The Power of the Dog

Movie: The Power of the Dog

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design

How I watched: Netflix

When I fell asleep: I didn't

When it had me: Benedict Cumberbatch

When it lost me: Not until the very end!

What I have to say:

This movie tapped into one of my favorite experiences while I engage in cinematic gluttony: the feeling when I have no idea where a film is going next. I came in with no knowledge of this movie or its source material so I just went on a ride. Will there be forbidden love? Will there be death? Is it all about power struggle? Are outside forces going to upset the balance? I don't know! Anything could happen! 

What I did know was that when you have a mean, bully like Benedict Cumberbatch's character, sooner or later emotions are going to boil over. So that tension kept me in a place of wariness as I waited for the story to unfold. While I waited, the film was gorgeous with beautiful vistas and really good acting. We took a couple of turns I didn't see coming and eventually the film ended. And I was completely lost. I mean, I didn't even know what had happened. It felt anticlimactic and I definitely thought I had missed something.

Dear readers, I had to go ask the internet what the heck I missed and have someone explain it to me. I am not proud of this. I usually follow even the trickiest of movies. Needing help is NOT one of my favorite movie experiences. I really don't know if the movie is hard to follow or if I was just having an off night. Maybe I got too attached to the feeling of wandering through the film with no expectations and missed a few cues along the way. (Note: I have checked in with a few other people who also felt very unclear about what was going on here.)

Once I had a better picture of what was going on in the movie, I found out I liked it a whole lot! But I can't help but deduct from my overall score of the film because I needed the cliff's notes to get there. This might be a movie that benefits from additional viewings. But we don't have time for that during full on Oscar Gluttony!

Drive My Car

Movie: Drive My Car

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best International Feature

How I watched: At the Laemmle, with slight people panic

When I fell asleep: My eyes closed once, third act.

When it had me: It didn't grab me all at once, it grew on me slowly.

When it lost me: Some sequences of driving

What I have to say:

Let's talk about long movies. Drive My Car was so long that it was very difficult to find parking. The lot by the Laemmle is closed and all the street parking is a 2 hour maximum. I know this isn't the film maker's fault but I was faced with a decision to either leave during the movie to move my car (drive it, as it were) or park illegally and hope for the best. Never mind, what I chose. It's not important.

Drive My Car was so long that my eyes grew heavy in the third act and as they closed I caught myself thinking, "I think I know enough Japanese by now that I can follow along without subtitles..." Then I realized I was falling asleep, because that for sure was not true and I had to sit up straight for a while so I could read the movie again.

Drive My Car was so long that 41 minutes into the film, the opening credits barged their way onto the screen, completely confusing me. So about halfway through the running time of the movie Luca, we are just now being introduced to the actors? The first 41 minutes was just a sort of prologue??? 

I am not opposed to long movies. I have enjoyed very long movies. I am also a film editor, so if you sit me down for 2:59 of a film it is impossible for me to not look for places where it could have been cut. Like sometimes we see more driving than I needed. I know the film is called Drive My Car but I mean, it really is a LOT of driving. Also, I worry that a lot of people won't go see long movies. Is your message best served by making it so long that you exclude some audiences? Maybe. Ok, enough of that.

Why is the movie so long? First, it's based on a book. A book is long form and you don't want to lose great stuff or sell it short, so you make a long movie. That makes sense. Also, the movie deals with grieving. As we all know, grief doesn't end at a funeral. It is a life long journey and that is the primary theme of this movie for me, how we change, grow, stunt and suffer at the hands of our grieving process. So it makes sense that this is not a fast paced, quick-cutting romp through a life journey. It is a contemplative, meditative, spacious, quiet, measured amble through hurting, healing and moving on.

The time and attention given to small aspects of the characters is lovely. The acting is very underplayed and also extremely moving. The tensions stretch out and the connections have real time growth. It all ends up feeling decidedly true. I really liked the experience of this movie. I remain shocked that a film like this even got nominated for best picture. I couldn't help but wonder how they even got enough people to sit through three hours in order to vote for it. Escapist entertainment this is not. It is thoughtful and observant and I'm guessing, the last horse to cross the line in the Best Picture race.

Belfast

Movie: Belfast

Nominated For:  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound, Best Original Screenplay, 

How I watched: Prime Purchase

When I fell asleep: I did not

When it had me: The look had me right away

When it lost me: I drifted a bit at the end of the 2nd act

What I have to say:

Although the film takes place in 1969, amid tension and violence acted out against Catholics by militant Protestants, it feels older. Shot in black and white and centered around a little boy and his short pants and rucksack, it becomes hard for an American viewer to place this film in the same time frame as the Black Panthers and Woodstock. This is how we are presented with Belfast, a small town somehow lost in time and steeped in tradition. 

This film was relayed through such complex compositions. The visuals were often so breath taking that I felt visually nourished, if that makes any sense. So many angles and depths to each shot and almost always a character visible in the background or on the periphery. There was a lot to interest your eye and also a constant sense of accompaniment. Each shot reminds you that you are not alone, someone is always near. This could have seemed menacing but instead it was almost cozy; a fact of life lived closely with family. Camera angles remain low, from the perspective of the child that leads us through this story. In the same vain, the viewer receives a lot of information through over-hearing conversations, catching snippets here or there or from a variety of other sources. I was captivated by this grounding of the film's events through the experience of a kid. Such strong choices. I really felt like I went somewhere specific and experienced something. 

My complaints were minor. It felt like a LOT of song cues and there was a stall for a bit where I would have started dozing had I been more tired. But overall, I felt charmed, moved, and invited into an authentic moment in time. The character of Pops, the grandpa, was so specific and grounded in reality that he somehow felt representative of all grandpas to me...surely we all know one just like him?

What resonated most for me in this moment was the tension between the family's daily life and the larger picture of societal change swirling around them. The mom's character wants nothing to do with the change, keeping her head down and staying grounded in the realities of their daily life; paying the bills, feeding the kids, family functions. It reminded me of so many people I know who are disgusted by politics and say they choose to ignore it all because they have a life to live and no time for all that nonsense. It is shocking to see how quickly the town adapts to checkpoints and guards and barricades as they go about their daily lives (but honestly not THAT shocking as I mentally check that I have face masks stored in at least five different places.) The character of the father is more dialed in to the larger climate and knows that the changes going on around them cannot be evaded. Eventually, they can no longer ignore the magnitude of unrest and must figure out what comes next for them. Grounding yourself in your daily life may help you stay sane and present in your but sometimes it does not pay to ignore the big picture because whether you like it or not, that will affect your life too. Overall, a very beautiful movie that gives you a lot to think about.

Dune

Movie: Dune

Nominated for: Best Picture, Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Make-Up and Hairstyling

How I watched: A Theatre (gasp!)

When I fell asleep: I did not

When it had me: From the start

When it lost me: It didn't

What I have to say:

I read this over the summer in preparation for the movie. I never saw the original movie incarnation, but this one looked damn good so I made sure to get on board. This movie was steeped in mood and vibe and magnificent scope and thundering importance. It was one of those rare adaptations where everything felt correct; like somehow not exactly what I had pictured, but absolutely right nonetheless. The casting of this film was the single most astonishingly perfect piece. Who can play boyish but wise beyond his years and carry gravitas while looking like a mouse other than Timothee Chalamet? He is the one perfect choice! Everyone else was terrific as well and I can't wait for the second installment. The sound felt really tremendous in this movie. This was during one of those rare pockets of time where I felt safe enough to go to the movies, so it makes sense that full Dolby sound kind of knocked my socks off; I have been sadly deprived for a good while. The only down side may have been that you needed to read the book first to really dive in? Friends that did not start with knowledge of the book seemed to be a lot less impressed overall, which maybe makes it a movie that relies on a prior relationship with the source material; it should be able to stand on its own. That being said, my kids had not read it and still loved it, so it is possible.

Oscar Nominations 2022! The game has begun.

I almost threw in the towel this year. About a month ago, I just had no desire to be the Oscar Glutton. Two years of pandemic, a year of home construction and a general waning faith in the ability of humans to do anything but disappoint me was weighing me down and making me feel like there was no point. YOU know what I mean; you've struggled with the exact same human emotions at some point in the past two years (or maybe are feeling it right now) so I'm not telling you anything shocking.

However, home construction is drawing to a close, Omicron is maybe getting bored with us and I just remembered there are humans who do NOT disappoint me and some of them are you, my readers!

So, I'm back! I intend to watch every movie nominated in every category before the Oscars Award Ceremony airs, or get as close as I can. I started bingeing every highly rated movie on ALL my streaming services a couple weeks ago, just in case I decided to return to full Gluttony. The nominations have been announced and I can imagine the possibility of maybe venturing to a theatre once in the next month? I mean, only if it is mid-day and I am wearing two of my government issued N95s, because I am still cautious AF, but it is a possibility.

I didn't even know the nominations were coming out today! I thought it was going to drop after the Super Bowl. So here is the full list of nominees, if you are interested.

I have seen 4 of the 10 Best Picture Nominees, and 16 out of 37 movies total. I can (probably) do this.

My favorite title is Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. I have questions already!

My biggest disappointment is that they didn't nominate the song Just Look Up from Don't Look Up. Any song that includes the lyric, "Get your head out of your ass and listen to the goddamn qualified scientists" deserves consideration in my opinion.

Let me help you out if you are looking to watch the Big 10. Here's where you can find them:

Belfast - Rent on Prime

CODA - Apple TV

Don't Look Up - Netflix

Drive My Car - In Theaters, not streaming so far

Dune - Rent on Apple TV

King Richard - Rent on Prime

Licorice Pizza - Prime

Nightmare Alley - HBO Max

The Power of the Dog - Netflix

West Side Story - Coming Soon to Streaming supposedly

Ok, we're off like a herd of turtles, as my grandfather used to say! Go watch a movie!

The Power of Lowered Expectations - 2020 Movie Wrap Up

Remember 2020? (Ha!)

That's the year in film we are celebrating. So, you know, go easy. Easy on the movies, easy on the film makers, easy on yourselves. Most of all, let's not expect too much from the Academy Awards Broadcast. We are still in a pandemic, still traumatized, still grieving.

I've heard a lot of complaints about this year's collection of films. Everyone was looking for that special film that transcended. And I get it, these were a different lot of films. But I have come to believe they are just right for where we are (or at least, where I am).  

Films like Sound of Metal, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Father and Pieces of a Woman grieved along with me. Nomadland, The White Tiger and The Life Ahead made me think about how our society values life and how different I think it should be. Promising Young Woman and The United States Vs. Billie Holiday and Trial of the Chicago 7 made me hunger for real justice. And I felt a little spark of hope for humanity through Minari, Soul and Another Round.

So I'm posting my favorites and picks and getting ready to be underwhelmed this evening. Thank you for reading, engaging or following along in some way. I love this journey every year and I think this year I needed it more than ever!

I managed to see ALL of the feature films nominated and all but three of the Shorts. Astonishing outcome; I never would have believed it possible.! Get vaccinated everyone, so we can meet back up in the theatres. I officially never want to watch a movie on a computer screen while perched on a pile of bean bags again!

2021 Oscar Picks

Best Picture

My fave: Promising Young Woman, My guess: Nomadland

Actress in a Supporting Role

My fave: Yuh-jung Youn (Minari), My guess: Olivia Coleman (The Father)

Actor in a Supporting Role

My fave: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah), My guess: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)

International Feature Film

My fave: Another Round, My guess: Another Round

Documentary Short

My fave: A Concerto is a Conversation, My guess: Hunger Ward

Documentary Feature

My fave: Collective, My guess: Collective 

Original Song

My fave: Io Si (The Life Ahead), My guess: Speak Now (One Night in Miami

Animated Feature Film

My fave: Wolfwalkers, My guess: Soul

Adapted Screenplay

My fave: The White Tiger, My guess: Nomadland

Original Screenplay

My fave: Promising Young Woman, My guess: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Actor in a Leading Role

My fave: Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), My guess: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

Actress in a Leading Role

My fave: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), My guess: Andra Day (The United States Vs. Billie Holiday)

Director

My fave: Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), My guess: Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) 

Production Design

My fave: The Father, My guess: Mank

Cinematography

My fave: Nomadland, My guess: Mank

Costume Design

My fave: Pinocchio, My guess: Mulan

Achievement in Sound

My fave: Sound of Metal, My guess: Sound of Metal

Animated Short Film

My fave: Burrow, My guess: Burrow

Live Action Short Film

My fave: The Present, My guess: The Letter Room

Original Score

My fave: Soul, My guess: Mank

Visual Effects

My fave: Tenet, My guess: Tenet

Film Editing

My fave: Promising Young Woman, My guess: The Father

Make Up & Hairstyling

My fave: Pinocchio, My guess: Mank

 

Short Films

I spent a couple of days tracking down short films. I didn't think I'd get to see any of them without my special Laemmle screenings but it turns out many of them were available online or streaming. So I managed more than I thought I would!

Animated Shorts

Burrow (Disney+) - A bunny struggles to build a home in a crowded part of the underground. Adorable! My kids had me watch this one a while ago.

If Anything Happens I Love You (Netflix) - Mortfying. Horrible, Don't watch.  (It's about a couple dealing with the loss of a child after a school shooting.)

Genius Loci (Vimeo) - Cool animations style, I have no idea what it was about. Maybe mental illness?

Yes-People (Vimeo rental) - I just watched the trailer; looks like a quirky little piece. 

Opera (unavailable)

 

Live Action Shorts

Two Distant Strangers (Netflix) -  A Black man gets stuck in a Groundhog Day style nightmare where he gets murdered over and over again by the same cop, no matter how he tries to alter his behavior. It feels like every day in America.

The Present (Netflix) -  A guy tries to buy a fridge for his wife for their anniversary but has trouble navigating the military checkpoints in Palestine. Scary look at the dehumanizing treatment of Palestinians.

Feeling Through (Youtube) - A homeless kid helps a deaf and blind man. It's a nice tale of connection.

The Letter Room - I watched the trailer. This one has Oscar Isaac and looks really good. 

White Eye (Unavailable)

 

Documentary Shorts

A Love Song for Latasha (Netflix) -  The story of the life and 1991 death of Latosha Harlins in South Central, Los Angeles. It is told with so much love. The style of the documentary is very distinct and poetic. Moving!

Colette (on their website)- A former French resistance fighter remembers the life and death of her brother with a young historian. A very emotional look at the ritual of passing along memories and stories to preserve someone's life experience and contribution to history. Painful and precious.

A Concerto is a Conversation (Watch the New York Times Op-Doc here.)- A gorgeous short. A conversation between a composer and his grandfather. It is shot in such an open and vulnerable way as to bring you immediately into an intimate, loving and respectful relationship.

Do Not Split (Vimeo) - A tense and unnerving look at pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. It's a small look at an on-going fight.

Hunger Ward (Pluto.com) - Children die of starvation in Yemen. Hard to watch, heartbreaking.