Tar is brilliant and provocative, with complex themes. Superb performance by Cate Blanchett.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is astonishingly creative, high energy, comic and sad - fantastical and yet very human.
Banshees of Inishiren is a charming, engaging and disturbing fable.
Women Talking is very skilfully directed, a suspenseful, non-sensational, faithful adaptation by national treasure Sarah Polley of Miriam Toews' inspiring revelatory novel of cultish patriarchy. An important movie.
All Quiet on the Western Front is impeccably made, gripping and shattering.
Triangle of Sadness is not up to the level of The Square or Force Majeure (Ostlund's previous best work) but its sharp satire is fun (and even very funny) in places and scores some good points. Not quite Oscar-worthy.
Elvis is a biopic by Baz Luhrman. If you like biopics or Baz Luhrman you'll like this. If not, stay away.
It has driving energy and flare and catches the spirit of Elvis and his times. Entertaining, engaging, but not great.
The Fabelmans is disappointing, overlong, bifurcated, repetitive, and needed someone else to tell Spielberg's own story more tightly than he did.
Top Gun is banal and deadly boring, except for the ending (I've heard) which I couldn't be bothered to wait to see because what preceded it was so dull.
No comment on Avatar, because I haven't seen it. And probably won't bother.
I mostly agree, heartily, especially on Tàr, Banshees,Triangle, and Elvis. (Haven't seen Women or Quiet.)
Three exceptions: I enjoyed the invention of EEAAO for the first 45 minutes, then found the jumping between worlds destroyed the stakes and fell asleep. I really enjoyed The Fabelmans, especially the first half focused on the family. Top Gun: Maverick surprised me: I found the surrogate father/son relationship gave it an emotional depth missing from the original, which I hadn't enjoyed.
And yes, don't bother with Avatar. Except for the underwater CGI, the effects are overrated and the story and characters are so stupid they made me angry.
I'd have subbed Nope and the criminally underrated Babylon for Avatar and Elvis (and I'm normally a Luhrman fan).
Yes, I agree a televised Oscars week is a great idea. Put a spotlight on the people who work in the craft categories. It takes an army of people to make a film - not just the actors, directors & producers.
This could be a model for the Emmy's as well. (And full disclosure, I'm probably biased because I work in film/television production.)
No, Paul - wait for the crossover/sequel to both that and "Whiplash", which has a working title of "Fletcher vs Tár: Endgame". There are 700 names in the credits.
This is the first time in my life I’ve actually seen all of the best picture nominees, and that alone is enough to make it much more likely I’ll watch and be interested in the ceremony, and give it stakes, since at least I can have somewhat more informed opinions.
(Speaking of opinions: Tár is really fantastic and I do hope more people see it.)
Has anybody else all but cracked up at the credits of blockbusters these days - about a minute in, the screen suddenly goes to 6-point type and there are 150 names under "Compositor".
This fills me with curiosity. I'd like to know more about all those jobs!
I hadn't thought much about "sound design" until I was really struck in "Dune" by the "Zimmered" background.
I totally agree with your ideas for the Oscars. Saturday nights Dad parked at the pub in Virden and Mum and us kids went to the only movie available. "The greatest show on earth" my favourite seen in the late 50s and I still try to imitate James Stewart's accent/drawl !!!!! Place me in the category of they don't make movies like they used to.
Love the idea of telling us more about the people who make the films, though not at the expense of giving celebrities a chance to charm or offend us. This is the first year for me since they expanded the nominee list that I saw almost every film. I would say they don't make em like they used to. Still, I'm in.
That they don't make them like they used to is what makes the best of the current movie crop so interesting. EEAAO is the perfect example of the evolution of film. As excellent as "old movies" are, there's something exhilarating and a reflection of the zeitgeist for me in the new crop, and I'm 76 years old. Tar is another example of experimenting with the form. What other movie begins with the main character being interviewed for 15 minutes? Elvis and Triangle of Sadness are also not told in an entirely conventional manner and that's partially what makes them worth seeing. Spielberg is a superb traditional storyteller, but he represents the past and The Fabelmans is somewhat tepid, with no surprises or sense of spontaneity.
Tàr is riveting entertainment. Easily the best of the 8/10 I've seen. Rich and suspenseful, it's an emotional and intellectual thrill ride. Definitely not a duty watch.
Tar is brilliant and provocative, with complex themes. Superb performance by Cate Blanchett.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is astonishingly creative, high energy, comic and sad - fantastical and yet very human.
Banshees of Inishiren is a charming, engaging and disturbing fable.
Women Talking is very skilfully directed, a suspenseful, non-sensational, faithful adaptation by national treasure Sarah Polley of Miriam Toews' inspiring revelatory novel of cultish patriarchy. An important movie.
All Quiet on the Western Front is impeccably made, gripping and shattering.
Triangle of Sadness is not up to the level of The Square or Force Majeure (Ostlund's previous best work) but its sharp satire is fun (and even very funny) in places and scores some good points. Not quite Oscar-worthy.
Elvis is a biopic by Baz Luhrman. If you like biopics or Baz Luhrman you'll like this. If not, stay away.
It has driving energy and flare and catches the spirit of Elvis and his times. Entertaining, engaging, but not great.
The Fabelmans is disappointing, overlong, bifurcated, repetitive, and needed someone else to tell Spielberg's own story more tightly than he did.
Top Gun is banal and deadly boring, except for the ending (I've heard) which I couldn't be bothered to wait to see because what preceded it was so dull.
No comment on Avatar, because I haven't seen it. And probably won't bother.
I mostly agree, heartily, especially on Tàr, Banshees,Triangle, and Elvis. (Haven't seen Women or Quiet.)
Three exceptions: I enjoyed the invention of EEAAO for the first 45 minutes, then found the jumping between worlds destroyed the stakes and fell asleep. I really enjoyed The Fabelmans, especially the first half focused on the family. Top Gun: Maverick surprised me: I found the surrogate father/son relationship gave it an emotional depth missing from the original, which I hadn't enjoyed.
And yes, don't bother with Avatar. Except for the underwater CGI, the effects are overrated and the story and characters are so stupid they made me angry.
I'd have subbed Nope and the criminally underrated Babylon for Avatar and Elvis (and I'm normally a Luhrman fan).
Yes, I agree a televised Oscars week is a great idea. Put a spotlight on the people who work in the craft categories. It takes an army of people to make a film - not just the actors, directors & producers.
This could be a model for the Emmy's as well. (And full disclosure, I'm probably biased because I work in film/television production.)
Paul, you have to see Tár.
No, Paul - wait for the crossover/sequel to both that and "Whiplash", which has a working title of "Fletcher vs Tár: Endgame". There are 700 names in the credits.
This is the first time in my life I’ve actually seen all of the best picture nominees, and that alone is enough to make it much more likely I’ll watch and be interested in the ceremony, and give it stakes, since at least I can have somewhat more informed opinions.
(Speaking of opinions: Tár is really fantastic and I do hope more people see it.)
Has anybody else all but cracked up at the credits of blockbusters these days - about a minute in, the screen suddenly goes to 6-point type and there are 150 names under "Compositor".
This fills me with curiosity. I'd like to know more about all those jobs!
I hadn't thought much about "sound design" until I was really struck in "Dune" by the "Zimmered" background.
I totally agree with your ideas for the Oscars. Saturday nights Dad parked at the pub in Virden and Mum and us kids went to the only movie available. "The greatest show on earth" my favourite seen in the late 50s and I still try to imitate James Stewart's accent/drawl !!!!! Place me in the category of they don't make movies like they used to.
If you haven't see The Fabelmans, which to me is not really a completely successful movie, you should. There's stuff in there for you.
Love the idea of telling us more about the people who make the films, though not at the expense of giving celebrities a chance to charm or offend us. This is the first year for me since they expanded the nominee list that I saw almost every film. I would say they don't make em like they used to. Still, I'm in.
That they don't make them like they used to is what makes the best of the current movie crop so interesting. EEAAO is the perfect example of the evolution of film. As excellent as "old movies" are, there's something exhilarating and a reflection of the zeitgeist for me in the new crop, and I'm 76 years old. Tar is another example of experimenting with the form. What other movie begins with the main character being interviewed for 15 minutes? Elvis and Triangle of Sadness are also not told in an entirely conventional manner and that's partially what makes them worth seeing. Spielberg is a superb traditional storyteller, but he represents the past and The Fabelmans is somewhat tepid, with no surprises or sense of spontaneity.
Tàr is riveting entertainment. Easily the best of the 8/10 I've seen. Rich and suspenseful, it's an emotional and intellectual thrill ride. Definitely not a duty watch.
Love the idea of "Oscar Week." Disney+ should absolutely do something like that.