The Official Review Thread of 2022

[anonymous1980]

THE BLACK PHONE
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, E. Roger Mitchell, Troy Rudeseal.
Dir: Scott Derrickson.

It's 1978 in a suburb in Denver and a 13-year-old boy is abducted by a serial child killer nicknamed The Grabber. While trapped, he receives mysterious phone calls from a disconnected black phone. This film doesn't break new ground in the horror or the thriller genre. But it is a solidly entertaining scary film that strips down the genre to its barebones and gives us a straightforward horror story. A lot of it feels like an old-fashioned '70s horror-thriller both in that it's set in the 70's and feels like it was shot in the '70s. The two central kid performances are terrific and Ethan Hawke makes for a great, disturbing villain with his bestial masks. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a pretty good horror flick.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: B+

[OscarGuy]

Lilo & Stitch had a kid at the center of it and that was adorable AF.

[Okri]

The Sea Beast: How to Train Your Dragon but at sea. Good human-character designs. Surprisingly mediocre work with the sea monsters. Does an animated film for kids actually need kids in it? I'm thinking of the post-Mermaid Disney films and the majority of the characters were at least teenagers, right? I think I'd enjoy this film more if it didn't have an adorable orphan. Easy to overthink the screenplay.

Ahed's Knee: A film of pestilent rage. I liked it a lot. I suspect that if you didn't care for Synonyms, you won't love this. But it's vital, livewire political filmmaking.

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On: Cute. I absolutely adored Slate's voice work. Probably doesn't need to be feature length, despite how slender it actually was.

[anonymous1980]

MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU
Cast: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews (voices).
Dir: Kyle Balda.

The second Minions-focused prequel to the Despicable Me franchise has the Minions trying to help a young Gru enter a villains league then gets caught up in a scheme involving a magical Chinese charm. I have to say I am lukewarm at best when it comes to the Minions and this franchise. I mean, I find them worth a few chuckles no more, no less but they do wear out their welcome after a while. That said, watching this was more entertaining than painful. There are some genuine clever ideas here and there. It's not enough to make this film win over non-fans but if you're a parent of a Minions fan, it's not that bad of a time. In particular, Michelle Yeoh's section and character is a highlight and I wished the movie was about her. Overall, it's just okay.

Oscar Prospects: Will struggle to even get in Animated Feature.

Grade: C+

[Sabin]

Won't do any spoilers on Thor: Love and Thunder for the two or three people who will watch it.

I see what Taika Watiki is going for in Thor: Love and Thunder. He wants to create sort of a funky rom-com/dramedy between Thor and Jane Foster. It's quite a good idea but he needed to set the foundation for it more at the beginning of the film. It's a very bold move to begin with Christian Bale as Gorr, The Butcher who has a very good motivation as well as presents real menace. His opening scene is excellent and Bale is fantastic in this creepy Boogeyman role. He's instantly one of the best MCU villains; I only would've liked him more if I understand his plan to any degree. The bigger problem with opening the film with Bale is it creates two very different tones in the film to jump back and forth between and it never really works. Big tone problems. Meanwhile, Jane doesn't debut as Thor until the second act and there's far, far too much going on in her story to satisfyingly play out in the time given, and it never feels as engaging as it should be. Jane Foster needed that set-up time in the beginning. Taika Watiki tries to get around this by doing some cute relationship montage flashbacks but it doesn't register emotionally. This again tests the limits of what an MCU story can be. Watiki takes the more interesting choice by starting with Gorr's backstory but it hobbles the rest of the film. This is sad because this film could've been quite moving. Characters rarely change and grow in MCU films. In this one they do. Watiki's script needed an editor and another draft.

It’s actually remarkably similar to In the Multiverse of Madness now that I think about it. There’s some real visual imagination to it as well, but a mixed bag. Phase Four ain’t really where it’s at.

[anonymous1980]

THOR: LOVE & THUNDER
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe, Jaimie Alexander, Chris Pratt.
Dir: Taika Waititi.

The latest MCU superhero blockbuster has Thor going face to face with Gorr, the God Butcher alongside his old flame, Jane Foster who has taken up the mantle of the Mighty Thor. This is mid-tier MCU at best. It won't convert any skeptics or non-fans. It didn't transcend the genre or break any new ground. But I have to say, for what it is, I found it really enjoyable. I can definitely see why some people are not fans. Director Taika Waititi actually attempted here what he did with JoJo Rabbit: Mixing some dead serious and sometimes heady themes with humor. It works for some but not for others. Personally, I thought it mostly worked but I get the criticism. Christian Bale gives it his all here as the villain and he's quite excellent. Overall, yeah, I liked this one.

Oscar Prospects: Visual Effects and Makeup & Hairstyling maybe.

Grade: B+

[Okri]

I’ll echo Sabin on Lightyear as well. There’s a degree to which I’m annoyed at Pixar/Disney for Toy Story 4 (which is a decent movie, but completely unnecessary). But that was a massive hit (I think 400 million = massive). I sorta don’t mind minor Pixar – I think Luca might be better than anything they’ve done since Toy Story 3 (haven’t seen Turning Red yet, nor any Cars sequels). Lightyear isn’t minor, but it’s thinly conceived despite its ambitions as the Buzz Lightyear origin story. Sox is indeed the best thing about it.

[Okri]

Look forward to hearing your thoughts about After Yang, dws. I liked it enough, but wasn't as moved by it as I was expecting. I had previously read the short story, fwiw.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
What I don't understand about Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is why Searchlight didn't give the film a theatrical run. Did they not see the AMPAS ruling coming that streaming without a concurrent theatrical release would disqualify it for Oscar consideration? I'm wondering if critics' groups will see it that way or treat it the way they did Scenes from a Marriage in 1974 and award Emma Thompson's performance anyway. It's that good.

Anyway, given the AMPAS ruling, Thompson's best shot at an Oscar this year now falls to her Miss Trunchbull in the upcoming Matilda, previously known as Matilda the Musical.

Oh, I didn't know that. Isn't that a shame!

[Big Magilla]

I've seen both Driveways and Fire Island but I never put the two together as being from the same director. They are both examples of excellent use of Asian-American characters.

Driveways is similar to Minari in that the most compelling relationship is that of a young boy and a much older, seemingly gruff person with whom they at first appear to have nothing in common. Brian Dennehy is every bit as good in Driveways as Yuh-Jung Youn is in Minari.

Fire Island can be confusing if you don't know that it is a loose adaptation of the main character's favorite novel, Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. Once you realize that, it makes sense.

What I don't understand about Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is why Searchlight didn't give the film a theatrical run. Did they not see the AMPAS ruling coming that streaming without a concurrent theatrical release would disqualify it for Oscar consideration? I'm wondering if critics' groups will see it that way or treat it the way they did Scenes from a Marriage in 1974 and award Emma Thompson's performance anyway. It's that good.

Anyway, given the AMPAS ruling, Thompson's best shot at an Oscar this year now falls to her Miss Trunchbull in the upcoming Matilda, previously known as Matilda the Musical

[dws1982]

Fire Island is the better of the two. I haven't seen Andrew Ahn's previous features (Spa Night, Driveways)...It's such a warm movie.

Driveways is very good, very different from every description I've read of Fire Island, although I would describe it as a warm movie as well. (A pretty quiet, low-key one though.) It's probably streaming somewhere, very much worth watching, and a less-than 90-minute time investment, with a great Brian Dennehy performance that would've got him a posthumous nomination if it had been from a bigger distributor. He deserved it.

Watched After Yang yesterday, and I'm not sure what to say about it or how to begin, but I found it incredibly moving in ways I didn't expect. Need to watch it again before I can talk much about it.

[Sabin]

Greg wrote
If they were broke, how were they able to afford a one-week vacation on Fire Island?

They're friends with an older lesbian (Margaret Cho) who owns a house. But tragically, she's going to have to sell the house, so this is the last fire island getaway they're ever going to have together. So, they have to make it count.

It makes sense and it works.

[Greg]

I really enjoyed how it centered both race (it has two Asian leads) and class (they're quite broke), as well as tackled some real questions about romantic expectations in 2022 and what forever love really means these days.

If they were broke, how were they able to afford a one-week vacation on Fire Island?

[Sabin]

I watched Fire Island and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande on Hulu and they're both good independent films that are well worth watching. Both spotlight difference experiences in moving, entertaining ways. I don't subject myself to many summer movies these days so I can't quite call them "refreshing alternatives" but I can only imagine if you do then they are.

Fire Island is the better of the two. I haven't seen Andrew Ahn's previous features (Spa Night, Driveways) but I suspect his sensibility is a very good match for Joel Kim Booster's witty script. It's such a warm movie. It's about a group of gay, broke friend who go to Fire Island for an annual week-long celebration and live out their own Pride and Prejudice. I really enjoyed how it centered both race (it has two Asian leads) and class (they're quite broke), as well as tackled some real questions about romantic expectations in 2022 and what forever love really means these days. My only complaint is that I don't think it's really quite up to the task of playing out a full Pride & Prejudice narrative without dragging after a certain point. But well worth a watch.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande gets points for not being nearly as claustrophobic as it should be. It's the story of Emma Thompson, a retired widowed very English English teacher who has never had a satisfying sexual life (not one orgasm) and hires a young sex worker (Daryl McCormack) who goes by "Leo Grande" to fulfill her fantasies, which proves to be a challenging experience for both of them. The first of the four chapters is the best. I have no idea the film's origins or if it was expanded from a stage play but it feels as if the first chapter was the entirety of a one act that was expanded. Subsequent chapters feature more forced conflicts, but the first one is a charmer and a heartbreaker, especially as Emma Thompson cries while admitting she's never had oral or had it done to her but really wanted it to happen. It's a fine piece of writing (by Katy Brand) and directing (by Sophie Hyde) but the real reason to watch the film is Emma Thompson. She is so good and really gets to the heart of this person who could've just been a bundle of clichés. I haven't seen Late Night but we haven't quite had the Emma Thompsonssaince (as we've enjoyed from Frances McDormand and Meryl Streep) but we're long since overdue and I hope this launches it. Side note: the first Oscar ceremony I watched was 1995 and it is insane to me that Emma Thompson hasn't been nominated since. Who remotely thought that night that Emma Thompson wouldn't return for over a quarter century? Anyway, many are over the moon for this film and what it manages to do. I found too much of the second act a bit forced to feel the same, but it's still a very worthy achievement by everyone involved.

[anonymous1980]

EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Hong, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr.
Dirs: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert.

A Chinese-American woman having problems with her marriage, business and family life is all of a sudden tasked by an alternate universe version of her husband to save the multiverse from a villain bent on destroying it. I've been hearing a lot about this film. I've been hearing a lot of hype. It absolutely lives up to the hype. This film despite already knowing bits and pieces of it from months of people raving about it already managed to still surprise and excite me. And it managed to be even crazier than I expected in all the good ways possible. The film manages to be very, very funny and yet still manages to be somehow moving, thought-provoking, profound and life-affirming. It is a bit of miracle of a film that's this anarchic manages to be, everything, everywhere all at once. This is largely thanks to Michelle Yeoh's truly great performance which ties this film together. One of my favorite films of 2022 so far.

Oscar Prospects: SHOULD get in Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Visual Effects and especially Actress.

Grade: A.