The Official Review Thread of 2023

[Sabin]

danfrank wrote
What I got from Nyad is that it IS fundamentally about a narcissist and the codependent who fuels her. The film doesn’t show you much else about these characters except the possibility that Nyad’s narcissism was an outgrowth of her abuse. Foster’s character seems like an actual human because codependents are, you know, usually pretty nice. Bening’s character is a machine who tolerates people only to the extent that they can assist her in achieving the status of a god.

I think Sabin is right in that fleshing out these characters could have made for a more interesting movie. Showing them with such limited dimensions against the backdrop of a pretty standard sports accomplishment story does not make for a very engaging film. Bening and Foster both have acting chops and certainly might get nominated. Better material would have made them slam dunks.

That's really all I'm saying, although the ending makes it clear it's a "going the distance" story which... y'know... I guess I didn't really care if she went the distance.

[danfrank]

What I got from Nyad is that it IS fundamentally about a narcissist and the codependent who fuels her. The film doesn’t show you much else about these characters except the possibility that Nyad’s narcissism was an outgrowth of her abuse. Foster’s character seems like an actual human because codependents are, you know, usually pretty nice. Bening’s character is a machine who tolerates people only to the extent that they can assist her in achieving the status of a god.

I think Sabin is right in that fleshing out these characters could have made for a more interesting movie. Showing them with such limited dimensions against the backdrop of a pretty standard sports accomplishment story does not make for a very engaging film. Bening and Foster both have acting chops and certainly might get nominated. Better material would have made them slam dunks.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
Sabin, you're overthinking this one.

The directors are documentarians who made their film in documentary style. They tell you enough about the real-life characters to pique your interest enough to research them further if you want to know more about them.

Annette Bening, Rhys Ifans, and Jodie Foster do so much with so little that their performances stay in your head long after you've seen the film. Foster is especially memorable as Bening's coach and friend living her life in the shadow of a legend. It's the kind of role supporting Oscars were made for.

How am I overthinking this one? I'm saying I didn't like it very much and I wish it had more going on than just the thing that happened. Then I also said the actors could get nominations, but that if their film was better they'd be better bets, especially Jodie Foster.

[Big Magilla]

Sabin, you're overthinking this one.

The directors are documentarians who made their film in documentary style. They tell you enough about the real-life characters to pique your interest enough to research them further if you want to know more about them.

Annette Bening, Rhys Ifans, and Jodie Foster do so much with so little that their performances stay in your head long after you've seen the film. Foster is especially memorable as Bening's coach and friend living her life in the shadow of a legend. It's the kind of role supporting Oscars were made for.

[Sabin]

There's a moment more than halfway through Nyad where Jodie Foster tells Annette Bening "What about me? What about what I want to do?" And Bening responds with something like what do you want to do, she takes a beat, and erupts "I don't know!" That's sort of how I felt watching the film. Like... who are these people really? Either the filmmakers don't know or the real life person is too close to the film for any kind of interesting perspective into what this weird person's deal is. The film shows us and tells us but not in any way that I felt aligned with. I felt like I was just watching a film where the real life subjects were just serving script functions. Both Annette Bening and Jodie Foster are playing potentially interesting people with, honestly, some pretty fascinating dysfunctions that the film doesn't want to engage with. Diana Nyad is clearly some kind of manic narcissist but the film doesn't interestingly engage with important questions like, y'know, do you sometimes have to be a manic narcissist to do anything meaningful; on the other hand, Jodie Foster's character seems kind of codependent. Like, what is her life, really? I think I wanted a film that had a little more going on with it, like more of a portrait of their generation dealing with older age, more three-dimensional people, etc. Instead, I was struggling to care and that should be a gimme with something like this film.

Also, those colorful visual effects moments while she's swimming are fucking bizarre.

In a better film, I think Annette Bening and Jodie Foster would be locked in. I just don't think there's enough to their roles and this film, but who knows? They're popular within the industry and have a lot of friends. It's possible. I think Jodie Foster is very likable in this film. If her character had a little more backstory and rounding, I think she could win.

[gunnar]

I found The Burial a decent time killer and very much liked Nyad and the 4-part miniseries, All the Light We Cannot See which takes place in a French town awaiting the arrival of the Americans at the end of the Nazi occupation for which Hugh Laurie is likely to get his 11th Emmy nomination for playing a revered retired professor.

I read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr a few years ago and loved it. I didn't know that they had adapted it into a mini-series. It's good to know that they seem to have done a nice job with it. I'll have to check it out some time.

[Big Magilla]

Do you mean Fair Play?

If so, I watched all of it, as have several others here, and commented on it.

I reviewed it for CinemaSight on 10/17. It got worse as it went on, so you didn't miss anything worth talking about.

At least I got through that one, which hasn't been the case with most of Netflix's junk of late. I could only take 20 minutes of The Killer and even less of Pain Killers.

I found The Burial a decent time killer and very much liked Nyad and the 4-part miniseries, All the Light We Cannot See which takes place in a French town awaiting the arrival of the Americans at the end of the Nazi occupation for which Hugh Laurie is likely to get his 11th Emmy nomination for playing a revered retired professor.

[danfrank]

One other Netflix item I forgot to mention (and maybe have no right to): I got halfway through Fair Game, decided I loathed all the characters, was bored senseless by the cold-blooded boardroom stuff, and could easily live without knowing what happened in the second hour. Has anyone else watched this, and had either a similar or a drastically different reaction?

I assume you mean Fair Play (not Game)? I haven’t seen it, but Anonymous reviewed further down on this thread and liked it quite a lot.

[Mister Tee]

One other Netflix item I forgot to mention (and maybe have no right to): I got halfway through Fair Game, decided I loathed all the characters, was bored senseless by the cold-blooded boardroom stuff, and could easily live without knowing what happened in the second hour. Has anyone else watched this, and had either a similar or a drastically different reaction?

[anonymous1980]

THE MARVELS
Cast: Brie Larson, Teyonnah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh.
Dir: Nia DaCosta.

Yet another entry into the MCU has the three Marvel women teaming up to fight a threat from the original Captain Marvel's past. The bad buzz that's been following this film for months was a cause of concern. But even though this will never convert non-fans, I thought it was pretty darn entertaining. Don't get me wrong: It is far from great, however, it is far from the train wreck some people are saying it is. It is NOT the worst of the MCU. There are a couple of scenes here that I thought were absolute delights which make the film worth sitting through plus the formula between the three stars make it enjoyable to watch. This is around mid-tier but if you like this kind of stuff, it's not a bad time at the movies.

Oscar Prospects: Visual Effects.

Grade: B.

ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET
Cast: Abby Ryder Forston, Rachel McAdams, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates, Elle Graham, Echo Kellum.
Dir: Kelly Fremon Craig.

This is the film adaptation of Judy Blume's 1970 young adult novel about a 12 year old girl on the cusp of puberty talking to God as she moves to a new neighborhood and explores religion. I haven't read the novel but I thought this is a wonderful, funny, intelligent coming-of-age dramedy of a young girl growing up. No matter what age or gender you are, you will find yourself relating to it as she navigates through puberty and her spiritual journey. Abby Ryder Forston is wonderful. So is Rachel McAdams as her mom. The script is not only funny and touching but also perceptive and honest. I think this should be seen by middle-schoolers everywhere. And everybody for that matter.

Oscar Prospects: A lot of people are championing this for Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actress for Rachel McAdams. I echo that sentiment.

Grade: A-

[anonymous1980]

THE KILLER
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Sophie Charlotte, Sala Baker, Gabriel Polanco, Kerry O'Malley, Emiliano Pernía.
Dir: David Fincher.

Based on a French graphic novel, this is about a skillful hired assassin who must deal with the consequences after he botches one of his hits. This is yet another genre exercise from director David Fincher. Although it may not be transcendent or groundbreaking, it is still an immaculately crafted piece of work that's a thrill to watch. The comparisons to Jean-Pierre Melville are apt. There are notes here that are reminiscent of La Samourai. Michael Fassbender is terrific in the lead role but I think Tilda Swinton gives a memorable performance in her scene. It may not be an Oscar contender and it's mid-tier Fincher but it's still a very solid adult thriller that they don't make much of anymore.

Oscar Prospects: I personally would nominate Swinton in Supporting Actress but I think this film will probably only get a few tech nominations if it's lucky: Sound, Editing, Score, Cinematography in that order.

Grade: B+

[Mister Tee]

A couple of things I caught up with on Netflix:

It's pretty much the height of chutzpah to play The Sounds of Silence over your opening credits, daring comparison with a rather greater film, but Nyad is either unaware of or indifferent to this. In fact, its soundtrack is a cornucopia of baby boomer hits played over lots of scenes of swimming. Which makes the film sound fairly generic, and, in fact, it is: whatever you'd expect of a bio-pic centering on an "aging athlete making one last push" is what's up on the screen. But there's something to be said for first-class production/polished craft, and Nyad delivers on that score. The main actors are solid (Foster -- never much a favorite of mine -- surprisingly the best), the physical production is stellar, and the story works for audiences the way these stories usually do (the reason they make so many of them). Far from a waste of time.

I confess I watched No Hard Feelings for two reasons: because it was free on Netflix, and because I was told I'd see Jennifer Lawrence naked. She doesn't disappoint on that latter score. The film, though, is just the sort of thing I'm apparently to old to much like: a salacious premise that for some reason is played at heart-warming level, and thus satisfies as neither raunch nor pleasing rom-com. I still like Lawrence, and can vaguely see why she thought this was a good role for her, but it's more or less spinning her career wheels.

I've also seen some movies of more import, and I'll discuss them at greater length in their individual threads.

[anonymous1980]

NYAD
Cast: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans.
Dirs: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin.

This film depicts the true story of Diane Nyad, a champion marathon swimmer, in her attempts to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys. This is the narrative feature debut of directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin who were previously documentarians and who have made some very good documentaries in the past. This film sort of is almost structured like a documentary through the intercutting of real-life documentary footage all throughout the film. But even with this innovation, the film still manages to be your typical sports drama and biopic. It's too bad because based on both the performances (Annette Bening, Rhys Ifans and especially Jodie Foster are all great) and what I know about Diane Nyad, there was potential for a more interesting film there. But nevertheless, it does manages to land the ending. So overall, good but far from great.

Oscar Prospects: I agree with what some people have been saying: Jodie Foster can totally get in Supporting Actress even if Annette Bening doesn't get Lead Actress. Supporting Actress is more fluid and Foster is the more sympathetic character (in fact, the reason we root for Nyad is because of her).

Grade: B.

[anonymous1980]

THE BURIAL
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollett, Mamoudou Athie, Alan Ruck, Bill Camp, Pamela Reed, Amanda Warren, Dorian Missick.
Dir: Maggie Betts.

Based on the true story of Jeremiah O'Keefe, a Southern gentleman in danger of losing his family-owned funeral home business, and hires flamboyant African-American lawyer Willie Garry to take on the big evil corporation responsible. Even though I didn't know about this particular true story, the film pretty much follows how you would expect this type of courtroom drama scenes to go. What makes this film worth watching are the performances especially that of Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones who actually make a great on-screen team. Jamie Foxx, in particular, is excellent in making his character believable and grounded when a lesser actor could've easily made him a bit too cartoonish. It doesn't break new ground but it makes for a pretty good watch.

Oscar Prospects: In a less competitive year, Jamie Foxx could've tried for a Best Actor nod. But this is not one of those years.

Grade: B.

[anonymous1980]

The ending puts this over the top.

Just to clarify. By 'over the top' you mean it makes a great film even better, not 'over the top' meaning 'overdone', yes?

The former, yes.