This marks my fifth year completing the Oscar Death Race. I'm still not at the point where both watching everything and writing full-length reviews of everything is realistic for me, I did manage to write full length reviews for 44 of the 53 nominated movies this year. (My review of "Society of the Snow" will be part of my J.A. Bayona Director Report Card, whenever that happens.) Here's capsule reviews of everything else! See you at the Live Blog!
Thank god we still have a master like Miyazaki around to gift us with these beautiful, detailed worlds. “The Boy and the Heron's” fantasy novel structure allows the director to reflect on themes like growth, acceptance, forgetting, ecological collapses, and archetypes Jungian and alchemic. Through it all, there's the unmissable sense of Miyazaki grappling with his own legacy and wondering if anyone can shoulder the burden. Of course, it's an absolutely gorgeous, incredibly creative fantasy as well. [9/10]
Summarizes all of Gareth Edwards' strengths and weaknesses as a filmmaker. On one hand, this looks damn good. The cinematography has a vast, epic quality to it. The special effects and production design are fantastic, creating a lived-in version of the future that seems plausibly connected to our current world. On the other hand, the characters and story here are as stock-parts as can be. Charismatic as John David Washington is, he can only do so much to elevate a hero with yet another dead wife and baby to motivate him. You never feel anything for him or his relationship with his surrogate robot daughter. The themes and subtext are as warmed-over and obvious as can be, the movie essentially saying nothing about mankind's relationship with robots or each other. [5/10]
Gorgeous black-and-white cinematography makes this one of the year's best looking movies. The first act, which dryly sets up an alternate history where Augusto Pinochet is a vampire, in-between brutal violence and darkly funny satire, is fantastic. Once it settles into being a slightly comedic story of family in-fighting and finances, it becomes less interesting. The last third features enough twists to keep my attention, even if this is never as strong as when taking a poetic or epic approach to its vampiric subject. I'm not Chilean, so I can't reflect on whether this is a tasteful or tactful treatment of real life butchery though. [8/10]
Pixar tries their hand at a romantic-comedy and it's not half-bad. The chemistry between Ember and Wade is genuinely sweet. That allows many routine moments – the big romantic gesture to win her back, for example – feel a lot more earned. It helps that the conflict that inevitably breaks the two up is based in something more meaningful, the push-and-pull of wanting to please your parents but also live your own life, than the contrived melodrama usually seen in this genre. The animation is also lovely and the Element City setting allows for some clever sight gags. As a discussion about being a foreigner assimilating into a big city, I'm not sure the film has anything clever to say though. [6.5/10]
The meta conceit, of having the real people and the actors playing them in re-enactments directly interacting, produces some interesting results. Olfa was not a good mother, though you do come to understand many of her actions. Overall, this is a good portrait of the delicate balance of dysfunction and deep emotional bonds that keep most families together. Once it becomes more of an issues doc, about how two of the sisters became radicalized, this bends more towards a tragic atmosphere. [6/10]
Approaches history as a chamber drama, focusing mostly on people in command centers and offices tersely discussing geopolitical moves and strategies. The result is that “Golda” is all about how the Yom Kippur War made one woman feel really bad. Perhaps not the most responsible direction to approach this story with, especially in light of recent events! Director Guy Nattiv is also fond of some extremely heavy-handed visual symbolism. Having said that, there is something weirdly captivating in the choice to shoot this biopic like a horror movie, with its vertigo-inducing camera angles and seasick close-ups. The performances are sturdy and, yeah, the make-up is pretty good. [6/10]
Maybe it lacks the magic of Spielberg. However, “Dial of Destiny” does provide geriatric Indiana Jones with a fitting send-off. There's a layer of regrets to Harrison Ford's performance, that grows more evident as the film goes on. Mads Mikkelsen makes a compelling, conniving villain. I like that this one makes the points that Nazis never really went away and we should always punch them. The McGuffin is an intriguing one, leading to some exciting action, ancient temple set-pieces, and a surprising finale. And you know what? I even like Indy's new sidekicks in this. [7/10]
I've somehow never seen a single “Mission: Impossible” movie before, so any meaning the callbacks to previous films or the characters' established history didn't mean anything to me. The plot is a largely unimportant MacGuffin hunt, so many of the exposition scenes are tedious. However, the cast is decent. Cruise and Atwell having decent chemistry and Pom Klementof is a good unhinged henchwoman. The action scenes are obviously the main attraction here. Some of the melee fights look a bit silly but the stunt work is generally excellent. I do admire the film's commitment to topping itself with more ludicrous set pieces. Guess I gotta watch the rest of these now? [7/10]
As a thriller about how a single mistake can have oversized ramifications on your life and other people, this is often nerve-wracking. The music is very intense, the camera emphasizes the crushing smallness of the school rooms, and Leonie Benesch gives an excellent performance as a woman barely holding it together. One definitely feels like there's commentary here about the omnipresence of surveillance in our modern age and how easily so-called “cancel culture” can get out of control. I wish this actually had an ending though! [7/10]
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