Oscar 2019

I was thinking to skip the Oscars completely this year, but I have to admit that there are still some reasons not to do it. Actually, more like one important reason - the nominees list still has good value in pointing out movies that otherwise I would've passed over, like "Green Book", "The Favourite" and "Vice", which I reviewed recently. About the awards... for several years already the politically correctness stance became really destructive. It seems it's completely forgotten that the man, and actually the single criteria that should matter is the one imposed by the nominations category objectively, and not some others related to social issues in everyday life care that have no place here. I'm really not in the mood to debate this too much, even more considering that if you do it you risk being labelled for disregarding racial issues, orientation issues, etc. Above all, I'm finishing this entry a bit too late to be actual more than a few hours, but unfortunately I didn't have an easy day, and what was supposed to be ready at 12:00 noon is after 12:00 in the night... As last year, I'm gonna go just through some categories where I've seen all nominations and point out what deserves attention + my choice, because well... movies without predictions, no fun :)

Best animated feature movie doesn't have the best selection this year, but we had worse. About "Incredibles 2" I already wrote, and I don't want to argue again on how thin/illogical is the story. "Ralph Breaks the Internet" has a bit more sense, but unfortunately the comparison with the first "Ralph" brings it down. "Mirai no Mirai" represents the Japanese animes in this category where the Academy grants a slot from time to time. Unfortunately it's not something to remember in this niche - we have a little boy and his newborn sister; he's transported at pretty much each episode of crying and jealousy for lack of attention, through the interior garden of his house, either in the future, either in the past, either in an universe where the family's dog takes human shape, either in the Tokyo train station where he gets lost, each time for a new life lesson. We have the typical Japanese anime fantasy style, a bit too entangled, and which doesn't reach the level of the best period of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is apparently the main favorite here. What can I say... The super-villain Kingpin opens an interdimensional gate, which puts in danger all the planet, in order to find a copy in a parallel universe of his deceased wife and child. Spider-Man tries to stop the disaster, but only makes it temporarily, and unfortunately dies in the process. Lucky us, we have parallel worlds, and, therefore, plenty other Spider-Man, or Woman, or Pig. Plus an afro-latino-american kid in the current world who's also bitten by chance by a radioactive spider exactly on time to take over the job. Why that didn't happen with anybody else or why we don't have 2x, 3x, 4x Spider-people in other universes is a mystery, or why each universe has a different impersonation and no two are the same. But that's not a problem as long as we gathered enough racial or sex diversity to avoid anybody saying we're discriminating and to make the movie catchy for everybody. It doesn't matter that what comes after is super-linear and simple as a subject = all super-heroes take on the evil force Avengers style, the problem is obviously solved by the newest and youngest Spider-Man, and that's pretty much all of it. Oh.. we also have some little drama replaying some the origin story, where Spider-Man loses his uncle again, but this time that one is in the category evil guys first, after which he's not any more... In any case, it's the single piece in the story that brings some depth to a character, which funny isn't even one of the bunch of Spider-people. As animation technique is the probably the simplest, overall very cliche, very thin, but also very politically correct = perfect as a candidate for the awards.

"Isle of Dogs" is by far the best animation of the five. I wrote last November about it, so I won't make it much longer. Ironically, considering the subject + the script, it is the same, if not more politically correct than "Spider-Man" - besides diversity & equality, we also have an ecological problem packed here; but it's finer, it's thrown in front of you and doesn't cry "vote me for this". Besides that, what concerns the depth of character is way far from "Isle of Dogs" = we have plenty of dogs with clearly different personalities, unlike "Spider-Man" where the exterior form has some cliche associated with it and that's all (headphones and rap for the black guy, an a la Bogart look for the neo-noir Spider-Man, a hammer for the cartoon character, a robot for the Spider-Man made in Japan). Technically, stop-motion is an art in itself, much more complicated than a 2D animation turned 3D. That's why, besides what's produced by Aardman who are specialized in this technique we don't have many other titles in this niche. More on this below... But well, the Oscar goes to, we'll see...

In visual effects we have "Avengers: Infinity War" and the rest. In "Christopher Robin", we have an immersion of animated characters in a regular movie - was done before = "Paddington" as recent example. Nothing very spectacular. "First Man" seems added here more to fill up the category = we have the space sequences, the Moon and inside the ships, but considering the VFX is light years away from "Gravity" or "Interstellar". "Ready Player One" catches your eye initially, but you realize quickly that what you see is actually half live action movie, half pure animation, which are not really interacting, so with all the motion capture it has, it loses ground due to the clear separation there. "Solo: A Star Wars Story" looks good, but it doesn't stand out with anything compared with what you see in a SciFi blockbuster. The last "Avengers" seems to be the only title here that detaches a bit from the rest. We're moving through plenty environments, from a green Wakanda up to fight in space and deserted planets. Each super-hero comes with his own package of VFX. Even though partially was the job of the guys from ILM who also worked in "Solo", to me it looks better.

In a classical "configuration" - I don't remember when it was last time to have a different case - on sound editing and sound mixing, we have four similar nominations and one exception. And the exception in each category, again, as many other times, seems to have big chances to win. "Black Panther" is a noisy movie, which usually find a spot in both places (especially on editing). Still, we'll probably stop just on the double nomination here. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is also "by design" in the sound world, with plenty of chance in sound mixing where it's considered favorite. My thought on this, is that the part which counts mostly in this category is the feeling the final track gives you = the combination of all that includes sound effects, score, intertwining. Despite the fact that "A Star is Born" is much, much too overrated, my ear tells me that the final mix is slightly better there. Somehow, the problem comes from the script, in "Bohemian" we have lots of music on the background, in "A Star is Born" more often alternations, which also result in something more fluid and more complex - changes in intensity, more mix-ins and mix-outs of different tracks, etc. But let's move forward because I'm gonna start rambling nonsense soon. "First Man", with a double nomination, is considered the favorite on sound editing - where the accent is on effects and how these are edited/merged. Ironically, it seems to me that the fight here is with "A Quiet Place", nominated only on editing, and the irony comes from the fact that both movies are remarkable through their... silence :) Which indeed takes out all the squeezes, screeches, screams, and whatever else you can hear there. For me "A Quite Place" is remarkable regarding this, so again I would choose something else than the popular opinion. We have "Roma" left, with a double nomination, but I don't really know what's with this here...

For makeup & hairstyling I'll stop just a bit on "Vice". Which, continues positively what we had last year in "The Darkest Hour", where Churchill's face was re-created. Even though it's about a nomination that's mostly for a single character and the acting brings in a lot, in this case Christian Bale transforming into Dick Cheney, the result as look is remarkable compared with disasters from a couple years ago (see "J. Edgar"). Other nominations here are "Border" and "Mary Queen of Scots", but I doubt that any of these has a chance.

And since we reached to "Vice" let's also stop at editing. Besides, we also have "BlacKkKlansman", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Green Book" and "The Favourite" here. The latter is the only other which stands out a bit, which is related with the episodic structure. Editing comes packed though with cinematography at least as visual impact for a movie, and "The Favourite" has more advantage on the camera work side. In "Vice", however, the way the scenes are put together and cut basically "makes the movie". It's enough just to mention the fake ending somewhere close to the middle of its running time to give an award here.

For original script I think we have one of the best years, and it's hard to predict a winner. In "First Reformed" we have the story of a preacher, who slowly gets convinced by the idea of a public martyrdom, and even though the script has some lengths and moves on in a predictable manner, the ending is slightly different than what would you expect. About Cuaron's "Roma" we can talk a bit further, but overall we have a decent script - or better said you couldn't do much more on the subject it has. With "Vice" we're moving into the favorites category - as I wrote in the review a couple weeks ago, the exceptional editing wouldn't be possible without a decent script. But I think the final fight will be between "The Favourite" and "Green Book". The episodic structure a la "Tarantino" and the witty lines, in some of the most unexpected moments would make "The Favourite" favourite. On the other hand, the script in "Green Book" gets much closer to Alexander Payne's style from "Sideways" + "The Descendants" and puts in evidence all the context around the action + it has its own set of witty lines:
Tony Lip: So can I put the, “P.S. Kiss the kids?”
Dr. Don Shirley: A P.S.?
Tony Lip: Yeah, like at the end.
Dr. Don Shirley: That’s like clanging a cowbell at the end of Shostakovitch’s seventh.
Tony Lip: Right, so that’s good.
Dr. Don Shirley: It’s perfect, Tony.

I'm not gonna comment on leading roles, because I didn't see everybody there. On supporting, we have the following: Adam Driver in "BlacKkKlansman", Mahershala Ali in "Green Book", Richard E. Grant in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?", Sam Elliott in "A Star In Born" and Sam Rockwell in "Vice". It's 100% clear and right that the Oscar will get to Mahershala Ali for "Green Book". Unfortunately, for supporting actress, the clear favorite, Regina King in "If Beale Street Could Talk" is not an objective prediction. I'm sorry, but no matter how good you might see her acting, it's far from exceptional, and her presence in the movie is maybe comparable just with Marina de Tavira in "Roma". All the other three nominees: Amy Adams in "Vice", Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in "The Favourite" have a much, much more solid commitment. Unfortunately the criteria on which all the US critics predict Regina King here is purely racial both for the actress and for the topic of the movie, and has nothing to do with the acting. In BAFTA's she wasn't even nominated. Anyway, neither there I don't know how objective was the award being preferred the British option = Rachel Weisz, considering that Emma Stone makes clearly an exceptional leading role, not a supporting one in "The Favourite". I would even go as far as telling that was better than two years ago with "La La Land".

Finally, the best movie. Options, alphabetically: "A Star is Born", "BlacKkKlansman", "Black Panther", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Green Book", "Roma", "The Favourite", "Vice". Long story short: everybody says "Roma" will win. It's not a bad movie. Visually, it's probably on top of the list, although subjectively speaking I've never been a fan of black-and-white. The story though... It's a year in the life of a maid hired by a family in 70's Mexico. It's a rough year, presented realistically, and which covers plenty not-so-easy subjects: the woman gets pregnant, the father doesn't recognize the child, the child is stillborn, her employer is left by her husband in the same period and she has to deal alone with three kids, we have a civil conflict emerging. However, you don't feel a story... is more like a newsreel. It doesn't have a beginning, it doesn't have an end. Life moved here. This happened. Life moves on. As a movie, "The Favourite" and "Vice" about which I wrote and which left me with a much better impression - the irony is that "Vice" is effectively a documentary, but much more "movie-like". Above all though, call me cheesy, but I really prefer "Green Book" :) Why? Well, as I wrote a couple weeks ago - you have the calm after the storm... in "Roma" you don't know if the storm stopped :) But well, from the perspective of awards awarded in the US, unfortunately the wall with Mexico might have unwanted big implications on the decision here...

Red Sparrow (2018)

I don't know what's worse, not having a subject, or having an obsolete one. Generally, I avoid "high-profile" titles at one year after their release, exactly because there's enough written about them. But I thought on making an exception with "Red Sparrow" 1. I don't have anything else notable seen recently and 2. I need to do some justice, after skipping it last year following the reviews that were out back then.

Dominika Egorova is a successful ballerina at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, who after an accident, not a very accidental one though, must consider a career change. An uncle in a high position in the SVR structures (= the new intelligence branch of the former KGB) offers her a less orthodox employment, which, due to another not very accidental context + an ill mother, becomes an offer that she can't refuse. Like this, she gets into a unit destined for training spies in seduction techniques, psychological manipulation, etc. After that we get to the first mission, somewhere in Budapest, where she's tasked with corrupting an American agent. But, enough with the details. More in the movie.

This is an adaption of a novel by Jason Matthews - apparently a former CIA employee for more than 30 years, which was followed by two more written sequels. The critics I remember were complaining about the too entangled and boring story + too much sex and violence. First of all, these appreciations are a bit contradictory, but at least from the tangled & boring perspective, if we're comparing with "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy", much more successful with the critics, what we have in "Red Sparow" is like a Ferrari besides a commuting train stopping in all stations. For the second perspective, well... it's rated R, but it didn't seem excessive to me considering other stuff in this category. And besides that we don't have a senseless action. It's probably the most "John le Carre movie" I've seen, which is not based on something written by John le Carre, despite the fact that the comparison with "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy" doesn't hold. However, one that would hold is with "The Russia House" or with "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold". There's something here resembling an old school spy thriller = a story with a bit more depth than what you see in the average James Bond movie. And which adds also, surprisingly I would say, a romance part that's less artificial than what you would expect. If it wouldn't have included a scene with secret plans transmitted using... floppy disks, I would have said we have the perfect spy thriller here. At least we don't have a clear year setting for the action, so maybe we could force a late '90s as excuse, although... floppy disks... oh well..

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Endless (2017)

No subject. I'll finish with "The Endless" in inverse proportional time with what the title means. Actually... if I'm thinking on it, this might mean an "endless" in the opposite direction... depends on how convoluted is your reasoning - let's simplify: I'll finish quick.

What we have here is an attempt to a SciFi with social and psychological implications, meaning of life, etc. In brief: two brothers who ran out from Camp Arcadia = "a UFO death cult" to quote a tagline, decide to pay a visit after some years to the respective community. Which they find much more open and friendly that what that tagline was saying, and where the bio tomatoes in the daily salad seem to have a magic effect - nobody looks changed. Until they decide to leave or to stay, we figure out that what we have there is a sort of twilight zone where some temporal loops, geographically set one near the other, keep their inhabitants trapped. Except the two...

If some other time I was saying that you'll find out more in the movie, now it's not really the case. Although there are some valid ideas there, overall is too cryptic to get a decent story out of it. Add on top of that a very small budget, which wouldn't be a problem unless it would be so obvious. The only part that maybe is above average is the slight tendency towards horror - you keep feeling that it's transforming into something like that, but it doesn't get there - which maintains a certain tension that fits with the whole context. What's less appropriate is the lack of tension relief... Wow, I'm already moving towards the opposite direction "endless". Too much. Let's stop.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Vice (2018)

"Vice" is written and directed by Adam McKay, who three years ago did the same thing in "The Big Short", has at least two actors from "The Big Short", has a subject as real as in "The Big Short", it's worked in pretty much the same manner as "The Big Short", and has a happy ending as positive as in "The Big Short", so there's not much left to say.

Rating: ..

Well, not yet :) But I couldn't help it. You'll get it when you'll see the movie ;) The truth is that I don't have much left to say, and what's above is valid. It's a sort of biopic of Dick Cheney, former VP in the Bush administration, brought to screen without his support or consent. So, mostly based on common knowledge, packing enough satire - within the limits you could have that in the context of the latest Irak war. Somehow unexpectedly, the movie, in its depth, is not completely one-sided. Although the story might seem clear, there's a fine dose of objectivity that should be appreciated, suggesting that in the end life is not black & white, but very, very, very gray... - more or less between the lines there's an idea suggesting that from someone's perspective, his own actions might seem fair, which puts a question mark over a guilt on coming not of bad intentions but out of sheer incompetence. Which is not the same. But let's take a break on philosophy...

Moving back to "The Big Short" :)... As it was there, here the editing is also exceptional, and practically that's what makes the whole movie. Obviously it won't work without the way the script is structured. Probably it's the best approache for a subject of this type - you're somewhere between a drama and a comedy, "dramatically" alternating between both. On the other hand, the result seemed a bit better in "The Big Short" - but maybe it's the subject, which has more "movie potential" there :) I'd really like to see an adaptation brought to screen by the same team for "Flash Boys" (same book author as "The Big Short" - the story behind high-frequency trading ~10-15 years ago)... but I doubt there are chances for that to happen soon, although I heard some rumors. Maybe the subject is yet too hot :P...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5