Best Movies of the Decade Pt. 9: Moonlight 🌖
Plus, my review of 'Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker' and 'Cats'
☃️ Happy Friday!
It’s the final newsletter of the year and we’re going out with my favorite movie of the decade (at least the one available on streaming). You can see all my recommendations from this series here.
Also, reviews for a space opera — The Rise of Skywalker — and a nightmare — Cats. Plus, the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.
First: Thank you so much for making the first few months of this newsletter great! Just the fact they you open it sparks so much joy. If you haven’t already, please share it with everyone you know. Everyone deserves a good movie night.
Okay, here’s day nine.
Today's Movie // Streaming on NetflixMoonlight
Barry Jenkins’ Best Picture winning masterpiece 🏆 tells the story of a young black boy named Chiron as he grows up and struggles with his identity. The movie is split into three distinct acts following him as a child (Alex Hibbert), teen (Ashton Sanders), and adult (Trevante Rhodes). (Trailer)
Why you should watch it: Moonlight is arguably the most important Best Picture winner of the decade — and perhaps of all time. And not just because of the infamous mix up. It’s almost unfathomable that the Academy, which overlooked Brokeback Mountain to award Crash, would give its top prize to an independent film about a poor queer black boy dealing with his sexuality. However, I think it won, in part, because it’s a perfect film.
Without many words or huge plot moments, Director Barry Jenkins able to tell us a complex story about a kid going through the process of discovering, struggling, and ultimately accepting who you are. He explores it with a singular style that plays with the cinematic form in a way that we haven’t seen in decades. Everything from the cinematography, sound design, and score are there to serve the story — there’s not a single scene that doesn’t serve a purpose. And as painful as the journey is, it all feels satisfying at the end. Like an exhale that we didn’t know we needed.
Directed by Barry Jenkins
Runtime 111 minsYear 2016Genre Coming-of-Age Drama
📺 Buy or rent:Prime Video//iTunes//YouTube
In theatersStar Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
In the final installment of the sequel trilogy, J.J. Abrams wraps up the nine-episode Skywalker Saga as the Resistance faces the First Order one last time. (Trailer)
My review: There’s something very off about The Rise of Skywalker. It feels at equal times too big and too small, too overwrought and too emotionless, too fast and too slow. The movie, more than any other blockbuster this year and in the franchise, feels completely contrived. Like it was stitched together from disparate arguing ideas and landed on all of them and none of them at the same time.
If I sound overly critical it’s probably because I was really pulling for The Rise of Skywalker. I enjoy the series and I wanted to be satisfied at the end. But I couldn’t connect with anything. There’s a moment that should be as awe-inspiring as the “portals” moment in Avengers: Endgame. Instead, it inspired a rolling groan from my audience. There was no build-up, no suspense, it just kind of happened. That’s the best way to describe the movie, it just happens. There’s nothing to experience and I want my star war to be an experience. (Full review)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Runtime 142 minsYear 2019Genre Epic Space Opera
📺In theaters now.
In theatersCats
A tribe of cats — aka humans with CGI fur — gathers to decide who among them deserves to ascend to the Heaviside Layer (dies) and come back to a new life in this adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. (Trailer)
My review: I’ll cut to the chase. Cats is more horrifying than you’d ever imagined. The highly publicized and pored over trailer doesn’t even do justice to just how off-putting the CGI — digital fur technology if you will — is to watch. It’s truly in the deepest trenches of the uncanny valley.
The biggest issue is that the very realistic fur clashes with the humanoid bodies, movements, and faces of the cast of cats. It overshadows anything good that you could derive from the movie. The musical numbers are audaciously choreographed and fascinating to watch. The visuals are like a trip on acid. And the cast, for all the wonkiness with the conceptualization of the cats, are going for it in every scene. However, it’s almost impossible to get past just how ridiculous everyone looks. Frankly, it's distracting. But should you watch it? Absolutely. With hard liquor, preferably. (Full review)
Directed by Tom Hooper
Runtime 110 minsYear 2019Genre ??? (Musical Fantasy, I think)
📺In theaters now.
One trailer you should watchTenet
Christopher Nolan’s eleventh film. Plot details haven’t been revealed. However, there’s mention of preventing World War III in the trailer and it was previously described as taking place in the world of international espionage. Oh, and the trailer switches between playing forward and backwards.
My take: A really intriguing trailer, but what makes me more excited is the creative team behind it. Joining Nolan is BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington, Robert Pattinson (check out our series on him here), Widows breakout Elizabeth Debicki, Black Panther composer Ludwig Göransson, Dunkirk cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, and Noah Baumbach and Ari Aster’s regular editor Jennifer Lane. That’s a lot of talent.
Directed by Christopher NolanYear 2020Genre Sci-Fi Action Thriller
📺In theaters July 17, 2020.
Enjoy your time with your family, friends, and loved ones. I’ll see you in the new decade!
Lots of love ❤️!
Karl (@karl_delo)