The Movie Guy

Just as the Greeks and Shakespeare knew, comedy stems from tragedy. Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up,” “The 40 Year-Old Virgin”) knows it too. After fashioning a real-life based romantic comedy and starring vehicle for comic Amy Schumer in “Trainwreck,” he does the same for SNL’s Pete Davidson. Giving Davidson the lead role in his new film “The King of Staten Island” and using the real-life tragedy of Davidson’s firefighter father’s death as a springboard, Apatow imperceptibly creates comedic gold. With all of Apatow’s (and Staten Island’s) trademark sarcasm and cynicism, it’s one of the best films you’ll see this year and it’s available on demand.

My favorite movie of 2019 is now on Netflix: “Uncut Gems” is a gritty character drama that sucks you into its world of addiction and desperate hustle for one big score.

If you enjoy movies like “All The President’s Men “and “The Big Short” where scandals are exposed through investigating fraudulent finance, HBO’s “Bad Education” makes for engrossing entertainment.

If the coronavirus has you spending more time with Netflix than you’d like and the usual fare of film choices just isn’t cutting it, try one of Netflix’s own film productions to reaffirm your faith in ‘public enemies’ being defeated: “The Highwaymen” is an engaging, cat-and-mouse drama that tells the story of how legendary bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were brought to justice after a two-year crime spree.

With a background in the “Saw” and “Insidious” movie franchises, writer/director Leigh Whannell puts enough clever twists into the classic tale of “The Invisible Man” to keep you interested but its Elisabeth Moss as Cecilia that makes you believe this disappearing act.

With the Oscars being presented on Sunday, February 9^th, I like to focus on the films and performances that I found most memorable. In keeping with the tradition of the late Siskel & Ebert’s “If We Picked the Winners,” here are my standouts for 2019 using the nominees in the main Academy Award categories. While others try to second-guess Oscar politics with who ‘should win’ or ‘will win,’ I like to keep it simple. In case you missed any of them, these are the films and performances I’ll remember- simply put, these are the ones:  

This year’s films saved the best for last: “Uncut Gems” is one of those gritty character dramas that suck you into its world of addiction and the desperate hustle for one big score.

Thanks to our fascination with mob stories, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” is a film that actually gets better as it goes along. Based on Charles Brandt’s book “I Heard You Paint Houses” recounting the experiences of hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), the yarn yields a sizeable knot- Sheeran may know what happened when Hoffa disappeared in 1975. Was Sheeran involved? Finding out is the hook that grabs you.

Like a good jazz riff, “Knives Out” is director Rian Johnson (“Looper,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) taking the conventional trappings of an all-star whodunit and twisting them into an engaging cat-and-mouse thriller with a subtle social commentary.

“Terminator: Dark Fate” is a mixed bag for ‘Terminator’ franchise fans. While it refashions the same storyline with neat tweaks and big blowout action scenes, it can’t stop itself from steering toward an overly familiar, overly long, over-the-top finale.