The Official Review Thread of 2020

[dws1982]

Ron Howard is definitely not a good fit for this material which maybe could have been served better by filmmakers more suited to it (Someone brought up Debra Granik and Sean Baker).

My off-the-wall pick would be Terence Davies, but that would've never ever happened. (This would be predicated on throwing out the script entirely; People are dumping on Howard, but no one could've done anything with this script. His single worst choice was not insisting on another rewrite.) Part of it is because I just watched The Long Day Closes a day or two after Hillbilly Elegy and it and Distant Voices, Still Lives deal with some of the same things that Hillbilly Elegy does but the way Davies deals with them could not be more different than the way this film tackles those issues. All of Davies American-set films have been period pieces, but I would like to see him do something like this. Again, it never would've happened.

[anonymous1980]

HILLBILLY ELEGY
Cast: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Frieda Pinto, Bo Hopkins, Owen Asztalos.
Dir: Ron Howard.

Based on the memoir by J.D. Vance, this film purports to take a look at the opioid addiction and poverty amongst the white rural poor in Ohio and Kentucky through the lens of a young man who manage to rise above his status as well as his relationship with both his mother and his grandmother. Amy Adams and Glenn Close give big performances in this film...and in this case, it's not a compliment. Their performances are so broad, they cease to be believable characters. All throughout this film, there's barely any believable note of humanity in this thing. Ron Howard is definitely not a good fit for this material which maybe could have been served better by filmmakers more suited to it (Someone brought up Debra Granik and Sean Baker). His instinct to go big and glossy and to not offend (by removing the politics) makes this into a dull, mediocre affair.

Oscar Prospects: Makeup & Hairstyling. I think Glenn Close could still sneak in a nomination. But she probably will not win.

Grade: D+

[anonymous1980]

LINGUA FRANCA
Cast: Isabel Sandoval, Eamon Farren, Lynn Cohen, Lev Gorn, Ivory Aquino.
Dir: Isabel Sandoval.

A Filipino undocumented trans woman who works as a caregiver for an elderly Jewish lady with dementia is looking to get her green card. She has a romance with the old woman's adult grandson. Years ago, I saw a film by a pre-transition Isabel Sandoval called Aparisyon, a horror film about nuns. I remember really liking it and excited for this filmmaker. But years went by, nothing. Then this film emerged and it's the same filmmaker! Admittedly, I don't think this film is as good as her previous film but it still cements the fact that Isabel Sandoval is a vital filmmaking voice. You can feel the confidence behind the camera. The film is also an honest, heartfelt and eye-opening piece of work.

Oscar Prospects: It's too bad the Philippines can't submit this for International Feature since it's 2/3rds in English. I guess Sandoval could try for a longshot Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay nominations.

Grade: B+

[Big Magilla]

Not sure about today but back in the day all through the 1930s upto the 1980s all Italian films were dubbed. The actors all dubbed their dialogue in Italian after the film was complete with many often being dubbed by others. Its easy to recognise original voices especially the ones with very distinct voices like Loren, Alberto Sordi, De Sica, Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale, Franco Nero, Marcello Mastroianni. But many times somebody else dubbed for them even in Italian.

The last one I saw in a dubbed version in a theatre was 1998's Life Is Beautiful. I believe the film was initially released in the U.S. in its original version but it was the dubbed version that was released when the film went wide.

The last films I saw dubbed in first run theatres in New York were the Swedish Autumn Sonata in 1978 and the French La Cage aux Folles in 1979.

I saw Two Women numerous times in its dubbed version. I could never figure out whether Loren was yelling "dirty Russian bastards" or "dirty rotten bastards" after the men who raped her daughter. It wasn't until I saw it in Italian with subtitles that I got my answer, but now it's been so long that I've forgotten. I think it was "dirty Russian bastards" but I can't be sure.

[Reza]

All of her Italian films used to be released in dubbed versions in the U.S. though home video releases for the most part disregard them.

Not sure about today but back in the day all through the 1930s upto the 1980s all Italian films were dubbed. The actors all dubbed their dialogue in Italian after the film was complete with many often being dubbed by others. Its easy to recognise original voices especially the ones with very distinct voices like Loren, Alberto Sordi, De Sica, Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale, Franco Nero, Marcello Mastroianni. But many times somebody else dubbed for them even in Italian.

[Big Magilla]

THE LIFE AHEAD
Cast: Sophia Loren, Ibrahima Gueye.
Dir.: Edoardo Ponti

Not sure if Netflix is providing a choice between the original Italian film and the dubbed version or just showing the dubbed version in the U.S., but that's the one that popped up for me.

Netflix has the option to watch it in either form - dubbed into english or in Italian with english subtitles. I chose the latter with Sophia speaking Italian in her own voice.

She gives a very strong performance and it looks like she will be a strong contender for a nomination. And deservedly so.

Thanks for the info. I may re-watch in the original Italian if I can figure out the Netflix controls, but Sophia dubs her own performance quite nicely.

All of her Italian films used to be released in dubbed versions in the U.S. though home video releases for the most part disregard them.

[Reza]

THE LIFE AHEAD
Cast: Sophia Loren, Ibrahima Gueye.
Dir.: Edoardo Ponti

Not sure if Netflix is providing a choice between the original Italian film and the dubbed version or just showing the dubbed version in the U.S., but that's the one that popped up for me.

Netflix has the option to watch it in either form - dubbed into english or in Italian with english subtitles. I chose the latter with Sophia speaking Italian in her own voice.

She gives a very strong performance and it looks like she will be a strong contender for a nomination. And deservedly so.

[Big Magilla]

Enjoy is not an adjective I would use to describe such a somber film, but if you mean did I like it, then yes - I'd rate it B+ or ***1/2, or slightly less than Madame Rosa.

[mlrg]

THE LIFE AHEAD
Cast: Sophia Loren, Ibrahima Gueye.
Dir.: Edoardo Ponti

Not sure if Netflix is providing a choice between the original Italian film and the dubbed version or just showing the dubbed version in the U.S., but that's the one that popped up for me.

This is Sophia Loren's best film and her best performance since A Special Day which was ironically one of the films Madame Rosa, the previous version of the story, beat for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of 1977.

In the previous version set in Pigalle, the emphasis was on Simone Signoret as the concentration camp survivor and retired prostitute taking care of working streetwalkers' children with Momo, a boy from Algeria the one she depends on as she grows infirm . Here the location is moved to an Italian seaside town with the emphasis on Momo, who is now a 12-year-old immigrant from Senegal who sells drugs on the side.

The change in emphasis befits the story's new title which gives Momo a choice between pursuing of a life of crime or one of service to others. Still, it gives Loren plenty to work with as Madame Rosa, who has survived more than thirty years since her previous incarnation, just as the actress has.

Oscar chances are strong for Loren, who was directed by her son, to wind up with a nomination, if not another win. The film itself could also be a nominee for Best International Film, and the song "Io Si (Seen)" by Laura Pasani is strong enough to garner a Best Song nomination.

And did you enjoy it?

[Big Magilla]

THE LIFE AHEAD
Cast: Sophia Loren, Ibrahima Gueye.
Dir.: Edoardo Ponti

Not sure if Netflix is providing a choice between the original Italian film and the dubbed version or just showing the dubbed version in the U.S., but that's the one that popped up for me.

This is Sophia Loren's best film and her best performance since A Special Day which was ironically one of the films Madame Rosa, the previous version of the story, beat for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of 1977.

In the previous version set in Pigalle, the emphasis was on Simone Signoret as the concentration camp survivor and retired prostitute taking care of working streetwalkers' children with Momo, a boy from Algeria the one she depends on as she grows infirm . Here the location is moved to an Italian seaside town with the emphasis on Momo, who is now a 12-year-old immigrant from Senegal who sells drugs on the side.

The change in emphasis befits the story's new title which gives Momo a choice between pursuing of a life of crime or one of service to others. Still, it gives Loren plenty to work with as Madame Rosa, who has survived more than thirty years since her previous incarnation, just as the actress has.

Oscar chances are strong for Loren, who was directed by her son, to wind up with a nomination, if not another win. The film itself could also be a nominee for Best International Film, and the song "Io Si (Seen)" by Laura Pasani is strong enough to garner a Best Song nomination.

[Sabin]

Has there ever been a comedy that's gone wrong in the first five minutes that later turned out to be good? That was how I felt watching Borat 2. If Cohen is just too familiar to play Borat for ninety minutes, have him do something else.

It's been so long since the first film that I had to look up what exactly the fucking plot was. It seems like he basically just has to make a documentary. There's no stakes. It's just one set-piece after another and eventually he wants to take Pamela Anderson for his wife. This movie should not have gotten a screenplay nomination, but it was astute enough to recognize the limitations of the Borat character. Wedging him into a narrative involving his daughter makes Borat seem more boring. And fake. The actress playing his daughter is fine but she's not as gifted as Cohen, who may not be in his finest form here but it comes across like an R-Rated Chaplin film. Also not helping, there's only so much they can fake the fact that everyone knows who Borat is and most of the people he's talking to do as well. They dress him up in several costumes that make him look more like Martin Starr, but the bigger problem is that it all feels very scripted (and old). Borat is about exposing cultural prejudices that are now all out in the open. This doesn't work because we barely hear or see anyone admit to anything as horrifying as a crowd singing "Throw the Jew down the well," it's too scripted, and in the era of Trump, he needed to dig a lot deeper.

Maybe the big difference is that Larry Charles didn't direct this one and it was Nathan For You director Jason Wolliner. He would seem a good sub-in for Charles but I think the differences in tone are fatal.

My favorite joke was the line that: "[Michael Pence] is such a pussy hound he can't be left alone in a room with another woman." It's a pretty funny misunderstanding but I thought a movie diving into Pence's world would've been funnier.

[Sabin]

In celebration of good times...

The Assistant is a brisk depiction of the system of enablers surrounded Harvey Weinstein-types. It's somewhat miniature in scale, taking place over the course of one day in the life of Jane, a routinely abused assistant played by Julia Garner. The film's two most audacious moves are to keep the hellish boss she is assisting off-screen save for two or three conversations on the phone. His system is present, helping in his escapades, and occasionally preaching the suspect values of as a perhaps illusionary meritocracy. This is a strong dramatic choice. Without getting into spoiler territory, the other thing I admired was not making Jane a saint. She's certainly culpable, whether or not she hangs around, and because her motivations are never clear, neither is her concern for the very young and very attractive new assistant, hand-picked by her boss from Boise. This film exists in a pre-Me Too world where she doesn't understand the language she needs to vocalize her concern for this girl's well-being.... but she also clearly thinks it's unfair that she went to Northwestern and worked hard for this position while this girl just gets implanted without hard-work. This is an intriguingly human touch, but something I'm increasingly wary of is movies that place a contemporary lens on period stories because it's just so easy. In a way, The Assistant does that in a 2014 world (perhaps). I just know this stuff and don't find it incredibly interesting, to be honest. This is an excellently directed, shot, edited, acted film by Kitty Green in her non-doc narrative debut. I want to state again: this is excellent, excellent filmmaking. Well worth seeing but there's fundamentally a ceiling to how much I can really enjoy it.

Never Sometimes Rarely Always is the first Eliza Hittman feature I've seen and I'm just fundamentally more interested in the story of two teenagers leaving rural Pennsylvania to go to New York to get an abortion. Instead of a system of enablers, we see a system of predation. I'm a little torn on it because the deck is so absolutely stacked in the favor of her getting an abortion it loses interest. Why wouldn't she? Her boyfriend must be a creep, her father is a loathsome person, her boss is a power-hungry jerk. Later on, we meet a young DJ in New York who offers her cousin the kind of attention that doubtlessly got Autumn pregnant in the first place. Hittman doesn't create a world where adoption would even seem like a plausible outcome because they would at some point in their lives have to encounter men. I have no doubt this world exists but that doesn't make it necessarily compelling. By the same token, this isn't Juno, a movie about the world of this young woman. Autumn is the anti-Juno; instead of screenwriterly quips, she doesn't say ANYTHING. And that to me felt like an affectation designed by Eliza Hittman, a 41 year old woman, to understand these Gen Z kids and equate their bubbled, small town lives to that of... I don't know, like, Eastern European Dardenne Bros. characters slogging through oppression. These girls say nothing to each other and I wondered how true that would be. It feels like a choice to make them so pitiable, morose, and sad. The only glimpse we get into Autumn's history is a moment where she throws soda in what we can assume is her jerk boyfriend's face at the beginning and a devastating scene where we learn about her sexual history and clearly she doesn't yet have the strength or words to articulate what has happened to her. Hittman holds on a single shot of Sidney Flanigan as she cries, breaks down, holds in her words... It's extraordinarily powerful. But we don't know who the father is. We can assume it's the boyfriend but Hittman suggests it may as well be all of them.

I wish I saw this one on the big screen because the journey would transport me a little more than while on my couch. A strong film that I'm just a little suspect of its motivations.

[Big Magilla]

Two more on Netflix:

REBECCA
Cast: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Keeley Hawes, Ann Dowd.
Dir: Ben Wheatley.

Awful, just awful. I gave up long before it ended. Could well be this year's Cats at the Razzies.

I AM WOMAN
Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Evan Peters, Danielle Macdonald.
Dir: Unjoo Moon.

Not bad as far as it goes, but it just scratches the surface of Helen Reddy's extraordinary career while jettisoning her after show business life in Australia, her eventual return to performing after she realized she could make a modest living singing show biz standards instead of her greatest hits which she was sick and tired of, her return to the U.S., and her forced final retirement in 2015 when she was diagnosed with dementia and confined to the Motion Picture Home.

Just read her Wikipedia entry. There is enough material for a mini-series, starting with her early life and entry into show business at the age of 4.

There is a connection between these two films. If you've seen 2019's Hotel Mumbai, you've seen Tilda Cobham-Hervey as the heroic nanny of Armie Hammer's son, a film she all but steals from Hammer and Dev Patel.

[Sabin]

My weekend has turned into an auteur spiral! After two overly-tidy prior offerings, I was more taken by something as decisively un-tidy as I'm Thinking of Ending Things, although I have some pretty strong reservations about it. And yet, I can't shake the feeling that I (and many) are taken by it because of how crazy this year has proven to be and how slim the offerings. In our current world, where all of our entertainment has never fit so neatly a box and the rest of the world is batshit insane, here is a movie that is even crazier.

The Kaufman film it reminds me the most of is Synecdoche, New York, a movie that left me so shaken by its end I honestly wondered if it was appropriate for a movie to present such futility... and then I watched it five more times. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is an adaptation of an Iain Reid novel I haven't read. By all accounts Charlie Kaufman added quite a bit. It's his most minimalist film to date. Essentially, it's a movie about a couple driving to meet the parents for the first time presented as a metaphor for ending a relationship as taking one's life, visiting parents and watching them die, ever being satisfied with love and ever being satisfied with ourselves, and of course Hollywood is toxic. It is not challenging to see another film taking this source material (which I have not read) and turning it into a minimalist mood thriller like A Ghost Story. By all accounts, the book is a lot clearer about what is happening and Kaufman excises anything that points to a solution -- truly, I can't imagine anybody leaving this theater/Netflix queue? and really knowing what is going on. But because it's Charlie Kaufman, it cannot simply be a psychological mind-fuck about whether or not you and your partner are the same person. It must also be about everything pertaining to the human spirit... and that Hollywood is toxic. I find the notion that Charlie Kaufman is an executive producer on Ned & Stacy to be funnier than any joke he's ever written.

Like most ambitious movies that dare to spit in the face of structure to share something hopefully truthful with the audience, I found the first half bracing and the rest fairly exhausting. The film is a trip to the parents, so we get a scene where Jessie Buckley gets picked up by her new boyfriend, Jake (Jesse Plemons), a scene of them driving, and a scene at the parents house. All of them are quite long and during the course of them, Jessie Buckley's name changes, her occupation changes, her interests change, her personality changes. She expresses no interest in poetry and later launches into a poem of her own that is later revealed to be a Wordsworth. Kaufman doesn't so much set-up and pay-off these ideas. He more sets-up and later references them again, creating a disorienting "Is anything real and is everything a trap?" feeling that I also experienced in Hereditary. It's possible to read into a visit to the parents for the first time as impossibly soul-suckingly dreary but this is a horror movie of The Self. It worked for me as long as it did because Kaufman's directing has sky-rocketed since Synecdoche, New York. It's gorgeously shot by Cold War's Łukasz Żal but Kaufman's command over the visual medium has never been more confident: I'm thinking about the way he stages that first car ride, with with compositions, audio that jumps in and out of the car, an arresting look to the camera; I'm thinking about a startling moment where the camera traps Jessie Buckley on the right side of the frame, or lower centered with two windows that tower over her. Kaufman's directing gets you to question what is real and if anything even can be.

But ultimately (and with these moments, it always reveals itself around the middle of the film), it's just sort of fucking around because a film this dedicated to what it isn't rather than what it is -- and to what it could also be -- it just didn't have enough to keep me invested. It just waited for the puzzle-box to un-puzzle itself, and it never does. I think Charlie Kaufman realizes he's stumbled across another The Orchid Thief and any literal reveal would shortchange anything that comes before by being too trivial. I haven't done much investigating into the source material but it sounds like Charlie Kaufman might actually be directing (SLIGHT SPOILERS) the type of project he had previously mocked quite a bit in one of his previous films, so he challenges himself to find something truthful, elusive, and the opposite of Hollywood. He litters the film with poison pill jokes about Hollywood that in hindsight should clue to the fact that we're not going to get any answers,
jokes which I found fairly funny but also old man-ish. Who still holds a grudge against A Beautiful Mind today? (raises hand)

There's just not quite enough for me to hold on to with this film and Kaufman's search for truth too often just felt like fucking around, but I found it arresting enough to be quite compelling for the first hour or so to forgive the fact that a lot of it is just... fucking around.

[anonymous1980]

HIS HOUSE
Cast: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith, Javier Botet.
Dir: Remi Weekes.

A married couple who are refugees from Sudan escape to London in hopes to have a better life only to find that the low-cost apartment they were assigned to is haunted by something malevolent. I knew next to nothing of this film before it dropped on Netflix. No trailer. Nothing. I only heard that it's supposed to be really good. Well, this turned out to not only be my favorite horror film of 2020, I also think it's one of the best films of 2020, period. Writer-director Remi Weekes (in his debut feature) very effectively weaves in social commentary on the plight of refugees and immigrants into a really scary and effective horror film. It kind of reminds me of Under the Shadow but I think this is better. This is terrific genre work all around. Highly recommended.

Oscar Prospects: Doubtful. But it deserves a Screenplay nomination as well as Makeup & Hairstyling.

Grade: A-