Dunkirk (2017)

Commander Bolton: The tide's turning now.

Captain Winnant: How can you tell?

Commander Bolton: The bodies are coming back.

Dunkirk was for me a masterclass in cinematography and the proper use of Handheld vs. Stationary vs. Steadycam work. I think Christopher Nolan hit just the right tone with his selection of which camera type fit his needs. I think that his was a necessity for the film because of the four basic level on which it took place: the sky, the boats, the beach, and the water. Each distinct area was best served by different camera work.  -Brilliant.  Honestly, this is probably the best camera work done for planes and arial combat I'v seen in years. 

Now, on a story element, I couldn't help but feel a little like Charlie Brown with the football being pulled away over and over. The main characters just had to go through all the steps and all the setbacks and all the terror to make it compelling. But it is a credit to the film that at each juncture I logically believed that the characters had made it -only to have it all pulled away..again. 

3.8 out of 5 stars. 

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Nikita Khrushchev: This is how people get killed, when your stories don't fit.

The Death of Stalin is the darkest, most absurd, hilarious, film I have seen this year that I didn't laugh out loud at.  Sure, the entire morbid theater of the communist ethos is almost debilitating funny, but none once did any of it break through in an uncontrolled physical outburst from me.  This is a British farce soup set on high simmer that never boils.

As to the cast: I will basically watch anything with Michael Palin, Jason Isaacs, and Steve Buscemi... so hats to those that signed off on pros. Yet, -and I say this with knowledge of his current troubles, and having never really watched Arrested Development- Jeffery Tambor was a disappointment in the role of Gregory Malenkov. There was something about his deadpan and somber voice that did not carry over into the spirit of the character.

3.1 out of 5

Ocean's 8 (2018)

"There are barely any Russians that aren't hackers." -Lou


Heist movies are fun. They just are. I like them. I enjoyed Ocean's 8. Others probably will too. Yet that is extent of the uniquely positive things I have to say. (and I may be have been influenced by The Solo movie here...) Having good materials and technique does a masterpiece not make. It just means it was set up as best it could for success.  And to use a painting metaphor, I think heist movies in particular need to hide their brush strokes. Knowing how it is all done, ruins the con on the audience. Ocean's 8 was a lot more paint by numbers.

So given that Ocean's 8 had a mildly positive outcome despite its promising set up, here are somethings I already knew. Sandra Bullock can act and is pretty funny. Assembling a team of misfits is probably the most satisfying element of any heist movie. If you hire good actors you will get generally good results. (No one in the cast was outstanding, but no one was terrible either.) And, to have an impactful twist, one first must set up the impossibility of success. (Ocean's 8 kinda failed on this one.)

2.8 out of 5

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Han Solo: I heard a story about you. I was wondering if it's true.

Lando Calrissian: Everything you've heard about me is true.

So in the long tradition of Disney cash grabs comes Solo: A Star Wars story. A well-meaning if benign take on the origins of Han Solo. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but also not a lot right. I personally felt that it lacked soul. It was a well-constructed, visually entertaining, bit of camp with a good cast that appears to have emerged fully formed from the product strategy group of Disney. I understand there were some issues with the Director position, hence the need to bring in Ron Howard, but even he can't mask the paucity of passion that meh'd throughout the film.

While I understand the good intentions of having the droid be a radical for droid rights and I am in favor of the obvious corollaries to current social trends of the past 10 years, I hated the execution. It all played to me like when a Jostens representative told me that the "dazzle" tassel was really "bling bling".

To all you business folks out there, remember that bringing together Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water is not enough to make Captain Planet. You need Heart.  So does Solo: A Star Wars story. 

3 out of 5 stars.