#ok but the fact this was rachels debut is crazy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mrmichaelchadler · 5 years

Text

Christy Lemire's Top Ten Films of 2018

It's a great privilege of the gig, yet it's always such an agonizing process. How do you choose just 10 great films each year? And how do you rank them? I went with the ones that most moved me emotionally and wowed me technically, yet there are many more that I considered as the year went along but sadly had to part with ("Cold War," "Thoroughbreds," "Mandy"). So here's what I chose, today:

10. "A Star Is Born"

The year's most satisfying blockbuster. Bradley Cooper's directorial debut pays loving homage to its hugely influential predecessors while at the same time feeling bracingly current and alive. It's glossy and swoony, epic yet intimate, and Cooper's direction brings great energy and authenticity to the crucial concert scenes. A star truly is born in Lady Gaga, who takes the famous role of the talented ingenue and gives it her own unique edge and soul. And she and Cooper have such insane natural chemistry with each that you truly feel as if you're watching them fall in love.

9. "Support the Girls"

This is such a wonderfully sneaky little movie. It seems like an understated slice of life at a Hooters-style sports bar in bland, suburban Texas. But it's actually a primal scream disguised as a shaggy hang. Writer/director Andrew Bujalski takes his low-key approach and applies it with great affection and generosity to the hard-working ladies at Double Whammies. And at the center, he's given Regina Hall the starring role of a lifetime as the waitresses' manager and den mother. Watching her calibrate who she needs to be to tackle each crisis that comes at her all day is a joy and in inspiration.

8. "Hereditary"

Good lord, this movie is deeply disturbing. There is imagery in here that will literally never leave your brain—that's how much of an artistic statement writer/director Ari Aster has made with his feature filmmaking debut. Toni Collette is crazy great as a wife and mother coming to grips with the truth of her family history while grieving the loss of her mother. That's what makes "Hereditary" so terrifying: It takes place within a mundane setting during a moment of emotional vulnerability. And the cinematography and sound design work wonders to create a chilling mood.

7. "Eighth Grade"

The bracing honesty at work here is what makes this coming-of-age comedy such a delight, and yet so squirm-inducing. Writer/director Bo Burnham, in his astonishing first feature, truly gets the fact that at this age, even the most benign situations are fraught with peril. We have all been that awkward 13-year-old—trying to figure out who we are, trying to connect with others—and in the starring role, Elsie Fisher doesn't hit a false note. As Fisher's Kayla struggles to survive the last week of middle school (with help from Josh Hamilton, who's great as her fumbling, well-intentioned dad), all you want to do is give her a hug and tell her it's going to be OK.

6. "Sorry to Bother You"

This film is just straight-up nuts, in all the best possible ways. And yet the points it's making about the current state of race relations couldn't more more astute or necessary. Visionary writer/director Boots Riley absolutely goes for it with his exciting and assured feature filmmaking debut, a modern-day fable about a struggling, black telemarketer (Lakeith Stanfield) who discovers the secret to wealth and success when he starts using his "white voice." With its playful, analogue charms, it's constantly changing, challenging and surprising.

5. "Suspiria"

I've come to love this movie way more than my three-star review for this website would suggest. It's dug into my skin and stayed with me in ways that few other films have this year, to the extent that I wish I could get a do-over. Luca Guadagnino's brilliantly insane remake of Dario Argento's seminal 1977 horror film grips you with its technical assurance from the very start. It places you on edge with its masterful camerawork and editing and holds you in its spell with the help of Thom Yorke's melancholy score. Dakota Johnson does the best work of her career, and the ever-versatile Tilda Swinton is chilling in multiple roles.

4. "First Reformed"

Paul Schrader revisits some of his biggest influences and most famous iconography in this quietly suspenseful tale of a country priest who's slowly losing his grip, and it's his best film in years. There's a lot of Travis Bickle in Ethan Hawke's tormented Reverend Toller, and yet "First Reformed" asserts itself as a work of great contemporary relevance. It's technically and tonally precise in its austerity, yet it's also daring and thrilling narratively. Hawke has done so much interesting work in recent years as he's reached middle age, but this is the pinnacle of his lengthy and eclectic career.

3. "Burning"

Korean director Lee Chang-dong's film is a mesmerizing masterpiece. It's the kind of movie that leaves you staggering from the theater in a daze, its spell is so powerful, and yet you'll also want to talk about it immediately afterward to hash through all its complex themes and possibilities. It's a film of Hitchcockian suspense that's rooted in a vivid sense of place in both its urban and rural settings. Lee draws subtle and deceptively powerful performances from his three stars—Ah-in Yoo, Jong-seo Jeon and Steven Yuen —and keeps you guessing with dreamy cinematography and an unsettling score.

2. "Roma"

A very close No. 2 for me. Alfonso Cuarón's personal and intimate depiction of his childhood in 1970s Mexico City is visually dazzling and emotionally resonant. Serving as his own cinematographer, Cuarón shoots in exquisite black and white and lures us into this insular world with his signature, long tracking shots. He creates a rich sense of place and punctuates it with surreal, Felliniesque touches. And Yalitza Aparicio is a massive discovery as the family housekeeper at the film's center; in just her first film role, she will inspire you and leave you sobbing.

1. "The Favourite"

I love the contradictions here: This looks like a genteel, British period drama, yet it couldn't be weirder or wilder. You could say this is the most accessible film yet from Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos ("Dogtooth," "The Lobster"), but it retains so much of what makes his work so singular and unsettling. "The Favourite" features towering performances from Olivia Colman as a mercurial and childlike Queen Anne and Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone as the conniving women competing to be her confidante. The costumes are lush and the camerawork is vibrant, and while the overall tone is deliciously mean, there's also an undercurrent of sympathy that makes the film unexpectedly moving.

from All Content https://ift.tt/2QpaZGe

0 notes

totallysora · 2 months

Text

West Side Story (2021)

I HAVE SM TO SAY ABT THIS MOVIE IT’S UNREAL 😭 Ok so I finally decided to watch it for the first time in like,,early January and it has actually changed me 😭 IT WAS SO GOOD?? LIKE THE CASTING WAS JUST MWAH I LOVED IT SM 😕 Anyways here are some of the things (from what I can remember, I haven’t actually had time to rewatch it since 😔) that I loved about it!

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!!

The jets were amazing, fight me

Ik that’s kinda controversial cuz they’re horrible people, and yes I absolutely get that, and do not support their actions at all (If ur a jets apologist pls leave 🥰) but GOD THE CASTING?? UGH IT WAS JUST SO PERFECT 😭 All of their songs were literally so good?? The Jet song is unfairly catchy, and Gee, Officer Krupke?? It was actually magical (THIS IS WHY WE CAST BWAY ACTORS IN MUSICAL MOVIES PEOPLE 😻‼️)

That scene with Anita?? It honestly made my blood boil, which is actually like,,the best thing ever?? Ik that sounds horrible but I mean it in a way that if a scene is meant to make you feel disgusted, or completely angry, and it succeeds?? That’s how u know it was good acting

On the topic of the Jets, MIKE FAIST?? UM HELLO WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK HE WAS PERFECT CASTING IT’S UNREAL

I struggle to differentiate between actors and characters, so the whole rumble scene was a lil bit of a mess for me at first cuz I adore Mike sm, however when I thought abt it more, and how Riff acted, I was able to think of him as Riff, not Mike, and realised holy shit yea he actually kinda deserved what happened to him yk

THE RUMBLE OML 😭 THE ACTING WAS JUST SO UGH I LOVED IT SM - Unliked in the 1961 version (which I haven’t actually watched but have seen clips of!) you could actually tell it was like,,serious yk?? And when Riff got stabbed?? Holy fuck the emotion in that scene was unreal

Also the way David and Ansel acted straight after it happened?? I kinda got a ‘I didn’t actually want to kill him’ kinda feel from Bernardo, and honestly I kinda felt for him man 😭

I love the way that this rlly showed why Tony was the leader of the Jets, the way he beats Bernardos ass?? You can see why he led such a strong gang

Completely unrelated but the fact that this whole thing was basically a newsies reunion 💀

like Mike, Kyle, Jess, BEN? GARRETT?? THE TWINS???

I will forever adore the casting tho like honestly it was so good

Also the Sharks were robbed of screen time Icl 😭 They deffo should’ve been on screen more man

RACHEL MF ZEGLER 😻‼️ The fact that this was her debut will literally never not shock me

Like this girl was 17 and could sing like that?? No wonder ppl love her sm like damn 😭

People can actually fight me on this but Ansel was such good casting for Tony

I’ve seen people bash him for it but he was literally so good?? Like sorry but I refuse to accept anyone else (obviously excluding bway lmao)

On the topic of Tony the ending actually made me cry?? Like I was fine untik they picked him up and started carrying him after he got shot 😭

Icl halfway through the movie I googled if anyone died so I was prepared for it to happen but doesn’t mesn I didn’t still cry 😕

ARIANA DEBOSE 😻‼️ HER ANITA WAS SO PERFECT OML 😭 LITERALLY NO ONE CAN BEAT HER SHE WAS SO GOOD ITS UNREAL

ALSO DAVID‼️ I FEEL LIKE PEOPLE DONT FOCUS ON HIM ENOUGH LIKE CMON HE WAS SO GOOD??

RITA MONERO 🥰 She was in the og movie and I am so glad they got her back cuz she was a m a z i n g

Also the fact that she sung her song live?? Cmon man she’s so good

Ok so Josh Rivera 😻 Although I didn’t rlly like Chino at first he definitely grew on me the more I thought about it - Ik killing Tony could be considered extreme, but realistically?? I totally get where he came from, it was an incredibly difficult situation, and I can understand why he did what he did

THE CHOREOGRAPHY ‼️‼️ LITERALLY WHO CHOREOGRAPHED THIS MOVIE IT WAS SO GOOD?? THE WHOLE THING WAS FILLED WITH AMAZING CHOREOGRAPHY AND IT WAS JUST SO 😫 If I could marry that choreography I would

Ok but the singing in general?? Like Ik they wouldn’t cast bad singers but be fr literally all of the songs slap

Ik I’ve said it before but I will say it as many times as I need to THIS IS WHY WE CAST BWAY (OR THEATRE) ACTORS IN MUSICAL MOVIES 👏👏

The soundtrack is actually so good tho like I pretty much wouldn’t skip any of it

Ok completely random but I couldn’t understand half of the movie 💀 cuz they spoke spanish and although I had subtitles on it just gave me the spanish in spanish subtitles, so half of the time I was guessing or just hoping I’ll get what’s going on 😭

If u couldn’t tell I cannot speak spanish (and tbh I’m not doing that well in it at school so 😔)

There is so so so much more I can say about this movie, and once I’ve posted this I will definitely plan a part 2 specifically focusing on the songs, and a part 3 on characters (possibly in the opposite order tho) because this movie was a m a z i n g and I could actually talk about it for h o u r s

26 notes · View notes