I wanted to give myself a bit of a break for the final week of the year, so I won’t be doing any full reviews until I see whatever the first 2019 release is going to be. In the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of catch up with some of the 2018 films I haven’t gotten to. I figured I’d, at the very least, offer some brief thoughts on them, in the off chance you’re interested. And I should note that this doesn’t mean I won’t still be catching up on movies for my list later in January, I am, I just won’t be writing about it, unless I feel like I really have something to add. So, here we go!
The Rider
This is the only one on this roundup that I didn’t see the past week, I saw this in early December, but I loved it so much I wanted to bring it up. It’s the highly acclaimed new film from Chloé Zhao, which follows a cowboy unable to continue his rodeo career after an accident leaves him injured and without a purpose. It’s a super existential sad cowboy movie, so it’s pretty much guaranteed to be my cup of tea, but it really is exceptional work.
Naturalism is what this film rides on. It almost feels like a documentary, and given the use of non-actors, it almost kind of is, and I find that blend interesting. Skate Kitchen does a similar thing. It’s an achingly gorgeous film, the performances are brilliant, and it hits you like a ton of bricks without even trying. It’s made a lot of “Best Of” lists, you’ll definitely see it in mine, and there’s a good reason for it. Give it a chance if you haven’t seen it.
The Favourite
It’s weird that given his mean streak, his bleak sense of humor, and purposefully alienating sensibilities, I haven’t enjoyed most of Yorgos Lanthimos’ work. The first film of his that I thoroughly enjoyed all the way through was last year’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer, but I can now say there’s two of his movies I love because The Favourite…might be my new favorite of his.
It explores the psycho-sexual power play between two women (played by Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) as they try to control Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) to fit their own agenda. There’s more to it than that, but I want to keep this brief. In short, the dialogue is some of the sharpest and hilarious I’ve seen in a film all year, and the performances are pitch perfect. Despite Lanthimos not writing it, the script by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara totally fits his style and sense of humor. This is really great stuff, and if you think this is just another costume drama, boy, you will be in for a surprise.
Border
I had no idea what this was about going into it, and knew nothing of it aside from its really good word-of-mouth. So, I won’t tell you anything about this movie. All I’m going to say is that it’s one of the most bold and unpredictable films I’ve seen this year, and I don’t know what exactly to make of it, but I think I loved it anyway.
It’s a Swedish film, and it’s co-written by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the writer of the book that Let The Right One In is based on, and he’s adapting one of his short stories. Al I’ll say is that it involves a weird looking girl with the ability to smell emotions, and one day, she finds someone else who also has the really weird, Neanderthal-esque look that she has. Where it goes from there, I won’t say. Just know that it is totally wild, kind of disgusting, but so wonderful. I haven’t seen anything else this year quite like it. If you’re going to see it, go in as blind as possible.
Zama
This is the new film from Lucrecia Martel, an Argentinian filmmaker whose work I actually hadn’t seen prior to this, but I really should check them out (there’s only three others) because this is stellar filmmaking. The setup almost feels Coens-esque, it’s about a Spanish official, Don Diego de Zama (Daniel Giménez Cacho), who is desperately trying to relocate from the South American colony where he currently resides, all while his situation quickly deteriorates.
OK, maybe not quickly, it’s a slow burn, and if I’m being honest, a burn that is a bit too dry for my taste. I wasn’t bored necessarily, it’s too beautifully crafted to steer my attention away, but I did find it a bit of a struggle to engage. But still, there’s so much to like from its exquisite cinematography to Cacho’s brilliant performance to the film’s bitter sense of humor. It has a lot on its mind regarding colonialism and its reflections on the modern world. I wish I liked it more, but I like it enough that I want to see more of Martel’s work.
Holmes & Watson
I guess my expectations must have been set really low because I didn’t think this was that bad. Granted, I had the luxury of seeing this with a packed crowd who were clearly into it (though some of those same people laughing were then talking about how awful it was as they were exiting the theater, so who the hell knows), and that enthusiasm is infectious enough that it made me had a reasonably good time with this.
The whole movie is so committed to being as un-clever as possible that its detours into utter lunacy worked on me. I also just enjoyed seeing British actors like Ralph Fiennes, Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Hugh Laurie, and Kelly Macdonald saying and doing the most ridiculous things. It’s by no means great; there are numerous comedic Sherlock Holmes movies that are significantly better than this. It’s amusing enough, but in a mostly inoffensive and forgettable way. I doubt I’ll remember this by next week.
Shirkers
This is an autobiographical Netflix documentary by Sandi Tan, in which she explores her past as an inspiring filmmaker, an aspiration that was tarnished when a mentor disappeared with the reels for her independent film. It isn’t until years later that the reels have turned back up, but unfortunately, without the sound. Tan retools the footage for the documentary.
I think Shirkers features some of the best editing I’ve seen this year. It’s a bit showy, for sure, but effective in the way it captures the sensation of memory and recollection, and the complexities thereof. Tan narrates most of the documentary, which I wasn’t sure of, but it eventually won me over, especially in the way it complements the images we’re shown. It explores art and identity in compelling ways, and experiments with the form. I liked this one quite a bit.
Thunder Road
You know the phrase about not being able to look away from something, even though you should, like a car crash? Thunder Road is that phrase in movie form, intentionally, I should add. Jim Cummings writes, directs, and stars in an adaptation of his 2016 short film, where he plays a cop who recently lost his mother, he’s going through a divorce, and he’s at risk of losing joint-custody of his daughter, and…well, he’s having a hard time handling it all.
I was thoroughly impressed with how the film deftly balances multiple tones, often within a scene. It can go from cringey to serious to funny to emotional, and sometimes it will manage to do all of them at the same time. It’s a tough feat, and while the movie certainly doesn’t have the biggest production values, it’s well done for what it needed to do. Jim Cummings is one talented guy, and I’m eager to see how he follows this up.
More on the next page!