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Last three (one new watch and two re-watches) :
About Time
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
The Wolf of Wall Street
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"The Good Fight", "The Other Two" and "Station Eleven" in all categories, Sarah Lancashire ("Julia"), William Jackson Harper ("Love Life") and Luke Kirby ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel")
“The Boys in the Band” (2020): I’m surprised by how much I liked this. Joe Mantello did a fine job opening the play up and giving it cinematic dimension. I’m also curious about William Friedkin’s original film as comparison, though I’ve read that in its day, it was seen as being both revolutionary in content yet middling in execution. The remake is only viable in Adapted Screenplay, I think, or that’s all I’m predicting at the moment. If anyone’s getting traction here, I’d guess it would be Jim Parsons for the largest role, albeit the most problematic role too. Between this, “Hollywood,” “The Normal Heart,” and other films, he’s really trying to erase any typecasting notions casting directors and audiences might have had with him as Sheldon, which is commendable, I guess. I’m convinced that Parsons will win an Oscar one day when no one suspects it or predicts it. He would have killed in a Woody Allen film, but Allen’s cancelled now, so whatever. Some of the ensemble is well-served by the material, while others aren’t. If the content is too caustic for some, I’d say to stick with it to the end, b/c the resolution is indeed worth the journey. I wished that Matt Bomer had more to do, and maybe Zachary Quinto had less to do. Regardless, I’m both spent and energized after watching this story play itself out. The property has a storied place in gay film history, and I’m glad that Mart Crowley at least lived to see the revival realized in Broadway. Highly recommended viewing.
ReplyCopy URLI was finally able to watch The Father through a virtual screening from the Mill Valley Film Festival. Here’s my review:
The Father is definitely not going to be an easy watch for people. However, it is indeed worth watching for the incredible lead performance from Anthony Hopkins alone. As the memory loss of his character keeps progressing throughout the film, you really never see any acting at all as Hopkins makes everything feel very believable. It’s so remarkable how at almost 83 years old, the acting legend can still be able to turn in such a grade A performance like that. I think he’s definitely going to be hard to beat in a lot of Best Actor races this upcoming awards season.
Olivia Colman is also very good here. Her performance may be understated, but I thought it still managed to come across very affectively. I also loved how the dialogue bounces back and forth a lot just like a tennis match. Not to mention that the way writer/director Florian Zeller approaches the scenes with Anthony, you almost end up feeling as confused as the character himself as the film goes on. Credit must also go to the editor, Yorgos Lamprinos, for pulling off that emotion. The end of this movie left me feeling speechless.
ReplyCopy URLI have just finished watching The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. I found it to be quite an intriguing political courtroom drama that is not only entertaining as well, but it also ends on such an inspirational note. The screenplay is sharply written with some great back and forth banter between characters (as usual with any Aaron Sorkin script). Though as director, he is able keep things going through such strong pacing (which editor Alan Baumgarten also deserves credit for). Terrific performances from every member of a terrific ensemble. Although the standouts to me were Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frank Langella, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, and Alex Sharp.
ReplyCopy URLI have just finished watching One Night in Miami through a virtual screening from the Middleburg Film Festival. For her first directorial outing, Regina King does a pretty good at the helm. While this movie can come across more as a filmed stage play, she has managed to come up with a few tricks to keep the audience’s attention throughout. Everyone in the cast gives charismatic and compelling performances. Though the standouts to me were Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Sam Cooke.
ReplyCopy URLI have just finished watching One Night in Miami through a virtual screening from the Middleburg Film Festival. For her first directorial outing, Regina King does a pretty good at the helm. While this movie can come across more as a filmed stage play, she has managed to come up with a few tricks to keep the audience’s attention throughout. Everyone in the cast gives charismatic and compelling performances. Though the standouts to me were Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Sam Cooke.
Nice! What nominations would *YOU GIVE* to the movie if you were a voter?
ReplyCopy URLIt's about the chaotic editing in Moulin Rouge!
I have just finished watching Rebecca on Netflix. Obviously, those familiar with this story are going to be spending their time comparing this new film to that of the 1940 classic from Alfred Hitchcock. While I can understand their reasons, I’m not going to because the people behind this movie have stated that this version is supposed to be more in line with the original novel. So I’m going to respect their wishes and review this movie as a movie.
Under the direction of Ben Wheatley, he’s able to create his own interpretation of the classic story in what I found to be quite a compelling way. Lily James gives a strong performance as Mrs. de Winter. Armie Hammer makes for a charismatic leading man as Maxim de Winter. I thought they both made for a very appealing onscreen couple. Kristin Scott Thomas is definitely a standout as Mrs. Danvers. The production values (especially the sets and the costumes) are really exquisite. Clint Mansell’s musical score is very haunting.
While this film adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel may not hold a candle to the Alfred Hitchcock movie (which is in my opinion, a masterpiece), I still think it’s pretty good for what it is.
ReplyCopy URL“The Invisible Man” (2020): I’m not all that interested in the horror genre, but this just recently premiered on HBO, so I watched it since it was late night and I was bored. This was an interesting twist on the Wells classic, and I can genuinely say that it maintained my interest from start to finish. Elisabeth Moss was fantastic here, which was far more than something like this ever deserved. Like, save it for “The Handmaid’s Tale” or something lol. I know there was early speculation of Universal making a play for Moss in lead actress with the weirdness of 2020 giving an opening for unconventional nominees. I think this film is way too genre for that, and its early, botched release won’t help matters. There will always be five Oscar-bait actress roles of varying quality ready to be nominated instead of genre every year, sadly. I’m convinced that Moss will find herself not only a nominee but a winner one of these days. She just has that “it quality” about her, and her television credentials will play a major role too. The supporting cast was underwhelming, save for Aldis Hodge, who I hope gets some significant attention in the coming years. He was win-worthy in “Clemency,” last year, and the world didn’t give a shit. Maybe with roles like this and “One Night in Miami,” more people will recognize his leading man potential. The twists are fast and furious, and not all of them work out. I’m not familiar with Leigh Whannell’s work beyond being Australian and having a horror background. He has a clear eye for suspense and effective use of foreboding and negative space. I’m surprised by how much I’m still thinking about this film when the trailer made it seem entirely disposable.
ReplyCopy URLI’ve watched a few 2020 films in the past week that don’t have individual threads and don’t specifically fall into any of the Oscar category-specific threads, so I’m putting my thoughts down here. In the past few days, I’ve watched “Nine Days,” “Black Bear” and “Minari.”
I was absolutely blown away by “Nine Days,” from concept to vision. The screenplay is incredibly tight, revealing the scope of this story bit by bit and keeping you fully entranced in the arc of these characters. Edson Oda’s screenplay and direction are both just marvelous and I can’t imagine what he’s going to follow up this film, his first directorial effort, with. The cast is really great. Winston Duke is a quiet, commanding presence as the main character and you build this respect and admiration for him as the film crescendoes. Zazie Beetz is such a delightful presence and in some ways the audience surrogate, and I felt she truly fell into this role whole-heartedly. Benedict Wong, Bill Skarsgard, Tony Hale and Arianna Ortiz also give really great and committed performances, but I have to single out David Rysdahl, an actor I was unfamiliar with and whose role is not necessarily meant to be a standout, but who absolutely bowled me over when he was on screen. The score is outstanding. This film is bursting with a lot of new and burgeoning talent, and I hope this film gets the platform it deserves when it is officially released.
“Black Bear” is a curious case of a film where I admired its two halves but ultimately did not understand the narrative purpose of breaking up the story in the way it does. I’m trying to be vague since there are people who haven’t seen it, but the upside is that the trio of main actors, particularly Aubrey Plaza, get a lot to play with. Plaza is bonkers in this role. Her performance starts from a place of familiarity and comfortability if you’ve seen her previous work, but then she goes to places I honestly didn’t know she was capable of. She gets to do everything and it’s a jaw-dropping performance. The film itself is entertaining, though ultimately leaves a bit more explanation desired, but it is certainly stands out from the crowd.
Finally, I really loved “Minari” and found the triumph of it quietly building its small world to be captivating. Lee Isaac Chung is clearly telling a very personal story, and while the film kicks off with putting the main story interest in Steven Yeun’s character, it slowly gives control over to Alan Kim and, most importantly, his relationship with the sensational Youn Yuh-Jung. Her performance is the thing I’m thinking about most a day later. She is hilarious and warm and insightful and heartbreaking, and the grandmother character is in many ways similar (but brilliant in its own way) to Nai Nai in “The Farewell.” I loved Zhao Shuzhen and I love Youn Yuh-Jung. Yeun is also great, as is Han Ye-ri. The story unfolds in some surprising but beautiful ways, and the story is aided by a beautiful score and cinematography.
ReplyCopy URLI have just finished watching On the Rocks on Apple TV+. I found the movie to be a very enjoyable dramedy that is well anchored by some heartfelt onscreen chemistry between Rashida Jones and Bill Murray. Though individually, they both give great performances on their own. Jones is quite good here as a wife and mother while Murray is wonderfully charismatic as her father.
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