The Official Review Thread of 2021

[anonymous1980]

CYRANO
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Dolan.
Dir: Joe Wright.

This is a film based on a stage musical which is in turn based on the play about a man with a large nose and his unrequited love for Roxanne. This time Cyrano is a little person played magnificently, as always, by Peter Dinklage whose performance is actually the main reason to see this film. This is directed by Joe Wright, a filmmaker who is WILDLY hit and miss, sometimes in the same film. This film has slick visuals but sometimes feels more like a music video or a commercial than an actual film. It's the performances of Dinklage as well as Haley Bennett and Kelvin Harrison Jr. that grounds the picture as a film. The score is pretty good and pleasant, though the songs are kind of unmemorable (there are no show-stoppers in this one). Overall, it's very good but not quite great.

Grade: B.

[anonymous1980]

RED ROCKET
Cast: Simon Rex, Suzanna Son, Bree Elrod, Brenda Deiss, Judy Hill, Brittney Rodriguez, Ethan Darbone.
Dir: Sean Baker.

A down-on-his-luck adult film actor returns to his hometown in order to score some quick cash and get back into the porno business by recruiting new talent in the form of a barely legal teen. So this week, I'm trying to catch up on some 2021 releases I wanted to see but still unable to so I can finalize my Top 10 list and awards. This is the latest from writer-director Sean Baker, a filmmaker I've grown to admire over the years. First off, this concept with this lead character, in the wrong hands, could have gone so wrong in various different ways. But thanks to the intelligent script and the great performance from Simon friggin' Rex, of all people, the film becomes a funny, compelling character study of a person who is essentially a scumbag, humanizing him while neither judging nor excusing him, a tricky tightrope of writing, directing and performance. It's an excellent piece of work.

Grade: A-

[Sabin]

Watched Cruella, not simply for Oscar completist's sake (it's probably going to win for costumes) but because I'd been pretty curious about it. I've heard mixed reviews from critics but I know people who liked it quite well enough, I enjoy Emma Stone in pretty much everything, and Craig Craig Gillespie is certainly a director who is going for it these days. Watching it, I kept asking myself who is this movie for? Tweens? Old Millennials? Or are we simply in an age where the girlbossing of a Disney villain now possesses the mass appeal of a summer tentpole?

Anyway, the biggest issue that I had was that the meat of the film just isn't that much fun. The Cruella vs. Baroness game of oneupmanship just isn't very fun. I found this pretty remarkable because I have no doubt in my mind that the pitch to shareholders was some version of "It's Catwoman meets The Devil Wears Prada!" and nobody stopped to say "And why is that fun?" The closest thing to fun about it is how the filmmakers dress this conflict up with zingers, knowing glances, and an energy more befitting the adaptation of an awaited bestseller. It's fitting that the film is likely going to win Best Costume Design because in a way the whole film is a costume. But despite how obnoxious I found some of it (it's over-directed, over-long, over-soundtracked), there's a batshit quality to it that I found myself enjoying, that we're just this much through the looking glass that a Cruella De Vil origin story isn't just a thing in 2021. It reminded me of a moment in the early 2000's where my friends and I would chat about movie ideas that might be cool but would never happen because they were just too nerd culture. Well, now nerd culture is the main culture and these things aren't just real, they're the works of people's careers. I have no doubt that it's also a cynical bit of brand expansion, but the sheer wackiness of its existence just sort of kept me with it. It also benefits from Emma Thompson playing Miranda Priestly (natch) and the rare Emma Stone headlining role. Has any other actress of her generation managed to keep her appeal so fresh? Perhaps one of the reasons is she usually functions as more of an ensemble player or a co-lead. I'm struggling to think of the last film where she truly was the star. Easy A? Her British accent is come and go and the script sadly doesn't allow her to go deep (the split between Estella and Cruella doesn't make a lot of sense) but the film is a good reminder of why she's here for the long haul.

[dws1982]

Do you have the same problem with orchestral concerts?

I've never been to an orchestral concert but I've been to a few concerts given by guitar players with my dad because he is a big fan. One was in a big concert hall at a college and I liked it because there was plenty of room and it wasn't very crowded, the other was at the Ryman in Nashville and I hated it because there was no room and it was extremely crowded.

[Greg]

. . . I cannot relate to concert films on any level. I've been to maybe ten in my life, and a couple of years ago after going to a couple with someone I was dating, I realized I hate going to them and have no desire to ever go to any others. I guess the term that people would use to describe me would be neurodivergent, but to say that loud noises--especially the prolonged ones you get at a concert--in crowded spaces stress me out is an understatement.

Do you have the same problem with orchestral concerts?

[dws1982]

I don't really have a lot to say about Summer of Soul other than that it's a good, well-made documentary about something that did not know about at all handicapped by the fact that it's just not my thing. I don't like a lot of music documentaries, mainly in the way they are usually just a bunch of aging people we haven't heard from in years reliving the glory days. This isn't that, and it makes a good case for the significance of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival beyond just a 1969 concert, but, and this is no fault of the film at all, I cannot relate to concert films on any level. I've been to maybe ten in my life, and a couple of years ago after going to a couple with someone I was dating, I realized I hate going to them and have no desire to ever go to any others. I guess the term that people would use to describe me would be neurodivergent, but to say that loud noises--especially the prolonged ones you get at a concert--in crowded spaces stress me out is an understatement. (I'm very selective about when and where I see movies in a theater for the same reason.) So despite good footage of immensely talented musicians and singers, this movie had an insurmountable hurdle with me. Concert footage doesn't give me serious anxiety the way being at a concert does, but watching it never even seems fun or enjoyable to me. It's a good movie though, my favorite of the four I've seen, although not necessarily my favorite documentary of 2021, and I won't be upset if (when?) it wins.

Ascension is one that I respect for what it's doing and trying to do, am stunned that it made it in over some more conventional shortlisted documentaries, and was mostly bored out of my mind while watching it. Malcolm mentioned some similarities to the Qatsi trilogy in his review in the documentaries thread, and that's there, but I also thought about Jia Zhangke's 24 City as something in the wheelhouse of what this was trying to do. I haven't seen that movie since 2008 or so, but I've also never forgotten parts of it. It's well shot, but it's also juvenile at times--oh, look, they are very robotically and mechanically making sex dolls.

[anonymous1980]

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao.
Dir: Edgar Wright.

A young woman studying fashion in London has a fascination and fixation on the '60s. She then mysteriously goes back in time under the guise of another young woman, an aspiring singer then uncovers something more sinister. I have heard a lot of mixed things about this film. Now that I have finally seen it, I can understand why. Yes, the big reveal and the twist is kind of flawed, a bit problematic and wonky. But at the same time, I think that was kind of the point. This Peeping Tom meets Repulsion riff is probably Edgar Wright's weakest mainstream film to date but I think as an original thriller, it's pretty solid and impeccably crafted. The performances of Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Diana Rigg are aces. Is it a masterpiece? No. But I think it will eventually be reevaluated down the line as a underrated work of Wright.

Grade: B+

[anonymous1980]

NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Pearlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn.
Dir: Guillermo del Toro.

Based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham which already has a rather famous 1947 adaptation, this tells the story of an ambitious carnival worker who becomes famous as a fake psychic then later gets entangled with a duplicitous femme fatale psychiatrist. After this, I've finally seen all the 2021 Best Picture Oscar nominees. I've also seen the 1947 version which I thought was a solid but imperfect film noir. This one, on the other hand, is...a solid but imperfect neo-noir. This film benefits from director Guillermo del Toro's trademark gorgeous visuals and of course, the ability to go to darker, more violent, racier and more sinister places the 1947 version could not go to. Bradley Cooper also gives one of his best career performances in this film. His final moment is just perfect. Overall, a fine film but midtier Del Toro.

Grade: B+

[Mister Tee]

Dutiful Oscar completist that I am, I finally got to Spider-Man today. Thoughts as I watched:

1) Aargh!!! -- I'm supposed to remember all kinds of stuff from earlier films! Even the ones I've seen, I don't have all this data stored for instant retrieval.

2) Once I orient myself, the first -- I don't know, 45 minutes? -- actually breeze by pretty well. There are occasional witty throw-away lines (the writers seem like pros at this), the three young stars have decent chemistry, and Benedict Cumberbatch has a lot of fun doing his arrogant thing.

3) Then all these special guest villains start showing up, and I recognize Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe, because of course I know them, but also I saw the movies they were in...but others (like Jamie Foxx) turn up, and I don't recognize them while they're covered in CGI, because I never knew they were villains in this universe -- they were evidently in movies I skipped, on account of reliable authority telling me they were trash.

4) And the sad realization comes to me, that it doesn't matter whether the movies sucked or not -- they're all part of the lengthy saga, and you're in for all of it or you just don't matter. Which also counts when the big fan-service reunion of Spider Mans comes about. I might feel vague nostalgia for Tobey Maguire, beca8se I saw his movies (in the innocent days when it seemed like an enjoyably light lark of a series). But I feel nothing when I see Andrew Garfield show up, because I have never seen him as Spider Man, and don't care to.

5) So that final 45 minutes or so, that has apparently massively stroked the comic-book erogenous zones of gazillions of people, left me cold. It alternated Tarantino-esque chat on the meta of Spider-Man movies with the same old battle-to-the-finish action sequences that Marvel has made obligatory and somehow excruciatingly dull.

6) And I finish off being simply depressed that such an undistinguished, factory-made latest piece of a franchise is what gets people to flood multiplexes, braving Omicron infection after many months of abstaining from better movies. And gets even some critics with credentials shouting this is what we need nominated for best picture at the Oscars. God save us.

[anonymous1980]

LICORICE PIZZA
Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Skyler Gisondo, Ryan Heffington, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Christine Ebersole, Harriett Sansom Harris, Maya Rudolph, Joseph Cross.
Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson.

A high schooler who was a child actor falls for an older woman who's a photographer's assistant then becomes a successful business person selling waterbeds. The latest from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson is this episodic love story which some people may raise their eyebrows over. But the script captures a weird kind of innocence and nostalgia that almost tempers that. Newcomers Alan Haim and Cooper Hoffman are both great, compelling leads with believable chemistry. The film is funny and sweet and has an almost dream and memory like atmosphere to it. Also, one of the things I like about the film are the one or two scene performances by some of the actors including Bradley Cooper. No, it's not my favorite PTA. But it's up there.

Grade: A-

[Big Magilla]

The film is currently my fifth favorite of the year behind Jane Campion's haunting The Power of the Dog, Kenneth Branagh's child's view of the Irish troubles of 1969 in Belfast, Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story, and Benicio del Toro's remake of Nightmare Alley.

Guillermo…

Damn! I do that all the time! Fixed below.

[HarryGoldfarb]

The film is currently my fifth favorite of the year behind Jane Campion's haunting The Power of the Dog, Kenneth Branagh's child's view of the Irish troubles of 1969 in Belfast, Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story, and Benicio del Toro's remake of Nightmare Alley.

Guillermo…

[dws1982]

Kind of agree with a lot of what others are saying about The Worst Person in the World. There were things I liked a lot about it (the actors are excellent), but I definitely agree with the comment that the age gap between Julie and Aksel isn't convincing. They definitely seemed around the same age. Agree the ending is a little bit of a whiff although I'm not sure what would've been satisfying. Overall a good movie though.

Belfast I didn't like, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time being grumpy about it and starting arguments, because I don't think that's good form, since I know some people admired it a lot. A movie like this is going to always invite comparisons to The Long Day Closes--one of the twenty or so greatest movies of all time, in my opinion--and apart from being more conventionally-assembled, it's just not well-served by that comparison. It's best when it's about the marriage of the parents (Balfe is very good--I genuinely can't understand how Dench got nominated over her), but it's completely gutless on a political level. Glad Hinds got nominated, because I've liked him for a long time. He's good here, although he doesn't have a ton to do.

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
I'm surprised your sister was so wild about it, Sabin. The woman I went with (who'd really liked Parallel Mothers) didn't like much of anything about the movie, for the failure-of-female-characterization reasons I've described.

I'm trying to figure out how to explain to you why my sister would like this film in ways that would make sense. I was one of the major influencers in my sister's taste. She got into Wes Anderson, Charlie Kaufman, Freaks and Geeks, and Arrested Development because of me. Beyond that, she's always sort of had a taste for stories about breaking free from conformity and societal expectations, so I didn't have much doubt that she'd be into it. That's not uncommon with other older Millennial women in my experience.

[Big Magilla]

DRIVE MY CAR
Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tōko Miura, Masaki Okada, Reika Krisimana, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon.
Dir: Ryususke Hamaguchi.

Yes, it's that good! Hamaguchi's film version of Haruki Murakami's novel is a complex three-hour film featuring a fifty minute or so prologue before the film's titles appear and the film moves forward two years.

My site responsibilities require me to read spoilers but fortunately I either skipped through the many spoilers on this one or didn't remember them when watching the film. That was good, because part of the joy in watching the film is to discover the many secrets that unfold at their own pace, so none will be further spoiled by me.

In some ways, this is as lovely a film about contemporary Japan as Tokyo Story and Yaujiro Ozu's other post-war films were of Japanese society of seventy years ago. Will it have that lasting an effect on audiences? I don't know, but don't wait. Go see it, or better yet, stream it so you can watch it as you would read a good book, a little at a time.

The film is currently my fifth favorite of the year behind Jane Campion's haunting The Power of the Dog, Kenneth Branagh's child's view of the Irish troubles of 1969 in Belfast, Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story, and Guillermo del Toro's remake of Nightmare Alley.

Grade A.