Far and away the best December in years, a wheelbarrow full of terrific movie are out there waiting to be enjoyed. A record four films earned Ocean Palmer’s highest rating this month and that doesn’t include “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which was released in theaters for uncut presentations as originally seen 70 years ago.
Films are rated zero (The Dreaded Fist of Badness) or from two fingers to five (a High Five). Gentleman’s decorum prevents the rating of a single digit. Since everyone is in a hurry these days, let’s get right to the action. Here they are, our 12 year-end monthly reviews:
Moonlight – 5 finger High Five. This visceral drama about the odds-against despair of a confused boy growing up in Miami’s Liberty City ghetto won’t be for everyone; but for filmgoers who want to watch a gritty, well made movie that quietly works on multiple levels this Oscar nominee to be leaves you thinking long after final credits roll.
Manchester by the Sea – 5 finger High Five. This low-budget ($8 million) indy film starring Casey Affleck as a troubled and defeated janitor who unwillingly finds himself custodian to his late-brother’s 16-year-old son is brilliantly written, flawlessly directed, adeptly executed from start to finish, and is easily one of the finest movies of 2016.
Camera Store – 0 fingers, The Dreaded Fist of Badness. Easily one of the worst films of the past decade, this ridiculous bucket of mess about a dingy 1990s mall camera shop facing its inevitable demise due to the advent of digital photography is so remarkably bad it defies description.
Frank & Lola – 2 fingers. Two unlikeable people in Las Vegas become a most unlikeable couple in this boring drama about a chef and vixen that fails to ignite any of the sexual tension it purports to sell, despite a brave and noble effort by the always reliable Michael Shannon.
It’s A Wonderful Life (Dec. 1946) – 5 finger High Five. Released 19 months after Hitler’s suicide ended World War II, Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart’s first post-war film collaboration (co-starring a radiant Donna Reed) is a timeless big screen classic about how how life, love, and small town decency topple dominoes of goodness that invisibly enrich the lives of others.
Miss Sloane – 3 fingers. Jessica Chastain is the centerpiece of this mediocre script-driven Washington, DC-based drama about a ruthless and maniacal Capitol Hill lobbyist hell-bent on defeating the NRA’s determined blocking of gun registration legislation.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – 4 fingers. Although a bit long thanks to a protracted astral battle during its third act climax, it is hard to ask any series’ seventh movie to give us more than this one does—a terrific standalone film and top shelf addition to the world’s most popular science fiction series.
La La Land – 5 finger High Five. After first choices Miles Teller and Emma Watson backed out, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone signed on and power this wonderful musical about an aspiring jazz pianist and hopeful actress whose lives intersect, intertwine, and suffer the consequences of Hollywood dream-chasing.
The Brand New Testament – 4 fingers. If you’ve been waiting for an off the wall oddball Belgian comedy about God’s perturbed young daughter wreaking havoc while Catherine Deneuve seduces a gorilla in Brussels, your patience has been rewarded.
Lion – 4 fingers. Based on the true story of a five-year-old Indian boy separated from his small town rural family due to an unexpected three-day train ride to Calcutta, and who 25 years later obsesses to somehow figure out how to return from his adopted home in Tasmania all the way back to his obscure village, this heartstrings-tugger is up and down at times but interesting, respectful, and very well made.
Fences – 4 fingers. Stage adaptations penned by the playwright are often dicey and this powerful 1950s story about an angry, frustrated garbage collector (Denzel Washington) who finds bitterness in everyone and everything is too preachy too often but Viola Davis shines as the devoted wife struggling to hold her family together.
Elle – 5 finger High Five. Isabelle Huppert is magnificent in one of the year’s meatiest leading roles, as Dutch director Paul Verhoeven adeptly helms a complex French drama that deftly interweaves multi-layered relationships centered around a mid-life female gaming executive whose wide-ranging sexual desires complicate the lives of all around her.
That’s it for now, film fans. Got a few more to catch up on — Jackie among them — so make sure to let me know if I’ve gotten these right or wrong . And please remember to leave the fifth row center seat open for me, okay?
Happy new year!
