Synopsis: Tully and Kate meet as young girls on Firefly Lane and become inseparable friends throughout 30 years of ups and downs. First episode date: February 3, 2021 Network: Netflix Program creator: Maggie Friedman Executive producers: Maggie Friedman, Stephanie Germain, Katherine Heigl, Lee Rose, Shawn Williamson, Peter O’Fallon My Review: After watching the first few episodes of this series, I was not sucked into …

Synopsis After floating in space for 57 years, Lt. Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) shuttle is found by a deep space salvage team. Upon arriving at LV-426, the marines find only one survivor, a nine year old girl named Newt (Carrie Henn). But even these battle-hardened marines with all the latest weaponry are no match for the hundreds …

by Cinematic Geekster February 6, 2021February 6, 2021

Alien (1979) Review

Synopsis In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside an egg leaps out and …

Actor in Leading Role:

Antonio Banderas- Pain and Glory

Leonardo DiCaprio- Once upon a time… in Hollywood

Adam Driver- Marriage Story

Joaquin Phoenix- Joker

Jonathan Pryce- The Two Popes

Joaquin’s performance in Joker was chilling and memorizing. From watching the movie, it is easy to tell he completely poured himself into the role and became the Joker. In face, it was easy to forget that you were watching Joaquin on the screen and instead it felt like watching the Joker. His performance in this role really impressed me and stayed with me long after watching the movie.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Tom Hanks- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Anthony Hopkins- The Two Popes

Al Pacino The Irishman

Joe Pesci- The Irishman

Brad Pitt- Once upon a Time… in Hollywood

Movies about well-known star figures have been a huge trend recently, and Tom Hanks did not disappoint in his portrayal of the infamous Mr. Rogers. Tom Hanks completely stepped into the role and became Mr. Rogers.

Actress in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo- Harriet

Scarlett Johansson- Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan- Little Women

Charlize Theron- Bombshell

Renée Zellweger- Judy

This is one of the most difficult categories to pick a winner. I would say it’s a close tie between Johansson, Ronan, and Zellweger. However, Scarlett Johansson really stepped up to the plate in this movie. She did an incredible job realistically portraying a mother and wife going through a divorce. Her performance was tear jerking and believable.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Kathy Bates- Richard Jewell

Laura Dern- Marriage Stroy

Scarlett Johansson- Jojo Rabbit

Florence Pugh- Little Women

Margot Robbie- Bombshell

This is one of the best roles I have seen Laura Dern preform in a very long time. She does such an outstanding job playing a cut throat lawyer while still adding lots of complexions and dimensions to her character. She was lifelike and came to life on screen.

Animated Feature Film

How To Train Your Dragon- DeBlois, Lewis, and Arnold

I Lost My Body- Clapin and Marc du Pontavice

Klaus- Pablos, Gotoh, and Román

Missing Link- Butler, Sutner, and Knight

Toy Story 4- Cooley, Nielson, and Rivera

Klaus was a very heartfelt and well put together movie. It is the kind of movie you can watch repeatedly and not grow sick of it. The animation and musical score was also extremely impressive.

Best Cinematography

The Irshman- Rodrigo Prieto

Joker- Lawrence Sher

The Lighthouse- Jarin Blaschke

1917- Roger Deakins

Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood- Robert Richardson

Every shot in Joker was jaw-dropping. To the point where I didn’t want to look away. It’s easy to tell each shot was given great care and attention. If you pay attention, there is deep symbolism and a deeper meaning in almost every camera setup.

Best Costume Design

The Irshman- Powell and Peterson

Jojo Rabbit- Mayes C. Rubeo

Joker- Mark Bridges

Little Women- Jacqueline Durran

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood-Arianne Phillips

Everything about the world in this movie created a very realistic and believable environment. However, the costumes were particularly impressive and added a lot to this movies viewing experience.

Best Director

The Irishman- Martin Scorsese

Joker- Todd Phillips

1917- Sam Mendes

Once Upon A Time.. In Hollywood- Quentin Tarantino

Parasite- BongJoon Ho

1917, is one of the best war movies ever made. This movie stood out from so many other war movies because it had so many unique directorial decisions. The creative vision behind this film is truly what makes it such an incredible film.

Best Film Editing

Ford V Ferrari- McCusker and Buckland

The Irishman- Schoonmaker

Jojo Rabbit- Engles

Joker- Groth

Parasite- Jinmo

The editing in this film was seamless and was extrmelly smooth. There were some very clever transitions, and I did not notice any issues with contnuity or match shots either.

Best Music (Original Score)

Joker- Gudnadottir

Little Women- Desplat

Marriage Story- Newman

1917- Newman

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- Williams

The music of Joker was one of my favoroite things about the film. The music was so creative and helped to establish a sense of emotion within the film. There were times the music made me tear up, uncomortable, etc. Which in total added to my experience watching the film.

Best Picture

Ford V Ferrari

The Irshman

JoJo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood

Parasite

As you can tell from my top picks for categories, Joker was by far one of my favorite films of 2019. It’s one of my best films I have seen in a very long time and blew me in a way that most films do not accomplish.