The Shadow Awards For 2020 Movie Year!!

 Yes it is bigger than the Oscars!!

This is the moment!!

My annual Shadow Awards. Voted on by ...well...ME!!

So the tux is on. The ladies are in their gowns. 

Food is ready....at the Shadow awards I serve popcorn; Twizzlers; Cheetos puffs; and bottled water or a 32oz soda. I go BIIIIG at the Shadow Awards!!!

Here we go...oh I am hosting the Shadow awards...I did such a good job last year.\

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The Shadow Award For Making Me So Confused

TENET

Gary Nolan Is always a bit confusing, but this one!!

Well acted by John David Washington; Robert Pattinson; and Elizabeth Debicki so we have that lol.

I have no idea what is happening...where they are in time...and why are they doing this.

I am so confused. Help me. I am trying to understand!!!!

The I Want To Just Hug This Character Award

ADAM PLAYED BY CHARLIE PLUMMER;  IN WORDS ON THE BATHROOM WALL

Oh my gosh; Adam; well played by Charlie Plummer; is in high school and is diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Now he has navigate high school, which is tough enough, but he has to deal with the disease and his medication which has side effects. If you did not see this film, find it. So well acted and ...Adam needs a hug.

Shadow Award For Best Actor Of The Year

TOM HANKS

At 64 he may be the best american actor right now. In 2020 he starred in News Of The World and in Greyhound. He is not afraid of quiet moments, meaning he is an actor who feels he does not need to talk to make a statement. Two good performances in a quiet movie year. He is getting better with age.

Shadow Award For Best Actress Of The Year

ELISABETH MOSS

Yes you saw her this year in The Handmaids Tale, however this award is for her performance in The Invisible Man. Playing this physical part most of the time by herself or against someone in a green suit, she is freaking amazing. Plus she is in every scene, she carries this movie.

I cannot wait to see her in her first Wes Anderson film The French Dispatch this year.

Shadow Award For The Worst Performance Of The Year

K.J. APA in I Still Believe

It may be he is performing along the side of a really good seasoned actress in Britt Robertson, but Apa is stiff as cardboard in this movie. Often it seems he is just reading his lines. It is bad real bad.

Shadow Award For Best Newcomer Of The Year

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HELENA ZENGEL

This 12 year old from Berlin Germany, made her first US film with of all people Tom Hanks in News Of The World and she was amazing. She held her own and then some. Throw in she does not speak, she acts with just her face and body.

Shadow Award For Best Action Film

THE GENTLEMEN

Its has quick writing. A great cast. A twist at the end. It has action and humor. Throw in it is kind of stupid smart...if that makes sense. The Gentlemen is not your typical action film, the action comes in spurts, but you are all in because of the story.

The Shadow Award For Funniest Film Of The Year

BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY

Yes it is a Rom-Com, however I laughed out loud often during this film. I loved the lead Geraldine Viswanathan as Lucy who is awkward and newly single, thus she starts the gallery. It is a sweet funny film. I saw this in the theaters all by myself and thought...critics will hate this, it is too happy lol.

The Shadow Award For We Were Robbed By The New Oscar Desperation For Attention Rules

 JULIA GARNER IN THE ASSISTANT

BEN AFFLECK IN THE WAY BACK

These two were the front runners for the Oscar in their categories. Then the Oscar committee changed the rules. You did not have to have your film in a theater to qualify for an Oscar (Wouldn't that be called an Emmy nomination?). So instead of saying no Oscars this year, we will combine films in theaters for 2020 and 2021 for next year, they change the rules so they can have the attention. Not only that, they moved qualifying until 2021 February. Huh? Its bullshit and that is why I am not watching this year. Its like telling sport teams during the year we will give you two more months to try to be the best, and we will also count minor league teams. I get upset by this because it caused the close of movie theaters and especially the art house theaters who relied on the small films to show that big theaters did not. So be it for millionaire actors and actresses; production companies (looking at you Disney) to care about local workers. Affleck and Garner were robbed because of the rule change. Now they may have not won but they would have at least been nominated.

The Shadow Award For Best Trailer Of The Year

WONDER WOMAN 1984

I mean the this trailer ...the music..the look..the action..got me all excited for the next Wonder Woman. It is just a perfect trailer to get you interested and excited for a film. Sadly the film did not live up to the trailers hype.

The Shadow Award For Most Disappointing Film Of The Year

THE LITTLE THINGS

Denzel Washington, is silently good.

Jared Leto in a small role here is great

The script by John Lee Hancock is just awful, it goes no where.

It has a big reveal at the end that falls flat that has you going, that's it?

How this happens with three big talents, Hancock should not be able to script another film.

Well there it is. I have to clean up the mess now after this awards show.

Thanks for watching the Shadow awards...thanks for your time as always.

My Top 5 Films Of 2020

 I know you are used to my top ten at the end of the year, however it really was half a year of films with Covid 19 shutting down theaters. So here is half of 10, my top 5 films of 2020. The year we want to forget!!

5

PHOTOGRAPH

I saw this in the theaters at the beginning of the year. It stuck with me. Its spans time. Its relatable. Maybe it stuck with me because I love my camera and I know the right picture can tell a story. It resonated with me. Plus, during the tough year, its nice to watch a movie and not be depressed while watching it.

LaKeith Stanfield, as we saw in last years Knives Out, is such a good actor. He knows how to let a moment sit, and we see how great he is again in this film. He is like a modern day Tom Hanks where he never goes over the top, he lets the words of the screenplay sit  and breathe.

4

LAND

Amazing job by Robin Wright as the lead and directing this film. She puts you in the middle of the beauty and the struggles of it all. She plays Edee as almost a mystery. She is brave, yet we find a bit naive. She reminded me a little bit of Cheryl Strayed in the film/book Wild played by Reese Witherspoon.  

The Cinematography by Bobby Bukowski...no words..just watch the film...so good.

Then there is Demian Bichir as Miguel. I mean has he ever given a bad performance? Here as Miguel he becomes a hero; a companion; and also he, like Edee holds a secret.

This 90 minute film flies by, you will have tears at the end and a little hope which I loved. Robin Wright is so good in this film, I just loved her and felt for her. 

You may not like the open ending, but you know,what Edee needs to do now, live.

3

THE SOUND OF METAL

I heard a buzz about this one. However I was not looking forward to it, I mean I am not a metal head for sure and I thought it was going to be about a heavy metal band. Obviously I did not see the trailer or read anything about the film before going in lol.

Riz Ahmed as Ruben playing a deaf person, learning sign language for the part. Learning drumming for the part. Saying so much with his eyes. This is really really a wonderful performance.

Paul Raci as Joe Ruben's mentor. Such a wonderful soft performance also often done in sign language.

Lets not forget the thankless role of Olivia Cooke as Lou. Her life changes drastically also as her boyfriend loses his hearing. It's also life altering for her. Olivia's performance is so soft and delicate, its a shame it gets ignored when people talk about this film. She is very good.

The story is so different, your heart hurts for all involved and you still have hope if they do the right thing.

The screenplay is also not afraid of silence. Which is an important part of telling this story and it works

This film is filled with layers, well done.

2

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

After watching this film I sat there thinking, how can I recommend this film. I mean, there's really not a good soul in this film. There are sleazy guys. There are females who are assholes. Then there Is Cassandra who is just batshit crazy.  However 2 days later the film still sticks with you. Its like nothing I have seen before, which is always a pleasant surprise. but this one is something.

Its spoiler free,I will not get into the whys and hows ...but..again batshit crazy. You will finish watching it and think...ugh...then the next two days you will keep thinking about it.

This is highlighted by an Oscar worthy performance by the always good Carey Mulligan. Her best performance since An Education (which is available on Netflix, also a little nutty). Mulligan is freaking good as Cassandra, she has you cheering for her, but also scaring you. She walks that fine line perfectly. She spends her nights pretending to be drunk until she get back to the mans apartment or home...then surprise. This is no spoiler its in the trailer and in the first 5 minutes. The tension never lets up. This is not a horror film in the sense of a slasher film, but it is horror on another level, psychological.

Credit goes to Director and Writer Emerald Ferrell. He keeps the film moving at a nice clip. It is never boring that is for sure. The camera work at the bachelor party makes you the viewer claustrophobic, you want out of there also!!! Well done.

Now before my number 1 I will give you a quick glimpse of 6-10:

6-Broken Hearts Club

7-Invisible Man

8-The Last Vermeer

9-Freaky

10-Words On The Bathroom Wall

Now joining this list of years past number ones:

2014 Wild

2015 The Martian

2016 Edge Of Seventeen (Many are saying now it is better than Lady Bird from that year..THANK YOU)

2017 The Big Sick

2018 Green Book

2019 Knives Out

Decade- Brooklyn

Go back and watch any of these films, you will not be sorry. Its funny I started this blog to be the uncritic critic, I think that is why this blog worked. Note most of these movies are fun and have a happy ending which critics roll their eyes at. God forbid you are entertained lol. So if you have friends tell them to check this out like 35000 did this year. It is meant to be the fun grammatically in-correct movie review blog. It works.

AND NOW

1

NEWS OF THE WORLD

A gentleman travels from town to town reading to citizens of each town the news from outside of their area. Along the way he stumbles on a young girl in a wooded area and brings it upon himself to deliver her home.

I had a private screening of this in a movie theater, like, by myself, which was strange yet nice.

What a wonderful job done here by Paul Greengrass. I mean the Greengrass who brought us the Jason Bourne action films, somehow pulled off this nice little quiet wide open slow paced film. The pace is nice. The cinematography is just perfect. The score he brought to the film (Dariusz Wolski) is beautiful. Greengrass broke out of his comfort zone for sure.

Lets get to Tom Hanks, he plays Captain Kidd (No Shit). I am starting to think Tom Hanks is our version in our times of Jimmy Stewart, The constant close up of reaction. The acting, taking breaths and pauses with his lines. Is he the best actor working during these times? Well he is in top 5 for sure...(Sounds like I will have to do a blog on that). Well here every reaction, in every situation, he is pitch perfect.

Now to the real star, Helena Zengel as Johanna. She is a fish out of water. She cant speak English so she has to act with her eyes and body motions. You cannot take your eyes off of her. The best compliment I can give about her performance is she holds herself up to Tom Hanks's performance. She never looks like she is out of her league here.

As for the story. It is believable. It moves slow but it often has suspense, so that keeps you interested. The characters are interesting within the story. You find The Captain is sort of sad as he moves from town to town, and Johanna, for the first time in years, gives him purpose.

Its tense, it sometimes funny, it id beautiful and sweet( which is nice to see during these times)

MY NUMBER 1 film is NEWS OF THE WORLD

Now look for my shadow awards Oscar weekend and my Oscar predictions.

My Top 5 Worst Films of 2020

 There will be no top 10's this year. Lets face it 2020 sucked so I am going to give you my five best and worst of 2020...so here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post is my lousy 5!!!!!!

5

DAVID COPPERFIELD

Not even Dev Patel can save this poorly done story. Throw in trying to be politically correct in a time where things were not politically correct, which made the story more of a mess

4

THE KID DETECTIVE

A depressing mess of a film. That is a hard watch, starring Adam Brody as a has been detective.

The trailer made it seem like a comedy, there is nothing funny here.

3

THEN CAME YOU

What could go wrong? I mean the very funny Craig Ferguson in a castle in Scotland! Well, it went wrong. The problems start and it ends with the screenplay by Kathie Lee Gifford. Good premise of a widow wanting to travel the world and ends up in Scotland first, this is where the hi-jinx should begin, sadly it does not. It all falls flat and Ferguson and Gifford, real friends in real life, strangely have no chemistry. It just bad.Then you have Ferguson and you do not let him be Craig Ferguson, almost like his humor was muzzled.

2

THE RHYTHM SECTION

Blake Lively plays a woman seeking revenge on those who caused a plane crash that killed her family.

It is boring.
It goes no where.
The film has a training scene that is plain stupid and silly.
I cant figure out why she is being trained. They had no one else...who is at least partially trained?
Her approach to ..revenge...is unrealistic.
I have to say...Director and Screenwriter Mark Brunell delivered a piece of crap.
Oh by the way ....did I mention this is boring

And now my number one worst film of 2020!!!!!!!!!!

First lets look at my other worst movies from past years:

2015 Ricki And The Flash

2016 The Hollars

2017 Everything Everything

2018 Mid90's

2019 Poms

And now to join that rotten list is:

1

DOWNHILL

Yes that trailer looks funny...do no be fooled.

I am one of the rare people who saw the French version in the theaters Force Majeure which was wonderful. I was excited to see the American version.

Well ...this version tries to add more humor it fails. Two directors, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, both could not make it work. The tone shifts were clunky. Pete (Ferrell) is a nervous wreck afraid all the time of death. Billie (Dreyfus) is just a miserable person.
There is not much that is good about this film. Awkward in a bad way. A flat tone. Not funny. We do not care about the characters to get or feel the drama.
It is just not pleasant.

The french version I think did not try the humor, it trusted the humor in the situation, everything flowed..This was not good...

So there you go my Number 1 worst film of 2020!!!

My top 5 films of 2020 is coming next.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time

New Film Review: SOUL

 

SOUL

Directed by Peter Doctor and Kemp Powers

Screenplay by Peter Doctor and Mike Jones

After landing a gig of a lifetime, Joe (Jamie Fox) falls down an open manhole he finds himself stuck in a strange land between earth and the afterlife.

Positives: 

The first 5 minutes.

Tina Fey as 22 is kinda funny.

Jamie Fox is really good doing voice work 

That is it...

Negatives:

This is just strange movie with many plot holes. 

I know its for kids so maybe we can ignore plot holes, however death is involved so is it for kids???!!

I even question why they needed the death part why not just follow Joe as he chases his dream, and then maybe learn that he is already living his dream. This is just odd, with odd characters.

PIXAR has a problem and you can connect it with the loss of John Lasseter . Onward and now this. There is no feeling anymore in these PIXAR films. Death is...funny? PIXAR is in trouble.

2 stars out of 5 for Soul. Its not even good animation it seems lazy.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Nomadland

NOMADLAND

Directed by Chloe Zhao

Screenplay by Chloe Zhao

This film follows Fern, who after losing everything in the recession, lives a modern day nomad life in the American West in her van.

It is a film I felt like I have not seen before. Zhao takes  a character Fern played wonderfully raw by Frances McDormand , and she is acting against real people being themselves in a nomad life.

It is an odd film because it feels like a documentary but it is scripted.

It shows real nomads which is upbeat. This is their life, they are not ashamed. They create their own communities. They have their own leaders. People come and go, they seem , well, not happy but maybe content in their lives. 

As for Frances she seems like the opposite of the rest of the nomads, she is in survival mode and always seems restless, and maybe a bit depressed.

McDormand is just great in this part, most the time observing like we are. We know she is running from life and we feel for her.

As for the film itself....Zhao uses handheld cameras most of the time which puts the viewers right along the side of Fern..following her and seeing what she sees. That all works. However, the film does not have much movement. It is almost stagnant. The film gets kinda boring in the back end. 

I have to give the film some credit. Zhao tries something different, and it works to a point. It just sadly lays there, under a great performance by McDormand.

If you want to see something different watch Nomadland, 3 stars out of 5.

As always from the shadows thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Mank

MANK

Directed by David Fincher

Screenplay by Jack Fincher

!930's Hollywood. We follow Herman Mankiewicz as he writes Citizen Kane, while also weaving his way through the politics of Hollywood at the time.

Lets get to it:

The good:

The look..a soft black and white. You feel like the Fincher brothers plops you into this time and place. It is just a wonderful looking film

Gary Oldman as Mank. Often funny. Often a mess. He keeps you watching as he weaves his way through Hollywood politics. Oldman...is he in the top 5 living actors right now? Could be.

Lily Collins as Rita Alexanader is so freaking good in this film. She almost plays a babysitter to Mank. Without her Mank is nothing. She is often maybe more than a babysitter...her facial expressions are priceless in this film.

Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies. Its 1930's Hollywood, you need a starlet. Amanda is perfect. No spoilers here but...just perfect.

The bad:

The editing decisions. i got lost often in this film of where and what time and place we are at. This jumps and jumps time, and because of this it loses its momentum often. Then at the end the times collide. This kinda worked in the latest Little Women, the jumping back and forth in time. In Mank it makes the film often confusing. I think it was a bad decision by the Fincher brothers. I think they could have told the story straight up with no time jumps. It would have been cleaner

Do not let the "Bad" turn you off. There is a lot going on here. Hollywood prejudice; politics; sexism; and backstabbing. It is a good watch. 4 out of 5 stars for Mank. it is enjoyable.

From the shadows thanks for your time.

New Film Review: Minari

Minari

Written and Directed by Lee Isaac Chung

A Korean family tries to start up a farm in Arkansas in the 1980's

This is a small movie that really sticks with you.

The story is focused on this Korean family trying to make this farm work. You can tell right away this is not the family dream. This is the fathers dream, Jacob, played by Steven Yeum. The mother, Monica played by Yeri Han, is silent but we can tell she is not happy with this dream of her husband. She falls in line, and shows support but you can tell she wants out of this area.

The story is soft and interesting. I like that Chung did not lean hard on this Korean family facing prejudice in this town, for the most part, at work, or at church and such, they were accepted. Their struggles lie in the farm; the new home/trailer; and the new life. This could be any color or nationality, this is the struggle to achieve the American Dream.

I know there is a lot of love out there for Yuh-Jung Youn who plays Soonja. Me not so much.I found her character annoying and ...its just okay performance.

I do think Steven Yeun is fantastic along with his working buddy Paul played by Will Patton. They are just great.

Alan Kim who plays David is getting alot of love....aaaaa...he is good but watch it again, he is often looking at the camera when he is not suppose to.

Negatives?

I think it may be too soft. The story moves at a snails pace with an unsatisfying ending. Making me think, do I want to see this again? No not really. Which is a shame because there is a couple great performances, over ridden by an annoying character in Soonja and the ending.

4 out of 5 stars for Minari. Its a must see, stay with it, a couple good performances, and a story of hope.

From the shadows as always thanks for your time.