A running tab of movies and series I’ve seen in theaters or at home, and a quick comment about them. I’ve succumbed to the idea of assigning a personal score for each film. My scale:
- 4 Stars – One of the best, well recommended
- 3 Stars – Recommended, but some issues here and there
- 2 Stars – Problematic, hard to recommend
- 1 Star – Disappointment, stay away
2022 Movies | 2021 Movies | 2020 Movies | 2019 Movies | 2018 Movies | 2017 Movies
Catherine the Great on HBO. I recently slogged my way though the first season of The Great, an updated, irreverent look at the life of Catherine the Great on Hulu. I haven’t written a review of it because there are two more seasons to get through — it’s been diverting but the often snarky satirical tone gets tiresome. I thought I might get a more serious palate cleanser with this 2019 Helen Mirren HBO/Sky Atlantic production. I was wrong. This was a disappointing depiction of Catherine besotted to a puffed up and not very appealing Potemkin. Nothing about this series points to whatever made Catherine great. 2 Stars.
Lupin, Season 3 on Netflix. I enjoyed the first two seasons of this stylish French series about an improbably inventive gentleman thief. The third season offered more of the same but the antics and improbabilities are stretching a little thin…and I wasn’t delighted to reach the end only to find an obvious setup for season four. In its first two seasons I thought this was one of the best shows on television, now its feeling more ordinary. 3 Stars.
The Boys in the Boat, December at Cinemark with Barb and Allie. We went with Barb to see the film of the book that inspired her current interest in becoming a coxswain. She and Allie liked the book (I haven’t read it), and we all enjoyed the film well enough. The real-life events make for a straightforward hero story with few unexpected twists or turns along the way…not a bad metaphor for a rowing race, actually. It’s just a matter of how fast they get to the end. The various actors, few of whom I knew, and George Clooney’s direction stays straight, sentimental and doesn’t mess things up, making for an enjoyable if predictable couple of hours. 3 Stars.
Maestro, December on Netflix. Another acting tour de force, this time from Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his wife, Felicia Montealegre. The film is a nonlinear pastiche of Bernstein’s life with Cooper (and his makeup artists) doing an astonishing job of recreating the famous musician’s appearance through four decades or so. The film stays true to its opening epigram from Bernstein, “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.” Bernstein was a bundle of conflicts and contradictions, talents gifted and abused. The film doesn’t lead you by the nose but invites you to learn more about its subjects, their accomplishments and failings, and the wide circle of friends, times, and events it glides through. I’m not sure it was the best film of the year but it was one of the most memorable. 4 Stars.
May December, December on Netflix. Terrific performances from Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore don’t quite save this odd examination of the lines between acting, self-deception, and “reality”. The movie is Oscar-bait for the actors but I wasn’t drawn into the plot or resolution of the overall film. I was left feeling somewhere between “So what” and “Oh well”. I don’t think that’s what the writers and director were aiming for. 3 Stars, maybe.
The Bear, Seasons 1 and 2, November-December on Hulu. I caught up with the rest of season one of this fictional series about the vagaries of running a Chicago Beef restaurant, after seeing some of it at Allie’s over the summer. I liked it but found the tone of the characters sometimes too strident and off-putting, and there was absolutely no attention paid to the actual customers. Season Two shifts gears as the crew closes down the original caterpillar of a restaurant and works to open a new butterfly of fine dining. The character development gets more interesting and several of the episodes are true standouts, as good as anything I’ve watched all year. The Christmas Dinner episode tops the list, with a long, hectic runtime that features many interesting cameos and explores a lot of family dynamics and backstories that had only been hinted at in other episodes. I felt a little let down with the finale of season two but at least it points directly to a third season. I hope the series continues to stay strong — it’s the best thing on TV right now and I hope will be amply rewarded during award season. 4 Stars.
Quiz Lady, November on Hulu with Allie and Barb. We had high hopes for this comedy with Awkwafina and Sandra Oh released direct to Hulu. It turns out there was a reason it didn’t go into wider theater release. The performances and cameos were fine in this spoof of a Jeopardy-like game show but the script was weak and the direction kind of ham-handed. 2 Stars, at best.
Next Goal Wins, November at Cinemark Snowden with Barb and Allie. In search of a family movie we all sort of wanted to see, we landed at Taika Watititi’s film about the American Samoa national soccer team. The film was sugary sweet and predictable but for Michael Fassbender being overly earnest in the role of the American coach exiled to help the hapless team. It’s by no means a great film but elicited a few smiles and did its job for us. 2 Stars.
Killers of the Flower Moon, November at Cinemark Snowden (while Barb saw The Marvels). It’s unfortunately a notable accomplishment nowadays to sit through a nearly 4-hour cinema experience (including previews) without a bathroom break. I made it through Scorsese’s latest epic without nodding off or taking a break, so kudos to me. Is this a great film? I don’t think so: it really didn’t need to be 3.5 hours long, the story is more straightforward than Scorsese lets on, and there’s some justifiable complaint that the film still paints the Osage characters as cardboard cutouts (except for Molly, played movingly by Lily Gladstone), despite ostensibly being on their side. The focus is on De Niro and DiCaprio throughout, until a series of other recognizable white male stars show up in the last hour or so. The core story seemed to be a family-focused trauma that was pretty easily picked apart by the FBI. How much was really a wider community trauma (with many more deaths) that was brushed aside by white society? I think that was probably the point Scorsese wanted to make but I don’t think the film really got there. 3 Stars.
The Holdovers, November at Cinemark Snowden with Dan and Barb. From the team that brought us Sideways 19 years ago comes this New England prep school dramedy, a fine 1970s period piece that belies the notion that they don’t make quiet little movies like this anymore. The drama is fairly low-stakes, the comedy is dry and wry, and the acting is reliably strong, though newcomer Dominic Sessa looks considerably older than a high school student. It was an enjoyable little film that took on more depth afterward when we heard of Dan’s real-life high school traumas. 3 Stars.
Dicks: The Musical, October at AMC Columbia with Barb. A goofball gay romp in the most literal sense, this movie strives for Rocky Horror camp and singalong fun. I’m not sure it will reach the same cultural icon status but it earns its own dubious place; it must have been a lot of fun to make. Barb had wanted to go see this with Dan but he was out of the country so I tagged along (impersonating her gay friend?) to the Monday afternoon showing along with one other person in the theater. Barb and I enjoyed it; we’re not sure about the other person. 3 Stars.
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise, October at AFI Silver Spring. An intimate and informative look at Joan Baez’s life, framed by her 2018 final tour and an extensive dive into her own vast collection of notes and tapes, including therapy sessions. There’s more to her family’s story than I, and possibly Joan, realized, including echoes of our own family of three girls before I wandered into the frame. I’m not sure it will convert many new fans but the film is a shorthand guide to navigating more than 60 years in the whirlwind of fame and public life, then stepping toward the exit with some grace. 3 Stars, and maybe more.
Stop Making Sense, September at AMC Columbia. Seeing the IMAX re-release of this nearly 40-year-old Talking Heads concert film (how is it possibly 40 years ago?) was even more fun than the first time. I remember originally seeing it in a theater near Fisherman’s Wharf while at a business conference in San Francisco when it came out in October 1984. I later bought the DVD and played it many times. There were no big surprises in this version, other than how young and vibrant all of the band members were, even though they were veterans on the scene (and about to break up) by the time of the film. David Byrne was charismatic, inventive, geeky and charming all at once but what remains most memorable was how cleverly the whole show was put together and how much fun each of the band members were having. And the music still cooks. 4 Stars for nostalgia.
Barbie, September in Boston. I thought the movie was quite well done, especially the production design, so kudos to Greta Gerwig. Overall, I liked the movie but didn’t love it, I think because for me the resolution moved things back to the place it started with the Barbies in charge…which was fine but I hoped for a bit of growth to where the Barbies and Kens could live together more as equals. But maybe that would be too woke or Pollyanna-ish for this moment. Allie disputed my concerns and was much more enthusiastic which is her prerogative. After all, as she notes, she is the target audience and I’m not. Fair enough. 3 Stars.
Oppenheimer, July at Snowden with Barb. Christopher Nolan’s take on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atom bomb, is one of those historical epic films like Ghandi or All the President’s Men that tends to shape the world’s perception of reality. It seems Nolan did a good job capturing the complexities and torments that came with the development and aftermath of the nuclear bomb. The dense script, exacting set production and lead performance of Cillian Murphy (whom I didn’t know before) are spot-on Oscar bait. I think Nolan probably overstretched the role and importance of Lewis Strauss in order to create a bad guy to propel the story and basically guarantee a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Robert Downey Jr., but so be it. I feel like I probably saw the best and most important film of the year. But then, I haven’t seen Barbie yet, have I? 4 Stars.
Joy Ride, July at Snowden with Barb and Leslie. The reviews for this female Asian-American road trip to China movie were surprisingly good so I tagged along with Barb and Leslie. I’m generally not a fan of this raunchy genre of comedies, and this one didn’t change my mind, but I did laugh here and there. The plot went from deeply improbable to outright ludicrous but that’s part of the journey for this type of movie, I suppose. It’s laudable mainly because it was driven by and employed many Asian women, so good for them. Representation counts for something. 2 Stars.
Asteroid City, July at Bethesda Row with Allie. Allie and I headed to Bethesda to see Wes Anderson’s latest and grab dinner at The Spanish Diner. It was my first movie in a theater in quite a while. Despite my best efforts, I nodded off for a bit in the middle, though it’s quite hard to tell what I missed. The choppy, show-within-a-show structure was hard to keep up with anyway. Like other Wes Anderson films, this one is an intricate bauble playing on multiple levels in surreal scenery and colors. Allie and I enjoyed it though we’re hard-pressed to explain why or what the film was about. I look forward to seeing the whole film again at some point. 3 Stars, maybe.
Happy Valley, June-July on Acorn. I read some good reviews of the 2023 third and concluding season of this BBC series that started in 2014 and decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. Intricately plotted and very well acted, I became engaged, riding along with the cliffhangers. The show shares some flavors of Mare of Easttown, but Happy Valley was underway years before Mare was appeared in 2021. 4 Stars.
The Quiet Girl, March at AFI Silver Spring with Laurie. Laurie particularly wanted to see this Irish movie we’d both heard was good but neither of us knew much about. The movie was a gem, a lovely portrayal of a young girl making her way through a summer spent with her relatives. The film walks a tightrope observing this sweet girl navigate her days, trying to understand what’s going on around her. I kept waiting for something tragic to happen as the film foreshadows and slowly reveals its secrets. It’s a well done production and a credit to Colm Bairead who directed and wrote the screenplay. It’s his first film and was produced with his wife; I hope they enjoy long, fruitful careers. 3 Stars.
True Spirit, February on Netflix. A truly dispiriting film dramatizing Australian teenager Jessica Watson’s solo non-stop sail around the world in 2010. The film is marked by questionable parenting, dubious decision-making all around, crappy CGI whales and dolphins, and caricatures of characters from family members to journalists. It seems like it would have been better if they just stitched together home movies of the actual events. 1 Star.
Argentina, 1985, February on Amazon Prime. A somewhat plodding retelling of the trial of key members of Argentina’s military junta in 1985. I learned some things but remain muddled on a lot more. 3 Stars, generously, but All Quiet on the Western Front seems a shoe-in for Best International Film.
The Fabelmans, February at Snowden (while Barb and Leslie saw 80 for Brady). Calling a film semi-autobiographical seems a particularly Hollywood-ish approach to rewriting history. Telling the story of a family is a complicated business, I know, but Steven Spielberg seems to want to have his cake and eat it too, basing large parts of the movie on his own life but fabricating an unknown amount of stuff to make it the movie he wants. It’s well crafted and acted, but still seems somewhat superficial, pulling its punches from real heartbreak or revelation. I hope it doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Picture, but I could see it earning Spielberg another Best Director award as a capstone to his career, his willingness to explore his own family’s life, and his puppydog love for the making of movies. 3 Stars.
All Quiet on the Western Front, January on Netflix. I resisted watching this World War I epic when it initially came out on Netflix, but finally succumbed after it received nine Oscar nominations. Spoiler alert: war is hell, and World War I was especially hellish from any perspective, especially the German one. I can’t comment on this film’s fidelity to the novel or the classic 1930 version, neither of which I read or saw. I can say this one was a grind to watch which came as no surprise. I suppose the film deserves its technical accolades but unless you weren’t already convinced of its premise, why watch? 3 Stars.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo, November – January, series on Netflix. It took me a few months to get through all 16 episodes of this Korean series but I became increasingly enchanted as I went. The series is like a mochi donut of a show, oddly over-sweet but addictive. I smiled every time they used the goofy device of whales and dolphins inspiring Attorney Woo’s insights. I fell under the show’s spell and look forward to another season at some point. It’s the most enjoyable series I’ve watched in some time, much more satisfying than White Lotus, for example. 4 Stars.
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