Very Accurately Tabulated Oscar Odds

And by accurately tabulated, I mean that I just got up minutes ago and before I feel fully awake I will log my gut feelings of who the winners will be.

The tide has been turning away from One Battle After Another and toward Sinners as the Award season has professed, but has it been enough to get Sinners into pole position? It could go wither way, here's my hunch.

Best Picture - Sinners

Best Director - Paul Thomas Anderson

Actor - Michael B. Jordan

Actress - Jesse Buckley

Supporting Actor - Sean Penn

Supporting Actress - Amy Madigan

Animated Feature - K-Pop Demon Hunters

Casting - One Battle After Another

Cinematography - Train Dreams, Adolpho Veloso

Costume Design - Frankenstein, Kate Hawley

Make Up & Hair Styling - Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

Documentary Feature - Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Editing - One Battle After Another, Andy Jurgensen

International Feature - Sentimental Value

Music/Score - Sinners, Ludwig Goranson

Music/Original Song - Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters

Production Design - Frankenstein, Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau

Sound - F1, Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta

Short Doc - All the Empty Rooms

Short Live Action - Two People Exchanging Saliva

Short Animated - Butterfly

Visual Effects - Avatar: Fire & Ash, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

Writing/Adapted - One Battler After Another, PTA

Writing/Original - Sinners, Ryan Coogler

We've got charcuterie, steaks and mushrooms and chocolate bundt with artisanal ice cream and Toschi cherry syrup at the ready because unlike all the honorees, we get to eat today. I'm going to obsess over fashion as if there were no rumored threats about attacks on LA. Please enjoy yourselves, whatever you decide to do today!

Signing out, 

Your Oscar Glutton

Autumn

Viva Verdi!

Joy is too often absent from the aging process.

Movie: Viva Verdi!

Running Time: 1:17

Nominated for: Original Song

How I watched: Laemmle Theatre

When it had me: Italian Language

When it lost me: Some difficult editing

What systems does it challenge: Going quietly into that dark night

I had no idea what this movie was when I showed up. I only knew it was nominated for original song and it had some connection to Giuseppe Verdi. It turns out it is a documentary about a retirement home for musicians that was created by Giuseppe Verdi in Milan on 1902. 

What's great is seeing all of these aging artists still surrounded every day with the music and instruments that they feel passionate about. Most of them still perform and many of them teach young artist's in residence. All of them have a safe and wonderful home to help weather some of the difficulties of being elderly.

The editor struggled to group the footage of these characters into loose themes in order to try and tell a story. It isn't always successful. Some little segments were quite short and it jumped around quite a bit. But that's the problem of assembling docs; it isn't always neat and tidy.

I had big emotions watching this. On the way to the theatre, I was remembering that it was my Italian grandfather's birthday and I calculated that he would be 97 if this year if he were still here with us. That was before I knew this movie was about elderly Italians. When I saw a 98 year old italian man singing with joy, I kind of lost it. It made me thinking of all the additional years we could have had with him, aging and loving life. So it became an opportunity to process some grief, as well.

Which reminds me, have I told you about Mike Lisa? And what a great guy he was? He got me interested in film in the 1980s when he started recording every Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant film for me on his Betamax so I could watch them on the weekends. Happy Birthday, Pop.

Reflections on the nominees: Centering Empathy

Here we all are. Consuming stories, learning about ourselves.

As I look back on all the films I've watched this Awards Season, I can't stop thinking about the importance of the movie It Was Just An Accident. Maybe that's only because it is the last film I watched, but maybe it's because that movie is asking so many questions that matter deeply.

If I hurt someone, am I responsible for the injury? Do I have a moral duty to feel something for another human being? Can I feel empathy for someone who has caused me deliberate harm? What does it do to me if I deny myself empathy for others?

The director, Jafar Panahi, treats his characters with tenderness, even the ones it is hard to identify with. One character who has caused great pain for others says he did it because, "I thought you were humiliating me, like when I was little." I wonder if there are any ICE agents who aren't acting out that very same pattern?

He demonstrates for us that given one set of circumstances we can view a person as wholly evil and without value but given a different set of circumstances that person can suddenly become someone to whom we instinctively offer care and aid.

What's crazy to think about is that whether we view them as the former or the latter is, in most cases, a choice we get to make. It isn't always an easy choice but we do have control.

Empathy shows up in a big way in a lot of the films this year. Hamnet is dripping with compassion for its central family. Sentimental Value treats all of its characters with this kind of deep care, seeking not to vilify but to see clearly and accept. Sirat is so gentle in presenting its core group of seekers. Kokuho depicts a long and contentious struggle for control between two characters whose points of view are given equal, time, care and attention.

The three horror films in the mix are of particular interest to me. This is a genre that rarely traffics in empathy. If there is ever a time when you cannot afford to choose compassion it is when someone is actively trying to kill you. However Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein's Creature is afforded radical humanity compared to other versions the same story. 

Because of the storytelling style in Weapons, many of the film's victims are given a point of view and goals we can relate to instead of just being placeholders for an eventual body count. Sinners likewise expends the time necessary to identify deeply with all its characters before the monster descends on them. Even then, the villain expresses something very like deep empathy and asks for it in return; like Frankenstein's Creature, he didn't ask to be a monster, it was just an accident.

There are also films heavy on apathy. Bugonia is all about not seeing inherent value in another, but prejudging them and going to extremes to avoid changing that opinion under any circumstance. Marty Supreme is apathetic to everyone in his life; never considering their humanity but viewing them all as a means to an end. F1 doesn't show empathy or ask for it; winning is the only goal here, there's no room for connection beyond that. One Battle After Another centers on a kind of ongoing war, where empathy is completely out of place. The main characters are treated with compassion but it's a shallow offering. Even the villains in One Battle are not convincingly passionate; they are silly, emotionless and nonsensical (not to say they were unconvincing...they were more terrifying because they did feel real.)

Movies are fun because you can try on another life, another reality. You can watch the protagonists on the screen and ask yourself what you would do in their shoes, imagine your own choices and how they might measure up. And of course, there's room for all kinds of movies; from deep thinkers to shallow romps to complete head-scratchers. This year the film makers all seem to be asking us how empathy can change things or conversely, what results will we see in the absence of it?  I feel very grateful to Jafar Panahi for inviting us into such a stark look at humanity that can help us to examine our own choices with a little more clarity.

It Was Just An Accident

The whole movie was shot illegally in Iran.

Movie: It Was Just An Accident

Running Time: 1:43

Nominated for: International Feature, Original Screenplay

How I watched: Hulu

When it had me: Rash Decisions

When it lost me: Not a bit

What systems does it challenge: Authoritarianism, Religious Extremism

It Was Just an Accident plays like a comedy of errors, only it's lighter in the comedy and heavier on the errors. A man accidentally runs into someone who was his torturer when he was a in political prison, and decides impulsively to detain him. From there on there is an undeniable forward motion that sweeps these characters and many more along on a very uncertain path.

I love a movie where good people are caught up making bad choices and getting in over their heads. It makes me so invested and amused in equal measure.

At times it has the tone of a light romp but the more you learn about the pain that these characters have endured, the more grounded it becomes. In the end it feels like it brings into focus the beautiful/horrible contradiction of humanity. The film arcs from apathy to empathy and that journey may be the most important one that we can consider right now.

The human experience is pretty universal and it is only through the accident of circumstance that we set out to hurt and destroy one another. What a terrible tragedy we are. And what a powerful film to capture that!

Director Jafar Panahi lives under threat of arrest and worse at the hands of the Iranian government. (Of course that regime has been mostly murdered by US and Israeli forces, so who knows if that situation will change.) This film is based in part on his own experiences in detention for illegal propaganda against the regime. Brave film making, to say the least.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

The preparation to be a soldier starts so young!

Movie: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Running Time: 1:30

Nominated for: Documentary Feature

How I watched: Apple TV

When it had me: From the drop

When it lost me: Never

What systems does it challenge: Authoritarianism and Propaganda

Mr. Nobody Against Putin begins with a Russian citizen receiving instructions for how to safely leave the country and I found it completely gripping. Pasha is an events organizer, teacher and AV club leader at a school in the Ural Mountains of Russia. He loves his job and giving the students spaces to feel free to express themselves and build community.

After Russia's war with Ukraine begins, the federal government implements new rules. Pasha then documents the changes to culture and community under the new policies designed to indoctrinate students with alternate histories, illicit undying loyalty for the mother land and ultimately prepare children for military service. He loathes his new role as propagandist and must find a way to express dissent and rebel.

This was a riveting glimpse into Russian life and political climate. Russia is pretty good at controlling all messaging so to see this is rare and illuminating.

It was also horrifying to see the road America could go down. Trump has always been an open fan of Putin and remarked how he would like to do things more like the dictator. How will our teachers, community leaders and citizens respond to these kinds of tactics if the fascist regime were to continue unchecked into the future? At what point would I leave, also realizing that not everyone can leave? Some will have to stay and endure.

I felt this film in my gut and lungs as I paid close attention, wanting everything to work and knowing there would be consequences. This was powerful film making from an extremely relatable and inspiring individual.

Oscar Nominated Shorts

These are Oscar Shorts. You can download a PDF pattern if you like.

OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS

Fitting all of these in made for a tough weekend. I feel like I used to love catching these screenings but it felt more like a slog this year. I don't know if I didn't connect as well with what new film makers are putting out or if I just wasn't in the right frame of mind.

Maybe the problem is I used to have a theatre just a few minutes from my house that played all of these but now I have to drive to Glendale and Burbank and this weekend the freeway interchange to Burbank was closed. It just all felt like a LOT of effort. Maybe the quickening of America's descent into autocracy is weighing on my mind. It's all guesswork at this point.

They said these were presented by Taika Waititi but he never showed up in the theatre, either live or on screen. How did he present them? Did he donate money or something? Very mysterious. Anyway...

DOCUMENTARY-

All the Empty Rooms - Steve Hartman was a journalist who often tried to offer something positive in the wake of a mass shooting; a story about a hero or a survivor or something optimistic. Until he realized he was part of a system that was helping society adjust to the aftermath rather than seek a change. Next he took on a project to document the empty rooms of school children who had died as a result of gun violence in schools. This is about that. It's deeply moving and well produced.

Armed Only With A Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud - Here we learn about Brent Renaud, an american photojournalist who has gone to all of the most dangerous frontlines and neighborhoods to document the worst tragedies that humanity faces. His family struggles with his loss in the Ukraine. It's tragic and feels important to witness.

Children No More: Was and Are Gone - This was a fascinating look at an Isreali group protesting the deaths of more than 18,000 children in Gaza. I'm afraid to protest this issue here in America because of the vehement and rageful attacks that come from those who support the current Israeli government and their campaign of destruction. Watching their brave and careful approach was nerve-racking and inspirational. It's powerfully put together.

The Devil is Busy - There is an abortion clinic in Atlanta that is still operational and tries to help clients from all over the country that can't get the care they need in their home states. This doc follows the manager of the place and her careful attention to both the security and the humanity of all the staff and guests. I can't tell you how beautiful it is to see someone making the choice to see everyone as human - even the protestors outside. I want to hug that woman. I found the whole piece riveting.

Perfectly A Strangeness - My absolute favorite! This movie features three perfect donkeys that walk around an observatory. Stunning cinematography of them ambling, eating and generally vibing in their mountain locale. At night, you can see the telescopes open up and some gorgeous footage of all the stars and the milk way. The whole thing feels like a poem, comparing the cosmos to a donkey's eye. I found it calming and lovely and I wanted it to go on.

LIVE ACTION-

Butcher's Stain - The butcher in this short is Palestinian and working in Israel. After he posts pictures of Gazan children who have been murdered a colleague turns him in for tearing down pictures of the hostages, which he didn't really do. The emotional beats in the story didn't always feel earned. 

A Friend of Dorothy - An adorable friendship between an aging fan of the theatre and a neighborhood teen. These plot points were sometimes unmotivated and the overall story felt oversimplified even though the acting was great from the two leads.

Jane Austen's Period Drama - The comedy of the lot and such a welcome break! With perfect Downton Abbey charm, a man kneels to propose only to find his beloved's dress dripping with her menstrual blood. Then it's a race to try and figure out how to do damage control over the whole situation. It's super silly, packed with jokes and very enjoyable. It's also shot beautifully shot and well produced.

The Singers - This is a grainy, gritty dark look inside a sad bar. One guy can't afford his beer and so decides to start a singing contest. There follows a bunch of surprising songs. It's cute but also just feels pretty superficial.

Two People Exchanging Saliva - A super weird piece about a world where people are not allowed to kiss. They also pay for things by receiving slaps across the face? It's absurd and sort of inscrutable. It was shot well but left me confused.

ANIMATION-

Butterfly - A swimmer who faces discrimination and worse. The animation style looked like a painting; maybe in the style of Diego Rivera? It did not hold my attention.

Forevergreen - This was a super cute story about the relationship between a family of bears and a tree in the forest. The characters looked as if they were carved. 

The Girl Who Cried Pearls - Very creepy stop motion puppets that had unhealthy looking faces and whose mouths didn't move with the dialog. It has a lesson about value. It wasn't my cup of tea.

Retirement Plan - A funny look at all the things we put off until later in life when we are less busy; exercise, hobbies, travel, organization, improvements. A lesson to live for today. I liked the relatability.

The Three Sisters - Three women share an island with meager resources until a man moves in and they try to share him. Does not go well. It was amusing but felt vaguely misogynistic. 

The runner up animated short they shared was my favorite of the night. It was a called Eiru and it was about nature forcing people to be better. It had really striking animation but anyway, that one's not nominated. I wish Taika had shown up and explained why.

Elio

This movie is very purple-y.

Movie: Elio

Running Time: 1:39

Nominated for: Animated Feature

How I watched: Disney+

When it had me: Attempted Alien Abduction

When it lost me: It was cute but kind of rolled off of me

What systems does it challenge: Conformity, Isolation

Elio is kind of heart breaking. This kid just wants to belong but his parents are...well, it's a Disney movie, so you know. His adoptive parent is so overwhelmed and HAS NO VILLAGE. seriously, why does a village not immediately organize itself around this kid's needs? Come on, people!

But Elio is smart and industrious and finds his own way to seek out a community and belonging and even service to something greater. The animation is great, the world is imaginative and the characters are fun. It's a super solid movie.

I also watched it very recently and had a hard time remembering anything about it when I sat down to write this just now, so I feel like that kind of says something too.

Little Amelie or The Character of Rain

I'm low key terrified of this child.

Movie: Little Amelie or The Character of Rain

Running Time: 1:18

Nominated for: Animated Feature

How I watched: Prime

When it had me: I liked the springtime animation

When it lost me: The kid felt kind of evil?

What systems does it challenge: Prejudice, Poor parenting

While I really appreciate the running time of this movie, I didn't really connect with it.

This is about a child growing up in Japan. She doesn't speak or walk until two and half years of age so she is either a "late bloomer" or a person with autism. Her parents seem so overwhelmed by their older two kids and busy lives that they don't seem to have time to devote to getting to know her.

She bonds with a couple of caregivers as she learns her place in the world and whether or not she even wants to be in it.

The kid believes she is God and seems to have a lot of wrath, which didn't make me feel quite comfortable. The parents seem borderline neglectful, the housekeeper is great but also talks a lot about death and trauma, and the landlord is hateful. It's just s a lot to sift through.

Visually, it does not depict the same darkness or ambiguity. It's bright and cheerful looking even when it doesn't feel that way.

It's not my favorite animated film this year but it will teach you how to write the Japanese character for rain.

The Smashing Machine

Here's the make up departments's work!

Movie: The Smashing Machine

Running Time: 2:03

Nominated for: Make Up & Hair Styling

How I watched: HBO Max

When it had me: Brief random moments

When it lost me: Insurance Discussions!

What systems does it challenge: Unsure

The Smashing Machine is about a fighter who played a big role in the establishment of MMA fighting. But I didn't really understand that from watching it.

The movie has weird pacing and a pointed lack of emphasis on some content over other. For example, there is a scene where we watch the fighter talk about how to submit his bill to insurance in order to get the best coverage. That's delivered with the same urgency as scenes of steroid and opioid addiction.

The Rock is playing an extremely nice guy. He talks gently and calmly in almost every scene. It's quiet and unhurried and it feels like the whole movie just wants to match that freak. 

So many of the decisions just left me confused. It was a film that felt caught somewhere between serious biopic, comedic take on history and afterschool special.

Kokuho

Now I would like to see Kabuki preformed live.

Movie: Kokuho

Running Time: 2:54

Nominated for: Make Up & Hair Styling

How I watched: AMC, 8:45 am showing

When it had me: The drama starts early

When it lost me: It felt like it wandered a bit in its three hours

What systems does it challenge: The hereditary system in Kabuki, patriarchy

This is about two young men growing up in training for Kabuki theatre. One has the correct lineage and one was "adopted" into the family. Both face hardships and shame along the way to becoming true Kabuki performers.

The film is shot well, with gorgeous costumes and sets for the Kabuki shows. The acting is good throughout and I did feel drawn in to the trials of these two young men. The drama experienced by women in the film felt clumsy more often than not but the core tragedies of the two main characters were deeply affecting.

While they did an admirable job of instructing the audience about the traditions and expectations for this very specific style of theatre, I still felt like I was missing out a little bit. In particular, I didn't know exactly what great Kabuki theatre should look like so I just had to trust that these guys were supremely talented.

It felt like the culture of shame was a trap for these men (and perhaps by extension, everyone?) If they gave up everything to be a great performer then they had shame for not centering relationships in their life. If they wanted more than just Kabuki in their life then they had shame for not treating the art form with its proper respect. 

Men were trapped by the prescribed roles they must submit to but women were trapped by needing to submit to and support the men. Women were not even allowed to work in the Kabuki in any roles whatsoever. They had no say about how their children were treated (or in the case of geisha, whether their children would be acknowledged) and their own status seemed to rest wholly on whether their husbands were in favor or not.

In case you missed it, this was THREE HOURS LONG. It did span a long portion of their lives, so it wasn't totally unearned as a running time but oh my goodness, I still mourn the loss of half of my day. Even though at 8:45 am this is the earliest screening I have attended this year. Or ever, maybe.

Note: This is now the highest grossing live action Japanese film in Japan!

The Perfect Neighbor

The body cam tells the tale.

Movie: The Perfect Neighbor

Running Time: 1:36

Nominated for: Best Documentary Feature

How I watched: Netflix

When it had me: The trailer

When it lost me: The reality

What systems does it challenge: Racism, White Women's Tears

This was a truly heart-breaking documentary (not unusual) about a nosy white lady neighbor who hates all the black children who play near her apartment and spends all of her days planning on how to ruin everything for them. She's absolutely disgusting.

What's unusual about this doc is that the cops in it are on the side of the children and most of the documentary is shown through the dash cams and body cams of the police who are repeatedly called out to the neighborhood.

It's well told and very upsetting.

Jurassic World: Rebirth

This is fine. Everything's fine.

Movie: Jurassic World: Rebirth

Running Time: 2:14

Nominated for: Visual Effects

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Sleeping T-Rex

When it lost me: Probably some stupid choices

What systems does it challenge: Dinosaur Resurrection! aka unchecked ego disguised as progress

Guys, I don't know. I saw this back in summer. I enjoyed it more than the last couple of Jurassic World movies. It felt like it got back to basics; just a ragtag group, on an island, running from dinosaurs. There were some decent set pieces with a sleeping T-Rex and inside a convenience store. I don't need it to be more.

The family in the movie had some annoying dynamics going on. The boyfriend was like a vestigial tail; totally useless and in the way. But Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali are a good trio.

I was just reminded of the beginning of the movie where dinosaurs get loose because a stupid, stupid scientist (I knew there were stupid choices!) carelessly drops a snickers wrapper too close to the containment door vent and it gets sucked in. And previously, a stupid, stupid engineer had designed a containment door with a vent that is big enough to forcefully suck things in but no grate to keep contaminants out. And when it does suck things in, it obviously results in total failure and all the dinosaurs can get free. It's like Galen Erso designed it this way on purpose because he wanted the rebels to free the dinosaurs. sigh.

But otherwise, mostly a good time.

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.

Come See Me In The Good Light

Movie: Come See Me In The Good Light

Running Time: 1:44

Nominated for: Documentary Feature

How I watched: Apple TV

When it had me: Broken Mailboxes

When it lost me: I tapped out to deal with emotions a couple of times

What systems does it challenge: Death

Poet Andrea Gibson faces a terminal cancer diagnosis with grace, honesty, love and creative self expression.

It is heart-breaking, life affirming, thoughtful and exquisitely painful. I think I learned some things about humanity. Or maybe I just needed a reminder.

It felt so sacred that I have very little to say about it. It's a tough but beautiful watch.

Zootopia 2

Why do I feel like I should like this world more than I do?

Movie: Zootopia 2

Running Time: 1:50

Nominated for: Animated Feature

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Fortune Feimster!

When it lost me: Nah

What systems does it challenge: Colonialism

Disney's two favorite cops are back to teach us about the evil, ugliness and lies of colonialism and genocide!

I can't even get away from this when I watch an animated kids movie? Ok, fine. It's a good thing. I mean, it's super-relevant and it's the right message, so let's go.

All our favorite characters are back and some new ones are added in. Most notable is Fortune Feimster who is an eager beaver that talks about threesomes and four-ways. (I can't make this up, you guys.) She is a shot of adrenaline to the movie and so much fun. This movie also introduces reptiles via a snake played by Ke Huy Quan. This led me to questions about how all the animals of Zootopia source their food, but let's not linger on that too much.

Despite the comedy and cute animals, I had a tough time with the messaging. Nick Wild, the fox, makes the point that a cause is not worth dying for but no one else in the movie seems to agree with him. I spend every day worrying about who (else) is going to have to die to get our country back on track so I'd like a better answer than, "You, Autumn, if you ever really cared about anything." But that's just too much of a look into my own mind at the moment.

Conversely, there is a message that no one person should shoulder the burden of a cause alone so you simply have to pick up the baton for a while and have faith that someday we'll all get there. It just might take generations. I guess that makes me feel better?

Overall, this was a good time and they are already hinting at number 3!