The Aeronauts
This is from Tom Harper, not be confused with Cats‘ Tom Hooper, who just so happened to already make one of 2019’s most wonderful films in Wild Rose. The Aeronauts isn’t quite as great as Wild Rose, but it’s still quite good. It’s an engaging adventure that does a great job at balancing whimsy and peril. The performances are rock solid. Felicity Jones is very compelling, and Eddie Redmayne gets the rare occasion to register like a normal human being, which is nice. Apparently, there’s some light controversy about Jones playing a fictional role when it would have served the real story better had they portrayed a more appropriate individual. I suppose there is some truth to that, and it’s a complaint I can understand. But as I was watching it, I was having a very good time, admiring the cinematography, the tension, and the character beats. Kinda bummed this wasn’t out in more theaters, but even at home, this is worth a look.
Les Misérables
Like La Haine or Do The Right Thing by way of Training Day, the film mostly takes place in one day where we follow several cops during their usual patrol, and the rising tensions that build through the course of their day within their community. The story was inspired by the 2005 French riots, and it’s a pretty exhilarating experience. The direction from Ladj Ly is very impressive in his ability to craft these well realized character, lived in environments, and a sense of propulsive energy is remarkable, and I think it more than makes up for the fact that – thematically speaking – I don’t feel like this is covering any new ground that hasn’t already been well explored in films like the ones I mentioned earlier. It’s still worth checking out, and I can’t wait to see what Ladj Ly does next.
A Hidden Life
God, what a beautiful movie. I’m in a weird space where I’m not necessarily the biggest Terrence Malick fan, in the sense that he’s a director I certainly like and admire, but he isn’t really one of my favorites, and yet, I’m in the minority in that I found his last several films to be pretty engaging and interesting experiments with the form. A Hidden Life is definitely his most “normal” film in many years, but it still has many of his hallmarks, which you can certainly feel over the course of its near three hour runtime. At this point, you’ll know whether or not his style will work for you. Me? I kind of adored it, and in a way, far more than I had anticipated. It might even be my new favorite of his. It’s a stunning film about belief, and the bravery and resilience it takes to do the right thing, and its message, while revolving around a story in the second World War, holds even more weight and relevance now.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
This movie knows how to deliver. It literally opens with an actual portrait of a lady on fire. All snark aside, this film is every bit as wondrous, moving, and elegant as I have heard. It’s a stunning, beautifully made film that evokes its period in a deeply artful way. The way that writer/director, Céline Sciamma, handles the two central characters is tender and insightful in how it dramatizes their connection and feelings for one another. The story of forbidden love is a tale as old as time, especially when it comes to LGBT stories, but this film breathes some new life into that formula, and makes something truly ravishing and haunting and mesmerizing from start to finish.
Furie
Imagine Taken, except with a Vietnamese woman, and somehow even more awesome than whatever you thought of in your head. Furie is a total blast, and easily among the best action films to have come out in the past year. The plot is certainly formulaic, but filmmaker, Lê Văn Kiệt, utilizes that formula for maximum emotional and visceral impact through a combination of earnest emotional beats and spectacularly choreographed action sequences. The film’s star, Veronica Ngô Thanh Vân, who you might recognize as Rose Tico’s sister from the beginning of The Last Jedi, owns every second she’s on screen, and she kicks ass with conviction and command. It’s propulsive, colorful, and full of nice little details and touches. It’s an all around great time, and a must for action junkies out there.
Just Mercy
With The Glass Castle and now Just Mercy, Destin Daniel Cretton hasn’t quite hit the high from his incredibly promising debut feature, Short Term 12, which is a film I would highly recommend to pretty much everyone. However, Just Mercy is a more solid and cohesively constructed than The Glass Castle, so I wouldn’t call him a fluke just yet. Just Mercy is pretty much exactly the film you think it is, and it’s conventional, arguably to a fault. But despite that, it is still deeply effective at times, especially due to the rock solid performances and Cretton’s tender touch as a filmmaker. I feel like his instincts as a filmmaker would be wasted on a Marvel movie, which is his next project, but he’s still one I am continuing to keep my eye out, and root for with whatever he does.
Article 15
The film I was reminded of most while watching this crime thriller was Mississippi Burning. For two reasons. One, both are gritty and effortlessly gripping police procedurals about heavy subject matters. And two, they both approach the material from a flawed perspective. Mississippi Burning is a classic example of a white savior narrative, and Article 15 is les by a higher caste investigator, who seems to be learning about casteism for the very first time as he dives into a case involving three missing low caste girls in an Indian village. Admittedly, even my knowledge on stuff like this is minimal because I was born and raised in the States, so the film actually does a decent job at painting a picture of what the experience is like for lower caste people. There is one incredible scene where the detective is getting frustrated as the officers around him try to explain the caste system to him, and naturally, it makes absolutely no sense. Still, it’s a choice in perspective that filmmakers should learn to move away from, but as a crime film, it’s really compelling and I would recommend it even to people who don’t usually watch Indian films.
I’m currently on the final stretch on my list of films that I’m catching up on before I begin making my Best Of 2019 list, but this will be the last post I make about anything. I hope you find something here that seems interesting to you, and if you do, let me know what you think. And are there any films from 2019 that you’ve only recently caught up on? Feel free to discuss it in the comments!