Toni Erdmann
Directed by Maren Ade
2016
Toni Erdmann is a film about a father and daughter that defies category. It’s a long, funny, melancholy film that changes register deftly and meanders with determined purpose.
Would see.
Logan Lucky
Logan Lucky
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
2017
Logan Lucky is a heist film that follows three siblings who plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The film’s ambitions are on a far smaller scale than the theft planned by its protagonists, but Steven Soderbergh shares their commitment and attention to detail; Logan Lucky has modest aims and a nearly flawless execution. It’s effortless fun to watch.
Would see.
Good Time
Good Time
Directed by Ben and Josh Safdie
2017
Good Time is a crime-drama about two brothers who rob a bank and weather the aftermath. The film is paced well and Robert Pattinson’s performance is riveting. Though the tone is far bleaker than its wildly deceptive title suggests, Good Time’s specificity and emotional nuance pull it away from miserabilism, and it ultimately strikes a strong and thoughtful note.
Would see.
A Serious Man
A Serious Man
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
2009
A Serious Man is a comedy-drama about a Jewish man in Minnesota. A Serious Man is the Coen brothers at their funniest and most profound. The film succeeds both as comedy and moral drama. It is a rare achievement.
Must see.
Dazed and Confused
Dazed and Confused
Directed by Richard Linklater
1993
Dazed and Confused is a comedy about teenagers in Texas in 1976. Dazed and Confused, skillfully shot and directed, is specific in its evocation of time and place and is committed to its ambivalent nostalgia. The unmoored aimlessness of the characters, though, seems to have seeped, at times, into the production.
Would see.
Moana
Moana
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker
2016
Moana is a computer-animated musical about the eponymous daughter of a Polynesian chief and Maui, the Polynesian mythological figure. Everything about Moana – the music, the plot, the animation – is slick and polished, but while the song lyrics, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, are sometimes clever, the story is rote and the animation sports a sheen of dead-eyed flawlessness. The movie is depressingly watchable.
Would not see.
The Third Man
The Third Man
Directed by Carol Reed
1949
The Third Man is a British film noir set in post-World-War-II Vienna. The Third Man is entertaining – and Orson Welles’s acting is memorable – but the film never really escapes the conventions of the genre.
Would see.
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Royal Tenenbaums
Directed by Wes Anderson
2001
The Royal Tenenbaums is a comedy-drama about the fictional Tenenbaum family. The Royal Tenenbaums is deftly funny and deeply moving. Wes Anderson directs the film with all of his usual precision and detail – and with a sincerity and ambition not all of his other films match.
Must see.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Directed by Werner Herzog
2009
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a black comedy that shares a title, a producer (Edward R. Pressman), a corrupt police officer as the central character, and nothing else with Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film Bad Lieutenant. The film, though not the greatest movie ever, is a nearly sublime subversion of action movies and police procedurals. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is as weird as its ungainly title suggests (and as fantastic as a movie directed by Werner Herzog and starring Nicolas Cage promises to be). Herzog’s direction and Cage’s acting are fearless and original, and the film easily transcends its genre.
Would see.
20th Century Women
20th Century Women
Directed by Mike Mills
2016
20th Century Women is a comedy-drama about a 15-year-old boy, three women, and a man who live in Southern California in 1979. Every accusation of pretension and hollow style baselessly levied against Wes Anderson’s films would accurately describe 20th Century Women. 20th Century Women goes through all the motions of saying something meaningful without ever actually saying anything at all. It’s saccharine, unfocused, and painful to watch.
Would not see.
Micro Film Reviews 