2018 Movie Log – February

 

 

 

3rd: 30 for 30: The Two Bills – Ken Rodgers (2018)
Watched at home at night. Pretty interesting documentary. A look at two football geniuses who have an interesting relationship. My only complaint is it seemed a little too complacent. It was super entertaining but didn’t feel like the story mattered that much to me.

5th: Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy (2014)
Watched at home at night. Really cool thriller. Some awesome shots of LA. Liked how it all took place at night. It’s a pretty well-executed movie. I think my gripe is how evil Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is. I thought the scene where he blackmails Rene Russo into sleeping with him is pretty hard to make it past.
Grade: B
Nightcrawler – Structure

7th: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story – Jake Kasdan (2007)
Watched at home at night. Really dumb, pretty enjoyable movie. I wish it were funnier. Afraid that it relied too heavily on portrayals of famous people by other famous people.
Grade: C+ / B-
Walk Hard – Structure

7th: The End of The Tour – James Ponsoldt (2015)
Watched at home at night. Still amazing. Unsure of how accurate all the DFW stuff is, but it feels so real. Love how contained the whole movie is. The script is so tight. Ponsoldt even pulls off DFW freaking out about Lipsky hitting on his friend. Noticed how beautifully shot it was this time. Especially some of the car scenes. And the elevator ride at the end of the second act.
Grade: A
The End of the Tour – Structure

9th: Free Fire – Ben Wheatley (2017)
Watched at home during the day. I think it’s one of the most fun movies. Was blown away by the personalities of each character. The performances are amazing too. I really don’t know how this wasn’t a bigger hit. Also pretty cool during the rewatch to see how tightly written everything is. I don’t even think I picked up on the Martin bit the first time.
Grade: B+
Free Fire – Structure

9th: A Ghost Story – David Lowery (2017)
Watched at home at night. Pretty amazing. The opening hooks you because you’re waiting for Casey Affleck to die. Was amazed by how some of the scenes worked. Especially the 5-minute scene of Rooney Mara eating a pie. I thought what really made the movie was the third act. One of the coolest endings I’ve seen in a while.
Grade: B
A Ghost Story – Structure

10th: Marie Antoinette – Sofia Coppola (2006)
Watched at home at night. I found it pretty entertaining. Not super moving. I was kind of on board with the contemporary soundtrack though. Everything in the movie looked gorgeous too. Just didn’t find the characters or story compelling.
Grade: C+/B-
Marie Antoinette – Structure

13th: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – Jake Kasdan (2017)
Watched at Webster with Alice, Melissa, Teo, and Daniel. Really entertaining. Thought the movie was genuinely hilarious. I wish a movie like this didn’t have to do all the sentimental shit at the end required for the story.
Grade: B
Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle – Structure

14th: The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) – Noah Baumbach (2017)
Watched at home during the day. Think it’s one of his better movies. The characters are all so developed and real. I think that’s what really makes the movie. It’s perfectly structured. A lot of plants and payoffs. All the heady/intellectual stuff that Baumbach is great at. I feel like his movies usually lack on the emotional side. I wasn’t super moved by this one, I thought the characters were compelling enough to really care about.
Grade: B+
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) – Structure

15th: Jackie – Pablo Larraín (2016)
Watched at home at night. Thought it was great. Really moving. You can’t take your eyes off Natalie Portman. I loved that the beats of the movie are structured on emotional notes. The climax being the reveal that the story is about how Jackie left her mark on history.
Grade: A-
Jackie – Structure

16th: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh (2017)
Watched at Logan. Was pretty unsure about it until the midpoint (Chief Willoughby’s suicide). From that point on I thought it was pretty good. My only nitpick is that I didn’t love the surrealist / play-like feel of it (where everything is as big as it can be).
Grade: B-
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing – Structure

17th: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones – George Lucas (2002)
Watched at Alice’s with Melissa and Alice. Woof. This movie is unbelievably bad. I don’t even know where to start. It’s nonsensical. It looks terrible. The characters and dialogue are incredibly poorly written.
Grade: F

18th: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – David Yates (2016)
Watched at home during the day. Pretty entertaining movie. Has some cool plants and payoffs and a nice twist. Overall a lot of good stuff. It’s probably 20 minutes too long. Really made me want to re-watch the Harry Potter Movies.
Grade: B-
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Structure

18th: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – Chris Colombus (2001)
Watched at home at night. Much better than I thought it would be. Was fairly surprised at how concisely plotted it is. I think they did a pretty great job of introducing the world all in a movie. Overall, I think it’s a pretty decent movie. The major drawback is that the main characters are all kids and they mostly do a good job. Sometimes it’s pretty awkward to watch.
Grade: C+
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer_s Stone – Structure

19th: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Chris Colombus (2002)
Watched at home at night. A slight step up from the previous movie. The acting is much better. The plot is cooler than I remembered too. I think my major gripe with this one is that it’s probably the least fun of the early ones. It’s really dark.
Grade: B-
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets – Structure

20th: Samurai Cop – Amir Shervan (1991)
Watched at Matthew’s with Matthew, Ryan, and Wills. Awesome time. Brutal movie.
Grade: F

20th: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Alfonso Cuarón (2004)
Watched at home at night. A legitimately good movie. Everything is a big step up from the first two. The acting is better, the effects are better. A lot of it looks like an old-school horror movie. I don’t know if I should credit Rowling or the directing, but the story is amazing too. There’s the huge twist with Sirius Black at the end of the second act, then another twist with the Time Turner just a bit later. Everything is set up and paid off too: Hermione being in two places at once, Lupin being a Werewolf. I’m shocked at how good it was.
Grade: A-
Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban – Structure

21st: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Mike Newell (2005)
Watched at home at night. Overall pretty good. The visuals (like the Azkaban) are a major improvement over the first two movies. I wasn’t super into the tone of the movie. A lot more jokes, gags, attempts to do slapstick stuff. I think it’s because the beginning and end of the movie are so dark. The movie really picks up in the third act. I know Rowling created a lot of it, but the Death Eaters and Voldemort imagery are legitimately terrifying. Still, I think this should have been 20-30 minutes shorter (a crazy thought considering how long the book is?).
Grade: B- / B
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Structure

22nd: Sweet Smell of Success – Alexander Mackendrick (1957)
Watched at home with Wills. Really good. It looked amazing. I thought that the movie had an energy to it that is sometimes missing from old school movies. The dialogue was fantastic. Going to re-watch.
Sweet Smell of Success – Structure

22nd: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – David Yates (2007)
Watched at home at night. Pretty good. I think the story is far more interesting than Goblet of Fire. It is obviously much darker. The climax would be amazing too if not for the really dumb flash cuts of Voldemort. This is the shortest film in the series and it’s an adaptation of the longest book. And I think it works. It kind of backs up my belief that a lot of these movies are twenty minutes too long. I think it’s more important to create the movie as opposed to capturing the entire world of the book.
Grade: B
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Structure

24th: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – David Yates (2009)
Watched at home at night. I think this is my favorite in the series. It introduces so many mysterious. Who is Professor Slughorn? What happened to Dumbledore’s hand? What’s Draco doing? Who is the Half-Blood Prince? I’m starting to see that Rowling’s genius as a storyteller was to use the framework of a fairly conventional structure and weave mysteries and twists within it. This one is remarkable too for the way everything comes together at the same time with Dumbledore’s death.
Grade: A-
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – Structure

25th: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One – David Yates (2010)
Watched at home during the day. Much better than I remember. The biggest issue is the lack of material. So much of it is just the three of them walking around in the woods. I thought the chase scene was filmed in a really cool way.
Grade: B/B+.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One – Structure

25th: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two – David Yates (2011)
Watched back to back with Part One. Way better than I remember. I didn’t realize that almost the entire movie is the Battle for Hogwarts. It reminded me of the Two Towers in a lot of ways. It was remarkable to me how well the story ends.
Grade: B+
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two