Oscar Thoughts

 Like all film fans I am intrigued by the Academy Awards, though less for who wins or doesn't than for it directing me to films I might otherwise not pay as much attention to.  I haven't seen all of this years' big nominated films but here are some bite size thoughts on the ones I have seen.

Oppenheimer

I was really impressed by both the technical and dramatic approach Christopher Nolan took with his story of the man who created the atomic bomb.  As usual Nolan uses a single word title and multiple timelines which keeps this complex but incredibly involving tale moving quickly despite its three hours.  Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Robert Downey Jr. stand out in the film that explores the science behind the development, the political cost the once-Communist Oppenheimer paid and the guilt he had to endure afterwards.  The standout sequence is the testing of the weapon in a moment that uses no CGI and is simultaneously horrific and impressive.  *****

Anatomy of a Fall

A fascinating story of a woman who is accused of killing her husband magnificently directed by Justine Triet.  Sandra Huller plays Sandra, the woman who is in a strained marriage whose husband dies offscreen in a mountainside home in southern France.  Triet and Huller do an excellent job of keeping Sandra's motives ambiguous because we only see her in the presence of other characters, but also keeping audience sympathy even at points where she appears to be guilty.  When Sandra is caught lying to the police we both suspect her more and understand why she did so.  I have to give extra kudos to Milo Machado Graner who is superb as Sandra's son Daniel.  I also don't think I will forget the argument between Sandra and her husband for a long time. ****

Barbie

I am not the target audience for this film but I really enjoyed the first half of Greta Gerwig's send up and study of the Barbie culture.  I also enjoyed Gerwig's other two directorial efforts (Ladybird and Little Women) much more than this.  When Barbie returns to Barbieland to find Ken has taken over I gradually lost interest, and the "I'm Just Ken" song went on too long for me.  Margot Robbie is perfectly cast as the titular character and not surprisingly makes a character based on a plastic doll feel real inside.  America Ferrara's monologue is terrific.  ***

The Holdovers

Alexander Paynes's reunion with his Sideways star Paul Giamatti yields a moving story with an unusual premise: A disliked teacher at a private school is forced to stay over winter break in 1970 with five kids, four of which leave.  Dominic Sessa plays Angus the remaining student and Da'Vine Joy Randolph gives a powerful performance as a mother who lost her son in Vietnam.  While the film ultimately takes a predictable turn (Giamatti's Mr. Hunham, who starts out bitter and cynical toward his students, eventual starts to soften as he bonds with Angus who comes from a dysfunctional family) Payne's presentation is entertaining and refreshing.  Giamatti is always fun to watch onscreen and I particularly enjoyed Mr. Hunham's use of words he knows his students will not understand but also do not have the nerve or interest to ask.  ****

Maestro

Bradly Cooper's second directorial effort again stars him as a musician whose lack of impulse control damages his relationship with a special woman.  Here Cooper plays composer Lenny Bernstein in this examination of his marriage with Felicia Montealegre, played beautifully by Carey Mulligan.  Cooper makes a lot of interesting directorial choices, such as staging the early scenes of the film in black-and-white, using an energetic tracking shot overhead shot of Carnegie Hall and framing a lot of scenes with one take with the camera on all the performers.  Cooper and Mulligan smoke so many cigarettes I hope they got checked out after filming (or that the smoke was digital and they just smoked props).  There is a lot of Bernstein's life that was left out and some of the history was fudged which is not unusual for a biopic.  The one scene that truly stands out is when Lenny's composing the Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in Ely Cathedral which is also largely done with one shot.  I was overwhelmed that Cooper could have starred in and directed himself in such a prescise scene with so many people involved. ****

Past Lives

Celine Song's semiautobiographical film stars Greta Lee as Nora, Teo Yoo as Hae Sung, and John Maguro as Arthur.  Nora and Hae Sung had been friends who had been interested in each other as kids in South Korea when Nora's family moved to Canada.  When they are in their 20s they reconnect over using video calls until Nora realizes she is starting to fall for him and pulls away, soon meeting Arthur who she eventually marries.  Twelve years later Hae Sung comes to New York where Nora and Arthur now live and the last hour of the film focuses on the aftermath of decisions made but with unreconciled thoughts, Nora's viewpoints as an Korean ex-patriot vs. Hae Sung who still lives there, and the very decent Arthur's discomfort yet maturity with the scenario.  The final scene is staged like a timeline and is a little sad but also satisfying.  ****

Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese delivers a three and a half hour take of the murders of the Osage in the 1920s after the territory they had been pushed onto is discovered to have oil.  The Osage women are tricked into marrying white men who gradually start killing them and through various means to get the oil.  The film famously was going to focus on the investigation of the murders but star Leonardo DiCaprio was more interested in playing the husband of one of the women which changed it into a marriage story.  Lily Gladstone has a quiet dignity as Mollie, the wife of DiCaprio's Ernest who loses her family and her health but also resists in her own understated way.  Robert DeNiro has one of his best roles in awhile as William Kig Hale, Ernest's uncle, a cattle rancher who appeared to befriend the Osage and even learned their language but was secretly planning to steal their oil by killing them off.  Jesse Plemons plays an agent investigating the murder (the role originally envisioned for DiCaprio) who now only appears in the third act.  Brendon Fraser gives a loud and to me over the top performance as W.S. Hamilton who manipulates himself to become Ernest's lawyer.  

The story is tragic as a husband loves his wife but lacks the will to either stop his evil uncle or the moral compass to avoid taking the easy way out.  Scorese stages several interesting murders and lets  a lot of scenes play out longer than necessary but the film is so captivating I did not mind.  The finale which shows us the epilogue as a radio performance is innovative as is Scorsese's unexpected appearance onscreen for the final beats.  ****

Napoleon

Ridley Scott's examination of the 19th century Emperor of France, scripted by his All The Money in the World writer David Scarpa invites a lot of comparisons to Scott's Best Picture winner Roman epic Gladiator with its epic length, violent battle scenes, expansive production design and Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role.  As opposed to Gladiator in which all the Roman and Spanish characters spoke with a British accent, here everyone uses their own accent, which works fine once you get used to it.  Phoenix at 5'8 is two inches taller than Napoleon who is famously known for his short stature and Scott films Phoenix in front of a lot of taller people.  Scott and Scarpa focus less on the political machinations than on the twisted marriage between Napoleon and his wife Josephine, played with a naughty glint by Vanessa Kirby, who was so memorable as the wild Margaret in the first two seasons of The Crown.  Scott impressively recreates several of Napoleon's key battles scenes including the Battle of Austerlitz and Waterloo, but shows little of the planning. Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia is glossed over and you would have to either know or look up to see that the Battle of Borodino was a French victory as onscreen all we see is they take heavy losses.  No mention is ever made of Napoleon abandoning his troops in 1812 after only holding Moscow for about a month.  I did find the film filmed far better than Gladiator however, Phoenix makes the character interesting without ever being sympathetic and Napoleon is certainly worth a look for anyone interested in that period of history. ***

Nyad

Several years ago I saw a news piece I think on 20/20 or Dateline about Diana Nyad, the lady who at age 64 swam from Cuba to Florida after four failed attempts.  Annette Bening and Jodie Foster play Diana and Bonnie, Diana's best friend and trainer and the film is directed by first timer feature helmers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.  This film means Annette Bening has now starred in films  with both bigscreen Clarice Starlings after having previously made the excellent The Kids Are Alright with Julianne Moore.  The film follows a lot of typical sports drama tropes with a driven hero who lacks people skills and overwhelming odds.  Bening really commits to Diana who selfishly rarely thinks of the impact her drive has on the people around her and Foster is a delight as Bonnie who keeps everything in perspective and gets Diana over the final hump.  It's no classic but it's a joy to see the two of them work together and the intensity of the swimming scenes.  Rhys Ifans plays John Bartlett who owns the boat the women use for their quest.  ***

Society of the Snow

J.A Bayona recreates the story of the Chilean rugby players on a charter plane who crashed in the Andes in 1972 and fought to survive for over two months until two of them walked for over 12 days to seek rescue.  Frank Marshall previously made the film "Alive" in 1992 which told the same story.  The crash is harrowing, as is an avalanche that buries them at a point when they are sitting in the airplance.  The cannibalism is handled tastefully with the very Catholic players reluctant to resort to it until they are starving.  Bayona makes an interesting choice of telling the story from the point of view of the last player to die, Numa Turcatti, played by Enzo Vogrincic.  The environment is beautiful but very harsh and what stuck with me is how the team member work together to solve the seemingly insurmountable difficulties the film places them in.  ****

I have not seen American Fiction, Zone of Interest, nor Poor Things.  I am kind of interested in American Fiction, definitely want to see Zone of Interest, and do not want to see Poor Things as I did not enjoy Yorgos Lanthimos' previous film the Favorite.

Here are my choices for the main categories keeping in mind I have not seen each film:

Picture

Oppenheimer

Director

Christopher Nolan

Actor

Cillian Murphy 

Actress

Lily Gladstone

Supporting Actor

Robert DeNiro

Supporting Actress

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Editing

Oppenheimer

Cinematography

Maestro

Sound

Oppenheimer

Production Design

Napoleon

Makeup

Maestro