2019 Oscars Results

Oscars!

Some red carpet time:
Billy Porter, the dude in the dress-thing. Spike Lee giving him a run for his money for outlandish outfits (and honouring dearly departed Oscar winner and eventual basketball hall of fame inductee Kobe Bryant).
Thinking about my picks for the nominees, I can’t help but wonder if Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood may pull off the upset, for Screenplay and Best Picture. Because Parasite is so popular and nominated 6 times, it’s hard to imagine the Academy realizing its brilliance, but with its bizarre preferential balloting system (truly the electoral college of awards nights), maybe Once will instead be the least disliked movie, since Hollywood loves itself so. Let the show begin!

Bizarrely abrupt opening to the Mr. Rogers theme song. I get there’s no host or even presenter, but ABC was so busy playing commercials they forgot to indicate the show was starting.
Lovely hidden tribute to Midsommar- I get it, even if the show’s programmers don’t…!
Leonardo DiCaprio with the voice of silk!

No hosts this year, here’s a couple of guys who have done this before…
There’s the awkward, “Look, there’s someone in the crowd thing.”
Love the Bezos razing- I haven’t seen an evil prick so pleasantly uncomfortable since the Donald Trump roast.
Just way too on point, having Chris Rock go over the Academy’s lack of diversity. Why can’t these guys be actual hosts?

Best Supporting Actor:
The montage of performances is one of the reasons the show is so long. They read the nominations out anyways… Also- only having 1 award per segment doesn’t help.

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes

Al Pacino, The Irishman

Joe Pesci, The Irishman

Brad Pitt, Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

There’s a lock. Is there any more surefire way to win a Supporting Oscar than to appear in a QT production? Pitt’s journey, and his middle aged acceptance of the acclaim being awarded to him, is unusual for a Supporting Actor kind of journey.

Animated Feature Film:
Why is there an actor to introduce Presenters such as Mindy Kaling? Is this the Oscar’s version of interns?
Such a tough category. No idea who is going to win.
How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World

I Lost My Body

Klaus

Missing Link

Toy Story 4

Never bet against Pixar though!

Animated Short Film:
Here’s a category where #OscarsSoWhite doesn’t apply as much, nicely done.
Best joke of the night? Climate Change Deniers call it, Not Frozen 2. This guy’s hilarious.
Nice worldwide rendition of Into the Unknown.

Dcera (Daughter)

Hair Love

Kitbull

Memorable

Sister

I knew it! I don’t even think the Academy watches all of these.

Keanu and Keaton presenting- finally I realize how ripped off we were not having her replace Bullock in Speed…

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

The Two Popes

Ick.

Original Screenplay:
If Once Upon wins this could be a predictor of Best Picture…

Knives Out

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Parasite

Parasite! So good. This really highlights how awesome Korea is for film right now, super underrated between The Handmaiden, Burning, and now Parasite…


Live Action Short:
Really cool how Shia didn’t correct or override that dude- too much respect and understanding of people’s abilities despite their challenges. A how to video for interacting with the disabled. It’s a bummer how the media has slandered him for years, as he’s boss.

Brotherhood

Nefta Football Club

The Neighbors’ Window

Saria

A Sister

Boom, upset by The Neighbors’ Window.

Presenters Rudolph and Wig giving a screen test of sorts.
Production Design:
Another tough one, I want Parasite but picked 1917 but feel Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood could upset.

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

1917

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Parasite

Bingo, Hollywood saw itself in the mirror and swooned.

Costume Design:

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

 The academy loves films where people wear uncomfortable clothing….


Documentary Feature Film
Another toughie… I mean, when’s the last time a documentary also got picked for Best Foreign Film? That would be my lovely Honeyland…

American Factory

The Cave

The Edge of Democracy

For Sama

Honeyland

American Factory is set in Ohio, but it’s a great point how it could be anywhere, wherever people punch a clock.


Documentary Short Subject:

In the Absence

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)

Life Overtakes Me

St. Louis Superman

Walk Run Cha-Cha

Best Supporting Actress:
Oh my god, give it to Pugh!

Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell

Laura Dern, Marriage Story

Scarlett Johansson, JoJo Rabbit

Florence Pugh, Little Women

Margot Robbie, Bombshell

But numbers win out.

Loving how they’re sometimes doing 3 awards a segment, that speeds things up.

But that “music and movies are great!” montage brings it crashing it down.
Interesting appearance by Eminem- that poor middle aged man needs a belt! Interesting how this got chosen when it has nothing to do with the Oscars this year, or last, or within a decade?


Editing:
Boomers go Vrooom?

Ford vs Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Parasite

They sure do.


Sound Editing:
Gosh, who’s hotter, Oscar Isaac or Salma Hayek? Yikes!
Ford vs Ferrari

Joker

1917

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

My second choice, looks like 1917 wasn’t the technical powerhouse I thought it would be?


Sound Mixing:

Ad Astra

Ford vs Ferrari

Joker

1917

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
There it is.

Followed by rap for the younger folk recapping whatever just happened for all of the old people confused at home.


Cinematography:
Nice bit by Dreyfuss and Will Farrell.

The Irishman

Joker

The Lighthouse

1917

Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

 Boom, Deakins having 2 oscars over the past 3 years makes me feel much better about his career.


Visual Effects:
Really? A Cats reference. Just bury it already. They already re-released versions while still in theatres with updated effects- what are you, George Lucas? Yuck. Reminds me of that Ben Stiller Avatar schtick that flopped so hard a decade ago.

Avengers: Endgame

The Irishman

The Lion King

1917

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Expected. It’s this year’s Gravity.


Makeup/Hairstyling:
Romano and Sandra Oh bring everything back up again, well done.

Bombshell

Joker

Judy

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

1917

Great speech. Didn’t realize Theron was so instrumental to the film- but I sure noticed she’s awesome!
”You’re not that famous, only 1 of the 3 of you get to talk!” Because the Academy hates long shows. Cue music.


International Feature Film:

Corpus Christi

Honeyland

Les Miserables

Pain and Glory

Parasite

No surprise here. A good sign that I’ve tied last year’s total. Will Joon-ho be up any more tonight? I sure hope so as he has as wicked sense of humour.


Musical appearance by the guy from Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle. Thankfully we don’t have to repeat the business of last year’s musical biopic shenanigans.

Original Score:
Weaver, Larson, and Godot? That kicks serious ass. Followed by montages, starting with my fave score of the year, Alexandre Desplat’s Little Women, and then the rest of the nominees.

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker


Original Song:

“I Can’t let you Throw Yourself Away.” Toy Story 4

“I’m Gonna Love Me Again.” Rocketman

“I’m Standing With You,” Breakthrough

“Into the Unknown,” Frozen 2

“Stand Up”, Harriet

Weird how Rocketman won as many Oscars as A Star is Born.
Interesting how they show a clock to finish the segment- I know guys, it’s too long.


Directing:

The Irishman

Joker

1917

Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

Parasite

Huge! I’m so glad I’m wrong! You go boy! Likely the Academy is doing the cowardly thing and 1917 will win Best Picture still.
He says that he thought he was done, I thought he was done talking tonight too!
There’s poor Marty Scorcese, as usual the most celebrated guy in the room unless it’s time to hand out the statue. Shouts out to QT as well. This guy just owns the stage. But can he win Best Picture????? The award is of course already decided, but it just feels so wrong if Parasite already won Screenplay and Director (among others).


Best Actor:
There’s Olivia Coleman stealing the show again. So funny. Almost forget we’ve hit the 3 hour mark. Almost.

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory

Leonardo DiCaprio, Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

Adam Driver, Marriage Story

Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Way to celebrate a hell of a decade Joaquin.
His thoughts in injustice have got to be some of the best ideas in an award speech for a role that personifies male rage. But topping it off with a quote form his deceased brother sure is solid.


Best Actress:

Man, I wish Charlize would win. No way the Academy doesn’t go for Judy.
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet

Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan, Little Women

Charlize Theron, Bombshell

Renee Zellweger, Judy

Boom. I guess this is why actors typically aren’t confused for politicians. Quite the speech…

Best Picture:

Ford vs Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

Parasite

Unbelievable. Precedent setting. Crazy.
Best Picture has become virtually impossible to predict, with this being the 5th year in a row where the oddsmaking favourite did not win. On top of that, I never thought a foreign film, in a year where charges of a lack of diversity was yet again leveled at the stodgy Academy, would win the big prize. It never has! This feels like Moonlight’s win in 2016, in terms of setting precedent and being nothing but a positive thing, combined with 2009’s Best Picture Win of No Country for Old Men, in terms of the Academy just getting it right, in the spirit of a broken clock being right twice a day. It’s a special day, where my favourite film of the year wins best picture of the year. What a crazy, and wildly fun finish to an uneven night.
I finished 19/24 and had followed my heart I would have had 21- way to go Hollywood, you're quite the fairy tale.

2019 Oscar Predictions

It's that time of year again, so it's time to sharpen those pencils and make those picks everyone! This year's outing may go down as one of the more predictable ones ever, but that's easy to say before the rubber hits the road- I remember Glenn Close was a lock for Best Actress last year, before Olivia Coleman swooped in with the surprise win. I still hope to improve upon my all time high, 2009's 21/24 effort, so bring on the unpredictable tedium!

Best Actor:

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once upon a Time in… Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Phoenix has won every award worth winning in awards season (for a role about half of the weight of his performance in 2012’s The Master), and since he’s my pick for actor of the past decade, it’s not a terrible way to cap it off.

Best Actress:

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy

What does the academy love more than a biopic of a legendary figure? Not much. I just miss Zellweger's former face.

Best Supporting Actor:

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

Pitt’s had this in the bag for months, and it’s been a hell of a year for him- but I can’t help but hope for an upset with Pesci’s understated work in The Irishman.

Best Supporting Actress:

Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, JoJo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Dern is favoured for her litigious turn in Marriage Story, but it’s not even her best performance of the year (I’ll take her in Little Women).
I’d rather the award go to her co star, Florence Pugh, who if in 2019 was in your film wearing flowers, you would do very well...

Animated Feature Film:

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

Anybody out there willing to bet against Pixar in this category? Klaus has a lot of buzz though…

Cinematography:

The Irishman
Joker
The Lighthouse
1917
Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

Tough to say if the Academy will vote for the legendary Deakins for his work in 1917 depicting the war the majority of the Academy fought in, or if the Academy will honour The Lighthouse, a film that reminds them of the days before colour film was invented…

Costume Design:

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once upon a Time in… Hollywood

The Academy would typically award it to the period piece vibes of Little Women, but last year it surprised with it’s Black Panther choice so look to Once upon a Time in… Hollywood for an upset…

Director:

The Irishman
Joker
1917
Once upon a Time in… Hollywood
Parasite

Mendes feels like a lock for his second Oscar (anyone else remember 1999?) for 1917.
I had originally hoped that the Academy would cowardly split Best Picture and Director (yet again) and give this to Parasite, but I’m not betting on it...

Best Documentary:

American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

American Factory seems to be the favourite, with a strong push from its formerly presidential producer.
It’s strong, but I’ll take the incredible Honeyland any day.

Best Documentary Short:

In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha

Editing:

Ford vs Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite

Boomers go Vrrrrrooooom!
My preference is Parasite.

Foreign Film:

Corpus Christi
Honeyland
Les Miserables
Pain and Glory
Parasite

For the second year in a row, the film that will dominate this category is practically underrated.

Makeup/Hairstyling:

Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917

Nothing like a fat suit, although honouring Charlize in any form is ideal.

Original Score:

Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

I’ll take Little Women, for Alexandre Desplat’s delicate score that moves. No offence to the five time winner, but does John Williams really need more nominations (now at 51!) when there hasn’t been a memorable Star Wars track this millennium?

Original Song:

“I Can’t let you Throw Yourself Away.” Toy Story 4
“I’m Gonna Love Me Again.” Rocketman
“I’m Standing With You,” Breakthrough
“Into the Unknown,” Frozen 2
“Stand Up”, Harriet

Production Design:

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Parasite

Although I wouldn’t be surprised if Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood upsets. 

Animated Short Film:

Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

Live Action Short Film:

Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors’ Window
Saria
A Sister

Maybe an upset by The Neighbors’ Window?

Sound Editing: 

Ford vs Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Sound editing is the creation of sounds…

Sound Mixing:

Ad Astra
Ford vs Ferrari
Joker

1917
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

…while Sound Mixing is blending them together.

Visual Effects:

Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

In this category, the Academy seems to have a bias against the Disney megaplex, so why not the favourite of the night? 

Adapted Screenplay:

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
The Two Popes

This feels dirty. So Greta Gerwig gets robbed of no director nomination, and loses this category too.

Original Screenplay:

Knives Out
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Parasite

Although watch for an upset by Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the Academy has a habit of saying, “you’ve already won a couple of times Quentin- so you’re good.”
I’m not entirely clear why 1917 is in here, but this would be my toughest category to pick if it wasn’t for my original choice already.

Best Picture:

Ford vs Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once upon a Time in… Hollywood
Parasite

Yawn. So the academy remembers fighting in WWI- so they’ll vote, in the bizarre preferential balloting system that they refuse to release the process of, for 1917.
My preference? Parasite is the best film of the year. After that, I’ll take Marriage Story, The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood, and Little Women (in that order) AT LEAST before 1917. Just as long as it doesn’t go to Joker. Enjoy the show everybody!

Knives Out

2019’s Knives Out, written and directed by Rian Johnson.

Starring Craig Daniel, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Ana de Armas, LaKeith Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Riki Lindhome, Frank Oz, and Christopher Plummer.

What is it about?

Successful crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) suspiciously dies after his 85^th birthday. Alert to the possibility of foul play, Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan), Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield), and Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) meet with the family, to sift through the pivotal night’s slew of interpretations. Along the way, they have to contend with a multitude of entitled family grievances, and coy misdirection. Luckily, the ex-patriarch’s sweet nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), is helpful-but has her own secrets to protect. With multiple interests and various levels of intrigue within the bickering family, will Blanc be able to successfully solve the suicide mystery without letting them lose his mind in the process?

Why is it worth seeing?

Throughout his career, Writer/Director Rian Johnson has proven that he is more than capable of delightfully subverting expectations. Through his body of work; whatever it be a quirky neo noir set in a present day high school setting, a futuristic time travel crime thriller that spends its last half on a farm, or a Star Wars installment that takes risks and breaks blockbuster canon, it almost feels inevitable that his next project was a murder mystery whodunit. As in his past films, Johnson can’t help but make joyful references to the genres he’s honouring. Whatever through an entranced character who breathlessly shushes someone for interrupting a detective’s lengthy summation of the evidence presented thus far, or another character bringing up the film’s similarities to the game of Clue, Johnson knows this is a road well travelled before- but makes it feel fresh while winking at us.


It could be the way the film is self aware, acknowledging its influences and its post modern aspirations, but its script, regarding an unpleasant family of respective bloodlines fighting to get paid, never goes for the glib or cynical. Its characters exist in a world that is well known but never deviates into eye rolling dismissal of the family in their situations. The film’s principle setting of a classic mansion, filled to the brim with characters who are least technically related, fighting for their entitlement of an inheritance, are people we can all relate to- not because of their humanity, but because of their reliability. Who actually built themselves up from nothing? Certainly nobody born after Christopher Plummer’s magnate. Maybe it’s Daniel Craig’s take on the practically operatic character of (wait for it) Benoit Blanc, who does the eye rolling for us, when not sarcastically playing the piano in the background or belting out showbiz tunes while waiting for a bizarre errand to be completed. In a film filled with eclectic personalities, the English actor’s take on a (yet again) Southern accented gumshoe who’s always a step ahead of everyone else is as delightfully over the top, as it is honorific of Columbo and Jessica Fletcher.

Grounding the proceedings, in a film packed with zany bits by well known movie stars and character actors (Chris Evans in particular lays spectacular waste to his previous Marvel depiction), is relatively unknown Ana de Armas. While some may know her fabulousness from bit parts in past films (Hands of Stone and War Dogs), I was delighted to spend more time with Ryan Gosling’s digital muse from Blade Runner 2049. Either way, it appears she won’t be a secret for much longer. Her role as the family’s nurse who gets very ill when she lies, shines the brightest amongst a virtual sea of gems. Armas’ turn as an immigrant (whom the family refuses to figure out where she is actually from) is equal parts sweetness, gumption, and panic, in trying to fulfill a dying man’s last wishes while not getting her family deported. It’s the perfect vulnerable fulcrum from which to base the script’s madcap dashes to get to the what Blanc calls the truth.


What is more of the truth, is while the follow up to Rian Johnson’s last film disappoints critically and commercially, Knives Out is the most fun movie of the year, a critical darling that made money at the box office, while still boasting impressive technical prowess. It looks and sounds great, adding just the right amount of texture to the film’s twisty plot and hilarious outcomes. While Plummer’s character, that of the crime thriller author who makes a decision to set the pivotal events in motion are a little unclear, the film’s script is gleefully aware of its proximity to worn out cliché and overwrought unreliable narrator experiences. And it never loses sight of how much joyful it is to watch people try to fool you with their hooey, to stick it to your relatives, and to let justice maybe have its day in court. Just try feeling unsatisfied by the film’s final image. What could be more classic for a Hollywood film?

Rating:

4/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Little Women

2019’s Little Women, written and directed by Greta Gerwig.

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Louis Garrel, and Jayne Houdyshell.

What is it about?

Set just after the civil war in the Eastern United States, the 4 March sisters of Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh), and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) begin to come of age. Raised by their mother, Marmee (Laura Dern) and housekeeper Hannah (Jayne Houdyshell), while their father (Bob Odenkirk) is away recovering from sickness, the girls grow into women, making a living in a patriarchal world, and attracting attention from suitors such as Laurie (Timothée Chalamet) and Friedrich (Louis Garrel). Time draws on, and the girls learn lessons about life and how their choices impact their futures.

Why is it worth seeing?

Full confession- I haven’t read the source material, the 1868 titular novel by Louisa May Alcott, or seen the (many) previous adaptations (and sequels). They didn’t really appeal, in terms of feeling excessively starched like the majority of Victorian era works, or overly treacly in the spirit of made for TV movies. Interesting then, that after I read Roger Ebert’s review of the 1994 film adaptation, he seemed to feel similar coming into that film version- but he expressed his surprise at how much he came to care for the characters, and at the skill in which the story was told. This brings me full circle to a very similar feeling after watching this version.


Starting with the basics- the characters of the March family, with the matriarch of Marmee (an excellent Laura Dern), oldest sister Meg (Emma Watson, the weak link of the bunch), headstrong Jo (a fiery but vulnerable Saoirse Ronan), cerebral Amy (an incredible Florence Pugh), and youngest sibling, Beth (Eliza Scanlen), with potential appearances by Father March (an initially difficult to take seriously Bob Odenkirk), are just such nice and good natured people. They get along fabulously with their neighbours, whatever the obscenely rich and pleasant Mr. Laurence (a refreshingly open hearted Chris Cooper) and his grandson (a dashing Timothée Chalamet), or the dirt poor family down the road that they risk their lives to help out. It’s the stuff the bible talks about, that not as many Christians emulate as you’d like to think. Even perfect strangers are touched by the family’s kindness, given without ulterior motive or thought of return. It’s tough to not be touched by the lengths the family, hardly wealthy themselves (although not as poor as they constantly claim to be), go to help their fellow man. It’s the family’s source of strength, in their commitment to others and ironclad bonds to one another, that is an inspiration to anyone who’s ever had a family.

While the film definitely has its moments of sweetness, it’s hardly a Hallmark production- those noxious paint by numbers’ works bearing minimal tethering to reality. Outside of the girls’ bubble of compassion, and carefree ways of young teenager-dom, lie a cruel, unjust, and indifferent world. With the film’s setting taking place after the conclusion of the civil war, we see a country clearly rocked by the death and destruction that occurred in the war’s wake, with sickness of those present and ghosts of those past lingering throughout the countryside. But beyond that milieu of death and loss, there exists a society of that age (perhaps still?), that doesn’t value women- except as objects and property. We see that in the film’s iconic opening shot, where Jo prepares mentally to talk with a publisher about buying her writings. With the sexism so internalized it’s barely noticed, we see the publisher (another solid turn by the great Tracy Letts) simultaneously looking down on her, giving advice on the kind of limited writings acceptable for mass consumption, and trying to exploit her. We see that theme again, in the film’s many conversations regarding marriage. Fuelled by independently wealthy paternal Aunt March (a walk on by the incomparable Meryl Streep)’s thoughts on a woman’s lot in life, the limits of a woman being able to sustain a family, never mind operate with a degree of independence and suffrage, are portrayed with degrees of realistic starkness. Even the choice of having a family or not, bears consequences.


Those consequences, told so nimbly by Gerwig, never seems to scream at you or hit you over the head with a hammer of obviousness. One character announces a baby has died- with the family too busy with their own concerns to respond to the normalized (of the time) tragedy. It’s also helped by the decision to have fragmented story telling, with her script darting back and forth throughout time, showing the girls’ in younger, more carefree times, and a present where the pangs of time have caught up to the ladies. Characters such as Jo, with her indomitable will, announce they won’t allow fate to take its course (one of my favourite scenes of the year)- an impression, amongst many others, ripe for reexamination.


But the movie’s greatest strength is that in a film packed with feeling, is how Gerwig refuses to be overly sentimental or linger too long on one moment. Witness the amount of tension she creates in a Christmas morning where a character bounds down the stairs, terrified of what she might find. Gerwig maximizes the details and shortens the cuts to keep the potentially dreadful moment electric, but isn’t afraid to defuse it with a positive outcome. The real let downs, that we have no control over, come more awkwardly and suddenly, and there isn’t a lot of time to spend mourning their arrival. Gerwig’s explanation of this throughout the film is a treat. While the film’s back and forth through time, without a linear progression, can be a task to keep up to, what a pleasant surprise it is to experience the lives and lessons of a group of women who are anything but little.

Rating:

4/5

Trailer: Click Here.

Uncut Gems

2019’s Uncut Gems, directed by The Safdie Brothers.

Starring Adam Sandler, Keith Williams Richards, Tommy Kominik, Eric Bogosian, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Aranbayev, Noa Fisher, Jacob Igielski, and The Weeknd.

What is it about?

Set in New York City during 2012, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) runs a jewellery business from within the diamond district. Ratner is afflicted with a full bore gambling addiction, and owes money to a number of debtors, including his Father-in-law, Arno (Eric Bogosian). When a stone of opals of immense value come into his orbit, Ratner tries to sell them to NBA player Kevin Garnett- but not without trying to drive up prices, and set himself up for his biggest score yet. With Ratner’s home life already rocky with his wife (Idina Menzel) and 3 kids (Jonathan Aranbayev, Noa Fisher, and Jacob Igielski), no thanks to his erratic behaviours and an affair (Julia Fox), will his reckless ways be his undoing?

Why is it worth seeing?

Writer/Directors the Safdie brothers, well experienced in showing off unique and character filled corners of their beloved home town of New York City, specialize in a kind of independent, guerilla-like cinema, using local actors and shooting without permits. However, 2017’s Good Time, featured international star Robert Pattinson, racing through their locally sourced desperate and frantic city scape in search of a scheme to generate cash, and Uncut Gems, stars A lister Adam Sandler, as their latest protagonist to undergo trials of flawed characters who dig themselves out of holes- by digging deeper.


Specialists in creating experiences of anxiety, even for them, the Safdies’ Gems hits new levels of authentically frantic chaos. Supported by cinematographer Darius Khondji to produce the grubby and unnatural almost 70’s aesthetic, packed with artificial lights, and an electronically ill at ease score by repeat collaborator Daniel Lopatin (who also goes by Oneohtrix Point Never), it pairs with the Safdies’ tight handheld camerawork and at times frantic editing to produce the sensation of never quite being settled. Characters are always in motion, onto the next bout of impulsivity, with multiple people aggressively talking at once- and that’s when they’re not arguing. It’s like a binge of uppers- for those who think Red Bull is too much like chamomile.


Centred square in the contact high explosion is Sandler’s character of Howard Ratner. One could say it’s a role he was born to play, that of a frantic Jewish jeweller who never saw a bet he couldn’t make with someone else’s money. It’s a tour de force of desperate energy and charisma, with him simultaneously scraping the bottom of the barrel, careening from ill advised scheme to worse scheme, lying to anything with a face or a voice, while you still consider rooting for him: to play it straight, to make things right with his estranged and exasperated wife, to be a father to his children (note the embarrassed teenage indifference from his oldest kid, or the way his younger sons emulate him). One of the more interesting features of Ratner, is how unlike a lot of Safdie past characters, is that he does have a pot to piss in. Witness the business that he “runs”, the nice suburban house with a swimming pool (which may or may not have been recently resurfaced), the uptown apartment for the mistress, and a wife who may reject her husband for his life choices- but not necessarily his income. But that’s moot, as Ratner has a different type of success in mind- that involves betting the farm, despite all odds. The Safdies are well established in the world of addictions, whatever it be drugs, or clever but bumbling criminality, so the relatively ethically encouraged and money goosed capitalistic world of sports betting is an ideal fit for the upper class deadbeat.


For decades, Sandler has proven that when he brings it, he’s more than capable of creating characters worth caring about- regardless of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ thoughts on him. He’s had more than enough lazy and repulsive stinkers to make people disregard him on principle, but they’re ignoring Sandler’s long list of successes (and non failures), and his presence anchors the proceedings to showcase the best and the worst of the Safdies’ tendencies. Helping their best case scenario, is the “discovery” of Kevin Garnett, at least as an actor. There are those who may scoff at the concept of actors (particularly celebrities) playing themselves, saying it’s easy and worthy of dismissal, but there is a long list of basketball actors in cinema history who have outright stunk. But Garnett has a level of ( yes, his trademark) intensity, but also a piercing calmness, particularly as someone employed in the show who tries to level with his unique and chaotic jeweller when the rubber hits the road. They drive the film forwards, as the Safdies figure out ways to pack the margins of the film with non professional actors and characters who possibly didn’t know they were filming…


After a succession of films highlighting the less highlight worthy areas of New York, an increased budget and notoriety leading to a similar scuzzy outcome has one wonder if the Safdies potentially limit themselves to one kind of shtick, that of desperate con artists running around the city for one reason or another. The Safdies can do a electrifying desperate crime/thriller as well as anyone- likely why they’re being rumoured to remake 48 Hours. But with their encyclopedic love of films, one can’t wonder what something with less focus on stylized desperation, and more of something resembling the circle time activities featured through the closing credits of Good Time, could look like. At least for now, they’ll stick to upping the ante on beating the house at its own game in one of the year’s best films.

Rating:

4.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.