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Best and Worst Films from August 2019

Best Films from August 2019:

3. Destry Rides Again

There was only one truly great movie I watched during this month, but there were some very good ones, mostly belonging to my 9ine series of course where I covered the anniversary movies. The first one is this very pleasant western flick which is much funnier and much more fun than most of its genre contemporaries while it also features two great turns from James Stewart and particularly Marlene Dietrich. It was so interesting seeing her in a western, and seeing such a good humor as well.

2. The Jerk

Speaking of humor, The Jerk is a comedy that really gets the humor apartment right. Yes, the film is uneven in quality, but when it works, it absolutely excels. Steve Martin is tremendous in the main role and the central romance is both amusing and very endearing. I found the dinner sequence spectacularly hilarious, and the premise itself is some killer stuff. It’s a rare 70s comedy that works to this day and age.

1. Late Spring

Not only is Late Spring the best movie I have seen during August, but it’s one of the best of the entire year as it’s a five-star perfect rating for me. Yasujiro Ozu made his masterpiece here by incorporating both the modern and the traditional of 40s Japan life. The performances are amazing and the characterization is fabulous. The central father-daughter relationship is deeply touching while the third act is immensely emotional. It’s also artistically shot and just a gorgeous, amazing movie through and through.

Worst Films from August 2019:

3. Dark Phoenix

There were quite a lot of clunkers I watched in this period as both ‘Rocketman’ and ‘Fish Tank’ could have been here, but ultimately I went with this deeply disappointing, though still passable X-Men final movie. Yes, it has some good action and moments in it, but the emotion is lacking and the movie is dull in tone and rather pedestrian overall.

2. Parasite

I don’t know and I never will know how the hell this movie got a Golden Palm. It is intriguing at first, but it quickly delves into very odd territory with its unsuccessful mixing of the genres and highly annoying characters throughout. It’s also hugely implausible in its storyline and simply too silly to be taken seriously.

1. Cool World

Of course Cool World gets the first spot as it’s by far Bakshi’s worst movie. It has a fine premise and the animation’s great, but the characters are certainly not and the movie is both stupid and campy to an excessive point of breakage. Everything went wrong in this movie and it’s only entertaining how dumb it is.