The Official Review Thread of 2021

[Big Magilla]

Big Magilla wrote
That power outage scene is something anyone should be able to relate to.

Yes, certainly, which is why it's a little bit of a cliche. It works perfectly fine but my mother reacted to it like election night 2016.

Good writing, directing, and acting can do that and that scene has all three.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
That power outage scene is something anyone should be able to relate to.

Yes, certainly, which is why it's a little bit of a cliche. It works perfectly fine but my mother reacted to it like election night 2016.

[Big Magilla]

I'm not a fan of Larson's music in this but Garfield's performance is unforgettable.

That power outage scene is something anyone should be able to relate to.

[Sabin]

Quick story: I'm back in Phoenix right now visiting my Mother. It's been a very, very emotional week for reasons far too long to delve into. I needed to find something for her to watch. She hates watching new movies. I've been thinking about Tick, Tick... BOOM! recently so I rolled the dice and put it on thinking maybe it would divert her attention.

She hasn't loved a movie this much since Green Book. I pointed out Lin-Manuel Miranda's cameo and she said "Oh!... Who is that?' "...The guy who did Hamilton..." "Oh! I've heard of that! When Jonathan gets into an argument with Michael about how the world needs more art, my mother pointed at the screen and said "YES!" And when Jonathan's power went off and he had to write the song before morning (lol), she kept shaking her head and saying "Oh my Gosh... Oh my Gosh... Oh my Gosh..."

Make of this what you will.

My thoughts on a second viewing: unchanged but I liked it a bit more. It's a target rich environment: a white-centered production about a self-absorbed artist touristing through poverty, surrounded by POC, and it isn't nearly critical enough of him. It's shallow hagiography and it's fairly indefensible. On the other hand, it's so goddamn earnest and spirited. Mister Tee writes that it's a young man's film and I think that's what works the best about it. It's about such young person's struggles like balancing the desperate desire to create and be notices vs. the other things in life. As I write this, I'm struggling to think of another film in recent years that embodies these beautiful emotions so vibrantly. Andrew Garfield does a great job of embodying these virtues and the whole film is largely on his wavelength. It's a very strong marriage of director's vision and performance. I'm inclined to say that through force of will, Garfield and Miranda make this thing work. I'll also confess that it was refreshing to find a film extol the virtues of not selling out.

I can't defend its flaws nor would I want to, but after a second viewing I can't deny that it's a pretty winning piece of work.

[anonymous1980]

ANNETTE
Cast: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Devyn McDowell.
Dir: Leos Carax.

A stand-up "comedian" and an opera singer meet and fall in love and produce a baby girl named Annette. This is a musical from director Leos Carax featuring the music of the Sparks Brothers. It has proven to be a rather divisive film. After finally seeing it, I can definitely see why. There's lots to admire in this film. One has to admit, Carax takes a lot of big swings in this film, resulting in something that people can either really love or really hate. I happen to personally fall in the middle. The film keeps losing me and then winning me back in every other scene. For every, "WTF is this?", there's a "holy crap, this is really something!" It truly is a unique cinematic experience I wished I saw with an audience in a theater instead of streaming at home.

Oscar Prospects: "So May We Start" for Original Song.

Grade: B+

[Sonic Youth]

At Thanksgiving, a cousin mentioned going to a preview of Being the Ricardos. She said the movie was "...fine". Not a bad movie, but one where you couldn't compliment it without including an elipsis. Hence, "...fine". Kidman was good and Bardem "got the accent perfectly", but the movie was too much of the "this happened, then this happened, then this happened" formula.

So, take it for what you will.

[Sabin]

I won't waste anyone's time talking too much about Marvel's Eternals. It's a bit unfair to label the worst MCU film with a 48% rotten score because, well, it's not much better or worse than any other MCU film. I would argue it's a bit better than Black Widow this year alone. But fundamentally, it has a major problem at its core that it never comes close to overcoming: none of these characters seem like they're thousands of years old. Maybe Angelina Jolie does. There is an interesting idea to be had in ageless eternals on Earth, living among humans, banded together to fight off a planet-ending evil together for the first time in millennia but this film isn't interested in any of those interesting ideas. The worst thing about the film is that there's nothing weird about it.

What I enjoyed the most about it is the truth about these characters is at least a little unexpected and dramatically interesting and occasionally there's an effective mournful tone. But truthfully what I enjoyed the most about this film is that MCU films have a high floor and a low ceiling. If you're into their style (which I suppose I am), it's never going to be that bad a time. But Eternals is as skippable as anything they've produced and there is no trace of Chloe Zhao to speak of. One could be charitable and say she films South Dakota nicely.

[Mister Tee]

I saw Rent early in its Broadway run, but was unfamiliar with tick...tick...Boom! I had a reaction that apparently many of you here had: it was hard to tell if it was really good, or if it was just so deeply in my wheelhouse. Writing and hanging around NY theatre in that era (and even a bit before) is so much of my life that I'm kind of a soft touch for the whole thing. It's very much a young man's project -- the agent's advice to "write what you know" is not, in my view, the best: it leads to shows like this, that are, for those outside the circle, too much inside baseball. But there's a heartfelt quality to the material that makes it easy to take, and it didn't seem as mired in cliches as the year's other young-man's-musical, In the Heights. Plus I actually thought the film was decently well-made, especially for a novice effort. (Sue mem I enjoyed the Sunday number -- if only for the audacity it displayed.)

Oh, and, Andrew Garfield? 1) This is the first performance of his I've seen in some time that didn't make me wonder why I ever liked this guy. 2) After I watched Will Smith in King Richard, I thought, yeah, sure, I can see him nominated. After I watched this, I felt, damn, I WANT to see him nominated.

[Sabin]

Okri wrote
I came into the theatre able to sing the songs. I adore(d?) Rent. I find Larsen's story heartbreaking. And to be honest, I think all those things helped make the movie for me. There are times when Miranda's direction is just too much... he's not a natural filmmaker, even if his earnestness is absolutely essential for this show to work. Garfield is terrific - I'll echo all those that are supporting an Oscar nomination for it. The only reason the movie doesn't slip into solipsism is Larsen's early death.

Some of the songs are really well staged (though I don't think that "Sunday" works all that well, smorgasbord of stars aside).

That's nice. I didn't have quite the same experience but I'm glad people are reacting to it positively. I had the same experience with "Sunday." It really took me out of the film entirely. The smorgasbord of stars felt pretty lifeless to me. Horrible green screen as well.

NOTE: The more time that I put between my viewing, the more I fall. I think this material needed re-interpretation and a more critical eye. I just don't think Lin-Manuel Miranda and a stronger writer (Oh look! It's the writer of Dear Evan Hansen!) to tackle it. I wonder if perhaps too many theater nerds were involved in the film for it to be for anyone but them.

[Okri]

Okri wrote
I watched this and tick...tick...,boom! back to back and the difference in what I brought to each is rather amusing.

What did you think of tick... Tick... Boom!

I came into the theatre able to sing the songs. I adore(d?) Rent. I find Larsen's story heartbreaking. And to be honest, I think all those things helped make the movie for me. There are times when Miranda's direction is just too much... he's not a natural filmmaker, even if his earnestness is absolutely essential for this show to work. Garfield is terrific - I'll echo all those that are supporting an Oscar nomination for it. The only reason the movie doesn't slip into solipsism is Larsen's early death.

Some of the songs are really well staged (though I don't think that "Sunday" works all that well, smorgasbord of stars aside).

[danfrank]

Tick, Tick… Boom! is for and about musical theatre geeks. It’s a little messy but has a lot of heart and is anchored by a fully committed performance by Andrew Garfield. He’s terrific. I was never much of a Rent fan and knew nothing about this particular theatre piece. I like this one considerably more. You get a sense of what it was like performed onstage by Jonathan Larson and also get a real movie as the stories told (and sung) onstage come to life. If you’re even a minor musical theatre geek you’ll go nuts for the “Sunday” number with its multitude of cameos by musical theatre royalty.

[Sabin]

I've done a pretty lousy job of showing up for the movie musical in 2021. There's been what? Six? The first I've seen is Tick, Tick... Boom! I want them to keep getting made so I should watch even the Dear Evan Hansens to ensure they do.

Anyway, Tick, Tick... Boom! an angsty artist's process film (a white guy's) that largely works due to the conviction everyone clearly has behind the material. It is 90's as hell and every scene wrestles with cringe. I'm pretty sure Lin Manuel Miranda's musical conceit of having the actors on a stage performing the songs was tired before Tick, Tick... Boom! was written. But it worked for me because Andrew Garfield acts in this thing like it's what he was put on this earth to do. He embodies that wide-eyed, galaxy brain look in Larson's eye like he can do the impossible and convinces as someone who can say with a straight face that he writes a new song every day. And on those terms, I liked it for a good long stretch. Actually I liked it quite a bit for a good long stretch.

But this film doesn't have a sense of humor about this guy. I mentioned up top that it's a white guy's artist process film. I don't think we have to live in an age where that lens needs to be pilloried or even doubly emphasized when reviewed. However, even though he is dead, this guy seems like a pain in the ass to be around and his reformation as an artist and a man doesn't quite register because the film never commits to him being a pain in the ass (which it seems like he was). Without a sense of humor, he comes off far too much like a tourist (which he may or may not have been) and at the end like a savior, and my goodness it loses its battle with cringe at the end. Andrew Garfield's performance is exactly where it needs to be but the rest of the film isn't.

Additionally:
- The community element feels a bit too staged. Full disclosure, not sure if I've mentioned this on this board before but in my life I have had 35 roommates, at one point 8 at the same time. It's a vibe, people. And Tick, Tick... Boom! never really brings it to life.
- I was also a bit confused as to why we didn't get more of an introduction to 1990. There’s no acknowledgement that three decades has passed since Larson’s world.
- What a missed opportunity with Superbia! Maybe the film was going for a bait and switch in building up Superbia like it's going to be Larson's big hit but it's about robots in space. That's not a great choice.
- When his agent tells him to write what he knows, we as an audience have never gotten the impression that he hasn't been this whole time. He doesn't really seem to need that information because the songs about robots seem very deeply personal.

But mostly liked it.

[anonymous1980]

tick, tick...BOOM!
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Joshua Henry, Bradley Whitford, Vanessa Hudgens.
Dir: Lin-Manuel Miranda

This is the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson's OTHER musical, an autobiographical one about a struggling musical theater composer who's almost 30 and wants to write and put on the next great American musical. As a creative type who's over a certain age, this film hits closer to home than most. I'm also a huge musical theater fan so a lot of the references and Easter eggs here and there (including that cameo-filled) number is positively a delight. Andrew Garfield is fantastic. He should get awards traction for this. Robin de Jesus gives the film that extra layer of poignancy too. The music is great. I don't know how this will play to non-fans of musical theater, Jonathan Larson or Lin-Manuel Miranda but I kind of loved it, even though it felt a bit too long. Highly recommended.

Oscar Prospects: I think Andrew Garfield is a strong contender for Actor. Robin de Jesus could also sneak in Supporting Actor.

Grade: B+

[flipp525]

…

[Big Magilla]

Different lighting won't change anything.

The ending is meant to be frustrating. What happens happens suddenly as in the book. It is unclear what actually caused it to happen.

You can either remain frustrated or choose the scenario you want to believe.