DC Film Society: Adam's Rib May 2020

2019's Top Ten Films

Remember the year 2019, way back before the coronavirus, when we could go out and see films in movie theaters? Remember when you could see films with other people without wearing a hazmat suit? 2019 now feels like it was 100 years ago.

As 2019 ended I had foregone my usual end of the year list. For whatever reason I didn’t see a purpose. But now the quarantine has given me a reason to proceed. With so many of 2020’s films postponed, it’s a perfect time to go back to last year’s best and catch up on what we may have missed. My top 10 list for the year should provide some useful streaming suggestions.

As always, I’ll start with my Honorable Mention list:

After Parkland (Streaming on Hulu for subscribers; Can rent on Amazon; YouTube, and Vudu).

Booksmart (Streaming on Hulu, for subscribers; Can rent on Amazon, on YouTube, and Vudu).

The Kingmaker (Available on Showtime VOD).

Maiden (Streaming on Hulu for subscribers; Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Available on STARZ VOD; Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

The Peanut Butter Falcon (Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

Queen & Slim (Can rent on Amazon, and Vudu).

The Two Popes (Streaming on Netflix for subscribers).

Us (Available on HBO VOD; Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

Waves Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

Many of my top 10 films reflected a growing dissatisfaction with the culture and socioeconomic status quo. These films feature characters questioning or pushing back against the roles assigned to them based on race, gender or class. Like the characters, many of these films ask why these roles exist and what their ramifications may be:

10. Luce (dir. Julius Onah) – Based on a play by J.C. Lee, Luce is a searing look at racial expectations, parental love, and white guilt. A wealthy white couple (Naomi Watts and Tom Roth) adopt Luce (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) from a war-torn African country. Now a straight A-student and star athlete, Luce is his riding high until a teacher (Octavia Spencer) makes a stunning accusation. The film plays with our stereotypes, and challenges us throughout. Onah builds up the tension slowly, letting it simmer until it’s ready to explode. Watts, Spencer and Harrison craft their performances carefully, slowly letting us see what’s beneath the surface. Luce asks the tough questions and avoids easy answers. (Streaming on Hulu for subscribers; can rent on Amazon, on YouTube, and Vudu).

9. Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach) – Many critics compared Marriage Story to the landmark film Kramer vs. Kramer. Both films are in-depth examinations of a contentious divorce, but that’s where the similarities end. Kramer vs. Kramer clearly takes the side of the husband, while portraying the wife as selfish at best and villainous at worst. Marriage Story avoids this trap, presenting an unsparing but even-handed look at a divorce’s devastating impact. Writer-director Baumbach takes the time to explore how and why marriages fall apart. He finds both drama and humor in small moments along the way. Baumbach was lucky to get Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as the leads. They use Baumbach’s script to create vibrant, flawed and relatable characters. The film gives them room to operate, letting them carry the story as they illustrate their characters’ anger and pain. Laura Dern (who deserved the Oscar she won for her performance), Alan Alda and Ray Liotta give Marriage Story depth and spice as the divorce attorneys. While the film presents the steps involved in a divorce, it never loses site of the raw emotions of its core. (Streaming on Netflix for subscribers).

8. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (dir. Joe Talbot) – Talbot’s lyrical, poetic look at gentrification in a San Francisco neighborhood offers a side of the city you don’t see in most films set there. Friends Jimmie (Jimmie Fails, who also co-wrote the story), and Montgomery (Jonathan Majors) start squatting in a house that Jimmie’s family once owned but had to sell years ago. That house, in what had been an African-American section of the city, comes alive in the way Talbot and his cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra lovingly depict it. Fails’s tender, moving portrayal shows how much a house, and what it represents, can mean so much to someone. Fails and Majors have such chemistry that we instantly accept their characters as best friends. Danny Glover and Rob Morgan also shine in supporting roles. Anyone who loves San Francisco, as I do, should see this film. (Can rent on Amazon, and Vudu).

7. 1917 (dir. Sam Mendes) – 1917 was certainly the most cinematic movie of the year. Most of the media coverage focused on the filmmaking technique where it appears as if 1917 was made in one continuous shot. On that measure alone, the film is a remarkable achievement. It’s no gimmick though, as the style helps give audiences a “you are there” immediacy, which is critical. Mendes wisely keeps the story simple: In WWI, two British soldiers (George Mackay and Dean-Charles Chapman) need to cross a battlefield to deliver an order to a battalion not to attack, in order to prevent a massive defeat. Mendes wisely enlisted legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins to shoot the film. They fill the frame with the chaos of war, so that you can feel all that’s going on outside of the frame. Mackay in particular conveys his character’s fear and determination so convincingly that we are with him for the whole ride. All in all 1917 is the most gripping war film since Saving Private Ryan. (Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

6. The Irishman (dir. Martin Scorsese) – In 1962, director John Ford made The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, deconstructing many of the Western tropes he helped create. Martin Scorsese did not create gangster movies, but he defined them for modern audiences. With The Irishman, Scorsese deglamorizes and demythologizes the gangster film. As with Valance, The Irishman tells of aging titans trying to hold on to what they have in a changing world. This story of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a mob henchman and hitman who may or may not have killed Jimmy Hoffa, treats gangster work as just that, work. Simultaneously the film also expands the scope of mafia stories, exploring the environment that allowed organized crime to exist. Scorsese not only reunites with De Niro, with whom he worked steadily for many years although not since 1995, but also old collaborators Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel. Add to the mix Al Pacino (as Hoffa), and you have the Movie Mafia Mount Rushmore. Pesci is particularly spellbinding, going against type as a soft-spoken, even-tempered mob boss. Not all of the infamous “de-aging” technology works, but after five minutes you won’t care. Scorsese, the old master, proves he still has the chops with this epic but personal masterpiece. (Streaming on Netflix for subscribers).

5. The Farewell (dir. Lulu Wang) –Writer-director Wang draws upon her own life in this tender and funny story of a Chinese family struggling over whether to tell its beloved matriarch (Shuzhen Zhao) that she is dying of cancer. Wang deftly contrasts the clashing Western and Eastern values, without shortchanging either. She takes time telling the story, drawing humor from moments big and small. Wang makes the most out of her exquisite ensemble cast, building up the characters so we get a better sense of the family dynamics. In the lead role, Awkwafina holds the screen for every minute of her performance. She conveys her character’s conflict both in large strokes and subtle ones. Zhao conveys a quiet authority and kindness, with just a hint of mischief. Families of any nationality may find a little of themselves in this film. (Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

4. The Assistant (dir. Kitty Green) – How can sexual predators such as Harvey Weinstein stay in power so long without being held accountable? The Assistant presents a compelling case study in a daring way. Writer-director Green focuses not on the predator, a Weinstein-type film executive whom she never shows. Instead, she puts us in the mind of Jane (Julia Garner) a low-level assistant who is not directly victimized by her boss, but starts to realize something is very wrong. Green gradually illustrates how power dynamics and work culture cultivate an oppressive atmosphere where staff are pushed to serve those in charge without question. The Assistant operates with a scalpel, not a buzzsaw, slowly picking apart Jane’s tasks and observations to reveal the damning picture. The outstanding sound design lets us in the audience, along with Jane, pick up pieces of conversations that add to this picture. Garner, best known for her TV work, gives a quiet, understated performance, letting us into Jane’s pain and conflict piece-by-piece. The Assistant is a film long overdue but, with the #MeToo movement, squarely of its time. (Can rent on Amazon).

3. Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig) – Hollywood had already adapted Louisa May Alcott’s seminal book so many times before: four, including a silent version. Was there any point to a fifth adaptation? Yes, thanks to writer-director Gerwig, who not only makes the story alive, but also relevant to our time. She shrewdly splits up the timelines in the book, going back-and-forth between the March women’s teenage and adult lives. Doing this sharpens the contrast between youthful hopes and older realities. Best of all, Gerwig takes a Meta approach, shaping this story into a rallying cry for women to tell their own stories. She makes the most of her stellar ensemble cast, featuring Saoirse Ronan, Emily Watson, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Chris Cooper, Tracy Letts and Meryl Streep. Gerwig earned universal acclaim for her directorial debut, Lady Bird and here proves that this was no fluke. She has fully made the leap from indie star to one of America’s top filmmakers. (Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

2. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon Ho) – Parasite captured audiences’ imagination, both in its native South Korea and worldwide, because it took so many chances and made them all pay off. At first we seem to know what the film is. The poor Kim family cons its way into working jobs for the wealthy Park family. Director Bong, who also co-wrote the story, boldly moves the film from a sly comedy about class differences to something much darker and subversive. He constantly challenges our preconceptions. The film’s production design, cinematography, and editing are all finely tuned and detailed. These facets all contribute to some stunning set pieces. Every move Bong makes is so precise, so skillful, that we gladly go with him to some strange places. His cast is pitch perfect, giving their characters depth while still keeping some mystery. Parasite broke barriers, becoming the first foreign language film to win a Best Picture Oscar, an honor it richly deserved. (Streaming on Hulu for subscribers; Can rent on Amazon, on YouTube, and Vudu).

1. Knives Out (dir. Rian Johnson) – Like Parasite, Knives Out also takes on class struggles and subverts expectations. Writer-director Johnson sets up the film as a classic Agatha Christie-style whodunit. A famous mystery writer (Christopher Plummer) is found murdered and his family fights over the inheritance while a detective (Daniel Craig) tries to figure out what happened. Once Johnson casts that die though, he plays with the form, moving the story in exciting new directions. Knives Out grows into this beautiful, hilarious maze of reveals and flashbacks. Johnson keeps the pace tight, but not so fast that you can’t follow it. He gets laughs poking at the wealthy’s sense of entitlement but avoids turning the film into a polemic. Johnson has a good team behind him, especially production designer David Crank. The writer’s house, with all of its quirks and secrets, becomes another character in the film. In the tradition of Murder on the Orient Express and other Christie adaptations, Knives Out boasts an all-star cast, with Ana de Armas, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, Don Johnson and Chris Evans joining Plummer and Craig. Everyone bites into their roles with relish, but none more so than Evans, going against type as a nasty spoiled playboy. Knives Out was simply the most fun I had in a movie theater last year. Did I mention that I miss movie theaters? (Can rent on Amazon, YouTube, and Vudu).

Adam Spector
May 1, 2020