Movies Graded

Director: Ingmar Bergman Stars: Liv Ullman, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson Runtime:  169  minutes Synopsis:  Scenes from a Marriage chronicles the many years of love and turmoil that bind Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) through matrimony, infidelity, divorce, and subsequent partners. Verdict:  I never fully understood the reasoning behind marriages. They’re sold as being celebrations of love but they’re nothing more than legally binding contracts between two individuals that nearly always end in failure and heartbreak. Ingmar Bergman’s miniseries turned movie “Scenes from a Marriage” is an exploration of the relationship between Marianne and Johan over the course of a decade. More than being about the characters themselves, it serves as an honest study of the different stages of marriage and argues that it’s a legal document that tends to asphyxiate the romance within a relationship rather than allowing it to freely blossom, as exemplified by th...

Director: James Wan Stars: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young Runtime:  111  minutes Synopsis:  Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities. Verdict:  Back in 2004, a young filmmaker with a funky hairdo was given a budget of a little over one million dollars to make his feature-length debut. With that money, James Wan not only turned a profit of 100 times that amount but also changed the face of horror by directing the first chapter in one of the most iconic franchises of all time, “Saw”. He went on to become one of Hollywood’s hottest filmmakers and one I deeply admire due to the dedication and passion he pours into every one of his projects, no matter the genre in which they fall under. This is still very much the case with “Malignant”, the first original horror film he directs since 2013’s “The Conjuring”. Starring Annabelle Wallis as a dom...

Director: Paul Schrader Stars: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan Runtime:  109   minutes Synopsis:  Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader's THE CARD COUNTER. Told with Schrader's trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past. Verdict:  Once recognized as one of Hollywood’s most gifted screenwriters, Paul Schrader has since not only established himself as quite the witty Facebook troll, but also proven that he’s as talented behind the camera as he is behind his typewriter. One thing audiences must keep in mind when booking a ticket to his latest project is that they’re setting themselves up for disappointment if they’re longing for a riveting, fast-paced, poker-centric thrill ride a la “Casino Royale” or “Molly’s Game”. Because “The Card Counter” very much ticks the boxes of a traditional Schrader character study of a complex individual haunted by demo...

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Stars: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman Runtime:  95 minutes Synopsis:   A psychologically troubled novelty supplier is nudged towards a romance with an English woman, all the while being extorted by a phone-sex line run by a crooked mattress salesman, and purchasing stunning amounts of pudding. Performances: 5/5 Screenplay: 4/5 Editing: 5/5 Cinematography: 5/5 Score/Soundtrack:  5/5 Verdict: Dirk Diggler, Daniel Plainview, Reynolds Woodcock,... Paul Thomas Anderson truly has blessed us with so many iconic characters throughout his career. In "Punch-Drunk Love", he introduces us to yet another member of that gallery with Barry Egan, played by an unrecognizable and quite honestly scene-stealer Adam Sandler, who without a doubt delivers one of the best performances of his career by a clear mile, only matched by his recent outings in the Safdie's "Uncut Gems" and Noah Baumbach's dramedy ...

Director: Satoshi Kon Stars: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji Runtime:  81  minutes Synopsis: A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past. Verdict:  On the internet, anyone can become anything. We’re entirely in control of what aspects of ourselves we want to show the rest of the world and which ones we want to keep hidden. It’s a scary place where reality and fiction are one and the same, and where any user can easily lose track of what’s genuine and what’s not. This, to me, shapes Satoshi Kon’s directorial debut’s unsettling atmosphere. “Perfect Blue” follows Mima, a pop star turned actress whose career change turns out to be much harsher than initially anticipated. In order to complete her transition, she is asked to perform a vastly explicit scene in a TV show that will forever alter the public image she had built for herself in h...

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...