The Secret Agent

This guy is just immediately trustworthy and sympathetic!

Movie: The Secret Agent

Running Time: 2:40

Nominated for: Best Picture, Leading Actor, Casting, International Feature

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Immediately

When it lost me: The very end, unfortunately

What systems does it challenge: Dictatorship, Corruption

This movie was engaging. 

Did you know that Netflix has asked all of its directors to dumb down their movies? They want more exposition and they want the filmmakers to tell and not show because they know that most of us are on our phones while we sit at home and watch shows so they want it easier for us to follow along. Frankly, I'd rather you make something so good that I want to put my phone down to focus on it.

That's what The Secret Agent is. It is complex and they throw you right in the middle of intrigue, only scattering clues along the path as you go. The lead actor, Wagner Moura possesses a combo of charm, warmth and mystery in Pedro Pascal proportions and I was completely drawn in.

The setting is (mostly) 1977 and the vibe is spot on. The colors, music, fashion, even the soft focus of the camera completely evoke the era in a very immersive way. 

Get ready for what I'm about to say next: this movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes and I find the running time completely justified! I know. It's shocking for me to say so. There were so many characters and intertwining storylines that they actually used the time in a constructive and non-repetitive way. In fact, they left me wanting more. I still had questions at the end.

The main thrust is that the main character is on the outs with his dictatorial government (as well as some others) and is in hiding until he can get new paperwork that allows him to leave the country with his young son. You know, the kind of story they will be telling about Americans in five to eight years. There is a mix of realism, surrealism and absurdism in the filmmaking styles but it always stay grounded on the main goal.

Ok, the end is where they lost me a little. It was so engaging and immersive that when they made a choice to pull back on the story telling style for the ending it felt anti-climactic. I have read up on reasons for the way they told the story and these ideas may work on an intellectual level but in reality it was a small let down. If they had nailed the end, this would have been in my top five movies of the year. It isn't but its still really great film making.

Bugonia

What's going on here?

Movie: Bugonia

Running Time: 1:59

Nominated for: Best Picture, Leading Actress, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: The Trailer

When it lost me: Abuse of the vulnerable

What systems does it challenge: Conspiracies, Revenge

I have not been looking forward to reviewing this movie.

Emma Stone, Jesse Plemmons and Aidan Delbis put in fantastic performances in this very wild movie. The latter two believe that Emma is an alien and must be stopped at all costs. So there is an attack and kidnapping and a whole lot of crazy in service of that goal.

This movie is classified as a comedy/sci-fi. The trailer looked like events would be absurd and silly and very funny but that was not my experience of the movie. I read one review that stated it was listed as a thriller at their theatre. Which has got me curious again, who makes the official call? What did Lanthimos want us to see it as? 

There is a vulnerable character who suffers manipulation, abuse and ultimately harm and it shook me. I couldn't square that with the idea of this being a comedy. I'm trying to figure out if I went in thinking it was a horror film if I would have been able to withstand the brutality of the film. But specifically envisioning the director laughing about certain events made me feel really uncomfortable; like when a party gets too raucous or a boss starts telling racist jokes. I was no longer in a safe space and I just wanted out.

All of the elements are top notch. It's shot beautifully, it's paced well, it sounds and looks like the work of a director at the top of his game. I have no complaints with the film making in that sense.

The movie is so completely out of pocket that it should have been fun for me. I can't exactly pin down what I think the message is here. We're definitely getting a warning about conspiracy theories but it also feels like there is more to it. The genius is lost on me but it certainly has gotten through to most viewers better than it did for me. I'm glad it's been an enjoyable experience for so many.

Hamnet

Me when my kids perform at Shakespeare Camp

Movie: Hamnet

Running Time: 2:05

Nominated for: Best Picture, Director, Leading Actress, Casting, Costumes, Original Score, Production Design, Adapted Screenplay

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Shakespeare

When it lost me: The Title, almost?

What systems does it challenge: I'm not sure this one fits in that mold?

I don't know why the title of this film annoys me so much. It's from the book of the same name, by Maggie O'Farrell and immediately the movie explains that this name is interchangeable with Hamlet. So why interchange them? I don't know; I just had to get over it.

The film imagines the behind the scene story of why Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. I want to ask why we need to make guesses about this but the movie is too good for me to worry about it.

First, let's talk about witchcraft! In this imagining, William unapologetically marries a witch of the wood. She communes with the forest, has ancestral knowledge of herbs, healing and spell-casting. She is prophetic and feral and powerful. Jesse Buckley really deeply embodies this role and delivers something above and beyond. I can't imagine her not winning.

Paul Mescal is equally incredible as the bard himself. As a self-professed Shakespeare nerd, I wanted to spend a little more time with this character and the words of Hamlet, my very favorite play ever. It took some time to get there but when we did, it was so worthwhile.

Ultimately, the movie is an exploration about grief and what we do with it. As a viewer, I sat a long time in some very uncomfortable emotional landscapes but it never felt cheap. The acting was too damn good. It always felt truthful rather than manipulative.

This was a beautiful, troubling, and ultimately hopeful space to inhabit for a couple of hours. It made me feel like there is truly magic in nature, love and creativity and through those practices we can not only survive but thrive.

F1

Brad Pitt go fast!

Movie: F1

Running Time: 2:35

Nominated for: Best Picture, Editing, Sound, Visual Effects

How I watched: Apple TV

When it had me: The First Race

When it lost me: Racing!

What systems does it challenge: Participation Trophies

Congratulations F1 for having the shortest title of all! I was not at all looking forward to a movie about cars racing because I know that kind of movie is not for me. Putting that aside, let's take a look.

This is probably a favorite for sound and editing. Both categories were well done here except that I don't think this movie needed to be this long. At all. I just keep repeating myself, but I must call out the need to shorten these films. However, this is a movie where you can really see the editing, which people like to vote for.

There was a grumpy "kids these days" theme to the first act, with Brad Pitt being all gruff and too blonde and wanting everything to be the way it used to be which I found trite. There was a lot of trite, actually. In the first ten minutes my teenager guessed that the plot was basically the same as Cars 3 and was essentially correct. The exception being that Lightning McQueen has a character arc in Cars 3 and the entire arc for Brad Pitt was that he learned a new slang term. A twist or a surprise or some growth wouldn't have hurt.

Acting across the board was very solid from a really great cast. The first few races were pretty exciting and then I got numb to it. The final race ended up being the least engaging for me. It was the only time they just jumped in and didn't explain strategy first and it went on for a very long time. I wanted to be more in it than I was.

F1 is a movie, competently made, but not a special watch for someone not into the subject matter.

Frankenstein

This dress was worth the cost to see it on the big screen.

Movie: Frankenstein

Running Time: 2:30

Nominated for: Best Picture, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Costumes, Make Up & Hair, Original Score, Production Design, Sound, Adapted Screenplay

How I watched: Landmark Theatre

When it had me: Costumes!

When it lost me: Story framing

What systems does it challenge: Unchecked ego disguised as progress and strict societal norms

With Guillermo del Toro directing, it is no surprise for me to tell you Frankenstein is visually stunning. I made sure to see it on a big screen even though it was already streaming. The costumes, in particular are breath taking.

The movie begins with Dr. Frankenstein telling his story to a ship captain and it returns to this story framing device throughout the movie. While I enjoy hearing the lessons he has learned along the way, this framing device added a lot of time to the film. I was not feeling engaged by the interludes aboard the ship and the long speeches of telling we had to endure before we could return to showing.

I particularly enjoyed the section where the Creature goes out on his own and forges relationships in the world and discovers that the world exists to hunt you for who you are. It was heartbreaking and beautiful story telling. 

Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi were both great in their roles and brought a lot of life (ha! get it?) to the screen. I did not connect as much with Mia Goth's character as the film went on and ultimately was confused by what her goals were. But she looked fabulous!

I know this is probably going to win for make up for the Creature Design and strangely, I did not care for it. It reminded me of Nebula in Guardians of the galaxy and I didn't feel like it looked like it was made from humans. Too alien for me.

Overall it is a beautiful film about trying to exist in the world when you fall too outside the norm. Del Toro loves his monsters and I do too.

Marty Supreme

I've got Marty's balls! 

Movie: Marty Supreme

Running Time: 2:29

Nominated for: Best Picture, Director, Leading Actor, Cinematography, Casting, Editing, Costumes, Production Design, Original Screenplay

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Timotheè, I guess?

When it lost me: So much chatter!

What systems does it challenge: Table Tennis Elitism!

I got to see this movie at 9am! I could really use more of these early morning screenings. There were many options between Christmas and the New Year. It's the best because you're fully awake and you finish the movie while it's still early enough in your day. It won't work with Avatar; that thing is going to waste a day no matter what. But let's get back to the movie we came here for which got nine nominations.

Marty Supreme takes you on a wild sort of ride through the desperation of the under-privileged trying to follow a dream. Some of the stops along the way are funny, others sad and many outright frustrating. 

Safdie does a great job of setting up these tense, highly charged moments. It's noisy, chaotic, frantic in dialog, action, camera movement. I would say it is too good of a job because the constant cacophony wears on me. After the first hour or so, I just felt over-stimulated and over it. 

His characters live in the underbelly; which also means that they are not perfect angels. The main character, Marty, is selfish, irritating, rude and destructive. It gets hard to stay on his side through the whole thing. He is offered some minimal redemption but it comes so late in a very long movie. I can watch flawed characters if they have some redeeming value. I can watch irredeemable characters if the joy is in watching them fail and get their just desserts. But I don't know what to do with this in-between place where I just don't care if you succeed or not.

I've never seen shark tank. I literally just found out as I was prepping this for posting that Mr. Wonderful played Mr. Rockwell. I don't even know what to take from that. But this is nominated for casting so someone thought it was an artistic decision I guess. It could be a comment on how ruthlessness is praised in successful people but not in those scrambling to become successful? 

The overall effect of Marty Supreme was one or two scenes that kind of wowed (I'm thinking of a bath tub) in the midst of a very average movie-going experience. This is probably not a movie made for me.

It didn't need to be this long! There was a repetition of failure going on and in my opinion not every step in the chain was necessary. I was getting real fidgety in the third act and just wanted to be done. Why is no one advocating for better editing? I'm screaming into the void over here.

Post script: There were suddenly a lot of articles in my feed about the "alternate vampire ending" for this film. Are they for real? In what world would that have made any sense? Everyone says it's real but I'm going to keep believing it's a joke because that makes me feel better. You probably don't believe me so you can see for yourself here.

Post post script: Who comes up with the official genre of a film? This one is considered a Sport/Drama. But I saw Timmy playing ping pong on a teeny tiny table (and other seemingly deliberately funny moments) so I thought it was a comedy. There are lot of movies this year that make me question their assigned genre. 

One Battle After Another

Sometimes the best we can do is raise kids to be ready for the revolution.

Movie: One Battle After Another

Running Time: 2:42

Nominated for: Best Picture, Directing, Lead Actor, 2 Supporting Actors, One Supporting Actress, Casting, Cinematography, Editing, Original Score, Production Design, Sound, Adapted Screenplay

How I watched: AMC

When it had me: Pacing

When it lost me: On my second viewing, it lost me in he first ten minutes

What systems does it challenge: Authoritarianism

Reiew Number 1: I was dreading this film because it's so. Damn. Long. But it really kind of cooks! The pacing is strong and the plot has enough driving action that you don't have much time to accidentally fall asleep.

Leonardo DiCaprio is very enjoyable as a completely inept, divorced dad. And Chase Infiniti is great as an annoyed teenager who is not annoying to watch (a rarity). 

Watching America depicted as a police state with small enclaves of struggling revolutionaries was a rather sickening feeling. How far are we from this, Paul Thomas Anderson? And how long ago did you come up with this idea? (I researched the answer to that one. He'd been writing it for 20 years based on a book from the 60s about revolutionaries. What goes around, comes around.) And whether the message is coming from the 60s or today, white people really are the worst at joining the revolution.

Entangling many story lines, this movie keeps them all afloat deftly and satisfies with an action packed third act. One of my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson movies ever. It is probably going to get much more love than Sinners, which will bum me out.

Happy for Teyana Taylor's nomination but really feel like Chase Infiniti deserved the nod.

Review Number 2: I watched it a second time, mainly because we were late for the movie the first time. I wasn't sure how much we had missed so we caught it again on streaming. Interestingly, seeing the extra ten minutes at the beginning kind of changed my whole interpretation. In my above review I talk about how the movie cooks, which it does from the inciting incident; the "uh oh, we have to run" moment. But the full beginning felt really long and delayed getting to that starting block. 

I also felt uncomfortable with the characterization of Perfidia Beverly Hills with her very hypersexualized nature and confusing relationship with Sean Penn's character. Why is PTA writing this particular character this way? He either didn't have a point to make with it and just thought this was a believable character or he did have a point to make but failed to make that point clear. That extra ten minutes kind of changed my feelings about both the pacing and the overall message.

Sinners

Movie: Sinners

Running Time: 2:17

Nominated for: Best Picture, Director, Leading Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Original Song, Sound, Visual Effects, Casting, Make Up & Hairstyling

How I watched: AMC x 3, HBO Max x 2

When it had me: Beautiful Cinematography

When it lost me: Still Hasn't

What systems does it challenge: Colonialism, vampirism

Sometimes a movie comes around that surprises you by being so much more than you were expecting.  I thought Sinners was a vampire flick, which, of course I was down for. And then this magnificent movie began to unfold before me and took me places I had not known I needed to go.

While we are concerned with monsters throughout the movie, as it progresses, we are also witnessing the effects of colonialism. The illusion of choice for people who are oppressed within the system, the elusive promise of freedom and the feeling of being constantly preyed upon. We see that those starved for culture and community are drawn to this group and are ready to steal all that they can.

This film is nominated for a record breaking 16 awards, including Delroy Lindo for Supporting Actor. That one was such a surprise and it's so great to see a talented actor who has been around forever get his first nomination.

The acting throughout is top notch by such a great ensemble cast led by Michael B. Jordan who is playing anywhere between 2 and 6 roles depending on who you listen to on the subject. And the music is sooooo good! Never before have I found a movie, its messages and its emotional journey to be so intricately tied up with its music. It absolutely must win for this; anything else is unacceptable to me.

Let's talk about magic and witchcraft! These are my favorite topics these days anyway. But Sinners stitches together beliefs of the Choctaw, the Irish and the people of West Africa to look at our relationship to music, expression and ancestry. The character of Annie played by Wunmi Mosaku is my favorite. She is a rootworker in the movie, using herbs and ritual to administer healing to her community and provide protection for her loved ones. (They consulted real rootworkers in creating this character! I love that.) She has deep and mystical knowledge about many things and also is unashamed to admit the mysteries she cannot explain. She is so believable and grounded and really is the heart of the film. And they listen to her! Which is refreshing.

But maybe my favorite thing of all is that the tone of the film is also played like its own virtuoso instrument. This movie is transcendent and cheeky in equal measure. I laugh and I cry every time I watch it. It's a cliche of movie reviews but the sweetness of the relationships between vulnerable characters yields easily to the visceral fear of the threat they all face and is constantly interlaced with such divine humor. To be able to wield them in such quick succession and sometimes simultaneously is a wonder to me and a delight to view.

Sadly, I feel it's not landing well with a lot of audiences. Some people wish it would have just stayed in its lane as a vampire flick and not had so much to say about underrepresented groups in a colonial system. Others would prefer the opposite. And I think some people just can't see themselves in the tension of the South and feel disinterested. It's unfortunate to me because I think it is such special film making and I wish everyone could love it.

I cannot imagine another movie topping Sinners as it is one of the best I have seen in years! Here's hoping it gets a healthy amount of love.

Welcome, Guests!

My cat wondering why I am up at 5:30am. She didn't mind eating early though. It was way darker in the house than my phone shows here too.

The nominations have arrived, like guests who will move in to my house and monopolize my time, energy and resources for the next seven weeks. You can see the complete list here. 

I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the group I'll be hanging out with. I've gotten to know a lot of them already so this should be pretty comfortable. (If you're new here, every year I watch every film nominated for an Oscar in any category and review them all.) There are 22 strangers in the mix; 22 films I need to see in the time afforded. Hopefully they won't be too hard to find on streaming or in theaters. I've got to get to know my new guests.

My most honored guest is Sinners with 16 nominations! Which is a record, by the way! I'm so happy as this is by far my favorite movie of the year. I hope it wins a healthy amount rather than receive all this love just to get shut out by One Battle After Another. I'm also super happy for Delroy Lindo's nomination for this film. What a nice surprise.

I'm super excited to hang out with some amazing witches from 2025. The past year has been so incredibly great for witch representation in film! The traditional backstory of any witch is that they signed their name in a book to pledge fealty to the devil and receive their powers. That's just not the reality of our...uh, I mean, THEIR practice. Writers seem to assume that just because they have magic they have to be evil. Well not any more! 

I have Agnes Shakespeare from Hamnet (played by Jesse Buckley) as a guest and I don't think I've seen a more beautiful depiction of a witch of the wood before. She works with herbs, has a kind of precognition, is just as comfortable sleeping in tree roots as a bed and is feral as hell! Her character is everything I aspire to be.

Annie from Sinners (played by Wunmi Mosaku) is another out of this world depiction of a magical woman grounded in her practice as a rootworker. She has a powerful skill for protection and reading the future as well as a wealth of knowledge for all things supernatural. And best of all, when she speaks in her community, people listen. Her value is respected deeply and I love to see it.

Gladys Lilly (played by Amy Madigan) from Weapons is also here! Now it's true she controls and murders people, but hear me out. She isn't doing it for any man or evil god; she's just looking out for number one. She has many different ways that she shows up in the world from terrifying to silly and light and she is extremely powerful. I'm happy to have her as a guest.

Hopefully I'll meet another witch as I learn more about my new guests! Speaking of new guests, I'm not looking forward to getting to know Avatar: Fire and Ash. There could be a witch in there but I hear this one is long winded and repetitive. Wish me luck.

There are a few guests that were not invited by the Academy and I'll sorely miss them. Paul Mescal was somehow left out for Hamnet and that's unfortunate. Also Teyana Taylor was nominated for One Battle After Another but not Chase Infiniti? I don't understand that at all. I'm disappointed that All the Walls Came Down wasn't nominated. It's a short doc about my town burning so I felt pretty invested.

But most glaring is No Other Choice receiving NO nominations whatsoever. Many people, including me, thought it was one of the best films of the year and it's crazy that it got completely shut out. Did Park Chan-wook do something to make everyone mad? He and his movie will be sorely missed at my house.

I've got to go get everyone settled in. I'll start reviews later today. After all, it's not just a welcome to the nominees today. It's also a welcome to you, my good readers. Let's have a great season of Gluttony together!

Official Oscar Gluttony 2026 Commences

This is my neighborhood post-fire. Absolutely gorgeous except seven of my neighbors homes used to be right there in that shot. 

Welcome Back, Film Buffs and Movie Dabblers!

Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow (January 22nd) but I'm not waiting around when there's so many movies to dig into already! First, let's get caught up on the past year.

There was a fire in my town, just over a year ago, described by our local weather expert as a "catastrophe of biblical proportions." Only 30% of the homes on my street survived the blaze and I'm happy to report, after 10 months of displacement, I am back in my home. At night it's a deserted landscape of coyotes and ghosts and during the day, it's a construction zone, but don't worry! None of that keeps me from streaming all the movies that I need to watch. And all of my theaters are outside of the "burn zone." (I don't mean to brag, no offense if your neighborhood is lacking a burn zone. It's not for everyone.)

Let's see, what else? ICE raids have impacted my neighborhood and our school community. Each day the reports get more grim and violent. Our country is attacking Venezuela, stealing oil and sliding (rapidly, mind you) into fascism. 

So how are you all doing? I'm guessing pretty much the same. Maybe you lack a "biblical proportion" disaster but hang on, they are no longer in short supply. I'm sure one will reach you shortly. (Though, my hope for you is to remain miraculously unscathed.)

What fun it is to get caught up with friends these days, eh? All this cheerful discourse has got me famished. I could really go for a bright colorful musical, a sport movie about a game that might not really be a sport, an exploration of colonialism and appropriation disguised as a Vampire tale or maybe a yummy fantasy about a well known playwright of old! 

I'm hungrily counting down the hours to the announcements! Let's get to devouring some celluloid!