Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

  We continue the martial arts trend with Crouching Tiger, the OG for a lot of people (including myself) for an introduction into the genre.  I saw this in theaters my first year away from home and it was a transformative experience for me.

Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) has decided to give up his quest for vengeance against the murderer of his master.  To symbolize his resolve, he makes a gift of his sword, the Green Destiny, to a long-time patron, Sir Te (Sihung Lung), trusting his friend Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) to deliver it.  Unfortunately, the sword is stolen the first night.  Shu Lien believes the culprit is the governor's daughter, Jen (Ziyi Zhang), rebelling against her upcoming marriage, but has no proof.  The truth is both stranger and darker.

There is a lot going on in this movie.  It is very operatic in its themes, balletic in its movements.  I normally hate this descriptor, but it has a very dream-like feel, especially in its transitions between present and past.  This can make it seem slow-paced if you are used to more traditional action movies.  I love it, though.  It holds up really well for being 25 years old.  It's streaming on (sigh) Max but I've literally owned the DVD since 2000.

House of Flying Daggers (2004)

This was the movie I chose to introduce people to wuxia, wire-fu, and Zhang Yimou.  I remembered it as being beautiful and sad.  I did not remember it as being borderline rapey.  There's at least two scenes of sexual assault and one of a peeping tom.  Content warning on that.  Also, as I was dragging this post back to the front page, I realized I never actually described the plot.

Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a police officer, goes undercover to discover the leader of the Flying Daggers, an anti-government resistance movement that has eluded capture, by ingratiating himself to Mei (Ziyi Zhang), a blind dancer, but as the stakes get higher, Jin begins to have real feelings for Mei that complicate his mission even further.

It's very twisty, lots of shifting loyalties, lots of beautifully shot action sequences.  I stand by my choice.  Originally posted 26 May 2010.    I remember the first time I saw this movie in theaters. It was 2004 and I was living in Georgia. My (at the time) husband and I went to see this because we were both big Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fans.

I was so pissed over the ending. I felt completely cheated and I didn't understand at all, which made me hate it. And yet... The imagery and story stayed with me. I found myself mulling over it at the oddest times during the next six years. So I bought it. It's rare for me to feel anything for longer than a moment, and I always want to reward (or at least possess) things that accomplish that.

I re-watched it for the first time since on Wednesday. Maybe I'm more cynical now, but the ending made a depressing sort of sense. Don't get me wrong, I seriously doubt I would ever do the same, but it didn't feel like a betrayal. I was able now to see it as an even more highly stylized operatic fantasy than CTHD. The vividness of the colors, the shifts in season that don't correspond to reality, and of course the spectacular stunt-work combine to tell a story that I can at least respect, even if I can't identify with it.

My last boyfriend was a Chinese linguist and we had numerous discussions about Asian films. I don't think we referenced this one by name (I think we were talking about The Curse of the Golden Flower) but I mentioned how depressing it was that **SPOILER ALERT** everyone dies **END SPOILER** at the end of every Chinese movie. He said that it was just part of the style of film-making over there. Even their comedies end like that. Call me culturally insensitive, but I prefer to have at least ONE major character live to see the end credits. Still, I can't fault them. They told a story and they told it well. It may not be how I would have written it, but I can't hold that against them.

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

  Talk about a series with diminishing returns.  Content warning:  gore, rape (off-screen), violence

John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has settled into retirement on his family farm in Arizona, spending his time training horses and raising his niece, Gabby (Yvette Monreal).  But when Gabby goes missing in Mexico on an ill-advised attempt to find her birth father, Rambo has to dust off all the skills he thought he put away for good.

And I thought Rambo was bad.  At least that was so over-the-top it was entertaining.  This was a humorless slog.  There's nothing really new or interesting happening in it and the cinematography is so muddied you couldn't tell if there was anyway.  Stick with the original three.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

  I took last week off to adjust to having a new job. For the last four years, I have worked from home but now I'm in the office five days a week and it was kicking my ass.  Content warning:  cancer

Greg (Thomas Mann) is trying to get through high school without any meaningful relationships.  He has one friend/co-worker, Earl (RJ Cyler), with whom he makes parody films, and a teacher (Jon Bernthal) who lets him watch movies with Earl during study hall, but that's it.  All's well until his mother (Connie Britton) makes him hang out with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a girl his age who has cancer.  

I don't have anything against the "kids with cancer discover romance" genre but it's not really my bag.  This one isn't bad, though.  The supporting performances from adults like Bernthal, Molly Shannon, and Nick Offerman really help leaven the schmaltzy overdramatic teen drama.  Cyler gets reduced to kind of a caricature and that's a shame because he's very charismatic.  

I started watching this a couple of weeks ago, right after the Oscars and it took me days to get through so pace yourself.  It's streaming on Hulu.

No Other Land (2024)

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature    The last of the nominees I managed to watch (32 in total this year!) before the ceremony and it was the winner of its category.  Content warning:  dead people, gun violence

A young Palestinian man and his Israeli friend document the ongoing destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank of Gaza by the Israeli army.

I'm glad this won.  Even if it feels like too little, too late.  It will be an important record in the future, the way the documentaries about Syria and Ukraine will be.  I'm not going to go on a long-ass rant about it.  

It has no distribution in the United States so dust off that VPN.  Maybe an Oscar win will overcome some cowardice, maybe not.  It's worth searching out.

Black Box Diaries (2024)

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature    Content warning:  description of rape

Journalist Shiori Ito documents her legal and social battle after publicly accusing a prominent news anchor of raping her.  

Every year we have to have this conversation.  And every year it is just as infuriating.  Please realize that women put their lives at risk to call out rapists, especially prominent ones who can weaponize police forces and have government leaders on speed-dial.  Civil suits are often the only way to get any kind of justice but there is literally no amount of money that can un-rape someone.  

Anyway, it's streaming on Paramount+.

The Six Triple Eight (2024)

Nominated for Best Original Song    The women of the 6888 deserved better than this.  Content warning:  war violence, blood, racial slurs

Lena (Ebony Obsidian) decides to join the Women's Auxiliary Corps after her boyfriend (Gregg Sulkin) is killed during WWII.  As a Black woman, the only unit available is the Six Triple Eight, led by Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington).  MAJ Adams has been training these women but never receiving any orders to actually do anything useful until General Holt (Dean Norris) assigns them to be the new postal battalion in the European theater.  It sounds like a meaningless job until MAJ Adams realizes that her battalion is meant to organize, sort, and deliver over 17 million pieces of mail in six months.  They were set up to fail but they persisted.

This is a remarkable story that deserved better than this vehicle.  It's schmaltzy, filled with montages, poor characterization, and abysmal dialogue.  Washington, Obsidian, and Milauna Jackson do their level best to rise above the material but this could have been a Hallmark special.  It's honestly insulting but it's also the only attempt made to bring this story to a wider audience.  That is a shame on behalf of the entire film industry.  It's streaming on Netflix.

Elton John: Never Too Late (2024)

Nominated for Best Original Song    Content warning:  descriptions of child abuse, domestic partner abuse

Elton John reflects on the highlights of his career as he returns to Dodgers Stadium for his final touring performance.

There's really nothing here that you couldn't have gotten from Rocketman except archival footage and more in-depth coverage of his friendship with John Lennon.  And that Elton John has a podcast on Apple Music where he promotes new artists.  That was news to me.

This feels like a PR puff piece that will get trotted out with a sad music overlay when Elton John dies.  It's not interested in challenging any narratives or delving into the psyche of the artist.  It is a broad overview of a narrow time period.  Anything remotely approaching a rough edge has been sanded down to a glossy shell.  

The original song was written by Brandi Carlisle (among others) and she duets on it.  It will be a nice moment during the Oscar ceremony and that's about it.  Don't bother with the film, just listen to the song on the radio.  Never Too Late is streaming on Disney+.

A Complete Unknown (2024)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound, and Best Costume Design   Full disclosure:  I hate Bob Dylan's singing voice.  This movie was like nails on a chalkboard.

Nineteen-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York to visit his idol, Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), in the hospital.  There, he meets folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) and gets introduced into the folk scene.  He is lightning-in-a-bottle, getting signed by Albert Grossman (Dan Fogel) onto the same label as Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).  But touring and general emotional unavailability put strain on his relationships and the more his star rises, the more alone he finds himself.

Honestly, this movie makes Dylan look like a complete asshole.  I have no idea if that's true, but it's definitely the impression I got.  He's a shit to women, takes people for granted, and generally behaves like he walks on water.  I don't get the appeal, but then I am not a fan.  

Barbaro is electric.  She steals every scene and I hope this is the start of a very promising career for her. Chalamet looks the part but there's just something uncharismatic about him.  I can't figure out what it is but it's there.  Norton is always good but he's been better than this.  Frankly, Scoot McNairy deserves more of a mention.  His character is a man dying of Huntington's and he still manages to give an incredible portrayal.  That is the definition of a "phone it in" role and he didn't have to go that hard with it.

As a biopic, it's fine.  If you're really into folk or rock from the 60s, this would probably be worth a watch.  We covered the 1965 Newport Folk Festival in my History of Rock and Roll class, so I know it was a big deal.  It'll be on streaming pretty soon.

September 5 (2024)

Nominated for Best Original Screenplay    

ABC studios sent their sports broadcasting crew under executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) to film the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, with live reporting by Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker).  During the Games, the terrorist group Black September took 9 Israeli athletes and two coaches hostage in their Olympic Village hotel room.  Arledge seizes the opportunity, refusing to turn coverage over to the ABC News team, and authorizing George Mason (John Magaro), head of the video control room, to use all measures to get the story.  Mason scrambles to get Jennings and cameras in place before the police clear the area of journalists, and has their translator (Leonie Benesch) listen to the police scanners.

This is based on real events.  My mom remembers seeing it live.  It was a major moment in broadcast journalism as the first terrorist hostage-taking shown on live television.

I don't want to knock the movie.  It's very well done, it tells an interesting story and does so in an interesting way.  (It's also only about 90 minutes, which is refreshing as fuck.)  But I do lament the timing of it.  It feels really suspect that a film centering on the murder of Israelis by Palestinian terrorists is coming out while the news is dominated by stories of Israelis systematically starving and murdering Palestinians.  I don't think that was the intent of the film-makers.  The wiki page states that they spent months going through archival footage and researching.  It's not a conspiracy; it's just really shitty timing.  Unfortunately, if I've made the connection, I'm betting other people will have as well.  And that sucks.  The movie doesn't deserve to be tarred with that brush.

It's not up for Editing, which feels like a slight since they did manage to make the archival footage look pretty seamless.  I don't think it will win but hopefully the exposure will put it in front of more eyeballs than it would have gotten if Paramount had just dumped it on streaming.  Which it's not on yet, by the way, but keep a lookout.

Nickel Boys (2024)

Nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay    Content warning:  child abuse, sexual assault, torture

Elwood (Ethan Herisse) was on his way to early admission at college when he is arrested for being a passenger in a stolen car.  He is sent to Nickel Academy, a segregated juvenile detention facility where he is abused and forced to do hard labor.  Elwood never loses his sense of justice, keeping a careful record of the transgressions, despite warnings from his only friend inside, Turner (Brandon Wilson).  When the facility undergoes an inspection, Elwood sees his chance to drag the Academy's sins into the light.

The camera switches between first-person POV of both boys.  It's neat enough.  There aren't any moments of confusion between the two, but it felt a little gimmicky.  Also, I cannot stress how much I hate shaky cam.  I can only assume the book is better at conveying the two different perspectives.  

Herisse and Wilson should both have incredible careers.  I hope they get more opportunities to shine, like they do here.  Of all the Best Picture nominees, Nickel Boys most deserves the win but I doubt it will.  The Academy is still too racist to pick something this raw and unflinching. Adapted Screenplay is fast becoming the "Good But Too Black" category and I find that frustrating.

Nickel Boys is currently only available to rent or buy.  It might still be playing in some theaters.  It's not my favorite, but it's still definitely worth watching.

The Brutalist (2024)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Production Design    Content warning:  rape, drug use

Lazlo Tóth (Adrian Brody) escaped the Holocaust and immigrated to America.  While working at his cousin's furniture store, he garners the attention of business magnate Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), whose patronage allows Tóth to stretch his creativity and design a community center.  But Tóth's self-destructive behaviors combined with latent anti-semitism and Van Buren's overbearing need for control threaten to destroy everything he has built.  

I couldn't engage with this on any level.  It was one of the nominees I was most looking forward to and my disappointment is severe.  

There is zero reason this needed to be nearly three and a half hours long.  Tectonic plates move faster than this movie.  It's so interested in subtext it forgets to have actual text.  It doesn't have anything noteworthy or different to say and it's not fun to watch.  

That being said, the cinematography is really beautiful.  Also, the use of editing to allude to events without showing is extremely well done.  If it wins anything, I hope it's one of those.  But I sincerely want it to lose everything else.  It's not my most hated film of the year but it's a close second.

Anuja (2024)/A Lien (2024)/I'm Not a Robot (2023)

Nominated for Best Live Action Short Film    I managed to find three of the Live Action shorts so I just shoved them all into one post.  This one is on Netflix.  

Anuja (Sajda Pathan) is 8-years-old and working with her older sister (Ananya Shanbhag) in a textile factory.  A math whiz, she is offered a chance to take a placement exam at a boarding school but the factory owner (Nagesh Bhonsle) makes a counter-offer:  work in the office for slightly more money or he will fire Anuja and her sister.

It has an open ending but it's still a little fucked up that an 8-year-old child has to weigh her entire future and choose between opportunity but being separated from her only family and crushing poverty but not being alone.

  Content warning:  deportation  

This one is on Vimeo.  Oscar (William Martinez) is in the Immigration office for his final interview before he receives his green card when he is targeted by ICE for deportation.  His frantic wife (Victoria Ratermanis) struggles to find the paperwork that will keep their 7-year-old daughter (Koralyn Rivera) from being taken as well.

Here's your friendly reminder that ICE is an evil organization and should be abolished.

  Content warning:  suicide  

A woman (Ellen Parren) fails a Captcha test at work and spirals into an existential crisis.  

This is also fucked up but at least it's funny, like a Black Mirror episode filmed by Wes Anderson.  It's on YouTube and The New Yorker website.