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Best and Worst Films from May 2019

Best Films from May 2019:

3. Leave Her to Heaven

This was a terrific month for me where I have seen at least five very strong movies so making this list was quite difficult. Unfortunately, excellent Best Picture Nominee ‘Imitation of Life’ did not end up here. But Leave Her to Heaven had to be here as it’s such an amazing noir movie filmed in color which made it look unique and different. The central Gene Tierney performance is marvelous, this villain is to me iconic and the various crazy plot points are unforgettable.

2. The Picture of Dorian Gray

I rarely find book adaptations to be any good, but this is a rare exception. It’s of course not as great as the book is as the pacing is troublesome, but the performances are uniformly great with George Sanders being the perfectly cast highlight. The movie is also extremely faithful, visually arresting, eerie and downright satisfactory in every way.

1. The Navigator

And the best movie I saw not only this month, but probably in this entire year so far is The Navigator. Before ‘Sherlock, Jr.’ I wasn’t the biggest Buster Keaton fan, and after this even better movie I most definitely am. He’s so funny here as is his co-star, the movie is amusing and charming throughout and its situational comedy and slapstick humor utilize the ship setting superbly. The underwater sequence is stunning. It truly is a comedy masterpiece which needs to be appreciated more.

Worst Films from May 2019:

3. Alice Through the Looking Glass

Having not been a fan of the original, of course I wasn’t excited for the sequel. And I was right. The movie isn’t worse per say, but it’s another mediocrity in this franchise with good visuals, but a bad storyline, weak characterization and a horrible Johnny Depp performance.

2. Maleficent

Maleficent is the movie I dreaded and put off watching for years and for many great reasons as now after having seen it, I can confirm that it’s downright terrible. The performances are fine, but it destroys the thoughts of my beloved original with its horribly changed, unabashedly aggressive, bad plotting.

1. Batman & Robin

The most entertaining movie on this list still is the weakest. Yes, Batman & Robin is hilarious how stupid and ridiculous it all is. The costumes, the dialogue and everything here is beyond campy and silly to the point of becoming a self-parody in a way. It needs to be seen to be believed.