The Official Review Thread of 2020

[Reza]

Pieces of a Woman is pretty much - wow. I had heard how good Vanessa Kirby was (and she really is) but I was completely blown away by a late-in-the-film Ellen Burstyn monologue. Some of the best work she has ever done. She should win supporting this year, honestly.

Probably more to say later after I digest it a little, but this was as good as promised.

I think both Kirby and Burstyn will win.

[flipp525]

Pieces of a Woman is pretty much - wow. I had heard how good Vanessa Kirby was (and she really is) but I was completely blown away by a late-in-the-film Ellen Burstyn monologue. Some of the best work she has ever done. She should win supporting this year, honestly.

Probably more to say later after I digest it a little, but this was as good as promised.

[danfrank]

I watched all five parts of Small Axe over the last week (with two days off to follow the Georgia election followed by the DC mayhem). It’s a fine anthology series and a major achievement by Steve McQueen. From the beginning shots of the first film, Mangrove, you are aware that you are in the hands of a fine craftsman and storyteller who took me into a world—that of the West Indian culture in Greater London during the 60s and 70s—that I was not overly familiar. It is a rich immersion.

Only one of the five films, Mangrove, is the type that could be released theatrically and feels like full-length feature. It makes for an interesting comparison to The Trial of the Chicago 7, as both are in the same era and tell the stories of two real-life trials involving multiple defendants (the Chicago 7 and the Mangrove 9), where the legal system is clearly stacked against them. I find Mangrove the superior film as it does a much better job of showing us the backgrounds and motivations of its primary characters. It also has some beautiful visual flourishes.

The other four films, though each over an hour, are essentially short films. They feel the equivalent to novellas. Four of the five films are not particularly subtle in their focus on systemic racism, in particular that demonstrated by the police (called “beasts” in at least a couple of the films). In less capable hands they could have come off as preachy or didactic but McQueen does a great job in each film of creating empathic characters through which we bear witness to the indignities they suffer. Each film also does a great job of creating a sense of place and cultural context through great attention to detail.

Lovers Rock is the film that is different from all the rest in that it just tells the simple story of a woman going to a party. I think it’s close to a masterpiece. It’s visually stunning, completely engaging, incredibly sensual, and makes you feel as though you’re right there at the party. The music, and the cast’s response to the music, is very special. There have been a lot of kudos for the cinematography, and rightfully so, but I was also blown away by the costumes in this piece, in particular the men’s costumes. This was a sumptuous feast, and I imagine I will watch this over and over again.

[criddic3]

Been a while since I posted...

Vampires vs. the Bronx (Osmany Rodriguez, director) ★★★

Teenagers fight off monsters to save their town. Familiar premise seen in everything from "Fright Night" and "The Monster Squad" to "Attack the Block" is employed once again in this amusing diversion from director Osmany Rodriguez (Emmy winner for a short doc about "SNL") and producer Lorne Michaels (yes, of "SNL" fame).

The cast of young actors includes relative newcomers Jaden Michael (of TV's "The Bug Diaries"), as Miguel Martinez who first discovers the vampires trying to hone in on the Bronx community through a real estate scheme. Gerald Jones III (TV's "Blue Bloods"), as Miguel's friend Bobby Carter and Gregory Diaz IV (soon to be seen in next year's "In the Heights" musical film) as their friend Luis Acosta. The trio of buddies discover the vampires, but of course no one believes them. All except Rita (Coco Jones, TV's "Five Points), the local girl who does a podcast about local conspiracies. Convincing the adults in the community that an invasion is taking place in their neighborhood proves a difficult task, so they must race against time to save everyone and take on the monsters themselves.

While an overly familiar plot device is used here, the cast is fresh and the script is lively, filled with funny dialogue and reasonably interesting character types. I came into the movie thinking it might veer off into spoof territory, but it generally takes its subject just seriously enough to qualify as a fun B-movie in the vein of those other films I mentioned at the top. If you're looking for a new Halloween movie, "Vampires vs. the Bronx" works on that level.

Enola Holmes (Harry Bradbeer) ★★★½

We've seen countless movies about Sherlock Holmes. He is among the most often filmed characters on the big and small screens, and has appeared in numerous stage iterations over the years. Played by actors as diverse as Basil Rathbone, Christopher Plummer, Charlton Heston and Robert Downey, Jr., the character is often wise and graceful in his efforts to solve the latest crime puzzle. And we do see him in this film, played by none other than Superman himself, Henry Cavill. However it is not about him.

No, in this movie we meet Sherlock's younger sister Enola. Raised by their unconventional mother Eudoria (Oscar-nominee Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"), Enola is alarmed when her mother disappears for seemingly no reason. Determined to solve the mystery of her whereabouts, she enlists the help of her brothers Mycroft (Sam Claflin, BBC's "Peaky Blinders") and of course Sherlock (the aforementioned Cavill). They have other ideas. Mycroft, as the teenaged Enola's guardian, is more concerned with keeping her out of trouble for reasons seeming to do more with image than practicality. Sherlock is less strict but still rather aloof when it comes to his sister's interest in the case. Enola presses on anyway, embarking on a series of adventures and discovering new things about her family and herself in the process. She even meets some new friends along the way, including a questionable young man called Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether (played by relative newcomer Louis Partridge from TV's "Medici").

The key to this movie is undoubtedly the casting. Chiefly, Millie Bobby Brown (Emmy nominee for "Stranger Things") as the title character. In this role, she is funny, quick-witted and adventurous. Her fourth-wall nods to the audience work better than I've seen in almost any movie.

Another key casting choice was Henry Cavill, who brings a lot of charm to the usually less emotional character of Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has objected to this aspect of the film. Still, this movie is adapted not directly from Doyle's works but from a novel entitled "The Enola Holmes Mysteries: The Case of the Missing Marquess" by prolific author Nancy Springer, an Edgar Award winner for her past writing. This story is apparently the first of six novels about the adventures of Enola Holmes, and based on how entertaining this initial film is I am very excited to see future installments starring Miss Brown.

[Mister Tee]

The problem I have with Kelly Reichardt's films -- why I always need to be somewhat pushed into watching them -- is I never expect them to be any FUN. Most of you have read enough of my opinions over the years to know, though I prefer films that have at least some sense of humor, I don't entirely resist serious films. But I do have an aversion to films that look solemn and humorless...that don't provide esthetic elan, or, on some level, express some joy in filmmaking. Reichardt's films are, for me the equivalent of eating overcooked vegetables -- how good they are for me doesn't offset how bland I find the taste.

That laborious intro seen to, I will say I liked First Cow more than anticipated. I have some issues with it -- the opening half hour pokes along (and spends unnecessary time getting to the primary story); "waiting for the deception to be uncovered and punished" plots have never been my favorites. But the two central characters were well drawn and acted, Toby Jones provided much-needed life, and the whole thing was orchestrated and filmed quite gracefully. So, a mild thumbs up. It's still a wee thing -- any year where this is viewed as one of the top 2-3 films is beyond humble -- but it's not the painful experience I feared.

[anonymous1980]

SOUL
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Questlove, Angela Bassett, Daveed Diggs (voices).
Dir: Pete Docter.

My first film of 2021 turns out to be my favorite film of 2020 so far. The latest from PIXAR has a middle school band teacher dying before he has a chance to get his big break with a touring jazz band. In the afterlife, his soul teams up with a soul who doesn't want to be born. This is PIXAR at their very best. It features BEAUTIFUL animation, great voice work and a great score by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste. It is often also very funny. But this one also dares to ask deep existential questions on the meaning of life in a very thoughtful way. It actually made me think and reflect about my own life as I was watching it (themes I will be thinking about for days). It gives the viewer a lot to chew on whilst giving them a genuinely fun adventure in the way only PIXAR can. This is a great way to start the year.

Oscar Prospects: Animated Feature is a slam dunk. Also deserving of Picture, Original Screenplay, Original Score (I hope Jon Batiste will be eligible for a nomination along with Reznor and Ross).

Grade: A

NOMADLAND
Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie.
Dir: Chloe Zhao.

An older middle aged woman decides to go off-grid and live the "nomad" life, living in her van and going from job to job as she meets other people who are living the same life either out of necessity or by choice. If it weren't for the presence of Frances McDormand, I could have sworn this was a documentary. And in a strange way, it could at least be partly a documentary since a lot of the people in the film are actual people who are living this life. It gives the film an air of authenticity and honesty that would be absent if a mainstream studio film would go and tackle this subject matter. The film withholds judgement and just presents us with an empathically human narrative anchored by a great performance by Frances McDormand. It is beautifully shot and it has some surprisingly moving moments as well. Yes, this is indeed one of the best films of the year.

Oscar Prospects: Yeah, everything.

Grade: A

[flipp525]

Promising Young Woman is really good and Carey Mulligan should definitely be nominated (if not win) an Oscar for her daring, funny, heartbreaking, and intelligent work. This is her best performance to date.

See it now before someone spoils else it for you because the film takes some VERY unexpected turns.

The soundtrack is insanely good too. You’ll never listen to The King and I the same again, that’s for sure.

[Mister Tee]

To run down my week of access to some streaming services (in addition to Sound of Metal, which I've already covered):

The Borat sequel was, like the original film, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but hardly a miracle of construction. I echo dws, that the film could as easily be watched in 15-minute chunks, and it did feel like it ran out of steam before the end. But I did laugh a lot along the way. Bakalova brings something fresh to the film, though I question if it's really the sort of thing Oscar voters echo critics' groups on -- is she McCarthy/Bridesmaids, or Haddish/Girls Trip? But I was glad she was along for the ride.

Let Them All Talk also seemed to me better in some of its individual moments than as a totality. Apparently much of the film was improvised, and I'd like to have had a writer move in and nail down the narrative a bit more. The Streep/Bergen conflict, especially, seemed to be driving toward a big climax, but it fizzled a bit because 1) their confrontation scene was joined at mid-point, and not given its dramatic due, and 2) they were never specific about just what life secrets were involved, which I assume they believe leaves an air of mystery, but left me frustrated, because I couldn't, frankly, imagine what sort of revelations would be so scandalous as to have the vast impact Bergen was claiming (given that Wiest had just shrugged off a threesome with a college professor). The actresses are, no surprise, effective -- Streep making it hilariously obvious she changes her mind about the mystery writer simply from his bit of flattery; Bergen on tunnel-vision hunt for a meal ticket. Only Wiest seems short-changed -- her character doesn't seem to have the same level of forward action -- though she's still adept at dialogue. I did feel Hedges was a bit out of his element -- I've always seen him in more savvy roles, and his naivete (throughout, but especially later on) didn't ring authentic. Overall: there's some good dialogue along the way, and the film(?) is engaging and surprising enough, but I didn't feel it was anything special.

I watched four of five Small Axe episodes -- a TV malfunction caused me to miss Alex Wheatle, which seems to be the universally least-thought-of segment, so maybe no great loss. I can't say I share the LA Film Critics' enthusiasm on the whole. Mangrove is a decent but, honestly, kind of familiar injustice/courtroom story. It's interesting to have such a story told mostly from the inside (rather than through the eyes of a white lawyer-savior), but it's still a story I've seen many times before -- those snarling racist cops and the awful judge have crossed m path all too often (and when you cast Alex Jennings as the judge, you're telling me all I need to know about the character). There are some good performances -- Letitia Wright is definitely a presence, and Malachi Kirby's Darcus is eloquent in a believable way (his courtroom oration is the film's highest moment) -- and the story is engrossing enough. But even a well-mounted retread is still a retread at heart, and I couldn't work up much enthusiasm.

Lovers Rock was definitely the high point of the series for me -- the least plotted (it just seemed to meander through a young crowd's weekend evening), but the most atmospheric and fresh by far. It's definitely this episode that is getting the series its cinematography wins: the fluid camera-work and the hushed lighting make this visually memorable in a way none of the other episodes are. It's a small thing -- just, really, recapturing what it was to float through a party in your single days -- but it captures that feeling so vividly that it amounts to a major achievement.

The other two I saw (Red White and Blue, Education) were interestingly off-kilter vignettes -- each going in very different directions from what I'd expected based on the early scenes. And I liked both as far as they went...but I did feel that each just stopped at some point, felt truncated -- I, certainly, was prepared to go much further with the stories involved. But I did enjoy the originality of the topics covered, and the actors were all solid.

Given the LA award, I have to say I was expecting something of greater overall scope or coherence. But I liked watching most of it, and maybe that's the most you can hope for in such a limited year.

[mlrg]

Oh, I broke down and decided to watch this, um, not in theaters. I got tired of waiting.

Life is really too short to torture yourself waiting.

Life is too short to go through the torture of watching such garbage

[Reza]

Oh, I broke down and decided to watch this, um, not in theaters. I got tired of waiting.

Life is really too short to torture yourself waiting.

[anonymous1980]

TENET
Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine.
Dir: Christopher Nolan.

FINALLY! Christopher Nolan's latest film concerns a CIA agent recruited to stop a plot involving a Russian oligarch and time travel. That's about as simple way I can explain the plot without requiring a dissertation on quantum physics. Writer-director Nolan's obsession with the concept of time continues with this high-concept, stylish science fiction that only he could make. Personally, I think he bit off more than he could chew this time because I thought the concept and science of it is a bit muddled. I'm still not sure I completely got what was going on. I even turned on the close captioning so I could follow the exposition. I enjoy films that make you figure things out and engages you in that way but this film made it way too complicated and it becomes way too over-plotted and . That said, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. The second half in particular is bravura filmmaking. I enjoyed it more when I quit thinking about how it all works. Oh, I broke down and decided to watch this, um, not in theaters. I got tired of waiting.

Oscar Prospects: Tech only. Cinematography, Editing, Score, Visual Effects.

Grade: B-

[Big Magilla]

Driveways
Fairly conventional indie, not innovative or revolutionary in terms of narrative or visuals, and a lot of people will dismiss it because of that, but it's very much worth a look, and at 83 minutes, it's not a big time investment. It's essentially just a situation with very little plot--a young boy (Lucas Jaye) travels with his single mom (Hong Chau) to clean out the house of her deceased sister, and while he's there, he (and his mom to a lesser extent) develops a friendship with an elderly veteran (Brian Dennehy) who lives next door. You've seen similar Indies before, but the characters are all pretty well drawn; I really liked that the kid is not weird and doesn't gravitate to Dennehy's character because he's some kind of a social reject; he's just a quiet kid who doesn't know anyone nearby, and you even see as he stays in the town a little longer that he can make friends and find ways to fit in with other kids. Performance are all very solid--Lucas Jaye is a very natural, very un-affected child performer, Hong Chau is doing very quiet, very lived-in work that doesn't get recognized very often (although she did get an Indie Spirit nomination last award's cycle), and Dennehy is truly excellent. The performance definitely has added poignancy in the fact that he died just before its release (although true workhorse that he was, he had several other films in the can that haven't been released yet), but the film also hands him a monologue near the very end that he absolutely nails. Yes, a Supporting Actor nomination would probably have as much to do with sentiment as anything, but on the merits of the performance, it would be fully deserved.

A lovely film. Hong Chau is good as the mother but Lucas Jaye as the bright, non-athletic nine-year-old and Brian Dennehy as his recently widowed retired neighbor are exceptional. Dennehy might well have received career award recognition for his performance had he not passed away. Nice to see he's been in the running for several of the critics' groups awards already out there.

[anonymous1980]

WONDER WOMAN 1984
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, Lily Aspell.
Dir: Patty Jenkins.

The sequel to the first DCEU film worth a damn (at least in my opinion) has Wonder Woman dealing with a magical stone that grants wishes with an aspiring billionaire-con artist Max Lord and a shy nerdy woman who's to become Cheetah as the primary villains. Wow, talk about a mixed bag. There is an excellent film to be made in here but it's all mish-mashed in a mess of a script. It does have some flashes of greatness thanks to the nice performances from both Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig as the villains of the piece. They instantly steal the film from Wonder Woman herself. Hans Zimmer's score also rocks. No, it's nowhere near as good as the first one which is unfortunate, because this could've really have been great. It's still entertaining and watchable enough.

Oscar Prospects: Only deserving of Original Score.

Grade: B-

[anonymous1980]

WE CAN BE HEROES
Cast: Yaya Gosselin, Pedro Pascal, Priyanka Chopra, Adriana Barraza, Boyd Holbrook, Christian Slater, Nathan Blair, Lyon Daniels, Hala Finley, Andy Walken, Andrew Diaz, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Akira Akba, Lotus Blossom, Dylan Henry Lau, Vivien Blair, Christopher McDonald, Taylor Dooley, Sung Kang, Haley Reinhart.
Dir: Robert Rodriguez.

When the world's superheroes are captured by alien invaders, it's up to their children to save them and the world. This is sort of a sequel but more of spin-off from Sharkboy & Lava Girl but you don't need to see that movie to understand what's going on here. I've been watching a lot of relatively heavy and/or dark films the past few days. So I thought I'd recalibrate myself and watch something wholesome, silly and escapist for once. I have to say, this is surprisingly.....not bad. It is the best thing writer-director Robert Rodriguez has done in years, certainly the best of his kids'/family movies since the first Spy Kids. Is it great? No. But as a silly kids' movie, it's entertaining enough. if you have kids, there are worse things they could be watching.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: B-

[Mister Tee]

The three acts of Sound of Metal don’t feel connective enough. The first has the hook, a scuzzy, punk tale of a man who would sacrifice his hearing for his way of life. The second is an idyllic, plotless eden that shows Ruben acclimating to his new life but ultimately trading it for something else, possibly, tragically not worth it. The third... explains his girlfriend’s relationship with her mother? A strong enough achievement but there’s a more potent tale somewhere in there that remains unactivated.

Riz Ahmed’s perennial thousand yard stare does a lot of the heavy-lifting in the second act. Paul Raci is excellent as well, although the more I thought about it, the more I questioned his and the film’s paternalistic bend. He's the kind of guy who gets higher ground-y at someone for trying to fix his roof, as if he doesn't automatically know what to do with himself being a recovering heroin addict whose suddenly lost his hearing.

NOTE: this is a stupid review. I'm going to leave it up. It's connective. I just didn't think it was dramatized enough in an interesting way.

It's not stupid. This did feel like several different movies, and I didn't feel they fully found the connective tissue. It's an interesting watch, but I had several issues with it.

First and foremost, it's a "for a movie about..." effort -- as in, for a movie about a subject I wouldn't in general care to watch, it had a number of impressive elements. First and foremost of them would be the oft-referred to sound design, which gives us a better front-row seat than we've ever had for such a story...the sound gives us more direct information about what Ahmed's character is going through than anything in the dialogue or in his (impressive on its own terms) performance. Hats off to that concept. The story also goes some unexpected directions -- I assumed there'd be more of Ruben-trying-to-stay-a-drummer, not such a deep-dive into the deafness community. This is all admirable work. Nonetheless, I'm left at the end thinking, while it's a better version, it's still of a movie I'm not that interested in seeing.

My second big issue is with the filmmakers' seeming embrace of the Paul Raci character's view: that, having been rendered deaf, Ruben's only noble choice now is to accept that deafness as defining his life. Becoming one with the community: good; trying to recapture his hearing as best he can (never mind how it turns out): bad. It seemed like something could have been made of how it's different for Ruben than it is for many of the others in the community (Joe excepted): having had hearing for his life till now, he knows what he's missing, where they mostly don't; also, having had a profession (about which he seemed passionate) that required hearing, it meant he was losing more than a sense faculty; he was losing his life-focus. If he and Joe had got into vehement arguments over this, each having valid points, the film might have felt more balanced. Instead, Joe lectures him like a disappointed parent, and I had the feeling I was supposed to take his view as revealed truth...but, for me, Joe's community had a slight benevolent dictatorship feel to it. It may make me a bad person, but I was more on Ruben's side when he was rebelling against community standards than when he was cheerfully acquiescing in them. I might not have felt the same if I were encountering him in life, but,as a movie character, I was more for Ruben following his own path.

(None of this is to diminish Paul Raci's very fine work as Joe.)

I also had some minor problems picking up details about the whole Ruben/Lou relationship -- she was his manager, a singer, both? Some elements were passed over so quickly that I didn't catch them -- until I saw "Belgian crew" in the final credits, I didn't even realize she had gone to Europe (that's why Mathieu Amalaric was speaking French!) or that Ruben was telling the truth about her family wealth (I thought he was conning Joe at that moment). And the whole drug addict part of the story was very hazy for me, as well. How did it fit into Ruben's choices, or Lou's? In the end -- to get back to the connective tissue thing -- I just didn't feel like the film had a very strong core, other than seeming to believe Ruben had no choice but to accept that losing his hearing changed everything about his life, and resistance was not only futile but ignoble. So, while, again, I found elements of the film interesting (sound, Ahmed, Raci and Olivia Cooke performances), I didn't feel they cohered enough to make the film one I can recommend for itself as much as for those elements.