Movies Graded

Director: Stephen Chow Stars: Stephen Chow, Wei Zhao, Yat-Fei Wong Runtime: 112   minutes Synopsis:  A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage. Verdict:  Here's a fun little fact about me: I love football. Not the fake American variant in which neither feet nor balls are used but, in fact, the one in which 22 players kick a ball around for at least 90 minutes. I have been following, playing, and breathing the game for over 15 years, way before my love of movies began, but was never able to connect my two passions due to a severe lack of good films about the sport. I grew up on the Goal trilogy, vaguely remember watching Sylvester Stallone's "Victory" when I was younger, and maybe checked out a couple of indies like "The Damned United" or "Marvellous", but none of them really stuck with me as much as I wanted them too. With Stephen Chow's "Shaolin ...

Director: Leos Carax Stars: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg Runtime: 141   minutes Synopsis:  A stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife have a 2-year-old daughter with a surprising gift. Verdict:  To fully comprehend Leos Carax’s intentions with his latest absurdist project is a nearly impossible assignment. On the surface, it’s a one-of-a-kind musical in which the ever-so-talented Adam Driver shows off his vocal abilities alongside the lovely Marion Cotillard. He plays a stand-up comedian, she plays an opera singer, and together they form a romantic unit that fuses comedy with drama, providing the audience with the film’s tone along the way. Their relationship takes a brusque turn when their daughter, Annette, is born. Introduced as a wooden puppet, she alone symbolizes the narrative’s strangeness, a common trait in Carax’s body of work that will surely leave audiences divided. Even though I can’t say that I fully understood what the eccentric director’s...

Director: David Lowery Stars: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton Runtime:  130  minutes Synopsis: A fantasy re-telling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Verdict:  Now rise, Sir Lowery, for your take on the celebrated Arthurian fable of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is nothing short of a cinematic triumph. Set in medieval times, it stars Dev Patel as a soon-to-be knight who must finish a peculiar game he started with an odd-looking foe. His journey becomes one for the ages, shaped by themes of honesty, courage, manhood, vanity, or kindness, a true exploration of the meaning of knighthood in a literal and figurative way. While its weakest component has to be a script that could’ve benefited from more depth and less fooling around, this small-scale epic more than makes up for it in its optical department. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it may be the most visually striking film I’ve seen since Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049”. It’s...

Director: Martin Scorsese Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder Runtime: 139   minutes Synopsis:  A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin. Verdict:  Seriously, though, how many filmmakers can make one of the best gangster films of all time, a haunting psychological thriller, and a costume period drama back to back, all in the span of 4 years? By directing “Goodfellas” in 1990, “Cape Fear” in 1991, and “The Age of Innocence” in 1993, Martin Scorsese proved that he’s not scared of diving into uncharted waters and that he truly is one the most prolific auteurs of his generation(s). Now I’ll be honest, I’m usually not the biggest admirer of this particular type of dramatic period piece (emphasis on usually), even when they star the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, or Wynona Ryder as three New York upper-class membe...

Director: Eric Rohmer Stars: Patrick Bauchau, Haydée Politoff, Daniel Pommereulle Runtime:   89  minutes Synopsis:  A womanizing art dealer and a painter find the serenity of their Riviera vacation disturbed by a third guest, a vivacious bohemian woman known for her long list of male conquests. Verdict:  With “The Collector”, or its more appropriate female-specific original title “La Collectionneuse”, being only my second experience with an Eric Rohmer project, it’s still probably too early to make up my mind about the French director, considered a pillar of the French New Wave era of Cinema. But a recurring feeling I got from his 1967 color film debut and “Claire’s Knee” is one of relaxation and tranquility, all due to the exquisite summer vibes captured by the filmmaker. Between a sense of unmatched freedom and gorgeous scenery composed of luscious greenery and beaches, he truly invites the audience to partake in a trip of absolute meditation and escapism filled wi...

Director: Claire Denis Stars: Vincent Gallo, Tricia Vessey, Béatrice Dalle Runtime:  101  minutes Synopsis: Two American newlyweds in Paris experience a love so strong, it almost devours them. Verdict:  A pillar and prominent name of the New French Extremity and accompanied by filmmakers such as Gaspar Noé, Pascal Laugier, or, more recently, Julia Ducourneau, Claire Denis’ filmmaking approach shines in its ability to tell a lot by showing very little. Her movies are character-driven pieces, often supplemented by a cold, ambiguous atmosphere enclosed in themes of eroticism and sensuality. Likely to leave audiences with more questions than answers, it comes to no one’s surprise that they tend to be divisive amongst audiences and critics alike, and it’s not her unusual horror piece “Trouble Every Day” that will convince anyone otherwise. In fact, the film which stars Vincent Gallo and Béatrice Dalle was panned at the time of its release a couple of decades ago, scoring a sub...

Director: Isao Takahata Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi Runtime:  89  minutes Synopsis: A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II. Verdict:  Spoilers ahead. “Grave of the Fireflies” is the rare type of movie that encompasses a whole spectrum of emotions that will each hit you like a moving train. While it’s a mostly gloomy watch, it’s the few moments of wholesomeness and smile-inducing scenes that brand it as one of the most powerful films ever made as they truly emphasize what war looks like from the perspective of a child. The movie opens with a bittersweet scene that displays our protagonist’s fate. Seita succumbs to his fatigue and is reunited with his sister, Setsuko, in what seems to be some sort of afterlife. This is when the film’s main musical theme plays for the first time, a composition that remains to this day a personal favorite of mine due to its effective use within the story. The rest of the...

Director: James Gunn Stars: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena Runtime:  132  minutes Synopsis:  Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Verdict:  There are days when you just feel the need to turn off your brain and enjoy something mindlessly fun. I’ve been in that frame of mind for a week or so now, purposely avoiding any film that requires any sort of neuron overload or long-term reflection. James Gunn’s reimagining of the Suicide Squad checked all the requirements to exactly adhere to what I was looking for, and, for that reason, I had been eagerly waiting all week long to check it out in theaters. And it definitely gets the job done pretty neatly. It manages to subvert all expectations engrained by the countless recent superhero films by adopting a style of its own, giving i...