Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Mamoudou Athie-whose latest project "The Drama" releases in theaters tomorrow.
Mamoudou Athie's Filmography Ranked:
10.Unicorn Store (C)
9.Black Box (C+)
8.The Front Runner (B-)
7.Patti Cake$ (B-)
6.Elemental (B-)
5.Jurassic World Dominion (B)
4.The Burial (B)
3.Underwater (B)
2.Uncorked (B+)
1.Kinds of Kindness (B+)
Top Dog: Kinds of Kindness (2024)
I'm among the small group of people that doesn't view the anthology film Kinds of Kindness as one of the lesser entries in Yorgos Lanthimos' filmography. The humor that nicely balances absurdity with some really sick dark comedy had me cackling throughout, the cast (Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Athie) does a really good job of stepping into various roles of varying sizes in each of the film's three largely standalone stories and Robbie Ryan's terrific cinematography really heightens the bizarre, surreal feeling of the situations this revolving door of characters find themselves in.
Bottom Feeder: Unicorn Store (2019)
In the pantheon of directorial debuts from actors, Brie Larson's Unicorn Store isn't high on either end of the list. This fantasy dramedy about a struggling artist (Larson) who gets reinvigorated when she receives a letter from a mystical salesman (Samuel L. Jackson) inviting her to the titular store is competent enough to not be a slog to sit through but not compelling enough to leave a lasting impression. There are worst sins to commit as a filmmaker than making something that induces a shoulder shrug when it's over, so Larson can at least take a bit of solace in that.
Most Underrated: Uncorked (2020)
Being released in the opening days of the COVID lockdown on Netflix gave Uncorked the disservice of being buried harder than damn near any other movie released this decade. Anybody that is looking for a well-written, character-driven drama should definitely give this movie about a young man (Athie) who leaves his family's successful barbeque restaurant in Memphis to pursue his dream of becoming a sommelier a shot.
Most Overrated: Elemental (2023)
While Elemental is a sweet movie with beautiful animation, the unfocused nature of the plot prevents it from fully coming together as both a romcom and tale about the many unspoken sacrifices immigrants make in order to try and provide their children with a better life in a new country.
