong, the musical has its fair share of issues, but it also had quite a few r...

Director: Tom Hooper Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway Runtime:  158 minutes Synopsis:   In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever. Performances: 3/5 Screenplay: 2/5 Costumes/Makeup: 3/5 Editing: 2/5 Cinematography: 3/5 Score/Soundtrack:  4/5 Verdict: Victor Hugo's book is a classic. I've heard great things about the stage musical. Tom Hooper's movie, however, is unfortunately not very good as it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect a big Hollywood studio's adaptation of such an amazing story to be. First of all, let's focus on the positive aspects the movie had to offer. The recreation of 19th century France was pretty nice overall despite at times lazy costume designs. The score was also pretty well handled, and Anne Hathaway's perfo...