Movies Graded

Director: Craig Gillespie Stars: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry Runtime: 134   minutes Synopsis: A live-action prequel feature film following a young Cruella de Vil. Verdict:  Disney’s latest effort to revive a beloved animated property in live-action form adopts the “Maleficent” path in that it focuses on the origin story of a single character rather than being a bland copy of its drawn counterpart. In both cases, a famous antagonist was chosen as the subject of their study with Emma Stone being cast to play a younger version of the Cruella de Vil we all know and hate, following in the footsteps of Glenn Close who embodied the role in the 1996 live-action retelling of “101 Dalmatians” and the sequel that followed. Helmed by Craig Gillespie, whose most famous feature to date is the Margot Robbie-led biopic “I, Tonya”, “Cruella” fails to develop the renowned fashion icon in an innovative way. Betrayed by a predictable arc and an over-the-top, almost insulting depiction of ...

Director: Martin Scorsese Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel,  Runtime:   164  minutes Synopsis:  The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross. Verdict:  I attended catholic school when I was young. The atmosphere there was naturally very religious, and we would occasionally be treated with a film about the teachings of Jesus and the exciting life he led. They were all very similar movies, aimed at showing the audience what they wanted to see without challenging any of it. To them, Jesus was, before anything else, an idea, an untouchable symbol of something much greater, the very foundation of the principles followed by countless Christians around the globe. Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader throw all that out the window in their controversial adaptation of the equally controversial novel “The Last Temptation of Christ”, published by Nikos Kazantzakis about three decades prior a...

Director: Shin'ichirô Ueda Stars: Takayuki Hamatsu, Yuzuki Akiyama, Harumi Shuhama Runtime: 96   minutes Synopsis:  Things go badly for a hack director and film crew shooting a low-budget zombie movie in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility when they are attacked by real zombies. Verdict:  Shin'ichirô Ueda’s low-budget horror-comedy “One Cut of the Dead” may be one of the wildest zombie movies I have ever seen. It’s impossible to talk about it without spoiling the whole thing, so I’ll vaguely state my thoughts on it and urge any lover of this subgenre to check it out as soon and as blind as possible. Benefiting from some truly impressive filmmaking tricks, the film takes a direction that caught me off guard in the best possible way. Nearly every criticism I had about it at first was turned into a strength as revelations were progressively made, all leading to a crazy final act that left me in absolute awe.  Goofy musical score and slightly underwhelming second act asi...

Director: Zack Snyder Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera Runtime: 148   minutes Synopsis:  Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries takes the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted. Verdict:  The thing that differentiates zombie flicks from other movies that fall in the vast monster subgenre is the fact that, for them to properly work, the focus needs to be turned towards everything surrounding the threat. Undead corpses roaming around are by essence boring to watch, which is why an effort must be made to develop the human characters tasked in confronting them as well as the general tone of the movie. The genre begs for creative input from the people working on them as its traditional horror atmosphere has been recycled into taking a more dramatic or even comedic turn over the years (“Train to Busan” or “Shaun of the Dead” respectively). In old Zack Snyder fashion, “Army ...

Director: David Lynch Stars: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph Runtime: 89   minutes Synopsis:  Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child. Verdict:  I understand that David Lynch’s debut “Eraserhead” is a favorite amongst fans of the filmmaker but a relatively divisive film overall. Some admire the surreal world it creates to tell the story of Jack Nance’s enigmatic existence that deals with themes of sexual frustration and parenthood above all, while others condemn it for being too inaccessible and ostentatious. For now, I’d put myself in the no man’s land area between the two camps. The film’s setting being the awkward protagonist’s subconscious, it was primordial for Lynch to capture an atmosphere of dread and unease, something he proved capable of achieving masterfully thanks to an unmatched attention to details. “Eraserhead” is a visual and auditory feast, a ban...

Director: Richard Linklater Stars: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke Runtime:   165  minutes Synopsis: The life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college. Verdict:  Life is a collection of milestones. It’s a series of moments, whether big or small, happy or sad, that define our journey on Earth, and eventually the person we grow up to become. It’s a complex jigsaw puzzle, an experience filled with both frustrating and satisfying instants that only starts making more sense as the larger picture begins to reveal itself. With a production process that lasted 12 long years, Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” is a sincere testament to these moments, all captured in real-time as we witness Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, grow up right before our eyes. In less than three hours, we watch him morph from a six-year-old child into a fully grown adult, getting ready for his first year of college. A reminder from Linklater that time can be a misleading instrume...

Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini Stars: Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto Paolo Quintavalle Runtime:   117  minutes Synopsis:  In World War II Italy, four fascist libertines round up nine adolescent boys and girls and subject them to one hundred and twenty days of physical, mental, and sexual torture. Verdict:  If you’re familiar with Harry Potter lore, you probably know what a dementor is. For those who aren’t, they're basically cloaked creatures who have the notorious ability to suck the happiness out of a person. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s provocative critique on fascism “Salò” is the movie equivalent of a dementor. Released 3 weeks after his shadowy murder and loosely adapted from the infamous novel by controversial French writer the Marquis de Sade "120 Days of Sodom", Pasolini’s film is a tough exercise to get through. Structured similarly to Dante’s Inferno, it’s a largely unsettling, uncomfortable, disturbing watch that sees four libertine fascists subject eig...

Director: Joe Wright Stars: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie Runtime: 100   minutes Synopsis:  An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbors, only to witness a disturbing act of violence. Verdict:  I’ve never been a big admirer of Joe Wright’s work. I tend to find his films to be stale, bland, and rather dull. For that reason, and the fact that its production encountered countless obstacles that led to it being fished out by Netflix, my expectations for his latest thriller starring Amy Adams and a bunch of other A-listers that include Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, or Bryan Tyree Henry were not exceptionally high. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, “The Woman in the Window” tells the story of an agoraphobic child psychiatrist who witnesses the murder of her neighbor while spying on her and her family from her apartment. The story feels very familiar, and chances are that if you’ve seen any movie with a similar plot, th...

Director: David Lowery   Stars: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara Runtime:   92  minutes Synopsis:  In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife. Verdict:  An ungodly amount of my time is spent at my desk, at home. It’s the place where I get my work done during the day and the place where I escape to my little world of movies in the evening. Right in front of me, two pictures that I constantly glance at are hung: a photograph of my late grandfather holding a younger and unrecognizable version of myself, and a polaroid taken decades later on a night out with some friends. While one holds a much greater emotional significance to me, they both serve the same purpose of capturing a memory I’m not quite ready to let go of just yet. David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story” is a meditative exercise comparable to staring at a moving polaroi...

Director: Paul Schrader Stars: Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric Kyles Runtime:   113  minutes Synopsis:  A minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns, and a tormented past. Verdict:  Will God ever forgive us? I’m no religious person myself, though I believe that this question is one that everyone should ask themselves for moral reasons at the very least, just as they did when they were younger and wondered if their actions would get them in trouble with their parents or guardians. It’s enough to take a rapid look around us to conclude that we, as a civilization, have not been kind to our gifted Earth, a home that is quickly deteriorating to make room for a shortsighted world consumed by greed. We have turned our planet into a ticking bomb that will detonate in the not-so-distant future, leaving our entire existent in the hands of the unknown. Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” will go ...

Director: Quentin Tarantino Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio Runtime:   165  minutes Synopsis:  With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi. Verdict:  So I was looking for something to watch on Netflix when Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” popped up on my feed. Realizing that I hadn’t revisited it since I first watched it in theaters 9 years ago (what!), I didn’t think twice before pressing the play button. Most of you are familiar with its plot, which sees a German bounty-hunter team up with a freed slave during the not-so-glorious 1850s in the hopes of rescuing the latter’s wife from the hands of the terrible Monsieur Candie. It’s an incredibly entertaining watch, despite its grim premise, that pays homage to the spaghetti westerns of yore without sacrificing Tarantino’s trademark style. In other words, it truly does feel like its own thing, delivering so...

Director: Satyajit Ray Stars: Chhabi Biswas, Padma Devi, Gangapada Basu Runtime:   95  minutes Synopsis: Depicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity. Verdict:  Comparable to Shakespeare’s “King Lear” or Orson Welles’ 1941 classic “Citizen Kane”, famed Indian auteur Satyajit Ray’s “The Music Room” tells the tale of a middle-aged Zamindar consumed by his pride, vanity, and adoration for extravagant music concerts. Set in Bengal during the final years of the controversial Zamindari system, this magnificently crafted pillar of Indian Cinema serves as a character study of Chhabi Biswas’ Huzur Roy, a phenomenally acted wealthy landowner who has lived his entire life in the shadow of his own privilege. His fortune was inherited and he believes that his prestigious family name shields him from any mishaps. He is blinded by his arrogance and refuses to accept the reality of ...