Author: LaurenDolceVita

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 83

On By LaurenDolceVitaIn Movie ReviewsLeave a comment

Today followed in yesterday’s footsteps. I’m feeling much better than I did over the weekend, and today I managed to watch a short in addition to today’s feature and finish off two Oscar categories in the meantime. Additionally, the film list for SIFF came out today and I’m getting excited. I’m going to spend some time figuring out what my writing will look like that week. I’ll likely be pausing this series to focus entirely on that.

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2020, Dir. Will Becher and Richard Phelan)

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon' Review: A Wild and Woolly Caper - Variety

When I watched the first Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015, Dir. Mark Burton and Richard Starzak) I remember being rather ambivalent towards the film. The film wasn’t created for me, but 5 years ago I tended towards being a curmudgeon. With more accepting eyes I feel more positive about the sequel, though I admit it still isn’t for me.

The stop motion in the film was wonderful and the dialogue free action works well for the slapstick comedy. The entire package was reminiscent to comedy staples from the silent era. All that said, the very young target audience left the film with little complexity or depth to hold my undivided attention. While better than the sinical cash grabs of many child focused media, the simplicity was still undeniable and a bit of a hinderance. A good film but not one that serves much of a purpose outside of its intended audience.

Hunger Ward (2020, Dir. Skye Fitzgerald)

HUNGER WARD - DOC NYC

I don’t have a ton to say about this short. If there were any doubt that constant war in the Middle East has led to countless humanitarian crises, one would only need to watch the films in this Oscar category over the past few decades. I feel like each year there’s at least one of these, and while the message is always important, they tend to be so stylistically similar that they blend together almost immediately after watching them. They feel more like an extended news story than a piece of art; they are useful at telling depressing facts, but only the fact is remembered not the film.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 82

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Today was a slightly better day for me than the prior two. I’m still feeling largely run down by everything but sitting down to watch a movie felt much less arduous today, so I’ll take my win. While I may be feeling a bit better, time still eluded me, so in the service of getting to bed at a reasonable time, it will be another short entry about an Oscar nominated film for me today.

My Octopus Teacher (2020, Dir. Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed)

Jackson Wild Talk - Jackson Wild: Nature. Media. Impact.

After multiple days of running into films the followed the traditional Oscar bait formula to a T, it was nice to watch a film that was at the very least unique. I also have a personal penchant for stories of people taking to nature as a means of self-reflection having done so myself, so My Octopus Teacher should be right up my alley. However, while I didn’t dislike the film, there are a couple of things keeping me from endorsing the film outright.

Escaping to nature in the midst of an internal crisis is a well tried trop for a reason. A combination of an escape from obligations with peace, quiet, and solidarity is a perfect mixture for a self-reassessment. In this way, nature acts as a catalyst rather than the literal solution. And there in lies what doesn’t quite sit with me in My Octopus Teacher. Craig Foster mentions his struggles with fatherhood, but the film let’s his struggles with reality take a back seat to his relationship with the octopus. This flipped perspective on the formula leads to some awkward conclusions. By choosing to exist in natures literal healing properties rather than implying metaphor, the extreme personification of the mollusk comes across as Craig imposing himself on the wild creature rather than a meditative experience. I was frequently taken aback form the film as Craig appeared to be terrorizing his supposed teacher. While I commend the film for trying a new framing of their documentary, this deviation away from symbolism distorted the message in an unproductive way.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 81

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Anxiety continued to rule much of my day today. It’s been pretty constant the past two days, and everything has felt like a bit of a chore, but tonight at least, I made sure to watch a feature film. I once again decided to stick with the Oscar nominations to save me the indecision.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021, Dir. Lee Daniels)

The United States vs. Billie Holiday': Andra Day è la leggenda del jazz nel primo trailer | Awards Today - news, trailer, recensioni, cinema, serie tv, oscar

I realize I’ve been a bit of a broken record about the genre, but filmmakers really need to stop following the same, tired biopic formula. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is another victim of tired style. While the film makes some attempt at being more thematically concise by focusing on Holiday’s tumultuous relationship with the Federal Department of Narcotics. Even with a specific part of Holiday’s life in mind, the film felt bloated with other details of the singer’s life muddying the message.

Thankfully, despite the film’s other shortcomings, the one category it was nominated in, Lead Actress for Andra Day as Holiday, was genuinely great. The role’s range from Holidays electric stage performance and heroin fueled stupor gives Day a lot to work with, and she doesn’t back down from the challenge. Her encapsulation of the enigmatic singer is a highlight in an otherwise lacking film.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 80

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My plan to take a break from Oscar nominated films for the day didn’t quite pan out today. In fact it’s somewhat miraculous that I’m getting this post up today at all, and it’s arguable that what I did manage to make it through doesn’t really count. Most of my day today has been consumed by crippling anxiety that’s kept me more or less bedridden all day. So, while I only managed to stumble my way through a pair of animated shorts, I’m going to be considerate with myself and admit that I did the best I could all things considered.

Genius Loci (2020, Dir. Adrien Merigeau)

Genius Loci (2019) - Trailer - YouTube

This was an apt viewing today given my current state of mind as Genius Loci uses it’s medium to capture what it feels like to exist in the world with debilitating anxiety. No matter how familiar a location may be, when suffering from serious mental health issues, everything can seem foreign and foreboding. The cubism art style exhibited throughout the film enhances the feeling of terror from having so little control over reality. The film perfectly captures the way an unhealthy brain distorts life. The film may be short on narrative scope, but in visuals and motif is speaks volumes.

Yes-People (2020, Dir. Gísli Darri Halldórsson)

Yes-People (2020) directed by Gísli Darri Halldórsson • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

If the choice in art movement contained hidden depths for Genius Loci, Yes-People’s overly rounded CGI was a much more simplistic choice. The short is extremely simplistic (containing only Icelandic words for yes and no as dialogue), and the low detail large-shaped art style works with the simple premise. Simplistic in style doesn’t mean there’s nothing of substance present though. Through little peeks in people’s everyday lives, Yes-People leaves the word “yes” meaningless as it applies to both happy and depressed moments. While I personally lean more towards the former short, Yes-People is a solid blend of comedy and melancholy with the appropriate art for its message.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 79

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Saturday means I’m back to watching double features with my extra time. Unfortunately, I feel like I’ve already reached the point in my Oscar viewing where it becomes a slog of overly sentimental films that are the Academy’s bread and butter. After today’s viewings, I only have 15 features left to watch in the next month, so even with taking some time off in early April for the Seattle International Film Festival, I can definitely afford to take some Oscar breaks. I’ll likely plan on exercising that option tomorrow.

News of the World (2020, Dir. Paul Greengrass)

News of the World' Review: Tom Hanks Does the Strong, Silent Type - The New York Times

A decade ago, News of the World would haven been all but guaranteed a best picture nod. A solid western staring Tom Hanks and leaning heavily into sentimentality is the perfect recipe for Oscar bait. And while the film was good enough, I’m much happier with this year’s batch of nominees reflect more diverse and ambitious filmmaking that I’m glad to see as a change of the guard.

While I anticipated News of the World being a throwback Oscar bait film, I didn’t anticipate how uninspired of a reunion between Hanks and director Paul Greengrass it would be. Hanks is still capable of being one of the best working actors, but it’s not a given. For Hanks to live up to his potential, he needs a role that can push him. In Captain Phillips (2013), their prior film together, Greengrass pushed Hanks into one of the stronger performances of the latter part of his career. In News of the World, Hanks just plays a version of his real-life persona of the worlds grandpa. It’s not bad, it’s just a bit of a waste of Hanks’s talent.

Mulan (2020, Dir. Niki Caro)

Mulan (2020) is Disney's Worst Remake Yet | by Maxance Vincent | Cinemania | Medium

I’m going to be blunt; Mulan is a fine movie, but it has absolutely no reason to exist. I passed on watching this film when it came out, because after the atrocious remake of The Lion King (Dir. Jon Favreau) from 2019, it was clear that Disney was taking the term remake way too literally. The music and Eddie Murray may be missing from this version, but this new version does nothing to differentiate it outside of what’s missing.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 78

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I’ve finally made it through the end of the week. This week was quite the slog, and this post is coming out way too late, but here we are. Tonight’s viewing sent me down one of the two categories in this year’s Oscars that I’ve as of today seen no entries in (the other being narrative short): visual effects.

The Midnight Sky (2020, Dir. George Clooney)

The Midnight Sky' Review: George Clooney's Sodden Dystopian Drama - Variety

I feel like I’ve been rather negative for the last few film entries, but unfortunately, I need to once again tonight. The Midnight Sky split the difference between cerebral arthouse science fiction and commercially friendly science fantasy and in doing so created a film that’s not for anyone. Aside from two intense sequences, the film leans closer towards the more introspective side, but the themes are too blunt and under formed to succeed otherwise.

The crux of the films issues comes from the two stories. While the two do have a clearly defined connection and attempt to share themes, both are significantly underdeveloped to the extent that the thematic connection is lost. Too much of the film’s runtime is caught up in conveying what happens as part of the story, that the characters’ why are ignored. I don’t need the science explained, but a movie like this needs motivations and personal demons to be clearly expressed for the metaphor to work.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 77

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This week has been a long one, and there’s still somehow one day left. I think this week’s exhaustion stems back to Sunday’s time change.  All this is to say that today is another short entry for me, but hopefully I’ll be back in the swing of things this weekend. While yesterday marked the last film in the international feature category, today’s film was also an international offering; only this time it’s nominated for documentary feature.

The Mole Agent (2020, Dir. Maite Alberdi)

The Mole Agent | American Documentary

As a narrative the premise behind The Mole Agent is primed for farce. An elderly man, Sergio Chamy, is conscripted by a private investigator to go undercover in a retirement home to keep tabs on another resident. Sergio initially bumbles with technology but is eventually able to understand things well enough to enter the home and begin spying on his target. Once in the home, he quickly becomes the most popular man there and must balance his spying activities with being a convincible resident.

I specifically called out that the premise would work as a narrative because the same story viewed through a lens of reality is exploitative and sleezy in a way that strips the film of much of its joy. Sergio seems lucid enough, but it is hard to look at the women he records and emotionally manipulates as anything but victims. One of the residents falls in love with the conman and is turned down unceremoniously by a man who has no intention of remaining at the facility once his job is complete, and all of them are constantly recorded without the purpose being known. There are extended scenes with residents clearly suffering from dementia that could not have been consented to. Everything about the film just made me feel too dirty to enjoy.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 76

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Today marks easily the earlies that I’ve watched all of the international Oscar nominated films (with respect to the date of the ceremony). Much of that is because of this project increasing the raw number of films I’ve seen since shortlists came out. That combined with the continued pandemic keeping me from seeing anything in the theaters made accomplishing the goal much easier this year.

The Man Who Sold His Skin (2021, Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania)

The Man Who Sold His Skin – trigon-film.org

This was a bit of an odd one. The Man Who Sold His Skin is an extremely literal title. The film is about a Syrian refugee Sam (Yahya Mahayni) who sells his back as a canvas to a famous painter in exchange for a new life in Europe. Upon signing a contract, he is given a full back tattoo and is required to sit silently in museums and private shows for hours on end.

The extreme literalness of the title betrays the flaw in The Man Who Sold His Skin. The film feels the need to spoon feed it’s metaphors to the audience. Sam selling his body to find a life away from the country that would see him killed is not subtle. The themes of exploitation are hard to miss. Despite this the film took a three scene break to add a subplot of a group of philanthropists who want to save Sam from exploitation. The subplot only shows up to hammer in the already apparent themes and is then quickly forgotten with nothing coming from the subplot in terms of story.

Bluntness aside, The Man Who Sold His Skin is still an effective film. The themes while overly explained are effective and explore a worthwhile topic. Similarly, director Kaouther Ben Hania is not without talent. The film is filled with complex shot compositions filled with mirrors. I would just have appreciated a film that trusted it’s audience more.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 75

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The time change from Sunday continues to plague me, but unlike yesterday where it resulted in me following up my evening film with a short, today I’m just exhausted. I did make it through a movie tonight, so I’m not backing down from goal, I’m just going to likely cut the write up a bit short so I can retreat to my bed. Anyway, today’s Oscar nomination watching was one of the two best picture contenders that I haven’t yet watched.

Sound of Metal (2020, Dir. Darius Marder)

Sound of Metal review: Riz Ahmed tracks a deaf drummer's journey in standout indie | EW.com

Looking at the best picture contenders for the year, a consequence of the pandemic is that the major studios of the most part took a break from shoveling out Oscar bait at years end. This resulted in an extremely diverse lineup in all the major categories and a film like Sound of Metal being one of the most nominated films of the year when in a fuller year it may have been forgotten entirely. I say this not to disparage Sound of Metal, but just to comment on how happy I am that a film a good as it isn’t lost in a sea of mediocre period dramas.

Sounds is one on the fundamental building blocks of cinema, so Sound of Metal’s extensive use of empty auditory space was risky. Early in Ruben’s (Riz Ahmed) deaf journey, the moments of silence are unsettling and harsh. This uncomfortable sound design is purposefully. By being subjected to the subtitle free sign language with uncomfortable sound muffling, the audience is asked to share in Ruben’s misery. Once he has learned to be deaf, the sound takes a more welcoming tone. The film still has large periods of silence or muffled approximation of what Ruben hears, but the mix is less harsh reflecting Ruben’s familiarity with his condition. These subtle but distinct sound decisions perfectly enhance the film all about sound or the lack there of.

A 2021 Film Journey: Day 74

On By LaurenDolceVitaIn Movie ReviewsLeave a comment

Happy Oscar nomination day. I post my initial reaction on the nominees earlier today here. With the list officially out, I can start planning my next month plus of viewings, and I’m in great shape to finish everything before the ceremony. In fact, coming in to today I only have 31 films to watch including both feature length and shorts. Even with a break for the Seattle International Film Festival in April this should be one of the easier Oscar binges I’ve ever gone through. Now to jump into this year’s nominations.

Crip Camp (2020, Dir. James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham)

Crip Camp' is the Inspiring Netflix Documentary You Haven't Watched Yet | Femestella

I’m going to try really hard not to judge Crip Camp for the sins of the Academy. It’s not this film’s fault that it received an Oscar nomination over Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020, Dir Kirsten Johnson), but comparing the two may help to explain my personal thoughts when it comes to documentary films.

Crip Camp was a fascinating watch. The subject matter was engrossing, and an alternate side of the civil rights movement is helpful in broadening understanding of a political movement. Especially in a year filled with films about other aspects of the 60s protests and movements, Crip Camp offering a similar yet unique perspective on the subject is a welcome addition.

The premise of the film is infinitely more than in Johnson’s story about preparing for the eventuality of her father’s passing, and yet I still would have much rather Dick Johnson is Dead be nominated if it had to be one or the other. What makes up the difference is the use of the medium. Crip Camp is made primarily of a mixture of home video and archival footage with talking head interviews. This is the same style that documentaries have been using since cinemas inception. I can’t really fault a film for using the tried-and-true method, but I’m looking for something more artistically unique in the crème de la crème of the medium. Crip Camp was good to great but didn’t have the artistic ambition to elevate it beyond that.

It’s late, but my internal clock is messed up from daylight savings so time to watch a short.

Opera (2020, Dir. Erick Oh)

This was a trip. Opera is a film with no narrative, but rather pure artistry. Reminiscent of painter Pieter Bruegel’s The Tower of Babel, Opera is nothing but a single see-through structure with extreme detail. Despite a mostly static shot, the 8-minute run time felt almost insufficient to appreciate every moving detail on frame. While more of an avant-garde than a narrative film, Opera is a fascinating artistic endeavor.