The Official Review Thread of 2021

[Okri]

Okri wrote
Yeah, Petite Maman is probably my favourite film from the 20/21 years. Sciamma is just a remarkable director.

Armond White loves it and has described Celine Schiamma as "The New Spielberg." Now I'm questioning what I just saw...

Lol. Honestly, though, her understanding of children and childhood is pretty special. Even with some of her earlier works (Water Lillies, Tomboy), it's there.

[Sabin]

Okri wrote
Yeah, Petite Maman is probably my favourite film from the 20/21 years. Sciamma is just a remarkable director.

Armond White loves it and has described Celine Schiamma as "The New Spielberg." Now I'm questioning what I just saw...

[Big Magilla]

WEST SIDE STORY (Steven Spielberg)
Cast: Rachel Zegler, Anson Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Josh Andrés Rivera, Brian d'Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Rita Moreno.

I liked it. I thought the musical numbers were handled better in the 1961 version, but the dialogue written by Tony Kushner for this version was stronger.

The performances are all excellent from Rachel Zegler and Anson Elgort in the leads to Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez in the second leads and all down the list to Rita Moreno in a role written especially for her. The standout, though, is Mike Faist as Riff. He brings a new kind of energy to the role that wasn't there in Russ Tamblyn's interpretation.

It will receive Oscar nominations galore. The question is how many, and how many will it win?

Grade A

[Sabin]

Yay! Cartoons in 2021! Which means both have LGBTQ themes about children and their parents and the desire to leave home and go to school. And Maya Rudolph plays a Mother in both.

- I love what The Mitchells vs. The Machines is going for so much. The way that it operates is a fantastic alternative to Disney/PIXAR and pretty much everything else out there in terms of its sensibility and animation style. And it's heart is so in the right place, and yet I can't lie and pretend that it didn't exhaust me. I was a little joked out by it and I had a little big of a problem accepting the realities of what The Mitchells could and could not do. What we have here is basically a sitcom family (The Mitchells) are take a family trip as they drive their daughter to film school in a last ditch attempt at family togetherness. Unrelated, a cell phone robot apocalypse takes over the world and they must stop it. By the end, they are fighting robots better than I've ever seen the X-Men do and this bothered me. Gravity Falls (wonderful show) creators Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe effortlessly sell the Mitchells as a sitcom family that we're essentially catching the series finale of, with strong generational divide comedy, and it's not hard at all to imagine them doing a film of just their trip. But movies gotta movie and so it's constant danger from the 20 minute mark onward. It's also just a non-stop joke machine which wore me down a little, especially the random visual social media/filter jokes. At a certain point, I wasn't laughing but I was still capable of appreciating the conceptual genius of the "Foolish Human Airlines" commercial randomly inserted into the middle. One exception: there is a dog joke in the climax of the film that made me laugh harder than anything I've seen in a while. These guys are absolutely brilliant, I love their series, I like this film, I can't wait to see what they do next, I just hope they slow down.

- Something is out of wack in the screenplay for Luca. I'd be happy to chalk it up to watching something PIXAR-beautiful on a different, more leisurely scale, but the storytellers never quite figure out how to juggle all the parts. It's the story of two sea monsters, Luca who lives in the water and Alberto who lives out of the water, they meet, become friends, and visit the human world together because they can transform to human when they step on land. Because they have to pair Luca up with Alberto so soon, Luca never quite comes into view as a character (why does he need this journey?) and his gorgeous underwater world never gets fully developed. The film is basically entirely about the friendship between Luca and Alberto (really, that's the title), which is very appealing, but their desire to win a Vespa never makes a lot of sense because neither of them have ever been a part of the human world. And when a girl — and the idea of going to school — comes between them, it never quite feels like an organic wedge in their friendship. It's all very Studio Ghibli-like and I think it either needed to make more or less sense, like perhaps if it felt a bit more written by children considering it's a $200 million film that culminates with a Vespa race and the defeat of a bully. It's a pretty low stakes affair and it feels a bit padded at 95 minutes. The best case I can make for it is that it's best seen as a deviation from the normal PIXAR films we get. It feels like a live action coming of age film that didn't necessarily need to be animated getting the PIXAR treatment. And i did like that it felt very true to a child’s emotional experience, especially at the end. Luca and Alberto have wonderful character designs and it's the most beautiful water you've ever seen in film in your life. I know that's an odd recommendation for a film but it's just stunning to see. It's minor but I didn't mind it.

[Big Magilla]

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (Joel Coen)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson, Bertie Carvel, Corey Hawkins, Kathryn Hunter.

Yes, it deserves Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Cinematography at the very least. With ten nominations, Best Picture wouldn't be out of the question either. Washington's Macbeth may not be a classic interpretation, but it is a sterling one and one of the actor's best. Frances McDormand's Lady Macbeth seemed off to me - whereas Denzel disappeared into his character, I felt I was watching Frances, not her character - her movements and line readings were the same things she has been doing for years. Kathryn Hunter, on the other hand, is brilliant as the witch(es). A supporting actress nomination would not be unwarranted, but unlikely given the wealth of strong contenders we have this year despite what the New York Film Critics Circle thought.

Grade A

CYRANO (Joe Wright)
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Ben Mendelsohn

BAFTA gave it seven mentions on the longlist. I wouldn't be surprised if advances on the shortlist for Best British Film, Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Costume Design, and Hair and Makeup, it's that good.

Grade A

CODA (Sian Heder)
Cast: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Eugenio Derbez.

Sorry, but I'm not a fan of this one. At heart, it's a sweet coming-of-age story for teenage girls, but it's a simple story that goes on and on and then on some more. Most of the actors are appealing, but I don't get all the praise for Troy Kotsur as the father. If I were to pick one actor out of the cast worthy of awards recognition it would be Eugenio Derbez as the music teacher.

Grade C

LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie.

Sorry, but I'm even a lesser fan of this one with its dizzying hand-held camera movements and lame jokes. Alana Haim and especially Cooper Hoffman are definite finds, but most of the cameos were excruciating, especially Bradley Cooper as Jon Peters. How they can reward him for that nonsense instead of for his much better performance in Nightmare Alley this year is beyond my comprehension.

Grade D

[Okri]

Petite Maman is the anti-Annnette. Really hard not to fall for it. It's a hair more than 70 minutes and it tackles grief from a child's point of view in such a sweet, honest way.

....

It's hard to imagine a longer version of this film. Certain small films feel a bit too thin to be great but end up perfect, and this is one of those films. It's pretty perfect.

Yeah, Petite Maman is probably my favourite film from the 20/21 years. Sciamma is just a remarkable director.

[Sabin]

Pig and Free Guy were my masked up June double feature.

Mister Tee wrote
As for Pig...I thought i was going to be the skeptic, but your dismissal makes me feel like half a fan. I couldn't escape the feeling, watching the film get underway, that it had a film-school-project air to it. The echoes of assorted darkish films (Leave No Trace, John Wick, Fight Club) led the audience to think it was stepping into a dangerous-underworld scenario. But, the kicker: that world is actually the high-toned Portland foodie community. This feels more like a concept, designed toted to elicit "how clever," than a subject to be explored. And, while the ensuing film had a number of dialogue/monologue scenes I admired (notably Cage's interrogation of the waiter, Arkin's speech, and finally Cage's explanation of how he re-created the dinner), in plot terms, it felt like things fizzled.

I can't really argue with some of these points if that's how you felt. I can only throw out this caveat: watching it in the theater, I was just taken by it. Matt Zoller Seitz wrote "Pig is on a short list of movies I loved that I wish I hadn't been assigned to write about, because I so enjoyed not having any idea what I was in for. No matter how circumspect I try to be in this review, I'm certain to tell you something you'd rather have stumbled into on your journey." That's basically how I felt. It shouldn't be oversold because you either go with it or you don't. I hesitate to raise expectations high up. It's one of the few movies this year where I really did think that was an experience. I don't disagree with you that the third act feels like a bit of a letdown to the point where you can feel it straining to pad out a feature's length of material. What didn't to me feel like a letdown was the journey it creates for the Alex Wolff character, a Millennial struggling to carve out his own path despite not a whole lot of personal experiences under his belt. My favorite character detail of the year is that he doesn't just listen to Mozart on tape, he listens to a disc explaining how to appreciate Mozart on tape.

Additionally, the whole film to me felt like a treatise on a moribund society and watching it masked up in a theater last summer, it felt a bit cathartic.

Mister Tee wrote
I'm basically in line with dws' opinion of Cage: it's definitely better work than anything beyond his two Oscar nominations and Matchstick Men, but the very strong critical response might flow more from relief at not witnessing another crash-and-burn performance than from valuing this one quite so highly. He does a very nice job with his extended dialogue scenes, but I wasn't wowed.

I wrote something to this affect earlier this year. A nomination for Cage was easily the most likely prize this film could attain but it wouldn't be terribly earned. The film uses his presence quite well but it's mainly a feat of casting, as well as projection onto the actor himself who (as the years have gone on) has a bit of a gonzo mystic quality as one tries to process how and why he chooses such insane film.

Mister Tee wrote
One more film: I watched Free Guy last night. It's a sign of our devalued mainstream culture times that one feels the need to praise a film for simply being original (as in not a sequel; it clearly borrows from The Truman Show and Wreck-it Ralph, among many films), having some fun ideas and an overall likable tone, and not lining up an inevitable sequel (there'll presumably be one, but the film can be watched as stand-alone, which is getting to be a rarity). Pleasant enough escapism, but utterly minor.

I wrote last June:

I think it benefits from the fact that I don’t see 300 movies a year anymore as well as the fact that despite essentially being Fortnite, The Movie (none of you know what I’m talking about) it’s not a comic book, remake, or sequel.

The rest of my review was a bit muted. I think after a day or so to really think about it, its freshness seemed less inspired. But thinking back on it right now today, I think "pleasant" is the operative word which is ultimately fine for escapism.

[Mister Tee]

Also didn't like Spencer, which (similar to how I felt about Jackie) felt like an elaborate joke that I wasn't in on.

I have to say I've heard things like this elsewhere, and it perplexes me. I totally get feeling alienated from Spencer, but I thought Jackie was way-way closer to a mainstream film, and it surprises me that people lump them together as equally off-putting.

As for Pig...I thought i was going to be the skeptic, but your dismissal makes me feel like half a fan. I couldn't escape the feeling, watching the film get underway, that it had a film-school-project air to it. The echoes of assorted darkish films (Leave No Trace, John Wick, Fight Club) led the audience to think it was stepping into a dangerous-underworld scenario. But, the kicker: that world is actually the high-toned Portland foodie community. This feels more like a concept, designed to elicit "how clever," than a subject to be explored. And, while the ensuing film had a number of dialogue/monologue scenes I admired (notably Cage's interrogation of the waiter, Arkin's speech, and finally Cage's explanation of how he re-created the dinner), in plot terms, it felt like things fizzled. I had a few narrative issues: (SPOILER) Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention,but it seemed wildly coincidental that Cage would have been responsible for the very meal Wolf (out of the blue) describes as having given his parents such a legendary night, I also got confused when I was shown (I assumed) Lori's final resting place, but then shortly after had a scene of Cage talking with someone named Lori. (I assume mother and daughter with the same name, but that was a needless confusion in a film that was a bit on the vague side to begin.) But my biggest problem was how Cage's crusade just petered out: Arkin tells him the fate of the object of his quest, and he basically says, Okay; let me go home and listen to my late wife's tape. The end.

I get that the film isn't really about the search for the pig -- that it's barely sublimated metaphor for the loss of Cage's wife. But the non-climax still (in my wife's favorite term) causes the film to end in a pillow. Also: this may be just my perspective as a no-longer-young guy, but I didn't get any authentic feeling of loss from the film; it struck me more as the work of a young guy who hasn't experienced that kind of loss, but is aping what he thinks it might feel like.

I'm basically in line with dws' opinion of Cage: it's definitely better work than anything beyond his two Oscar nominations and Matchstick Men, but the very strong critical response might flow more from relief at not witnessing another crash-and-burn performance than from valuing this one quite so highly. He does a very nice job with his extended dialogue scenes, but I wasn't wowed.

One more film: I watched Free Guy last night. It's a sign of our devalued mainstream culture times that one feels the need to praise a film for simply being original (as in not a sequel; it clearly borrows from The Truman Show and Wreck-it Ralph, among many films), having some fun ideas and an overall likable tone, and not lining up an inevitable sequel (there'll presumably be one, but the film can be watched as stand-alone, which is getting to be a rarity). Pleasant enough escapism, but utterly minor.

[Big Magilla]

NIGHTMARE ALLEY (Guillermo de Toro)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen.

Well done, Oscar worthy remake of the 1947 cult favorite. Production values are superb. It's an easy qualifier for awards recognition for Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, and Score. Del Toro's direction is faultless.

The screenplay is good but drags in places. It could easily have been edited down to a standard 2-hour running time instead of 2 1/2 hours with credits.

The big question, though, is how were the performances? Quite strong, actually.

I don't know why Bradley Cooper's performance has been met with so many critical shrugs. His character is supposed to be enigmatic, and he is. He is a cypher that you can't really figure out until the end. Cooper has gotten so many Oscar nominations for work that has been merely okay, it's a shame he probably won't get one for this.

Rooney Mara has the largest female role as the "good girl" but doesn't really impress until her last few scenes when lightning finally strikes.

Cate Blanchett is powerful as the duplicitous shrink as is to be expected. Toni Collette continues to impress, nicely channeling Joan Blondell who played her card trick character in the 1947 version. David Strathairn as Colette's husband and Richard Jenkins as Cooper's last victim are superb as always. Ron Perlman is fine as a strong man and Mary Steenburgen is deft as ever in a role played mostly for laughs. Only Willem Dafoe tends to overplay his twisted character.

Oscar prospects: All categories it is eligible for but probably not the overcrowded supporting actress field for which Blanchett is the most likely nominee.

Grade A

[anonymous1980]

HOUSE OF GUCCI
Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Jack Huston.
Dir: Ridley Scott.

This is the true story behind the circumstances which led to the murder-for-hire Maurizio Gucci by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani as well as the fall of the various members of the Gucci family. I found this film a bit disappointing because the trailer made it look like it was going to be kind of a campy, pulpy fun, maybe even darkly humorous crime picture. But director Ridley Scott mostly played it as a straight drama which, by and large, wasn't the right fit. There are elements here and there which could have been made more compelling by a director with a better handle for the material. The performances are, let's say, all over the place. Lady Gaga and Adam Driver are good while Al Pacino is probably my favorite performance from the lot. Jared Leto, yes, is laughably bad. I don't believe for one second he's playing an actual character. Yeah, even with Ridley Scott's hit-and-miss filmography, this is not one of his best.

Oscar Prospects: Why is Jared Leto getting the Supporting Actor mentions? If one HAS to nominate a supporting actor for this, Al Pacino is definitely giving a better performance here.

Grade: C+

[dws1982]

Re, Petite Maman: Is it ever going to get released in the US? NEON seems to have dropped the ball with their 2021 slate.

Speaking of their 2021 slate, I didn't much care for Pig.

It's a 30-minute short expanded to 90 minutes. It has nice performances from Cage and Wolff, but I think part of the acclaim for Cage is because he's playing a human being for the first time in years and not someone from another planet. It's really badly shot and very under-lit--easily my pick for worst cinematography of the year--and seems like the only real photographic choice was to drain any vibrant color or life from the frame. It's all dull shades of brown and green. It's a standard indie, and I know some people are very attracted by the smallness of a film like this (sometimes that works for me) but it didn't do much for me.

Also didn't like Spencer, which (similar to how I felt about Jackie) felt like an elaborate joke that I wasn't in on.

[Sabin]

Saw a couple of films I just don't feel like doing full capsules for...

- I know so many people who said they weren't interested in seeing West Side Story because it was just a remake. I sent them towards Annette telling them "You want to see a new musical, check this out." The few who did came back furious. I totally understand why. Annette has a very catchy first song but afterwards it largely stopped working for me and I just kept watching out of fascination. Everything in this film is sort of deconstructive and in parentheticals and I felt as though I was watching an idea for a musical that never totally came to life. It makes me truly wonder if I underrated Dancer in the Dark. I found some of its notions of showbiz life charming in how odd they were, like how Adam Driver's comedian is basically a confrontational Bill Hicks/Andrew Dice Clay type from the early 1990s, backed by a gospel choir, telling ZERO jokes but just pacing about angrily. It's an interesting notion of what being a comedian must be like in the Mad Dog Time dimension. But it's ultimately to no avail. I just never found anything to latch onto to bring me into what they were doing and by the time Baby Annette became a singing sensation taking over the world I'd already just be set on watching the thing until it was over.
- I don't know if I think that Adam Driver is the best actor working today but is easily the most unflappable. He can take great projects and be good as well as totally unworkable projects like this one and be even better.

- Petite Maman is the anti-Annnette. Really hard not to fall for it. It's a hair more than 70 minutes and it tackles grief from a child's point of view in such a sweet, honest way.

VERY SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW
...
...
... basically this is a tiny, French Back to the Future where a little girl (who has recently lost her grandmother and whose mother has left the family in grief) discovers another little girl in the woods one day, it turns out she's a child version of her mother, and they become friends. It's the story of a little girl who gains closure but what's so incredible about the film (besides the casting; both girls are twin sisters and it works to incredible authenticity) is that Céline Sciamma has a very clear memory of what sense experience as a child is like. The two little girls just trample about, build a fort, do a bit of cooking, and experience their environment together. The handful of dramatically potent moments are handled with honesty and grace leading up to an ending that I found pretty wonderful. It helps that it's only 70 minutes. It's hard to imagine a longer version of this film. Certain small films feel a bit too thin to be great but end up perfect, and this is one of those films. It's pretty perfect.

[Big Magilla]

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

Surprised this one hasn't been reviewed here. The Hawaiian Film critics were on to something when they named it Best Picture of the year. The swirling camerawork, soundtrack filled with 60s pop classics, and superb acting by the entire cast, but especially McKenzie, Taylor-Joy, and Rigg to whom the film is dedicated, make it one of the year's best.

Think Mulholland Drive with Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and their landlady, Ann Miller, and you might think you know what's going on, but you would be wrong, dead wrong. The film also evokes memories of Stamp's 1965 classic, The Collector, and Tushingham's breakout hit, A Taste of Honey, but these, too, involve misdirection as Wright is playing with us throughout.

Oscar Prospects: Picture, Director, Actress (McKenzie), Supporting Actress (Taylor-Joy, Rigg), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design. Costume Design - I would add Makeup and Hairstyling, but it has already missed the Oscar shortlist for that. It's on the BAFTA longlist for Best British Film, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actress (Taylor-Joy), Cinematography, Editing, Costume Design, Makeup and Hair, Original Score, Visual Effects, and Sound.

Grade: A

[HarryGoldfarb]

Lin Manuel Miranda wished he was Bob Fosse but falls flat by trying to emulate the style of All that Jazz in tick tick.. boom.

Most scenes, specially during the second half, seem ripped from a cheesy manipulative romantic comedy from the nineties.

Not a single song is catchy or worth remembering.

One star for Andrew Garfield for trying.

Absolutely insufferable film.

Not sure about the comparison with Fosse… Miranda seems to be more “grounded” or pseudo-naturalistic and less showier (not necessarily a good thing, considering the subject matter). I think his approach can not be more different than Fosse’s usual.

Yes, the whole thing seems and feels very very nineties (regardless of the recreation aspects) because it is what it is: a product of its time. Larson was definitely in a very specific creative moment where most of his songs share musical elements, so much that these set of songs sound as it can be inserted in a reinvented version of Rent.

As for the songs not being catchy enough, Therapy is currently my most played song this year so far.

Too bad you didn’t enjoy it but it is interesting that even when you suffered it, you still appreciated to some extent Garfield’s work. I guess this will be common ground for voters: Garfield will be backed even by people who dislike the film.

[mlrg]

Lin Manuel Miranda wished he was Bob Fosse but falls flat by trying to emulate the style of All that Jazz in tick tick.. boom.

Most scenes, specially during the second half, seem ripped from a cheesy manipulative romantic comedy from the nineties.

Not a single song is catchy or worth remembering.

One star for Andrew Garfield for trying.

Absolutely insufferable film.