Green Book: I have to disagree with the relatively large amount of scrutiny Green Book has received in recent weeks. The film simply tells a fact-based story about how two men from different races and socioeconomic backgrounds were able to put their past prejudices aside, and eventually form a friendship as a result of spending time together without attempting to provide much in the way of broad commentary on race relations or any other big picture Civil Rights issues. It may be a pretty lightweight narrative with a heavy dose of Hollywood sentimentality thrown in for crowdpleasing purposes, but it's still a funny, touching and highly enjoyable buddy dramedy that features excellent performances from a pair of underrated talents (Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali) that are often relegated to much smaller roles. It was nice to come away from an awards-contending movie without being overwhelmed by gloom, rage or general unpleasantness for once and I'm glad that both actors earned Oscar noms for their tremendous work.
Grade: B+
The Favourite: Foul language! Lesbian relationships! Duck races! This ain't your father's period piece! The Favourite is a bizarre, darkly comic antidote to the agonizing stuffiness you tend to find in these elaborate royal costume dramas. With its manic tone that allows for these supposedly sophisticated folks to engage in all sorts of heathen-like behavior and venomous quip-filled dialogue, it almost feels like a 1700's British monarchy reimagining of Mean Girls. It runs out of steam in the final act when director Yorgos Lanthimos goes hog wild with his arthouse auteur shtick and the cousins (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, both amazing) who turn into fierce, manipulative rivals while trying to win the favour of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman-not quite as strong as her co-stars, but still very good) spend minimal time on screen together, but the rest of the movie was such an unexpected take on a genre that I usually don't enjoy that I'm willing to overlook its bumpy finish.
Grade: B+
If Beale Street Could Talk: Barry Jenkins' follow-up to Moonlight is a much more well-rounded, assured and powerful effort. He navigates the several timelines that run through this early 70's-set love story centered around two black young adults (KiKi Layne, Stephan James) who are expecting their first child whose lives are upended by a false criminal charge pretty seamlessly, and the way it depicts the extraordinary lengths each character goes to try to prove the expecting father's innocence and racially-charged injustices of the legal system that still ring true today makes the ending that much more heartbreaking. With his ability to tell emotionally-charged stories and get the most out of his actors (James, Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry are all particularly sensational here), Jenkins looks like he's going to be a filmmaking force for decades to come.
Grade: B+
Vice: The understandably polarizing Dick Chaney biopic won't provide a lot of surprises or new information for anyone who closely follows American politics. That being said, Vice does an outstanding job of painting a damning portrait of a power-hungry man (portrayed with subtly maniacal brilliance by Christian Bale) who quietly made a massive impact on the US political landscape over the course of his multiple stints as a high-ranking White House official as well as providing an important reminder that you don't need to be a loudmouth, blatant hate-spewing clown like our current president to be an absolutely vile monster. Writer/director Adam McKay deserves a ton of credit for his willingness to pop the thick revisionist history bubble many Americans have gotten stuck in recently. A lot of the agenda-driven sensationalist news reporting and fearmongering policies our federal government so gleefully embraces weren't original ideas from the stable genius mind of Trump, and it was nice to see a film acknowledge that those seeds were planted well before the MAGA movement took off. As much as I miss the beautiful absurdity of his Will Ferrell-led comedies, McKay has cemented himself as a fantastic serious director who does sharp political commentary as well as anyone working today.
Grade: A-
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