Movies Graded

Director: Chung Mong-Hong Stars: Wu Chien-Ho, Chen Yi-wen, Samantha Shu-Chin Ko Runtime:   156  minutes Synopsis:  A family of four fractures under the weight of unmet expectations, unexpected tragedy, and uncompromising pride. Verdict:  I'm sure most of you have experienced at some point in your lives a feeling of extreme satisfaction upon completing the binging of a really good limited series. This is exactly how I felt when the credits of "A Sun" started rolling. This Taiwanese crime epic/family drama had me going through all sorts of emotions in its impressive runtime of two and a half hours, which flew by instantly. It follows a myriad of characters, all related in some way or another, as they go through moments of tragedy that they each handle in their own way. Despite some gaining more screentime than others, I never felt detached from any of them, and found myself deeply caring about the journey of growth they go through. All of this was made possible thanks ...

Director: Patty Jenkins Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig Runtime:   151  minutes Synopsis:   Rewind to the 1980s as Wonder Woman's next big-screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah. Verdict:  Unlike its predecessor, "Wonder Woman 1984" garnered mixed reactions upon its release. With it being one of the rare blockbusters that stuck to their 2020 release, Gal Gadot's return as the Amazonian warrior was awaited by many but didn't meet the expectations set by both audiences and critics alike. For that reason, I went in expecting the typical, messy superhero movie that has been consuming theaters for a decade now... only to get a pleasant surprise out of a film that despite being two and a half hours long, never felt like a drag to get through. While still suffering from tired tropes regularly found in the genre, one wasted villain, and an underwhelming finale, I found this sequel's biggest strength to be its personalit...

Director: Thomas Vinterberg Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang Runtime:   117  minutes Synopsis:  Four friends, all high school teachers, test a theory that they will improve their lives by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood. Verdict:  With "The Hunt" being one of my favorite movies of the past decade, I was eager to see what Thomas Vinterberg and Mads Mikkelsen had in store for their second collaboration. The fact that it already is considered an awards frontrunner by many only made me more excited to check it out, but I'm sad to report that it didn't meet my expectations. Quite the opposite. Now to be perfectly honest, there's nothing truly wrong with the movie itself. About a group of high school teachers who decide to make their lives more interesting by keeping a constant level of alcohol in their blood, it had a lot to say about the drinking culture of today, highlighting both its advantages and inconveniences. The en...

Director: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers Stars: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton Runtime:   100  minutes Synopsis:  A musician who has lost his passion for music is transported out of his body and must find his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself. Verdict:  Have you ever taken a bite out of a pizza slice and found the crust to be fresh and crusty but the toppings to be lacking in flavor? Because that's what watching "Soul" felt like. Borrowing some elements from 2015's "Inside Out", the film touches on heavy material by exploring themes such as the meaning of life. In it, we're introduced to Jamie Foxx's Joe Gardner, a jazz pianist struggling to reignite his love for music. An unfortunate incident detaches his spirit from his physical body and sends it to the Great Before, where he teams up with an unborn soul in the hopes of finding his way back to his earthly being in time for a career-defining gig. It's an ambitious co...

Director: Henry Selick Stars: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara Runtime:   76  minutes Synopsis:  Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion. Verdict:  Whenever December is around the corner, I promise myself to go on a binge of Christmas movies to get into the holiday spirit... only to end up watching one or two. This year was no exception, and considering the current status of the world, I found it most appropriate to put on the movie whose title best encapsulates it: "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Now, this is not my first time watching what I thought for a very long time to be a film directed by Tim Burton, though I believe that I've only seen it once a while ago. I was eager to check if it held up to this day, and I'm glad to report that it absolutely does. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" contains some of the best stop motion animation and char...

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky Stars: Aleksandr Kaydanocskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko Runtime:   162  minutes Synopsis:  A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes. Verdict:  After two semi-disappointing experiences with Tarkovsky's work, I was ready to give up trying to get into the Soviet director's filmography. I was ready to admit to myself that his films simply weren't my cup of tea and have my cinephile card revoked in the process. But I couldn't make such a decision without giving his most admired work a shot. So despite it being nearly 3 hours long, I popped in the movie that famously and unfortunately claimed his and a number of its crewmembers their lives with the hopes that it would change my mind about him. "Stalker" is perhaps one of the most aesthetically pleasing films I have ever seen, that I can assure you. Tarkovsky's craftmanship played a vital role in turning the setting into a char...

Director: George C. Wolfe Stars: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo Runtime:   94  minutes Synopsis:  Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey, her ambitious horn player and the white management determined to control the uncontrollable "Mother of the Blues". Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play. Verdict:  When the world learned of Chadwick Boseman's untimely passing this late August, a feeling of shock and sadness united people of all demographics to mourn the loss of a true star. His acting career was still young, but his charisma, talent, and kindness allowed him to conquer many hearts in the few years during which he made a name for himself in Hollywood. The path he took eventually led him to become the role model he was destined to be when he snatched the role of T'Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has kept him busy for the past 4 years. Based on August Wilson's play (who also wrote "Fe...

Director: Koreeda Hirokazu Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke Runtime:   106  minutes Synopsis:  A stormy reunion between scriptwriter Lumir with her famous mother and actress, Fabienne, against the backdrop of Fabienne's autobiographic book and her latest role in a Sci-Fi picture as a mother who never grows old. Verdict:  I'm always curious to see what's cooking in Koreeda Hirokazu's lab. He's one of the most sincere filmmakers working today, and his trademark family dramas always have a certain depth to them that makes them fascinating to watch despite their light nature. "The Truth" marks his first non-Japanese project and is lead by an all-star cast that includes names such as Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, and Ethan Hawke. The film sees Lumir and her family pay a visit to her mother, a famous actress getting ready to publish her memoirs and act in a new movie alongside a young up-and-comer. You can immediately see that their...

Director: Wong Kar-Wai Stars: Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Runtime: 102 minutes Synopsis:  Two melancholy Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant he frequents. Performances:  9/10 Screenplay:  7/10 Editing:  8/10 Cinematography:  9/10 Score/Soundtrack:  7/10 Enjoyment Factor:  6/10 Verdict: With a sequel being greenlit just a few days ago and a personal willingness to get more into Wong Kar-Wai's work, I found the timing to be ideal to seek out one of the most notable entries in his rich filmography: "Chungking Express". Set in Hong Kong, we follow two policemen linked only by the themes of lost love and loneliness. The first half of the film is dedicated to Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) as he contemplates if, like nearly everything else, relationships come with an expiration date, while the second half switches to Cop 663's ...

Director: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart Stars:  Honor Kneafsey, Eva Whittaker, Sean Bean Runtime:   103  minutes Synopsis:  A young apprentice hunter and her father journey to Ireland to help wipe out the last wolf pack. But everything changes when she befriends a free-spirited girl from a mysterious tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night. Verdict:  Set in Ireland during the Middle Ages, "Wolfwalkers" follows a young hunter named Robyn whose perception of large canines she once viewed as a threat to the society she belongs to is challenged when she befriends a young girl with mysterious powers living among them. More than just a fairy-tale-like adventure led by two extremely likable characters, the film also serves as a commentary on the persecution of innocent minorities in authoritarian regimes that is still going on to this day. While wolves are the sad victims here, it is made clear that what they represent is a much larger community doomed to live out t...

Director: Orson Welles Stars: John Huston, Oja Kodar, Peter Bogdanovich Runtime:   122  minutes Synopsis:  A Hollywood director emerges from semi-exile with plans to complete work on an innovative motion picture. Verdict:  I don't think I've ever seen a film as fascinating as Orson Welles' "The Other Side of the Wind". It's a groundbreaking piece of experimental Cinema that oddly never received the attention it deserved upon its release on Netflix a couple of years ago. For those unfamiliar with it, the movie was supposed to mark Welles' Hollywood comeback in the early 1970s, but various complications refrained him from completing the project before his death in 1985 despite multiple attempts to do so, and the incomplete footage had been sitting in a vault ever since. 30 years later, in 2015, directors Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach launched a successful campaign aimed at gathering funds to finish Welles' long lost swan song based on the hundreds of ra...

Director: Lawrence Michael Levine Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Sarah Gadon, Christopher Abbott Runtime:   104  minutes Synopsis:  A filmmaker at a creative impasse seeks solace from her tumultuous past at a rural retreat, only to find that the woods summon her inner demons in intense and surprising ways. Verdict:  I didn't know much about "Black Bear" prior to putting it on. Aside from it starring Aubrey Plaza, the movie's premise was a complete mystery to me as I didn't even watch its trailer or read its synopsis. I'm not even sure why I put it on in the first place instead of prioritizing one of the hundreds of movies I need to cross off my ever-growing watchlist. All I know is that I'm thankful that I did, because I found this psychological drama to be one of the best films of 2020. Before I go on, I will say that this review contains some mild spoilers as it's impossible to talk about it without bringing them up, and I implore you to skip the next lines if...

Director: Darius Marder Stars: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci Runtime:   120  minutes Synopsis:  A heavy-metal drummer's life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing. Verdict:  Darius Marder's directorial debut has been garnering praise for a while now, and I, for one, had been eagerly waiting for its VOD release to finally see what the fuss was all about. A lot of that praise was aimed at the film's sound design as well as Riz Ahmed's career-defining performance, and while I do agree that these elements are the highlights of the movie, it was also frustrating to see that it didn't have much else to offer. About a drummer who sees his life crumble when he begins to lose his hearing, the film captures the protagonist's struggle by inviting the audience to experience his condition. We begin to view the world through his eyes, and most importantly listen to it through his ears, an ingenious method to make us sympathize with him and understand...

Director: Francis Lee Stars: Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones Runtime:   120   minutes Synopsis: In   1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever. Verdict: In 2019, Céline Sciamma's "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" took the world by storm and was considered by many to be one of the year's best films. When the trailer to Francis Lee's "Ammonite" dropped, many quickly compared it to "Portrait" due to its similar tone and parallel narratives. Both films are period pieces exploring the growing relationship between two women residing by the sea and, I may be in the minority here, but I found this one to be a more rewarding watch overall. Francis Lee is a director who caught my attention earlier this year with "God's Own Country", another LGBT themed film clearly inspired by another classic in t...

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky Stars: Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeniy Zharikov Runtime:   84  minutes Synopsis:  In WW2, twelve-year-old Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev works for the Soviet army as a scout behind the German lines and strikes a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers. Verdict:  If I were to judge the two Tarkovsky films that I've seen so far objectively, I'd rank them amongst the best ones I have ever seen. There's no doubt that the Soviet director knows what he's doing, as proven by the pristine aesthetic present in his work. They're magnificently shot, beautifully scored, and filled with imagery you can't help but gaze at. Alas, Cinema, like every other form of art, is a subjective medium before anything else. And the main issue I had with both "Mirror" and "Ivan's Childhood" is the fact that the wall separating viewers from the film remained standing throughout their runtimes. I was never able to truly atta...

Director: David Fincher Stars: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins Runtime:   131  minutes Synopsis:  Follows screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz's tumultuous development of Orson Welles' iconic masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941). Verdict: After a hiatus of 6 years where he lent his talent to the world of television, David Fincher is back with a rather unusual addition to his rich filmography. Who would've thought that the man responsible for some of the best thrillers of our generation would be the one making a black and white biopic about Herman Mankiewicz, known for his penmanship of the screenplay of a certain "Citizen Kane"? Written by his late father Jack, "Mank" serves as one of Fincher's most impressive works behind the camera. Its biggest asset is the fact that, while serving as an homage to the film it was inspired by, it still very much managed to be its own thing without feeling like a glorified copy. Overall, I saw it as more of a love...

Director: Orson Welles Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore Runtime:   119  minutes Synopsis:  Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance; 'Rosebud'. Verdict: Rosebud. That mysterious word, uttered by publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane on his deathbed, will serve as the catalyst of a hunt for the truth. Convinced that it was the key to understanding who Kane truly was behind the many headlines attributed to his character, a reporter tasked with finding its meaning visits the entourage of the recently deceased magnate in the hopes of solving that mystery. Whether "Citizen Kane" is the greatest film of all time as many consider it to be is up for debate. After all, art is subjective. But what's undeniable about it is the fact that it's one of the most influential films of all time. From both a technical and a storytelling perspective, the film introduced many ...