Movies Graded

2018 has been a good year for movies of all kinds. And as it comes to an end, I thought it would be convenient to summarize every single movie I reviewed and categorize them by final grade. There are obviously many more films I need to watch, so this list is not final and will keep getting updated. You can click on any of the titles below to read my review of the selected movie, which I hope will enlighten you and make your viewing experience easier. Thank you all for your ongoing support, and don't forget to follow me on Instagram where I will be publishing my list of favorite movies of the year!  10: Burning Favourite, The 9.5: Climax 9: Avengers: Infinity War Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Blindspotting Capernaum Green Book Hereditary Her Smell Old Man & the Gun. The Other Side of the Wind, The Roma Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Stockholm Under the Silver Lake 8.5: Border Birds of Passage High Life Hotel Mumbai...

Director: David Slade Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Craig Parkinson, Alice Lowe Runtime: 90 minutes (on average) Verdict:  When I first heard of Black Mirror's plans of making an interactive feature about 3 months ago, I went completely nuts. Not only because I'm a huge fan of the show, but because the very idea of getting to decide which path you want to take is one I've only seen done in video games before. Having watched about two and half hours of footage out of the supposedly five shot, I can assure you that " Bandersnatch " is not only great, but also revolutionary. It's by far Black Mirror's biggest achievement and one I'm sure will affect the filmmaking game in the future, especially with the rise of streaming services we've been witnessing in the past few years. Now granted, the story is not as captivating as the concept behind it (keep in mind that I still haven't gone through all the possible paths), but it highlights that con...

Director: Rob Marshall Stars: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw Runtime: 130 minutes Synopsis:  Mary Poppins comes back to take care of Michael Banks' three children. Performances: 7/10 Why? Faced with perhaps her biggest challenge yet in her young but promising career, Emily Blunt is probably the best part of the sequel everyone was eagerly waiting for. Despite lacking Julie Andrews' presence, her performance as the magical nanny who's practically perfect in every way cemented her as being one of this generation's most versatile actresses, having appeared previously in action flicks ("Edge of Tomorrow") and horror films ("A Quiet Place"). The same cannot be said, sadly, about the rest of the cast, which includes a Ben Whishaw betrayed by weak character development, a Lin-Manuel Miranda who basically imitated Dick Van Dyke's acting in the original "Mary Poppins", and finally a Colin Firth whose mustache-twir...

Director: Tamara Jenkins Stars: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Kayli Carter Runtime: 123 minutes Synopsis:  A couple go through every form of fertility therapy to get pregnant. Performances: 8/10 Why? Led by two of this generation's most talented and underrated talents, "Private Life" confirms the two actors' status as they shine in yet another film that deals with very real themes such as parenthood and married life. They manage through their acting to make their characters extremely relatable and authentic, a must for the movie to work. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about the supporting cast who, in my opinion, didn't deliver their lines as convincingly as the main two characters. Screenplay: 7/10 Why? Despite suffering from a few irregularities in its dialogue and way of handling exposition, I found the script to be generally interesting. The themes tackled are well developed and the movie as a whole feels genuine and sincere. If ...

Director: Susanne Bier Stars: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich Runtime: 124 minutes Synopsis:  A mysterious presence drives anyone who sees it to commit suicide. Performances: 6/10 Why? Despite having a cast made up of many A-listers, the acting in "Bird Box" was mediocre at best. Sandra Bullock, definitely not helped by the film's script, gave one of her weakest performances in a while as Malorie, a woman trying to survive what seems to be the end of the world. John Malkovich and Lil Rel Howery were typecast as characters we've seen them portray in the past in much superior films. As for Jackie Weaver and Sarah Paulson, their talent was completely wasted as they play secondary characters with very limited screentime. Trevante Rhodes gave the most interesting performance of the lot, even though it wasn't one I'm going to be remembering in a week's time. Screenplay: 3/10 Why? Where do I even begin? Based on a novel writ...

Director: Travis Knight Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena Runtime: 113 minutes Synopsis:  The story of an unlikely friendship between Charlie, an 18-year teenager, and Bumblebee, an Autobot on a mission.  Performances: 7/10 Why? Ever since her big screen debut in the Coen brother's remake of "True Grit", Hailee Steinfeld has had an interesting career, starring in films such as "The Edge of Seventeen" or the "Pitch Perfect" franchise. However, "Bumblebee" marks a new turn in her young career as she proved that she is completely able to carry a blockbuster by herself. She's badass, funny, witty and incredibly likable in the lead role of Charlie making her, in my opinion, the best human character to ever appear in a Transformers movie. The rest of the cast, which includes an always lovable John Cena, did a fine job despite most of them being there either for comedic relief or to further develop Hailee ...

Director: Lars Von Trier Stars: Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman Runtime: 152 minutes Synopsis:  Jack recounts 5 randomly selected incident that cemented his reputation as a psychopathic serial killer. Performances: 9/10 Why? A chilling performance to say the least. Matt Dillon's portrayal of the titular character showed a side of the actor I never knew existed.  Dillon understood Jack. Dillon became Jack.   I was convinced from the very first scene that I was actually watching a character who had killed people in the past with no regrets whatsoever. A character you can't help but despise and admire at the same time. I would've given this category a perfect grade had some supporting characters played their parts a bit more effectively (I'm looking at you, Jeremy Davies), but thankfully, they didn't have that big of an impact on the film to affect it that much. Screenplay: 8/10 Why? Philosophical, violent, and most of all, disturbing, ...