Cutting Through Rocks

Me, trying to recenter after learning of new horrors.

Movie: Cutting Through Rocks

Running Time: 1:35

Nominated for: Documentary Feature

How I watched: Slipstream via LACMA

When it had me: Charming main character

When it lost me: It didn't

What systems does it challenge: Patriarchy, Oppressive Religion

First off, this was not an easy documentary to find. It had ONE screening in local theaters and that happened to be right in the middle of the Super Bowl. Are you kidding me? I had a house full of guests so that didn't work. Then I found out it would be streaming on Docplay, a streaming service that I was all ready to sign up for and then cancel.

However, that changed again, and I ended up finding that LACMA was hosting online screenings of it. I had to register and sign in on a certain day and finally got to watch it. Thanks, LACMA.

Now I have watched it and I HATE THE WORLD!

It takes place in a village in northern Iran where Sara is a completely unconventional woman. Her father had no sons for years so he taught Sara to ride a motorcycle and build things and dress however she wanted and think for herself.

Her marriage doesn't last so she becomes a divorcee with her own home and works as the village midwife and runs for office on the village council. So far, it's great. I love everything about her. She helps married women to become part owners in their own homes, she encourages girls to stay in school and not marry as children and she advocates for child brides who want a divorce.

Can you guess what happens next? Yeah, they come for her. And they do it in the wildest and most unexpected way! I was infuriated and terrified and sitting on the edge of my seat. Since the film is hard to find, I'll tell you what happened at the end of the review but don't want to spoil it for those of you who want to check it out.

The film has many beautiful shots woven throughout and captures such a rich tapestry of emotional states of the various women and children involved. It does offer some hope even thought I'm just completely angry about all patriarchies at the moment. Well worth the watch.

Spoilers ahead....

Turn Back now....

Sara gets charged with having an indecent home and is under investigation. Her home is searched for hours and she has to visit a doctor to determine whether or not she is really a woman! What the actual fuck? And it's not just a genital check. It's long interviews asking why her voice isn't feminine and why she isn't more polite and when she plans to get married again. The judge then reviews all the materials and HE GETS TO DECIDE whether or not she needs GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGERY. I'm absolutely dying. There is no end to the ways they find to torture women. I'm livid. Apparently this is how they punish gay people in Iran. 

The judge rules that she can stay a woman but cautions that she better get married soon. Out of the students that Sara spoke to 17 of them get married off by their families and only five are trying to focus on their studies. Sara decides she has to be more patient and not push for such big changes but she isn't quitting. Good for her. Now I'm going to go crash out.

Diane Warren: Relentless

Movie: Diane Warren: Relentless

Running Time: 1:32

Nominated for: Original Song

How I watched: Prime

When it had me: She's so chaotic!

When it lost me: Some ableism

What systems does it challenge: Ableism, for me. Not sure for the film maker

I know Diane Warren because she gets nominated for an Oscar every time she writes a song for a movie. When she writes something it's usually for some interesting, small, out of the way film that would never have gotten noticed by the Academy otherwise. Year after year she shows up to the Awards and then goes home empty handed. Seventeen nominations, zero wins!

So this year, they made a whole documentary about her with her own original song attached and she is STILL not going to win because she is up against K-Pop Demon Hunters and Sinners.

What I learned watching the doc is that she is also responsible for the entire soundtrack of my teen years. She has 9 number one hits and 33 top ten hits! It's mind boggling.

Also? She is completely chaotic and quite clearly neurodivergent. But everyone in the doc talks about how peculiar and quirky she is so I figured no one has bothered to question how her brain works. Then halfway through they casually mention her autism. It really bothered me that they know she is autistic but they constantly exclaim over how hyper focused she is or how socially awkward she is or how she is so strange for prioritizing career over personal life. She is who she is and we know exactly why she has "quirks" and she is wildly successful besides. It just felt unnecessary to present her in that way.

The doc felt very spontaneous with one scene where Diane wants to show off a shed where she wrote songs as a teen but they obviously didn't plan it in advance because the door falls off the shed and they can't get inside. I like the honesty of leaving that in. It also felt padded in places, like they didn't quite have enough but I give it credit for really teaching me some things.

Thankfully Diane has won an honorary award from the Academy for her work over the years. It meant a lot to her and it will make it easier for me to watch her lose again this year.

Avatar: Fire and Ash

New witch just dropped!

Movie: Avatar: Fire and Ash

Running Time: 3:17

Nominated for: Visual Effects, Costumes

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Nope

When it lost me: The first Avatar

What systems does it challenge: Militarized Colonization and/or indigenous people's sovereignty.

How is this nominated for costumes when the costumes are all CGI? I realize someone had to design them but it's like we are trivializing the entire act of bringing the costumes to life. It seems kinda fishy to me. 

Anyway, three hours and 17 minutes is too long. You know how I feel.

Jake Sully continues to bring his culture to the Na'vi which means more guns and emotional unavailability.

Jake Sully continues to ask Na'vi to trust him and then immediately gets them all killed or their homes destroyed.

The white saviorism is uncomfortable.

Good news! I did meet another witch! I was hoping I would but they kept everything she did a mystery so I didn't learn any new tricks.

The visuals are beautiful, like the screensavers they use to sell TVs at Costco.

The dialog is stiff and unnatural. The visual effects even seemed spotty and not that great. Did we just have an off screening?

The action and pacing of the film actually move along pretty well. It carries forward logically from one scene to the next with a good balance of action and reflection. Look, this is a bare minimum kind of compliment but I actually see a lot of films that don't manage this.

How many times will James Cameron be allowed to make this movie? I think his plans include about 7 right now...am I really going to have to do this four more times???

Major Upside: there are some really cute CGI otters!

The Alabama Solution

Movie: The Alabama Solution

Running Time: 1:54

Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature

How I watched: HBO Max

When it had me: Phones in prison?

When it lost me: It did not

What systems does it challenge: Prison Industrial Complex 

Another heart breaker. This one covers the Alabama prison system which is both overcrowded and understaffed. It also keeps its inmates in unsafe conditions and uses them as a form of slave labor. 

Due to the understaffing, phones have become ubiquitous in prison and the inmates have finally found a way to communicate with the outside world and document some of the injustices that are a regular part of their daily life.

I'm inspired by the inmates who spend their time educating themselves on the law and on activism and fighting for their rights to be treated as humans. And I'm mortified by stories of men who have been behind bars for more than three decades. I can't imagine how I could build a life for myself in a place like that. How do you put one foot in front of the other with any kind of sanity when it's pretty clear you're never getting out?

These brave men have documented the many violations, abuses and crimes of the guards and are filing suit against the whole system. The movie points out that the state of Alabama has never done anything to protect the rights of people of color unless the federal government has required them to do so. The governor of that state takes offense that they are asking for federal assistance with this and insists it will require an "Alabama Solution" rather than a federal one, hence the title.

I wish I could tell you that at the end of two hours it's all worked out but it's s fight that will have to be maintained for quite some time, I fear.

The Ugly Stepsister

This girl was not so hopeless. She just needed confidence!

Movie: The Ugly Stepsister

Running Time: 1:45 (Nice!)

Nominated for: Make Up & Hairstyling

How I watched: Hulu

When it had me: Right Away

When it lost me: Body horror made me look away but didn't lose me

What systems does it challenge: Beauty standards

The Ugly Stepsister is a retelling of Cinderella that centers Elvira, one of the stepsisters. Elvira is awkward with a childish hairstyle and braces (which I didn't know were invented in the early 1800s!) and naively dreams of the Prince whose poetry she obsesses over.

I love this clear-eyed look at the bones of the Cinderella story. The marriage of the stepmother is a desperate attempt to gain a financial means to care for herself and her two daughters. Women can't have jobs or property; their only hope is to marry rich and the only way to do that is to be attractive, pleasant and obedient. Once her new husband dies the clock is ticking again and this time they set their hopes on the seemingly hopeless Elvira to go from ugly duckling to swan and save the family.

Elvira is likable from the start and the horror escalates as we watch her use increasingly gruesome and torturous tactics to improve her marketability. She becomes harsh and mean, yes, but she is in constant agony thanks to everything from breaking and resetting bones to a dietary tapeworm. Through it all she imagines a beautiful outcome of love between her and the Prince and I think we stick with her because of this stubborn optimism (even though it is revealed that the Prince is a douchebag.)

Cinderella has her own love interest and is also mean to Elvira and there is also the younger sister (who has big nonbinary vibes) who wisely hides when she gets her period so she can stay out of the fray and just hang out with the horses. The stepmother is all in, essentially prostituting herself for whatever favors and scraps she can negotiate.

All of these women are shrinking, altering and hiding themselves in order to survive through the only means offered to them; dependency on men. The men are hardly even present in the film until we get to the ball and they circle like horny sharks looking for prey. The women are like exotic animals that have been brought out for show. It's exaggerated but also completely realistic and that's the real horror.

We know how the story ends. This is a first time director from Norway, Emilie Blichfeldt, and she does some really subtle and wonderful storytelling especially at the end. As Elvira (now almost monstrous from her backfired attempts at "improvement") and her young sister escape, Elvira is giggling from the absurdity of the moment and it might be the first genuine joy we see her experience in the whole film. In the midst of her tragedy it feels reassuring. Her sister then tells her that have to get to the border by nightfall. We have no idea where they are going but it seems they have a plan and we are left with hope that they have freed themselves from the shallow world of competing beauty.

I enjoyed this far more than The Substance as a commentary on beauty expectations for women.

K-Pop Demon Hunters

Serious about snackies!

Movie: K-Pop Demon Hunters

Running Time: 1:39

Nominated for: Animated Feature, Best Original Song

How I watched: Netflix

When it had me: Cute characters

When it lost me: Honmoon?

What systems does it challenge: Demonology

This movie dives right in and gets down to business. I appreciate that it doesn't waste any time on complex exposition. Even so, I didn't know what in the world a honmoon was or what they were saying or what it meant until I looked it up only moments ago. 

The main characters are so adorable and relatable. They are serious about their jobs, both as popstars and demon hunters, but they also value their snacks and couch rotting time. They are attracted to cute boys and also know a red flag when they see one. 

The music is catchy and fun and it rolls right along to a conclusion that was maybe a bit too easy to pull off. I like the message that our own scars and dark thoughts are a bigger threat to us than others who are fighting their own battles with shame.

The costumes of the demons are pretty great and I genuinely fell in love with the bird and the tiger! All in all, much better than I expected.

The Lost Bus

This is actually not from the movie. The blue wall in the distant left half of the frame is my house, surrounded by so much fire. I don't know how it survived. I don't know how we got so lucky. I'm grateful every day. Thanks to our neighbor for this most disturbing photo.

Movie: The Lost Bus

Running Time: 2:09

Nominated for: Visual Effects

How I watched: Apple TV

When it had me: I remember Paradise!

When it lost me: Fire, obvs

What systems does it challenge: Climate Change and Failures of leadership

Live Reviewing The Lost Bus (aka typing as I watch so I don't feel alone):

We are starting on the power lines above the city. Same, Paradise.

(I went to school at Chico State so I have history with Paradise. I know people from there. I used to watch Sunsets over the canyon. I shopped in the many antique shops. I dated a gay man from there. Anyway, enough about me.)

Warning about wind gusts up to 80mph! Same, Paradise.

They are setting up Matthew McConaghey's character as having ALL the bad luck. Sick mom, dying dog, not a good dad. And a lot of little annoyances that aren't going to matter soon.

Neglected power lines and dry grass! Same, Paradise.

Also? My aunt lived in Magalia and lost her home in this fire. She had all of the Victorian era tin type photos of our ancestors. 

They just said "Paradise is eight miles away. I don't think it's a problem." But they are wrong! This fire is so fast moving its like multiple fires at once. Same, Paradise.

25 minutes in and I'm fighting tears! I should be drinking!

I can't believe they are attempting air support in these winds. Ah, it's not working.

I vehemently hate the Cal Fire team making decisions. Not because they've done anything wrong per se. But the team we had never ordered evacuations and I've never felt more betrayed by anything.

This is giving me a chance to try breathing techniques and self soothing tips that I have learned to deal with the feelings that come up. Exposure therapy! And you know what? The techniques are working.

Oh no! The evacuation orders won't send! That's the worst!

This dude didn't want to pick up stranded kids because his 15 year old is home with a stomach bug! Get it together, Kevin! This teacher is so calm; I can't tell if she is super profesh or just in denial (I know I was!) Bus driver is either an idiot or smarter than everyone. We'll see, I guess.

Being stuck in a car trying to escape a fire is a major fear of mine! I'm so grateful that when we left there was no traffic. Forty minutes after we left it got really bad.

Every man for himself. Shit!

Power company hasn't shut off the power lines properly. Same, Paradise!

Being separated from your family during an evacuation would be the most terrifying thing. This bus is off-roading and everything! I feel traumatized; imagine these children!

They just made the call to cease all firefighting and I lost it! "Despite our best efforts, this community is facing the full force of the fire alone." Same, Paradise.

They are using a little bit of a Sam Raimi fire POV cam, making it look like the fire is hunting them.

My whole body wants to lock up when I think of these poor people following evacuation orders and then being overtaken by the fire. Cars burning; people running through the trees trying to go faster than a massive out of control fire. No one should have to perish in such a state of absolute terror. I want to go back in time and do something to ease their pain. Why can't I do that?

Spoiler alert: the bus made it out. I can't help but wonder if the bus would have been fine if the drive had just followed the initial evacuation route. Probably not, but who knows? They survived. I survived.

The movie is so-so. It's not an artistic masterpiece but the acting is good and you stay fearful for everyone involved and therefore invested. That's all I can say.

Now I'm going to go watch Olympic figure skaters and feel joy again.