2023 Martini Shot

The Gluttony is over! I watched everything except for one animated short and one documentary short. I'm counting it as completion.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is still my favorite. Woman King was robbed of several well deserved nominations.  

My awards would be: 

I'd give EEAAO Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Editing.

I would give acting awards to Colin Ferrell, Cate Blanchett, Ke Huy Quan and Hong Chau.

All Quiet on the Western Front, I would give International Feature, Cinematography, Visual Effects, Make up, Production Design and Sound.

Costumes would be Black Panther. Adapted Screenplay would be Glass Onion. And Documentary would go to Fire of Love.

Shorts winners would be Stranger at the Gate, The Flying Sailor and An Irish Goodbye. 

I don't even know which film I'd give Original Score to, but Naatu Naatu would win Original Song. In fact, I can't wait to see them perform that one live!

I can't wait to sit on my couch and snark at all of the entertainers who are more successful than me! Enjoy the show, everyone!

Everthing Everywhere All at Once

Movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Nominated for: Best Picture,

How I watched: Regal, way back in February?

When I fell asleep: Not possible

When it had me: I don't remember the moment, only the endorphins

When it lost me: I did have to think about explaining butt plugs to my kids, but, no.

What systems does it challenge: Generational Trauma, All systems that keep us from healing from anxiety and depression

Content Warning: Self Harm, Hot Dog Fingers

How do I say what I feel about this movie? I guess the easy thing to say is it made me feel seen. More than anything, I felt understood. If you told me that someone was going to make a movie that dealt with mid life crisis, spiritual awakening, anxiety, depression, ADHD, unresolved parent issues and the multi-verse, I would laugh at that bizarre and foolish over reach. But here it is! Here is that movie.

Somehow it does it with comedy, an explosion of visuals, and seriously freakish imagination. After I saw it I told my family I could not imagine that another movie would supplant it as my best of the year and so far none has. 

And yet, many people are feeling very grumbly about this movie. It is a lot to take in and it is MESSY! I think this film is like surfing, some people caught the wave and it was exhilarating, some got left behind and just felt underwhelmed and others caught for a second but then wiped out and feel angry about it.

About halfway through this movie I started weeping openly and kind of kept it up through the remainder. It was like, someone else sees that life is a mess and it's not what we wanted and we're not who we thought and yet we are all of that and more if we can only see it and it's all so fragile and special and people are hurting and ALL we should care about is healing the hurts and because multiple things are true you are both winning and losing and as long as you still live you contain multitudes and isn't life crazy? Whoo. It was validating! Maybe that's what I am trying to say?

Anyway, I loved it because it achieved transcendence. I really hope it wins. It seems to have dominated in every way, so will the Academy fall in line or try to be different?

House Made of Splinters

Movie: House Made of Splinters

Nominated for: Best Documentary Film

How I watched: Prime

When I fell asleep: I didn't

When it had me: Poor babies!

When it lost me: Tuning out from sadness

What systems does it challenge: War

Content Warning: Alcoholism, self harm

This was a very hard to watch doc. It's all about a shelter for kids in eastern Ukraine where everyone has lost their jobs since the war started. So many kids are all alone because their parents have fallen to alcoholism and in many cases abuse.

The worst part is seeing how the kids are traumatized and so likely to grow up to live the same upsetting lives as their parents. Dreadful. This was not my favorite watch.

Live Action Short Films

Here are the Live Action Short Films

IVALU (Denmark) - 

An Inuit child is left to deal with her grief after her sister disappears. There are deeper strains of abuse and trauma to unravel as well. It's basically a love letter to one has sacrificed for another. There's also a raven, who I loved! B

NIGHT RIDE (Norway) - 

A woman with dwarfism accidentally "steals" a trolley. Then she has to decide to stand up to bullies in order to come to the aide of a trans person. I enjoyed the humor and the solidarity. B+

LE PUPILLE (Italy) - 

Orphans at Christmas time grapple with their souls and their holiday desires. This film has a ton of quirk; speedy footage, close ups on eyes, a song that feels sort of under-rehearsed. It feels like a fable and warms your heart cockles. B+

THE RED SUITCASE (Luxembourg) - 

A Muslim woman arrives at the airport to meet her new husband. Except she doesn't want a new husband so instead she makes a run for it. I definitely felt the suspense of her trying to get out of that airport, but the story felt like it lacked some more layered details. B-

AN IRISH GOODBYE (Ireland) - 

Two brothers must say a final good bye to their mother and decide what comes next. The way they celebrate their mom and interact is pretty hilarious and tells another heart-warming tale. A

Documentary Short Films

Here are the Documentary Short Films.

 

THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS (Netflix) - This is nature photography at its finest. Two people take over the care of an orphaned baby elephant, they have such a strong connection to the animals. They put bells on elephants, just like cats! Elephant washing is on my bucket list, by the way. What an interesting way to organize a life; no time clock, just living among elephants. It's sweet that the couple that works so closely together develop a significant connection to each other as well. Beautiful film! A

HAULOUT (YouTube) - This one had the most beautiful cinematography of a marine biologist who spends more than 40 days on a freezing beach so he can track the migration of walruses. So many walruses! Some truly jaw dropping shots. A

 

HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR? - A Father tracks his child's growth over time by taking yearly videos. I only saw the trailer.

 

THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT  (Netflix) - Martha Mitchell was wife to John Mitchell, Nixon's Attorney General. She epitomized the notion of a woman bein "too much" in D.C. At first they celebrated her as a zany novelty but then they took her prisoner after Watergate when they tried to neutralize her. Nixon blamed her for the entire Watergate scandal. A

STRANGER AT THE GATE  (YouTube) - What a riveting and amazing story! This feels like the winner. There was a lot of tension surrounding how this story was going to play out. Terrifying AND hopeful is a pretty good combo. A+

Animated Short Films

THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX, AND THE HORSE - This has a Winnie the Pooh vibe. A little boy talks to a variety of wise and kind animals. It just manages to be far more boring about it. If I had a toddler I would make it a ritual for the kid to watch this everyday before nap time to try an help convince them to be a good person. B-

 

THE FLYING SAILOR- I think animated shorts are at their best when they try to show us something we can't see in conventional ways. This film attempts to make visual the experience of being in en explosion, and while flying through the air, dying, seeing your memories, reversing, coming back into your body and surviving. Lots of cool methods and styles are employed to communicate this instantaneous story. A+

 

ICE MERCHANTS - A very well thought out metaphor. Grief is a cold and desolate place you must survive and it feels like jumping off of a cliff every day. But eventually you begin to build a safety net for yourself. A

MY YEAR OF DICKS - A hilariously awkward tale of a horny teenage girl trying to "lose her virginity" in the 90s. I wonder what stories of first intimacies will be like for Gen Z. Very different from this, I think. B

 

AN OSTRICH TOLD ME THE WORLD IS FAKE AND I THINK I BELIEVE IT -  This looks like a very funny stop motion story about discovering you are living in a simulation. I only saw the trailer.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Movie: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Nominated for: Best Animated Film

How I watched: Prime

When I fell asleep: I didn't

When it had me: A handful of characters

When it lost me: Intermittently

What systems does it challenge: I can't quite put it into words.

Content Warning: I would so no, but so much murder in a kids film!

I remember being fairly annoyed with Puss as a character. He's really narcissistic and says his own name: ALL. THE. TIME. So I wasn't looking forward to this one.

My kids liked the animation style. I got into this film more when I realized the new dog character is basically Gen Z who has been introduced to try and help the Gen X characters of Puss and Kitty to heal their damn traumas. John Mulaney made a funny bad guy and I would swear he wrote a couple of his own lines; they just sounded like him.

I'm glad they prioritized vulnerability and self care in this installment. Even so, the redemption felt a little corny to me. But my kids enjoyed this movie, so that's a good thing.

The Quiet Girl

Movie: The Quiet Girl

Nominated for: Best International Feature

How I watched: AMC

When I fell asleep: I did not

When it had me: A quiet sad child of the 1970s

When it lost me: I don't think it did

What systems does it challenge: I'm going to reach for religion, though it is not direct

Content Warning: loss of a child

Based on: Foster by Claire Keegan

The Quiet Girl is about a shy, sad, thoughtful child with three older siblings and two younger siblings and poor, overwhelmed parents. The child is beleaguered and doesn't feel wanted in her own family. Her parents send her to live with relatives to save money on feeding her and time on looking after her.

What follows is a blossoming that we should desire for every child: relaxing and opening up in an environment where you feel cared for, valued, respected and even loved.

I couldn't help but identify with the little brunette child with long straight hair who felt very unsure about the adults in her world. I responded well to the slow, quiet and cautious bonding that takes place between the kid and her new foster parents. None of it was big and monumental, but it felt deeply significant, nonetheless.

This was a nice warm story that was only about 90 minutes long. I heartily approve!

Tar

Movie: Tar

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

How I watched: Prime

When I fell asleep: nope

When it had me: Cate

When it lost me: Third act

What systems does it challenge: Abuse and Power

Content Warning: Abuse, self harm 

This movie is mysterious. Is it a commentary on the MeToo movement? Is it a biopic (it's not, but I was unsure and had to look it up)? Is it about abuse of power? Triumph over misogyny? A bad dream? A ghost story? What is it?

Let's state the obvious first. Cate Blanchett is amazing in this film. Review Over.

Just kidding.

The design and cinematography of this film are beautiful and controlled. The story is riveting to a point. I was constantly trying to figure out where it was going and I wasn't ready for what did happen. What started out as a straightforward drama became a puzzle to unravel and not an easy one. 

In the first act, Tar is conducting the behavior of everyone in her world, setting the timing and in full control. In the second act, it begins to slip a bit or take a lot more work for her to stay on top of things. The third act is a complete unraveling of time and life for Tar. It gets harder to even follow the plot as her world disintegrates.

It is a great feeling when you have to do a little extra thinking to get a deeper understanding of the themes and messages of a film. However, when the film maker doesn't leave enough of a bread crumb trail to get you headed in the right direction, the whole thing falls a little short.

I read up on this movie, rewatched it, took notes and still don't know exactly how to categorize it. I enjoyed it as a film and then as an exercise but I couldn't call a movie that requires so much homework a Best Picture.

 

 

 

Tell it Like a Woman

Movie: Tell it Like a Woman

Nominated for: Original Song

How I watched: Prime

When I fell asleep: Nope. Morning screening!

When it had me: Italian language

When it lost me: lack of cohesion

What systems does it challenge: Ugh, it's too much for me to break down

Content Warning: Not really

This is a collection of 7 short films about women written and directed by women. It feels like a really loose basis for bundling stories and titling them as one single film. That being said, I was happy to watch women-helmed projects, some by I think first time directors.

A mother in prison, caregivers to the homeless, a woman inheriting a child, a single mom who struggles to have enough time with her kids, a woman coming to terms with her own sterotypes about what a woman is, a woman who helps an abuse victim escape and an animated prisoner are the characters that populate this collection of stories.

I appreciated that the nominated song was actually integrated into one of the short films, rather than just a song over the rolling credits. It always makes more sense to me for the nominated song to actually be a tool in the story telling. 

Overall, this was a fine watch if a little confusing.

The Sea Beast

Movie: The Sea Beast

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature

How I watched: Netflix

When I fell asleep: No

When it had me: Animated water!

When it lost me: Not sure, but I think I was in and out

What systems does it challenge: Status Quo, generational trauma

Content Warning: no

The animation style was gorgeous when it came to the images of the ocean...just really beautiful. Some of the animation of the people looked more basic, but the sea was well represented.

My kids called this a mash up of How to Train Your Dragon and Moana.  

There is a very old monster hunter who is driven by the hard times he has seen and the black and white thinking he has come to embrace. His would be successor is more open to nuance but still feels powerless against the status quo, of which he has been fighting his whole life to become an established member. And lastly, a child of the youngest generation who is willing to completely question all the definitions of those that came before her and see the world in a whole new light. So, classic Boomer, Gen X, Gen Z dynamics.

My family started out ready to roll our eyes at this film and in the end, it won us over.

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Movie: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Nominated for: Costume Design

How I watched: Peacock

When I fell asleep: I watched at 8am, so I was good

When it had me: It neither had...

When it lost me: ...nor lost me

What systems does it challenge: Haute Couture, but also it's kind of pro-worker?

Content Warning: not needed

Based on: Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico - This is the third adaptation of this book

Lesley Manville delivers a subtle and grounded character and the costumes are gorgeous in this otherwise very confusing movie. It's a very light and slightly magical rom-com and if only I could just turn my brain off and bask in warm feelings, I think I should have liked this.

They deal with the Invisble Woman a lot in this film, a group to which I now gratefully count myself a member. Invisibility issues are serious for anyone not in the mainstream demographic; you can be invisible for race, class, gender, sexual orientation or age. However most often when I hear about the Invisible Woman it deals with ladies who now have bodies that men no longer wish to objectify or control. I wish the story had focused on the inherent power associated with no longer being a commodity, but instead she was still trying to be seen as a value to men and that kind of bummer me out.

The main character goes around saving people but not with any logic, just with a sort of eccentric charm. She becomes vaguely aware of worker strikes and leveraging power but it never coalesces into a sea change for the simple hard working woman who just wants a pretty dress. If the manic pixie dream matron had ended up slinging Molotovs in the name of revolution, they would have won me over. But they did not.

It's a sweet and simple story. I think it would be a feel good watch for viewers who can check their cynicism at the door.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Movie: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Nominated for: Best Adapted Screenplay

How I watched: Netflix

When I fell asleep: I did not

When it had me: these characters

When it lost me: I don't think so

What systems does it challenge: Billionaires, Patriarchy

Content Warning: not really?

I'm a sucker for whodunnits. I like puzzles and escape rooms and investigations, real or imagined. So this is right up my alley. Rian Johnson pulls such wonderful casts for these movies and they appear to have so much fun committing to these wildly dumb characters.

There's such a fun interplay between what is exactly as it seems and what is a red herring. Our attention is brought to the car early for a reason. The rules of the Mona Lisa picture are explained for a purpose; you know you need to pay attention.

However, Derol is introduced as "just a guy staying here" and brushed over so quickly that you imagine it will become significant. The beauty is that it doesn't. He's really just a dude who doesn't know what's going on.

The twist in the film feels just a tiny bit clunky but all is forgiven for the fun ride that the rest of the movie gives you. And if you'd like a 2 hour 19 minute fantasy about not-Elon Musk being humiliated, this movie is your jam.

The Banshees of Inisherin

Movie: The Banshees of Inisherin

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor (twice), Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing

How I watched: Netflix

When I fell asleep: nope

When it had me: Colin Farrell's performance got me right away

When it lost me: The end

What systems does it challenge: War, Pride (is that a thing?)

Content Warning: Animal Harm, Self Harm, Sexual Abuse

This review is more a story about my own hang ups than it is about the movie. Here's what happened:

When I have all of these movies to watch this time of year, one of my favorite things is not knowing anything about them. I love going in blind with no expectations and just seeing where the film takes me, so I typically do not read up on the movies at all.

For this movie I had seen it listed as a comedy and saw that some of the performances were delightful, so I had very little info and I made assumptions about how funny it was going to be. So over the holiday I sat my whole family down to watch a delightful comedy about a couple of cranky old Irishmen. Three generations of family all gathered around on my recommendation so that we could laugh it out together.

I had missed the part about "dark comedy" and the room soon became filled with a lot of WTF energy. One family member tapped out immediately. About 40 minutes in my dad sighed audibly and announced that he was going to bed. So I sat there stewing in the juices of "oh no, oh no, I picked the movie and everyone is hating it and now I will live with the shame of this for a hundred years". Some of you know the feeling.

Anyway, it made it very hard for me to enjoy the film the way I would have if I had sat down to it by myself. I did find bits of it very funny, and other bits very moving and other bits, completely confusing. Colin Farrell really carried the whole thing for me with his simple (but burdensome) love for his friend.

The ending left me with that sort of "Huh. So that happened," feel, which is not my favorite way to leave a film but it was enjoyable and interesting the whole way through. I get what they were trying to say with the film but it also didn't land in the last scene in that satisfactory way...it morphed into being at some point in the next couple of days. I do wish I could have a do over and see it for the first time again.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Movie: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature

How I watched: Laemmle

When I fell asleep: I didn't

When it had me: Protesting!

When it lost me: It came close, but didn't

What systems does it challenge: Big Pharma, Generational Trauma

Content Warning: Self Harm, Drug Addiction/use, Domestic Violence

After two grueling days of jury duty and escaping the trial, I had to bravely go out in a break in the big winter Blizzard Blast of 2023 to make it to the very last showing of this film before it left theatres! Whew!

I'm glad I did! This was a very engaging film that deftly handled a number of topics. The first bit I really connected to was artists staging protests against the Sackler family, who are uniquely responsible for the opioid crisis. I love when creative people stage protests! They have drama and props and a talent for getting eyes on them without violence. Artists should run all of the protests.

It was also about the artist, Nan Goldin and her life. There were moments when I feared the film would veer off too much into a kind of restless remembrance of her life, but it always knew when to bring it back and how to connect it to the through line of the movie. It really was very well guided by an expert editor.

Mental illness was a huge component right alongside learning about opioid addiction. There was a lot to juggle and it was all approached with artistic expression in mind. It was lyrical, impactful, poetic and poignant. It somehow managed to make you feel both helpless and hopeful.

The documentary category is incredibly strong this year! Perhaps our real lives have become more dramatic than the writers can keep up with!

Turning Red

Movie: Turning Red

Nominated for: Best Animated Film

How I watched: Disney+

When I fell asleep: No!

When it had me: Talking about menstruation

When it lost me: don't remember

What systems does it challenge: Patriarchy

Content Warning: nah

Ok, this was a long time ago. I know I was so pleased to see puberty and periods actually talked about and acknowledged. I know they did a nice job of talking about generational trauma and the process of healing each new generation as we move forward. I remember being sad that the healing for the younger generation did not seem to equal healing for the older relatives in the film. I feel that healing works backward in time as well as forward, but that's just me. 

It was funny and original and a good watch!