Cindy Prascik's Top Ten Movies of 2020

 

Ahhh...2020. Count me among the many who are delighted to say goodbye to you (goodbye to you-oo, goodbye to you)!

2020 was the weirdest of movie years, with most major releases opting to punt to the hopefully safer months of 2021, and many pictures that elected to test the "direct to home viewing" strategy feeling hurried, unpolished, and much like old TV movies of the week. Even with lockdowns and a hybrid work schedule that had me home more than I'm used to, I watched fewer films that I have in any other year in recent memory. Still, my dear reader(s), I feel like I owe you a list, and a list you shall have.

The usual disclaimers:

There were some noteworthy titles this year on which I deliberately took a pass. It seemed like horror was the genre that best comported itself in these new, strange times, but horror just does not interest me. My horror-loving friends report that I missed some quality offerings there. Some subject matter was just too contentious for me, given the times, such as the Trial of the Chicago Seven. I'm accustomed to seeing movies on opening weekend at the cinema, and I don't always get to streaming offerings as quickly as others, so I had advance warning to steer clear of others, like the Prom, which meant too much to too many people to have been bungled as badly as it was. In other words, the pool from which I drew these ten titles is perhaps even more shallow than it had to be.

Also, as in previous years, a movie's original Weasley score may have little bearing on its year-end placement. Some movies age well, and some do not.

Without further ado, my top ten movies of 2020.

10. Mank

As noted in my original review, Mank is a good movie that I didn't enjoy much at all. It is, however, the only place I saw Gary Oldman in 2020, and that earns it its place here. Mank features masterful dialogue and a peek behind the curtain that undoubtedly makes it an instant favorite for students of film history. And for the record, Gary is brilliant...but of course you already knew that. 

9. The Last Full Measure

The Last Full Measure is a bit pedestrian and, thus, isn't the movie it could have been, but it earns a spot in my year-end top ten for a couple reasons: First, its emotional wallop is enormous, and I felt it strongly among the veterans with whom I shared a cinema the day I saw it. Secondly, it represents a decent role for Sebastian Stan, who consistently punches below his weight with Marvel and other parts that don't half tax his enormous talent. More of this for Sebastian, please.

8. Hamilton

Does the filmed version of the Broadway musical Hamilton count as a movie? In the interest of filling ten spots, it sure does! Hamilton is a once-in-a-generation event, and that the original company was captured for posterity and shared so freely is pretty monumental. This recorded version mostly captures the spirit of the show, and hopefully engages many who otherwise might not have access to the theatre in general and a show of this caliber in particular.

7. Jingle-Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Jingle-Jangle: A Christmas Journey is an instant classic filled with festive settings, bright costumes, and bouncy tunes. A top-notch cast makes this Netflix original a holiday home run. Be sure to make time for Jingle-Jangle: A Christmas Journey, as the Twelve Days of Christmas wind down!

6. Tenet

Christopher Nolan serves up another mind- and time-bending adventure that represents one of 2020's few truly epic pictures. John David Washington and Robert Pattinson shine in an exciting movie you'll be thinking about long after you leave the cinema.

5. The Go-Gos

The first of three music documentaries to make this year's list, the Go-Gos chronicles the career of the first (and, so far, only) all-female band to achieve a number-one album with songs written by the band members themselves. From early punk roots through a meteoric rise to fame, substance abuse issues, and recent reunion, the Go-Gos is a remarkable story filled with great music. Get these ladies into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame NOW, please.

4. The Gentlemen

I was lucky to see the Gentlemen at my cinema twice before the world went sideways back in the spring. It is very much the type of movie I most enjoy: testosterone heavy, with lots of violence and swearing. (I'm a simple creature, I like simple things.) In my opinion, it also represents Charlie Hunnam's best role to date. Colin Farrell steals the show, as he is wont to do, but, really, the entire cast is just brilliant, and the story takes many turns before tying itself up in a neat little bow. Probably the most fun movie I saw all year.

3. The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

The second of three music documentaries in this year's list is How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, which relates the incredible and sometimes tragic story of the Brothers Gibb. The movie maintains a positive vibe without skirting difficult issues, but primarily it's a wonderful trip down memory lane guided by hit after hit, great song after great song. The Bee Gees have a story worth telling, and director Frank Marshall was smart enough to let their music tell it. A must see!

2. Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

My top music documentary and second-favorite film of 2020 is Gordon Lightfoot: If  You Could Read My Mind. Like the Bee Gees documentary, this film leans heavily on the subject's exceptional catalogue, with frank commentary from Lightfoot himself, who offers fascinating and often surprising insights. This one is also a can't-miss, for fans and not-yet-fans alike. 

1. Bill & Ted Face the Music

Bill & Ted Face the Music is the final installment in this time-traveling trilogy, and what a finish it is! Bill & Ted 3 is a sweet, funny, nostalgic adventure with a positive and hopeful message. It may not be a perfect movie, but it is definitely the perfect movie for 2020, and, thus, it earns the number-one spot on my year-end list.

2021 is here, and with it hope for better days ahead. The first and best way for all of us to help make that happen is to, as Bill and Ted say, "Be excellent to each other."

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: MANK

 

1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing wit and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish "Citizen Kane."

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, Tom Pelphrey, Sam Troughton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Tuppence Middleton, Tom Burke, Joseph Cross, Jamie McShane, Toby Leonard Moore, Monika Gossmann, Charles Dance

Release Date: November 13, 2020

Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Rated R for some language

Runtime: 2 h 11 min

Review:

David Fincher’s Mank is a labor of love through and through.  Written by Fincher’s late father, it has been a passion project of Fincher’s since the late 90’s when he intended to film it after 1997’s The Game.  The fact that it has made its way to the screen after so much time is a testament to Fincher and the result is technically impressive and rather engaging especially for people who enjoy a bit of cinematic history.  Fincher gives the film a distinctive style by using cues and techniques in line with the golden age of cinema.  The dialogue also has a snappy back, and forth which make the film sing with a certain kind of lyricism.  It is a fascinating bit of cinematic alchemy which recalls 2011 Academy Award winning film, The Artist, where style is part of the character of the film.  It rises about that film with a stronger cast who are clearly having a blast in their roles.  Gary Oldman leads the film with great gusto using a voice inflection that sounds like Burgess Meredith in the Twilight Zone in the 50’s.  Oldman’s Mank is always the smartest man in the room, even when it is to his detriment.  The snappy dialogue flows naturally from Oldman as you follow this fascinating if somewhat tragic tale, he generally the most interesting person on screen but that is not to say his supporting cast isn’t more than up to the cast.  Amanda Seyfried turns in one of her best performances here, totally losing herself in the role.  She’s generally a capable actress but he she just seems far more committed than usual.  Charles Dance makes for a formidable Randolph Hearst but his scenes are few and far in between.  Similarly, I would have enjoyed a bit more screen time for Tom Burke’s Orsen Welles whose one scene with Oldman’s Mank is a late act treat.  Whether that interaction or any of them ever happened in real life is left up to the more dedicated viewer to research.  If there is a failing here is that’s while we follow Mank’s journey through his memories we are always kept at an emotional distance so that when the final scene plays you don’t feel the emotional punch as intended.  

B

Cindy Prascik's Review of Mank

 

My dearest reader(s): One of the sad casualties of 2020 has been what I will snobbishly call "cinema-worthy" movies, that is, movies that don't feel like they were made for TV. Sure, there have been some, but the pickings have been slim. I am pleased to report that last week Netflix threw a solid entry into the skimpy awards season fray with its original picture, Mank, the reasonably true story behind the writing of Citizen Kane.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailer or if you're familiar with actual events, which, I assure you, I am not.

Disclaimers, away!

Folks, I hate old movies. That may seem like a weird thing to hear from someone who spends three-quarters of her free time watching movies, but it is the gods' honest truth. If it was made before 1970 and it's not the Wizard of Oz or something with the Marx Brothers, no thank you. Citizen Kane is frequently cited as one of the greatest — if not *the* greatest — films of all time. I couldn't be less interested. Mank is made in the style of those classic, old, black-and-white movies, and that certainly didn't help me warm to it.

On the flip side, Gary Oldman remains my favorite actor in the known universe, and my life has been way too short on Gary Oldman lately. Heck, for the last two years I haven't even had time to make my (in?)famous Gary Calendar; instead I've had to buy premade calendars, and I can assure you, those don't come in "Gary Oldman." A new Gary Oldman movie definitely represents one of 2020's few bright spots.

Art is, by nature, subjective, but, by any objective criteria I can mark, Mank is a pretty good movie. The story is interesting and well-told, jumping from Herman Mankiewicz toiling over the film's screenplay while recuperating after an automobile accident to flashbacks (always notated as they would be in a script) that give us the backstory: Who is Mankiewicz, and how did he end up where he is? Gary Oldman is nothing short of brilliant (she says with maybe a hint of bias), and I think Oscar buzz around his performance is well founded. The supporting cast is very much up to snuff as well, with solid work from Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tuppence Middleton, Sam Troughton, Tom Burke (yay!), and the always brilliant Jamie McShane. Directed by David Fincher, with a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Mank also represents a little reunion of some people who helped create the film that *I* consider the greatest of all time: the Social Network. Other than running a little longer than it needs to, there's nothing practical I can call out as a negative, BUT...I struggled to get through Mank all the same. I was bored enough that at one point I had to put my phone in a drawer I couldn't reach to keep from goofing off instead of paying attention. If you're reading this, I guess you're interested in my honest opinion, so there it is: Mank is a good movie that I didn't like very much, but Gary Oldman makes it worth watching (as he always does).

Mank clocks in at 131 minutes and is rated R for "some language."

Give Gary Oldman another Oscar now, please and thank you. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Mank gets seven.

Until next time...