Licorice Pizza reviews

[Sabin]

mlrg wrote
Completely agree with this and that's why I like him. I prefer to have food for thought than be fed by fast food.

Well then I hope you enjoy Licorice Pizza. Say whatever you will about it but it's certainly not fast.

[mlrg]

he developed this tendency to introduce characters as enigmas, walking question marks that we spend the rest of the film figuring out. Sometimes it's successful like in There Will Be Blood or Phantom Thread and sometimes it isn't like in The Master (unsuccessful but I still mostly like it), a feature of eternal question marks.

Completely agree with this and that's why I like him. I prefer to have food for thought than be fed by fast food.

[Sabin]

mlrg wrote
Paul Thomas Anderson is probably my favorite film maker working today. Although I loathe Punch Drunk Love and Inherent Vice, films like Magnolia, Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread are such superior film making that I can forgive those two misfires (for me at least).

I don't think he's ever going to make a movie I love as much as Boogie Nights again because he's just simply not the same filmmaker anymore. I think Owen Gleiberman wrote this but after Magnolia, he developed this tendency to introduce characters as enigmas, walking question marks that we spend the rest of the film figuring out. Sometimes it's successful like in There Will Be Blood or Phantom Thread and sometimes it isn't like in The Master (unsuccessful but I still mostly like it), a feature of eternal question marks. I'm interested in hearing the reactions to Licorice Pizza on this board. I liked it a bit more than I let on in the review. I would give it two and a half stars out of four. I just can't pretend that I was remotely satisfied with the direction of the story.

One thing I didn't mention is that the film has a fucking around quality that is intentional. It's clearly the work of a filmmaker who is entertaining himself. And that's grand in theory but I found it exasperating, which is evidenced in one joke that easily has to be considered the worst moment in his career: I'm not going to ruin it but it involves John Michael Higgins acting as an interpreter for his Japanese wife or girlfriend. It's really a startling moment that made me wonder, truly, what the fuck this guy is thinking with this film.

[mlrg]

Paul Thomas Anderson is probably my favorite film maker working today. Although I loathe Punch Drunk Love and Inherent Vice, films like Magnolia, Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread are such superior film making that I can forgive those two misfires (for me at least).

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
I don't know about that. For every Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, there's a Punch-Drunk Love and Inherent Vice, both of which I found pretty unbearable.

Well, you're certainly allowed to feel that way. I don't. I think the way he makes movies is so compelling and unlike anyone else that I always find something to enjoy no matter how frustrating his storytelling choices can be. I had a somewhat similar experience to The Master, which I found similarly disappointing but still gleaned much to enjoy from the performances.

[Big Magilla]

Paul Thomas Anderson is pretty much incapable of making a bad film

I don't know about that. For every Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, there's a Punch-Drunk Love and Inherent Vice, both of which I found pretty unbearable.

[Sabin]

No need to dress this one up. I found Licorice Pizza to be pretty disappointing. I've never seen Paul Thomas Anderson make anything this rambling. While it's absolutely full of charming moments which taken individually keep one's head above water, there is almost no forward momentum or through-line to keep one captivated save for enjoyment of the two lead performances. It's worth noting though that that for me is almost enough. Cooper Hoffman and (especially) Alana Haim are excellent. Almost the entirety of all the charm in the film is their banter and chemistry. In moments, Hoffman unmistakably evokes his father's presence, but he acts with a goofball glee all his own. He's a huckster-y, immature 15 year old with a lot of big dreams, low experience, and poor decision-making. Haim is the revelation though. She'll be nominated. Really, she's the film's protagonist. She's ​a mid-20s misfit who needs to make her big leap into adulthood and puts entirely too much pressure on herself, which forces her into poor situations. She has a very short fuse which launches her into confrontations as fast as Nomi Malone. She's a total screwball invention but Haim has this smile and look in her eyes that just sells it. I have no idea what career Alana Haim is going to have after this but I'm very excited. She's a blast.

The movie is not. It's been a very long time since I've seen a movie set up so many winning ideas and then go in a different direction for fuck all's sake. We start with a terribly charming premise: Gary is a child actor who envisions himself a future star and tries to win the heart of a much older girl while in school and dealing with the pressures of his working mother. I mean... REALLY that's all you need. There's a scene where Alana (her name in the film) brings one of Gary's co-stars home for Shabbat dinner to disastrous results. I was confident at some point she would do the same thing with Gary because why else set it up? It doesn't happen. After thirty minutes, Gary decides to start selling waterbeds and this business venture, which truly is never really set up (is he an entrepreneur? is he a horndog?), it takes up a vast amount of screentime as Alana becomes his business partner, and the two of them never quite find the right moment to have the same feelings for each other at the same time. I suppose it's possible that Anderson surmised that with Hoffman in school and Haim out of school, it would just be too awkward to find devices to keep them together or it just be too creepy overall. But the problem is that the waterbed business is utterly meaningless. Very little in the film doesn't feel meaningless. Any character can want or not want to do anything for any reason. The most charitable take I can give this film is that it's a shaggy dog film like we haven't seen in some time, Paul Thomas Anderson is pretty much incapable of making a bad film, and there are requisite charms from watching PTA riff.

I happened to rewatch There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread over the last couple of days. I don't know for certain but I'd be willing to bet that the climactic scene of Phantom Thread with the omelet had to be something he envisioned near the beginning and worked back from. I just don't understand how that scene could come naturally in the writing process. It's so lynchpin. But the audacity of building towards a scene of whether or not someone eats an omelet providing a range of laughter, suspense, and emotion is one of the high points of his career. There is nothing in Licorice Pizza as meaningful and purposeful as that scene. In fact, it's hard to imagine how the same filmmaker could have made followed up that film with this film except to surmise he just felt like fucking around and doing something personal. It's certainly his right to do so. But I'm quite disappointed.

[Mister Tee]

He says it also has a good chance at nominations for Best Picture and Director. Like everyone, he's ecstatic about Alana Haim but views Best Actress as a little too crowded for her to breakthrough but views it as a possibility.

As for this part: If the film becomes central to the best picture race (which, right now, it seems to be: I'd say this, Power of the Dog, King Richard and Belfast are the core, with Don't Look Up, Nightmare Alley and, I suppose, West Side Story, lurking out there as gate-crashers), a leading actress who's getting star-is-born notices will almost surely be carried along, never mind the bigger names bloggers have been tossing out the past 8 weeks. Especially since the expansion to 10, best picture nominees have dominated the lead acting slates (all acting slates, actually); hopefuls like Jessica Chastain and Lady Gaga will be hobbled by weak-ish vehicles, while Haim will have the strongest overall contender among the female candidates to carry her onto the slate.

[Mister Tee]

Also, I’m seeing it tonight.

Well, that's burying the lede. You lucky son of a bitch.

Obviously I can't speak authoritatively about the film till I see it, but what I gather from the massive reaction is: 1) a whole lot of people (well beyond the standard PTA niche) truly love this; and 2) there's resistance in some from viewing it as a best picture possibility because "it doesn't feel like a Oscar movie". This is likely because they're thinking in the terms okri defined so well -- when they think of an Oscar movie, they mean The King's Speech and Green Book, not No Country for Old Men or Moonlight. But they may also mean the film doesn't feel Important Enough.

There might be an historical Oscar article to be written (by me, I suppose, if I find the time/energy) about how the best picture award has been a century-long tug of war between movies that were Important Enough and movies that People Just Loved. This film feels like it might be an interesting entry in that conflict.

[Sabin]

Variety did a quick write up of the film's Oscar chances but before I write them up, I realize something just now:

For over a decade now, we've seen a slight redefinition of what an Oscar film is and one of them means not winning many Academy Awards. Three or four will do. Over the last six years, we've also seen a redefinition in how many nominations are needed. Yes, The Shape of Water picked up a hefty thirteen nominations and Moonlight a relatively average eight, but Spotlight, Green Book, Parasite, and Nomadland grabbed six, five, six, and six. You have to go back almost forty years to find four Best Picture winners in such a range (The Departed, Crash, Ordinary People, and Annie Hall).

Anyway...

https://variety.com/2021/film/awards/li ... 235110170/

Clayton Davis top lines that Licorice Pizza could win Paul Thomas Anderson his first Oscar for writing. He seems to view that as the film's likeliest shot. He says it also has a good chance at nominations for Best Picture and Director. Like everyone, he's ecstatic about Alana Haim but views Best Actress as a little too crowded for her to breakthrough but views it as a possibility. He doesn't view any of the supporting players as having meaty enough roles for Oscar consideration although Bradley Cooper is apparently quite fun.

Beyond that, he says the film might have a bit of trouble in down ballot competition:
* Cinematography: having co-shot the film himself with a first time DP, Licorice PIzza might be as a disadvantage because co-cinematographers rarely win, directors who serve as DPs are rarely nominated, and first time DPs are rarely nominated..
* Editing: the film has perhaps a too leisurely pace. There Will Be Blood is the only PTA movie nominated for Film Editing which also has a very leisurely pace so who knows? Maybe if they love it.
* Score: Jonny Greenwood has two other films that are likely nominees (Spencer, The Power of the Dog) and there isn't enough original music for this to make it a third.
* Production Design: a possibility. Florencia Martina and Ryan Watson are closing in on nominations.
* Costume Design: Mark Bridges is a frequent nominee, two-time winner (Phantom Thread, The Artist), and frequent PTA collaborator.

So, it would look like at minimum, Licorice Pizza might pick up four nominations for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and Costume Design. If it’s beloved, then it should pick up Best Actress and Film Editing with maybe Production Design. This puts it mostly in line with the four low totaling Best Picture nominees.

Also, I’m seeing it tonight.

[Mister Tee]

Twitter has been ablaze about this for a week or two, and now official reviews weigh in to agree: PTA seems to have a major success.

https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/l ... 235110340/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235047705/

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/11/licor ... 234679385/

https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/lic ... 44.article