Best Picture Nominees Nomadland and Minari + Undisputed Oscar Picks 2021

 

Nomadland

Gillipedia Official Rating: Oh so bad, man

          This film is very simplistic in many ways. It’s almost even a documentary where there’s really only a couple of actual actors and then the rest of the cast are just real life people who live the nomadic lifestyle whether that be in their RV or van. Nomadland follows Frances McDormand around after her husband has died and the factory in her small town is shut down. Ove the course of the film, McDormand works about 10 odd-end jobs and travels around the Midwest. And personally, I was bored out of my mind watching this film. Let’s see why.

          So here’s why. There is little to sink your teeth into. We follow McDormand around as she struggles through this latter stage in her life, and with the exception of her encounters with The Bourne Ultimatum actor David Straithairn, there’s no growth along the journey to really speak of. Every interaction reinforces the hard times she’s dealing with. What you see in the first 30 minutes equates roughly to what you see in the last 30 minutes. So then why is this film nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture and is the frontrunner for Best Director? I believe it’s because of the overall message that is trying to be portrayed. And I get that—for anyone who enjoyed this film, I get it. The point I took away is that McDormand’s character is well-educated, kind-hearted, and hard-working, and despite all of it—including her desire to make it on her own and not accept help—she still struggles in the time of her life where it’s expected for her to sit back and relax and tell her grandkids about her memories growing up. This film does get all of that across in a natural way. But it’s not entertaining in the slightest.

          We watch different movies for different reasons. I didn’t come into this film expecting the same visceral reaction I have from watching Godzilla vs Kong or John Wick. But if my mind is wandering after 30 minutes, then from an artistic perspective of choosing film as the medium to portray your message, this fails to that degree. One of the Oscar nominations is for Best Adapted Screenplay, and that’s the most curious one for me. There’s not much dialogue here. It’s a bunch of McDormand wandering around and occasionally listening to these wanderers tell some stories that, to be honest, aren’t very engaging. If you’re looking to watch an aging woman slowly walk against the backdrop of a sunset for a solid 10 minutes of the runtime, this is the film for you. Early on there’s a single shot like this that was quite impressive for about 20 seconds. After that, however, it was still just McDormand roaming around one of the camps and another 45 seconds go by without anything of value happening. That’s not interesting to me. But let me leave it at this. Within the first 20 minutes, we witness McDormand take a piss, blow her nose, gurgle some mouth wash, and have the wettest #2 put out on screen since, like, I don’t know, Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura. Does it go along with showing what her lifestyle now is? Sure. But does that make me want to see it? No. God no. And instead of describing a shot that happens about halfway through the film and really only lasts a couple of seconds, I’ll let this clip do the describing for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqDGK_UjfFI

            As for the cast and crew, I think the Best Actress nominee for McDormand is certainly deserved. She’s committed to the film, and it’s what I would describe as an understated performance. I don’t believe it’s enough to win the award, but the nominee is deserved. And with director Chloe Zhao, she is likely to win Best Director, but I don’t think she should. And although I most likely don’t have to state this, I will anyway. My thoughts on her directing has nothing to do with her gender, race, age, or any other factor, it is strictly on the result. I don’t really have issues with the way she directed; in fact, for the tone she was trying to achieve, I think she gets it quite well. But even in a pretty lackluster year, I have a different pick that I think deserves the award more, and I’ll reveal that later.

          As far as slightly more technical aspects, there’s an overwhelming amount of scenes that are simply McDormand and 1 other person talking. It’s pretty standard to have 3 different views for static conversations like this: a shot over each of the characters’ shoulders, and a further away shot from between the two to act as the wide shot. With this film you frequently only get those first 2 shots and not the wide shot. My belief is that this again contributes to that documentary feel where the audience feels like it’s following McDormand around and has us simply listening and observing her interactions. Many of the scenes also appear to only be naturally lit. And not in the beautiful way like The Revenant, more like hardly being able to see inside the van when McDormand is in there at night. Again, it’s a style that of course isn’t trying to mimic The Revenant or whoever, but from an entertainment perspective, it doesn’t quite click for me.

          Oh, but I haven’t said my biggest critique yet. There’s a distinct scene I remember where McDormand visits a friend’s house. She rings the doorbell, waits 5 seconds, and after no response, proceeds to ring it 5 more times in quick succession. That is criminal.

          As the credits roll and the cast members’ names match up to their respective character (even Frances McDormand’s character is Fern and she checks into a hotel early on in the film where she says they will find her name under MCD), there’s some good moments to remember like the very occasional score that is piano-heavy, McDormand’s performance, and the rare beauty shot of nature. There aren’t huge revelations, and there simply isn’t enough of a plot to propel the messaging that this film brings across with its simplistic journey. I struggled mightily to keep paying attention. If this film wins Best Picture, it must be the most boring winner since The English Patient (a film I admittedly haven’t watched). Watch it if you so desire. I won’t stop you by any means. But it just wasn’t a film that entertained me.

 

Minari

Gillipedia Official Rating: Way better. Like on a scale, at least 10x better

          Also nominated for 6 Oscars, Minari is a film about a Korean family who moves to Arkansas in the 1980s with little money but a large plot of land to start a farm. This film is about 90% in Korean, and I meticulously studied the language the last 2 years in order to understand the film. Don’t mind that there are subtitles, true professionals like me have no need for such things. Minari is interesting in that in won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film, but since it takes place in America, it’s not eligible for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. This film will also be competing with Nomadland for Best Picture and Director. But like Nomadland, this film doesn’t have huge set pieces or big moments. And yet, the entertainment value was through the roof for me. Where’s the differences?

          I’m glad I asked. What this film boils down to is incredible storytelling. There’s the overarching plot of Yeun starting a farm to provide for his family, but each member has their own intricacies that hold so much weight on their own. Yeun’s character Jacob and his wife Monica both work at chicken farms staring up the chicks’ butts all day to separate the males and females, but Jacob wants to succeed with the farm to show his kids that he is something, and Monica wants to continue going to church and also focus on her work to ensure there will always be something to provide on the dinner table, notably lots of kimchi. The daughter Anne is still just a kid, but she is protective of her brother and shows maturity even when her parents are clearing struggling. And enormous credit must go to the son of the film David, played by Alan Kim. He has a heart condition that is a constant worry for his parents, and it doesn’t allow him to play around like a regular kid would be able to. This continues to play throughout the film, but once the grandma, Monica’s mother, arrives and stays with the family about 30 minutes in, her dynamic with David is incredible. It’s the first time they’ve met, and they have to share a room together. This bothers bed-wetting, shy David, and watching the two interact throughout is an absolute joy. It makes me incredibly happy that the grandma played by Yuh-Jung Youn is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I won’t give away anymore about her role and what happens, but she gives a terrific performance.

          Steven Yeun also turns in a great performance as Jacob and deserves his nomination. I’m not too familiar with the other nominees for Best Supporting Actress besides Amanda Seyfried in Mank, but I thought Yeri Han as Monica could’ve easily been nominated.

          So there are a couple big moments that do happen in the film, but they play in pretty small ways. And what I mean by that is you won’t really find dramatic music playing that much or a character speak exactly what they’re feeling. Instead, the characters’ quirks that have been building up may get a pay-off that only lasts a couple seconds and won’t even be highlighted. There’s potential to try to play to these moments more, but it actually feels even more rewarding for the investment you make over the 2 hours spent with this family to see what comes together. Even though the following quote could be applied to Nomadland, it fits Minari just that much more. “Success is never so interesting as struggle.” –Willa Cather

          Now despite my high praise, this film isn’t perfect. Although Will Patton is a very interesting character, I think he overplays things too much. But I hate to say the worst thing about the movie is in its ending. Without giving too much away, it follows a trend I’ve seen from modern films over the past couple of years. With Minari it actually works and is even what I would call a good ending that fits; however, there’s still a slight tinge of laziness in it as well. For as many small pay-offs as there are, the film doesn’t quite feel complete. It’s hard to call this movie my favorite to win Best Picture because of the ending and the fact that I haven’t watched all the nominees, but it’s a very, very good film. I had the pleasure of watching this film on the big screen, and I’d take it over Nomadland any day. Anybody looking for an intimate look at the struggles of an immigrant family struggling and also making the most of their lives will come away with such a rich experience for having watched Minari. I tip my hat and applaud the emotional journey it brought me on.

 

Oscars 2021 Predictions

          With so much being pushed back and so few people watching movies in an actual theater, the Oscars this year lacks a certain pizazz that it usually culminates. They’re also still scrambling to think of new ways to stay afloat with their dropping ratings year after year. Not having Jimmy Kimmel as a host is a start. He’s not good. I said it, and I won’t apologize for it.

          I’ve done my best to watch what I can, but I didn’t make it around to everything. But that doesn’t stop me from still providing my opinions that nobody asked for!

 

Best Picture:

What will win: Minari. There’s only 3 nominees I haven’t seen, but I don’t expect any of them to win anyway. I think Judas and the Black Messiah is a strong choice, but after watching both my pick and Nomadland, I have to make a terrible strategy and assume that the Academy will agree with me that Minari should win.

Gill’s Pick: Minari. With fellow Korean film Parasite winning last year, I feel that draws away slightly the accomplishment it would be for Minari to win, and that opens the door to a couple of other nominees. But make no mistake. Minari deserves it this year.

Best Actor:

Who will win: Chadwick Boseman. I haven’t seen his performance truth be told. Gary Oldman does a solid job in Mank, but it’s not quite what he did as Winston Churchill, and I can’t imagine Steven Yeun or Anthony Hopkins quite pulling the win out.

Gill’s pick: Chadwick Boseman. I’m very tempted to say Yeun here, but I’m trusting that Boseman’s performance is as good as it sounds. Would’ve liked to see Denzel nominated for The Little Things.

Best Actress:

Who will win: Andra Day. Using the Golden Globes as my guide here. Nomadland’s script doesn’t provide enough for McDormand to do to win. Carey Mulligan could be an upset.

Gill’s pick: Andra Day. McDormand is the only one I’ve seen. And she’s not winning it.

Best Supporting Actor:

Who will win: Daniel Kaluuya. His “I am a revolutionary” is a standout scene and I feel confident he will win.

Gill’s pick: LaKeith Stanfield. I’ve seen much of Stanfield’s work, and he is a tremendous actor. I think he actually brings more depth to a conflicted character in Judas and the Black Messiah and should win for it. Side note: disappointed to not see Jared Leto nominated for The Little Things. He was the most captivating performance and gives any of the other nominees a run for their money.

Best Supporting Actress:

Who will win: Olivia Colman. She feels like the kind of actress the Academy loves to love. I can’t take that educated of a guess here.

Gill’s pick: Yuh-Jung Youn. I love seeing her nominated here. She’s the best performance in Minari and I think she absolutely deserves the Oscar.

Best Director:

Who will win: Chloe Zhao. 10 years ago David Fincher may have been the winner for how he truly brought back the 30s and 40s Hollywood era in Mank, but that’s not to say he’s totally deserving of it either. Zhao does an impressive job, but I’m not convinced it should be enough to win.

Gill’s pick: Lee Isaac Chung. I have to keep giving the love to Minari. I’ve seen 3 of these 5 nominee’s films, and Minari is simply the best directed.

Best Original Screenplay:

Who will win: Aaron Sorkin. It’s not his best work, but it’s still Sorkin.

Gill’s pick: Will Berson and Shaka King. I can’t believe I’m going against Sorkin, but I think Judas and the Black Messiah has it this year.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

What will win: The Father. This is a wild guess here. With how little goes on, it better not be Nomadland.

Gill’s pick: Pick em.

Best Cinematography:

What will win: News of the World. I liked this movie, but I think critics enjoyed it more than I did. Would’ve liked to see Tenet and Minari on this list. In a reversal of previous opinions, Nomadland wouldn’t be a bad choice here.

Gill’s pick: Nomadland. Of the choices provided, yeah. Mank’s black and white cinematography and Citizen Kane feel is nothing to be slept on though.

Best Editing:

What will win: Nomadland. Editing didn’t stand out as anything special. Again, would’ve liked to see Tenet nominated here.

Gill’s pick: The Trial of the Chicago 7. Lots of moving parts and characters. It’s balanced well here.

Best Production Design:

What will win: Mank. It’s one of the highlights of the film. News of the World would be a solid choice as well. Surprised to not see the terrible Mulan recognized for one of the few things that film did right.

Gill’s pick: Tenet. Finally, I get to pick Tenet for something. From the opening action sequence to crashing an actual plane, c’mon, can’t beat that.

Best Costume Design:

What will win: Mulan. All these picks make sense. I did really like the costumes here though.

Gill’s pick: Mulan.

Best Sound:

What will win: Soul. They finally combined sound editing and mixing. Wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these films win.

Gill’s pick: Soul.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

What will win: Emma. Went off the posters for this one.

Gill’s pick: Emma. Finally a category that I know everything about.

Best Score:

What will win: Soul. The score here truly is good, but if I’m being honest, I thought the jazz from the beginning of Monsters, Inc. was better.

Gill’s pick: News of the World.

Best Original Song:

What will win: “Speak Now.” I think they show Leslie Odom Jr. and One Night in Miami a little love.

Gill’s pick: “Speak Now.” I think it’s between this and “Fight For You.”

Best Visual Effects:

What will win: Mulan. They’re pretty good. But through poor directing, editing, and the need to make this movie, I don’t think it’s deserving.

Gill’s pick: Tenet. I’m more impressed of course by what Nolan does practically, but I wouldn’t readily be able to identify what was visual effects in this film, and that’s why I think this should win. I’m also shocked that The Invisible Man isn’t on here.

Best Documentary:

What will win: Pick em. I’ll laugh if it’s the octopus one though.

Gill’s pick: Would choose HBO’s The Vow if it were eligible.

Best Short Documentary:

What will win: A Love Song for Latasha.

Gill’s pick: Yeah right, like I actually know.

Best Animated Film:

What will win: Soul. This is a no-doubter.

Gill’s pick: Onward. I hate to be that way, but although it’s not a top tier Pixar film, I think Onward actually had more of a lasting impression. There’s plenty to love from Soul, but I don’t think it truly reached its potential.

Best Animated Short:

What will win: Burrow. I’ve actually seen this, and it’s the most adorable 6 minutes you can spend. It’s on Disney+. Go watch it.

Gill’s pick: Burrow.

Best Live Action Short:

What will win: The Letter Room. It has Oscar Isaac.

Gill’s pick: The Letter Room.

Best International Film:

What will win: Another Round. It has Mads Mikkelsen.

Gill’s pick: Another Round. Haven’t seen any of these, but Another Round is also nominated for Best Director, so I feel like that’s a pretty good indicator.

 

          And there you have it! I can only go off educated guesses and the films I have seen. If there’s any I haven’t watched but you think I should, by all means let me know. And if there’s any hidden gems that should’ve been nominated for something but wasn’t, I’m especially interested in those. See you next year!.. Or uh, until the next review.

Godzilla vs Kong

Gillipedia Official Rating: It’s like a heartfelt familial drama mixed with a dysfunctional coming-of-age comedy…. Or it’s a giant monster fighting movie. Who’s to judge

          Every company has a Verse. There’s the MCU, DCEU, this is the MonsterVerse I guess, I’m not sure if Jurassic World is part of a bigger DinoVerse that’s still just speculation at this point, and heck, Tom Cruise was supposed to kickstart the Dark Universe for Universal. Anyways, leading up to this we had the flawed but still quite enjoyable Godzilla (not the underrated Matthew Broderick one), Kong: Skull Island which I admittedly haven’t seen yet, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. If you’d like to refer back to episode #22,714 of my podcast, I was not a fan of King of the Monsters. At all. And for full disclosure, I went back and looked at the review I did for King of the Monsters, and I completely stand behind it. If you want a halfway-decent review, that’s actually a pretty good one to look at.

          I want to start my review off with easily the biggest takeaway from this film. King of the Monsters made 4 huge mistakes:

1) It focused on the characters and not on the monsters.

2) It was so dark you couldn’t see any of the action.

3) Anytime any cool moment was about to happen from the Titans going at it with each other, they cut away to freaking reaction shots from the freaking characters that nobody freaking cared about.

*I stand by the idea that there were 4 huge mistakes, but for the life of me I can’t think of what the last one was. Use your imagination.

          Thankfully, G v K is the opposite of all of these points. The action scenes are all varied in location and are properly lit, so we see all of the glorious fighting. I almost recommend going and watching King of the Monsters beforehand just so everyone can appreciate how much better this film is. What this movie feels like is a sandbox where the monsters were dropped in, and the filmmakers just got to have fun playing around with what they wanted to do and where they wanted to put the camera. There’s a couple things I think they still could’ve done, but for being able to keep this film under 2 hours, they fit in quite a lot.

          As far as story and characters are concerned, there are a few returning members from King of the Monsters that will make things a little easier, but there isn’t anything really vital from the previous films to enjoy this one—and I think that was the right call. The focus is put more on King Kong and uplifting him as the main protagonist. The humans that accompany him are actress Rebecca Hall who you might know from The Town or Vicky Cristina Barcelona while I know her as the most underrated element from The Prestige, the Skarsgard brother that doesn’t play It, a deaf girl (vibes from A Quiet Place or Babel if you’re an egotistical cinephile) that is Kong’s bff and shares a guardian-like relationship with Hall, and a Mila Kunis lookalike who holds no real purpose except to be a minor inconvenience as an antagonist.

          Milly Bobbie Brown returns as the best part from King of the Monsters and teams up with a Ned rip-off from the Spider-Man films and Brian Tyree Henry. Henry plays the fanatic conspiracy theorist who runs a podcast convinced that the main corporation in the film is behind some dark secrets. While very cliched at first, Henry does exercise his comedic chops to better effect in the second half. And granted, Henry is correct in basically all the assumptions and claims that he makes, but it’s something that teenager Milly believes in and convinces her friend to illegally take a van to go meet up with Henry. If I were Kyle Chandler (Milly’s father), I would be quite concerned about my teenage daughter listening to the crazy podcast. But he’s pretty absent throughout the film, and this movie isn’t concerned about setting real world examples and morals and junk like that.

          This should be an early contender for best visual effects at the Oscars for the following year. There’s an occasional shot where humans are closer to the camera and Kong or a landscape is in the background and only really then does it slightly feel like they’re on a green screen partly because the lighting doesn’t quite capture what it needs to. But beyond that the visuals are solid and take some interesting directions later in the film. For instance there’s these flying ships that run on purple beam fuel looking like they’re straight outta Galaga. There’s some pretty stupid science that gets explained, but the movie isn’t worried about it, so neither am I.

          A couple quick points here. The music works, but it could have gone for a more operatic feel and really propelled the film this film into awesome territory. Going back to a previous point a bit, the action scenes here definitely take some Pacific Rim inspirations in how they’re shot (I assume from just the first film. I’m also assuming that like me the filmmakers haven’t even seen the sequel). What I mean by that is you can expect mainly 2 things from the action: wide shots that allow the audience to grasp all of the surroundings and the two titans, and shots from street level to provide that sense of scale as well as what a human perspective would look like if Godzilla was strolling down 2nd Ave. And last random point: Lance Reddick (most known recently for his cool character in the John Wick films) receives prominent billing, and I swear I can recall him having literally 1 line in the film, that’s it.

          Spoiler alert but there’s a climactic showdown between my boy Zil and the King of the Kong. It’s plenty of fun, but I did expect more buildup to an epic final kill shot or something—like how they did it in Godzilla. It felt like they could’ve added a couple extra minutes of fighting here. But all in all, the entertainment value is significantly higher than King of the Monsters, and it’s honestly the most fun film to come out in many, many months. I streamed it using HBO Max, but you will get your money’s worth by venturing to the theaters to watch it. Go in, have some fun, wear matching #TeamGodzilla or #TeamKong shirts/onesies, whatever you got. Oh, and to save you the trouble, there isn’t an end credits scene. I know, I was shocked by this as well.

 

In Brief:

• The Suicide Squad got a trailer and it looked good enough, didn’t blow me away.
• Voyagers is coming out soon and I’m a big fan of Tye Sheridan, but it seems to have a mix of premises that have been done already.
• My understanding is that Raya and the Last Dragon has not performed well in theaters, but I have no idea about its numbers from its premier access on Disney+. I do feel like the $30 price tag on top of the monthly subscription is overkill (I mean I just did a review on a film I streamed for free using my HBO Max subscription); however, I see the mindset where if you buy 3 tickets at the theaters, that’s going to already put you at $30 just about. And chances are that people aren’t buying the film for just themselves to watch. So I get it. I still don’t agree with the final tally, but I understand it. With that said if it’s like Mulan and streams for free after 3 months, why in the world are you paying that premier access to watch it now. If there’s any kind of premier access for Black Widow, I’ll for sure be showing up in the theaters to watch it that way instead.

I Watched That Movie

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Better than the other movie

          This movie just came out in the last couple of years, but it’s already a classic. It has all the elements we look for. It starts off with a classic story between a main character and their love interest, and their best friends. Taking notes from Homer’s tales, we’ve seen these archetypes before. But that’s not to say there isn’t a modern twist. Because there is. It’s set in present day.

          This is an original movie. And I mean that literally. You have movies based off books or previous works, and you have original screenplays. This movie doesn’t even have a script—it was simply filmed. And that’s the beauty of it really. Throw convention to the wind. That scores points in my book. And now we’re up to 3 points. Kevin, I hope you’re keeping score.

          I knew I had to see this film as soon as I heard there was a 20-minute one take shot. The movie was right at the 2 hour mark, but after the director watched Zack Snyder’s Justice League, he changed the entire sequence to slow motion. Does it add an extra 37 minutes? Sure. But it’s cinematic. And that’s a nice sounding adjective. 2 more points, Kevin.

          Streaming exclusively on Disney-, I remember watching this film in theaters. The Wi-Fi connection was spotty, but I think that was intentional. I also just about lost it when I saw a cameo appearance from that one guy who’s the real-life brother of the girl who almost landed the role of featured extra in Moulin Rouge! That scene ended up being cut from the final film, but I recognized the actor, and that’s really what matters here.

          PLOT TWIST. Keanu Reeves plays the villain. He wields two loaves of bread at all times and makes the “pew pew” sound as he uses them as shotguns. The visual effects aren’t perfect here, but I do appreciate the fact that they decided to go practical.

          -insert clever analysis here-

          Overall, this is a movie. I was hooked the whole time, and I only checked the status of my Amazon package twice. I was convinced there was an end credits scene and my patience appeared to finally payoff until I realized it was just the previews for the next screening starting to play. I recommend this film only to people suffering from high blood pressure.

 

In Brief:

• Boop.

Justice League Super Ultimate Gold Zack Snyder Edition

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Joss Whedon’s Knightmare

          I have to get this cleared up and out of the way. I knew about the hashtag, and I was a nonbeliever. Not only was I skeptical that this thing existed considering scenes had to be re-shot for the theatrical release, I also didn’t believe it would ever happen. Lo and behold, the internet stepped in. For those that aren’t unaware, Justice League had a tragic production both during and after. Zack Snyder’s daughter unfortunately committed suicide, and Zack very understandably so stepped away from production. Joss Whedon came in, shot some new stuff, pretty sure he made a comment that he was keeping the same tone but we all knew that was a lie, and infamously had to digitally shave Cavill’s lip raccoon. I didn’t watch that 2-hour Justice League in theaters. I watched it about a year later in the comfort of my home and was mildly entertained. It’s the type of film you pretty much immediately forget. This is Zack Snyder’s Justice League. And it’s 4 hours long. Hard to forget that. It’s the same movie, but it has been surprisingly revamped in many ways. Let’s get to it.

          I truthfully don’t remember too much about the original film, but one of my least favorite things about it was the villain Steppenwolf. He was this bland, cgi villain without much motivation and felt more like a simple vehicle with an army for our heroes to beat up on. Don’t expect him to be Thanos or anything this time around, but he is most definitely improved upon. He sports a new suit of armor, and this more imposing look combined with introduction of Darkseid as the final boss villain helps out. So Steppenwolf is still a bit like Thanos where he needs to get these three Mother Boxes to combine them into one MOAB (mother of all boxes), but Darkseid is the true Thanos.

          I should also note that I was under the impression that this was being released as a 4-part miniseries. That’s not the case. The film is separated into 6 chapters plus an epilogue, but all 4 hours are available straight away. And to be honest, I took a couple hour break (nap) after Part 2 and returned to finish it, and I felt that was a good balance.

          But anyways, yes, that opening with a kid filming Superman is gone, and Snyder has said that this film is Whedon-free. It’s also rated R this time. There’s a couple f-bombs and now a good bit of blood splatters, but I don’t think this version really took full advantage of the rating. There’s a cool disintegration and Wonder Woman has some good kills, but not much else that’s notable. But that does bring me to Wonder Woman’s first action scene early on with the terrorists. I’ve maintained that her theme song is one of the coolest of any superhero, and the way she beats up the baddies is exactly what I wanted to see. There were tiny glimpses of it in WW84 like in the White House, but it’s done better here.

          Out of the group of 6 superheroes, the Flash and Cyborg benefit most from the director's cut. Instead of scenes simply being extended or dialogue being altered, they are the ones who truly get more backstory that acts as a backbone for the whole film. So that itself is a joy to see. What’s not so nice is the grime behind the production. Ray Fisher has been the most outspoken about Whedon and the other executive at DC, and good for him. Sadly, as I understand it, Fisher’s Cyborg has been written out of the Flash movie that is still to come. I really hope this film bridges some gaps because that’s a movie I’d like to see.

          I believe I’ve heard Snyder attribute the length and vision of the film to The Lord of the Rings, and there is some of the adventuring qualities that reminisce it a little, but the closest comparison I can make to this film is Avengers Infinity War. Subtle changes to Affleck’s Batman instills a sense of hope throughout the film as he works with Diana Prince to assemble the league, and this film slowly grinds through that along with Steppenwolf’s quest for the 3 boxes.

          The length of this film plays into Snyder’s self-indulgent quality of slow motion and visuals. I believe without a doubt that this is an improvement from the rushed feel of the original, but it certainly is quite long. The cgi didn’t look great in the first place, and I know millions were poured into visuals for this film. What I hated most about the original was the overall green screen feel it had, and that couldn’t really be improved here, but the focus is more on building the story, so it’s not something you focus on as much here. I do believe you can shave a solid 20 minutes off of this film, but for me personally, the difference between the two films is stark enough to validate this film.

          The climactic battle is also very different. I remember 2 things from the original. First, it had that weird red atmosphere. And second, the Flash saved that Russian family and said, “Dostoevsky!” Neither of those things exist this go around, and the momentum leading up to the showdown feels soooooo much more natural. There was simply no time to build anything and properly explain exposition before.

          To go back to a previous point, Batman in this film really only uses his toys for fighting, and it makes me miss that scene in Batman v Superman where he beat everyone up like he does in the Arkham videogames—the closest we get here is that early scene with Wonder Woman. But this version also gives up Superman in his black suit. I know a little about the story with it and what it implies, but thematically and simply aesthetically, it works. People kind of look at Man of Steel and Zack Snyder and think of super dark and serious. Not only is this film dramatically more consistent in its tone, it’s not all bleak either. You still have the humor from the Flash, a more hopeful Batman, and a much more sentimental quality among Lois Lane, Superman, and Martha. I also know that Junkie XL overhauled the music, and the score fits the sweeping film.

          There’s still a couple scenes that act like cryptic premonitions of darker things to come. I think these are handled better than what Marvel has done because they’re both beefier while still being vague. The problem here is where the state of DC is now. I’m still excited for Robert Pattinson’s Batman, but Batfleck is out. Amber Heard is out of the Aquaman films (and to my current knowledge, thankfully so for that), no Cyborg in the Flash film, and essentially, everything you see means nothing because it won’t happen—at least not with this group. It both confuses and upsets me because I don’t know where everything stands in the DCEU, but it does succeed in reinvigorating my excitement associated with these characters and franchises.

          I still can’t believe this film actually exists. Since it’s still Justice League, I wasn’t expecting an entirely new story that changes the whole game. But what I did get was an overhaul that stands out way more than the 2017 mediocrity. It’s still not perfect, and in case you didn’t know, it’s 4 hours long. You heard it here first, folks. Despite flaws that would exist no matter what you did as well as the length and not-so-great occasional effects, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is way better than the studio mandated 2-hour junk we got a couple years back. I have no idea what Joss Whedon is doing nowadays, maybe a Buffy revival that he wants to botch. I don’t know. But if you have 4 hours of your life, you can spend it pretty well with this film. Possibly in 2 sittings.

 

In Brief:

• I watched the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes, and that’s one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I hated it. I hated the way it was shot, it takes like 50 minutes for anything to start happening, Ted Levine got dragged into a terrible cast, and there’s an unnecessary amount of blood and gore.
• After disappointing myself by not doing Golden Globes predictions, I plan to make sure I do for the Oscars. But I’ve also not seen many of the films, so I’ll be working on that more in this coming month. The one I’m most excited to watch is Minari.
• A couple years back Netflix produced a Michael Bay film 6 Underground starring Ryan Reynolds. It has many typical Bay tropes, but it’s also extremely entertaining to watch. I was thoroughly impressed with the way Bay shot all the action and extravagant set pieces.

Gill Thinks About Chaos Walking

Gillipedia Official Rating: I’m Todd Hewitt I’m Todd Hewitt I’m Todd Hewitt

          It’s the YA movie featuring Spider-Man and Rey and … Hannibal Lector/Le Chiffre I guess. We’re talking about the unthinkable here—a movie releasing solely in theaters. I love the experience and will continue my best to support the industry, but I digress. What we’re really talking about is the dystopian sci-fi movie Chaos Walking starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley where only men are left (until Daisy shows up) and all of their thoughts can be heard. Don’t think too hard, masks up (that means over the nose), and let’s review.

          I have no idea what book series this film is based off, so my only reference point is in fact what I just watched. After a quick quote to begin the movie, we’re thrown straight into this world where the atmosphere has a slight tint to it, and it doesn’t take long to start hearing everyone’s thoughts. I’m impressed by the quick start to the film, and I guess part of that is thanks to the easily surmisable premise. This is a foreign world where you can hear men’s thoughts, pretty simple. No scientific explanation, no history of the planet, just straight into building the world. And none is really needed.

          Some thoughts come across a bit as expositional, but that’s not very often. I was a little worried that I would grow tired of all the thinking—the bulk rightfully comes from Tom’s Todd Hewitt (you’ll never forget his name)—but they reign it in just enough. Not to mention that in general, I think the movie does a pretty decent job of reflecting how people think and how it would be displayed to the outside world.

          Tom Holland does a more Southern American accent this time, and he gets hung up on a couple of words, but if you didn’t know he was British, I think he pulls it off well enough to blend in. Daisy Ridley is blonde, and again I have no idea if that’s how her character is written, but I think part of that has to be her trying to separate from Rey. And it works, and she’s fine in the movie. I always love Mads Mikkelsen, Demian Bichir is also good, there’s also the likes of David Oyelowo and Cynthia Erivo, and Nick Jonas is in there. It’s not like he does anything significant, but I can confirm that he is indeed there.

          The story won’t really surprise anyone on who the real enemies are, the adventure Todd Hewitt and Daisy are forced to go on, and what revelations they discover. There’s some clever uses of the thought gimmick, and it even allows Tom Holland to have some humorous moments as well, almost like a 90s Spider-Man TV show, but anyways.

          There’s two things that ultimately stood out to me about the film. Director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) does a better job in this movie than what is to be expected. There’s a good amount of chase sequences, and he makes sure to always have the camera moving and flowing around the environment alongside the action. If not masterful, it is still better than typical action fare. The other thing of note here is the ending. I do understand that this comes from a series of books and is certainly building toward a sequel, but it still didn’t feel complete. Even to the point where I wouldn’t mind another 20 minutes tacked on to finish the story in some way. I have no idea how many movies they’ll try to crank out or if there’s even that possibility with today’s box office, but it failed to leave much of a cliffhanger to entice me further into the story or a satisfactory ending by itself.

          The theater I went to is doing what now seems commonplace where you buy tickets, and the seats next to you automatically become unavailable to build that distance. And with the setup with the reclining chairs, you don’t feel like people in the row behind you are breathing down your neck either. Masks are mandatory unless you’re eating popcorn or drinking, and all payment was able to be made contactless. During the previews it was also noted what cleanliness measures were being taken before and after every showing. The point here is that the necessary safety precautions are being taken—at least, that’s what I’m able to take away from my experience. And when it comes to any innate risk we all take whenever we go out anywhere or the mental toll being couped up has already proven to take on the populace, if the only thing holding you back from going to the theater now is a worry about your safety, all I can say is that I believe it’s as safe as it can be to make me feel comfortable in its environment. Annnnnnnd with all that said, Chaos Walking isn’t exactly a film you need to jump out of your sunken in couch to go watch, but it is entertaining and at a relatively cheap price too especially if you go to a matinee showing. However you choose to consume your content, stuff is still coming out and will continue to. Enjoy it.

 

**This site’s creator recommends sanitizing after every review that is read. Please don’t cancel me.

 

In Brief:

• I’m ashamed I didn’t get around to making Golden Globes predictions. Probably the biggest surprise from the night was that I learned it was happening before it started. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted. Overall, a lackluster night. But Chadwick Boseman’s wife gave a moving speech.
• There’s a decent amount of films I’ve seen, but the biggest recommendation I can give of what I’ve recently seen is for The Farewell with Awkwafina. It’s included with Prime and is a really fun film based off a true story.
• I watched Phantom Thread. Daniel Day-Lewis obviously is great and the costumes are also, obviously, great. But it’s also quite a boring film. I’m sorry, I don’t care what awards it won or was nominated for. That was dull.
• What wasn’t dull was Judas and the Black Messiah. Daniel Kaluuya will win the awards, but don’t count out LaKeith Stanfield. Terrific performance. And it has Jesse Plemons who is someone everyone has seen but no one really knows his name or even his face for that matter. Very interesting watch.

The Little Things

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: Watching a big movie on a little screen

          We start off on a single-lane, deserted road at night in 1990. We meet a seasoned cop who hasn’t been promoted in years, and his path crosses with the fresh detective who brings some bright ideas. We’ve seen this before. It’s not quite film noir, and its pacing is too slow to consider it a thriller. What The Little Things boils down to is a slow-burning, grim crime drama of two cops trying to pin down a serial killer focused on young women. And despite this well-worn premise, we’re also graced by three Academy award winners in Denzel, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. So where does this film land? Let’s break it down.

          What better place to start than with the title. Is it fitting? Yes. But it’s also not enticing or memorable. I had been looking forward to this movie coming out for about a month now, and up until a couple days ago, I could never remember what the name was. It was just the one with Denzel coming up. And as far as story goes, the first paragraph is really all you need to know. Because part of what the title of the film does well is fit the narrative. We can immediately grasp the movie and the characters in the first 10 minutes; there’s a serial killer, Denzel is a well-known cop with some sort of past following him, and Rami is the new face of the department. There’s more to these characters than that, but we don’t learn it through lazy exposition like two no-named characters discussing them while sipping coffee or a news reporter catching us up on the latest with the case—nothing like that. Most of the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle will be discovered, but they are introduced in character details and small chunks.

          And really this film is ultimately much more of a trio of character studies than it is about the crime mystery. That’s where having three Oscar winners come in handy. Whether it’s Denzel displaying huge smiles in front of people while hiding his demons only for himself while spending the night in a cheap motel, the inquisitive way Rami tilts his head and makes eye contact with witnesses and suspects alike, or the wide swinging motion Jared Leto takes as he strolls through town; each character comes into their own in large part due to these performances. Jared Leto plays the main suspect, and once he is introduced in the film, he draws lots of attention. I think he probably had the least amount of acting to do considering how strange this guy is in at least the interviews he gives; however, his mannerisms are brilliant. I won’t go into detail about his character, but I was audibly chuckling multiple times; Jared Leto was in control.

          Strange jawline and all, Rami Malek really shows his range from Freddie Mercury to this detective. There’s a suaveness there, but it’s backed up by his true skill in his profession. I wouldn’t say he’s the standout of the group, but he gets his moments and always holds his own.

          Denzel. This man could lead me underwater and still convince me that I can breathe. I could ask him to show me where the milk is, and he could lead me down aisle 12 to the toilet paper and it would be considered a job well done. I could call in tech support for my Wi-Fi, and he could tell me to turn it off and back on and I would slow clap him for days. The point is this might not be the vehicle that lands him next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, but there’s no doubt that he elevates this film. The subtlety, the little things if you will, are there, and it works.

          I want to make sure everyone considering watching this film is aware that it’s not a jolly green giant film, and there’s definitely not enough action to call this a thriller. It’s a gritty character study, and if you’re good with that, then I do indeed recommend watching. The score by Thomas Newman is great, and the editing is terrific. “Gasp!” you say. “Gill, there aren’t any long one-take shots. You *love* your one-take shots. And even without those, you still think this film has great editing?” First off, thank you for the question, loyal reader. You’re right. I do have a soft spot for that kind of thing. But it’s not always necessary. There’s a couple of scenes of people either being chased or followed in car. The film perfectly switches between cars, what’s happening around them, and reaction shots from characters’ faces. We are perfectly able to follow what’s going on, and how each character reacts to every new action. I don’t think people will pay much attention to it, and that’s partly the point. Aside from the performances, I can’t give enough praise to the editing. But the directing and music are high points too.

          With their deal with Warner Bros., this blog site pretty much is turning into a review site for HBO Max movies. We have Godzilla vs. Kong and the Snyder Cut both coming up pretty soon to look forward to for instance. But I digress. The Little Things is a patient 2-hour film. It won’t be sweeping any awards shows, but I do fully expect it to receive multiple nominations, and it should. Despite the familiarities of the genre, it is simply well executed. And I am thoroughly satisfied with its hard-hitting ending. It may not have served the marketing department well, but the film lives up to its name.

 

In Brief:

• I considered doing a review for One Night in Miami. Simply didn’t feel I had enough content and different angles to warrant one. While watching the film I thought to myself that it would work better as a play; turns out that’s what it was in its original medium. It’s a good movie, and I’m fan of everything Aldis Hodge does. Well acted, might earn a nomination or two, but I wasn’t blown away.
• I was blown away by The Outpost. An action film released on Netflix had no right being as good as it was. Starring Katy Perry’s husband and Clint Eastwood’s son, it’s a war film about an American base in Afghanistan in a terrible location that gets attacked by the Taliban on a daily basis. The way the film was shot and the authenticity and respect for the real-life soldiers being portrayed really shone through. Yes, it lacks a little dramatic heft, but it fulfills its purpose in spades.
• I was interested in Disney’s new animated film coming out Raya and the Last Dragon. I was excited for a moment seeing its March release date and being put on Disney+. But then I realized that it would be like Mulan, and that disappointed me for a bit. No way am I paying $30 or whatever it will be to stream it. But if it is like Mulan, I will not mind one bit to wait a couple of months to stream it for free on the site.
• I watched Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. It’s a good movie, and the way it’s filmed is interesting. It takes the perspective of a background I know little about. So for that in itself I can appreciate it. And one of the climactic scenes on the beach is stunning. But like many critical darlings, it’s also just… not always interesting. But yeah, it’s good. Can’t deny that.
• Really liked Outlaw King starring Chris Pine. Wish it had a wide release in theaters because that would’ve been a spectacle. Its opening scene is awesome, and the battles are thrilling and quite gruesome. It also has a pre-Midsommar Florence Pugh, so the film gets credit for that.

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JTG97 Reviews WW84

 

Gillipedia Official Rating: DCEU? More like DC, PU am I right?

I actually had high hopes for this film. I’m a fan of the original, and with director Patty Jenkins back and a strong cast, DC was set for a strong sequel. A vibrant poster and a fun 80s setting only reinforced the high hopes. But then I watched the film. All 2 ½ hours of it, and to say that at best it’s mildly entertaining is being very lenient. There’s a whole host of issues big and small at play here. Didn’t plan on starting 2021 with a bad review, but someone has to do the people’s work.
        Going in I had heard mixed reviews, and the opening sequence started out promising. Young Wonder Woman is starring in the newest season of American Ninja Warrior, and it’s her competing against other Amazonians set to some great music by Hans Zimmer. But my excitement quickly turned to a sinking feeling of worry. It’s not so much that this opening sequence is about 5 minutes too long, but the effects are the glaring error here. The physics of the Amazonians moving and jumping in superhuman ways feels off because there isn’t any weight or stress to their movement—they act like they’re taking a casual step but then leap 20 yards. It all feels kind of rubbery. Not a great start, admittedly, but maybe the movie recovers from this!
        The movie does not recover from this. In fact the next scene jumps to the year 1984, and this might be my least favorite scene of the movie. We start off with a commercial starring The Mandalorian, and as the commercial continues to play in the background, we switch around in an almost montage type of way to show various scenes of many clichés associated with the 80s. It feels like they wanted to mimic the humor that Captain Marvel pulled off with the 90s, but all the clichés feel so forced and are drastically overdone. This scene is the start of one of the strangest complaints I’ve ever had with a movie; the extras are terrible. Wonder Woman dashes by and every single person turns dramatically and wide-eyed to show their shock and disbelief. I’m not sure if an assistant director, Patty Jenkins, or whoever is in charge of making sure background elements blend well together, but the extras in this movie are really distracting and not funny at all.
        We are soon introduced to Kristen Wiig, and as a whole, her performance isn’t bad. The problem here is the whole characterization. Our introduction to her is her tripping over her heels, slightly frizzled hair, and dorky glasses. When she drops her papers, guys shake their heads, smirk, and walk away from the dork from Loserville, AL. But of course later she gets a Catwoman transformation, and as soon as she loses the glasses, hubba bubba, watch out we got a hot mama walking through.
        As a brief aside, one things I was thoroughly confused by was the hammy quality of the whole film (see dork to sexy makeover above). Part of me believes this is all intentional as an homage to cheesy 80s superhero films, but it’s too much of a contrast from the more mature elements they try sneaking in. And worst of all, the light-hearted humor doesn’t land. Back to the review, Gill!
        Thank you, Gill. The premise of this film is Pedro Pascal is a failing businessman who gets his hands on a wishing stone that grants one wish. He wishes to become one with the wishing stone and proceeds to take advantage of people wishing for things they don’t really mean. Before he makes his wish, Gal Gadot wishes for Chris Pine to come back, and Wiig wishes to be more like Diana (Gadot (Wonder Woman)). Instead of simply having him appear out of nowhere like many things will later in the film, Pine comes back in a random guy’s body. It’s problematic from a moral and continuity standpoint, but it didn’t bother me as much as it did other people.
        When I first heard the news that Chris was back for women to pine over again in the sequel, I wasn’t a big fan of the decision considering his emotional farewell from the first film. And I still believe his appearance here takes some emotional weight away from the first film; however, Chris Pine is by and large the best part of this film. Him getting acquainted to the 80s is played for laughs, and they definitely land. His presence is a joy and is the bright spot of this plagued film. Even if bright spots in a plague aren’t the finest metaphor…
        Due to bad writing, Pine’s borrowed body doesn’t have a passport, so they head to the Smithsonian to steal a fully functioning jet to catch The Mandalorian in the Middle East. They have a moment flying by fireworks, and this is one of the very few instances where the film’s visuals reflect the colorful movie poster and it looks great. I don’t know how safe flying by fireworks is, but ah well. The action scene that follows is pretty good too.
        The thing about the middle of the movie is repeated actions. Despite its lengthy runtime, character arcs are still underdeveloped. How does that happen? It’s from being shown the same stuff. Wiig has 2-3 scenes dedicated to showing that she’s noticing superhuman powers. At least one of those scenes needed to be cut. There’s also countless scenes of The Mandalorian going to people and getting them to make wishes that only help power his greed. The idea is building it up to the climax, but the point can be made with much less content. There’s a halfway decent 2-hour film somewhere in here. Unless this move gets a Snyder Cut. Then, of course, the run time would instead rival Gone With the Wind.
        There’s actually an action scene that kicks off the final third that’s pretty good. It takes place in a government building and Wiig emerges in villainous form. Security guards are scattered throughout, and Wonder Woman has to soften their falls as Wiig plows through them. It’s a fun mixup of every character having a distinct role in the action, and it works.
        The climactic fight, however, is quite underwhelming. Think back to the fight from Black Panther between two CGI characters, but remove some of the cool visuals from that fight. The CGI here is even worse, and nothing from the fight is memorable. It’s the part from the trailer where Wonder Woman gets her new, glamorous armor. It looks cool, yes, but besides off-handedly mentioning the armor earlier in the film, there’s no reference to it. I imagine it holds more importance from the comics, but seeing her wear it elicits nothing from me besides a hey, that looks neat.
        There’s some decent messaging in the film, but it’s very heavy handed. Pedro Pascal fully embraces the camp of the film, and it’s fun for moments, but it’s too much overall. And as a common theme, his character doesn’t have much depth. His whole motivation as a villain can be boiled down to even though he obtains a lot, why not have more?
        One action scene started using the awesome electric guitar theme associated with Wonder Woman as she starts going off on bad guys and I was all here for it, but then the music cuts out after like five seconds. Much too short. If there was like a five-minute sequence of Wonder Woman just beating up on guys to the rocking tune, that at least could have been a highlight of this film.
        One last thing I have to mention. There’s some really bad green screen usage here. Think back to the original Superman where the shots are shoulders up from characters and their eyes wander around at nothing in particular because they’re just looking at a green screen. There’s a chance that this again is an intentional choice for the 80s feel, but there’s no excuse for a big budget superhero film in the 21st century to have visuals this bad. It’s a combination of bad visuals mixed with poor directing choices.
        I’m a fan of the original, but there are few redeeming qualities from the sequel. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine return to form, but the directing takes a huge dive, and there’s poor writing and editing. It can be entertaining for moments, but is it worth sitting through 2 ½ hours for just a couple good moments? I believe I’ve actually enjoyed DCEU films more than the average person, but they really need to step up their efforts if they have any hopes of staying in the conversation with Marvel. The Batman, Suicide Squad, and Aquaman 2 all sound promising, but this film puts a dent in my hopes for their cinematic future.

 

In Brief:

• I also watched Soul. It was interesting to see Pixar go so high concept for what’s still supposed to be a kids' movie. And in that regard, I think it might be a little too ambitious for the young’uns. The animation is stellar, Jamie Foxx is obviously good, and I do appreciate its creativity. There’s good messaging here, but I think it stumbles around and is a little confused, and the movie didn’t know how to end properly. Overall, pretty good.
• I got around to the Coen Brother’s Netflix film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. This is a Western anthology- style film, with 6 relatively unrelated stories. Not all of these stories are created equal. The third and fourth drag, and the last one doesn’t end in particularly entertaining fashion. The fifth is easily the highlight here and is engaging all the way through—no matter how much the ending still upsets me.