Top Ten Movies of 2018

Another year of watching movies have come and gone, with this year amounting to me having seen 88 different movies in theaters. While I definitely saw some real stinkers (The Commuter, Annihilation, The Darkest Minds, A Wrinkle in Time, Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelward), there were a number of great movies I saw. Here are my top 10 favorite movies that I saw in 2018. Number 10, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: I remember groaning when I learned we were going to get another Spider-Man movie. Boy was I wrong. It was fantastic with a great story and unique animation. While I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with some of the alternate versions of Spider-Man (Spider-Man Noir and Peni Parker) I enjoyed the various takes of the character within the story and how they all interacted together, along with just the entire take on the whole Spider-Man mythos. Number 9, Bohemian Rhapsody: While I’m aware the screenplay made several alterations regarding the actual history of the band (which my friend Maggie passionately stated), nevertheless it was still a very enjoyable movie. Rami Malek was mesmerizing as Freddie Mercury and the Live Aid concert scene was truly a sight to behold (In retrospect I regret not seeing the movie in IMAX just for that scene alone.) Number 8, Crazy Rich Asians: This was a movie I unexpectedly enjoyed a great deal. The two leads were both likable and compelling, and I especially liked that the ‘villain’ of the movie was not really a villain at all, at least not in the ways you’d expect. Number 7, Won’t You Be My Neighbor: A fascinating documentary about a man many of us grew up with, but didn’t know his full story. He really changed the thought process on how television can be used to educate and help others. What struck me the most was to learn how insecure and doubtful Mr. Rogers was about the work he was doing. We’re often told we’re our own harshest critic, and that’s never more prevalent here. I’d highly recommend others to watch this. Number 6, Anna and the Apocalypse: If Shaun of the Dead was set in high school and filled with songs, it would probably look like this delightful romp. Silly, joyful, heartbreaking and full of delightfully dry humor, it has it all. And the songs are fantastically catchy and wonderful. While they all are great, my favorites were ‘It’s That Time of Year’ (the most inappropriate Christmas song ever) and ‘Turning My Life Around’ (I seriously had to restrain myself from dancing in the theater during this one.) Number 5, Game Night: A hilarious movie where things go from bad to oh so inappropriately worse. There are so many laugh out loud ridiculous moments I lost count. While I was aware that Rachel McAdams could do comedy from Mean Girls, I wasn’t expecting her to be so lovely adorable (she probably had the greatest reaction to seeing someone be brutally murdered ever.) Number 4, DeadPool 2: This movie takes everything from the first one and cranks it up several notches. Ryan Reynolds continues to showcase why Deadpool is one of the best characters’ to hit cinemas. It’s full of even more meta jokes then the first one, and actually managed to have some real heartfelt moments in it. Plus the mid-credits scene alone makes it worth watching. Number 3, Ready Player One: A fantastic journey that showcases more geeky Easter eggs then could ever be found in a single viewing. This movie shows how great it is to be able to escape our lives at time, while also showing the dangers of relying solely on escapism to improve one’s life. Number 2, Avengers: Infinity War: This movie was ten years in the making, and well worth the wait. What made it especially enjoyable for me was how unpredictable it ended up being. Several theories I formed before seeing this movie (the location of the Soul Stone and how finding it will play out, which major characters’ will die and which ones will survive) turned out to be completely wrong, making for a truly unexpected viewing experience. I can’t wait to see how it all concludes with Avengers: Endgame next year. Number 1, Love, Simon: It’s hard for me to truly express how deeply this movie affected me. While it’s not unheard of for me to get emotional during movies, and even at times shed a tear or two, I’ve never been this emotionally affected from a movie before. There were several moments that had me full on crying, with one scene in particular between the main character and his mother that went into full on ugly crying (with me not the only one in the theater affected that hard.) The movie was poignant, heartfelt, funny, heartbreaking, thought provoking and untimely truly uplifting. It will truly touch you. And now for some honorable mentions, that either just missed making the top ten cut, or made the list before being usurped by one of the above mentioned titles: Black Panther (was on the list right up until I saw Spiderverse.) A Simple Favor A Star Is Born Tag I, Tonya Ralph Breaks the Internet Aquaman

Black Swan: A Film that En Pointes and Plies’ Ahead of Others.

It is entirely appropriate that trailers for director Darren Aronofsky’s latest film Black Swan mention his previous films Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler. That’s because Black Swan blends together themes from both of those pre mentioned films, combining the obsessiveness and need to perform from The Wrestler with the lose of one’s grip on reality from Requiem for a Dream. The result is a perfectly sublime experience worthy of a standing ovation. While it’s a movie that will have you thinking about what you just saw long after it’s over, while actually viewing it it’s best to simply sit there and allow what you’re seeing to wash over you.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina, an overly dedicated ballet dancer who’s been performing at a NYC company for several years. The director of the company Thomas (Vincent Cassel) decides that this season he will put on a completely different take of the classic ballet Swan Lake, with a single performer playing both the role of the white swan and the role of black swan. While he casts Nina in the coveted role he has doubts she can pull it off, for while she perfectly embodies the perfect form and innocence for the white swan, she is severely lacking the sensuality needed to also play the role of the black swan. Her nerves are further shaken when a new dancer named Lily (Mila Kunis) joins the company. Unlike Nina Lily has the ability to let herself go when she dances and she begins to become a rival for Nina’s part. Paranoia sets in as Nina begins to think everyone is out to get her, from Lily and Thomas to her overbearing mother Erica (Barbara Hershly). As she throws herself more and more into the role Nina’s grip on reality starts to slip and she starts to notice strange markings and textures on her skin, to where it seems she is physically transforming into an actual black swan.

Darren Aronofsky directs with a frenzied yet restrained dreamlike style, to where the audience doesn’t know at times if what they are seeing is real or not. While at first the audience can easily figure out when Nina’s mind is altering reality it becomes harder to distinguish as time goes on. This works wonders for the film, for it becomes both a film about one’s state of mind in addition to a film about ballet.

Natalie Portman is amazing in her role, and is sure to be a contender come Oscar time. Her portrayal of desperation and paranoia is as beautiful as it is disturbing. Mila Kunis flawlessly plays the role of rival and frenemy, at times even stealing focus away from Ms. Portman. Barbara Hershly is extremely effective in having viewers wonder if her character tries to control Nina’s life out of motherly love or resentment over her own lost dreams. And Vincent Cassel does a great job in having his character be hated in nearly every scene he’s in.

While Black Swan is not in wide release yet, it’s worth it to make the extra effort to go see this movie. It’s as beautiful as it is disturbing and will keep your eyes glued to the screen until the credits roll. This is one production that is not to be missed.

The Magic is Defiantly Here in this Harry Potter Outing

First let me say that I’ve always been less than thrilled with the Happy Potter movies. If I had to analyze why it’s because of how much I love the book series, and when I watch the movies all I can do is nitpick on how what I read in the book isn’t exactly represented on screen. While I’ve seen many film adaptations of books, never before have I been so critical of a film based on a book. Which is why I’m just as surprised to be saying here that I enjoyed the Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 very much so. As both a movie and a representation of the book it was very satisfying.

In this first part of the two part film Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his Death Eaters have successfully taken over the magical world and are turning it into a fear and hate filled dictatorship. In order to stop him once and for all Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are on the run searching for Horcruxes, which are objects a witch or wizard would store a piece of their soul in to prevent them from crossing over into the afterlife. The task proves to be exceedingly difficult as the trio have very little information on how to find them or even destroy them.

Of all the movies this one is the most chock full of scenes and moments from the book, the result of splitting the story into two films. In some ways it’s almost too full, as there are some moments that fans of just the film series will be a bit in the dark about. One example is the wedding between Bill Weasley (Domhnall Gleeson) and Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy). While their impending nuptials were a significant sub-plot of the sixth book it’s never addressed in the sixth movie. I don’t really see a problem with this, for if anything the added plot points are more of an incentive for people who haven’t yet read the books to read them. I just feel it should be pointed out that the movie brings so much from the source material that moments that were left out of previous movies are here in full force. There are also a couple moments that weren’t originally in the book. While in the book Hermione talks about how she magically altered her parents’ memories so they forget they have a daughter in order to protect them, here we actually get to see it happen. For the most part the added material worked well in the movie.

The performances are top notch, especially from Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. While Daniel Radcliffe is also very good there are times he’s almost overshadowed by his two co-stars. Though one of the most amazing performances in the movie is by Helena Bonham Carter as the psychopathic Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. She takes this completely vial character and makes you savor every moment she is on screen.

In conclusion this is a very good movie and should definably be seen. It’s full of action, romance, suspense, and comedy. It’s so good you’ll wish the second part was being released next week instead of six months from now. So go out and have a enjoyable night at the cinema by seeing Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one.

The Return of COCO

After months of anticipation, Conan O’Brien returns to television. His new show, entitled Conan, aired its first episode on Monday. While not perfect, it definably seemed a promising start for this as always funny performer.

The best part was probably the beginning, which was a pre taped bit on his journey from The Tonight Show to TBS. Of course it was anything but serious, as he goes from being executed mob style at NBC, to working as a birthday party clown and an employee at Burger King, to being saved from suicide by Larry King. It perfectly showed his ability to see the humor in everything.

Once the show began the Conan we know emerged, zany and lively. While he seemed a bit nervous if anything it fueled his already considerable energy. He, along with co-host Andy Richter, took a few jabs at NBC and even TBS, but nothing that was vindictive or truly mean spirited. The meanest jokes were at Conan’s own expense, such as showcasing an actual Halloween mask of a crude likeness of him that was called “ex talk show host”.

The weakest part of the show oddly enough was the talk show part, where he interviewed Seth Rogen and Lea Michele. Not because Conan is a bad interviewer, because he’s not. It just seems his best quality is the zany bits he comes up with. It would serve him better to have one interview guest a night and devote more time to comedy sketches. Of the two I liked the Seth Rogen interview better simply for an amusing story Seth told about how he proposed to his girlfriend, though I also enjoyed the interview with Lea Michele.

The show did go out with a bang though, with Conan rocking out with Jack White from The White Stripes. How many other talk show hosts would be playing guitar during the musical segment?

Overall it was a good first show. As prior experience has shown Conan improves as he relaxes and a bit of time passes from the beginning of a new talk show start. And he was definitely better this time around then he was when he started The Late Show all those years ago. So it seems he has the beginnings of a successful talk show.

The Social Network: The Most Current Movie Out Today

What’s most astonishing about the movie The Social Network isn’t that it was created, but the speed in which its creation occurred. The subject matter of the movie, Facebook and its founders, have been in the public consciousness for a little over five years. In film time that is astonishingly fast for a movie on Facebook to come around. In some ways the movie’s existence came about almost as fast as the creation of Facebook itself.

Jesse Eisenberg, previously seen in Adventureland, Zombieland and Holy Rollers, plays Mark Zuckerberg, the elusive co-founder of Facebook. Right away we’re meant to dislike this person, as his response to his girlfriend dumping him for being an asshole is to write malicious comments about her on his blog while simultaneously creating a website that allows students to rate the attractiveness of Harvard female undergrads. But it’s not simply his actions that make this portrayal unlikable. It’s everything about Zuckerberg. Throughout the movie he carries himself with a superior air around him; as if he believes he’s better then everyone around him. To him he’s above the rules of others and can do whatever he wants to get ahead, even if it screws over others. But it would be unfair to call him a sociopath, as he clearly does care about others and what they think about him. Eisenberg was very good in his portrayal of Zuckerberg, erasing all previous images of the very likeable characters he’s played in the past.

The story of how Facebook came about is shrouded in controversy, which the film goes to great lengths to address. After Zuckerberg’s Harvard attractiveness stunt he’s approached by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (hilariously played by Armie Hammer in both roles) about helping them set up a Harvard social network called Harvard Connection. Mark agrees to help them, then goes off and creates his own Harvard social network with his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). They launch their website, called TheFaceBook, and it is an immediate hit. Cameron and Tyler are furious since Mark not only stole their idea but intentionally led them on that he was working on their project so he guaranteed that his site would be launched first. The twins, along with their business partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) decide they will not stand for this atrocity and begin taking legal action against Zuckerberg. While this goes on the website grows to include other Northeast schools. The site catches the attention of Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who is brought on as a consultant. As Mark and Sean grow closer Eduardo begins to slowly become shut out of the project.

Throughout the film the action shifts to two depositions involving lawsuits against Zuckerberg. The first is by the Winklevoss twins and Narendra, who are suing Zuckerberg for stealing their idea. The second is by Saverin, who is suing Zuckerberg as a result of a much deeper betrayal. I won’t reveal what it is exactly, only that by the time it comes up Garfield’s character can’t even look at Zuckerberg.

The movie runs at a brisk pace without feeling rushed or to speedy. While some have said the end of the film doesn’t offer any real closure that’s entirely the point. This isn’t the story of these character’s lives, but rather a specific time in their lives. Their stories are still being written, so they should be incomplete.

Overall this was a very enjoyable movie to see. I would recommend it to anyone, especially those why have a Facebook page. In some ways, you owe it to yourselves to see how your beloved social network came about.

Let Me In: A Remake Worth The Price Of Admission

In general remakes of existing films are often met with suspicion and groans. The reason being is that in some ways films that are remakes can’t catch a break. If the remake stays to close to the story and shooting style of the original people ask why a remake was needed in the first place. And if the opposite approach is taken, in which a new story is created out of the existing picture, people complain that it destroys the credibility of the original film and ruins it.

Remakes that get the most scorn however are Americanized remakes of foreign films. The reason being is that films from other countries have a certain style and flavor of their own. Often times the qualities of the original will get lost in translation when it is remade by a filmmaker from a different country. Luckily the movie Let Me In manages to pull off the impossible, in that it is able to stand on its own two feet while keeping the magic of the original film intact.

Let Me In, based on the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In, tells the story of young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a lonely 12 year old boy living in 1980’s New Mexico. In addition to having an absentee father and an emotionally distant mother he is a frequent target of bullies, often being physically abused and taughtingly referred to as a girl. One day two new neighbors move into his building: a young girl named Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her guardian (Richard Jenkins). The two develop a deep friendship, often leaning on each other for support. In the meantime a string of murders hit the town, with the dead victims found drained of their blood. This is directly connected to Abby, for in actuality she is a centauries old vampire who needs blood to survive.

While Let Me In is similar to its predecessor it’s not a shot for shot remake. Rather it is another interpretation of the original source material (the first movie was based on a novel). Some changes work quite well, like Owen realizing danger more quickly in this version and the removal of a few useless secondary characters. Other changes I found myself less thrilled with. The biggest change is how Abby’s vampirism is portrayed. In the Swedish film they were very subtle in showing her vampire nature. In this movie she physically transforms into an actual monster when she feeds. The effects and CGI are over done and take away from the sympathy of the character. It’s hard enough for the audience to root for this judicial killer. Adding a bunch of effects to further show her inhumanness makes this task all the more harder.

Like the previous film the strongest aspect of this movie are the two leads. Kodi Smit-McPhee brings sympathy and understanding to his role, even when he takes a knife and imagines threatening his enemies. Chloë Grace Moretz again plays an engaging character that is both tough and vulnerable, with more emphasis put on the vulnerability this time. But as strong as their characters are individually it is the chemistry they have together that is the real magic of the movie. The essence of the overall story is the unique friendship children form, with one of those children happening to be a vampire. And both of the young actors invoke it perfectly.

While I myself am often pessimistic about remakes, I must admit I was won over by this movie. By all means go out and rent the original. But don’t let the fact that it is as remake stop you from seeing Let Me In.

Easy A is Easily One of the Best Films of the Year.

While there have been many instances of taking a classic piece of literature and reimagining it in a modern setting (10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, Cruel Intentions), few have the charm and wit that accompany Easy A. Rather then just a modern rehash of the novel "The Scarlet Letter" it’s a social commentary on young people’s obsession with promiscuity, told in the funniest way possible by the only harlot who’s never even had her first kiss. It’s a delightful romp with sharp dialogue and strong performances, in particular Emma Stone as the title character.

Stone starts as Olive, a whip smart high schooler who is essentially a nobody. When her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka of the new series Hellcats) asks her how she spent her weekend Olive lies and says she spent the entire weekend with her non-existent college boyfriend (how she actually spent the weekend is so wonderfully lame that you instantly fall in love with her). Rhiannon thinks this means Olive lost her virginity and mere moments later the rumor has been facebooked, e-mailed and twittered to everyone at school. Soon afterwards her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) asks her if he can claim the two of them had sex so he won’t be picked on by his homophobic classmates. She agrees and ends up creating a business out of it, having guys give her gift cards in exchange for them saying she slept with them. But things soon grow out of control, leaving Olive trying to figure out how she can regain her old life back.

This is the first time Emma Stone has headlined a movie, having previously played supporting roles in Zombieland and Superbad. And with this single role she’s proven she deserves the title of leading lady. She manages to completely charm the audience with her combination of awkward gusto and shark wit. In some ways she is almost too charming for her role, as one wonders how a woman like her could ever go unnoticed.

The supporting cast is also very enjoyable to watch. Some other actors of note are Amanda Bynes as the head of the school Christian group who makes it her mission to get Olive out of school, Penn Badgley as the most non-judgmental school mascot around, and Thomas Haden Church as the beloved teacher who’s teaching "The Scarlet Letter" in his class. In addition we have Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s free spirited parents, the only two people in the world who let their daughter do whatever she wants while at the same time raising a well adjusted studious person.

In addition to the performances the movie is filled with clever and hilarious dialogue. A couple of gems I’ll reveal to wet your appetite are “What is it with gay men and lady parts? Do you think I have a Gnome down there?” and “If the Good Lord had wanted Micah to graduate, he would have given him the right answers.”

I’ll avoid the painfully obvious way of saying this film is a winner. Simply put this is a movie you should go out and see right away. You’ll laugh, you’ll smile, you might just learn a thing or two. Go see Easy A