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.