2023--Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan

 

2023--Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan

Nominees: American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things, The Zone of Interest 

Should have won: Oppenheimer

Be sure to see: Cocaine Bear,  Evil Dead Rise, Plane, Super Mario Brothers, M3gan, Skinamarink Thanksgiving

"Would the Japanese surrender if they know what was coming?"--Edward Teller

"I don't know if we can be trusted with such a weapon, but I know the Nazis can't"--J. Robert Oppenheimer 

This will be the least descriptive and most "unprofessional" review on this whole blog. This movie won the Oscar in February. I saw it in the theater before the Academy Awards. After it won I figured I needed to watch it again but I had no desire to. It is now early November that I finally got around to typing this. Is it because I didn't like the movie and vowed never to watch it again? Not at all. It's very good. But it is also not my kind of thing and really long. I'm also not knowledgeable enough in the subject matter to give a fair review. It's about the creation of the atomic bomb. It's good and all but I can't do it justice without getting the facts wrong. I'm still putting it in my should have won pick because I do understand that it is excellent. I've written 96 reviews. I did my best on 95 of them. Give me a pass here, huh? 

2022-- Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, Daniel Scheinert

 

2022—Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, Daniel Scheinert

Nominated: All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fablemans, Tar, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking

Should have won: Elvis

Be Sure to See: Bodies Bodies Bodies, Bullet Train, Christmas Bloody Christmas, Pearl, Violent Night, X

"I wanted to say in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you"--Waymond Wong 

     If nothing else, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once is the weirdest best picture winner. And this has the potential of being the worst, shortest, and least focused review I've done. It was a difficult movie for me to follow. It is weird—and I like weird—but I also like to know what is going on.  This movie seems to be all about technical achievements, editing, and effects. That's not to say I disliked the movie. It just wasn't best picture material for me. 

     Evelyn Wang is in trouble with the IRS bank and is at the office looking at receipts. It seems she confuses hobbies for business, as it is so elegantly stated. The employee going over her taxes is played by Jamie Lee Curtis in an Oscar-winning role. I've adored her for her whole career but, as much as I've liked her movies, "It's about time she gets an Oscar" never crossed my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed Halloween, My Girl, True Lies, A Fish Called Wanda, The Fog, even Freaky Friday. But none of those are particularly Oscar worthy. She wins one here for supporting actress but I must say I found Stephanie Hsu's performance as the daughter more deserving. 

     The movie also won for editing which I completely understand, although I liked how Elvis was cut together more. This movie showed creative ways of entering alternate dimensions so I get how it bagged that award. 

    Michelle Yeoh carried the movie and showed command in every scene she was in which was, well, pretty much every scene. And it was nice to see Ke Huy Quan again. You know him as short Round from Temple of Doom or Data from The Goonies. Ninety-four-year-old James Hong spent the movie in a wheelchair with few lines but I'm glad to see he's still working. 

    I'm not sure who this movie is supposed to appeal to. There is one fight sequence but not enough to entertain kung fu fans. The entering dimensions aspect throws sci fi into the mix but not enough to thrill sci fi fans. I don't know who the target audience is, really. It's interesting and weird, has bizarre moments and slow ones. It has a false ending where you think it's over but still has an hour left and a scene where two rocks overlooking a canyon have a conversation for a while. This was my favorite part. Does that tell you how I feel about the movie? To be honest, I don't even how I feel about it. I saw it twice and I'm glad I did. I just can't see how it won over Elvis.  

NOTE: With all of the commas in this title, you should know the director is Daniel Scheinert. I probably didn't need to say that but...

2021--Coda, Sian Heder

2121--CODA, Sian Heder 

Nominated: Belfast, Don't Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, Power of the Dog, West Side Story 

Should Have Won: Coda 

Be Sure to See: Godzilla Vs. Kong, Halloween Kills, The Little Things, Old, A Quiet Place 2 

"Duet. It's in the word. You must duet together."--Mr. Villalobos

After Ben-Hur (1959) and The Departed (2006), CODA is only the third remake to win the coveted best picture Oscar at the Academy Awards. This retelling of the 2014 French film LaFamille Belier follows the Rossi family, particularly daughter Ruby who is the only member who is not deaf. Ruby is played by Emilia Jones who carries the movie as she is in practically every scene. It could be irony or coincidence that the one thing Ruby cares most about is singing, something her family could never really experience. Except, of course, for the hard bass in rap which her father Frank says he enjoys. Though the film really focuses on Ruby, each character has his or her running story, as does the family unit as a whole. 

Their income relies on their daily fish catch and every employee is affected when an issue arises at work. It is Frank who speaks up with the help of Ruby who interprets. Everyone hears how angry he is, but I think even if she were not there to interpret, his non-verbal action really gets the point across. There are two stories running in this movie. Along with the family business and Ruby's interpreting, Ruby joins a choir to pursue her dream of singing. A good portion of the movie deals with her and a boy singing a duet of Marvin Gaye and Tammie Terrell's You're all I need to get by. Though the family's plot is the main focus, there is a lot of this second storyline I enjoyed, People have always teased Ruby because of her abnormal family which I'm not sure how realistic that is. I, like her duet partner Miles, think it is pretty cool to be the only hearing member of a deaf family. And I particularly like the choice of song. I honestly don't know if it was intended but You're all I need to get by seems appropriate since the deaf members of the family rely so much on Ruby to interpret. That's my thought, anyway. 

The choir teacher, Mr. Villalobos, was probably my favorite character. He was really complex. He was kind of a douche yet at the same time really cared about his students, particularly, Ruby. Helpful and a jerk at the same time; difficult to pull off. Like many sports movies that build up to "the big game", this movie builds up to the concert which the family attends. I sort of predicted something would happen but in more of a wishing way. I thought, "man you what this movie should do? This." And then a minute later it happened. Good decision.. Predictable, I guess, but correct. Watching the audience made me think of the scenes in old silent movies when they didn't put the dialogue cards on the screen. Could you still follow the plot simply by watching the actors' expressions? They say communication is mostly non-verbal and this scene is a great example of that. The deaf members of the family looking at the expressions of the audience members was the best moment of the movie for me. 

An important aspect of the movie is how Ruby wants to go to Berkley to sing but her parents would prefer her to stay home. Her brother, who is another key character in the movie, has strong feelings about the matter as well. What the final decision ends up being I'll let you discover but I found it kind of weird they were making it feel like she would have to travel so far away. I looked it up. Berkley is only about 35 miles from Gloucester, their hometown. Could it be her parents wanted her to stay not for emotional attachment to their daughter but because they simply needed her to be an interpreter? 

For the past few years , the Academy Awards have made sure to focus on minorities. This year, a new group was represented. Deaf characters played by deaf actors represented the best picture Oscar. CODA was a very well-made and thoughtful movie. Many times in dramas, the comedic scenes seem forced or out of place. The ones here fit with how the family lived. As far as Oscar-worthy movies go, I don't feel it had many technical strengths. Editing and cinematography and so on, but the story and acting carried it. I cared about the characters and I hope to see more from Emilia Jones, the lead actress, and Troy Kotsur the lead actor. I'd like to hear what else they have to say. 

NOTE: In case you're curious about the title's meaning, CODA is not referring to the ending of a piece of music but an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adult. It is fitting, however, this movie does deal with music.

2020--Nomadland, Chloe Zhao

 

2020--Nomadland, Chloe Zhao

Nominated: The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Should have won: Nomadland

Be sure to see:  The Invisible man 

"I didn't want my sailboat to be in a driveway when I died. Yeah, and it's not. My sailboat's out here in the desert."--Merle

2020 was an odd year for a lot of things, films were certainly one of them. This was the first time since 1955 where I had heard of zero of the best picture nominees before I saw a list of candidates. Zero. Not a one. The winner back in 1955 was the endearing film Marty with Ernest Borgnine. The "should have won" slot up there was pretty hard to fill for this year because nothing I saw was particularly good. But since Nomadland is the only movie nominated that I bothered to watch, I guess it would be unfair of me to lump them in a negative category. Covid caused me to have my all-time low in theater going since I started keeping track. I saw only 4 movies that were released in 2020 on the big screen: The Invisible Man, Bad Boys 3, Underwater, and Wonderwoman 84. Two were lousy, one was so-so, and The Invisible Man was the best. I did eventually see Hillbilly Elegy on television. Now comes Nomadland which was certainly the best movie of the ones I've seen. So I'll give it a pass in the should have won category for now.  Though I hear The Trial of the Chicago 7 is good. 

The movie tells the story of Fern, a woman who loses practically everything in the recession and travels through the American West, living in her van. But as she says, she's not homeless, she's houseless and that's not the same thing.  As the movie starts, she loses her job after a US Gypsum plant closes down where she had worked for years. She then gets a job at Amazon and for a few minutes it brought back memories of my seven years there. Their little stand up meeting was similar with safety tips and whatnot but their building was a lot nicer and wow, what a big break room! But I digress. 

As Fern travels from destination to destination, I couldn't help but be awed by the scenery. The spas in the Badlands could have been supporting characters on their own. In this respect, the movie reminded me of the 1985 winner Out of Africa. Pretty scenery and pretty boring. Much of the movie is just pretty locations, minimum score except a pleasant piano, and nomads in the desert. One positive thing was how real the cast felt. Not too many of these people were actors. Almost everyone's character was also the name of the person playing them. Maybe five people were played by actors with different names and I recognized only two people in the whole movie, Frances McDormand and David Strathairn who you might know from A League of Their Own or The River Wild. I also noticed, not that it should really matter, that the cast had the opposite effect the scenery had. As lovely as the landscapes were, this movie had about he most unattractive cast I've ever seen. But that's ok. It seemed very real. 

Some of my favorite scenes were simple speeches given by nomads about their past. One lady who learned she will be dying in a few months tells a story that paints such beautiful visuals of the animals she has seen while travelling the country, I had to watch it twice. And another man tells a story of his son's suicide. If there had been more scenes like this I would have enjoyed the movie more. Some people might have still found it boring if it were just people sitting around telling stories. I suppose that's true if there had been 15 scenes of it. But the two times it happened, I was completely enthralled. And being an astronomy nerd, I loved the scene where they look at Jupiter through the telescope and talk about the speed of light.  

I guess the movie was ok. I found it to be extremely boring despite an ok story. It is the third most boring winner behind Out of Africa and Hamlet (through no fault of its own; it was just a Laurence Olivier play someone filmed). Frances McDormand is in every scene and carries the movie just fine. I've gotten to where I find her hard to take in the last few years. It is like she's become a completely different actress from her Raising Arizona and Fargo days.  But the movie isn't very good and it just cracks my top ten worst winners sliding in at the number 10 spot--or 84th best, if you will. Maybe if it hadn't won best picture of the year and I watched it I would appreciate it more. But then again, 2020 didn't produce too many contenders. But it is still 84th out of a pretty elite group. I'm glad I saw it. 

2019--Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho

2019--Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho 

Nominated: Ford Vs Ferrari, The Irishman, JoJo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood

Should Have Won: 1917

Be sure to see: Booksmart, Good Boys, Knives Out, Late Night, Midsommer, Queen and Slim, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,  Toy Story 4, The Upside, Us

"You know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all."--Ki-Taek Kim 

In the Academy Awards' 92 year history, only one horror movie has won the best picture honor. A couple more should have won like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby. Of course 2017's The Shape of Water was a throwback to 1950s Universal Monster movies and a couple more have been nominated. Parasite,  2019's winner, might not fall into the horror category in the traditional sense but it certainly teeters on the edge of the genre. It has many horror trappings ranging from brutal knife violence to suspense to using secret identities to accomplish unethical results. As much as I enjoy these themes, I'm hesitant to agree with the movie being a best picture caliber movie, though I am glad to see the pendulum swing. 

The destitute Kim family is living in a basement, making their living folding pizza boxes. The son, Ki-woo, gets word the wealthy Park family needs an English tutor for their child. Upon seeing how well-to-do the Parks are, the rest of the Kims pose as unrelated people yet highly qualified potential employees. Until this point, the film is played out like a drama, as most best picture winners are. It is when the Kims begin their employment with the Parks that the movie shows a darker side. 

Kim daughter Ki-Jung poses as an art therapist for the Park's son. She frames the Park's chauffeur for sexual misconduct so her father can take his job. But it is how Chung-Sook (the Kim wife) infiltrates the housekeeper role intrigued me most. It is the only time I've ever seen a peach allergy and a packet of hot sauce used to end a career.  It is in the is segment of the movie where elements of other filmmakers' styles shine through. The way this scene mixes up the lineage of the narrative is straight out of Quentin Tarantino's playbook. The technique is not a flashback, per se, but as Ki-Taek (the husband/chauffeur) is talking to Mrs. Park about a possible incriminating picture he "accidentally" took, the movie flashes back to the family practicing their lines of how this encounter should play out.  This is one of my favorite scenes. The rehearsal part is pretty realistic. In an Oceans Eleven-type movie, there would be no hiccups in the rehearsal. A plan would be quickly discussed, then carried out. But the Kims are not professionals so going over the plan doesn't go as smoothly as they'd hoped. Once the family takes over as various caregivers in the Park house is when we see where the title comes from. The poor destitute Kims leach onto the Parks and when the Parks are away on a camping trip, the Kims are hanging out at their house. A key piece of dialogue is spoken about the class system and the reasons the Kims want to carry out this plot. This is a key moment in the movie, I think. Until this point, I'd say the Kims are villains. They are dishonest and have corrupted lives. But if their actions are to better themselves and pointing out the haves vs the have nots, how much can they be faulted? 

The last third of the movie kicks in when Moon-Gwang, the Parks' former housekeeper, reappears because she had forgotten something in the basement when she was fired. The comedy fades away and the movie turns sinister, violent, and, in the tradition of lots of Asian horror movies, just plain weird. There are scenes that reminded me of so many other movies I have seen or emotions I have felt while watching some classics. When the Kims are hiding under tables and beds in hope they won't be discovered, I got worried they would be discovered. Then I remembered we really should not be rooting for this family since they are the dishonest ones. This aspect held elements of Double Indemnity or Psycho. The linear mix up in the sabotage of the housekeeper  is a Tarantino staple but there is also a moment where somewhat of a hostage situation takes place not by a gun or a bomb, but by the threat of hitting a send button on a phone. Remember the opening scene in Pulp Fiction? This whole segment is the apex of this movie. We figured sooner or later the Kims' luck would run out but not in this way. From the time Moon-Gwang appears to check on what she had left until the credits roll, it was one surprise, shock, or flash of violence after another. Then, in a surprise, the final couple of minutes touch a completely different set of emotions. Pretty sentimental actually when compared to the previous half hour.  I was extremely surprised this movie was even considered a best picture contender. The violence in Silence of the Lambs had a sort of elegance to it, perhaps fooling the Academy. Parasite is a hateful and murky violent movie...well the final act anyway. Other than Moon-Gwang and her secret, there are really no characters to root for. Even the Park family, though they did nothing wrong, aren't particularly likeable.  Or maybe they are likeable but Ki-Taek Kim's interpretation of them to his family had me believing him, too. In a way, the Kim family tricked me just as much as they had tricked the Parks. 

I really did enjoy the movie and I'm glad it won simply because a movie with such creepy themes hardly ever gets recognized. I don't really agree with it though. 1917 or Tarantino's Once upon a time in Hollywood would have been better choices. But it really is a movie fan's movie, I think. Either intentionally or unintentionally, I picked up on nods to lots of older movies.  I noticed aspects that reminded me of Pulp Fiction, Double Indemnity, Rear Window, Psycho, Dial M for Murder,  Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, JoJo Rabbit, The Boy, and a milliion movies where people are hiding for an extended period of time with the danger mere feet away. I think this movie has many themes but the one I took to the most is who do we root for? Is it ok to root for the bad guys every now and then? 

Note: Parasite was the 11th foreign language film to be nominated for best picture and the first to win. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is the only other one I've seen. Also, this was the final best picture winner of the decade. I'll rank them here from my favorite to tenth favorite.

1. The Shape of Water, 2017
2. Parasite, 2019
3. The Artist, 2011
4. Argo, 2012
5. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), 2014
6. 12 Years a Slave 2013
7. Green Book 2018
8. The King's Speech 2010
9. Spotlight 2015
10. Moonlight 2016

2018--Green Book, Peter Ferrelly

2018--Green Book, Peter Ferrelly

Nominated: BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Roma, A Star is Born, Vice

Should have won: A Star is Born

Be sure to see: Bird Box, The Darkest Minds, Death Wish,  Jumanji 2,  A Quiet Place

"Do you know where you are?"--Tony Vallelonga

"Does geography really matter?"--Don Shirley

The 1989 best picture winner featured an elderly white lady whose chauffer was a kindly black gentleman. They built a friendly relationship when things could have remained simply business and their time together wound up being pleasant. The movie was Driving Miss Daisy and the 2018 winner, Green Book, reversed these roles by having a white chauffeur drive a talented black musician from city to city to perform his shows. A few years ago the "Oscars so white" twitter uproar changed how movies will be nominated. Though I typically disagree with this concept and feel the best should be nominated no matter what that means, Green Book is an example of the process getting it right. 

It is 1962 and Bobby Rydell is performing in a club for which Tony "Lipp" Vallelonga bounces. After an altercation, the club closes and Tony needs to find a job. Since he has experience driving a garbage truck, it is suggested he drive Don Shirly--the talented musician previously mentioned--across the southeastern United States to perform his gigs. I wasn't sure if gig is the correct term here though because of Shirley's stature as a serious musician but my brother who is pretty knowledgeable on the subject says it is.  Don must be pretty highly respected. After all his "office" is at Carnegi Hall. 

The title comes from a book Don's record studio gives Tony. It is essentially a guide on how to safely travel through racist areas of the South. It is called The Negro Motorist Green Book. I wondered how accurate such a book would be. One person's experience might or might not improve by following the book's advice, but that is how various self-help books would read, so I suppose this Green Book would have similar benefits. After hitting Iowa, they travel to Louisville and get Kentucky Fried Chicken. Being a Kentuckian I, of course, enjoyed their conversation on the matters of fried chicken. The movie slides in some reversals of racial stereotypes throughout the movie. For example, the black guy doesn't like fried chicken and the white guy likes music from Aretha Franklin and Little Richard while the black guy is unfamiliar, etc. 

A part of the story that seemed sweet but not important early on but played a key part later is Tony's letters. He has a way with words, and not necessarily in a good way. He promised his wife he'd write her letters from the road. His writing isn't exactly the most romantic so Don feeds him some lines to woo his wife's heart. It was sort of like a penned version of Cyrano de Bergerac.  Occasionally, the movie popped back into the life of Tony's wife back home which I felt took away from the story I would rather have been following which is the "non-buddy, buddy road movie" so to speak. But one single line is spoken by Dolores at the end that wraps the love letter aspect of the story up nicely. It is one of my favorite moments. 

The further south they go, the more racial tension they face but mostly this comes from the public and not from the concerts where Don is highly respected. I wonder if people like Nat King Cole faced similar fates while touring the south. But it occurred to me there might be a difference between well-known stars and a classical pianist who locals wouldn't recognize.  But I like how some of Don's traits brushed off onto Tony and vice versa. I said "mostly" the tension comes from the public and not the venues. When one venue doesn't follow through with its hospitality, things pan out as they should, which leads us to maybe the best gig Don Shirly ever had at the local ethnic restaurant called The Orange Bird. The piano scene at The Orange Bird was a highlight and I almost expected someone to stop Tony and tell him Adventures in Babysitting style that he couldn't leave unless he sang first. 

The movie was enjoyable but not really best picture worthy; had it been released 10 years ago it probably wouldn't have even been nominated. And the ending was completely predictable.  But I enjoyed it anyway. Mahershala Ali was good but without question Viggo Mortensen carries this movie. He has come a long way since Texas Chain Saw Massacre part 3, don't you think? 

Note: Yes, the director is the same Peter Ferrelly responsible for There's Something about Mary and Dumb and Dumber. And despite his movie winning best picture, he was not nominated for best director. In Oscar's long history this has happened only five times. The other four are Wings, Grand Hotel, Driving Miss Daisy and Argo. By the way, if you remember from the Grand Hotel review, that is the only movie to win best picture and not even be nominated for a single other award. One nomination; one win; best picture. I think that's my favorite bit of Academy Award trivia.