Wow, its hard to believe we are nearing the end of the year already, and we have our first two rounds of nominees! Despite the fact that a lot of film press still reported on their nominations this week, I am following the lead of NBC and awards watchers with a conscience, and ignore the HFPA and the Golden Globes from here on out. (For those not in the know, they have long had issues with diversity and inclusion, they hired people to help them fix the PR parts of this problem, but then refused to admit a single Black member, and are just ridiculous any way.) But, as I have long hoped would happen, the Critics Choice Awards are well poised to take over the Globes spot at beginning of the season calendar (they’re going to be on a real streamable network this year! And they’ve moved out of the airplane hangar to a real Hollywood hotel for the broadcast!) Also this week the Indie Spirits announced their nominees! Which means we are 3 days into this awards season and I already have an overwhelmingly long list of films to see. It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeeaaaar…..
Here are the few that I have seen so far:
A delightful comedy, that’s not quite romantic. A friendship comedy about what family is and what adulthood is and all those big questions without ever being preachy. The exact kind of movie that made me add the Indie Spirits back into my awards list, this is a perfect script (by Nikole Beckwith who also directs) that genuinely made me both laugh and cry. All the performances in it are fantastic, but it was my introduction to Patti Harrison, who is a star I can’t wait to see what she does next. Also really loved Tig Nataro as the therapist and Julio Torres as Harrison’s co-worker that could have been a sassy gay side kick but instead is a fully formed human in his own right. In fact that’s what I love about this is that it could have turned into cheesiness cliche at a lot of points and it never does. Go seek this out please, more people need to watch it!
I admit that I’ve never watched the documentary that this is based on, but I have listened to the “You’re Wrong About” episode about Jim Bakker, so I’m basically an expert. Just kidding, I think I went into this knowing just enough to be potentially annoyed, but by about 20 minutes in I was riveted enough to stop caring that it was a true story.
This is a melodrama, and a campy one at that, but it is anchored by truly wonderful performances from both Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield and (maybe more importantly) fantastic makeup, costume, and production design. The world here is immersive, even in its toxicity. It doesn’t truly cohere beyond a collection of scenes, but some of those scenes are fantastic.
Special shout out to Cherry Jones as Tammy’s no-nonsense Midwestern mom, a practical dream.
I was not sure going into this how I was going to feel about it – I don’t tend to love this brand of fantasy (too much world building can start to feel exhausting) and I didn’t love director Denis Villeneuve‘s Arrival (I know, I know). But, I did love the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune and I thoroughly enjoyed a conversation last summer with my friend Edward where he tipsily tried to explain the plot of the novels to me, so I tried to go in with an open mind.
And I’m glad I was, because there’s a lot to like in this. It’s shot beautifully and the acting is all superb. (And it needed to be, because some of the dialogue is…stilted.) Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Oscar Isaac are all fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the deployment of Jason Mamoa‘s charisma and I can’t wait for Zendaya to have more to do in Part 2.
Yes, I’m already willing to say I’ll be seeing Part II, though I didn’t love the score (Hans Zimmer and I have a complicated, mostly hate, relationship) and the pacing of the ending made it feel too long (and it’s already pretty long.) But it grabbed me enough to want to see it play out.
As an apologist for Pablo Larraín‘s Jackie – another “fable based on a real tragedy – I really wanted to like this…but I just couldn’t. Kristen Stewart is fantastic, but the world she is places in is so absurdly melodramatic as to feel absurd, and the lack of nuance made what should have been a triumphant climax feel laughably strange.
There are 3 scenes that transcend the silliness – 2 of which center on Diana’s relationship with her children. (The other is the only one where Charles [Jack Farthing] seems like a human being.)
Also – the depiction of Diana’s bulimia is borderline irresponsible and definitely unnecessarily graphic.
I’m not always the biggest Wes Anderson fan, but (maybe paradoxically) I tend to like him when he’s at his “Wes Anderson-iest,” and he is that here.
A love letter to The New Yorker and an indulgence of his unique visual style and storytelling rhythms, this movie totally worked for me. Essentially a collection of shorts with a charming Bill Murray frame narrative, it’s perfectly cast. (Hey there Timmy! Frances! Benicio!)
Often, I find Anderson’s work charming but emotionally cold, but this had a couple of moments that were really touching. I’m thinking especially of a conversation between Murray and Jeffrey Wright as a James Baldwin stand in.) I can genuinely say I’ve never seen a film quite like this and that’s lovely.
I am very much the target audience for this movie as a former theater kid who was RENT on Broadway multiple times and spent lunch at theater camp learning the words and hand claps to “Boho Days” with the other girls in the cast of Steel Magnolias.
But, that also means my expectations were high, and they were more than met. Lin-Manuel Miranda expanded what on stage amounts to a monologue with guest singers into an imaginative, emotional exploration of a selfish, but well-meaning artists and it had me crying and gasping and laughing throughout.
Robin de Jesus – whom I loved since CAMP (again, my theater kid bonafides are strong) – sis heartbreakingly good as Michael, and I was delighted by all the Browadway cameos (“Sunday” will be an all-timer movie musical sequence for me), especially Bradley Whitford as a note perfect Sondheim (RIP – I saw this a week before he died, and what a wonderful unintentional tribute it turned out to be). Speaking of note perfect, Andrew Garfield is a dramatic ball of wonder as Jonathan.
I already know I will be rewatching this for comfort for a long time to come.
My fiancé referred to this as “camp Godfather” and I can’t think of a better way to describe it. Mostly, I thought it was fun, and Lady Gaga and Jared Leto were clearly having a ball chewing all the (gorgeous) scenery. Overall, I wish that Ridley Scott had learned into the fun a bit more, but the music was great, and the clothes were fantastic. I also, thought that Adam Driver was genuinely charming in this. I’ve decided I like him most as an endearing nerd. (This might just be a way for me to tell you all – again – to watch Midnight Special and Paterson.)
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