Watch these Movies

The term naturalistic acting has always seemed off to me.  Isn't all acting supposed to seem natural?  How else would you believe the story you see on screen?  Well, I was wrong and The Florida Project is a good example of why.  If naturalist acting is replicating real life then along with that comes the ordinary and mundane.  That's different than watching a superhero movie where there's an exaggerated reality, and everything is exciting.  It's also harder to make watchable because real life is boring and if your aim is to show real life there has to be a reason for doing it.  The 'reason' in the Florida Project is to understand and sympathize with a subset of America that most people, especially those living in urban bubbles, don't get to see; Poor, uneducated, unhappy people (many with children) attempting to provide for themselves and their family.  Every day is a struggle and many times they don't know where the next meal is coming from.  That's the reality that we see in the Florida project and through naturalistic acting, and casting of children who don't seem 'actor-y,' you really do get to feel as if you're peeking into someone's private life. 

The entire movie takes place in a motel and follows its inhabitants as they try to make the best of their temporary surroundings.  For the adults that means trying to earn money, sometimes in ways that aren't legal.  For the Motel's super it means trying to manage the building he's in charge of which includes appeasing its residences to an extent, while at the same time attempting not to get sucked up in the drama of their lives. For the children it's just being children; running and playing and making up games with whatever they have around them, living the moment because that's they can depend on.  It's fascinating and heartbreaking, with tediousness and disappointment interrupted by moments of happiness and genuine humanity.  It's real, and very much worth watching.

The importance of the 1st amendment and freedom of the press is what's at stake in The Post.  This is timelier than ever in a world where 'fake news' is actually real news, and the press is called the enemy of the people.  Beyond the parallels into today's world, the film itself is an exciting and well paced journalistic thriller (if that's even a thing) where not much happens except talking, but it's still exciting. 

Credit goes to Spielberg's great direction and superb acting by Streeps and Hanks but also to an unspoken understanding between us the audience and the filmmakers.  We know even if it's just talking what is being debated was imporant then because it's still imporant now.  Even 40 years after the events of the film we're glued to the back and forth between the suits and journalists on whether to release information for the benefit of the public not because we don't know what will happen (yes, they will release it), but because we know these conversations are happening today.  We watch Graham and Bradlee argue and discuss with something like bated breath then cheer them on as they act with moral fortitude, clapping and hopping that those in a position to do so today are making similar brave choices.

Try to contain your surprise but this is the only MCU movie on this list.  In a year that saw the release of the best Thor yet and the best Spider-man in a decade, that's shocking even to me.  Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized this was the only MCU film that really hit every right note in terms of emotion and character.  Eschewing the usual 'sequel trap' of making every subsequent confrontation for the heroes larger, louder, and (many times) dumber, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 goes big by staying small.  

By staying grounded with the characters and exploring relationships, Guardians feels strangely intimate for an action film.  The central thrust of the story is based around Peter Quill's relationship with his father but the sisterly relationship between Gamora and Nebula gets its time too, as does Rocket's internal struggle with acting like a jerk to the people he loves, pushing them away for fear of being ultimately rejected by them.  That's heady stuff for a superhero movie and yes, I realize I'm writing this about a talking raccoon.  

There's more too, but go watch the movie.  The point is that Guardians 2 has what is commonly missing from sequels: character development.  That's a tremendous accomplishment and grounds the film in an emotional reality, even in the middle of the fantastic happenings.  

The Disaster Artist is tied with Guardians volume 2 as the funniest films on this list.  The comedy comes from watching Tommy Wiseau, a mean with very little talent, do what everyone thought couldn't and shouldn't be done: make a movie, no matter how terrible it is.  To use a term I didn't make up, the movie's 'magic trick' is that it's funny without being mean.  Yes, you're laughing at this auteur's antics as he Forrest Gumps his way through making a movie, but you'rerooting for him to succeed.  

The film taps into the optomistic part of us all that wants to see dreams come true because damnit, no one should stop someone from fulfiling their dream!  In the end, the film chronicling the making of a bad movie becomes what that bad movie became too;  a love letter to the American can-do spirit and something to hail as worthy to be seen in its own right.

Every year I have one movie on this list few people have heard of. Enter Speech and Debate a flim which does something I think may be even a harder pull for a great movie, it tells a simple story very very well.  Here's the plot:  3 teenagers with varying degrees of unlikability revive a debate club in their school for their own selfish reasons.  Do you think it goes the way they intended? Do you think they learn a lesson (or several)?  Of course the answers are no and yes, respectively, so don’t go into this movie expecting surprises.  Do go in expecting to be entertained because the movie has a quick witted and wicked sense of humor with great performances by all.  It also doesn't tie everything in a neat little bow at the end, which I respect.  I saw this on Netflix, maybe it's still there. Go see it.

Whenever I use the word 'remember' I finish the sentence, either out loud or in my head, with 'me' Then I break into my version of singing as I croon 'Remember Me' from Coco and yeah, sometimes I tear up.  If you don't when you see the final rendition of that song toward the end of the film well, how can I put this gently?...you're a monster.  

Coco is Pixar's latest masterpiece.  Using a very specific culture as a backdrop (Mexican), the movie tells the very universal story of a a child chasing after their dream against the family's wishes.  And this isn't just an excuse for Pixar to score 'diversity points' by changing the shade of their characters.  The film uses real parts of Mexican culture such as traditions centered around their annual Day of the Dead celebration and, more generally, the importance of familial connections, as an integral part of the story, giving Coco a unique point of view we don't see nearly as much as we should. It's funny, well voice acted and like all great Pixar films, very very sad.  But it's also uplifting and my tears were followed by smiles and laughter by the time the credits rolled.  Remember me, telling you to see to this movie.

Every year there is at least film one my list which is also on the Academy's list which I first resist but ultimately fell in love with.  Three Billoards was that movie in 2017.  My initial thoughts when reading the effusive praise this movie received was "yeah, right."  I resisted because I thought the central premise sounded too gimmicky:  a grieving mother puts up billboards condemning local law enforcement's inability to solve her daughter's murder.  To me, it looked tailor-made for long emotional monologues and slow motion tracking shots which practically beg 'please give me an oscar.'  But Three Billboards isn't like that. In fact, it's not sentimental at all.  The grieving mother in question is the no nonsense Mildred and she doesn't put the billboards up for sympathy. She's pissed and wants action.  As played by Frances McDormand she's bitingly funny and from the moment she entered the movie, I knew I was in for a diferent movie than I expected.  This is dark comedy folks, which means you'll be laughing as much from pleasure as you will from sheer horror at the events which unfold.  

Okay, I'm easy crier so maybe this doesn't mean so much but, I cried at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes. This concluding installment in one of the most consistent trilogies of all times in terms of quality, brings us to the end we always knew was coming.  Ever since Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released in 2011, we knew we were watching the end of the humans as the dominant species.  What was surprising was not that that also meant we were seeing the beginning of the apes taking our place, but how much you would be rooting for them when they did. 

As these films have progressed, the Apes have become more human; more sympathetic with individual personalities that you recognize as familiar (i.e., human).  Humans on the other hand, have turned into mindless killers, driven by fear and misplaced vengence for the end of their world as they knew it.  Looking for someone to blame, they pick the peaceful apes and pay the price as a result.

War for the Planet of the Apes finishes the ape leader, Ceaser's, story and by the time the movie ends, you'll weep for him and his family, but shed not even a tear for the end of the human race.  That's a testament to the story, effects, and acting, led of Andy Serkis' Ceaser, who deserves a special oscar for pioneering a type of digital effects acting which we will see only more of in the coming years.

Why this movie didn't get more press is beyond me.  It has an all-star cast as well as an academy award winning writer (Aaron Sorkin) making his directorial debut.  And it's great.  Using his typical sharp-witted dialogue, Sorkin tells the engrossing tale of Molly, a former skiier from a Type A personality family who stumbles into the seedy and glamerous underworld of high stakes poker.  Molly doesn't know anything about the game at first but she learns, not only the rules but how to make money off hosting. This eventually leads to her running her own games full of bankers, celebrities, hanger-oners, and gangsters. 

How Molly does it, and the challenges she faces while building her game is what the movie is about and it's one hell of a ride.   It's paced like a thriller with heavy assist from Sorkin's whip fast dialogue, which makes two hours goes by in a hearbeat.  There's also a nice emotional center held together by Jessica Chastain's Molly and her father, played by Kevin Costner.  How Molly finds a way to excel and why she stubbornly makes choices that sometimes go against her best interest is all wrapped up in her connection with her overly-critical dad, and the movie explorers fascinating layers of dad-child dynamic.  This movie deserves your time.

To paraphrase Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly when he made his 2004 top 10 list and placed the remake of Dawn of the Dead on top:  I could lie about this and seem smarter, but I'm not. 

IT is a scary movie. But it's not JUST a scary movie.  What the film and original novel do so well is mix realistic human drama with horror.  Just like the terrifying clown Pennywise at the center of the story, it takes our worst fears and manifests them, and while this leads to the inevitable boogie monster come to life and those parts are scary, it's the other, more real horror that really get to you.  Yes, zombies are scary but even more frightening is an abusive father. Well, what if that abusive father suddenly had strange powers and tried to kill you?  A clown is creepy but what is truly chilling is a dead brother begging you for help, luring you into a false sense of familiarity as it waits to eat you.  Yes, being picked on is scary when you're a kid, but what if the bullies are egged on by a malevelont force, turning mere meanness into cruelty and eventually to violence and destruction? It's those based-on-true-life moments infused with supernatural horror which really linger in your psyche.

IT hold a special place in my heart.  When I first read It the novel I was probably around 14 and I saw a bit of myself in every member of The Losers Club.  Some if it was obvious; Bill is a stutter, as I am, and some if wasn't; parts of Beverly's relationship with her parent and Eddie's meekness hit close to home.  Those kids were all me in some way.  IT the film is able to successfully map over the feelings I had when I read the book and watched the original TV miniseries.  In a short time you get to know every member of the Losers club, you like them, and you relate to them. You are them.  


Everyone who has ever been a kid knows the feeling of wanting to belong, and feeling like you never will. And if you're lucky, you'll also remember the feeling of finally finding friends you do belong with,  That's really the emotional core of IT; that yearning to be part of a group of friends who accept you as you are.  Those relationships come with many complications (including anger, jealously, and infighting), but are also wonderfully fulfilling.  It's all a real part of being a kid, and that's what IT shows us so well.  Now add in an evil clown, and that's quality entertainment.