Drew The CineGiant

Always Bears repeating

The Secret Agent (25): Knotty, funny, and thrilling portrait of Brazil’s turbulent history and one man’s attempt to navigate it. Geniusly cast and directed to evoke a style and mood while still being able play with the cinematic form and unpack what we’re watching in real time. A

Zootopia 2 (25): The moment to moment cleverness and sweetness make up where the story gets a bit repetitive. It doesn’t wear out its welcome, and the voice cast is still lovely across the board. The thematic messaging gets a bit jumbled for my taste. Entertaining. B/B+

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 (11): Love the triumphant nature of the final battle and the elegiac ache of Snape’s chapter on screen. The visual effects and fan-servicing moments aren’t too indulgent. Glad Maggie Smith got a moment. That coda though…eek. B/B+

Train Dreams (25): Bentley/Kwedar’s sensitivity and tender eye makes much of the film a elegiac, sensory experience. Eventually though, it and Edgerton’s performance still feels too at arm’s length for me to love. Really wish they removed the VO. Stoic but wanted furtive. B+

Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning (25): The BIG set pieces—the submarine, the biplane—are as awe-inspiring as you imagine and they’re just as expertly shot and cut. The rest is so portentous and heavy with McGuffins galore, but it’s very watchable. Just too long. B-

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal.

Ms. Joanne Woodward, one of the greatest actresses ever, turned 94 yesterday.

She was married to Paul Newman for 50 years, and they had an amazing, complicated marriage. I’m just in love with them frankly. Newman spoke on how they kept their marriage strong, and they’re words to live by.

Paul Newman with a beard playing a himbo artist though. My god.

What A Way to Go! (64): Excellent concept rife with possibilities, but the execution is a little dodgier. All the actors are having a ball especially Newman and Kelly, but I just need it tightened more? Or less outwardly dumb by the end. Peerless costumes, hair and makeup. B-

Ladies and germs, Daddy Giant has re-entered the room

The Silence of the Lambs (91): An undeniably perfect film. A genius director assembles a crew of craftsmen at their peak and brings his style to a project you wouldn’t associate with him. Truly frightening and transgressive. Foster and Hopkins have never been better. A+

Fresh Cut Friday.

Slurp

The Crucible (96): Hytner and composer Fenton do err on the side of bombast in their adaptation even when you’d rather some mystery or introspection. Day Lewis is good especially as it goes. Joan Allen is remarkable; Winona is less so. The piece continues to be prescient. B/B+

The Life of Chuck (25): Reaches, maybe too desperately, for some sense of mystical profundity. The problem is by design the film feels at arms length. The middle section is my favorite mostly due to its fleet approach. Ends up feeling like an extended pharmaceutical ad. B-/C+

The Hospital (71): Maybe slightly too over its skis with how many different issues it tries to tackle, but from its arsenic-tinged dialogue to the stupendous lead performance by Scott there’s a lot to like. Hiller’s direction feels almost too human for how satirical the work. B

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 (10): Admire its willingness to buck traditional structure in favor of the something more deliberate and punctuated with encroaching doom. The shadow puppet ‘Tale of the Three Brothers’ is the highlight of the entire series. B+

Love & Basketball (00): Gorgeously wrought romantic drama with a killer soundtrack, the sexiest leads, and they even get the basketball right. The cast is terrific even in the smaller parts, but the ever-fierce Alfre Woodard and the indomitable Sanaa Lathan are perfect. A-

The Deer Hunter (78): Exceptionally directed from the small human moments to the grand effects of war on communities and people. It’s thorough, tough, and deeply emotional. Exceptionally cast and performed. The film is the purest of definition of ambition and hubris. God-tier. A+

Funny Girl (68): Streisand is a dynamo: pure star power, nuanced emotion in both singing and acting. 
She IS the movie. Wyler fashions a film around her that can hang with her for the first half. Sputters with a poorly paced second half until that transcendent ‘My Man’ finale. B

Hidden Figures (16): Driven by personality and heart, it’s a truest definition of a crowd-pleaser. It just plays. The three leads have incredible chemistry with each other, but Taraji is quite an actress if given the chance. Pharrell’s score bops along with joyful momentum. B+

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (23): Felt the sagginess of the middle third more on a rewatch, and it does feel like a first act of a whole story. But, the energy, technical showmanship, and that score are only bettered in revisiting. The Gwen opening is chef’s kiss. A-

This year's Oscar nominees tell us which actor or actress from the Golden Age they would bring to the Academy Awards ceremony as their date. #31DaysOfOscar

Goodbye June (25): Easily Mirren’s best work in ages, but what a sad trombone. There are moments throughout that were affecting, but there’s almost one too many siblings? There’s a quality Winslet brings to how she shoots her actors I liked, but in general I was colder overall. C

Ben-Hur (59): It’s a big slab of Spam of a movie. At nearly 4 hours the emotions are big and so are the set pieces. Despite this, most of it lumbers along, but that chariot race and Stephen Boyd’s heartbreaking performance buoy when it can get slogged down. I like it enough. B+

Career (59): A strong cast, esp. a throbbing Franciosa elevate this sturdy drama about the plight both heated and tender of an actor in the midcentury. Doesn’t avoid stagier moments, but more nuanced in what’s it’s trying to say. Carolyn Jones pops in another top-notch turn. B/B-

Ballad of a Small Player (25): The plotting is outlandish and the themes familiar, but I kinda dug it. Farrell and Swinton are good, duh, but the exuberant and ostentatious photography gave scenes good life. Eventually it gets too self-important to sustain the character study. B-

To Be or Not to Be (42): Lubitsch uses every club in his bag to create a perfect comedy. All the absurdity, witty double talk, and even tragedy never feel out of place because it’s based in character. Jack Benny is a terrific straight man, but there’s only one Carole Lombard. A-

Objective, Burma! (45): Eschews many common tropes of other war films of the era for something more technical and astringent. Seeing Flynn succeed in a modern context was such a nice surprise. Despite what the mission was, the film feels long. Still classy and well made. B+