Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Beautiful Boy, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse amd First Man

Movie: Beautiful Boy
Nominated for: Update - Not nominated
When I fell asleep: I did not.
When it had me: Immediately. A parent with a missing kid and I was in.
When it lost me: Rapt, horrified attention, all the way.
What I have to say: Thoughtful acting, strong editing, compelling and nightmarish story for any parent. I cried a lot and talked to my kids about drugs afterward. I didn't even know going in that it was based on a real story; once I figured that out I felt even worse. The texture created by the memories of innocent childhood were so incredibly powerful. I normally would not choose this movie for myself out of fear that it will be emotional torture. I'd much rather watch a slasher film that gets my heart racing, but I'm glad when Oscar season makes me take the time for a movie like this.







Movie: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
Nominated for: Best Animated Movie
How I watched: Movie Theatre, twice
When I fell asleep: Nope
When it had me: Peter B. Parker, crying in his bathtub
When it lost me: Never
What I have to say: This movie was so special on so many levels. The message that anyone can "wear the mask" of heroism and the realization of that by showing us such a beautifully diverse group of characters doing so. The deep love of family that guides the hero into his future. The authenticity and vulnerability of Peter B Parker that had me cackling and crying and gasping for air in my theatre seat. The animation style and sense of humor. All of this was wonderful and so enjoyable that this film is on my short list of top picks for the year! I might have argued for this to be added to the Best Picture category but HOW could they add TWO superhero movies in the same year?





Movie: First Man
Nominated for: Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects
When I fell asleep: With only 20 minutes left to go. Had to walk around and rally for the end.
When it had me: Noise in the cockpit!
When it lost me: Going to the moon
What I have to say: Sound editing absolutely rocked it in this movie! I was blown away by the overwhelming aural experience of the textures and rumbles and louds of their version of what it was like to be an astronaut willingly hurling yourself through space in sheets of riveted together metal. I was moved by this experience at home! I wish I'd seen it in a theatre. As far as story, this is a more personal and dark look at space travel than we have seen through other films about the space race. I liked connecting to this famous astronaut as a human being. As noted above, they kind of lost me when they headed to the moon. I mean, I knew they would make it so it's hard to keep the tension, right? But then they hit me with some more awesome sound work and silence that got me right back. I'll be cheering on Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan for Sound Editing for sure!

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

NOMINATION DAY EXTRAVAGANZA!

The most exciting day for the Oscar Glutton is here! The nominations for the 2019 Academy Awards were announced this morning and now there is no more guessing. You can look at the full list here. But I know what you really want! You want to read about my reactions to the nominations.

Reaction 1:
I read the list of nominees and then I went out for a walk in Austria in spring time. I ran to the top of a grass covered hill, my arms outstretched and the snowy Alps majestic behind me as I twirled round and round and sang, "The Mule got zero nominations!!!!!!"  Then I went home and made lunches for the kids. (Note: I have not seen The Mule. Maybe it's a good movie? I have a long history of not enjoying Clint Eastwood movies so that's the reason for my jubilant relief this morning.)

Reaction 2:
After two weeks of getting up before dawn to drink raw eggs, watch movies and toughen my fists against freshly butchered sides of beef, I got up groggy and worn down. But my training had paid off. I have already seen all but 17 of the nominees this year! When I realized that I just started running, all the way to Philadelphia and straight up the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art my arms raised above my head in anticipation of my certain victory.

Reaction 3:
I found myself at home alone this morning as I listened to the nominations being announced. I had just finished pretending to shave when they announced the nominees for Best Documentary. I slapped aftershave on my face and screamed right into the camera, I mean, the bathroom mirror! I can't believe Won't You Be My Neighbor? was not among the films nominated in this category. I considered that one a lock since it came out. It surprises me because Morgan Neville won for his earlier effort, 20 Feet From Stardom and I thought this was a WAY more powerful doc. It just goes to show, you never know. Then I got dressed and double checked that all the doors were locked, just in case.

Some people are shocked that Bradley Cooper was "snubbed" for his direction of A Star is Born but since Spike Lee picked up his first nomination for that category this year, I don't find it that egregious.

No female directors were nominated this year but 4 movies helmed by women were recognized in one category or another. Those were Can You Ever Forgive Me? Free Solo, RBG and Capernaum. (And where are my lady editors at? I'm available, Hollywood! ) Women made up about 22% of the individual nominations (aside from acting) and people of color made up about 29% of those categories. However I am celebrating Black Panther being the first superhero movie ever nominated and bringing with it the first black Production Design nominee, Hannah Beachler. 

Thanks for joining me on this wonderful day of nominations. Now let's get back to watching movies!

Monday, January 21, 2019

Less Sure Bets

Some of the films that I have previewed that I am less certain will get nominations.



Movie: First Reformed
Nominated for: Update - Best Original Screenplay

How I watched: Amazon Prime
When I fell asleep: Nope. I watched it early.
When it had me: Unexpected occurrences!
When it lost me: Belly-gate
What I have to say: This was a compelling look at old church contrasted with new church, grieving, and when to fight versus when to let go. At one point a six months along pregnant woman lies down on her belly and I was so completely taken out of the movie that I quit trusting the film maker! (Am I a difficult viewer? Yes, sometimes.) The ending was a real head-shaker which keeps me from loving it as a whole even though I was very engaged for most of the film.





Movie: Leave No Trace
Nominated for: Update - No kudos for this one
How I watched: Amazon Prime
When I fell asleep: During the last ten minutes! I had to run it back but not by much.
When it had me: Watching a child run a drill to not be found in the woods.
When it lost me: I don't think it did
What I have to say: This was a quiet and small film about a father and daughter's relationship and about the difficulty of trying to live outside of society's expectations. The movie felt honest and heartfelt, the direction was competent. It sort of feels too small to get notice, but you never know.






Movie: You Were Never Really Here
Nominated for: Update - As I feared, no love form the Academy
How I watched: Amazon Prime
When I fell asleep: Not once
When it had me: Right from the start
When it lost me: Never
What I have to say: This film deals with some pretty ugly aspects of humanity but it manages to do so in a way that it doesn't force you to wallow around in the muck. The director lets you know what's up without torturing you about it which made me feel really trusting of the director, Lynne Ramsay. I am in LOVE with the editing of this movie. The use of flashbacks as emotional backstory rather than as traditional plot driven flashbacks is something I am super into right now; all I want to do is edit movies this way. Joaquin Phoenix's acting is terrific and the ending scene packs a punch that took my breath away. (This film is too violent for some of my friends.) This one is on my list of favorites for the year but I worry that it came out too early in the year to get notice.

Pretty Good Bets

 These ones MUST be included!



Movie: Vice
Nominated for: Update - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay and Best Makeup
How I watched: Movie Theatre
When I fell asleep: Not a bit
When it had me: Right after the logos
When it lost me: Never
What I have to say: I was a big fan of The Big Short and an even bigger fan of this movie. This style and humor works for me and I pretty much wish Adam McKay had been my history teacher. Christian Bale is astounding in this role! The rest of the cast is also great but also incredibly spot on for matching their real life counterparts. While I don't think that is required for a biopic, I'm still impressed with that achievement. This movie is another example of flashbacks and cutaways used very briefly to provide emotional context or to visually ground the viewer. I love this editing tool; I want to use more of it. (I wonder if older audiences find it more jarring than younger ones? I wonder if we are so accustomed to the ADHD effect of our smart phones that we can tolerate that better than earlier generations? I wonder why I consider myself a younger audience member? Are a lot of 70 year olds going to see Vice?) Anyway, the movie was terrific. Unless you are a conservative and then I imagine the movie is extremely offensive and a pack of lies.



Movie: Won't You Be My Neighbor
Nominated for: Update - I was so wrong! This is NOT nominated
How I watched: A Screening at School
When I fell asleep: Not at all, but my eyelids felt heavy with wine.
When it had me: Listening to Fred Rogers speak with passion about children.
When it lost me: I may have gotten a bit bored here or there.
What I have to say: I'm one of those people that does't want to admit out loud that I find the beloved Mr. Rogers pretty creepy. I don't think he was bad in any way and yet he puts me off. I was blown away learning about him and his mission in life. He was Brene Brown before Brene Brown was; he was all about acknowledging the inherent worth in every human being, living a non-judgmental, shame-free life and giving to everyone he met with an open heart. That is absolutely stunning. Even more stunning is that he lived in a time where you could use TV to spread that message while still being a humble pastor with a tiny local studio. I realized that he connected with everyone with vulnerability and authenticity. Because that isn't the norm in our society that kind of open-ness feels incredibly intimate and that's why he creeped me out. Mr. Rogers WAS trying to touch a part of me that is considered very private by most of society, and all Mr. McFeely jokes aside, it was never a bad thing!



Movie: The Favourite
Nominated for: Update - Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (twice), Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing
When I fell asleep: I didn't but I felt a bit distracted.
When it had me: A period piece about lesbians? It had me at the trailer.
When it lost me: I can't point to where specifically, but it didn't keep me the whole time.
What I have to say: First off, I watched a couple of trailers and thought this was going to be a hilarious comedy. Wrong. It IS black comedy and there are laughs but the central theme is not one of zany aristocrats. It's about power, manipulation and whether or not you know what winning looks like when you set out to play a game. The acting is superb, the dialogue is sharp and shocking, the design and costuming are fantastic. And yet, something about this movie never congealed for me. Individual scenes that were each enjoyable somehow didn't seem to connect with a power that let me know I was going somewhere specific. I'm still not sure if this is due to my errant expectation when I started or not. I liked it but didn't love it.

A Star is Born

Movie: A Star is Born
Nominated for: Update - Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing

When I fell asleep: I watched it in the morning so no worries.
When it had me: The first concert, when she goes onstage.
When it lost me: The orange hair? Really? Whatever.
What I have to say: I was NOT interested in this movie. Why does it need a third remake? Why should I care? I really was dragging my feet. And yet I have to give Cooper credit for doing the hard job of winning me over. Despite the fact that every turn this movie takes is utterly predictable, the performances were great enough to keep me watching. The editing and music leading up to her debut at his concert were absolutely thrilling; I was so invested at that point. Instead of asking myself why she was willing to go along with this self destructive dude (he's Bradley Cooper, so, duh!) or whether she contributed to his downfall (don't we blame the women always?), I found myself just glad that they got a little time to be there for each other before he had to tap out and before her career left no room for him. Lady Gaga outshone Bradley Cooper in the Acting department, but I did enjoy his gravelly voice thing (not as much Rocket Raccon's voice, but close.) This was extremely competently made and enjoyable. I hope for better from best picture, but we'll see.

Roma

Movie: Roma
Nominated for: TBA
How I watched: Netflix
When I fell asleep: My eyelids felt heavy for a moment, but I stayed awake.
When it had me: Parking the Galaxy!
When it lost me: It just managed to keep me engaged.

What I have to say: This movie is something so different than the entertainment to which I have become accustomed. It is an emotional tribute to a person. Not in the way that a biopic might detail the life and accomplishments of Stephen Hawking or Ray Charles, but in a far quieter and more personal way. It is beautifully shot, patient, non-judgmental and paced like life. It is a movie that sticks with you long after you have finished watching it and makes you really consider relationships, history, humility and lasting impressions. Truly unique and thoughtful cinema.

(Spoilers Ahead. Stop now if you need to watch it.)

Also? The movie flirts with being boring. There were times when I felt like I was invited to someone's house for the weekend and then they forgot about me. This is a lovely home and a lovely family and I'm so grateful to be included but should I just go read a book for a while or something? Cuaron shows us everything as if we are a fly on the wall, never pointing to one moment as more important than another. We watch dog poop being cleaned up with the same passivity as watching a child being stillborn. No music, no camera movement, no commentary. It feels weird to have a film maker just stand back and say to you, "It's not up to me. You can feel however you want about it." At times it felt indifferent although I know that was not his intention. I appreciate his desire to get out of the way and not manipulate our emotions. And still, it felt almost unsettling.

There was a scene that stood out as differently paced and constructed than the rest and that was a scene about parking a car! We watch the family's father (without ever seeing his face) attempt to fit a car into a tiny space with much frustration, recalibrating, tension and angst. It could not have been more clear that this person was at odds with the flow of the rest of the family, brought a different and unwlecome energy and quite literally did not fit in. The absurdity of this moment was wonderful and great comic relief.

The other scene that won me over was one where a field full of young men (and some onlookers) watch with reverence as a man in tights tells them what is difficult and what achievement is and demonstrates his heroism, while Cuaron shows us his personal hero is capable of all of that and so much more. It was a very lovely moment.

This movie is all the talk and for good reason. We don't often get a movie that just is its own thing without trying to be like other films, without trying to push and pull us in so many ways. Roma will definitely win its share of awards this year.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Oscar Glutton 2019: Countdown to Nomination day!

Hello, friends and movie lovers.

I am just so excited to get started this year. I usually make nomination day my first official post but that isn't happening for TWO MORE WEEKS! So forget that.

I asked my pals and readers to send me their locks, so here is a list of the movies we are pretty sure are going to get nominated for SOMETHING:

A Star is Born (ugh. Is there any chance I will like this movie?) 
Bohemian Rhapsody
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Vice
The Favourite
Leave No Trace
First Reformed
The Wife
Roma
Beautiful Boy
BlacKKKlansman
Isle of Dogs
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse 
Green Book
Minding the Gap

I am most worried that The Mule or Bumblebee will be nominated. (Fingers crossed that the spirit of Dorothy Arzner protects me from that pain.)

My goal is to sleep during fewer of the films this year, (but just to be safe, I should probably still keep track of the sleeping point.) Maybe starting earlier can help me get ahead and feel less of that eyelid-murdering movie fatigue. I've got two weeks to guess wisely and rack up some valuable pre-nom screenings.

It's winter, people! Let's retire to our darkened rooms and be entertained, challenged, lulled and hopefully delighted!