This week, we went all in on watching movies in preparation for the Oscars and making our top ten on the year list. First up was "Manchester by the Sea," starring Casey Affleck ("Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford") and Michelle Williams ("Blue Valentine") and directed by Kenneth Lonergan ("Margaret"). Beth's review - "I know this movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, but I think the most interesting thing about this film is that it was put out by Amazon. I think overall it felt like a hallmark movie just trying to have horrible things happen. 5 out of 10." Brent's review - "Maybe this movie was just over hyped to me, but this movie just felt like awards bait with no substance. That's coming from somebody who loves downer movies like 'Blue Valentine' or 'Melancholia.' It didn't help that **spoiler alert** the main character burned his kids alive while he was high on drugs. Even if that was the story they wanted to tell, I still didn't care for any of the kid characters or the actual pacing of the movie. Michelle Williams was also hardly in it. I'm listing all the negatives because you can read the positive reviews anywhere and this was the worst of the Oscar nominated movies we watched this year. 4 out of 10." |
Next up was "Moonlight," starring Trevante Rhodes ("Lady Luck"), Janelle Monae ("Hidden Figures") and Mahershala Ali ("Luke Cage") and directed by Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy". Brent's review - "I liked a lot about this movie, particularly the first half. The childhood scenes are completely heartbreaking, and in a year full of depressing Oscar nominated films this one was the saddest. For me the last third of the movie fell off a bit, but this was a pretty good movie overall. 8 out of 10." Beth's review - "This was my second favorite Best Picture nominee out of the 5 depressing movies we watched. This movie is about a gay black teenager and his rough life. You really feel bad for the main character when his best role model is the neighborhood drug dealer. Not an amazing move, but a good movie. 7 out of 10." |
Third up was "Hacksaw Ridge" starring Andrew Garfield ("Boy A") and Vince Vaughan ("Swingers") and directed by Mel Gibson ("Braveheart"). Beth's review - "I thought this movie was awful. Instead of just telling a story it really pushed the main character and tried to make him look like a saint, which I just do not agree with. I actually thought the main character was self centered and stubborn. 3 out of 10." Brent's review - "This is the story of a Seventh Day Adventist who doesn't believe in violence but enlists in World War iI to serve as a medic. He ends up saving many people in the war and the action scenes are well shot. I'll agree with Beth though that the movie is incredibly heavy handed in elevating the main character to a virtual saint. For people who complain about the writing of Ayn Rand (who I enjoy some of her writing) this felt like the worst of the traits people complain about with her (self centered lead characters) played out over 2 hours and 20 minutes. 4.5 out of 10." |
Finally we watched "Nocturnal Animals," starring Jake Gyllenhaal ("Donnie Darko") and Amy Adams ("Arrival") and directed by Tom Ford ("A Single Man"). Brent's review - "The theme with these movies was elements of good movies stuck in just ok movies. There's a great movie buried in here about Michael Shannon and Jake Gyllenhaal tracking down bad guys, but the movie is framed with a troubled marriage plot that doesn't go anywhere and the Michael Shannon chapter doesn't even stick the landing. This film actually had one oft he best casts of any film this year, which made it feel even more disappointing. 7 out of 10." Beth's review - "Add this to the list of really depressing movies we watched this year. I thought it used an interesting plot device with the visualization of the novel mixed with the real world. However, the actual story was not enough for me and I am starting to think I really just don't like Jake Gyllenhaal. The ending was also too sudden for me to really enjoy it. 7 out of 10." |
10. "Midnight Special" What's it about - A father is on the run with his son after stealing him from a cult that believes he has special abilities. Brent on why we loved it - "This film narrowly edge out "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" and "The Conjuring 2" for our tenth spot on the list, which probably tells you more about how this was not a great year for movies (although we like all of these, none are what I would call a classic). This movie starred the always interesting Michael Shannon and had some well done special effects and plot twists. I think it also gets bonus points for being an original idea in a year full of sequels and remakes." |
9. "Hush" What's it about - A deaf woman is tormented by a killer in an isolated location. Beth on why we loved it - "There were so many great horror movies this year. Brent's favorite was "The Conjuring 2" and "Hush" was my favorite. A house break in movie with a deaf victim was so horrifying to me. It also adds some cool twist to the horror movie genre. I also thought the main character made pretty good decisions throughout the process." |
8. "Eddie the Eagle" What's it about - The first ever British ski jumper tries to qualify for the Olympics because there is no competition to compete in that event. Based on a true story. Brent on why we loved it - "Matthew Vaughn directs really entertaining movies, generally with exciting action scenes and sudden (and at times juvenile humor). I really liked both of the main characters in this movie and it featured plenty training montages which are one of the staples of pretty much every great entertaining movie ever made." |
7. "Sully" What's it about - "The true story of a pilot landing a plane on the Hudson river. Beth on why we loved it - "Clint Eastwood does it again by taking a story you might not have an interest in and making it compelling. Out of all the movies on our list, this one seemed to be the quickest one for me. For a really simply story I was shocked when the movie ended because it seemed like only about 1 hour." |
6. "Captain America: Civil War" What's it about - "When the government requires superheroes to work for the politicians, Captain America and Iron Man find themselves on opposite sides. Brent on why we loved it - "We love a good superhero movie and this one was very well done. It also featured great introductions to Spider-Man and Black Panther and veryfun scenes from Ant Man. Although not as great as the last Captain America movie, in a weak year for movies this one managed to land at our number six spot. |
5. "The Accountant" What's it about - An autistic man has a secret life working with some of the most dangerous men in the world. Beth on why we loved it - "This movie is a great mixture of "Rain Man" meets "Jason Bourne." Ben Affleck was just so good in this movie and his character and story really draw you in. This was the best action movie we saw this year." |
4. "Snowden" What's it about - The true story of Edward Snowden, the man who released confidential information about the NSA, including how it was monitoring Americans. Brent on why we loved it - "This was my favorite movie oft he year. I loved how Oliver Stone didn't go overly preachy into the politics, instead providing different viewpoints on Snowden's actions.The cast was also great, and I think Gordon-Leivtt was remarkable in it. Why do actors get awards for doing Boston accents, but he became a punch line for changing his speaking voice to sound like an actual person? A very surprising and excellent film." |
3. "Edge of Seventeen" What's it about - "A teenage girl deals with her much cooler brother dating her only friend." Beth on why we loved it - "This movie had a teenager that acted a lot like a teenager, dramatic, sensitive, worried about the things you actually worry about as a teenage girl, and sometimes annoying. It also had Woody Harrelson as my favorite character in any movie that came out this year." |
2. "Nerve" What's it about - A new game online has people taking dares from people in exchange for gifts and views, with the winner taking home the ultimate prize. Brent on why we loved it - "Really, Beth and Brent? You guys liked these two teenager movies better than all the best picture nominees? Well, yeah. I'm a fan of taking a movie for what it intended to be. Nerve was meant to be a fun and exciting movie with a romantic component and it really nailed it on every level. The concept also felt like something that could actually happen, and although the ending was a bit too tidy, the rest of the film was a blast to sit through." |
1. The Invitation What's it about - A dinner party reuniting old friends may have a sinister reason for occurring. Beth on why we loved it - "If you have not seen this movie, then you should hunt it out immediately. This movie is great at creating suspense and keeping you entertained from the very beginning to the very end. When watching this you are never sure what is going to occur and for a horror/suspense movie these characters are very reasonable so you want to root for them. In a year full of duds, this is an amazing movie. |
5. Mother May I Sleep with Danger - James Franco's LIfetime movie about lesbian vampires was entertaining when he was on the screen as a creepy teacher but pretty bad on every level otherwise. 4. London Has Fallen - This was a bummer as we loved the first film, "Olympus Has Fallen," but this film shot straight into cartoon territory instead of action movie. 3. Tale of Tales - This movie had cool visual not not much else,as it played a lot like somebody ready fairy tales and asked themselves "What would David Lynch do with this?: Unfortunately the filmmaker was not David Lynch. 2. X-Men Apocalypse - What a boring, run of the mill way to conclude what had been a pretty solid trilogy for the first two parts. We should have known better when we saw Olivia Munn in the cast. 1. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice - Sorry DC fans, this movie was awful. Two "heroes" with stupid motivations leading them to try and kill each other and an even dumber reason to stop trying to kill each other. If this is the flagship of the DC Universe on the big screen, why would anybody go back for more? |