Dude Rates Movies

2019 facts

In 2019, I watched 106 movies.

My longest streak of movie-watching days was from 13 January to 13 January, with 1 movies watched.

My longest pause without any movie-watching was from 18 July to 16 August.

The oldest movie I saw was Pinocchio, from 1940.

2019 Premiere League

A-rated movies I saw in 2019 which were released in 2019.

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The Irishman
A
Martin Scorsese — 2019
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci
Thursday 26 December 2019

No comment

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Ford v Ferrari
A
James Mangold — 2019
Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal
Thursday 26 December 2019

No comment

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Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
A
Quentin Tarantino — 2019
Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
Saturday 14 September 2019

What a delight to watch! ❤ The cinematography is wonderful. I keep reminding myself of this scene where Sharon Tate is waking up in her bed in a sunny morning. It feels retro yet so contemporary because of such warming light. ❤ Brad Pitt plays the coolest character in the world. ❤ The various locations in Los Angeles : Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles, the hippies’ scrapyard. When Cliff is fixing the antenna on top of the house, we’re overlooking Los Angeles, with an highway in the background. It feels eclectic and vibrant, makes you wanna play GTA V. ❤ The scene in the hippies scrapyard is masterful. It is creepy as fuck, you fear for Cliff’s life, it is straight from a horror movie. Yet no horror code is present : there is no suspenseful music, the main character is chill, it happens in broad daylight. This is brilliant. ❤ Leonardo DiCaprio skillfully plays a character who plays characters with varying talent. This is impressive. It’s like he has a setting on how good he must play. ❤ Awesome alchemy between the two main characters. ❤ The final pay-off.

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Apollo 11
A+
Todd Douglas Miller — 2019
Buzz Aldrin, Joan Ann Archer, Janet Armstrong
Thursday 18 July 2019

I was on the edge of my seat during the whole of it. I was so pleased with the absence of narration and interviews, which gives such a “raw” touch to it. Although this is clearly not optimized for conveying as much information as possible, it is the closest you can be from actually living the thing as it was happening. Image restoration is beautiful, sound editing and mixing are awesome, editing is magnificent, the music from Matt Morton is so exciting. The documentary sets his own style and rules, inside which it is basically perfect. I think it is rewatchable ad vitam eternam.

2019 Catchup League

A-rated movies released in 2019 which I watched after 2019.

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Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A+
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
Céline Sciamma — 2019
Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami
Sunday 3 January 2021

Cette tension, cette délicatesse, cette hésitation puis cette flamboyance. Ce jeu de regards, ce vouvoiement même dans l'intiminé. Cette photographie sublime, où chaque plan est un tableau. Cette absence de musique si ce n'est pendant ce plan final absolument frappant. Me voilà prohibé de médire le cinéma français, car on a là une sacrée démonstration de ce dont il est capable. Je suis tout renversé.

Watched in 2021
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Les Misérables
A
Les misérables
Ladj Ly — 2019
Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga
Sunday 22 March 2020

No comment

Watched in 2020
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Knives Out
A
Rian Johnson — 2019
Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas
Tuesday 11 February 2020

Brilliant screenplay.

Watched in 2020
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1917
A+
Sam Mendes — 2019
Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
Tuesday 11 February 2020

Stop saying the movie is one long shot for fuck sake! (Not because it was actually filmed in multiple shots, I don’t care how the movie was made, but because:) There are 2 shots in the movie, with a clear, black-screen-for-multiple-seconds pause between the 2 scenes, and this transition is narratively significant, and the second scene starts with a visual and auditive moment of cinema that is out of this world. So this is the reaction of a director who just made a movie in 2 shots, who was the grand favorite for the Oscar for Best Director in all betting sites, and who just lost (to Parasite’s director).

Watched in 2020
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Joker
A
Todd Phillips — 2019
Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz
Tuesday 11 February 2020

Christopher Nolan: "Hey my Batman movies are realistic takes on the Gotham universe". Todd Phillips: "Hold my beer". This is a phenomenal telling of Arthur Fleck's (the Joker real name) fall into madness and violence. The movie starts so realistic and dark, it doesn't even feel like it is in any way connected to the DC universe. The connection to the universe is made as Arthur embraces his Joker persona, which is sort of an elegant progression. Pussies won't like the movie because they confuse ideological validation with the plausible depiction of an unfortunate mechanism (or they're condescending enough to think they're smart enough to make the difference, but others might not, and somehow this is the movie's responsibility). Instead of enjoying the irony of an “applause” sign blinking when the Joker is invited on a TV show, they would like a “this is bad” sign blinking at the screening of the movie.

Watched in 2020

2019 Classics League

A-rated movies I saw in 2019 which were released before 2019.

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Tarzan
A
Chris Buck, Kevin Lima — 1999
Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Brian Blessed
Thursday 26 December 2019

Still struck by Kuzco’s poor visuals, I rewatched one of my favorite Disney, that I hold dear ever since I saw it in theater when I was a child: Tarzan. It perfectly stood the test of time. It is visually brilliant, the music is great, the story is so well-paced, well-crafted.

Released in 1999
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Shoplifters
A
Manbiki kazoku
Hirokazu Koreeda — 2018
Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Kirin Kiki
Monday 7 October 2019

What an incredible consistency on delicacy and gentleness, supported by brilliant directing and acting. In a narration without judgment, which seeks feelings and sensitivity in flawed characters, the line between good and bad becomes blurred, such that we feel torn between ethical concerns and sheer compassion. Very well deserved Palme d’Or from 2018.

Released in 2018
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Green Book
A
Peter Farrelly — 2018
Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini
Sunday 10 February 2019

Such a charming movie. It is simple, thoughtful, consistently funny. It just keeps on giving. Move your ass and go see it.

Released in 2018
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Roma
Review
A+
Alfonso Cuarón — 2018
Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey
Sunday 13 January 2019

With Roma, Alfonso Cuarón achieves what Terrence Malick only ever tried. The semi-autobiographical depiction of Cuarón's own childhood, narrated through the prism of a sublime cinematography, with a tone that tries to trigger some sort of transcendence in the spectator, immediately reminded me of The Tree of Life. However, Roma approaches the exercise very differently: with humility and simplicity. Contrary to its Texan counterpart, the Mexican chronicle doesn't feel awkward or weird at parts. It is complete, sound, and rich.

The children in the movies are only side characters. The main character is Cleo, the maid of the upper middle-class family, and nanny of the children. What makes the movie so peculiar is that it has an extremely non-didactic narration. As such, there is not much dialogs nor context about Cleo's life. She's a rather shy and silent young woman, and we can only try to read her state of mind from the numerous shots where she is pensively taking a break or just working in the house.

As far as we can tell, she is an angel. The archetype of the sweet, innocent, saintlike maid, is in fact so frankly painted that it seems Cuarón wasn't interested in drawing nuance, but rather in reporting his galvanized memories from childhood. In the movie, Cleo has a particularly loving relationship with the children, and the way the narration approaches her character matches the way the children must see her: a loving, pure, and protective angel.

The non-didactic narration goes on to include various elements of Mexico's culture without explaining them. There is a fanfare going on in the street of the house. Why? Is there some sort of celebration? There is a student's demonstration being repressed. Why? What are they protesting about? There is no explanation. The movie only shows, and never tell. I browsed quite a lot of interviews and Wikipedia articles afterwards, and I very much enjoy this procedure: first discover by the power of the image without understanding, and then, once the tale is over, go read about it.

Because the movie doesn't explain its context but only shows things happening, it holds an incredible richness. Since it doesn't explain, it doesn't have to summarize, and it doesn't have to simplify. It doesn't even have to take a side about anything. There is an incredible amount of detailed cultural and historical details that are left there for the spectator to care about and be curious about. And it works so well because those things happens in the movie like they would happen in life: you experience them without understanding all the implications.

The only thematic about which the story does take a stand is the place of women in society. Feminism isn't always found where we expect it, and as much as I think Spielberg's The Post was the most feminist movie of 2017, I think Roma is the most feminist of 2018. The movies draws an incredible, voluntarily non-subtle, harsh contrast between men and women: to all appearances men are strong and solid, while women are fragile and modest. But when it comes to reality, men are weak and cowards, while women are enduring all the pain, and are greatly brave. Cuarón said in an interview that Roma was a "love letter to the women who raised him". This is more than a love letter. This is an ode. The only representative of the male sex who are spared in the story are the children, who are still retaining the innocence of youngness. We can only hope that when they grow up they won't evolve into the kind of men who behaved so badly with the women raising them.

Roma needs to be experienced like a stroll. The first hour is slow, descriptive. It relaxed me. The second hour is way more turbulent, with drama and havoc as immersive as you can expect the craft of Alfonso Cuarón to be. The whole adventure followed me the days after, leaving a taste of peace and melancholy in my mind.

Released in 2018