The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Song    This probably has Original Screenplay in the bag.  I wouldn't give it high odds for any of the rest of its nominations.

In the summer of 1968, several protest groups went to the Democratic National Convention to protest the Vietnam War and the selection of Herbert Humphrey as the Democratic candidate.  The protesters were denied a permit by the city, thousands of people crowded into Grant Park, and eventually a full-scale riot broke out.  Eight men were arrested: Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp), Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), John Froines (Danny Flaherty) and Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins), and Bobby G. Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).  Seale was picked up for Protesting While Black, even though he was only in the city for four hours.  He was separately represented, but his lawyer (Sir Not Appearing in This Film) was in the hospital and the trial proceeded anyway.  

If that last sentence made you cock your head like the RCA dog, congratulations.  You've arrived at the central point of this film.  This trial was a total miscarriage of justice from witness tampering, a blatantly racist judge (Frank Langella, a legend), and heavy political overtones.  It's frankly a little on the nose, but the Academy loves that shit, which is why I think it will get an award, but not all the awards.  I will say that it's definitely the funniest of the Best Picture nominees so far.

It's currently streaming on Netflix.

The United States vs Billie Holiday (2021)

Nominated for Best Actress   It took me five days to get through this movie.  It is unrelentingly bleak.

Billie Holiday (Andra Day) is a beautiful and talented jazz singer.  Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes) is a young up-and-comer in the new FBI undercover narcotics squad, led by Harry Ainslinger (Garrett Hedlund).  Ainslinger wants Holiday arrested and sends Fletcher to get close to her and report back on any drug use.  Holiday is arrested for possession of heroin, but Fletcher begins to suspect that her targeting is less about drugs and more about her refusal to stop singing "Strange Fruit," a song about the prevalence of lynchings across the country.  

Like I said, bleak.  Day carries this film from the opening frame to close, portraying a deeply damaged woman who clawed her way from being trafficked as a minor to an international superstar only for her own country to hound her into an early grave for daring to say that Black people should be treated like human beings.  It's currently streaming on Hulu.

One Night in Miami... (2020)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song    This is adapted from a stage play and it is very talky.  

For one night, four of the most renown African Americans of the sixties were together in the city of Miami: boxing legend Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), political activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), NFL hall of famer Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and soul singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.), ostensibly to celebrate Clay's win over heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.  In reality, all four men were contemplating major changes about to occur in their lives, as well as the broader implications of their fame.  Malcolm X was about to cut ties with the Nation of Islam.  Clay was about to announce his conversion to Islam and name change to Muhammad Ali.  Jim Brown was leaving the NFL to be an actor.  Sam Cooke wanted to push his brand into more mainstream appeal.

Like I said, it's based on a play.  So the set is pretty limited and it's mostly just the characters having a two hour conversation.  But it's a really good conversation.  These four actors are excellent, especially Ben-Adir and Odom.  Absolutely worth watching.  It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)

Nominated for Best Animated Short     Now we move from the Holocaust to school shootings.  Not a great double feature, even if they're short.  For God's sake, take a break between them.  

Yes, I am talking to myself.  No, I did not listen.  

A couple wordlessly struggle with the aftermath of losing their child in a school shooting.

I had originally written a long screed about the necessity of gun control here but upon re-reading it, it just made me so sad I had to delete it.  I've never owned a gun.  I dislike the noise, the smell, the weight, and the touch.  I have used a gun.  I have used a gun against other human beings.  It is a transformative experience and not in a positive way.  If I could snap my fingers and remove every gun on Earth, I would, with zero hesitation.  But I can't.  All I can do is vote for people who share my abhorrence and hope to push through legislation over the protests of a small selfishly-motivated group that cares more about profits than they do about human life.  And be sad every time there is a mass casualty event involving guns.  Which is way too often.  

If Anything Happens I Love You is on Netflix.

Colette (2020)

Nominated for Best Documentary Short     This is the first truly harrowing Oscar nom.  

75 years after her brother's death, French Resistance hero Colette Marin-Catherine journeys for the first time to the concentration camp where he was murdered.

Content warning:  The Holocaust.  

There has been a surge in Holocaust denial in recent years because we collectively recoil from the images and stories of such atrocity and horror.  And it may seem like that recoil is a reflection of our humanity, that we don't want to consider that people are capable of inflicting that level of pain and degradation, that somehow we are better than that and if we focus on the positive, on the virtuous, it will somehow prevent the barbarity from occurring again.

It will not.

It must be faced and scrutinized.  The horror must be experienced so empathy can grow.  It is a transformative relationship.  This short is only 24 minutes, so it's maybe more palatable than longer form documentaries or dramatizations like Schindler's List.  It's also free on YouTube.  It is an extremely hard watch but I encourage you to do so.  Please educate yourselves and your (age-appropriate) children.  

Burrow (2020)

Nominated for Best Animated Short   This was so cute and had so much personality.

A bunny is looking to build her very first burrow but all her neighbors seem to be much more advanced than she is.  Embarrassed, she forges ahead and makes a mistake that could endanger the community.  But she realizes that needing help is nothing to be ashamed about and that's how you learn.  Also, everyone is cuddly and she gets a disco bathroom.

I cannot emphasize how freaking cute this short is.  It's only six minutes long but well worth the time.  It also makes an excellent palate cleanser after one too many horrifying Oscar nominees.  It's currently streaming on Disney+.

Nomadland (2020)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Directing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Cinematography    This is definitely the frontrunner for Best Picture, Director, and Lead Actress.  And probably Adapted Screenplay.  It's a good film but not one I'd ever watch again.

Fern (Frances McDormand) is intentionally homeless.  She lives out of her panel van, moving from RV park to park across the country, following seasonal work since the death of her husband and the closure of their company-owned town.  Along the way, she makes friends among the other nomads, a loose community of people who, for various reasons, have rejected the homogenization of society.  

Content warning: suicide (discussed, not shown).  Overall, this is a story about grief and trauma response.  It also shows the difference between solitude and loneliness.  It is a very pretty film, with a lot of broad, sweeping vistas of the American West, reinforcing the concepts of pioneering and wilderness.  McDormand is one of those actresses that people will be talking about in 100 years as the best of a generation, whether or not anybody recognizes it now.  She doesn't have the film credit volume of  Meryl Streep (yet) but she's one Oscar away from being tied in statuettes.  This could be it.  

Nomadland is currently streaming on Hulu.

Sound of Metal (2019)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay     First Best Picture nominee watched.  It's not my favorite.  Hopefully, the others are better.

Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is a heavy metal drummer and recovering heroin addict who abruptly loses over 80% of his hearing.  The doctor (Tom Kemp) warns him that he must stop exposure to loud noise and tries to prepare Ruben that his hearing will deteriorate further.  Ruben latches on to the idea of cochlear implants but the $40,000 minimum for surgery is a daunting barrier.  His girlfriend and bandmate, Lou (Olivia Cooke), takes him to a sober living facility that is also part of a Deaf community, run by Joe (Paul Raci).  There, Ruben must come to terms with his life and his expectations for the future. 

This is a depressing ass movie.  I get the concept that things happen and force us onto paths we hadn't considered and weren't prepared for, and that the best we can do for ourselves is embrace the future, not mourn the past.  But it's still depressing.  Currently streaming on Amazon.

My Octopus Teacher (2020)

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature This is a really soothing film to watch.  There's some beautiful underwater photography and a really soft score.  If you needed a movie to zone out to, this is it.

Craig Foster is a nature photographer, video editor, and filmmaker who returned to the coast of South Africa after being burned out on too many projects.  He began exploring the kelp forest in the water near his home and discovered an octopus had made her lair there.  Fascinated by the creature, he began returning every day and documenting her and all the wildlife around her.  

Okay, I'm going to just be straight with you.  This is like Charlotte's Web but underwater.  I need you to know so you don't come back here emotionally wrecked because of a cephalopod and blame me for it.  I didn't make this sad.  Craig Foster did.  Just so you know.  It's currently streaming on Netflix.

A Concerto is a Conversation (2020)

Nominated for Best Documentary Short  This was produced by the New York Times and is available to watch on their website or for free on YouTube.

Kris Bowers is a composer and pianist, known for his film scores of When They See Us, The Snowy Day, and Green Book, where he also worked as Mahershala Ali's piano teacher and doubled his hands for some of the playing in the film.  In this short, he prepares for a concerto being performed in Los Angeles and has a conversation with his grandfather, Horace Bowers, Sr., about the latter's beginnings and life.  

This is a really sweet short about the importance of connecting with family before they're gone.  It's only about 13 minutes long and well worth a watch.

Emma. (2020)

Nominated for Best Costumes and Best Makeup and Hairstyling  I'm just going to go ahead a say it:  the only good adaptation of Emma is Clueless.  Come at me, Austen-ites.

Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a beautiful heiress who delights in matchmaking.  She has had one success and is convinced this is her calling, so when her best friend, Harriet (Mia Goth) receives a proposal from a tenant farmer (Connor Swindells), Emma convinces her to turn it down and set her cap for the priest, Mr. Elton (Josh O'Connor).  Her brother-in-law's brother, Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn), warns her against raising Harriet's expectations too high, but Emma forges ahead with the confidence being a rich white woman will give you.  Emma herself is interested in the mysterious Mr. Churchill (Callum Turner), going head-to-head with Jane Fairfax (Amber Anderson) for his attentions.  Over the course of a year, Emma learns some valuable lessons about being a busybody, trying to run people's lives for them, and when to keep her fucking mouth shut.  

The costumes and hair are extremely good.  The production design and art direction are also excellent, but they weren't nominated.  The movie itself feels interminable.  I paused it, thinking it was almost over, and it was only at the 40-minute mark.  I literally groaned out loud seeing that.  Also, I know it's historically accurate, but I fucking hated the high collars on the men.  It looked like they couldn't roll down a turtleneck so they just cut a hole in the front to talk out of.  Then I realized they were just hiding hideous muttonchops and I was a little more grateful for the turtleneck window.  Anyway, Emma. is currently streaming on HBO Max.  Clueless isn't currently streaming but you should own it anyway.

The One and Only Ivan (2020)

Nominated for Best Visual Effects  Another CGI talking animal movie!

Ivan (Sam Rockwell) is a gorilla and the number one attraction at Big Top Mall for many years.  But as the audiences start dwindling, animal owner Mack (Bryan Cranston) begins to worry.  He purchases baby elephant Ruby (Brooklynn Prince) from a defunct circus in the hopes of regaining public appeal, and it works for a bit --who doesn't love baby animals?-- but it's clearly a stopgap.  Veteran elephant Stella (Angelina Jolie) asks Ivan to take care of Ruby and see that she somehow gets back to the wild, where she belongs.  Ivan must reach back to his most painful early memories to reconnect with his love of art to bridge the communication gap between himself and humans.

This is based on a true story of a gorilla who became famous for painting.  It's Disney so it's completely family-friendly and a nice way to open a conversation with your kids about why wild animals shouldn't be kept as pets.  How far you want to go with that conversation (on a scale from White Fang to Blackfish) is up to you.  The One and Only Ivan is currently streaming on Disney+.

The Mole Agent (2020)

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature  This might be the funniest documentary I've ever seen in my life.  The first ten minutes are a better comedy than any scripted one I've seen all year.

A private investigator in Chile is hired by a client to check out her mother's nursing home.  The client worries that her mom isn't being taken care of or is being abused.  The P.I. puts out an ad in the paper for a retired, 80-90 year-old man to act as a spy inside the nursing home.  Sergio, a spry widower, is chosen, despite his unfamiliarity with technology, and quickly becomes a favorite in the home where the ratio of women to men is 10-1.  Sergio takes his duties seriously, but he discovers something much more pervasive than elder abuse:  loneliness.  

Not to be dramatic, but by the time this was over, I would have taken a bullet for Sergio.  That little old man was the sweetest, most genuine person.  I love him.  And you will too.  The Mole Agent is currently streaming on Hulu.

Time (2020)

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature  Finally!  A documentary that doesn't make me want to die!

Robert Richardson robbed a bank in northern Louisiana and was sentenced to 60 years in prison with no possibility of parole.  His wife, Sibil or alternatively Fox Rich, drove the car and was also arrested, plea bargained down to 12 years, and served her time.  Over the next two decades, Fox worked tirelessly to raise her six (6!) boys and campaign for her husband's release.  

Honestly, this woman's drive and determination is truly awe-inspiring.  I would have been exhausted trying to do a quarter of the work she does.  And she recorded years of video diaries?  While running a business?  And being a motivational speaker?  I need a nap just listing those.  I imagine that in person she's probably more polarizing --that kind of passion always is-- but the film does a great job of making her sympathetic and not strident.  

It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

 

A Love Song for Latasha (2020)

Nominated for Best Documentary Short  

Latasha Harlins was 15 years old when a corner store clerk shot her in the back of the head, one of the inciting incidents for the 1992 Los Angeles riots.  Now, 30 years later, her friends and family remember her not as a statistic, but as a bright, motivated young woman in this short from Netflix.

This is a tragic story, one that absolutely never needed to happen.  It's also unfortunately prescient, since we've not moved as a country past the systemic abuses of power that allow young people like Latasha Harlins to be destroyed and their murderers go free.  

I am not going to critique the subject, but I will say that I didn't get the stylistic choice of grainy, sort of generic 90s backgrounds.  I would have appreciated more interview footage, since those were the most powerful parts, and having the screen look like an idling .wav on Windows Media Player.  But otherwise, A+ we've-learned-nothing.  Currently streaming on Netflix.

Tenet (2020)

Nominated for Best Visual Effects and Best Production Design  This was one of the only movies to come out in theaters last year.  Director Christopher Nolan was adamant that it had to be seen on the biggest screen.  But I watched it on my couch anyway and I don't think I missed anything.  

An unnamed government agent (John David Washington) joins an even more secret organization dedicated to preventing attacks from the future.  Not in a proactive, "this is how we recognize problems and deal with them early" kind of way, but literal attacks from the future traveling to the past.  A Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh) communicates with unknown persons in the future to search the present for nine pieces of an algorithm that will reverse the flow of time, because climate change?  Anyway, the protagonist cozies up to the oligarch's abused wife (Elizabeth Debicki) to get access to the man himself but starts to recognize the human cost might be too dear to bear.

Look, this isn't a deep movie.  You're not going to have long, in-depth conversations about the implications of time travel in this fashion.  It's a fun popcorn flick with people running backwards and explosions winding down into puffs of smoke.  The visuals are good, Branagh makes an excellent villain, and Washington is a rising star.  Plus, this actually made me consider that Robert Pattinson might not fuck up Batman.

Tenet is currently not streaming (for free, you can rent it) on any services.

2021 Oscar Nominations

 The Oscar nominations came out yesterday.  I was so busy updating all my lists that I forgot to post who's up for what.  So, a day late, here are the nominees. 

Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg - Another Round

David Fincher - Mank

Lee Isaac Chung - Minari

Chloé Zhao - Nomadland

Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman

Best Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah - Sean Bobbitt

Mank - Erik Messerschimidt

News of the World - Dariusz Wolski

Nomadland - Joshua James Richards

The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Phedon Papamichael

Best International Feature

Another Round - Denmark

Better Days - Hong Kong

Collective - Romania

The Man Who Sold His Skin - Tunisia

Quo Vadis, Aida? - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal

Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Gary Oldman - Mank

Steven Yeun - Minari

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7

Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah

Leslie Odom, Jr. - One Night in Miami...

Paul Raci - Sound of Metal

Lakeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Andra Day - The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman

Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Glenn Close - Hillbilly Elegy

Olivia Colman - The Father

Amanda Seyfried - Mank

Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

Best Animated Feature

Onward

Over the Moon

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Soul

Wolfwalkers

Best Animated Short

Burrow

Genius Loci

If Anything Happens I Love You

Opera

Yes-People

Best Live Action Short

Feeling Through

The Letter Room

The Present

Two Distant Strangers

White Eye

Best Documentary Short

Colette

A Concerto is a Conversation

Do Not Split

Hunger Ward

A Love Song for Latasha

Best Documentary Feature

Collective

Crip Camp

The Mole Agent

My Octopus Teacher

Time

Best Costume Design

Emma

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Mulan

Pinocchio

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma

Hillbilly Elegy

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Pinocchio

Best Production Design

The Father

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

News of the World

Tenet

Best Film Editing

The Father

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Sound

Greyhound

Mank

News of the World

Soul

Sound of Metal

Best Music (Original Score)

Da 5 Bloods - Terence Blanchard

Mank - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Minari - Emile Mosseri

News of the World - James Newton Howard

Soul - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

Best Music (Original Song)

"Fight for You" - Judas and the Black Messiah

"Hear My Voice" - The Trial of the Chicago 7

"Husavik" - Eurovision Song Contest

"Io Sí (Seen)" - The Life Ahead

"Speak Now" - One Night in Miami...

Best Visual Effects

Love and Monsters

The Midnight Sky

Mulan

The One and Only Ivan

Tenet

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

The Father

Nomadland

One Night in Miami...

The White Tiger

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Judas and the Black Messiah

Minari

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Trial of the Chicago 7

There's not a lot different from the Golden Globes.  Spike Lee still got snubbed but at least Minari is better represented.  I read somewhere that Steven Yeun is the first Asian-American ever nominated for Best Actor.  Ever.  Like in 90-something years.  When people like James Shigeta and Toshiro Mifune existed.  Anyway, more movies than ever are streaming so I have a good feeling about being able to see most of these before April 25.  Even if I have to buy Apple+ for a month to get Greyhound and Wolfwalkers.  As always, keep checking back here to see my progress.

Captain Blood (1935)

  This is definitely a product of its time, but you still can't beat an Errol Flynn action movie.  

Accused of treason for rendering medical care during the Monmouth rebellion, Dr. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is transported to the British colony of Jamaica to be sold as a slave.  There he catches the eye of headstrong Arabella Bishop (Olivia de Havilland), niece to the largest plantation owner, who pays for him out of her own pocket.  This does not endear Miss Bishop to the doctor, as he reckons his life worth more than pocket change.  He gains a measure of autonomy by successfully treating the governor's (George Hassell) gout and uses it to put together plans for escape.  Using the invasion of Spanish pirates as a convenient cover, Blood and his fellow slaves capture a ship and become buccaneers, earning enmity and admiration throughout the Caribbean.  

This works best if you don't really think about it.  Flynn has incredible charisma and de Havilland is as sharp as I've ever seen her.  The humor still works, which is goddamn amazing considering how old this film is and it's not nearly as problematic as it could have been.  Flynn does give a completely unironic speech about the evils of slavery at a time when Jim Crow laws and segregation were the de facto standard of the country that only gets cringier the more you think about it, but you can fast-forward through it and miss nothing about the movie.

It's currently streaming on HBO Max.

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

  Okay, I had intended to watch Earthsea but it turns out it's actually a two-part miniseries and also, it's terrible.  So we are back to Kanopy delivering another Oscar nominee from years (a decade) past.

Bachir Lazhar (Fellag) is an Algerian refugee in Montreal seeking asylum.  He takes a job in an elementary school after the previous teacher committed suicide.  He and the children must come to terms with their respective traumas and grief and learn to let go and move on.

This is a sweet movie, despite its subject matter.  I would have cheerfully killed for a teacher I thought got me in elementary school.  The closest I ever got was the town librarians, but I digress.  The movie tries to be sympathetic to the children as the adults around them fail to grasp the extent of their trauma and their resilience, and also show sympathy to the adults constrained by bureaucracy from offering any real comfort.  This does sort of muddle the waters and I could see people wanting a firm villain, but I think it makes it more realistic.  Everyone here is human and trying their best with the limited tools available to them.

It's not a fun watch but I think a lot of people are going to need to see expressions of grief and trauma as we start to come out of the pandemic and people start processing their experiences of loss.

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

  With a little work, this could be a really good pandemic film.  Not that I'm advocating for such a thing, but the thought occurred to me.

A Swedish folk tale has it that the last person to die on New Year's Eve must spend the coming year as Death's carriage driver, collecting souls as a punishment for the evil they did in life.  Because if you die on New Year's, clearly you were doing something wrong with your life(?).  David Holm (director Victor Sjöström) doesn't believe in such nonsense so no one is more surprised than he when a drunken brawl lands him in the worst job imaginable.  The outgoing carriage driver is David's old friend Georges (Tore Svennberg), who coincidentally told him the legend to begin with, and Georges pulls no punches with his buddy, becoming The Ghost of Christmas Future and the angel Clarence all at once, taking David back through the shitty decisions that led not just him to his present moment, but also the young Sister Edit (Astrid Holm), a Salvation Army volunteer that tried to get David to turn his life around and is now dying of tuberculosis that David knowingly infected her with.  Yes, this one-man superspreader laughed and coughed deliberately in people's faces knowing he carried a potentially deadly disease.  Georges forces David to confront the consequences of his selfishness and lack of empathy.

This was made in 1921.  It is black and white, silent with dialogue cards, and it's just as relevant today.  Ain't that some shit?  The pacing is glacial for less than two hours running time but it's still very much worth a watch.  The special effects were amazing for their time and the score is quire good.  Very haunting.  I do feel obliged to mention the movie shows a suicide, an attempted murder-suicide, and implied domestic violence.  The Swedes were not fucking around over here.  It's currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

Memorable (2019 short)

  Haha, it's called "Memorable" but I forgot to write it.  Ha ha *sigh*.

Another day, another depressing ass short about Alzheimer's.  This time it's a painter (André Wilms) whose grasp on art is diminishing equally with his memories, and his wife (Dominique Reymond) doing her best to keep them from falling apart.  The painter loves his wife even when he can't remember her, painting her portrait again and again, using less and less paint until she's only a suggestion on canvas, as she is in his mind.

The claymation style of this carries some of the storytelling, providing a visual for how Alzheimer's strips away the layers of a person.  It's quite beautiful and moving and it's finally on Vimeo after not being available for a couple of years.

Ballets Russes (2005)

  I love ballet.  The more I read or watch, the more hardcore and metal it seems.  

The Ballets Russes comprised of descendants of Russian emigres fleeing the 1919 revolution.  There was a diaspora in Paris and a handful of girls were chosen to revitalize ballet after the death of its premier champion, Sergei Diaghilev, the originator of the Ballets Russes.  Under the name Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, the troupe of dancers were part of an artistic movement that expanded the cultural reach of ballet, while simultaneously coping with monstrous egos, literal world wars, and societal restrictions behind the scenes.  

This was an excellent documentary, filled to the top with interviews of these absolute spitfire octogenarian dancers, as well as historical footage of them in their prime.  If you have any interest in the arts, or ballet, this is a can't-miss documentary.  It's currently streaming on Kanopy.

Hemingway and Gellhorn (2012)

  I finally finished this movie!  I tried to watch it back in the summer of 2020, but I turned it off after Hemingway referred to Gellhorn as a "big, creamy bitch".  Gross.

But, I gave it another shot just so I could finally write a review telling you all how much I fucking hated it.

Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman) is a beautiful, talented writer who longs to do more.  She meets famed writer and equally famed alcoholic Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen) at a bar in Key West, and through him, meets other Americans worried about the rise of fascism in the on-going Spanish Civil War.  Gellhorn fakes her way to the front, focusing on the human cost in the war and eventually has an affair with the married Hemingway.  They are imminently unsuited for one another, however, and their relationship becomes strained and untenable.  

If there was ever a case to be made for separating art from the artist, it would be Hemingway.  The man was a very good writer, but an absolutely shit human being.  He remains the poster child for toxic masculinity.  This movie does a very good job of showing exactly how disgusting and immature his behavior was towards women.  Unfortunately, I really didn't need to see an entire movie about that.  Instead of focusing on this period, I would rather have seen a true biopic of Martha Gellhorn, one where she's not relegated to Hemingway's third wife, but a trailblazing pioneer in a male-dominated industry.  

Misogyny aside, it's also just not a very interesting story.  I kept wishing the subplots would just take over.  Instead, I got a random voiceover telling me what happened to key characters.  They tried to do something interesting by splicing the main characters into historical footage, but it looks so fake, I'd have rather they just not bothered.  We deserve better.  Gellhorn deserved better.

It's streaming on HBO Max.  Avoid.

Robin Hood (2018)

  This was just a straight-up terrible Robin Hood film.  Like, I get what they were trying to do with it but it just doesn't work.  If you wanted to tell this particular story, there were other vehicles than Robin Hood.  Hell, there were probably other medieval characters that fit better.  Maybe the fall of Constantinople.  But it does not work here.

Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) receives a draft notice --seriously-- calling him to fight in the Crusades.  He leaves behind his lady love, Marian (Eve Hewson), and travels to "Arabia" under the command of Gisbourne (Paul Anderson).  After a particularly nasty ambush (with a ballista firing javelin bolts like a gatling gun), Gisbourne starts executing prisoners.  Robin tries to intervene, is wounded, and sent home to England.  He discovers that he was declared dead, his lands were seized by the Sheriff of Nottingham (Ben Mendelsohn) to pay for the war effort (which also makes no sense since they would have been worth more if they had been resold, not just left to decay), and Marian has moved on to the local grassroots politician leader, Will (Jamie Dornan).  Before Robin can drown his sorrows, it is revealed that the father of the man he tried to save, Yaha, quickly anglicized to John (Jamie Foxx), stowed away aboard Robin's hospital ship in order to train Robin specifically to get revenge.  Robin uses his title to ingratiate himself into the Sheriff's good graces, helped with generous donations of the Sheriff's own money, stolen and re-gifted back to him, in order to learn the Sheriff's true dastardly plans.

Robin Hood is a great allegory about a man on the inside, using his wealth and power to secretly suborn the established hierarchy by standing up for the little guy --oh no, wait, that's Zorro.

Robin Hood is a great allegory about a man who loses all his wealth and privilege, gains perspective, and works outside the system to redress the wealth disparity.

This Robin Hood, however, is basically a pastiche between Black Hawk Down with arrows and Batman Begins, also with arrows.  It ignores the power structure of the time, focusing on the corrupt Sheriff (fine) and an equally corrupt cardinal (F. Murray Abraham), who would not be subject to any of the same laws, but fine.  There's a story to be told in the complicity of the church to squeeze gold to fund foreign wars to spread Christian ideology while hypocritically ignoring the starving poor at home, but it's not here.  It doesn't even address the corruption of an absolute monarchy, practically a staple of Robin Hood movies.  There is no King John, no Richard the Lionheart.  Only the Sheriff, whose grand plan is somehow to become more powerful than the king?  Not a lick of sense.  It's not even set in Sherwood Forest, for Christ's sake!  Nottingham is now a mining town?  Which, maybe it historically was, I'm too lazy to look it up, but again, that's not the Robin Hood story.  That is a different story that could have been told, if the writers/producers/director weren't so dead set on calling it a Robin Hood movie.

Fuck, I haven't even started on what a hash they made of Marian's character.  

Or the costumes.  Jesus.  You are not A Knight's Tale.  Stop trying to be.

Anyway, this is why we need more stuff to come into the public domain and to break up entertainment monopolies so they are forced to take risks instead of just slapping the name of an established property onto some drivel.

Robin Hood is currently streaming on Peacock so you know what to avoid.

Golden Globe Awards 2021

 I did not watch the Golden Globes ceremony last night.  I intended to.  I set an alarm on my phone.  I upgraded to Hulu Live (which I have done before).  I set the Hulu Live DVR to record the show (which I have done before).  I waited until 8:30 to turn it on so I could fast forward through the commercials (which I have done before).  It didn't fucking record.  I pressed play and it was in the middle of Mark Ruffalo's (no doubt heartfelt) teary speech about environmentalism with no way to rewind or watch what I had missed.  I re-checked and it was not recording.  I pressed record, exited out, and checked again.  Still not recording.  At that point, I had missed almost the entire first hour and I was so fucking irritated, I just turned the whole thing off.  This morning, I checked again.  Didn't fucking record.  Peacock was supposed to have the ceremony available day after (because it originally aired on NBC) so I tried there.  Nope.  What they have is a "playlist" of clips of the winners, no presenters, no recap of the categories, nothing that makes the ceremony interesting, just the winners' speeches.  Which we can all agree are the worst part of an awards ceremony (with some notable exceptions, like Jodie Foster and her silk pajamas matching her dog's neckerchief).  So I am just going to copy/paste the winners from the New York Times and God help Hulu if this happens for the Oscars.

Best Motion Picture, Drama - Nomadland

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Director - Chloe Zhao for Nomadland

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama - Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy - Rosamund Pike in I Care a Lot

Best Supporting Actress in Any Motion Picture - Jodie Foster in The Mauritanian

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama - Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy - Sacha Baron-Cohen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Supporting Actor in Any Motion Picture - Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Screenplay - Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Original Score - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste for Soul

Best Original Song - "Seen" from The Life Ahead

Best Motion Picture, Animated - Soul

Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language - Minari

Best TV Series, Drama - The Crown

Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy - Schitt's Creek

Best Limited Series, Anthology or Made-for-TV Movie - The Queen's Gambit

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama - Emma Corrin in The Crown

Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy - Catherine O'Hara in Schitt's Creek

Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology, or Made-for-TV Movie - Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen's Gambit

Best Actress in a TV Supporting Role - Gillian Anderson in The Crown

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama - Josh O'Connor in The Crown

Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy - Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso (who gave by far the worst acceptance speech.  Also, I want the Don Cheadle "wrap it up" gesture to be the new de facto "playing you off the stage" reaction.)

Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology, or Made-for-TV Movie - Mark Ruffalo in I Know This Much is True

Best Actor in a TV Supporting Role - John Boyega in Small Axe.