Month: March 2022

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The Hand of God (2021)

A semi-autobiographical tale of the director’s life, the film follows Filippo Scotti as a teenaged loner living in 1980s Naples. The first half establishes the relationships and quirks among his extended family members and neighbors, a group of mean-spirited, soccer-loving Italians. Then tragedy strikes and Scotti’s character is suddenly forced to grow up. That middle moment is the best part of the film with real tenderness, affection, and heartbreak shown by the characters. The first part is grossly littered with moments of making fun of others and generally treating people horribly. I’ve probably just seen too many male coming of age stories to really get behind the objectifying of women and adults taking sexual advantage of boys to appreciate the changes that the character goes through. The Italian scenery is gorgeous at least.

Oscar Nomination: Best International Feature Film

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Affairs of the Art (2021)/On My Mind (2021)

The main character of Affairs of the Art is a middle-aged woman with dreams of being a renowned artist. She recounts her obsession with art by detailing her other family member’s obsessions, including her sister’s taxidermy. The story is a bit unhinged and the animation style is definitely not my thing.

In On My Mind, a man walks into an empty bar and orders a drink. When he realizes they also host karaoke, he aggressively pushes to use the machine against the owner’s preferences. It’s a bit of a cliched story and the actions of the characters across the board don’t feel realistic , but it is heartfelt and well-meaning.

Oscar Nominations: Best Animated Short Film (Affairs of the Art); Best Live Action Short Film (On My Mind)

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The Ladies Man (1961)

After finding his lady with another man, Jerry Lewis takes a job as an errand boy in a women-only boarding house. I’ve long suspected that Lewis’s comedy is generally not for me and this worked towards sealing the case. Mostly told in episodically, the humor is exceptionally rare and not worth the slog to find those points. The only thing going for the film, and it’s an extremely big thing, is the ginormous house setting. There is literally no fourth wall to be found and the action easily moves from one brightly colored room to another to another. It’s like a giant dollhouse and I find myself mesmerized by a still of it for a much longer time than the film held my attention.

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Don’t Look Up (2021)

Two astronomers Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio discover a comet hurtling towards earth and find out in a post-truth worth that it’s impossible to get anyone to take the threat seriously and more importantly to find leaders who find it politically beneficial to do something about it. The satire is a bit too on the nose most of the time and the film drags for way too long. None of the characters feel real in any way, but there are some entertaining moments scattered throughout and the overall plot is probably as realistic as any other take on the story could be. Best Picture Nomination  SciFi

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score); Best Original Screenplay

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Coming 2 America (2021)

In this sequel to the 1988 film with almost the same name, the story forwards thirty years where Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem has three daughters and is set to take over the throne from his dying father. Because they still live in a patriarchy, the daughters are useless, but luckily Eddie unknowingly fathered a son during his long ago visit to Queens. It’s the type of sequel that’s incredibly weak in plotting but strong in nods to the previous film. The original being the first R rated film I saw in the theater and still holds up for me in recent watchings, I enjoyed seeing all the old characters return and the new ones blend in relatively smoothly. The costumes are gorgeous and the makeup necessary for Eddie and Arsenio Hall to portray multiple characters is well done, but the film is missing the charm of its predecessor.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

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tick, tick… Boom! (2021)

This is the film adaptation of the semi-autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson that was revamped after his death. In the film, Andrew Garfield is Jonathan, a composer and playwright approaching his 30th birthday and feeling pressure to meet the successes of his idol and mentor Stephen Sondheim while preparing for a workshop of his passion project Superbia. While I’ve never seen a production of this particular piece, Rent was the first stage production I personally bought tickets for myself and I am a fan of Larson’s work. The interweaving of Larson performing this piece with earlier preparations for the Superbia workshop along with his personal and internal struggles during this time is delicately balanced. There are bits of the music and story that hint to the future inspirations for Rent. Not known for musical work, Garfield fully embodies the late Larson in his performance. I’m unsure if I feel there were too many or not, but otherwise love the theatre cameos.   Musical

Oscar Nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Achievement in Film Editing

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Lead Me Home (2021)/Audible (2021)

It shouldn’t be news to anyone that there’s a homelessness epidemic in American cities, especially on the West Coast. That’s the only message Lead Me Home has to offer. It spends more time on aerial footage of said cities than the handful of unhoused individuals whose heartbreaking stories are featured. There isn’t much depth to these stories nor any causes or solutions to the problem presented.

The subjects of Audible are deaf high school students who are all associated with their football team’s winning streak. These students are also connected in their grief over the death of their friend and former classmate. The short touches on many subjects that teenagers are dealing with, such as sexuality, mental health, family issues, and being part of a community, but unfortunately that’s a lot to unpack in 40 minutes so it remains mostly on the surface.  Sports

Oscar Nominations: Best Documentary Short Subject (Lead Me Home; Audible)

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The Power of the Dog (2021)

In 1920s Montana, ranchers Jesse Plemons meets and marries widowed inn owner Kirsten Dunst, much to the chagrin of his abusive brother Benedict Cumberbatch. During the summer, Dunst’s son Kodi Smit-McPhee visits the ranch and also endures Cumberbatch’s abuse but overtime finds common ground with the rancher. Not being a fan of Jane Campion nor really of Westerns, I didn’t have high expectations of going in, but I came away quite impressed. There’s a long interwoven tale here of shifting power dynamics, sexuality, and gender roles that slowly reveals itself and doesn’t become clear until its final moments, and maybe not even then. The performances are strong across the board and play against each other in incredible ways.  Best Picture Nomination  Western

Oscar Win: Best Achievement in Directing

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2); Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Production Design; Best Sound; Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

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Far From the Tree (2021)

Included with the DVD for Encanto, this short follows a young raccoon as she travels with her father from their forest home to the nearby seaside. Whenever she wanders from her father’s view, he aggressively returns her to safety. With a traditional animated look and tight story telling, this was much more my sort of thing than the movie it accompanied.   Animals

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Encanto (2021)

Mirabel Madrigal is the only member of her multigenerational Colombian family who was not bestowed a special talent as a child. On the day her younger cousin Antonio receives his gift, Mirabel notices that the Madrigal’s magical home seems to be cracking at the seams and she’s determined to find out why. Like Raya and the Dragon before it, this film is beautifully animated with even more gorgeous backgrounds and details. Unfortunately Mirabel isn’t a particularly inspirational main character and many of the other family members would have made more appealing leads. I like Stephanie Beatriz as an actress, but her voice does not come across anywhere near that of a teenager. The soundtrack is apparently very popular, but didn’t work organically within the movie for me. Instead the songs feel like they were made for an eventual stage production than this animated film. Both the build up and the resolution of the main conflict are a bit muddied, but I do like the concepts of familial pressures and magical gifts even if some of those were a bit duds in terms of usefulness.   Musical

Oscar Win: Best Animated Feature Film

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score); Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

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