Best Movies of 2018

December 28, 2018

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CREDIT: Courtesy of the Studios

This post was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

I saw nearly 200 new movies in 2018, a personal record, and yet, there were still a couple dozen that I wish had more time to see. If you had told me just three years ago how many movies I would see this year, I would assume that everything would be crossed off my 2018 cinema checklist. But as I get deeper and deeper into the world of film journalism and analysis, I become ever more aware of just how seemingly limitless the cinematic landscape is. Despite my shortcomings, I am confident that I managed to put together a top 10 list that at the very least hints at all the storytelling diversity that the medium had to offer this year.

But before we get to that, here are some more 2018 movies that I loved: Assassination Nation, Bad Times at the El Royale, Boy Erased, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Commuter, The Death of Stalin, The Favourite, Gemini, Green Book, The Hate U Give, Hereditary, Instant Family, The Old Man & the Gun, Paddington 2, Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Searching, A Simple Favor, Suspiria, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Three Identical Strangers, Tully, and Venom.

10. Unsane – Claire Foy gets totally gaslit about her mental state, while Steven Soderbergh captures the whole charade on an iPhone. It’s more than a gimmick, as he expands his cinematic language, and a disturbing scam gets indicted in the process.

9. Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson’s Japan-set animated canine adventure navigates some tricky business about cultural appropriateness, but it’s still a whimsical, yet thrillingly dangerous tale with delightfully quirky animation and an evergreen warning against tyrannical government.

8. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The best superhero movie of 2018 was molded by the baggage of history while managing to also be revolutionary in a way that didn’t seem possible anymore in this era of comic book movie overload. Every Spider-Man story has partly been about how we all have the capacity to be heroic Spider-Beings; few prove it as imaginatively as Into the Spider-Verse.

7. Eighth Grade – Eighth Grade is basically anxiety distilled into its purest cinematic form. How could it not be? It focuses on a teenage girl in 2018 whose life is inexplicably tied to her screens, and it’s directed by Bo Burnham, who has captured his own anxiety for the raw material in his live shows. It sounds like a nightmare, and it kind of is, but it is also singularly exhilarating and inspiring.

6. BlacKkKlansman – Colorado Springs’ first black detective picks up the phone and cold-calls the KKK, setting off a batty infiltration that comments on the persistence of bigotry and the inspiration of blaxploitation. If Ron Stallworth’s story weren’t true, would Spike Lee have to have created it? He certainly had to do something to get us electrified in this still-way-too-discriminatory real world.

5. Widows – A trio of women lose their criminal husbands and are left to pull off a multimillion dollar heist in their (dis)honor. Meanwhile, Chicago’s political machine keeps dirtily chugging along. Steve McQueen’s top-notch skills elevate the message and thrills of every single frame.

4. First Reformed – The movie of 2018 that I’ve thought about the most since seeing it. Ethan Hawke plays Ernst Toller, a reverend counseling a man who has grown profoundly fatalistic over the state of a world ravaged by global warming. He catches something from this member of his flock – is it a disease, or perhaps an epiphany? If you’re alive in 2018 and cannot relate to Toller, you’re not paying attention.

3. The Endless – Two brothers are living on their own after escaping from the cult they grew up in, but they cannot quite escape the pull of its gravity. Upon returning for a visit, they discover the elliptical truth of what is really going on, and a new landmark vision of sci-fi horror comes to fruition.

2. Sorry to Bother You – Cash Green uses his “white voice” to become a successful telemarketer, and that’s only the start of capitalism taking him for all that he’s worth. Boots Riley’s incendiary clarion call to workers’ rights is bold, everything-AND-the-kitchen-sink filmmaking.

1. Annihilation – A group of scientists and doctors (who all happen to be female) head into Area X, where a bunch of weird goings-on confound and entrance them. All forms of life in this realm are more or less cross-bred with each other, creating utter strangeness, terrifying abominations, and above all, sublime beauty.

Best Podcasts of 2018

December 27, 2018

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This post was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Any Best Podcast list curated by one person must include the caveat that only a portion of all the podcasts out there have been listened to by the listmaker. My podcast diet mainly consists of comedy and pop culture, so consider this a list of the best comedy and pop culture podcasts of 2018. (Also, as it turns out, you can [mostly] consider this a list of the best of one particular podcast network.) My choices are not in any particular order, except for my overall #1 selection.

Overall Best: R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME? – Four years after comprehensively covering the lovable lads from Liverpool, Adam Scott Aukerman were back to talk about R.E.M. and nothing else in 2018. It truly was The Year of R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: Me?, and we were all just living in it.

Best Episode: “Staind Glass 2” – Todd Glass, the man who has very strong opinions on music but the most chaotic knowledge about the subject, returned for Scott and Scott to see if he knows anything about R.E.M. He also regaled the boys with a story about a wedding he surreptitiously, hilariously attended, and thus a proud podcasting tradition continued.

Blank Check with Griffin & David – Griffin Newman and David Sims’ competitive advantage of being the only two friends to host a podcast together continued delightfully along in 2018, as they examined on the films of even more directors who have been given “blank checks” to pursue their passion projects. In 2018, the lineup consisted of Paul Verhoeven, James L. Brooks, Brad Bird, Ang Lee, Nancy Meyers, and Tim Burton.

Best Episode: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – This episode is perhaps best remembered by Blankies for the envelope gag, but the entire episode is a winner. Frequent guest JD Amato is the perfect addition to examine this confoundingly ambitious entry in Ang Lee’s filmography, as he makes the case that even if this is not a great movie, everyone who considers themselves a film buff should watch it to see what it is all about.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend – Conan O’Brien takes his deconstructionist approach to the podcast medium, as he wonders if the friendships that have eluded him when interviewing people on his talk show can be forged when they occur on this more longform setup.

Best Episode: Bill Burr – Burr gets personal enough to help Conan along on this journey, but the real reason this episode taking the top spot is the part at the end when Conan lists a bunch of fake (unfortunately so) Pokémon.

How Did This Get Made? – This podcast stalwart had no shortage of awful and bizarre so-called movies to add to its crosshairs in 2018, and I came to appreciate it even more for how it’s just some friends hanging out and having the  best time ever.

Best Episode: 200th Mini Retrospective Clip Show Spectacular – The meat of this episode was clips of previous episodes, which doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider that some of the best moments of HDTGM? are people just riotously cracking up, you realize the value of just looking back and taking in the memories.

Unspooled – HDTGM?‘s Paul Scheer actually got around to watching and discussing some good movies as he teamed up with critic Amy Nicholson to dive deep into the American Film Institute’s ranking of the 100 greatest American films of all time. Two film nerds digging into movie history and showing off their enthusiasm for canonization (or questioning canonization) is always a good formula.

Best Episode: Duck Soup – Paul and Amy are joined by Marx Brothers super-fan Conan O’Brien, who has some legit comedy nerd theories regarding what Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo are all about.

This Is a Movie Review: Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly’s High Regard for a Couple of Screen Legends Makes ‘Stan & Ollie’ a Gently Heartwarming Affair

December 26, 2018

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CREDIT: Sony Pictures Classics

This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, Shirley Henderson, Nina Arianda, Danny Huston

Director: Jon S. Baird

Running Time: 97 Minutes

Rating: PG for A Few Adult Arguments

Release Date: December 28, 2018 (Limited)

If you’ve ever thought that Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly should team up to play legendary screen duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, then you must be their biggest fans or their close friends. Stan & Ollie very much feels like a passion project, and it also has the vibe of a secret present, because who in 2018 would have ever thought to ask if anyone wanted to make this movie? Coogan and Reilly have their subjects’ signature gestures down pat, and various real life scenes play out with a charming blend of misanthropic physical comedy in the vein of heavy luggage sliding down a staircase. The year is 1953, and Laurel and Hardy’s cinematic glory days are well over and never to re-emerge, though Stan is hard at work writing a screenplay about Robin Hood and incessantly tracking down a producer. But to actually make some dough and earn some new laughs, they head out on a tour of live shows in Britain and Ireland.

The primary, low-key charm of Stan & Ollie is the culmination of two longtime companions realizing the depth of their connection. The pressures of the road lead to simmering resentments being aired out, but those blowouts clear the way for these two to reaffirm that they are more than just partners but are in fact true and loyal friends who might as well put on one more show for as long it can last. Their relationship is mirrored by that between their wives, who are often at odds with each other as they stand firmly in their husbands’ corners. It is the third marriage for both of them, but it appears that the third time’s the charm. Stan’s wife Ida (Nina Arianda) is a bit of a brassy steamroller, while Ollie’s wife Lucille (Shirley Henderson) is mousy but just as formidable. There is one especially heartwarming moment in the middle of a show when Ollie’s health troubles look like they will incapacitate him, but he looks at Stan for support and they are able to carry on; meanwhile in the audience, Ida and Lucille become a unified front as they lock hands. That is the sort of unity of spirit you hope to find in any major personal endeavor.

Stan & Ollie is Recommended If You Like: The real Laurel and Hardy presumably, Low-key showbiz biopics

Grade: 3 out of 5 Top Hats

Best TV Shows of 2018

December 26, 2018

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CREDIT: Courtesy of the Networks

This post was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

I spent much of 2018 despairing over how there isn’t enough time to watch every great show out there, just as I have every year for the past decade or so. Despite that permanent dilemma, I did not struggle as much as I usually do to settle on a top 10. But of course, there are always more than ten great shows that I would like to recognize. So before you continue reading on to my picks of the very best, here are some other shows I loved in 2018: Bob’s Burgers, The Goldbergs, The Good Place, Great News, Homecoming, Jane the Virgin, Killing Eve, The Last O.G., Mystery Science Theater 3000, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Sharp Objects, Speechless, Trial & Error, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

And here are some 2018 shows that I kept hearing wonderful things about, but that I never got around to seeing: The Americans, The Good Fight, Lodge 49, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, One Day at a Time, Random Acts of Flyness, Succession, The Terror.

10. BoJack Horseman (Netflix) – Most BoJack Horseman seasons lead up to some earth-shattering conclusion. Season 5 followed much the same structure but wisely ultimately settled on a more even-keeled note, declaring that people sometimes do good things and sometimes do bad things, and the trick is to do good things more often. Maybe there is equilibrium in BoJack’s future?

9. Joe Pera Talks with You (Adult Swim) – Perhaps the most unique show of 2018, and probably the gentlest in Adult Swim history, Joe Pera Talks with You inspires wonder at all the simple facts of life. As a fictionalized version of himself, Pera presents a well-examined life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that we can all appreciate.

8. Better Call Saul (AMC) – Jimmy continued his path towards fully becoming Saul Goodman, which could really describe any season of this show. And yet by just continuing along its set path, it gobsmacks you evermore with its explorations of identity, duty, and destiny. It just goes to show you that it really is all about the journey.

7. Barry (HBO) – Alec Berg and Bill Hader walked a tightrope every episode as they tracked the progress of hitman turned very bad actor Barry Berkman. They pushed themselves into narrative corners, as violently dramatic consequences bumped up against the foibles of the trenches of showbiz, and yet they always followed through on their trickiest conundrums.

6. Pose (FX) – The push for diversity in television is valiant in terms of representation and employment. But is it also valuable for creativity? Pose is a perfect example to show that yes indeed, it is. This recreation of New York’s 1980s queer ballroom scene opened up groundbreaking avenues for televisual storytelling.

5. Big Mouth (Netflix) – Netflix’s animated tale of burgeoning puberty courtesy of Nick Kroll and company is raunchy and specific in a manner that is uproarious, gross, and a little profound. Hormone and Shame Monsters are the stuff of modern mythmaking.

4. American Vandal (Netflix) – The first season of this Netflix true crime mockumentary was a rousing success, but I had my doubts about the second. The jokes and intrigue around spray-painted dicks made sense, but taking on actual poop sounded a little frightening. Luckily the crimes of the Turd Burglar were treated as terrifyingly as they deserved to be, and we were treated to another fascinating portrait of adolescence, the high school ecosystem, and our online selves.

3. American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (FX) – It was really more “The Killings of Andrew Cunanan” rather than just “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” Progressing backwards and expanding outwards, this was Ryan Murphy’s other exhilarating formal experiment of 2018.

2. Baskets (FX) – The Baskets family went into business together and opened up a circus. It sounded like a great idea, but there are always struggles along the way. If you’re looking for portraits of genuine American families on TV, Baskets is a little odd, but it does the trick.

1. Atlanta (FX) – Atlanta is a landmark achievement in surreal television. It all appears to tie together when watching it, but as I attempt to reconstruct Season 2 in my head, I wonder how Florida Man, a slippery barber, and Teddy Perkins can all possibly hang together. And yet I know deep in my psyche how much emotional sense it all makes. Donald Glover and company followed their muse to dark and exciting corners for our delight.

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Destroyer’ is Worth Admiring for Nicole Kidman Inhabiting a Detective Whose Soul and Psyche Are Paralyzed by Undercover Work

December 22, 2018

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CREDIT: Sabrina Lantos/Annapurna Pictures

This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Jade Pettyjohn, Bradley Whitford, Scoot McNairy, Toby Huss

Director: Karyn Kusama

Running Time: 123 Minutes

Rating: R for The Nasty Violence, Sex, and Drugs of Police Work at Its Most Unmoored

Release Date: December 25, 2018 (Limited)

Destroyer plays a bit like Memento, with its irregular temporal structure and out-of-sorts lead character investigating some unsavory behavior in Los Angeles. But besides a few moments in which everything clicks into place, Destroyer‘s narrative approach is more maddening than brain-tickling. Where Memento‘s backwards arrangement was both revolutionary and strikingly purposeful, Destroyer‘s propensity towards flashbacks and withholding information just feels haphazard. Perhaps director Karyn Kusama and screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi had a clear purpose in mind, but that does not really come across in the final product. But at least they have a typically riveting performance from Nicole Kidman to hold everyone’s attention.

Kidman plays LAPD detective Erin Bell, who is basically the epitome of someone whose life has been destroyed by working undercover. The events cut back and forth between her time infiltrating a criminal gang and nearly two decades later when the leader of that crew re-emerges. With perpetually puffy eyes, chapped skin and lips, and dusty hair, she is a walking husk of a person, and you get the sense that she has been that way every day for quite some time. The message seems to be that the lying and identity warping of undercover work cannot possibly be worth whatever good it accomplishes, to which I say: you didn’t have to make an entire grungy movie to convince me! There are a few pleasures to be had when you finally realize why certain memories are as traumatic as they are for Erin and why the opening scene is what it is. But it is a big ask to go down into the muck with Kidman for two hours, although she is at least decent company.

Destroyer is Recommended If You Like: Appreciating the full range of Nicole Kidman’s oeuvre, The dry skin-cracking Los Angeles sun

Grade: 3 out of 5 Spoiled Relationships

 

This Is a Movie Review: Felicity Jones’ Spirited Ruth Bader Ginsburg Portrayal Helps ‘On the Basis of Sex’ Overcome Some Biopic Clichés

December 21, 2018

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CREDIT: Focus Features

This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Cailee Spaeny, Sam Waterston, Stephen Root, Jack Reynor, Kathy Bates

Director: Mimi Leder

Running Time: 120 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for The Occasionally Offensive Language of the Law

Release Date: December 25, 2018 (Limited)

It is slightly disorienting to have both a documentary and a based-on-true-life narrative film about the same living person open in one year. But for certain subjects, there is value be to had in exploring familiar territory via multiple formats. For someone as influential as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her increased level of media attention has not diluted her potential for cinematic inspiration. On the Basis of Sex, Mimi Leder’s portrait of a young and hungry Ginsburg, wisely focuses on one chapter in her legal journey. And when it missteps, it is not because it retreads the same territory that RBG already covered sufficiently.

The focus is on the 1970 case of Charles Moritz, a never-married bachelor caring for his sick mother who is denied a caregiver tax deduction because at the time it was available only to women, widowers, and divorcees. Ginsburg, who was then a law professor at Rutgers, teams up with the ACLU to take on Martin’s case, and in addition to representing this one man, they set out to demonstrate how so much of the U.S. legal code discriminates (as the title says) “on the basis of sex,” and how that harms both women and men. That could be cinematic overreach, except for the fact that the real Ginsburg has very much committed her career to making the law more equitable.

On the Basis of Sex works best when it focuses on the truths of relationships, and there is plenty of material to be mined within the Ginsburg household. Ruth and her husband Marty (Armie Hammer), here seen as a fast-rising tax lawyer, are equal partners, though not without their disagreements (like any marriage). But what makes their tension bearable, or even admirable, is that it is based on a shared desire to fight for what is right. Ruth’s relationship with her teenage daughter Jane (Cailee Spaeny), however, is much more explosive, in the way that mother-daughter relationships often are at that age. You kind of want Jane to cut her mom some slack, because she is Ruth Bader Ginsburg after all. But sometimes kids can be their parents’ toughest critics, sometimes unfairly, sometimes rewardingly, or both in this case. There are a few moments that reek of over-inspirational biopic excess, like Ruth suddenly becoming struck with inspiration in the middle of a rainstorm. But for the most part, On the Basis of Sex knows how to capture the fight for justice and its beating human heart.

On the Basis of Sex is Recommended If You Like: Inspirational clichés, To Kill a Mockingbird, Legally Blonde

Grade: 3 out of 5 Closing Statements

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Second Act’ Pairs an Inconsistent Message with Sweet and Amusing Friendships

December 20, 2018

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CREDIT: Barry Wetcher/STX

This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vanessa Hudgens, Leah Remini, Dan Bucatinsky, Freddie Stroma, Milo Ventimiglia, Treat Williams, Larry Miller, Charlyne Yi, Dave Foley, Alan Aisenberg

Director: Peter Segal

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Parents Who Swear in Front of Their Children But Are Trying Not To So That Their Kids Don’t Swear Back at Them

Release Date: December 21, 2018

At the end of Second Act, Jennifer Lopez assures us that we can always take a chance on ourselves and do that thing that we’ve always been holding ourselves back from doing. Alas, that is a huge oversimplification that ignores key details involving randomness and fairness (or lack thereof). You can work hard and be outspoken about your desire for a dream job, but ultimately landing that position requires some amount of luck and other forces beyond your control going your way. But like Dana Scully and her position on supernatural phenomena, I want to believe what J. Lo is telling us. But here’s the thing: despite its title, that’s not really the message of Second Act.

This frothy workplace/rom-com is more about the virtue of adaptability, as well as putting pompous educated folks in their place. A successful second act may very well require adaptability, but it is important to note that Maya Vargas (Lopez) is not the architect of her own second act. She may have ambitions to be more than an assistant manager at a supermarket, but it is her godson who beefs up her résumé with phony credentials, which gets her in the door for a consultancy job at a big-deal cosmetics company. She kills at the interview, because it turns out that, at least in Maya’s case, a GED and years of retail experience are worth just as much as a bunch of business degrees. While she does have to fight off a fair amount of self-doubt, she actually displays a minimal amount of impostor syndrome, considering the circumstances.

You would think that the major conflict from this point on would be Maya fighting to prevent her co-workers from discovering the truth of her background. That certainly plays a part, but it takes a backseat to a huge second act twist (pun not intended by me, but maybe the dramatic irony was intended by the script?) involving Maya and her new colleague Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens). The fallout is played rather sweetly, but it is pretty much impossible to get over how bizarrely unexpected it is. And that is representative of Second Act as a whole: it is a frothy good time despite being inconsistent with its message and purpose. It certainly helps that Maya’s best friend is played by Leah Remini, a real-life chum of Lopez’s who is always served well by a role that allows her to say whatever the hell is on her mind. As for the romance plot, Milo Ventimiglia is not given much to do as Maya’s boyfriend other than take his shirt off occasionally, which is nice to look at but is not typically a versatile tool for a screenwriter.

Second Act is Recommended If You Like: Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini’s friendship, A bygone era of J. Lo-starring romcoms

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Fake Facebook Profiles

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Welcome to Marwen’ is an Odd True-Life Story Made Odder by Fitting Into Feel-Good Movie Clichés

December 20, 2018

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CREDIT: Ed Araquel/Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures

This review was originally posted on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Merritt Wever, Janelle Monáe, Eiza González, Gwendoline Christie, Diane Kruger, Neil Jackson

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Running Time: 116 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Bloody Doll-Based Violence, Neo-Nazi Assault Flashbacks, and a Few Unexpected Sexual References

Release Date: December 21, 2018

Welcome to Marwen is a low-key film whose gentleness belies its supreme oddity. At least it comes by its unusual nature honestly. It’s based on the 2010 documentary Marwencol, about the artist Mark Hogancamp, who was beaten nearly to death after he told a group of men that he was a cross-dresser. Then as a kind of therapy, he constructed a miniature Belgian World War II-era village and populated it with dolls representing himself and the people in his life. I haven’t seen Marwencol, so I cannot attest to any historical veracity or lack thereof, but given the premise, Welcome to Marwen was always going to be as tricky to make sense of as it turned out to be. Steve Carell, for his part, plays Hogancamp like the sort of meek, PTSD-afflicted, obsessive, highly impressive individual that corresponds with his story. But then there are ways in which Welcome to Marwen attempts to mold Hogancamp’s world into a traditional cinematic structure, and the movie itself feels like it is rebelling.

The biggest miscalculation is probably the romance storyline, which consists of a series of major miscommunications on the part of everyone involved. The doll version of Mark is typically accompanied by his female companions, and the scenarios he playacts quite clearly reveal the feelings he has for them. Figuring prominently is Mark’s new neighbor Nicol (Leslie Mann), which is pronounced just like “Nicole,” but spelled without the “e” for some inexplicable reason. She’s quite forward in her friendliness, which Mark interprets as romantic interest, which he appears to be correct about, until it is unmistakably clear that he is in fact very incorrect, rendering the audience confused by the ways in which Mark’s perspective is favored over everyone else’s.

While Welcome to Marwen has a few clear missteps, I am not sure how this story could have overall been presented much differently. One answer is that it should not have been made at all, leaving the documentary to stand on its own. But I reject that, on the basis of believing that all cinematic ventures, no matter how ill-advised, can theoretically turn out successful. However, while I am fascinated by this elaborate fantasy world created to deal with trauma and the way that director Robert Zemeckis presents it, I wouldn’t point to Marwen as the best example of this maxim.

Welcome to Marwen is Recommended If You Like: Extensive shoe collections, Romantic miscommunications, Playing with dolls and action figures at any age

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Glamonistas

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Aquaman’ is Overstuffed, But It’s Got Some Fun, Wet Weirdness

December 19, 2018

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CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics

This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Temuera Morrison

Director: James Wan

Running Time: 143 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Combat Taking Place Undersea and the Sea Being Turned Into Weapons

Release Date: December 21, 2018

Everybody loves Aquaman. (Unless you have an opposing claim to the throne of Atlantis, that is.) This wasn’t always the case. In fact, it used to be that in all corners of the pop culturesphere, he was the biggest punch line among all well-known superheroes. But now Arthur Curry is everyone’s buddy. Although, in terms of how much he’s keeping his identity a secret and the level of hero worship, this movie does not make it entirely clear what the world thinks of him. It seems like the audience is expected to come in with some familiarity of last year’s Justice League. But that team-up picture was not completely comprehensive about how the terrestrial world felt about him. Suffice it to say, Jason Momoa is pretty much able to play him like the jolly giant that he is, and one scene that tells us all we need to know features a gang of bikers who look like they are about to beat him up but instead excitedly request a selfie.

The meat of the story, in a movie that has about a half-dozen active plot threads, is the half-Atlantean/half-human Curry attempting to ascend to the throne of Atlantis. As the eldest son of Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), it should be his birthright. He does not really want to be king, though, but the throne’s current occupant, his younger half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), is planning a war against land dwellers. But that storyline gets interrupted while Arthur and his love interest/personal conscience Mera (Amber Heard) ascend back to the surface and go on a scavenger hunt to track down a MacGuffin. So for about a half hour, the two globehop and track down clues, turning Aquaman into Indiana Jones for a stretch. Then all the other Atlanteans re-appear, and just about every plotline finds time to be resolved, because this sucker is nearly two and a half hours long.

But there is still some time to leave a few threads dangling, as the sequel must always be set up, which means that a few key issues are left unelaborated amidst all the bloat. The ostensible reason that Orm wants to start a war is because of all the pollution that ends up in the oceans. But that explanation feels so throwaway and never really plays into the conflict between Orm and Arthur. And there is no sense of whether terrestrial humans are or are not going to take responsibility for all their wastefulness. Ultimately, this movie jumps all over the place and does not know where to focus, but there are thrills to be had in odd details, like an octopus playing the drums, an Atlantean fighter sticking his head into a toilet for wet relief, and Randall Park’s all-too-brief appearance as a scientist sounding a call of alarm. And it bears repeating: everyone loves Aquaman (even though he is occasionally called an imbecile).

Aquaman is Recommended If You Like: Jason Momoa’s bonhomie, Water-based weaponry, Superhero movies that stretch past two hours

Grade: 3 out of 5 Water Spears

This Is a Movie Review: The Intimate But Sprawling Polish Drama ‘Cold War’ Packs a Punch That Lingers

December 18, 2018

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CREDIT: Łukasz Żal

This review was originally published on News Cult in December 2018.

Starring: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot

Director: Paweł Pawlikowski

Running Time: 85 Minutes

Rating: R for Well-Lit Black & White Sexual Content

Release Date: December 21, 2018 (Limited)

If you watch enough films of a wide enough variety, at certain points you will encounter moments or even entire stories that go beyond your sphere of recognition. At those instances, it is best to accept what you do not understand and trust your emotional response as much as you can. This is a prelude to my reaction to the Polish film Cold War, which I enjoyed, even though I am not sure I followed everything that happened, despite the fact that the structure of the narrative was fairly straightforward. This sense of remove is most likely attributable to a different language, and a different historical era other than my own. Nevertheless, I kept track of the plot’s broad strokes, and I believe that I got this film on an emotional level, or at the very least, it spoke to me in a way that I am still feeling weeks later even if I cannot quite articulate that feeling in words.

The story takes place, appropriately enough, during the Cold War of the 20th century, specifically in 1950s Poland. Zula (Joanna Kulig, who’s 36 but could pass for ten years younger) is a young singer who finds herself on a professional and romantic ride with musical director Wiktor (Tomasz Kot, who’s 41 and could not pass for much less). As the days go by and they traverse across Europe, they grow closer but also fall apart. Both are affected in various ways by the sweet smell of a potential new life, while neither is able to escape the lingering pull of their original home. There is a growing sense that the two are coming into their own and more willing and able to directly reveal their emotions, Zula especially. Much of the film’s soundtrack consists of reserved classical pieces, but an invigorating climax is reached when Zula bounces around a nightclub to the tune of “Rock Around the Clock” with total abandon. That is the type of cinematic moment when I know for sure that the magic is happening even if I am not sure of anything else.

Cold War is Recommended If You Like: Sprawling European Romances

Grade: 4 out of 5 Rocks Around the Clock

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