The Wandering Earth (2019): After the average trifecta of "MURICA, FUCK YEAH!" movies I watched a few days ago, I indeed needed a palate cleanser. It came in the form of this Chinese Sci-Fi movie, which scenario caught my interest, if only for the fact it's based on a novel from Liu Cixin. For one: I fucking love Science-Fiction, probably my favorite genre overall. For sure, I love it way more than movies about mafias and boring white male-centric navel-gazing American mythology based on merely 300 years of existence which causes a lot of repetition in Hollywood movie production. But that's another debate (yes, I'm still petty about
those movies, sue me). ANYHOW! It was a damn breath of fresh air to watch a movie in which Americans are absolutely non-existent, and not taking part at all in the "saving the world" bit. You have Russians, French, and so on, it's a worldwide effort and it's made clear, although Chinese are in the main driving seat, and it's quite interesting to discover that perspective for once. The acting was lacking a bit though, and while they tried hard to make the science part make sense beyond that, you have to suspend a lot of disbelief in order to agree to the initial pitch of planet Earth finding enough fuel to exit its gravitational field. That been said, it's still an overall enjoyable movie, and I really liked the aesthetics and artistic direction. It felt like it had an original visual identity, and that was pleasing to discover. Other than that, the movie is a fairly regular blockbuster movie, lacking flavor at times. But boy was it still a breath of fresh air when I watched it, and I'm thankful to it for that!
6/10
The Farewell (2019): I heard nice things about this one, and I quite like Awkwafina, so I was in. I was surprised at her range, she really embodied this role, and showed a new side of her, so fragile and vulnerable, that I had no idea was there yet. This movie touched me a lot, it's rare to have the point of view and insights of Asian American, and hear their stories. This movie is a story about immigration, about being torn between two cultures, about belonging to a family when you're all scattered around the globe, and about growing up, too. It made me cry a bunch, it made me smile too. It was balm to my soul. It also was a great opportunity to see Chinese neighborhoods that you rarely see, filmed through such an intimate and loving lens, with pretty photography. It was a unique experience with a unique perspective, and I'm glad I watched this, it stayed with me after I was done watching it too, and I kept reading up articles about it.
8/10
To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020): A good fluffy romantic comedy is what one needs at times. I enjoyed the 1st one enough (I gave it a 6/10 at the time), so I thought, why not give this one a try too, right? After all, I'm also in it because Lana Condor is very endearing in that role. So this sequel does the job too. It's a bit dumb and contrived, let's not lie about it, but it still nails the fluff part well enough, and sticks its landing. And that's all I was asking for here.
6/10
Jojo Rabbit (2019): I had some expectations about this one, and it delivered. I just love me some Taika Waititi, and this man keeps on being great, he just can't help it. I loved the humor, so funny, but in a clever way. The satire works well here, because Nazis and their aesthetics aren't glorified at all. They're ridiculed, and are deserving of it. The movie also nails the moments of drama, even though one of them was pretty obvious it was coming. But it does it in a simple and real way, there's no unnecessary pathos here, it wouldn't fit. It goes straight to the point: war is a coldass motherfucker. This movie nails the perfect balance between joy and sadness, and does it in a meaningful way. All the characters are so vibrant and remarkable, and the acting is pretty good. It was very pleasant to see Johansson in this role, her comic side is definitely underrated. I enjoyed this movie throughout, and I got out of it with a little bit of hope too. And that's nice.
8/10
Ok now I'm ready to make my 2019 MOTY list, yasss!