Movies (in theaters and on Netflix)

In theaters:

Parasite

From Bong Joon Ho, the director of Snowpiercer. This is a hall of a film. A poor Korean family worms their way into the lives of a rich family. This might sneak onto my top 10 of the year. It's a true original, a film that has genuinely surprising twists in it, and which manages to bounce effortlessly between drama and thriller and comedy. 

Jojo Rabbit

Another great one, this is Taika Waititi's comedy about a little German kid in WW2 who has Hitler as an imaginary friend. This one is just flat out really, really funny, but it also has a lot of heart and substance too. The kid is really good. Scarlett Johansson is wonderful. 

Motherless Brooklyn

A shame that Edward Norton's long in the making passion project flopped. It's not amazing. You could chop a half hour off this easily, and the particulars of what the bad guys in the movie are doing escape me. But it has a nice throwback style to it. Norton is great. He assembled a great supporting cast too.

Doctor Sleep

The Shining is not a film I really care about it. I think it's just okay. But I was actually quite into this sequel, which works well enough on its own terms. This one too could probably be shortened by a half hour, but I was never bored. Ewan McGregor is excellent. The little girl is terrific. Rebecca Ferguson is crazy great as the main villain. This film does a really strong job with its characters, it's not just shocks and scares.

The Current War

You wouldn't think a film that's basically about the founding of electricity could be this dull. The performances are solid, but this film just doesn't do anything to present Thomas Edison (and his rivals and collaborators) as interesting characters. I kept thinking of There Will Be Blood, and how, well, electric that film was in a similar time setting and with some similar ideas.

Harriet

Cynthia Erivo is probably a best actress contender for playing Harriet Tubman. But man I wish the film were better. I know that every film about a historical figure or event movies it up a little. They change timelines or have composites of characters, things like that. But Harriet really overdoes it. This story does not need embellishment, but the film weirdly spends a ton of time on obviously fictitious subplots and characters and confrontations. It is well made and all, but follows the biopic formula too close.

Movies on Netflix:

Dolemite Is My Name

Loved it. One of the best movies about making a movie I have seen. Not a coincidence the same writers wrote Ed Wood. This is easily the best thing Eddie Murphy has done in 20+ years. Really funny, really vulgar, but also kind of sweet.

American Son

Tremendously well acted, led by Kerry Washington. My issue with this film.is how transparently calculated it was to tick off every box about race and racism. Of course the couple is interracial, and the 2 cops are as well, and they all get their interactions so the writers can have them say the things that they would only say in this movie.

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