The Zone of Interest (2023)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best International Feature, and Best Sound    Content warning:  Holocaust imagery

Over three years, Rudolf (Christian Friedel) and Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) have built an idyllic oasis of a home for themselves and their five children.  But when Rudolf is promoted, it means a transfer and leaving it all behind.  Hedwig is adamant about not giving up their home and urges Rudolf to talk to his leadership so he can remain Commandant of Auschwitz.

This movie is a lot.  It has been getting so much buzz and critical acclaim and it's easy to see why but Jesus Hopscotching Christ is it a hard watch.

When I first started hearing about it, people said "oh the sound design is integral.  You gotta pay attention to the sound" and I thought well, that's fucking ableist but don't worry, Deaf community, there's plenty of visual horrors as well.  The other thing I heard a lot was "this is about the banality of evil" and yes.  It definitely is.  Which you would think that would mean boring, but again, saved by the horrors.  Of which there are many.  Almost every scene has something to rot your soul.  Accomplishment??  I guess??

Look, I'm trying to be funny here because it's the internet and this is primarily an entertainment blog.  I am so deadly serious right now when I say don't watch this if you are feeling down or depressed in any way.  Save it for maybe when you get a promotion or your kid wins that soccer tournament and you're feeling like celebrating.  Then watch this and it will even you out.  It took me three installments to finish it. The good news is that it's the only Oscar nominee so far under two hours.

The weight of this movie crushed me into paste and smeared me across the pavement.  At least Schindler's List gave you some kind of catharsis.  If you're going to watch them back-to-back (for God's sake, don't do this), watch Schindler's List second.  It's currently only available to rent VOD but it may still be in some theaters.  I will never watch this again.

Madame Web (2024)

  This is currently sitting at a 13% on Rotten Tomatoes but honestly, it's not that bad.  It's not great, but it doesn't deserve the keelhauling it's been getting.

EMT Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson) begins having precognitive visions after a near-death experience.  Most seem centered on three teenaged girls, Julia (Sydney Sweeney), Anya (Isabela Merced), and Mattie (Celeste O'Connor), that she had only barely met but who are being hunted by a strange man in a black and red bodysuit that can climb walls and poison with a touch.  Ezekiel Simms (Tahar Rahim) knows that he will be murdered by three women with spider-powers and will stop at nothing to secure his future.  Simms and Webb are connected through a mysterious tribe in the Amazon and if Cassie wants to save the future, she must understand her past.

That's all bog-standard comic book stuff, so I'm not sure why people are objecting to it.  Is Cassandra Webb a lazy shorthand for a prophetic spider-person?  Sure.  But it's no dumber than Steven Strange for a wizard.

I've seen some people complaining that the only person with spider-powers is the villain and the glimpses we get of the spider-women are only a few seconds in a flash-forward.  Okay.  That's more about managing expectations, I think.  If you went in thinking it was going to be an origin story for Sweeney, Merced, and O'Connor, you'd be profoundly disappointed.  But it's an origin story for Johnson's character -- like it says on the poster.  The teenage girls are incidental.

Some criticisms are valid.  Tonally, the movie feels off.  Like it's been muted somehow.  I also think it tries way too hard to establish that it's taking place in 2003.  There are a ton of pop culture references, especially the music choices, and less would have been more in that case.   Zosia Mamet's "hacker" character is also mishandled.  I get the post-Patriot Act surveillance being weaponized angle, but it is overly convenient for plot reasons.  

For me, the two biggest complaints I had were 1) Cassie's journey to Peru.  She is a person of interest in a kidnapping.  Post-9/11 you're telling me that she could just hop on a plane without the FBI putting her on a no-fly list?  No.  She also manages to find the exact same spot where her mom took a picture because none of the trees have changed in the jungle in 30 years.  And she masters the ability to use her psychic powers in five days.  It feels like the writers were struggling with getting to the third act.  2) Every line of dialogue Rahim says sounded like it had been re-recorded.  There were a lot of moments where the spoken words didn't match his mouth movements, where he was talking without being on screen, or behind the mask and I cannot figure out why.  Did they change the script a bunch of times?  Was there a problem with his original voice?  Is that even his voice?  Big "Marni Nixon subbing for Audrey Hepburn" vibes.

All that aside, it's fine as popcorn entertainment.  Tyler liked it and he's a way bigger Spider-Man fan than I am.  It's currently only in theaters.  Go on a Tuesday matinee and see it for 25% off.  

Elemental (2023)

Nominated for Best Animated Feature    Here's the nominee from Pixar, which is basically a shoe-in.  I personally liked Nimona more but Elemental is a perfectly good movie.

Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) is a first-generation resident of Element City.  Her parents moved from their native Fire country and opened a small shop just before she was born, eventually becoming the heart of the diaspora.  Ember has always known that her duty is to take over for her dad (Ronnie Del Carmen) when he retires, but finds her temper prevents her from connecting with customers.  One of her meltdowns causes a pipe in the basement to burst, accidentally freeing a city inspector, Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), who files 30 citations before Ember can stop him.  Terrified that she will be the cause of her dad losing his life's work, Ember and Wade, who is burdened with an overabundance of empathy, try to find the source of the errant water before Wade's boss, Gale (Wendi McLendon-Covey), shuts the shop down for good.

This is primarily a story about the generational guilt that comes from being a child of immigrants and the pressure to conform to their expectations as much as it is about interracial dating.  It's beautifully animated (duh, Pixar) and everything about it is great.  The world feels fully realized, it's creative, the story is universal and yet highly specific, and the characters are engaging and cute.  There's nothing wrong with it.  So why did Disney drop it unceremoniously onto their streamer instead of opting for a theatrical release, undercutting consumer confidence in it before it even had a chance?  Smacks of corporate fuckery, no?  They doubled back, pushing for a theatrical run after the Oscar nomination but I think a lot of people dismissed it out of hand and they shouldn't.  So this is your strong recommendation to watch Elemental.  It's available on Disney+ and in select theaters.

Nimona (2023)

Nominated for Best Animated Feature    I would love for this to win.  I don't think it will, but I would still love it.

Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is the first commoner to make it into the prestigious Knight Institute but is framed for regicide before he can receive his official knighthood.  Now a fugitive, Ballister wants nothing more than to clear his name until a shapeshifter named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz) shows up at his lair demanding to be his new sidekick.  

The animation is fine.  It's very stylized, the world is a neat mix of traditional sword-and-sorcery and hyper-futurism, and everything is cleanly done.  The story is fun and heartwarming and sad in equal measures.  It's not a new message but it's delivered very well.  The real highlight here is the voice acting.  That is what elevates this whole movie from just a Netflix acquisition to a modern classic.  Moretz and Ahmed breathe real life into their characters and it is absolutely joyful to watch them do it.  I would put this up there with Wolfwalkers.

It's currently streaming on Netflix and I highly encourage you to watch it.  Tell them with your views that original animation is the way to go.

Nyad (2023)

Nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress    Okay, I take back what I said.  Jodie Foster definitely deserved the nomination.  I stand by Margot Robbie instead of Annette Bening, however.  Content warning:  discussion of sexual assault against a child, jellyfish sting

Marathon swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) has always dreamed of making the 103-mile journey from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida in an unassisted swim.  She tried in her 20s but rough seas forced her to stop.  Now in her 60s, she is determined to try again.  With her best friend, Bonnie (Jodie Foster), as her coach, a new navigator (Rhys Ifans), and the most up-to-date technological advances, Nyad attempts to do the impossible, swimming for over 48 hours straight in shark- and jellyfish-infested waters battling with the Gulf Stream itself.

This is a formulaic biopic but there's a formula because it works.  Nyad is borderline unlikeable as a protagonist, which allows her to have a Moment of Redemption when she puts aside her pride, giving her a psychological and emotional breakthrough, as well as physical.  Bening performs this admirably.  She obviously put a lot of work and time in with the actual Diana Nyad, as the credit photos indicate, including swim training.  But Jodie Foster steals this whole show without even breathing hard.  She has owned this industry since she was 12 and this film will show you how she does it.

It's currently streaming on Netflix and is probably a great film to watch with your parents.

Napoleon (2023)

Nominated for Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design    Yikes on bikes, guys.  This is the worst Ridley Scott film I've ever seen.  Content warning:  war violence, animal death (horses), decapitation, suicide attempt, some gore

After the Revolution, a young(ish) military officer named Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) rises quickly through the ranks based on his extraordinary ability to commit large-scale violence.  He meets Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) at a party and eventually marries her.  His victories abroad continue even as France is buckling under its change in government and steps in as Emperor after a small coup d'etat.  He is deposed and exiled but comes back like a bad rash until his final defeat at Waterloo by Arthur "The Beef" Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (Rupert Everett).

I vaguely remember seeing the marketing hyping this as a love story between Napoleon and Josephine, and I have to say it definitely isn't.  Kirby and Phoenix have zero chemistry together or separately, with Kirby looking like an ice sculpture and Phoenix whining like a buzzsaw made of mosquitoes.  The writing is spectacularly awful and the editing was done by a Magic Bullet.  It is very pretty though.

Ridley Scott made this.  Ridley Blade Runner Gladiator motherfucking ALIEN Scott made this.  I am gobsmacked.  And I've seen House of Gucci.  I'm not even angry; I'm just disappointed.

It's streaming on Apple+.  Don't do it.  Love yourself.

Society of the Snow (2023)

Nominated for Best International Feature and Best Hair and Makeup    Content warning:  cannibalism, frostbite, plane crash violence

In 1972, a plane carrying 40 passengers and 5 crew, including an Uruguayan rugby team, crashed in the Andes.  Twenty-seven people survived the initial crash but faced slow death by exposure and starvation as they waited for rescue.  They chose to live by eating the dead.

This is based on a true event and had already been made into a movie once before in 1993:  Alive, starring Ethan Hawke.  I've never seen it so I can't say if it's better or worse than this one.  

If I had to pick one word to describe this film, it would be morose.  There is palpable despair in every frame for two and a half hours.  Your mileage on that may vary but I found it overlong.  Like, it just kept going.  (This part gets a little spoiler-y so I'm putting it in white text.)  **SPOILERS**  The narrator died and there was still 40 minutes left.  The rescue helicopter showed up and there was somehow still 23 minutes left.  **END SPOILERS** I still got through the whole thing in one sitting, minus a lunch break because I am not without a sense of irony.  The only thing that threw me momentarily was forgetting that seasons are reversed in the Southern hemisphere so a thaw in November is normal, not weird.  

Anyway, the only thing most people focus on is the cannibalism but this is a survival story first and foremost.  These boys were athletes and they were trapped in one of the most inhospitable to life places on the planet.  There was zero expectation they would survive and yet, human resilience is an incredibly force.

It's currently streaming on Netflix.

Rustin (2023)

Nominated for Best Actor    This was a much better biopic than Maestro and should have been nominated for at least as many things.  Content warning:  violent assault, racism, homophobia

Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo) wants to put on the largest peaceful protest in American history, marching straight up to the White House and the National Mall.  It's just him and a small team of dedicated young volunteers because Rustin has alienated the major Civil Rights groups like the NAACP by being unapologetically gay and Black.  Even his dear friend Martin Luther King, Jr. (Aml Ameen) turned his back on Rustin in the past.  But this new protest is bigger and more audacious than any that came before and Rustin is the only one who can pull it off.

Domingo is the only person in the cast who got a nomination but he definitely deserves it.  This is a much better performance than The Color Purple.  I think Cillian Murphy is going to walk away with the Oscar but I would definitely not be mad if it was Colman Domingo instead.  

Look, you already know that we should be highlighting the people in our shared history that have had their achievements go unnoticed or attributed to more "palatable" heroes.  So watch this.  

It's currently streaming on Netflix.

American Fiction (2023)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score    Hands down, this is the funniest non-Barbie nominee for this year.

Facing a number of unexpected medical expenses to care for his mother (Leslie Uggams), Professor Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is desperate.  He's about to lose his job at the university, his last book isn't selling, and his brother (Sterling K. Brown) is no help.  Monk is also frustrated by the constant diminution of the Black experience, specifically the hot new bestseller "We's Lives in Da Ghetto" by Sintara Golden (Issa Rae).  As a joke, he decides to write his own "Black" novel under a pseudonym, Stagg R. Leigh.  Of course it's an enormous hit and Monk is plunged into a rabbit hole of fame, or at least notoriety.

This movie is incredibly funny, scathing in its denouncement of the hypocrisy of profiting off of Black people's pain as entertainment, and wry in its depiction of how the threat of poverty makes us question our convictions.  It collapses under its own meta-narrative a little in the final scenes but it's still eminently worthy of a watch.  I'd say it's an outlier for Best Picture but probably a lock for Best Adapted Screenplay.  I was rooting for Ryan Gosling to win Best Supporting Actor, but now I think if they don't give it to Sterling K. Brown I might riot.

Currently, it's only available for rent.  I read somewhere it was dropping on Peacock on the 15th but now I can't find where I saw that.  Which doesn't make sense, because it was produced by MGM which is now owned by Amazon, so if anything it should be dropping on Prime.

Whatever.  Whenever it comes out, you should see it.

Akira (1988)

  This is one of the Big Ones when it comes to anime.  Content warning:  extreme violence, animal death, gore, body horror, sexual assault

In a dystopian future, Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of World War III.  Aggressive motorcycle gangs of disenfranchised youth roam the streets.  Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) is injured in a collision with a strange child (Tatsuhiko Nakamura) and basically kidnapped by a shadowy government agency.  During their experimentation, Tetsuo is discovered to be compatible match for their greatest failure:  Akira.  Driven mad by the sudden influx of psychic ability, Tetsuo goes on a rampage to find Akira and be revenged.  The only people who can stop him are his best friend, Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata), a revolutionary named Kei (Mami Koyama), and a trio of psychic children, previous experiments like Akira.

This got so popular it became a red flag, like a poster of Fight Club or American Psycho in a dorm room.  And that's a shame because it really is a cool movie; it just got championed by the absolute worst people you've ever met.  

If you're used to modern anime, the art style might come off as clunky and harsh.  There's not a lot of detail in the faces, it's very hard-lined, garish in its colors, but if you give it a chance, I promise you will not care about that by the end.  There are still some really cool aspects to this film and its message of repeating failures and who gets punished for that is still relevant and timely.  

It's currently streaming on Hulu.

Past Lives (2023)

Nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay    This was not a movie for me.

Na-young (Moon Seung-ah) and Hae-Sung (Leem Seung-min) are childhood sweethearts separated when Na-young's family leaves South Korea for Canada.  Twelve years later, Na-young now goes by Nora (Greta Lee) and reconnects with Hae-Sung (Teo Yoo) online.  The distance between them is too great to overcome and they again break up.  Twelve years after that, Hae-Sung visits Nora and her husband (John Magaro) in New York.

This was a very straightforward movie.  It was kind of nice to see a female character be absolutely resolute in her decisions.  No waffling, no regrets, no what-if-ing into paralysis.  But it also removes any dynamism.  Frankly, I found it a little boring but romantic dramas just really aren't my bag.  If they are yours, give this one a shot.  It's currently streaming on Paramount+ with the Showtime option.

May December (2023)

Nominated for Best Original Screenplay    Now that I've seen it, Julianne Moore really did get snubbed.  Yikes.  Content warning:  discussion of sex with a minor

Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is eager to meet Gracie Atherton (Julianne Moore), whom she will be playing in a movie.  Twenty years ago, Gracie made the front cover of the tabloids when she was caught having a sexual relationship with the thirteen-year-old stockboy of the pet shop she managed.  She and Joe (Charles Melton) weathered the storm of public opinion and jail time to create a happy life for themselves and their children.  But Elizabeth's arrival and probing questions muddy the waters once again, stirring darker things to the surface.

Todd Haynes is a very good director and he loves melodramas.  This felt like his take on a Lifetime Original Movie.  At times, it almost seemed like a parody, especially with the music cues which are super dramatic just on their own.  Somebody smarter than me can find out if it actually was a satire or just an homage.  It's trashy but like, trash at the Louis Vuitton store, not K-Mart.

Portman is great here as the ambitious, dirt-digging actress and Melton is showing way more depth than he ever did on Riverdale (not a high bar to clear, but even so), but this is Moore's movie.  She owns this character and she is riveting.  I am frankly stunned she didn't get the nomination over Sandra Hüller.  

It's currently streaming on Netflix.

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing    This was an interesting film but I don't know that I liked it.  Definitely never going to watch it again but it's one of those films that's great for discussion.  Content warning:  dog in danger (but doesn't die)

Sandra (Sandra Hüller) is accused of pushing her husband Samuel (Samuel Theis) from the third-floor window and killing him.  She says she didn't.  There were no witnesses except the couple's blind 11-year-old, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner).  Under the stress of trial, every aspect of the marriage is picked apart and Daniel becomes less and less reliable as memory and feelings swirl.

It's a two and a half hour courtroom drama where it's less about whodunit than it is about subjectivity and how we create the fiction that we call our lives.  What makes someone sympathetic?  How much of believability comes from likability?  What do we owe the people in our lives?

This is exactly the kind of thing cinephiles drool over and obviously it's successful.  It won Palme d'Or at Cannes and is probably the dark horse for Best Picture.  I wouldn't be mad if it won, but I still enjoyed Barbie more.  Fun fact:  this is not the French submission for Best International Feature because Justine Triet, the director, came out as pro-union and the government decided to pull her and submit something else instead.  Who doesn't love petty drama on behalf of an entire state apparatus?  

Anyway, this is currently only available for rental but I think it's dropping on a streamer sometime this month.

Suzume (2022)

  This was not nominated.  It is this week's Movie Club pick.  

Suzume (Nanoka Hara) is a normal 16-year-old girl who follows a cute stranger (Hokuto Matsumura) into the abandoned ruins outside of town.  Like you do.  There, she finds a door that seems to lead to another world and a kitten named Daijin (Ann Yamane).  The door unfortunately releases an ancient monster that causes earthquakes and the cute boy, Souta, is part of a secret organization that finds and locks these doors all over Japan.  Daijin, who is actually a god, turns Souta into a chair and merrily skips away, leading Suzume all over Japan to try and reverse this curse.

This was a very cute travelogue anime.  It was very reminiscent of Spirited Away in its mix of contemporary and mythological.  I think it telegraphs its intentions a little too hard but that's not a crime.  The animation is beautiful, very crisp, especially the depictions of the food.  I know that's a big thing for anime fans.

This is from the same director who did Your Name and the style is very similar.  I thought it was over at the halfway point so the second half felt kind of slow, like "why is this still going?" but it built to a more cathartic ending.  It's extremely wholesome.  The director apparently wanted to keep the story completely platonic but was forced to add a romance sub-plot by the studio.  So it's there but it's kept to a bare minimum.  

If you liked Your Name or Spirited Away, this would be a good follow-up.  It's currently streaming on Crunchyroll.  

Maestro (2023)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Hair and Makeup.    Ah, Bradley Cooper:  the new Susan Lucci of the Oscars.

Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) lived a life full of hedonism, freely loving men and women, composing, conducting, and generally grasping at all life could offer.  He meets Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), an aspiring actress, marries her and has three beautiful children.  His career continues to grow, while she is left further in his shadow.  

I will be the first to tell you I don't know shit about classical music, conductors, or composers so learning that Leonard Bernstein was a Disaster Bisexual was a fun fact.  It was entertaining and glossy with big musical interludes.  It's also about 40 minutes too long and has no central conflict.  They try to make the wife a villain while still being sympathetic and I just don't think it strikes the right balance.  

There was a minor controversy when this was being made because Cooper insisted on wearing a prosthetic nose to look more like Bernstein.  It tied into larger discussions about anti-semitism and stereotypes and I frankly don't know enough to get into that.  I will say that at no point in the film did he look like anyone but Bradley Cooper to me so I don't know that it was even worth it but it was his vision and he executed it.

Cinematography is fine.  There are a lot of close-ups of Cooper.  Is this going to win any of the categories it's nominated for?  I don't think so.  There were other, better, flashier, more popular entries this year.  I think it's a solid entry on Cooper's resumé and that's about it.  It's currently streaming on Netflix if you are in the mood for a breezy biopic.

The Color Purple (2023)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress    A movie adaptation of a musical adaptation of a movie adaptation of a book.  It's not bad but also not a substantial improvement.

Celie (Fantasia Barrino) has been treated poorly by the men in her life as far as she can remember.  Her father (Deon Cole) sexually abused her as a child, giving her two children away, then sold her in marriage to Mister (Colman Domingo), who beat and belittled her and drove her beloved sister, Nettie (Halle Bailey), away.  But Celie persisted, becoming friends with Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), Mister's mistress, and Sofia (Danielle Brooks), his daughter-in-law.  With these two strong role models, Celie finally finds the courage to stand up for herself.

My biggest complaint about this is that it never seems to forget it was a stage show.  The performances, the musical numbers, and the costumes all seem geared toward reaching the back row, not the couch.  Maybe that's not as jarring for some of you.  That's fine.  Give it a shot.  Everyone in it does great work. Danielle Brooks is nominated for the same role that almost won Oprah an Oscar in the original.  I don't know if she'll get it (I think it'll be America Ferrara) but it's a worthy role.  

The only other difference was the romantic sub-plot between Shug and Celie.  Some will call it pandering but I thought it worked in the film.  It didn't break my suspension of disbelief and it added a few really sweet moments between them.  There is also a cameo by original star Whoopi Goldberg, which I always love to see.

It's currently only available for rental, though you may be able to find it in a few theaters still.