2019: One Month In

Happy early February! 

It’s warmed up a little today after a cold few days.  I don’t like that.  I prefer the cold and the darkness that winter brings. 

That’s neither here nor there though.  We are one month into the year known as 2019.  Like always, I have been to the movies.

Let’s start with 2018 releases that I saw after the New Year.  If Beale St Could Talk tops the list.  I was really looking forward to the James Baldwin adaptation.  I thought the movie made a powerful point about the struggles of minorities in America.  However I didn’t think the movie was as powerful as director Berry Jenkins’ last film, Moonlight.  I also saw On the Basis of Sex.  I liked the movie, but I went in really wanting to like the movie.  (I am a huge fan of Justice Ginsburg.). I thought the movie was really cookie cutter though.  Topping the list of 2018 releases I got to see was the foreign film Shoplifters.  It was a thought provoking story with incredibly well thought out characters. Cold War was an interesting foreign film.  It’s one I didn’t know what to think of when I left the theater.  As the film marinated in my mind I came around to really liking the movie.

There hasn’t been a lot of release in 2019 I’ve seen yet, but the year is still young.  The two stand out films were Glass and The Upside.  One is a sequel to two excellent movies (Unbreakable, Split) while the latter is a remake of my favorite foreign film (The Intouchables).   The odds of me really liking them were highly in their favor.  I wasn’t that impressed with Replicas.  It got a little preachy towards the end for me.

The Oscar nominations came out a few weeks back.  I think the academy dropped the ball in not nominating Ethan Hawke (First Reformed) and John David Washington (BlackKklansman) for their lead performances.  Also Won’t You be My Neighbor and Three Identical Strangers were both worth of being nominated for best documentary feature.  However I loved seeing Green Book get so much attention at the Oscars.

Anyways there’s much to look forward to in this very young year.  Happy movie going!