2019 Movie Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by DaybreakerMC, Aug 26, 2019.

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How many 2019 releases have you seen?

1-5 6 vote(s) 54.5%
6-10 1 vote(s) 9.1%
11-25 3 vote(s) 27.3%
25-49 0 vote(s) 0.0%
50+ 1 vote(s) 9.1%
  1. Another great read!
    I wonder, do you post these anywhere else? Your reviews seem too good to be restricted to a website that isn't even dedicated to films. :p (this being in the 'Miscellaneous' section)
    Nickblockmaster likes this.
  2. Thank you! Yes I do post them elsewhere. I write all my reviews for my Letterboxd page (a site dedicated to logging, reviewing, and listing movies) and then just take my reviews for major films or my reviews I'm most satisfied with writing and I share them here with my favourite community!

    Here's the link to my Letterboxd page though. You can see all my reviews, my ratings for over 750 films, what I watched and when I watched it, my ranking for movies in the years 2013-2019, and a bunch of other cool stuff:
    https://letterboxd.com/daybreaker/
    Nickblockmaster and 607 like this.
  3. Ah, nice! :)
    Nickblockmaster and benthebobjr like this.
  4. Featured review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
    Grade: 5/10 - Not so beautiful


    A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has secured its spot as one of the most underwhelming films of the year. I guess that's what happens when you build expectations. I'm about to criticize a movie partially about Fred Rogers. Can you ever forgive me?

    A journalist's life is enriched by friendship when he takes on an assignment profiling Fred Rogers. Based on the real-life friendship between journalist Tom Junod and television star Fred Rogers (Google).

    That is a bland synopsis Google. Let's retry, but this time I write the synopsis:

    A narcissistic journalist's life is horrible, and an assignment profiling Fred Rogers dares to change that. Based on the real attempt to bring optimistic thoughts to a pessimistic person. Plus it has Fred Rogers so go buy tickets now! He's even on the poster, and for sure he'll get the top of the credits!

    If you think you're in store for an optimistic biopic about Mr. Rogers, you are in for a surprise. I'm not going to fault the movie for having Mr. Rogers as a supporting character. In fact, I think he might work better there. It's a creative choice on how to handle a movie, and that's fine. However, I do wish they advertised it like that. It's almost misleading. As if they're using Mr. Rogers to sell tickets. Which I'm fairly confident they are.

    Now let's be fair. In advertising this movie around Mr. Rogers, they could also be hiding the fact that the rest of this movie has no appeal. Surprise, it doesn't. The plot, aside from Mr. Rogers, is a bland, boring, depressing, and predictable TV movie. Man is at odds with his father, he must have an epiphany to make amends.

    Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is the main character of the film. He is a very unlikeable protagonist. He's a narcissistic asshole that has a depressing outlook on everything. In his first lines, Vogel exclaims that journalism is the only happy part of life, and he has a wife and a kid. A character like this is very hard to get behind, and hence hard to root for.

    Enter Mr. Rogers. He's very different, almost like a character foil to Vogel. That doesn't stop Vogel from doubting Mr. Rogers' realism and plotting to uncover a deep dark story behind the legend. So now the character we're supposed to be rooting for is not only an asshole but also trying to work against the icon of kindness.

    Mr. Rogers being Mr. Rogers wants to help Vogel get over his personal problems. That leaves the audience rooting for Mr. Rogers, not Vogel. In rooting for Mr. Rogers, who's rooting for Vogel, we're in turn rooting for Vogel as well. If that's confusing, imagine it this way: we're indirectly rooting for our main character. Which reminds me that this movie would fall apart without Mr. Rogers.

    I question how Lloyd Vogel got married. Also, before anyone says it was based on a true story, stop. The real person was Tom Junod. For whatever reason they changed the character's name to Lloyd Vogel. In the same sense I expect they changed more to his story, or if not, failed to change. There's no way this guy could be so pessimistic and still end up married with a kid, there has to be more there. You can tell his wife is irritated with him through most of the movie, and it makes you think he was like that for many years. Presumably long before he met his wife.

    A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood happens to be very experimental with things. An example of this is how the transitions are handled. When changing setting, the camera cuts to a miniature replica as it changes. Whether that be from New York to Philadelphia, or just night to day. The thing is, they don't do this all the time. So two-thirds of the transitions are like this. As if the miniature replica transitions weren't odd enough, they're also inconsistent. It's a small aspect of the film that just didn't work.

    Another thing that doesn't work, and also happens to be experimental, are the dream sequences. Apparently Mr. Rogers is nightmare-inducing now. The sequences were weird, and a little bit out of place. It threw off the tone, making a grounded movie about forgiveness and kindness feel more supernatural. Mr. Rogers starts to feel like an apparition, not a real human being.

    Warning: minor spoilers moving forward.

    Vogel wakes from his second dream sequence in Mr. Rogers' home. That's weird and doesn't make any sense. First of all, when did he go to sleep? The last scene before the dream sequence starts is him sitting on a bus going to Philadelphia. Are we to assume he had the dream on the bus? How did he wake up in Mr. Rogers' house? If that's not it, the scene before he woke up showed him passing out on the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. How long did he pass out for? A whole day? Why was he in Mr. Rogers' house and not the hospital? I just don't get it.

    In the next scene, Vogel and Mr. Rogers go to a restaurant. While there, the entire restaurant goes silent and Mr. Rogers stares at you, the audience, for what feels like a solid minute. Was that part of the dream? It never really specifies when it ends.

    That's only one of the things that A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood omits. Along with that, we also don't get to see the first conversation Vogel has with Mr. Rogers, and you don't get to see most of the second either. There's also another major conversation later in the film that you don't see. Was it that hard to write dialogue? The movie isn't at the length where adding another scene would be too long, so why not show it?

    I feel like this movie is easy to like. Having Mr. Rogers, a man who shines with wholesome, it's easy to feel good when all the depressing stuff isn't in your face. I don't want to say it's manipulating the audience, because I don't think that's what it was trying to do, but that's how it felt.

    For Marielle Heller to go from Can You Ever Forgive Me?, one of my favourite movies from last year, to A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is rather disappointing.

    Now, I didn't dislike everything about this movie. I thought Matthew Rhys was great given what he had to work with. I also thought Tom Hanks was amazing, no surprise there. He really disappears into the role. This raises a question as awards season begins, is Tom Hanks a supporting actor? Obviously he is a supporting character in the movie, but come to the credits he is named before Rhys twice. When you Google the cast he is named first. He's on every poster, the star of the trailers. Perhaps it will be like Olivia Colman in The Favorite and they'll pitch him for lead actor. That would certainly be an upset.

    If nothing else, Tom Hanks carried A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood into "watchable" status. He's not enough to save it, and not enough for me to like it, but his performance was undeniably great. I just wish it was a better movie. If you want Fred Rogers, go watch the actual show. Or if not, go watch Won't You Be My Neighbor?

    Other recent 2019 watches:
    The Report: 8/10
    TuckerAmbr, 607 and Nickblockmaster like this.
  5. I've updated the reserved second post on this thread to include my "Best of the Decade" list. There you can see my ranking of what I consider to be the best films released in the 2010s. Everyone will have different thoughts as to where things rank. If you have your own thoughts I encourage you to share! I'd love to see people share their Top 10 of the decade or such! As I get through a few more top-rated films from this decade I do expect the list shall be updated slightly.

    Thank you!
    607 likes this.
  6. From context, and comparing against the post in this thread, I can say with almost 100% certainty that you meant to write "e.g.", not "i.e.". ;)

    I see La La Land at the top; I remember that when that came out, a lot of people were enthusiastic about it! Another Day of Sun is in my favourites on SST.
    I wasn't expecting to have seen any of the films on your list yourself, but I was surprised! I've watched The Disaster Artist and Inside Out. :)
  7. Ah yes, thank you! I have a bad habit of mixing those two up.

    La La Land is an amazing film! It is so beautifully crafted, with catchy songs and wonderful performances. It also means a lot to me. La La Land was the film that really got me interested in the artform of cinema. After watching it I got the idea of pursuing a career in film, and the deeper meaning of follow your dreams also helped support that. I rewatched it three weeks ago and it still held all the power it did from my initial watch, plus more added meaning and importance to me. That's why La La Land is not only what I consider the best film of 2016, but the best of the decade, and my all-time favourite.

    Inside Out and The Disaster Artist are certainly fantastic. I wish The Disaster Artist got more recognition at the Academy Awards to be honest. I encourage you to check out some more of the films if you get the chance. Marriage Story, my 4th spot, drops on Netflix this Friday (the 6th). It's a masterpiece. Whiplash, my 2nd spot, is written and directed by Damien Chazelle who directed and wrote La La Land. Both Blade Runner 2049 and Ex Machina are Sci-Fi masterpieces in different ways. I mean I could go on about a ton more but I'll refrain for now.
    607 likes this.
  8. I might look into some of these you name later (it's late now, with 'later' I mean another day :rolleyes:), to see if they might be for me, but I might as well ask you.
    I don't often watch movies, but when I do it's usually animation targeted at kids (and even that so rarely that a Disney+ subscription is not worth it :p). Besides, excepting a few cases (like The Disaster Artist), all films I've seen recently (live-action included) I watched almost primarily to get to know the context of the soundtrack, as I'm into the art of music a lot more than I'm into the art of film.
    It doesn't have to be animation (Inside Out seems to be the only one on your list in that regard), but are any of your favourites 1. kid-friendly and 2. remarkably well scored? :D
    Edit: The kid-friendliness is kind of important to me. I wouldn't watch a film like The Matrix, and even if it's not violent films can be quite hefty to me. For example, I think the best film I've ever seen is The Truman Show, but when I got the chance to watch it again 2 years ago I chose not to, because when I watched it for the first (and so far only) time it emotionally exhausted me.
    But if you have anything on your list that's as easy as, say, Pride & Prejudice, I'll be glad to hear. :D
  9. I just pulled up my list of animated films I've watched, I'll see what I recall having a nice score.
    • Frozen & Frozen 2 (the score was one of the better parts of the sequel)
    • Toy Story 4 (one of the best animated films of 2019, I can't remember the score but I know it has original songs competing for Best Original Song at the Oscars this year)
    • The Lego Movie & The Lego Movie 2 (have some catchy tunes, also hilarious at the same time)
    • The Lion King (my favourite animated film of all time, and a Disney classic)
    • Aladdin (In the same sense as The Lion King, it's a Disney classic)

    So pretty much anything Disney (or moreso classic Disney) will have music integrated into it. I've never seen Fantasia, but it would be an example of an animated Disney musical. Other ones like Beauty and the Beast, Snow White..., you get the idea.

    -----------------------------------
    Now in terms of music based ones, here's what I got:
    • Rocketman (One of the best musical biopics I've seen. It's not super kid-friendly though)
    • Bohemian Rhapsody (sigh. I don't like this one, but if you like Queen you might)
    • Yesterday (It's a rather cliche film for the most part, but it's got an amazing Beatles soundtrack)
    • A Star Is Born (I think it's slightly overrated when it comes to the film, but the soundtrack is undeniably good)
    • Whiplash (Okay, this is not for kids... at all. It's extremely intense. However, it is one of the best)
    -----------------------------------
    I think people overlook short films too much, but I have to recommend one animated short. It came out this year and it's probably the best animated short I've seen. If you have eight minutes to spare, check it out:
    607 likes this.
  10. Toy Story 4, I haven't seen it but my parents have. It truly does look amazing. I hope this is the end to the series, because, from what my parents told me, it ended quite well.
    benthebobjr likes this.
  11. I knew that, I have watched quite a bit of Disney. ;) Recently I saw The Aristocats again, which is my childhood favourite, and although it was not very memorable, it is very cute musically, and a couple of the tracks have gone into my favourites (the songs The Aristocats and Scales and Arpeggios and the scores The Goose Steps High and The Butler Sneak).
    It was funny to see these two together, especially with "In the same sense as [...]", because while The Lion King is my favourite Disney (and the score is amazing... Stampede + Mufasa Dies is breathtaking), I did not like Aladdin. :p

    It's also slightly amusing to see this list feature a lot of films about pop groups (or so it seems), as I am actually not interested in that. :D I don't mind Disney songs, but for me the focus always lies on the instrumental parts of the score. Some of my favourite scores are (in no particular order):
    • Good Bye Lenin!
    • Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
    • Forrest Gump
    • How To Train Your Dragon
    • The Lion King (Elton John's songs are amazing too, and so are Tim Rice's lyrics for them, but the most important part is indeed Hans Zimmer's score, to me)
    • Pride & Prejudice
    • The Truman Show (this one has got a lot of reused tracks; I'm planning to watch one of the original soundtracks soon)
    • Laputa: Castle in the Sky
    I'm sure you'll know some of these? :D

    I've added it to my Watch Later! Thanks. :D
  12. It's been a while since I've posted here. My apologies. I've been busy with school an other stuff. I've also been rewatching every Star Wars movie leading up to The Rise of Skywalker.

    Just these past two days I've watched: Dark Waters, Richard Jewell, Queen & Slim, Jumanji: The Next Level. I've yet to write reviews for these, but expect something from them soon. As well as my Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker review on Thursday.

    For now, enjoy my Marriage Story spoiler review/assessment!
    This is the work of a genius. Praise be to Noah Baumbach. I got the opportunity to catch a screening of Marriage Story at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It was an experience unlike any other. Yes, it was my first film festival experience, but it was something I can never forget. Sitting inside the beautiful Princess of Wales theatre with a bunch of fellow film enthusiasts is something to cherish.

    A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a gruelling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extremes (Google).

    As one might be able to tell from the synopsis, this is a story about divorce. However, the title, Marriage Story, isn’t completely false. This is also a story about a marriage. It’s crumbling and burning, but it is still a marriage, and the characters will always cherish those days. The film opens as our two main characters read out individual letters explaining what they love about their partner. It sets up these two characters and their relationship so well. Then, bang! They’re talking to a counsellor about divorce, barely even talking to each other.

    On one end of the marriage is Nicole. She’s a young actress that joined her now husband’s theatre company, which as a result helped it become big. Nicole seems to be the driving force in the divorce. She moves out of their New York home goes to Los Angeles to live with her mother as she films a television pilot. This is where a lot of trouble will later begin.

    On the other end of the marriage is Charlie. He’s a stage director and owner of a theatre company. He recognizes the problems but tries to take a more hopeful approach. Charlie is set on living in New York and continuing the work of his theatre company.

    These two characters were partially inspired by director/screenwriter Noah Baumbach and his ex-wife Jennifer Jason Leigh. In a similar sense, both Baumbach and Leigh met through Broadway and had their divorce filed in Los Angeles. As a result, you can feel the personal connection he has with his passion project. Baumbach has created a film that he can relate to very well, but also a film that many others can relate to in one way or another.

    Charlie and Nicole understand they have problems and agree to do the divorce without lawyers in an attempt to make the process less messy and expensive. That doesn’t last too long. Soon enough, Nicole has called Nora, an L.A. based family lawyer. Nora seems to be a kind lawyer. She offers Nicole delicious cookies and tea. She’s always there for Nicole and listens to whatever Nicole has on her mind. At the same time, Nora is extremely manipulative. She uses kindness to gain the upper hand, and then she bites down like a snake.

    The legal process is a tough battle. Nora warns Charlie that he may lose full custody of his son if he does not go to Los Angeles and hire a lawyer. This forces Charlie’s hand, causing problems with his theatre company, and taking another dent in his bank account. When Charlie arrives in Los Angeles he realizes that Nicole has used a legal strategy blocking his ability to meet with various lawyers. This is when we meet two lawyers.

    Jay is a fierce family lawyer with a costly retainer. He knows the system in and out, and he knows how to twist it to win. He represents the ideology of money over mutuality. He would do what it takes to win, even if it tears Nicole and Charlie apart more than the divorce already has. Jay is the embodiment of a scummy lawyer.

    On the other end of things, Burt is a retired entertainment lawyer now working in family law. Having gone through three divorces himself, he knows the difficulty of the process. Burt understands that Nicole also matters in this situation, and they should treat this divorce with care. Burt also only costs half of what Jay costs.

    These two lawyers have very different ideologies and represent a character foil within the movie. Burt would like to handle the situation the way Charlie wishes it could go, but sometimes the nice route doesn’t work. As Nora states, “the system rewards bad behaviour.” Jay knows how to master that bad behaviour and reap those rewards. Luckily for Nicole, Nora can take on both Burt and Jay’s ideologies.

    Eventually, the divorce is consumed. It becomes more about the lawyers winning than the couple settling their problems. The first scene where Nicole and Charlie’s lawyers meet takes place in Nora’s building. As we are introduced to this conversation, the camera sticks on Charlie and Nicole as we hear Nora and Burt discuss the divorce out of shot. Nicole and Charlie still care for each other, but the lawyers have masked their outlook on this divorce.

    The biggest stake in the separation is the custody of Nicole and Charlie’s son, Henry. He is young and needs his parents, but the divorce takes an impact on him. Henry influences the story both on the legal side and the parental side. He is brought out to Los Angeles with his mother and put into a temporary school there. He then begins to grow more and more attached to his life in Los Angeles, and his relationship with his mother, opposing Charlie’s original impression that they’d move back to New York where they reside.

    Charlie tries his best but always seems to be disregarded in some sense of the matter. Take for example Halloween. Charlie and Henry had been planning to go out for a while. The theatre company even put hard work and time into making costumes just for them. However, when the divorce hits, Henry chooses to go trick-or-treating with his mother instead. Also switching to a ninja costume because it’s “more expensive” and as a result of that “it’s better”. Charlie then goes out with a reluctant Henry for a second trick-or-treating, where they get all of nothing.

    There’s a clear mistreatment build into the system, and everyone knows it. Nicole takes advantage of it, Nora uses it to win, Jay tries to fight against it, Burt complains about it, and Charlie suffers from it. As Nora says, “it’s fucked up, but that is the way it is.” Even at the end of the day, Nora still settles the custody battle for 55:45, telling Nicole ”You won.” It was never about the people to Nora, it was about winning. Which lawyer hurt Noah Baumbach?

    Scarlet Johansson gives the performance of her career in Marriage Story. She is deep, emotional, and enthralling whenever Nicole is on screen. Johansson masters this character and makes you sympathize with her even in her darkest moments. Unfortunately, I feel she won’t get the recognition she deserves.

    The supporting cast is just as excellent as Johansson. Alan Alda fits the role of Burt perfectly, and Ray Liotta couldn’t be cast better. Though, Laura Dern is where the supporting cast shines. She is able to pull off the sweet yet conniving performance in a way that’s so superb it’s scary. As good as Dern is, the praising vocabulary needs to be preserved for one person.

    Adam Driver gives the best performance of 2019! He overcomes the difficult challenge of being seen as Kylo Ren and owns the role of Charlie. Driver gets his moment to shine in an argument scene three quarters through the film. Absolutely stunning work. Driver’s career is one to follow as he continues pushing out fantastic performances.

    Noah Baumbach, or Robbie Ryan (the cinematographer), likes to implement a lot of long takes. This is not only beautiful, but it allows for the cast to show their talent without the choppy cuts mid-dialogue. There’s one particular scene in Nora’s office where Nicole explains her marriage and the problems that exist. It is one long take and it is outstanding to watch.

    That’s not the only smart use of camera work. There’s some really amazing framing in Marriage Story. When Nicole and Charlie are riding the subway home they sit on opposite sides of the train as a pole runs down the middle of the shot. Clearly separated. When they return to the apartment and talk to the babysitter they are not only on different sides of the room, but an opening divides the shot. When Charlie is served his divorce papers they are standing in Nicole’s mother’s kitchen. All the cabinets are white, but a silver dishwasher is framed to separate the two of them in the shot. Brilliant.

    A lot of credit goes to Noah Baumbach for his amazing screenplay. It is full of passion, similar to Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma was last year. It builds intriguing scenes and executes them in a wonderful way. It juggles multiple topics, from parenting to love, marriage and divorce, and of course, the legal system. Baumbach’s screenplay is very smart with how it handles and understands the legal topics at hand. I must say, bravo!

    There is so much to be loved about Marriage Story. Whether you sympathize with Charlie, or with Nicole, Henry, or even Nora, almost anyone can relate to this movie in some way. This is a masterpiece in cinema. It takes what sounds like a simple topic and turns it into a complicated downfall of a marriage. It’s important to remember that no matter what these characters went through, they still loved each other in the end.
    607 likes this.
  13. I'm curious about this one!

    And another great write-up. :)
    benthebobjr likes this.
  14. Year is wrapping up and I've been really bad at posting my reviews lately. A lot of the films I saw this month just got short write ups (that weren't post-worthy), mainly due to a really busy schedule. So, here are all the films I haven't posted about yet, their ratings, and links to their short write ups (if you're curious).

    Bombshell: 8/10
    Cats: 2/10
    Dark Waters: 8/10
    Jumanji: The Next Level: 6/10
    Little Women: 9/10
    Queen & Slim: 9/10
    Richard Jewell: 7/10
    Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: 5/10

    And to wrap up the year, here are my top 10 films of 2019! Please note: I have not seen every film released this year (e.g. 1917), and this is all my opinion.

    1. Marriage Story (10/10)
    2. Parasite (10/10)
    3. Avengers: Endgame (10/10)
    4. Midsommar (10/10)
    5. Knives Out (10/10)
    6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (9/10)
    7. Little Women (9/10)
    8. The Farewell (9/10)
    9. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (8/10)
    10. Joker (9/10)

    What does your top 10 list look like?
    607 likes this.
  15. This is interesting! (the ratings versus the ordering) Care to explain? :)

    I checked out your 'short writeup' of Cats (which was hardly a writeup at all :p) and of Jumanji: The Next Level (which was actually fairly satisfying). :)
    benthebobjr likes this.
  16. Yes indeed! My rankings are not entirely based on what rating I've given them. Although most of the ordering naturally ends up fairly sorted by ratings, there are definitely a few times where that differs. It's simply because I just like/enjoy one movie more than the other. So for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being above Joker even though it got an 8/10 in comparison to a 9/10, that's simply because I liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood more. Don't get me wrong, I love them both (that's why they're on my top 10). However, as per the rating, I thought Joker earned the higher rating.

    Another good example of this is Avengers: Endgame. Even though it's a 10/10, there are plenty of movies that most would consider better (and surely a lot of people wouldn't even give it a 10/10). Although, since I grew up watching the first Iron Man and seeing every MCU movie as it released, all building to this satisfying conclusion that shattered expectations, there's a lot of my personal love for it putting it at #3.

    Thank you for asking though, and thank you for being so supportive throughout the 2019 thread!
    607 likes this.