2019 Movie Log: February

2nd: Mascots – Christopher Guest (2016)
Watched at home with Gioia. There are some really funny parts but overall it’s too slow building to rival any of his other movies. The actual event with the mascots is fantastic.
Grade: C+

7th: Black Panther – Ryan Coogler (2018)
Watched at home with Gioia. I think everything about Wakanda and the central question, of whether to preserve this world or to help other black communities, is super interesting. I kind of wish that were the entire movie. I really struggled with most of the “comic book stuff.” However, I have to say that in the way I admired Beale Street for placing important messages in the context of a romance, this does a similar thing, just within a superhero movie. And what’s more popular than super hero movies? So I don’t know. I didn’t love it. Still, it’s undoubtedly good and important.
Grade: B

8th: Roma – Alfonso Cuarón (2018)
Watched at home with Gioia. It’s such a beautiful movie. I was transfixed the entire time. There are moments that are truly devastating. I think it got an unfair reputation for just being a feat of visual filmmaking. I thought there was incredible storytelling too. The focus is so deeply layered. Each character’s lives intersect and comment on other ones in the film. It should have won best picture.
Grade: A-

10th: Bohemian Rhapsody – Brian Singer (2018)
A pretty poorly made movie, but undeniably fun. It helps that Queen is just a fantastic band.
Grade: D+

12th: Green Book – Peter Farrelly (2018)
Offensive and terrible. It is so obvious that this could be a better movie if they literally just shifted the direction of their focus.
Grade: F

23rd: A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper (2018)
The first act of the movie is perfect. It’s exciting and charming. The build-up to Ali performing “Shallow” is big movie making at it’s best. The next two hours are slower. They feel like reiterations of the same things over and over again. I did think it was well made and enjoyable, but also a bit one-dimensional.
Grade: B-
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper (2018)

25th: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – The Coen Brothers (2018)
What a fantastic movie! I don’t know why I expected any differently. The Coens are just the best. My two favorite vignettes were Tom Waits’ and Zoe Kazan’s. Every vignette had something to offer. It’s just a film comprised of perfect, simple storytelling.
Grade: B+ / A-

Author: Samuel

Big fan of TV, movies, and books. Even bigger fan of maniacally recording my thoughts on them in the desperate and inevitably futile attempt to keep them in my memory forever. View all posts by Samuel