Monday, January 29, 2024

Getting the my Oscar prediction on- 2024 edition

So let's try this again... I last did it five years ago.

Things to flag up front that I've not seen are The Zone of Interest, American Fiction, May December (which you are oddly going to see me barrack for), and The Holdovers. The first three of these aren't out in Australia yet and The Holdovers only just is (I nearly saw it this afternoon but opted to see Anatomy of a Fall instead).

I will have some big themes of this post. The first of which will be me yelling at the Academy for once again failing to support female directed, female written, and to be honest even just female focused films. The second is that it will seem to be me laying into Killers of the Flower Moon. I feel I need to say upfront that I don't think it is poorly made- on a Scorsese scale, I would watch it multiple times again before I rewatched Gangs of New York. I just think it was a tad miscast, 45 minutes too long, and focused on the wrong people (I'm reading the book on which it is based at the minute and that is just making me more annoyed about the focus of the film as it isn't the focus of the book). Also TBH I lay into Maestro a bit too  but I honestly think there is only about one category where its nomination was warranted.

Final thing up front, I will not be predicting the following as I have not seen enough of the nominees to make a call- actually I've seen none of the nominees- documentary, any short film categories, or oddly visual effects.

Let's go....

Best Picture

Nominees

American Fiction

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

The Holdovers

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Killers of the Flower Moon and Maestro (I liked Maestro but I'm not a biopic person and it was good not great in my opinion)

- What should have been nominated and isn't- All of Us Strangers

- What I would like to see win- Past Lives (TBH I would be OK with all of the nominees in this category except the two I think shouldn't be nominated winning)

- What will win- I could see a shock win from The Holdovers or Anatomy of a Fall but really this is Oppenheimer's to lose. I think Oppenheimer is going to clean up on the night in fact.

Best Lead Actor

Nominees

Bradley Cooper- Maestro

Cillian Murphy- Oppenheimer

Colman Domingo- Rustin

Jeffrey Wright- American Fiction

Paul Giamatti- The Holdovers

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Bradley Cooper (gosh the Academy loves a biopic- though I will say the other two biopic nominations in this category are deserved). Also just to say as people are saying it was a snub, the Academy was right to not nominate Leonardo diCaprio as he was the most miscast person in Killers of the Flower Moon.

- Who should have been nominated and isn't- Andrew Scott for All of Us Strangers mostly but also would not have hated a nomination for Barry Keough for Saltburn or Zac Efron for The Iron Claw

- Who would I like to see win- Cillian Murphy- yes flying in the face of my dislike of biopics

- Who will win- Cillian Murphy though I'm hearing that Paul Giamatti might sneak a win

Best Lead Actress

Nominees

Annette Bening- Nyad

Carey Mulligan- Maestro

Emma Stone- Poor Things

Lily Gladstone- Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Huller- Anatomy of a Fall

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- I'm about to get to it with the who should be nominated, but I would not have wanted to be honing choices in this category as there were some amazing lead performances by women in 2023. I've not see Nyad but the other four were definitely worthy of nomination and I'm not going to kick Annette Bening out of any group of nominees. 

- Who should have been nominated and isn't- GRETA LEE for Past Lives (I think until we get to the direction category and just wait, this (and one person in supporting actress) oversight is in my opinion the big snub of the Oscars this year), Cailee Spaeny for Priscilla, (from what I hear) either or both of Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore for May December, and Margot Robbie for Barbie. Insert my rant about female lead or focused films as with the exception of Huller and Bening (who was a shock nomination in a film not many people have seen), you have three male directed films, two of which focus on men instead of women (Poor Things is female focused), one of which sidelines its lead actress when it shouldn't (yes I mean Killers of the Flower Moon). Past Lives, Priscilla, and Barbie all overlooked in this category are works of WOMEN, and May December though not directed by a woman is written by one and is strongly focused on a relationship between two women. I should say though I would have liked a Robbie nomination, she is not my biggest snub in this category- that is definitely Greta Lee.

- Who I would like to see win- I'm torn as I think Emma Stone gives a career best performance in Poor Things, I think you can't take your eyes off Sandra Huller in Anatomy of a Fall, and I think Lily Gladstone is exceptional in Killers of the Flower Moon (far and away the best thing about the film). Emma Stone's performance was my favourite of the three in the end.

- Who will win- Gladstone, especially if Paul Giamatti pips Cillian Murphy for lead actor,  as there is no way they will award comedies in both lead acting categories (that would be wild and is unfortunate for Emma Stone that this is the way the Oscars tend to work). Gladstone winning will be well deserved as it was the best dramatic performance of the nominated women and it will be nice to see a first nations person win in a lead acting category.

Supporting Actor

Nominees

Mark Ruffalo- Poor Things

Robert de Niro-  Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr- Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling- Barbie

Sterling K Brown- American Fiction

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- do I need to say it? It is de Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon. The performance is better than diCaprio's and is a good one but I just think there were more worthy nominees- also the more I read the book on which it is based, the more I think de Niro was also miscast.

- Who should be nomination and isn't- Paul Mescal for All of Us Strangers, (based on what I'm hearing about the film) Charles Melton for May December, Willem Dafoe for Poor Things, and Jacob Elordi for Priscilla (this performance has been slept on this award season (the whole film has been) and I think it is outstanding).

- Who I want to watch- Ryan Gosling- this is one of the a few categories I would love to see a Barbie win in- or Mark Ruffalo

- Who will win- Robert Downey Jr and that isn't undeserved as he is great in Oppenheimer but I would love them to shake things up and show comedies some love.

Supporting Actress

Nominees

America Ferrera- Barbie

Da'Vine Joy Randolph- The Holdovers

Danielle Brooks- The Color Purple

Emily Blunt- Oppenheimer

Jodie Foster- Nyad

Before I say anything, did you see that??? An Oscars acting nomination list in a category with more people of colour nominated than white folk...love it!

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Emily Blunt. I love Emily Blunt but Nolan famously cannot write substantial female characters and she is barely in the film. She does what she can with it but seriously as much as I'm going to say Oppenheimer will/should win things, definitely none of these relate to the female roles in the film which is massive Bechdel test fail. 

- Who should be nominated but isn't- WHERE is Rosamund Pike's nomination??? Seriously how can you nominate Oppenheimer in a category for female roles and ignore the absolute killer of a performance by Rosamund Pike in Saltburn? It was one of my favourite performance of the year and the lack of a nomination is a straight up travesty! Also just to say again role in female written and directed film missing out! 

- Who I want to win- Rosamund Pike but that ship has sailed. Of the actual nominees, I think I will pass on giving a strong opinion because as much as I love America Ferrera in Barbie, I've not seen three of the other performances- so I guess anyone but Emily Blunt which is something I hate to say.

- Who will win- this is why I think RDJ will take out supporting actor over Gosling and Ruffalo as I suspect this is where they award a comedy and based on what I seeing from other ceremonies, I suspect Da'Vine Joy Randolph has a bit of a lock on this.

Directing

I don't even want to list the nominees as I'm so disappointed by the nomination list but sigh I guess I will...

Nominees

Christopher Nolan- Oppenheimer

Jonathan Glazer- The Zone of Interest

Justine Triet- Anatomy of a Fall

Martin Scorsese- Killers of the Flower Moon

Yorgos Lanthimos- Poor Things

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- seriously Oscars just because Martin Scorsese makes a film doesn't mean you have to nominate it in so many categories. Just no to Killers of the Flower Moon yet again.

- Who should be nominated but isn't- ALL the women! I cannot believe that Greta Gerwig (for Barbie) and Celine Song (for Past Lives) are not nominated. Especially the Gerwig snub makes me so frustrated with the Oscars tendency to nominate the same men year after year after year. I thought Gerwig did a better job than all nominees and Celine Song than most of them. I would also not have been sad about a nomination for Sofia Coppola for Priscilla.

- Who I want to win- like in the last category, someone who isn't nominated. This time Great Gerwig. Of the actual nominees, I would love Justine Triet to bring it home for the women or otherwise for Yorgos Lanthimos to win.

- Who will win- Nolan. It is Nolan's to lose as the Academy do love a white man- that is a tad harsh as he did do quite a good job.

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees

Anatomy of a Fall

Maestro

May December

Past Lives

The Holdovers

Points to the academy on this one, finally women!

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Maestro. The strongest part of Maestro was its lead actress (oddly just like Killers of the Flower Moon) and I basically don't remember the script at all.

- Should be nominated but isn't- well it is but it is in the wrong damn category. Being about an existing doll does not make you not original, Academy! I think adapted is a stronger category this year and I think Barbie would have romped home in original. Also I would also been onboard with a nominations for The Boy and the Heron and Saltburn.

- What I want to win- Past Lives or Anatomy of a Fall

- What will win- I think The Holdovers is likely to getting acting nods, this might be where Past Lives or Anatomy of a Fall gets their moment- though those are written by women so maybe The Holdovers will win.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees

American Fiction

Barbie

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

The Zone of Interest

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Oppenheimer's script is fine but not great....and also just damned happy they didn't nominate Killers of the Flower Moon. Also again Barbie should be in the original not adapted category (TBH though just happy it has a screenplay nominations as it was the best script of the year in my opinion)

- Should be nominated but isn't- this category is tight as it is but I wouldn't have minded a nomination for All of Us Strangers or Priscilla

- What I want to win- Barbie

- What will win- Barbie (if they know what's good for them)

Cinematography

Nominees

El Conde

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro 

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Now I've never heard of El Conde which is odd come Oscar season

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Maestro- it truly is the Bohemian Rhapsody of this Oscars (i.e. nominated way too much). Being partly in black and white isn't a reason to win for cinematography.

- Should be nominated but isn't- I've only seen the trailers but going off them Zone of Interest

- What I want to win- Poor Things

- What will win- Oppenheimer- though I also would not be shocked by a Killers of the Flower Moon win as cinematography is one of the films strong points

Film Editing

Nominees

Anatomy of a Fall

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer 

Poor Things

The Holdovers

-Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- if you are 45 minutes too long, you are not well edited- yes I'm once again talking about Killers of the Flower Moon

- Should be nominated but isn't- Priscilla. I mean the list is fine once you get rid of Killers of the Flower Moon, but if you need to add something.

- What I want to win- Poor Things or Anatomy of a Fall

- What will win- I could see Poor Things or Anatomy of a Fall taking it, but again this one might be Oppenheimer's to lose

Production Design

Nominees

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

Napoleon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- I've not seen Napoleon but honestly I don't have any issues with this list

- Should be nominated but isn't- would not have hated nominations for Priscilla and Saltburn

- What I want to win- Poor Things

- What will win- Oppenheimer or Poor Things or maybe even Barbie

Costume Design

Nominees are the same as for production design

- Shouldn't be nominated but isn't- again maybe not Napoleon but can't really comment

- Should be nominated but isn't- Priscilla. Also going to go out on a limb and say The Iron Claw

- What I want to win- Barbie 

- What will win- Barbie (yep going hard for Barbie here and likely to be disappointed)

Sound

Nominees

Maestro

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

Oppenheimer

The Creator

The Zone of Interest

Skipping all the normal things here as I've only seen two of the films and just saying that the film I want to win this and likely will win it is....Oppenheimer

Makeup and Hairstyling

Nominees

Golda

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Society of the Snow

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- Maestro AND Oppenheimer (which granted are two of the three films on the list I've actually seen) 

- Should be nominated but isn't- Priscilla and Barbie

- What I want to win- Poor Things

- What will win- Poor Things

Score

Nominees

American Fiction

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Not adding any shouldn't or should to this as I'm OK with it.

- What I want to win- much as I love the score of Poor Things, the Oppenheimer score was insanely good (when I left the cinema the day I saw it, score was the one thing I was certain it had an Oscar lock on) and you should never sleep on a Ludwig Goransson score (no shade to the film composer icon that is John Williams who much as I didn't hate the Dial of Destiny score, it is clearly nominated because he is John Williams).

- What will win- Oppenheimer

Original Song

It Never Went Away from American Symphony

What Was I Made For? from Barbie

I'm Just Ken from Barbie

The Fire Inside from Flamin' Hot

Wahzhazhe (A Song for my People) from Killers of the Flower Moon

- Shouldn't be nominated in my opinion- I don't know two of the songs so refraining from comment on that

- Should be nominated but isn't- Dance the Night Away from Barbie....honestly just the whole Barbie soundtrack

- What I want to win- I'm Just Ken 

- What will win- What Was I Made For? Barbie has had a hard lock on best song with no musical Disney film making a splash in 2023 and much as I'm Just Ken is my sentimental pick for the award, What Was I Made For? is musically the better song

Animated Film

Nominees

Elemental

Nimona

Robot Dreams

Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse

The Boy and the Heron

Making it short- The Boy and the Heron should and likely will win but Across the Spider Verse might sneak in as a dark horse contender. 

International film

Nominees

Io capitano

Perfect Days

Society of the Snow

The Teacher's Lounge

The Zone of Interest

Not going to say anything should or shouldn't be nominated but it is interesting that two of the best international films of 2023/4 aren't here in Anatomy of a Fall (likely due to the fact it is in other categories and also despite being a French film is often in English) and The Boy and the Heron (because it is animation- also it getting in would have pushed Perfect Days out which would have made me sad). Also odd no nomination for Fallen Leaves.

What I want to win- not having seen The Zone of Interest yet, I'm saying Perfect Days for now

What will win- The Zone of Interest

------------

And that is Clare predicting Oscars and ranting about the sexism for the Academy done...for now... let's see what ends up happening on the night


Saturday, January 6, 2024

Films of 2023

Well I've not written a countdown of my films of a year for a few years now. I have a 2020 draft that I might finish at some stage and a 2022 list that I could type up but for the life of me I can't remember my favourite films of 2021 (I know Dune was up there but I don't recall what else). I have got more decisive in my old age so no more lists of 15 films (or 16 if I snuck in a tie at 15th), but a tidy list of five. I have seen most films that have got 2023 release in Australia that are on most best of 2023 lists I've seen floating around with the exception of Godzilla Minus One, Blackberry, and Bottoms. Anatomy of Fall and Priscilla aren't out until next week, and May December not until later in the month, so there are 2024 films for Australian- along with the second Dune film, they are some of my most anticipated 2024 films.

So onto my 2023 top 5...

5. The Boy and the Heron


And apologies for fans of sub not dub options (I'm one of you), I believe that trailer might be the English dub.

During the second world war, Mahito loses his mother in the bombing of the hospital where she works. A few years later, Mahito's father, a munitions factory owner, relocates his business and his son out of Tokyo to the rural town where his dead wife's sister, who he is now involved with (possibly married to) and who he is expecting a child with, lives. As Mahito and his aunt/step mother arrive at her estate, a grey heron that lives on the property swoops down near Mahito. The heron later tells Mahito that his mother is not dead and he can take Mahito to her. The heron led him to a mysterious tower on the property which Mahito cannot enter. Mahito has dreams of his mother dying and on his first day at his new school, he gets into a fight and though not injured badly by it he then aggressively harms himself. Now excused from school, he has repeated and at times threatening interactions with the heron, Mahito decides to kill the heron and with the help of the servants at the house he build a bow and arrow. When his aunt/step mother disappears into the forrest around the house, everyone searches for her, and Mahito and one of the maids end up being lured by the heron into the mysterious tower and following events there, Mahito finds himself in some kind of alternate reality.

Miyazaki is back! I know he will likely "retire" again soon but after so long without a Miyazaki film, it is joy to have one again and if you are someone who is precious about following the work of directors in a year with a Scorcese film and a Nolan film, give me Miyazaki any day. In addition to this, if there are two plots I love a story built around, one of them is definitely a pre-teen or teen dealing with trauma or growing up by taking a trip to a fantasy world (the other is outsider watching the lives of the idle rich which was also got in 2023 come to think of it- though in a very different film). I do prefer the literal translation of the Japanese title which is How do I live? to The Boy and the Heron but it at least does make some sense unlike other translated titles. The animation is as glorious as you would expect from a Miyazaki film, and the themes of trauma and loss are beautifully poignant (Miyazaki is in part reflecting on the early death of his own mother in this script). As you expect from Miyazaki, you also get a dose of the power of the natural world.

Where can you watch it- still in cinemas

4. Poor Things


Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) is a young medical student in Victorian London when he taken under the wing of an older doctor, Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Godwin Baxter hires McCandles as his assistant and tasks him with observing the mental and physical development of his ward, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a women who though physically fully grown has the mental capacity of a young child and walks like a toddler. Bella appears to learn faster than a child and also shows curiousity both towards Godwin's (who she calls God) medical work and about her own sexuality. McCandles also grows curious as to where Bella comes from, and Godwin eventually tells him that Bella is the reanimated corpse of a woman who committed suicide (this isn't a spoiler as it is in the trailer and her suicide is the opening shot of the film in fact- though I will not reveal the element of the reanimation that makes her childlike). McCandles ends up falling for Bella and proposes to her, however before they can marry Godwin hires a lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), to redraft draft his will, and Bella and Wedderburn run away together to Europe. 

I read the novel on which the film is based before I saw it and I found it amazing but I also wondered at how anyone would be able to play Bella without making her ridiculous. Now the film makes changes from the book (Max McCandles is Archibald McCandless in the book, and it is set in Glasgow not London to name two of the minor ones) but it is by and large a great adaptation, and a lot of that hangs on one person, Emma Stone. Not only is her Bella not ridiculous, it is in fact a revelation and this is without question Stone's best ever performance which saying a lot. The humanity she brings to Bella and the way she convincing portrays Bella's childlike nature is outstanding. I could continue on Stone's performance but also to be commended are Dafoe and Ruffalo (after being in near every count down of films I wrote in the 2010s Ruffalo is back). Dafoe and Ruffalo are in fact playing almost polar opposites- Dafoe with a heavy layer of make up plays a Godwin Baxter who is ugly on the outside but despite questionable motivation truly cares for Bella, and Ruffalo perfectly balances the outward charm and attraction of Wedderburn and his inward slimy petty man baby. Moving on from the acting, it is a beautiful film. I think it will putting up a strong fight in production design and cinematography categories in the upcoming award season. The world the film creates once the action leaves London (which is initially in black and white) is a fantastical pastel steam punk place and it is like you are seeing the world through Bella's eyes as a magical and new place, and it is beautiful. Though I would have loved the film to be in Scotland like the novel is, there is really little to fault here and after The Favourite, this is cementing my appreciation of Yorgos Lanthimos as a director (I really do need to go back and watch his earlier work.

A few other things of note:

- The Frankenstein nerd that I am, when I read the novel, I couldn't not appreciate that Godwin Baxter is named after Mary Shelley's father, William Godwin, and I was so happy the film didn't mess with his name- not that it could as it wouldn't be the same without Bella calling him God. Just extra nerd point which isn't in the film, the character is actually Godwin Bysshe Baxter in the novel so it named after Mary Shelley's father and her husband (Bysshe being Percy Shelley's middle name). Though the character is a slightly better human than William Godwin and much better on than Percy Shelley, love this reference point in a work that is in some ways an updated Frankenstein.

- Content warning, if you are someone who isn't big on sex scenes in films, this film has quite a few and doesn't back down from showing them.

Where can you watch it- still in cinemas 

3. Dream Scenario 


Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) is an unassuming biology professor who has had little academic success and is painfully aware of his own mediocrity leading to many professional and personal jealousies. One morning, his daughter tells his that he appeared in her dream the night before but that he basically stood in the background doing nothing. That day his class acts oddly and then that night at the theatre he and his wife run into an old girlfriend of his who says he has been on her mind. When he meets with this old girlfriend over coffee, she tells him that she has been having dreams with him in them where, like in his daughter's dream, he just stands idly by in the background not interacting with the rest of the dream. This old girlfriend of Paul's is a journalist and she publishes an article about her dreams featuring him. Suddenly it comes to light that people around the world have had Paul pop up in their dreams doing nothing. Paul is suddenly famous online and the associated growth in his ego just further brings out the petty insecurities he always had and then...the dreams start to change as dream Paul starts to be active in them.

Any year that blesses the world with two Nicolas Cage films is a great year and not only did 2023 do that, it gave one for each side of the brilliance of Cage. There is an episode of Community where the character of Abed takes a class that is "Nicolas Cage: Good or Bad?" and ends up being broken by watching too many Cage films (oh and to question I have to say even in the worst film, Nicolas Cage is good). The point of that episode could almost be made by just watching this film and Renfield. Now I found Renfield a lot of fun even though the script wasn't brilliant and it was more violent than it need be (and that is coming from me the Tarantino fan who is very desenitised to violence), and the thing that I enjoyed the most was Cage going full ham scenery chopping over the top in his portrayal of Dracula. Going from that performance to Cage in Dream Scenario is quite the head spin as Cage in the first part of the film has to reign in the OTT he is known for (it does get a tiny bit of moment in the second half of the film which no spoilers is at one point hilarious) and play the most mediocre, soft spoken, every man out there. I would like every person who questions Cage's skill as an actor to watch this film as he is brilliant in it (some are saying this is the performance of his career but I wouldn't go that far as I love him in most everything he is in) and his ability to give life to this man who is so much of a nobody is outstanding. Cage's performance aside, the other performances, mostly from actors who aren't big names (the next biggest name in the cast is Michael Cera), are also great especially Julianne Nicholson as Paul's wife and Tim Meadows as the Dean of the college where Paul works.  The concept of the film might be familiar from other films about dreams but I don't think it has every been used to this comic effect before or been so well utilised as a morality play about the fickle perils of internet fame. 

Where can you watch it- still in cinemas

2. Barbie


In Barbieland, Barbies are told that they as dolls have allowed little girls to dream bigger and by their very existence all issues with gender in the Real World are fixed. Barbies live a dream life where they wake up every morning to a perfect outfit and a perfect breakfast, and then hang up with their Barbie friends taking breaks to excel at every job there is, while being worshipped by an army of super attractive men, the Kens (oh and Midge and Allen are there too but this isn't their story). It is ideal or is it? During a super fun party including choreographed dancing with all her Barbie friends, Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) suddenly starts thinking about death and then the next day she wakes up and everything is out of synch and worst of all, her feet are flat! After talking about this with the other Barbies (who are horrified by what is happening to her), she goes to talk to Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) who explains to her that the child playing with Stereotypical Barbie must be going through something and that this is fractioning the wall between Barbieland and the Real World and thereby impacting Stereotypical Barbie. Weird Barbie tells Stereotypical Barbie that she has to journey to the Real World to figure out what is going on. Stereotypical Barbie heads off the Real World with her 'boyfriend" (in his mind) Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) stowing away. On arrival in the Real World, Barbie and Ken (I'm ditching the full names now) discover it isn't as they thought and the patriarchy (which neither of them has heard of) is very much still a thing- this horrifies her and fascinates him. Barbie sets off to find the girl who is playing with her, while Ken goes to find out more things about the patriarchy. Meanwhile the leadership team at Mattel, who are all men and lead by Will Ferrell as the CEO, go into a tailspin of what to do with the fact there is a Barbie in the Real World, as the CEO's assistant, Gloria (America Ferrera) watches from the sidelines. 

Now some people will be shocked that this is my number 2 as I have been saying since July that was my favourite film of the year, well sadly for Barbie something came along and stole its top spot at the last minute. That said though, this is very close second to my film of the year and it is the one I'm more likely to rewatch a lot- I saw it twice at the cinema and have tentative plans to see it again soon at a special screening. Everything about this film is genius from the casting- say what you will about others who could have played Barbie but Margot Robbie is perfection- to performance- Gosling's Ken is one of the performances of the year- to set design- Barbieland is beautifully nostalgic- to music- this film has long since had a lock on the Best Song Oscar (I would love to see "I'm Just Ken" take it out, but it is really is Billie's Eilish's to lose with 'What was I Made for?" and those are just two songs from a great soundtrack)- to script- I love nearly every line of it and yes I have a line from this film on a t-shirt. That said, I feel like I was the definition of the target audience for this film so I do need to try to be objective to a degree. I have to ask myself would I have ranked this film as highly if it was the same but with one of elements of it changed for the worse (not for possibly equally good like the fact that Jonathan Groff was meant to play Allen- I think that would have been amazing but Michael Cera (wow he is in two of my top 5 films this year) was amazing in the end anyway). If the script was weaker or the casting off or the performances not as good for example, would it be this high on my ranking? Likely not. Even if they removed the dream ballet (which I was shocked Gerwig had to fight for as it is the best scene in the film and was perfection even though they only had day to shoot it- I have such admiration for Gosling, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, and the many background dancers- sorry Kens- for getting this done in a day), it would possibly slip to lower in my top 5, same if they had someone other than Helen Mirren as the narrator or other than Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie. In the end I have to conclude it is more than just the nostalgia of having been a little girl who loved Barbies and whose Barbies largely ended up looking like Weird Barbie (so much so that my nieces refused to play with most of them when my parents fished them out of the shed when my nieces were small- awww my poor Barbies with their punk hair cuts which were coloured weird colours by textas) or me being a women in her 30-40s who is a more than a bit of a feminist, this film legitimately is a great film and to be honest, I would expect nothing less from Greta Gerwig. 

Two things to note:

- I know people have questioned the fact that the feminism of the film is quite simplified and I say to them "so what". It is simple white girl feminism but you need to start somewhere and I can see this being the film people shows their young children to get them on board with the basics of why the patriarchy is evil.

- I just discovered that there was a Stereotypical Ken in the film. It was Scott Evans' Ken and initially I was confused as surely that should have been Gosling's Ken but then I realised that it is in fact a bit genius as you rarely buy Barbie and Ken as a set so children tend to couple Barbies and Kens together at random. I mean the Ken I had as a kid based on his gold mesh top and fluro green tight shorts was likely not much interested in Barbie anyway. 

Where can you watch it- it is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime

1. Past Lives


In a bar, we hear people debating about the relationship between the three people we can see on screen- an Asian man, an Asian woman, and a white guy. Is the woman in a relationship with one of the men, are they colleagues, are they tourists, why is the conversation mainly between the Asian man and woman? Flashback twenty four years to a school in Seoul. Na Young (Seung Ah Moon) is 12 years old and her family is in the middle of making plans to immigrate to Canada. Na Young has a crush on Hae Sung (Seung Min Yim), a boy in her class, and their parents set up a date between the two but nothing more comes of it as Na Young's family leaves the country. Twelve years later, Na Young is now Nora Moon (Greta Lee) and she is enrolled in a graduate writing program in New York. She notices that Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) has tried to reach her via the social media account for a film her father directed. The two reconnect over social media and it turns out he is still in Seoul living with his parents and is studying engineering having just finished his compulsory military service. They talk as often as they can online considering the time difference and talk about when one of them would be able to visit the other.  Then Nora opts to pause their conversations for a while as she heads on a writers' retreat and Hae Sung heads to an exchange program in China. At the retreat, Nora meets Arthur (John Magaro) and they fall for each other with Nora explaining to him the Korean idea of in yun where interactions between people build up over past lives and if people wind up married they have thousands of layers of in yun (note not sure on spelling as online it was also rendered in yeon). Another twelve years pass and Hae Sung reaches out to Nora who is now married to Arthur about visiting her while he is in New York.

Now there are many films about missed connections out there so what is it that makes this film better than the average such film? Well firstly I think it is that it starts not with a relationship that failed or a long window of unrequited love but with the simple idea of a childhood crush and I would suspect it is not uncommon for people to wonder what became of people they knew as children maybe particularly closer relationships they had at that stage like their first crush or their childhood best friend. In tapping into this common curiousity the film gives something that everyone can connect with and a common heartstring on which it can pull. Secondly with the concept of in yun, it gives you something more than just this life to reflect on. Finally, the film is self autobiographical and I think the truth of Celine Song's experience as a double immigrant from South Korea to Canada and then Canada to the US gives extra heart to the film. The characters in the film, even Arthur who is in the film much less, feel fully lived in and fleshed out thanks to a brilliant script which yes is largely in Korean (I did worry that Past Lives might get stuck in the same loop as The Farewell did a few years ago this award season of being an American film but being so much in another language that it gets put in Best Foreign Language categories (often the hardest categories to win) and misses out on Best Film spots- that said thankfully for nominations to date, it looks like Hollywood might have finally learnt its lesson though). The lead performances, in particular Greta Lee, are amazing, and combined with the script they just give the film a relatable realness to it. It is subtle, it is beautiful, it is simple, and it is real.

Where can you watch it- after it mysteriously disappeared for a few days (and delayed this countdown as I didn't want to write it without seeing it and good thing I waited), it is back for rent or purchase on Apple TV (and maybe also google play but I'm an Apple person so I don't know that for sure).

So there are my top five and for the first time, female directors in the top two spots and only one director who was born in the States in my top five (Greta Gerwig). 

Here in no order as my honourable mentions that just missed this top five:

- Perfect Days (I said this was in no order but this was definitely number 5 until Past Lives pushed it out of the top 5)

Asteroid City

 Oppenheimer

- Spider-Man: Across the Spider- Verse

- All of Us Strangers

- Fallen Leaves

- Saltburn (this was the film I mentioned as having the outsider observing the idle rich and I have to say massive content warning on how sexual this gets)

- Riceboy Sleeps (this is technically a 2024 film in Australia but I saw it at a film festival)

- John Wick 4

- Leave the World Behind

And just to show that I don't think the performance Oscars will come entirely from my favourite films, here are the performances of the year in my opinion:

- Emma Stone in Poor Things

- Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon (if this film was 30-45 minutes shorter and if it had focused on the native Americans instead of the white folk, chances are I would have liked this fim more (also TBH I hate to say anything bad about him but Leonardo diCaprio was miscast- performance was fine but he was the wrong person for the role) BUT none of that should take away from the fact that Lily Gladstone is outstanding (I mean it is still a great film just not for me) and she is in my opinion Emma Stone's biggest competition for best actresses this award season)

- Ryan Gosling in Barbie

- Greta Lee in Past Lives

- Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer 

- Rosamund Pike in Saltburn

- Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things

- Andrew Scott in All of Us Strangers

I don't have an Australian film of the year as I haven't watched many... watched this space in 2024 as there is a shot Furiosa will be up there and it is Australian. 

Also to say, my film controversy of the year was the madness around The Sound of Freedom which I have not seen as sounds like a pretty average action film about a topic that while we need to do something about isn't something people are unaware of (most people know child trafficking happens and are horrified by it). I thought the drama around Don't Worry Darling's press tour was fun in 2022 (I watched that film on a plane this year and my advice is don't bother darling, as despite Florence Pugh's best efforts, it do suck) but that didn't prepare me for a film becoming the focal point of the culture wars and having more controversy around it than anyone knew what to do with in 2023. Not going to detail it all here but it involves QAnon folk, conspiracies about the shelving of films after studio purchases (a common practice especially with films that aren't going to be award winners or blockbusters), and conspiracies from both sides of politics about ticket sales. Give it a google if you want but trust me, it is a rabbit hole that might steal a lot of your time. I might watch the film on a plane one day but I doubt it will be more than a three star film for me.

My worst film of 2023 is a return to "form" from the DCEU. It isn't The Flash as I've not seen it yet (I suspect it I will watch it at some stage but I hear it ain't great). Despite having Jason Momoa front and centre, my least favourite film of the year was Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. I didn't hate the first Aquaman film but with the uncanny valley of it all (not helped by the fact it was the second 2023 comic film that lost me in the uncanny valley- Ant Man and the Wasp: Quatumania already got my uncanny valley anger up earlier in the year), the complete lack of chemistry between most actors esp Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, and the worst script on a film I've watched in a long while, this sequel had no chance. Momoa can carry the character when he is having fun with it (he clearly wasn't for most of this film and if you want to see how good Momoa having fun with a role can be, just watch Fast X) so I think if DC is going to keep him as Aquaman, they need to recast most everyone else (I think I would only keep Teumera Morrison) and hire a decent writer. Seriously the James Gunn era of the DCEU cannot kick in soon enough as to date most of the DCEU's output has just worked to cement me as a Marvel person (Wonder Woman and Gunn's The Suicide Squad (not the Ayer's Suicide Squad-my least favourite film of the 2010s) being the only actual good DCEU films to date).

So that is my thoughts on films in 2023...as I said I might finish some of my half finished films of previous years blogs when I get the chance and I also have my updated ranking of the MCU half written and I might Oscar predict again for fun so watch this space as maybe 2024 is the year for blogs to make a come back.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Better late than never...2019 films

So what with Australia being on fire and then the whole world being struck with a pandemic, I didn't get around to blogging my favourite films of 2019. I've had a list of them guiltily staring at me every time I open notes on my phone for close to a year- it will help distract me from the fact that in the middle of 2020 end of year film binge, I've just got to The Midnight Sky which is disappointing me at present. As always these are films which were released in 2019 and I saw that year either at a film festival (I was at the Sydney one as normal and caught a partner screening in Inverness of one film on this list when it was premiered at the London Film Festival), in cinemas, or at home (because streaming services make that a thing)...also saw a bunch on a plane as I went on a holiday to the UK for a few weeks in 2019. My film count stands likely somewhere between 70 and 80 for 2019- with 2020 going the way it went, I did think at one stage that I wouldn't get to sufficient films for a list but it turns out I did though the list might end up as ten instead of the normal fifteen.

I saw most films that were nominated for Best Picture at 2020 Oscars except Ford Vs Ferrari- which was nominated why?- and two of them are 2020 films for Australians- 1917 and Little Women. I actually cannot think of a film that was on a lot of people's best films of 2019 that I didn't see. There is much less from the US on my list than previous years so that made me happy.

A warning there is a number 16 which is tied as there are two 2019 films I couldn't not include but I think the fifteen films above them were better. So let's start...

16 (tied). The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

The two great auteur films of 2020 in one hit partly because they both have two matching issues which I will get to.




Plot description for The Irishman first I guess even if I saw it second (it is the one I saw in Inverness). Ageing hitman, Frank Sheeran (Robert de Niro), recounts his time "painting houses" (aka killing lots of people) in the 1950s-70s. Sheeran in the initial flashback was a truck driver in Philadelphia when he is recruited by a crime family to help things fall off the back of his truck. Sheeran soon meets Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) who recruits him to help paint houses among other jobs. Through Bufalino, Sheeran meets head of the teamster's union, Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and the two become friends. Hoffa, after being arrested for jury tampering, fights to regain power in the union. Meanwhile the mob is losing patience with Hoffa and start to talk about how to get rid of him. Sheeran also is struggling at home with the one of his daughters (Anna Paquin) suspecting that her father might be involved in crime.

Now to Once upon a Time in Hollywood. In February 1969, a formerly successful TV actor, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is struggling to figure out what steps to take with his career- to stay in Hollywood where he is struggling to find parts or to go to Italy and make spaghetti westerns. As Dalton struggles with his fading career, every day he sees what young Hollywood success looks like in his neighbours Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and Roman Polanski (Rafal Zanierucha) especially embodied in Tate whose star is on the rise. Dalton's stunt double and also driver, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), is having his own struggles as he has been deemed difficult to work with and there are rumours he killed his wife. As Dalton and Booth drive through Hollywood, they often drive past young girls who are headed to the Spahn Ranch and the leader of the community at the Ranch, Charles Mason (Damon Herriman) has also once shown up at Tate and Polanski's house looking for the former occupants. Dalton and Booth ultimately head to Italy to make spaghetti westerns and they return in August 1969, in the days that historically (no comment on the film but in reality) led up to the murder of Tate and several of her friends by the Mason family.

Both of these films take a historical incident that true crime buffs are fascinated with- the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and the Mason murders respectively- but in very different ways. The Irishman tries to be a fairly clean historical film albeit it one adapted from a book, I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, that has been questioned- that said whilst the truth of Hoffa's disappearance isn't known, it was likely a hit mob. Ultimately Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is not about the Mason murders they are the sideline of the story and ends (sorry spoilers- though it is obviously from early on that Tarantino might be headed that way) with some alternative history. Both of these films are exceptional well made as you would expect from both these masters of the cinematic arts. Both have actors delivering outstanding performances- Pesci and Pitt in particular, but de Niro, Pacino, and DiCaprio are also amazing. Are these the films I would watch by these directors given the choice though? They are not-  would be all about Goodfellas or Inglourious Basterds given the choice. I needed to include them on the countdown as they are without question exceptional films and I did enjoy them (if I'm honest likely The Irishman more so) but they are hampered by the same two issues that stopped me enjoying them more, and no, one of them isn't the de-ageing tech in The Irishman. The least worrying of the two issues is the simple one and that is learn to edit, guys! Both of these films are very slow paced and that is fine, both are also over three hours long which would also be fine if it weren't for the combination with the pacing. Both films could have cut at least half an hour and not lost anything vital. Neither of these should be watched if you are tired as you might risk nodding off. The bigger issue that stopped these being higher up...let the women speak, guys! I was fascinated to see Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate as I thought it was great casting and in what scenes you did see her, she was great, but there wasn't anywhere near enough of her. I think Pussycat- bikini top clad teen who tempts Cliff Booth out to Spahn Ranch- almost has as many lines as Robbie does as Tate. There is a distinctly lack of women in OUATIH (acronym time) and considering it is a film that is based off the murder of a woman (albeit one that doesn't occur in the film), has a character who might be guilty of spousal murder, requires the depiction of a rapist (you cannot tell this story without featuring a version of Polanski), and features an actor who has been convicted of physical assault against a woman (Emile Hirsch who plays Jay Sebring, one of the other actual victims of the Mason murders) that might amplifies existing issues. The Irishman doesn't have the baggage that OUATIH has in this space but it has the same issue. The women barely speak and the film is deeply men heavy. In OUATIH, I think Robbie, Margaret Qualley who plays Pussycat, and Julia Butters who plays Dalton's young female co-star give great performances, and the same is true of Anna Paquin in The Irishman but there is enough of them by half. 

So yes these are great films and I wish to could place them above 16th but I just can't.

15. Blinded by the Light


Now for another film based on a true story. In Luton in the late 1980s Thatcherite Britain, unemployment is rife and right wing racism is on the rise. Javed Khan (Viveik Kalra), the son of Pakistani immigrants, dreams of being a writer. He writes songs for his friend's band (which his friend deems as too depressing) but his father does not find this an appropriate ambition. When Javed transfers to a new school which is largely white, he develops a crush on a girl who is left wing activist (Nell Williams), is inspired by his English teacher (Hayley Attwell), and befriends the only other student of South Asian descent (Aaron Phagura). Roops, his new friend, tries to convince Javed that Bruce Springsteen's music will make sense of the world. Though initially resistant to this, Javed listens to the cassettes Roops lends him and finds Springsteen does speak to him. Javed uses Springsteen to help him work through the rampant racism around him, rejection of his writing by the school newspaper, his father losing his job, and his father's rejection of both his desire to be a writer and his love of Springsteen.

I love a good British feel-good movie and this is the highest quality version of that. I was in two minds when deciding to see this or not at the Sydney Film Festival last year as I'm not a huge Springsteen fan- don't dislike Springsteen, his music just isn't something I ever got into- and I was so happy to opted to see it. The use of Springsteen's music is great and the way that as the working class becomes much less white, his music which leans on working class experience could easily find a new audience deeply resonates and this is based on a true story so clearly it did. There is also a clear parallel to the modern day as the type of extreme right wing racism and the economic uncertainty that marked Thatcherite Britain is very much back but just in Britain but everywhere. It is a joyful film in these dark times- if you are finding 2020 tough, I strongly recommend locating this film and giving it a watch.

14. Kona fer í stríð (Woman at War)


First of two Scandinavian films (does Iceland count as Scandinavia? I'm not sure) making the countdown in 2019. Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttr) is a choir director. She objects to the building of an electricity plant never her town and in her spare time she goes into the countryside and destroys pylons to the plant. The police are increasing their efforts to identify who is the destroying the pylons and Halla is almost caught. She escapes with the assistance of a farmer and makes it back to town. When she returns home, she discovers that her application to adopt has been approved after many years and she will need to travel to the Ukraine to collect her adoptive daughter. 

This film is the kind of slightly surrealist (there is a band that follows Halla around and a random Mexican  tourist wondering around) fare that you get out Scandinavia when they aren't making crime dramas. That said, it is also very funny at times. Geirharðsdóttr gives an exceptional grounded and honest portrayal of Halla (and her twin sister) which centres the whole film. The film is simply a delight and I'd try watch the original before it gets an English language remake (which is happening with Jodie Foster in the lead role). 

13. The Report



Based on real events, this film follows Daniel J Jones (Adam Driver) a senate staffer as, in 2009, he is assigned to lead a team that will look into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes in the mid 2000s. Locked in a windowless room with air gapped computers, as Jones and his team trawl through the data and gaps become clearer they start to see the repeated breaches of human rights by the US in the early/mid 2000s. In flashbacks, the direct aftermath of 9/11 is seen and the initial decisions to pursue a practice of interrogation of terrorist suspects that was at odds both of with previous US government policy and UN human rights legislation. Jones and his team find myriad cases of blatant torture including some that resulted in the death of suspects. As the team dwindles due to the horrifying nature of the work, Jones finalises and submits his report, nicknamed by some "the Torture Report", to the Senate Intelligence Committee. After it is submitted, the leadership of the CIA changes and Jones is told his report will never be published. 

2019 was a great year for Adam Driver between this, The Dead don't Die (a super quirky Jim Jarmusch which didn't crack my top 16), Rise of Skywalker (which I was not a fan of at all but Driver was good in), and another film that is much higher up this countdown (you can probable guess what it is). As always he is great in this film and nimbly hold the audience's attention when he is the main person on screen for the bulk of the film. Annette Benning isn't on screen much but is also great as Senator Dianne Feinstein. The film is an important one as it shows that for all the downright atrocities that Bush administration committed (which were many and are at times described in excruciating detail in this film), the Obama administration is not without fault on this front as they did try to limit the release of this information.  

12. The King


Inspired by Shakespeare's plays about Henry IV and Henry V (mainly the latter), the film follows the life of Henry V. Prince Hal (Timotheé Chalamet) has no interest in being king and is happy with a life of drinking and whoring and palling around with his drunken mate Falstaff (Joel Edgerton). His father therefore decides to leave the throne to Hal's younger brother Thomas. Despite his lack of interest in ruling, Hal continues to show himself a capable soldier and upstages his brother in battle. His brother trying to win glory is killed in battle and so the inheritance of the throne shifts back to Hal. On the death of his father, Hal becomes Henry V and his coronation is marked by an insulting gift from the Dauphin of France (Robert Pattinson) and a warning from his sister to trust no-one at court. The court openly distrust Henry V and to unify the country, he beheads to dissenting nobles and declares war on France. On arrival in France, they are constantly taunted by the Dauphin and nobles advise Henry V to turn back. Henry V refuses and on the advice of his old drinking buddy Falstaff, plans what becomes a definitive victory at the Battle of Agincourt and the French surrender. The terms of surrender include the marriage of Henry V to Catherine of Valois (Lily-Rose Depp) the daughter of the king. Catherine reveals to Henry that there must have been English involvement in plot that lead to his war with France and Henry uncovers the traitor and kills him.

That was the whole plot of the film as I assume that people know it either from history or from Shakespeare. The concept of Shakespeare without the Shakespearean verse is an interesting one and I know for some people it didn't sit well but I think if someone can watch this and it helps them delve deeper into the original texts, that is a great thing. Timotheé Chalamet is fast becoming to my countdown what Mark Ruffalo and Tilda Swinton were previously- he was in 2017 and 2018, and, spoiler, will be in 2020. He is amazing young actor and he perfectly cast as Hal/Henry, granted I said that about his role in Call me by your name and will be saying that about his role in the film in the 2020 countdown as well, maybe he is just perfect for all roles. Robert Pattinson has spent years ridding himself of the horrors of the Twilight series and with this and Tenet in 2020, he finally has in my opinion. I was surprised by the strength of his performance as the Dauphin. The cinematography especially the battle cinematography is exceptional. My single issue with the film, more of a petty gripe really, was the fact that they insisted in so much of it being in English- there is even a line about speaking English instead of French in the scene between the French king and Henry- despite the fact there are French actors in the film and both Chalamet and Depp speak it fluently.

This also is my Australian film for the countdown- well may you laugh but it is directed by David Michod who is Australian and written by Minhod and Joel Edgerton (also Australian) and is an Australian/American co-production. 

11. Den skyldige (or The Guilty)


Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) is a police office in Copenhagen. After an incident on the job, he is assigned to desk duty on the emergency call line. A woman calls the line but acts not as if she is speaking to Holm but as if she is speaking to a child who is not on the phone call. Holm gets her to answer yes/no questions which indicate that she has been abducted and she mentions a white van. Holm starts trying to trace the call and find where the woman is, whilst also desperately trying to keep her on the line. He tries to get the closest station to send a patrol car out to her location but they refuse as he has no information except white van. He looks up the woman on the police database and finds her home number. On calling the number, a six year old girl answers saying that her separated parents argued in his baby brother's room and then her father forced her mother into his white van. Now absorbed by the case, Holm tries to get a colleague to go to the house and check on the situation.

Second Scandinavian film for my 2019 countdown and it may have knocked A Quiet Place out of contention as the most intense thriller of recent years. Except for a few scenes where Holm's colleague is seen and minor roles for others in the emergency call centre, it is all voice acting with only Cedergren on screen. You never see the woman on the phone or her daughter or husband. The director was inspired by the intensity that can be conveyed by a emergency centre call, and you really feel it. Despite the fact that the film is almost entirely just in the call centre, the tension never lets up. The performance by Cedergren and the voice acting by the rest of the cast keeps you hanging off every second of the film. The direction from Gustav Moller is outstanding particularly in light of the fact that this is his directorial debut. Not surprisingly, the English remake is currently being made as Hollywood cannot leave a good foreign language film to be that it seems.

10. Knives Out


On the day after his 85th birthday, mystery novelist Harlon Thromby (Christopher Plummer) is found dead and, though slitting your throat is an odd way to kill yourself, it is ruled by police to do a suicide. Despite the police ruling, someone pays private detective Beniot Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate the death. Blanc speaks to each of the family members who each recount the night of the birthday party from their own point of view, and each seems to be hiding something. Blanc discovers that Thromby's nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), cannot lie without vomiting and recruits her to assist with his investigation. Certain that it is not murder the question becomes was it the philandering son-in-law (Don Johnson), the daughter who is being cheated on (Jamie Lee Curtis), the son who is about to be cut off (Michael Shannon), the daughter-in-law who is skimming money (Toni Collette), the narcissistic grandson (Chris Evans), or someone else?

Now I love a Rian Johnson film (as my continual defeating of Last Jedi might indicate), an old school locked room murder mystery, and most all of this cast in anything, so this film would have to have gone very wrong for me to not love it. Also I saw it for my birthday last year so I was in a mood to like it. That said, it still had to do much more to be a top 10 film. There is a quirk and a humour to the film that lifts it above the normal murder mystery, and even the quirkiest of quirks, the lying makes Marta vomit bit, somehow isn't too much. It is so smart right down to the tiniest of details such as how the party changes when each person recounts it. The actors will seem to be having the time of their lives making the film, even Daniel Craig and his slightly busted Southern accent. Also Chris Evans in a cable knit sweater...gosh it works...

9. Amazing Grace



More the story of the film itself, instead of a plot as this is a thing for having plot as it is live concert recording. In 1972, Aretha Franklin was filmed recording her live gospel album over two nights. Unfortunately after the filming, it was found that they couldn't synch the audio with the video properly, and so it put on a shelf somewhere and it was thought that it might never see the light of day. In the mid 2000s the footage was bought by a new producer and they worked to synch the audio and the video. Franklin sued a few times over attempts to release it but after her death, her family permitted the release of the film.

Basically you just need to sit back and dwell in the pure absolute talent of Aretha Franklin. I don't think I have every been bought to tears by music on its own in the past- musicals yes but not music on its own no- but this film got me especially Franklin's rendition of Amazing Grace. If you are religious, you will find deeper meaning in the songs as they are gospel songs but even if you aren't you can appreciate the sheer power of Franklin's voice which even, as you see on screen, Mick Jagger showed up to appreciate during this recording. 

8. Sorry we missed you


Ricky and his family have lived pay check to pay check since the global financial crisis. Ricky's friend recommends that he buys into a franchise of delivery trucks so he convinces his wife, who is a home care nurse, to sell their family car so that he can buy in. Ricky finds the new job tough- to break even he has to take on a huge volume of deliveries and he is fined for late deliveries, unhappy customers, and on one occasion taking his daughter on deliveries with him. Ricky's wife, Abbie, now has to get to her patients by public transport which means on top of the difficulty of her job to begin with- low pay and often having to assist patients with things such as feeding themselves or use of the toilet- she now has to try and rush between patients despite the fact they are all profoundly lonely and want her to hang around longer. On top of this, Ricky and Abbie's teenage son is getting into trouble and skipping school and neither of them has space in their work schedules to properly deal with that.

This film is a TOUGH watch. It is a damning critique of the gig economy and the lack of support of the working poor. As Ken Loach does on occasion, he cast the film with non professional actors, but you wouldn't know. The performances, in particular Debbie Honeywell as Debbie, are exceptional. The film is set up to have a documentary feel and that works in diluting what could be a didactic message. It is brilliantly crafted but it will kick you in the guts and stay with you for quite a while afterwards.

7. Booksmart



Amy (Kaitlyn Denyer) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) are best friends who have spent their teen years studying and doing extracurricular activities. Molly uses the fact that she got into Yale to hold something over her class mates only to find that despite their partying was, they all got into good colleges too. Molly therefore decides she and Amy wasted their high school years, and pushes Amy to join her in going to the party hosted by the most popular boy in their year, hinting that the girl Amy has a crush on is likely to be there. Having no idea where the party is, they ask the awkward rich boy who has a crush on Molly (Skyler Gisondo) where it is and he gives them an address. They get to the address to find it is only Jared, the boy who gave them the address, and his very high best friend, Gigi (Billie Lourd). Amy wants to go home but Molly convinces her to continue on the quest to find the party. Hijinks ensue as they continue from party to party and random car rides in between.

After the hard hitting number 8, have a sheer delight at number 7. This film is the coming of age teen comedy for teen girls that Hollywood has been calling out for after all the similar films for teen boys in late 90s/early 00s. It is flat out hilarious and doesn't shy away from tackling sex or drugs in a humourous way as teen boy films of the past have. The chemistry between Feldstein and Denyer sparkles and I look forward to seeing more from both of them in the future- did also love Feldstein in Ladybird and Denyer was exceptional in Unbelievable. This also one of the only teen films I've seen where one of the lead characters is queer and the actress playing the other is not a stick figure, and no fuss is made of either of these things, both are completely normal. The film is written by several women and directed by one (actress Olivia Wilde making her debut as director) so no surprise that it is such a great depiction of the awkwardness of teenage women. Also be prepared for some deeply hilarious screen stealing from Billie Lourd who if she keeps going as she has been, will be one of my favourite actors of her generation (much like her mother was of a past generation of actors). 

6. Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (or Portrait of a Lady on Fire)



Some time in the 18th century, an artist, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), is commissioned to paint an engagement picture of a young noble woman. Marianne travels to a remote island in Brittany where she meets the mother of her subject (Valeria Golino) who explains that she hired Marianne because she admired the work of her father who was also a portrait artist. Marianne is told that woman she is painting does not want to be painted as she knows the painting is part of a betrothal and she does not wish to marry- several other painters have quit in the attempt to complete the portrait. Marianne told to pretend to be a companion for the young woman instead of an artist hired to paint her. Marianne meets Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) and the two bond as they take daily walks together under the guise of Marianne's job as her companion. Marianne completes the portrait but she doesn't want to show Heloïse as it would show the deception of her companionship. Héloïse sees portrait and dislikes it so Marianne destroys it. Héloïse volunteers pose for the portrait and the two women (and Héloïse's maid Sophie (Luàna Bajrami)) are left alone as Héloïse's mother goes to the mainland.

This is beautifully formed and wonderfully shot period piece. It looks amazing and when you consider the subject matter before Marianne and Héloïse fall in love is an outstanding achievement. The film is a testament to the banal minutia of day to day life for a woman in the 18th century, whilst also being a film about desire. The women in the film clearly have had their lives shaped by men despite the fact there are no men on screen- be it Marianne's father, Héloïse's father's impact on her mother, Héloïse's future fiancee, or the father of the child that Marianne and Héloïse help Sophie to abort. It is a film pretty much without men but at all times, you feel the impact of the patriarchy in silencing women and limiting their freedoms at that time. Aside from being an exceptional filmic achievement, it also has the great achievement of their pretty much only being women both in front of and behind the camera.

5. JoJo Rabbit



In the dying days of WWII, Johannes "Jojo" (Roman Griffith Davis) is a proud member of the Hilter youth. He is so passionate about the Nazi cause that he has created a version of Hitler as his imaginary friend (Taiki Waititi). After an incident at a youth camp, Jojo is injured and his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson), demands that the local commander (Sam Rockwell) take Jojo on to do office work. Jojo spends his days putting up posters to promote the Nazi cause and every day he walks past the spot outside the town hall where traitors are hanged. One evening when his mother is late home, Jojo follows a noise and goes into the room of his deceased sister. Moving aside a section of the wall, he finds a secret cupboard and in the cupboard is Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), a Jewish girl in her late teens, hiding. Jojo threatens to report her but as Elsa points out that would lead to Rosie being executed as traitor which neither of them wants. Jojo decides to use Elsa to research her "Jew secrets" to help the Nazi cause and he begins to disobey his mother who he now sees as lacking patriotism. 

I think there must be a thing with Taiki Waititi films inspiring a rewatch as much like Thor: Ragnarok I saw this three times at the cinema. The idea of the comedy about the Nazis seems like it could go profoundly wrong but somehow this film just works and also I cannot think how much Hitler would have hated being played by a Jewish man of colour. It is deeply hilarious at times and heart breaking at others (in the four times I've seen it (yes I watched it not at the cinema too), I cried every one of them). The adult performance are exceptional in particular Johansson (this is her greatest performance to date in my opinion despite the fact I'm not done with her on this countdown- no don't worry Endgame didn't make it and mainly because it killed her), with solid support from Rebel Wilson and Alfie Allen in minor roles. The film ultimately belongs to the two younger actors though as McKenzie brings a complexity to the role of Elsa that overcomes the fact the character could have just been just a tool for Jojo's growth/awakening, and Griffith Davis brings a beautiful naivety coupled with joy to the role of Jojo- also special mention to Archie Yates who is a delight as Jojo's friend Yorgi. This film won't be for everyone but I simply loved the tender heart that is some how at the centre of this satire.

3. (tied) Marriage Story and The Farewell




I could not split the differences between how much I loved these films so they get to tie for third place... Let's start with Marriage Story.

Charlie (Adam Driver) is a theatre director and his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johnsson) is an actor. As they start to experience marital difficulties whilst preparing for a play, they go to a counsellor who asks them to write down what they like about each other and when Nicole cannot read her list out, they stop counselling and Nicole accepts a role that will take her and the couple's son to Hollywood where her mother lives. Charlie meanwhile stays in New York for the play and the couple agree to an amicable separation with no lawyers. Despite agreeing to no lawyers, Nicole starts consulting with Nora (Laura Dern), a family law specialist, and telling her about how neglected she has felt in her marriage and her fear that Charlie may have cheated on her. Charlie visits Nicole in the hopes of reconciling after he has won the MacArthur grant only for her to serve him with divorce papers. The film then follows the couple's path towards divorce.

Everyone in this film is firing on all cylinders. Driver and Johansson who I'm always a fan of deliver greatly empathetic performances. Both Nicole and Charlie are characters that an audience could easily hate but somehow you don't and you flip from one side to the other as the two characters battle. Though not my favourite performance from either (which are Paterson and Jojo Rabbit respectively), both Driver and Johansson are on top form- I really didn't like Joker so part of me was hoping Driver would get the Oscar for this. The performances in support are also great in particular Laura Dern, Julie Hegarty who plays Nicole's mother, and Alan Alda who plays Charlie's lawyer. Noah Baumbach wrote the film in the aftermath of his own divorce and also whilst reflecting on his parents' divorce (previously the inspiration for his film The Squid and the Whale- a great film if you haven't seen it) The script is grounded in the reality of the emotion of people going through a divorce and it beautifully turns from heartbreaking to heartwarming as it goes on.

Onto The Farewell...

Billi (Awkwafina) is an struggling aspiring writer who has just heard that her latest application for funding has been unsuccessful. She then hears from her parents that her Nai Nai (grandmother) (Zhao Shu-Zhen) has been diagnosed with lung cancer and only has a few months to live. Billi is told that her grandmother does not know she is dying, she merely believes the tumour that was found is benign and that she has a cold. Billi told not to come to China with her parents as they believe she will not be able to lie to her grandmother. Billi refuses and travels with them. Billi's grandmother has been told that the family is gathering for the wedding of Billi's cousin to his Japanese fiancee which has been organised at great speed. Billi and her cousin (who was raised in Japan) are outsiders in the family gathering as their Mandarin is broken, and both seem to disagree with the family plan though Billi's cousin is too shy to speak up. Billi enjoying spending time with her grandmother with whom she has always been close and struggles to lie to her.

Supposedly this practice of hiding serious diagnoses so that the family not the individual bears the pain is common in China and it is an interesting concept to watch as an outsider from a culture where that would never occur. I'm definitely not sold on the idea but it is interesting to have to think about this from an outsider's perspective. The film is largely in Mandarin and it is intriguing for the film to be carried by a character who is defined as having broken Mandarin and it heighten the outsider perspective which I believe was the intension of the writer/director who is Asian American. Awkwafina was someone I had never heard of before her scene stealing supporting role in Crazy Rich Asians and she is exceptional here- I cannot wait to see her in more things in the future. Zhao Shu-Zhen is simply adorable as Nai Nai. The film is based on the personal experience of Lulu Wang who wrote and directed it, and the personal touch just enhances the delightful humanity at its core. This film was flat out robbed by the lack of Oscar noms as there should have been nominations for Awkwafina, Zhao Shu-Zhen, and for Lulu Wang's script. 

2. If Beale Street Could Talk


Based on the novel by James Baldwin, the film follows the romance of Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James). Flipping backwards and forwards through their lives, it shows them growing up together and then falling in love and then to several tragic events in their adult years. I cannot recall the order of things as it is now close to two years since I saw it in January of 2019 so I don't want to guess at retelling it and get things out of the order they are in the film as that would be spoilers. That means as a plot, all you get is that it is love story between two young black people in 1960s/70s New York where blatant racial discrimination is very much a reality (not that it isn't nowadays- unfortunately).

Speaking of films that were robbed at the Oscars, this should have been nominated in most every category- in particular the lead acting ones, directing, editing, and best film- but it was only nominated for adapted screenplay, score, and supporting actress (winning the last of these). Much like Barry Jenkins' previous film, Moonlight, this film is stunning. Jenkins' direction and James Laxton's cinematography once again shine and this is a deeply beautiful film that shows cinema for the art form that it is. The 1960s and 1970s are evoked perfectly and you feel the reality of the era, you also deeply feel the pain of the black experience at that time. The performances from Layne and James as the young lovers are superb, as is Regina King who delivers the film's best performance as Tish's mother. It is just a straight up gorgeous piece of film making.

1. Gisaengchung (or Parasite)


The Kim family live in poverty packed into a basement apartment assembling pizza boxes for a living. The son of the family, Ki-Woo (Choi Woo-shik), meets with a friend of his who is a university student and his friend tells Ki-Woo to pretend to be a uni student and he recommend him to take over as the tutor for Da-hye Park, the daughter of the wealthy Park family. The Kim family then gradually recommend each other for roles in the Park household. First, Ki-Woo recommends his sister, Ki-Jung (Park So-dam), as an art therapist for the Park family's son claiming that she is someone he knows from University. Then Ki-Jung gets the chauffeur dismissed and recommends her father,  Ki-taek (Song Kang-Ho), to replace him claiming that he is the former chauffeur of a friend of her family. Finally the Kims spur an allergic reaction in the Park's long term maid and the Kim mother, Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), takes over based on a fake elite cleaning service her family sets up. Having now all gained a place in the Park household, the Kims finally start to have money coming in.

As I often say, I rarely agree with the Oscars and you just have to scroll up to see me complaining about them, but there was no other film that could have been a more worthy first foreign language film to take out Best Picture.  I gave away on my post of over a year ago of the top films of 2010-2019 that this was my top film of 2019 and there are barely any people who disagree with me on this front- over a year after its release it still holds a 99% positive critic score on Rotten Tomatoes which is near unheard of. It is flat out phenomenal. As you know from previous countdowns, I'm a big fan of Boon Joon-ho's work- both Snowpiercer and Okja made my countdown on their release and The Host would have had I done one that year. Even taking that into account, Parasite is far and away his best film to date. Defying conventional genre definition, the combination of black comedy, thriller, and other genres when the mood strikes it make the film feel more real. The script is sharp and the performances in particular Song as Mr Kim are amazing. The top layer of this near perfection of film making is the film's scolding and timely critique of late stage capitalism and the wealth gap which supposedly is very marked in South Korea but also speaks to all wealthy nations. There is a reason this won all the awards and that despite being in a foreign language, it screened at a cinema near me for about a year (I think it had only just stopped screening when COVID closed Australian cinemas in March 2020). When it is funny, it is hilarious, when it is thrilling, it is intense, and always it is parable of the corruption of our modern times.

So a year too late there are my films of 2019. 

As always I have some extras to recommend or not. I don't have an animated film of 2019 as the only one I recall seeing was Frozen 2 which I didn't love but I have two generally fun films, an Aussie film, and two docos to recommend before I get to my worst film of 2019.

First generally fun films. Both of these I debated including in the above (I even predicted in a post in April 2019 that one of them was definitely in) but they didn't fit and in all honesty they are more just films I enjoyed than films that actually were "best of the year" films. Surprisingly both are action films...

John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum


Vengeance for my puppy part 3! As a dog lover, I cannot love the motivation for these films more whilst also finding it a tad OTT. As this is the third film in a series, I won't spoil it beyond that for those who haven't seen parts 1 and 2. These are the best non comic based action films since The Matrix and it helps that they have the same star (plus costar in this one when Laurence Fishburne pops up). Between this and Always be my Maybe, 2019 was a great year for Keanu and any year that has two Keanu films makes me very happy.  If you are yet to get on the John Wick train, you should before part 4 comes out.

Captain Marvel


I really wanted to get this into the main countdown but it didn't fit. The first Marvel film with a female lead (how has it taken this long?!?)! The 90s nostalgia! The revolutionary de-aging technology! The cast full of people I love- Samuel L Jackson, Annette Bening, Ben Mendolsohn, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law- plus one of the people who is sure to be a power player in the next decade of Hollywood- Brie Larson! Just brilliant and I cannot want for more Captain Marvel in phase 4. 

Onto my Aussie film recommend of the year which isn't The King despite what I said above (again this was a film that was pushing at the edges of my top 16):

Slam

Trailer wasn't easy to find what with slam being a common title for things on YouTube but it is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CtA5g6QGgk  

Slam shows the intersection between Islamophobia and misogyny as a young muslim woman who is a slam poet disappears. The film then follows the police officer on the case as she seeks to solve the case whilst also dealing with an abusive ex partner and the young woman's brother who is being targeted to by the press as speculation rises that she has gone overseas to train as terrorist. The film only got a very limited release but track it down if you can. It is griping and you cannot look away as it gets right to the heart of racism and sexism, and their impact on policing and the media in Australia.

Now for docos, there was one on my list above in Amazing Grace but for a more conventional doco, try these two:

One Child Nation



This film explores the one child policy in China and the continuing impacts of it despite the fact that it is no longer in place. From the abortionist who still takes pride in her "patriotic work", to the family in America who seeks to link children who were adopted out of China that era, to the film maker's own family (they kept her even though she was female), the film maker speaks to everyone in the chain and the whole story is made more personal by the fact that she and her husband (who was also born in China when one child was law) are expecting their first child during the filming process.

Fyre: the Greatest Party that Never Happened

I think everyone has seen this doco but the trailer is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ0KNVU2fV0 if you haven't. 

One of two docos on the Fyre Festival in 2019 (this is Netflix version, the other one wasn't easily available in Australia). If you need a damning criticism of late stage capitalism (beyond Parasite that is), you only need two seconds of this doco. The whole fact of the Fyre Festival existing simply boggles the mind.

 So there are all the 2019 films I recommend now onto my worst film of 2019...

As you might recall I watched a Michael Bay film in 2019 (I mentioned it in a previous post) and anything directed by Michael Bay normally would be straight to the bottom of my film list of that year. Shockingly, it wasn't the worst thing I saw in 2019. Also there was a DC film in 2019 but is was Shazam! which I enjoyed so again not the worst thing I saw in 2019. That said the worst film I saw in 2019 was a comic book film. It was....

Hellboy


I went into this in two minds. Unlike a lot of people I don't like the earlier Hellboy films- yes I saw both of them even after hating the first one, I actually slightly prefer it- but I love David Harbour in Stranger Things, Ian McShane in most everything he is in (I mean I just mentioned John Wick 3 which he is great in), and Daniel Dae Kim in Angel and Lost so was curious to see if the new cast made the idea of Hellboy more palatable. The concept isn't too ridiculous as I love a good comic book film but the tone of the early films was the main thing that didn't work. Who was I to know that this would make the earlier films look good? This film is a hot mess. The script is awful, the tone was more misaligned than the old Hellboy films, and the plot is a joke. I needed more ham from the performance if the plot was going to be this ridiculous and Harbour is the only one who gets close to it.

So that is it, my year too late count down of films for 2019... hopefully I will have the 2020 list for you in a much more timely version.