My Reaction to the 2022 Academy Award Nominations

 

I have grown rather disenchanted with the concept of "award season".

I still follow a lot of it; I still get intrigued to watch a lot of the contenders...but is there really much of a point to it?

I feel like it has become more and more about the campaigns and the fabricated buzz that is put out about movies and performances rather than the true quality of the content. 

With how COVID has reshaped everything in the last two years, I certainly get the sense that a lot of these films aren't reaching audiences. 

A friend of mine on Facebook stated she wasn't even sure what films would be in consideration this year...and this isn't surprising. I feel like the only reason I know about a lot of these films are because I have been following film forums over the past year. One thing that is very telling is that even living in a city like New York, I don't see as many advertisements around for films like I used to.

This past Saturday, I saw an ad on the subway for Licorice Pizza and it was the first public ad for a movie that is considered a true awards contender that I have seen around. Mostly, TV seems to be dominated the ad campaigns as I would see a ton of posters around for stuff like Ted Lasso, Succession, and Mare of Easttown. 

Even something like West Side Story which got strong notices and awards buzz all season and got the theatre community abuzz is actually a financial flop. As of this writing, it has only made $62 million worldwide against a $100 million budget. Many state that it is simply due to COVID and while that could be true to an extent, it becomes a weaker argument when movies like Dune (**** Oscar info below***) and particularly Spiderman: No Way Home are killing it at the Box Office. Also, in the case of Dune, it still managed that high gross even being available on HBO Max.

Other films like The Power of the Dog, which is streaming on Netflix, have taken the approach of opening in limited theatres to qualify for awards before being put on Netflix full time. 

A movie like that, which got immense critical praise, has not had as strong an embrace from the general public. Even I, who tends to like movies that a lot of people may deem slow and boring, found a lot of that film to be a bit too sluggish despite its strong qualities.

So yes, I am feeling a bit less enthused this year. I didn't even feel like doing a predictions post like I tend to do every year because I simply didn't care. 

Having said that, some of the categories did have a certain unpredictable quality this time around which still left me intrigued for the nominations, so I guess that is something.

So here are the nominations for the big 8 categories: Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Director, and Picture.

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Best Original Screenplay:

BELFAST

DON'T LOOK UP

KING RICHARD

LICORICE PIZZA

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

THOUGHTS: I think this is going to be the year that Paul Thomas Anderson finally wins an immensely overdue Oscar...although it is a shame that he will get it for a film that is arguably one of his weakest. The dark horse nomination that really came through here was The Worst Person in the World, the Norwegian film that had its awards campaign pretty much obliterated by Neon. I think had it gotten better exposure, it could've achieved a couple of other major nominations.

However...CAMPAIGNING SHOULDN'T DICTATE WHAT SHOULD GET NOMINATED!!

So yes, I think Licorice Pizza will take this. I suppose worse films have won this category and I would be thrilled to see PTA have an Oscar...but the truth is The Worst Person in the World is the deserving winner here.

THRILLED that Being the Ricardos was snubbed! That was easily one of Sorkin's weakest scripts.

What Screenplays were left out of the equation that deserved more attention? Mike Mills' C'mon C'mon has been basically ignored all season. Its WGA nomination was more a "desperate" nomination because they had to deal with a couple of these contenders not being eligible for that award.

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Best Adapted Screenplay:

Coda

Drive My Car

Dune

The Lost Daughter

The Power of the Dog

THOUGHTS: I thought there was good chance that Drive My Car would slip into this race but I knew it was by no means a lock. I was so happy to be right here!!

Even though it clearly deserves this award, The Power of the Dog seems to be in a prime position to sweep this season. Jane Campion deserves lots of praise but I simply didn't connect to Power of the Dog that strongly and didn't think its Screenplay was its strongest suit. 

As for snubbed contenders, I do think Joel Coen's adaptation of The Tragedy of Macbeth was worthy even if it may have truncated the material a bit too much. Otherwise, I am mostly happy with these nominations.

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Best Supporting Actor:

Cirian Hinds, Belfast

Troy Kotsur, Coda

Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog

J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos

 Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

THOUGHTS: It is nice to see a veteran actor like Hinds get a nod here, but I honestly feel like he did nothing of real note in Belfast. I also love J.K. Simmons but I don't think he did anything in Being the Ricardos to warrant a nomination. 

In the case of Jesse Plemons, you could argue he fits that bill too but I would argue that his sterling and somewhat subdued and kinder presence feels refreshing considering his previous catalog of work. Maybe he wouldn't make my personal lineup in the end but it is nice to finally see him get some recognition.

For me, this category comes down to Smit-McPhee and Kotsur. I actually prefer Kotsur's sweet and emotional patriarch in Coda but I feel the steamrolling sweeper that is KSM will take this and I would still support that in the grand scheme. It is another subtle performance but his presence is undeniable.

As for the snubs, I am thrilled that we have no Jared Leto here for his cartoonish Italian caricature that he seemed so proud of creating. I also think Jamie Dornan getting snubbed for Belfast was expected at this point and I do feel he was another example of a performance that just simply had nothing there to warrant a nod.

Mike Faist and David Alvarez from West Side Story were also more worthy than most of the nominees above.

As it stands, this is easily my least favorite acting category of the night. 

My dream nominees here would've been Masaki Okada for Drive My Car, Woody Norman for C'mon C'mon, and Anders Danielsen Lie, The Worst Person in the World.

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Best Supporting Actress:

Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Judi Dench, Belfast

Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

THOUGHTS: This was a crazy category in that Caitriona Balfe, who got in at every major precursor prior and was seen as a potential spoiler at BAFTA, got snubbed in favor of the veteran candidate from her film. I can't deny the brilliance of Judi Dench but she was so unworthy of this nom at the expense of her co-star, who was one of the only things I liked about the overrated Belfast.

Over a month ago, I predicted a nom for Jessie Buckley but then it seemed like a bit of a pipe dream. I am very glad to see her slip in here as I actually find her to be my favorite candidate on this list!

Dunst finally getting her first nomination is richly deserved! She was robbed a decade ago of a nom for Melancholia.

Ellis is also a very solid nominee who was easily the best thing about King Richard. 

Ariana DeBose is the frontrunner right now and seems poised to sweep. I feel like I am fine with that but I really don't see her as undeniable.

The real crime is that they snubbed Ruth Negga for Passing. At first, it seemed like a potential longshot but then she picked up nods at the Globes, SAG, and BAFTAs. 

Passing getting pretty much ignored all season is a crime to me as it deserved nods for Picture, Screenplay, Actress, and Cinematography in addition to Supporting Actress.

Other candidates who were snubbed here include the likes of Ann Dowd in Mass, but the truth is she was truly a lead and her film seems to have disappeared into the abyss with voters.

I also would've given love to Gaby Hoffman from C'mon C'mon who got a lovely showcase as the harried sister of Joaquin Phoenix and mother of Woody Norman. 

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Best Actor:

Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Andrew Garfield, tick tick...BOOM!

Will Smith, King Richard

Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

THOUGHTS: I want to begin by saying that Javier Bardem is a fantastic actor...and I want to follow that with the fact that he simply didn't deserve a nomination for this performance. I really hoped his Globe and SAG nods were just flukes but...here we are.

This is seeming more and more like Will Smith could end up receiving his first Oscar. There is certainly a lot of goodwill towards him and his performance plus the film is a BP nominee. 

Would he be deserving? I will say that there have been far worse acting winners and he did do a good job playing a character that was rather abrasive and frustrating. 

However, I would still probably rank him 3rd or 4th in this category. I think Cumberbatch and Garfield give their best performances to date while Washington, despite not being the highlight of that film and having a slow start in terms of wowing me, does do good work overall.

I think Smith is going to take this but I am not ruling out Cumberbatch yet.

SNUBS: It was never going to happen but Hidetoshi Nishijima gave one of the strongest performances this year in Drive My Car...and frankly, I wouldn't have opposed seeing DiCaprio pop up here for Don't Look Up, which I considered to be better than his previously nominated performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

Joaquin Phoenix's genteel work in C'mon C'mon was unfairly ignored all season and, to nearly the same level, so was Simon Rex's charismatic cad in Red Rocket.

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Best Actress:

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter

Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers

Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

Kristin Stewart, Spencer 

THOUGHTS: The sad truth about this category is that if I were to a pick a frontrunner right now, it would be Nicole Kidman...and she is easily the weakest on this list.

In my original review for Being the Ricardos, I acknowledged she gave a good performance but it still didn't impress me on any real level. She got certain essences of Lucille Ball but she didn't quite get there.

However, the other 4 are pretty solid nominees even if a couple of them wouldn't make my personal lineup. 

I had a feeling Stewart would still show up here despite her SAG and BAFTA snubs but she is no longer the shoo-in that many expected her to be.

Cruz was a critical darling who still managed to get in on passion.

Colman has been on fire for the last few years and I actually wouldn't count her out yet. She could pull off a shocker and win a second Oscar just three years after her first; this would be a similar trajectory to that of British actress Glenda Jackson who pulled off that feat in the 70s.

Jessica Chastain is an interesting case. Her film was not very well received nor was it seen by many, but she still overcame the odds. Also, I would argue she was worthy to win a decade ago for Zero Dark Thirty. I have heard people bash her performance here as being very fake and brash, but honestly, I felt she very well captured Tammy Faye Bakker. Do some people not realize that she was a very flamboyant and emotional human being who presented herself in a rather colorful manner?

I actually am happy to see her get a nod though I do have to state that there are some snubs here that really infuriate me even if they may have been longshots.

Renate Reinsve's work in The Worst Person in the World might have been my personal choice for Best Actress this year but she would've been in close competition with Tessa Thompson from Passing, a performance I actually took to even more than Ruth Negga's.

Then you have the people who didn't really take off at all, like Tilda Swinton in Memoria.

The real shocker of the morning is the snub of Lady Gaga. At first, I really didn't buy into this...even after she won the NY Film Critics Circle Award...but then when she managed to get the BAFTA nom, I bought into the potential of her being a possible frontrunner.

Last year was crazy because a different person won every major precursor, but this year, we are at a point where I honestly don't know if I feel safe truly predicting until the SAG winner is called out. Also, BAFTA is now deemed irrelevant as none of these nominees even made their lineup!

None of these nominees come from a BP nominee so that stat also goes out the window.

I still think Kidman is poised to get her 2nd Oscar while Colman is the runner-up. 

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Best Director:

Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car

Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Steven Spielberg, West Side Story 

THOUGHTS: The biggest shocker here is that Denis Villeneuve was snubbed. Many were suspecting the big snub would come from either Branagh (that was me) or Spielberg or even PTA...and frankly, Villeneuve more than deserved this nom over Branagh.

 A lot of people did suspect Hamaguchi to slip in here (including me) due to the Director branch being more open to International selections which we've seen in recent years with random (and deserved) nods going to the likes of Pawel Pawiloswki for Cold War or Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round...and the fact that Bong Joon ho actually won for Parasite when Sam Mendes swept most of the precursors.

In the end, Hamaguchi would get my vote but I do have to commend Jane Campion who did stellar work on The Power of the Dog...and she has swept through the season in a similar manner that Chloe Zhao did last year.

It would also be nice to see another woman win as she would only be the third to do so...and it is especially fitting for her as she was only the second woman to even get a Directing nod back in 1994 for The Piano.

As for snubs I would've loved to see, the ones I want to give a shout-out to are Julia Ducournau for Titane, Rebecca Hall for Passing, and Joachim Trier for The Worst Person in the World.

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Best Picture:

Belfast

Coda

Don't Look Up

Drive My Car

Dune 

King Richard 

Licorice Pizza 

Nightmare Alley

The Power of the Dog

West Side Story

THOUGHTS: There is only one real surprise here for me ---- Nightmare Alley? Really?

I honestly didn't think that had a shot anymore. I suspected that last slot would go to either The Tragedy of Macbeth, tick tick Boom, The Lost Daughter, or Being the Ricardos...or if I was being really hopeful: The Worst Person in the World. 

It also seems especially shocking considering it got no other major nominations aside from a couple of techs.

I actually did predict the Drive My Car nomination and I am thrilled to see it here. I know it won't happen but I am going to will it into the universe for an upset. The sad thing is it doesn't have the guild support that Parasite where I could see the trajectory for it to win. 

I found Belfast to be overrated but I do think that it could still be a dark horse here, even though it did miss the crucial Editing nomination. 

I still consider King Richard to be a mostly average film that has no business being nominated here.

Don't Look Up is polarizing but I have warmed up to it since having watched it back in December. Would it make my personal top 10? No...but I don't loathe it like many seem to.

Dune was a spectacle of the highest order. It is a selection I do support.

Coda and West Side Story were very well made but would probably miss my top 10 in the end.

Licorice Pizza is well made but it still seems very slight as a film...especially if you were to unfairly compare to other works by PTA.

And I have admittedly not seen Nightmare Alley yet so I can't comment....

You've probably picked up on the trend that I was a big fan on the criminally underrated and unseen C'mon C'mon and that I feel it deserved to be here. I also feel like The Worst Person in the World should be here in addition to Passing and Titane (which got shafted from the International Feature shortlist so that was definitely never happening) or A Hero, which got snubbed today as well which was quite surprising.

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WILL I DO A FINAL PREDICTIONS POST?

Yes. I do plan to do a final predictions post. Plus, depending on how it goes and how I may feel after the fact, I may do another post on a reaction to the ceremony itself. 

The Oscars will be in late March this year so more than likely, I will do a prediction post either a week prior or sometime during the weekend leading up to the ceremony. I will be moving to a new apartment soon so unless I get really compelled to write something else, this may be the last post of mine for a couple of weeks or more just so I can focus on that. 

But for now, that's that.

My Review of Joel Coen's THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (or The Scottish Play, as it is often referred...)

 

Am I superstitious?

As Michael Scott would say, I am "a little stitious".

I have always had an aversion to things related to odd numbers as opposed to even...especially the #13 and numbers that add up to 13. To further add to this, the new apartment that I will be moving to in less than a month has "13" as part of the street address. 

I am just going to try to ignore that...

As a big theatre person, one of the biggest superstitions is that you can't say "Macbeth" before a performance as it could lead to immense bad luck. 

I would say that this is just pure heresy...but...I was involved in two productions in which someone decided to utter the word "Macbeth" as opposed to the appropriate phrase in its stead: "The Scottish Play". 

In the instance of the first production, we had a few set pieces break and they couldn't move as they were supposed to and another actor injured their hand on broken glass. 

In another production, an actor fell and strained their back, another had a spill during a choreographed number, and meanwhile a trap door we were using stopped working which created concern that it might give out during the performance which caused a lot of us to have redo blocking and choreography on the spot as we couldn't risk stepping on the trap door.

So yes...needless to say, I would only ever say "The Scottish Play" if I was actually standing in a theatre...and especially if I was a part of the cast or crew of a production.

That was my long-winded (and only semi-related to the topic at hand) introduction to this review on Joel Coen's adaptation of that perennial Shakespeare classic: The Tragedy of Macbeth.

In terms of its placement in Shakespeare's canon, I think most would agree that it is near the top of the list. It would be for me as well, definitely a top 5 contender.

**Side note: If anyone was curious, my top 3 favorite Shakespeare plays are Othello, King Lear, and Measure for Measure.**

Film adaptations of Shakespeare tend to not get the same level of buzz and acclaim...most likely due to those who may have an aversion to not understanding the older prose.

This adaptation is something of a departure for Joel Coen, who is now on his own as a filmmaker after his brother Ethan chose to not continue a filmmaking partnership and instead focus on writing for the theatre.

If I can commend anything from this film, it is that of Coen's direction and his artistic staff.

Film is a visual medium and the world that was created for this adaptation was stark and striking. Many of the images reminded me of the German Expressionist work from the 1920s and early 1930s by the likes of F.W. Murnau or Fritz Lang. I also could see influences of early Ingmar Bergman films such as The Seventh Seal or Wild Strawberries. 

On top of that, the ensemble at hand rose to the occasion. As Macbeth, however, I was sort of mixed on Denzel Washington at first though his interpretation grew on me as the film progressed.

Frances McDormand was a great Lady Macbeth and her "Out damn spot!" scene was very memorable and some of the finest work of her career.

If I am going to single out anyone else though, I have to single out Kathryn Hunter who gets the task of playing all three of the iconic witches.

Hunter is a highly respected and regarded British theatre actress known for her ability to contort her body in every shape imaginable and having a distinctive guttural voice and dark eyes that seem to pierce through your soul.

While only onscreen for less than 10 minutes, she leaves a lasting impression and it is truly a shame that she will more than likely miss out on an Oscar nomination...but yes, we know, the Oscars are FAR from perfect as are any awards body.

The film does suffer from one rather significant flaw though: the truncation.

On one hand, a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes seemed very pleasing but the truth is that the lesser runtime sort of cheapened the outcome for in terms of watching Washington and McDormand have their descent into madness. It didn't feel earned and it practically came out of nowhere.

Coen did streamline the story but I think it could've used another 20-30 minutes to really pad out the middle and give the material the weight it deserved.

However, despite that rather unfortunate flaw, the film overcomes it thanks to its cast, direction, and the overwhelmingly gorgeous visual aesthetic that felt so fresh and modern and also like a relic of older films from the past that had almost an otherworldly creepiness about them.

So yes, with those boosts, the film will get a lofty rating from me.

The Tragedy of Macbeth will be RATED: 4.5/5

My Review of Fran Kranz's MASS (w/slight spoilers)

Every year, there is always that one film that you think is going to wow you based on the subject matter and the buzz that surrounds the film.

Ever since Mass premiered at Sundance in early 2021, the buzz was that the main quartet of the film gave truly astonishing performances and that the film was quite riveting...especially considering that the bulk of the runtime is set in one room with this quartet of actors.

When it comes to films, this kind of setting can be incredibly difficult to pull off. Stage-to-film adaptations are notorious for not always adapting well to the screen if a director doesn't know how to give it more of a cinematic flair. 

In recent years, we've had something like Ma Rainey's Black Bottom which sort of had erratic results under the hands of theatre director George C. Wolfe or if you really want to see a theatre director crash and burn while directing a film, the legendary Hal Prince gave us A Little Night Music, one of the most lifeless musical films ever made with shots/blocking that are amazing in their ineptness. 

A great example of a movie that works really well with just people sitting down in one space talking is Louis Malle's My Dinner with Andre, though the lively mix of debate and the witty rapport drive that film thanks to the charismatic personality of Andre Gregory and the uniquely quirky Wallace Shawn.

In the case of Mass, you have actor Fran Kranz (not exactly a household name but he has been in films like The Cabin in the Woods and has had supporting roles on the Broadway stage) making his writing/directorial debut with this film...and no, it isn't adapted from a play. Mass does seem like it could've been a play prior to this, but you can tell there are moments where Kranz tries to liven up the room with the blocking.

However, the film does feel a lot like a debut in terms of its direction...but I will go more into that later.

Mass revolves around two grieving couples: Jay & Gail (Jason Issacs & Martha Plimpton) and Richard & Linda (Reed Birney & Ann Dowd) who are meeting in a private room located at an Episcopal Chruch. As they talk, you don't really know what exactly they are meeting about (unless you already heard about the film to the extent I did) but you soon realize that Hayden, the son of Richard & Linda, had been responsible for a school bombing/shooting that killed nearly a dozen people, including Evan, the son of Jay & Gail.

Six years have passed since the tragedy, but both sets of parents agree to meet and talk about the ordeal. As expected, Richard & Linda are questioning a lot of how they navigated raising their son while Jay & Gail are bitter and hope to seek to cause further pain on Richard & Linda.

As I stated, these four actors are fantastic. 

Ann Dowd is always first rate, and she is one of the best performers out there at conveying dismay and heartbreak.

Jason Issacs gives the best performance of his career as Jay, and I would argue he disappears into the role as it was hard to place him as the same man who played Lucius Malfoy.

Reed Birney, who is mostly known as a theatre actor and who was fantastic in plays like The Humans and Man From Nebraska, is perhaps the one who doesn't seem to get as much of a showcase, but he manages to find a sterling strength that is also more aloof than the others. One key thing about him is that he actually has a business trip to fly off to that afternoon, so you almost get the sense that he has one foot out the door. I would argue that the subtleties of that were masterfully displayed by Birney.

The MVP was Martha Plimpton, who has been someone who has been doing stellar work in the Theatre and on TV for many years, but never seemed to find immense success in film. Here, she is the one I would say feels the most "lived in" with her role. Within her first seconds onscreen, you can just feel the palpable sadness and bitterness and fatigue that she has been living with for so long. The truth is that she deserves to be nominated for an Oscar...and frankly, I wouldn't be opposed to her winning.

The sad truth is she won't...and that is due to the unfortunate truth that film award campaigns are simply unfair and truly political. Mass is distributed by Bleecker Street which is a small company that doesn't have the funds to properly promote their films to degree of some of these other studios. Due to that, it is very likely you won't see any significant nominations for Mass. It's a shame as these actors are far more worthy than some of the contenders who have actually won Oscars in the last few years.

I also want to state that the atmosphere of the church is very well done as it just feels so much like a small-town church with its sort of homey and outdated decor. The actors portraying the church volunteers also fit very well into that world, but...

And here's where this review is going to take a turn...

I honestly was underwhelmed by Mass as a whole.

As an acting showcase, it pretty much delivered. I could argue giving nominations to all four of these people (though Birney might miss out on my list), and they did the best that they could with this script.

The script to Mass, while not bad by any means, just seems to play at one-note and doesn't have many layers. I could honestly see the argument that a film about the aftermath of a school shooting should not contain some kind of joy or levity...but I feel like the film needed SOMETHING to bring it out of its constant state of despair.

The film is sort of bookended with scenes from the church workers. I did state that they did well in establishing the atmosphere, but they also felt very unnecessary. I really want to give them props for creating a very real seeming environment but all it did was sort of give the film a very slow start and then brought it to an end that dragged. So yes, I guess you could say those were the films attempts at levity...but it came from the absolutely wrong place.

Look at a playwright like Eugene O'Neill, a man who was known for writing rather dire and depressing plays that mirrored his rather tragic life, but his work often had humor sprinkled throughout in ways that might surprise you.

Look at something like Long Day's Journey into Night, which at 4 hours in length often makes many want to run away. However, we watch Mary Tyrone, a very bitter and depressed woman battling a drug addiction also finding rather humorous ways to insult the quality of the home they live in. Some productions don't play this tone up and they often suffer because of that...whereas the recent revival with Jessica Lange worked because they played up a lot of that subtle humor. 

By contrast, look at Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon, an earlier work of his that won the Pulitzer and was a great success but is now barely discussed today. In college, I did a scene from this play in acting class and adored it...but man oh man, was that play a huge depressing pill looking back on it! Well written but just pure drama to the max.

O'Neill eventually learned that good levity does wonders...and I feel Kranz does show potential in finding that tone later.

I also think the cheeky use of the old hymn Blest Be the Ties That Bind as another part of the bookend was a mixed bag. Old hymns still carry a certain amount of power when used (and a project I am working on now might actually utilize some of these in an unusual way), and I do think it sort of worked here even if it felt a little overbearing.

I would also argue that the film could've gone further with the topic of gun use. The film could've chosen to delve into debates about gun control and political strife, but it seemed to only squarely set on them trying to psychoanalyze why young Hayden decided to do what he did. There is a certain intrigue to that, but I am not sure it needed to be stretched out for over an hour. 

Mass feels like a story that I would've come up with in high school or early college when I was still actively doing playwriting. I was always drawn to either dark comedies or incredibly bleak tragedies for topics. 

For example, I had a play (that I still have a desire to return to, but I would need to rework it) that was about a Pastor's family whose youngest child is kidnapped and eventually found murdered...and there was a dark twist about who actually murdered the child and that it was a connection to the family.

I still think there could be something intriguing in that story, but how I conceived it at the time was insanely melodramatic. Case in point: I had a scene where the Pastor/father is standing at a fire place and starts screaming while tearing pages from a Bible and throwing them in. I LOVED the symbolism of that...especially as a person who has fervent issues with organized religion to this day.

Now, it just reads as too much.

I wouldn't say Mass is at THAT extreme, but I do feel like it teeters on the brink in a lot of ways. I think the fact that the actors didn't play everything on an explosive emotional is what helped keep most of the film on a bearable level. I could see a lesser actor wanted to scream and yell and cry constantly, but the right pitch was found with these performances.

So, there you have it.

The actors.

Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Issacs, and Martha Plimpton.

They make the film worth seeing, but I also suspect I would never sit through the film again. 

Mass RATING: 3.5/5 (the actors save the day immensely)

My Review of Ryusuke Hamaguchi's WHEEL OF FORTUNE & FANTASY

2021 was a banner year for Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Not only did he give us his finest work to date with Drive My Car, but he also gave us what may be his second-best outing to date with Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy. 

First off...no... the film has nothing to do with the game show, so don't expect this to be some kind of ridiculous and overblown film like Slumdog Millionaire.

This is a minor nitpick, but I would actually argue that the title of Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy doesn't quite fit the film. It isn't the literal English translation of the original Japanese title; that would actually be "Coincidence & Imagination". I would argue that is far more apt.

Wheel (which I will call it for short) is a film told in three acts that are connected more by similar themes rather than a straight-through plot or even the same actors.

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PART ONE:

Magic (or Something Less Assuring)

Our first installment begins with two friends, Meiko and Tsugumi, who are in a taxicab heading home from a photo shoot. Meiko has heard that Tsugumi has a new lover...along to realize that her lover is a former boyfriend of hers whom she still loves.

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PART TWO:

Door Wide Open 

College student Sasaki is seen begging a professor of his not to fail him in class as it would ruin his chances in pursuing his career after school. Right after, we see Sasaki is having an affair with an older woman named Nao and when they discover that this same professor just won a prestigious award for a novel he just wrote, the scorned Sasaki coerces Nao to seduce the professor and create a scandal to ruin him.

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PART THREE: 

Once Again

Two women connect thinking they both went to the same high school, only to realize that they may not be the people that they expected. However, they may actually be able to offer each other some solace that they weren't expecting,

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I would say that each part improved upon the other and it led to a truly wonderful final third in which I loved watching the scenes with Fusako Urabe as Natsuko and Aoba Kawai as Aya as the two friends who may not have been friends after all...along to discover that maybe they could be the friend neither knew they needed.

Wheel is a movie that felt very refreshing and unassuming.

I honestly don't know if I have much to say about it as I feel like a lot of what makes the film work is watching it unfold for yourself.

 It is a subtly powerful film that accomplishes a sort of wistful and bittersweet feel that I don't find often in films.

RATING: 4.5/5

My Review of Mike Mills' C'MON C'MON (Starring Joaquin Phoenix)

It is always something of a miracle when you watch a film that you expected to be good, but it ends up surprising you as being something more.

Mike Mills has always been a truly compassionate filmmaker, but he has managed to give his warmest, sweetest, and best work to date with C'mon C'mon. This may sound a little cheap, but it is the prime example of being a film in which it seems like nothing is happening and everything is happening all at once.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, a documentarian who is currently working on a film interviewing children from all across the country. While in Detroit, he calls his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman); they haven't spoken for the past year since their mother's death from dementia. Viv asks Johnny if he can come to Los Angeles and watch her nine-year-old son Jesse (Woody Norman), as she has to travel to Oakland to care for her estranged husband Paul struggling with Bipolar. Johnny agrees, and he and Jesse quickly forge a bond despite Jesse's obnoxious personality and Johnny's unwillingness to talk about his own life.

When it becomes apparent that Viv won't be able to come back when she expected, Johnny asks Jesse if he would like to go back to New York with him. He is excited at the prospect, but Viv is apprehensive at first. 

While in New York, the two start to experience the rougher moments but also still manage to build a relationship they never really had.

I cannot even begin to express how much I loved watching Phoenix and Norman interact. It goes without saying that Joaquin Phoenix is one of the greatest actors working today and here, he gives such a subtle and truly lovely performance. Considering this basically his follow-up to Joker, it just goes to show what range he has. I suppose you could say he is more in the Her territory here in terms of style.

Gaby Hoffman, who recently had a bit of a career resurgence on Transparent after being a child star in the 90s, is also fantastic as Viv. She more than holds her own against Phoenix when they share the screen, and she provides such a tired and harried energy that works perfectly for her character.

Though as much as these two wowed me, I have to commend the young Woody Norman. 

I say this with confidence: Woody Norman gives one of the best performances by a child I have ever seen in a film. He is so real and honest and quirky and funny and sweet and his chemistry with Phoenix is simply impeccable.

On top of this, Phoenix and his team in the film actually do interview real children which also gives us moments in which the film does turn into a quasi-documentary. This additional authenticity only added to my complete joy of watching the film. 

The fact that this film is barely getting any kind of buzz or awards attention is simply a shame...but I do feel like time will be kind to this movie. In my world, I would nominate it across the board.

I honestly don't know if I want to say much else.

I feel like I could go on forever to the point of rambling. The film doesn't deserve a ramble...even if it's message would lead me to believe that is okay to ramble.

It was beautiful.

It was the definition of warmth.

Just watch it.

I hope you agree with me.

RATING: 5/5

My Review of Julia Ducournau's TITANE (w/some spoilers)

Just before the holiday season, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released their shortlist for films that will be eligible for a Best International Feature Film nomination. Every year, each country can submit one film that they feel represents the best from their roster. From there, the Academy narrows down the options to 15 films from which the final 5 nominees will be selected.

One film that got snubbed from the shortlist was the selection submitted by France: Julia Ducournau's Titane.

Titane is a body horror film that had divided a lot of critics and film fanatics alike but still managed to have enough passion to take the prestigious Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Upon watching the film after putting it on hold for a few months, I could understand why the Academy would look at this film and run away as fast as they could.

That doesn't mean I agree with their opinion, of course.

Titane is an uncomfortable film that can be brutal and disgusting and bizarre and yet...it has this beautifully intriguing relationship that develops as the film moves along.

It begins with a young girl named Alexia sitting in the backseat of her father's car annoying him while he drives. When she unbuckles her seatbelt, he turns around to scold her and he crashes the car. Alexia suffers severe head trauma and must have a titanium plate put in her head. Upon leaving the hospital, she ignores her parents and chooses to hug the family car.

Fast forwarding 20 years or so later, Alexia (now played by Agathe Rouselle) is working as a show girl at a motor show and seems to have many admirers who seek her autograph. After leaving the venue all by herself, a guy stalks and chases after Alexia as she hurries to her car. He wants her autograph but then he confesses his love for her and forces her to kiss him. 

Alexia appears to enjoy the kissing but then abruptly stabs him in the ear with her hairpin causing him to seizure violently before dying.

Pulling his body into the car, Alexia realizes she needs to clean herself and goes back inside the venue to shower. While showering, she hears loud banging from the show room space and finds the car she performs with has turned on by itself. She then proceeds to have sex with the car and is able to bring herself to climax.

So, not only does Alexia have a sexual attraction to cars but we also learn she is a serial killer who has been murdering multiple men and women after sexual encounters over the last several months. Her own parents, whom she still lives and has a distant relationship, don't seem to have a clue about her other life.

When a sketch of Alexia's face becomes plastered all over the news after a botched incident murdering multiple people in one house, she ends up trying to pose as a young man named Adrien who has been missing for ten years.

This is when the movie takes a turn that I wasn't quite expecting...not that I was expecting a lot of what happened before. A man named Vincent (Vincent Lindon) shows up at the police station when he is notified that a young man is there claiming to be his long-lost son.

Despite them offering to do a DNA test, Vincent refuses knowing in his heart of hearts that this is his son. 

Oh yeah...and Alexia is pregnant...

Yep...she's pregnant...and she is binding her breasts and her stomach as well since it is starting to pop. The film also seems to imply that she got pregnant by the car...

Titane is Julia Docournau's second feature film following Raw, which received a lot of acclaim (though not on the awards circuit) back in 2016. She is already establishing herself as a true visionary who has no shame in going for uncomfortable shock value. She is someone that we all need to watch out for in the film world.

As Alexia, this marks the feature film debut of Agathe Rouselle, who had primarily worked as a writer and model until Docournau discovered her via an Instagram post. Rouselle is more than up for the challenge here. Very few performances have ever been as bold and relentless as her take on Alexia. She comes across as intense and terrifying in the first portion of the film but there is still a lot underneath the surface.

You cannot condone her actions, even if you know she seemingly didn't have the best relationship with her parents...but in the final half of the film, it is remarkable how this fucked up story ended up turning into a portrait of grief and how one person ends up finally finding a father figure they so desperately needed.

YouTuber "The Oscar Expert" referred to Titane as "the most fucked up wholesome movie". While I think he meant that in a tongue-in-cheek way for obvious reasons, there is definitely an underlying sweetness when you realize that Alexia is serving as some form of replacement for Vincent's dead son while Vincent is serving as the warm father figure Alexia needed in her life. 

It leads to a climax that was quite chilling...and uncomfortable...and somehow oddly beautiful all at once.

I do think I will have to sit on this one for a bit. I did find some of it a little indulgent or that certain things maybe could've been made clearer rather than being ambiguous for the sake of being ambiguous. 

I don't feel that I will knock the film a lot for that though, because it succeeded in almost every department. It manages even to be a comment on gender identity and fluidity in ways you weren't even expecting. I would recommend seeking out articles written on the film that go deeper into film analysis as if any film that has come out in recent years warrants such a reading, it would be Titane.

Lastly, I have to commend this film and the work of Ducournau, Rouselle, Lindon, and the rest for being truly unafraid to be what it is, and it doesn't care if we like it or not. 

TITANE will be rated as follows:

Rating: 4.5/5

My Review of Maggie Gyllenhaal's THE LOST DAUGHTER (w/Spoilers)

I can see why Maggie Gyllenhaal would've had an interest in choosing a book like The Lost Daughter to adapt into a film. Roles for women in Hollywood...or rather roles for women that have great complexity and substance...can be very hard to come by. 

As written by Elena Ferrante, the character of Leda is rather cold at times and alienating. She has a lot of flaws and regrets, and the source material certainly doesn't shy away from that. Putting a character like this on film would be a challenge for any actor to find the layers so you don't find them insufferable or unlikable.

Two actresses are given the task to play Leda. In the present-day scenes, we get Olivia Colman while in the flashback scenes, we get Jessie Buckley.

In a lot of ways, Buckley is tasked with playing Leda at her worst...but here is where I am going to argue that her "worst" isn't necessarily something I would judge the character on.

Leda is a woman who has two daughters. When the movie begins, we learn that they are 25 (Bianca) and 23 (Martha) and we can tell from the moment we see the first couple of flashbacks that older Leda has a lot of regrets while younger Leda is on the verge of a collapse.

Leda is someone who, perhaps, was never meant to be a mother...and that helps serve as the core and catalyst to The Lost Daughter, which dropped on Netflix New Years Eve 2021.

It is being pushed as possible dark horse candidate for a Best Picture nomination while also netting potential noms for stars Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley while also slipping into the Adapted Screenplay race.

I can't say that I loved The Lost Daughter as a film, but I can say that I loved it as a character study. Leda is one of the more interesting characters I have seen in a movie in quite some time. As I said before, Leda can be cold and alienating but the stroke of genius was casting someone like Olivia Colman in the role.

Colman continues the tradition of British actresses who are just too damned remarkable for their own good. In the history books, Colman deserves to be placed alongside the likes of Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, and Dame Vanessa Redgrave. It is an old saying that has been said countless times, but she simply is able to convey so much with her eyes that you simply feel the depths of the character's life she is playing.

Colman is able to give Leda those layers that don't make you hate her, even at her most standoffish moments. Instead, I found myself wanting her to open up and perhaps try to connect with these people. As for "these people", Leda is currently on holiday in Greece and has managed to be drawn towards to a family that contains a young mother named Nina (Dakota Johnson) who has a very young daughter who is very willful and overly emotional. This is what sets off Leda into thinking a lot about her past with her two daughters where we see them begging for her attention and she simply wants to be anywhere else. 

We watch young Bianca crying because she cut herself with a knife while Leda just sort of stands at the sink trying to almost tune out everything around her. Typing out that sentence, it almost sounds as if Leda was worthy to be reported to CPS for neglect. She wasn't an overly warm mother, but as present-day Leda admits, she is a "selfish" person.

The film doesn't really go into why she had children: did she think she wanted them or was she forced into it by her husband? Without that to go off of, all we know is that she doesn't have the maternal instinct and eventually that does grow into her feeling like she wants to somehow try to make up for it.

A lot of this further manifests when she abruptly steals Nina's daughter's doll. At first, you don't really get why she did and then when you realize Nina's family is actively seeking it out and offering a reward, you think Leda will return it. Instead, she keeps it and is trying to clean it up assumingly because she wants to make a good impression.

We also get a flashback in which young Bianca completely destroys a doll that Leda gave her that was her own as a little girl, which causes Leda to throw the doll out the window and it shatters all over the street. This further seems to solidify has some sort of personal agenda within herself to get this doll back in order.

The film does take a bit of drastic turn towards the end when Leda confesses to Nina that she stole the day. At first, you think she is going to say she found it and cleaned it up but instead she owns up to it and admits to being a selfish person and a horrible mother.

Nina freaks out and stabs Leda in the stomach with a hat pin that Leda herself bought for her.

The film ends on something of an ambiguous note as Leda proceeds to leave her villa with a puncture wound and then stops on a rocky beach where she collapses by the waves. The following morning, she wakes up when a wave hits her face. She promptly calls her adult daughters who had been trying to reach her...and we see that a relationship between them could be actually warming up.

I almost wondered if this was some kind of fantasy in her mind...but the obvious intention on Gyllenhaal's part is ambiguity.

So, the final results of The Lost Daughter are a little jumbled and unfocused with the script, but the script also provides a great opportunity for its actresses to play a truly interesting and complex character. Gyllenhaal also shows immense promise behind the camera as the film does have a truly dreamy and surreal atmosphere that helped aid to the film's somewhat sinister tone.

The Lost Daughter will be rated as follows:

Rating: 4/5