Miller's Crossing - 5/5

This is the kind of movie that you have to pay close attention to, because if you miss a line you very well may be lost for the rest of the run time. But because of the intricate nature of the backstabbing mafia plot the dialogue makes the audience pay just as close attention as the characters, constantly wondering what is doublespeak, and where each person’s loyalties truly lie. Most movies and shows try to accomplish this with invented drama but here it’s all mechanical, reliant on tangible necessities not fabricated strife. The Coen Brothers are in top form here, with dialogue so rich they had to tone it down in future movies to appeal to a wider audience.

Closest comparison: It’s like The Godfather that’s not trying to win an Oscar, with two mobs for the price of one.

Setting: Gangster
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Drama

The Big Sick - 4/5

It’s difficult to make a comedy about tragic circumstances, like chronic illness, but this movie walks the line perfectly. Maybe because Kumail Nanjiani lived through it, the script is able to use its comedy to prevent the depressing narrative from taking over the tone and keeps up a smile through the tears. It never makes light of the subject matter, but makes subdued jokes alongside the documentarian day-in-the-life struggles. It’s definitely a stand-out entry among its peers, and if you have a close connection with chronic illness it’s certainly worth a watch.

Closest comparison: It’s like a non-sci-fi Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by way of The Fault In Our Stars.

Setting: Hospital Comedy
Plot: Documentary
Tone: Drama

Dead in a Week: Or Your Money Back - 4/5

This movie has a dark comedy undertone, by virtue of its main character unsuccessfully trying to commit suicide several times and resorting to attempting to outsource the job to an assassin. Despite that, though, it's quite charming and its dry, British humour left a smile on my face for most of the runtime. By juxtaposing a day-to-day routine with assassins and suicide it brings out the hilarity in the mundane, and has a much more positive outlook than I would have expected. There are a few plot contrivances used for comedy and don’t make too much of a difference to where everything ends up, and though it may lose a few viewers the dry, British humour wins out in the end.

Content warning: language

Closest comparison: It’s like The Bourne Identity by way of Keeping Up Appearances with a pinch of Fawlty Towers.

Setting: Thriller
Plot: Dark Comedy
Tone: Dry Comedy

Hellboy (2019) - 3/5

This movie’s main draw is its visual aesthetic, which is so Metal that it looks like it was taken directly from an Iron Maiden album cover. It overemphasizes the goriness wherever it can, but if that’s your thing you’ll probably like this movie more than I did. There are lots of fun locations and characters, with a few sequences that were exceptionally well done. Unfortunately, there are too many plotting problems, with unclear character motivations and stakes. Unless you’re really into the visual style, just rewatch Guillermo Del Toro’s 2004 classic again instead.

Content warning: language, gore, dead children, brief female nudity

Closest comparison: It’s like someone read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and thought, “This needs more demons, intestines, and severed limbs.”

Setting: Hidden World
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Horror/Splatter

Do the Right Thing - 4/5

This movie carefully and thoroughly paints a scene of the dangers of racial tribalism and the destruction it causes in otherwise peaceful communities. It sets up the opposing ideologies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, then dismantles the latter in a tense demonstration of the chaos that that ideology brings to the table. Every character is vibrant and, though now very dated, still clearly motivated and relatable (to an extent). Some of the acting comes off as stilted and there are a lot of pop culture references that didn’t age well, but that doesn’t interfere with the point the film is trying to make.

Closest Comparison: It’s like a ‘90s rendition of Crash (2004)

Setting: Day in the Life
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Drama

Zombieland - 4/5

This movie is pedal-to-the-metal funny from start to finish. Of course, it’s zombie-themed humor so if that turns your stomach then definitely skip this one. The action is fun, but it’s the interpersonal dialogue that is the real highlight of this movie. It was one of the first movies to heavily feature text digitally inserted into the space of the scene, and its comedic impact hasn’t been matched since. And it has a pitch-perfect mid-movie character turn that raises the whole movie to another level.

Closest Comparison: It’s the fun comedy version of movies like 28 Days Later and I Am Legend.

Setting: Post-Apocalyptic
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Comedy

The Big Lebowski - 3/5

Even though this quickly became a cult classic, it’s too weird and rambling to be truly great. Of course, there are some truly great moments and infinitely quotable dialogue, but then there are all the parts people forget about. It’s certainly worth a watch if you haven’t seen it, just for the cultural touchpoint, but it doesn’t even really have a point beyond ‘look at all the crazy stuff that’s happening’. This is what happens when ‘quirky’ goes too far and doesn’t have substance to back it up.

Closest Comparison: It’s like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by way of Fargo.

Setting: Modern
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Comedy

The Boondock Saints - 5/5

The message of this movie is direct and to the point, but its method of getting there twists and turns. The storytelling is some of the best I’ve seen, easily beating Pulp Fiction’s random chaos with the director Troy Duffy’s own carefully crafted character development. It’s crass and wild, but all with a laser-focused objective that it brings home with flying colors. It has a pan-genre soundtrack that will stick in your mind and excellent performances across the board, including Willem Dafoe as you’ve never seen him before (and hope to never see him again). Its combination of in-your-face style and attention to detail makes it easy to see why this became the cult classic that it is. Viewer discretion: extreme violence and language.

Closest Comparison: It’s like Scarface meets Pulp Fiction, but with a point.

Setting: Modern
Plot: Detective
Tone: Action

Hotel Artemis - 3/5

The look and feel of this movie are fantasic. It's a master class in old meets new with a realistic, grungy world that has high-tech elements woven seamlessly into it. The acting is also great and the actors all did some of their better work. The whole thing just needed to be 20 minutes longer. Most of the story lines don't get adequately resovled, and the audience has to infer the fate of several characters. I would really like to give this one a 4/5, and if they release an extended director's cut on DVD it may get there. But as it is, the last half is disappointingly short for all the cool things they set up and didn't pay off.