For Your Consideration, Part II. Have You Seen These Oscar Nominated Films and Performances?

[I review another film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar - "All Quiet on the Western Front" - and the Best Actor nominated performance of Paul Mescal in "Aftersun" and the Best Actress nominated performance of Andrea Riseborough in "To Leslie," hers being a controversial Oscar nomination]

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

"War is hell."

So said General William T. Sherman about the Civil War.  He was right but he had no idea just how hellish because WW I - The Great War - was yet to come, a war that killed 9.7 million military personnel and over 10 million civilians, all to secure mere inches of land fighting along a trench secured front. 

And many of those trenches were along the Western Front, the place where the German and French armies met and what eventually decided the war.

This is the story of 17-year-old Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer) and his school friends, Albert Kropp (Aaron Hilmer), Franz Muller (Moritz Klaus) and Ludwig Behm (Adrian Grunewald), who, in 1917, three years into WWI, are caught up in the patriotic fervor of the war and the glamour of possibly becoming war heroes, so they enlist in the Imperial German Army. Oh, how easy it is to get teenagers riled up about going to war. They are sent to Northern France, wearing recycled uniforms of dead soldiers (there are particularly upsetting scenes about how that all worked), where they meet "Kat" Katczinsky (Albrecht Schuch), an older soldier, but their romantic ideals of war are soon shattered as Ludwig is killed the first night and the realities of trench warfare set in. Add barbed wire, poison gas, tanks and aircraft and it's a hellish reality, indeed.

Based on the 1929 anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque, with a screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell, and directed by Berger, this film, a remake of the 1930 American film of the same name (there was also a 1979 TV version), is from the German soldier's point of view and evokes man's inhumanity to man, brutally capturing the hell of war.   

As you know, I am not a fan of remakes, especially remakes of perfectly good foreign films, but this is the flip side, a German remake of an American film, and I give it a pass because, for one thing, it's been over 90 years since the original, and modern filmmaking technology enables the filmmakers to really show just how brutal and grueling war is. And I think that needs to happen to stop war. But this is also a good, well-acted and engrossing story of young men swept up into something they could barely comprehend.

Watching this film I was struck by how much I have missed good, old-fashioned linear movie-making. 

I have missed a good story that is easy to follow from beginning to end, with a point that is easily made and one that filled me with emotion. With the popularity of movies like "Everything Everywhere All At Once," superheroes and horror, I was getting nervous that I wasn't going to enjoy movies anymore, but this one renewed my hopes. It's a real life horror film that depicts the horrors of war.  It's difficult to watch, but this is a film everyone needs to see. If we don't understand what a horror war is, we will never stop the politicians who promote it.

Rosy the Reviewer says...this one probably won't win Best Picture, but it won my heart. In German with English subtitles. (Netflix)

Aftersun (2022)

A young woman reflects back 20 years on a summer spent with her father.

Eleven-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) is on a summer holiday at a budget resort in Turkey with her 30-year-old Scottish father, Calum (Paul Mescal). Sophie records the holiday on a video recorder and that footage is interspersed throughout the film. If you do the math, Calum was very young when Sophie was born, and he is still young. They are even mistaken for brother and sister. He is now amicably separated from Sophie's mother and is a loving father but he seems depressed and worried about money. Something is not right with Calum. His life perhaps hasn't turned out as he had hoped but he doesn't want to lay this on his child.

This is a leisurely venture into the mind of an eleven-year-old on vacation with her Dad with some flashbacks from the older Sophie's point of view as she reviews those videos.  Now as an adult, perhaps Sophie understands more clearly what her Dad was going through during that sunny summer vacation in Turkey.

Written and directed by Charlotte Wells, this is a British film about how we never really know our parents.  Sophie is a perceptive 11-year-old, but she is also an 11-year-old.  She is on vacation and, though she loves her Dad and senses some unease with him, she also wants to have fun. She likes to play arcade games with a newfound friend; she wants to watch the older kids flirt.

I read somewhere this question: Do children ever question whether or not their parents are happy? That stuck with me.  So true. I don't think as a young girl I ever wondered (or cared) if my parents were happy. However, I remember sitting on the edge of my parents' bed one day with my Dad and asking him, "Why is it that I know my friends better than I know you and Mom?"  He was probaby taken aback, but maybe not.  I was that kind of kid.  He replied, "Because we don't want to burden you with our problems."  Okay, and off I went. I was eleven. It never occurred to me to ask "What problems?"

The film takes forever to get going, at least 40 minutes before much happens, and even then it's just  a series of small vignettes that evoke the 1990's, though I never really understood the rave references that are interspersed throughout. But Mescal and Corio create a believable father/daighter relationship that pulls you in, and eventually we, and she, realize the pain he was going through.

As for Paul Mescal's Oscar nominated performance?

 I am hard pressed to see how this performance merits a Best Actor Oscar nomination.  It's not that Mescal isn't a great actor, he is. It's just that his role is very understated. I didn't get the Oscar performance vibe from it. There was perhaps five minutes of Oscar-worthy scenery chewing.  But maybe that's the draw. Subtlety. Mescal is being rewarded for believability and realness. But if I had seen this film before I knew he was nominated, I would not have said, that guy is going to get a Best Actor nomination for that performance.

But, oh geez, did I love him in "Normal People." He and and his co-star, Daisy Edgar-Jones (she went on to star in "Where the Crawdads Sing"), helped get me through the Pandemic.  It was one of the best series of the year (and if you missed it the first time around, you must see that series).

Rosy the Reviewer says...a wistful coming of age tale, all about trying to make sense of one's parent, and despite it's slow progression, the film eventually cast a spell.  Will Paul Mescal win the Best Actor Oscar?  No, but I see one in his future. (Amazon Prime)

To Leslie (2022)

Maybe winning the lottery isn't such a good thing, after all.

Leslie (Andrea Riseborough) is a West Texas single mom living with her teenaged son.  She wins $190,000 in the lottery and plans to buy her son a guitar and herself a house.  Six years later, she is broke, homeless, a drunk and a drug addict, estranged from her son (Owen Teague), friends and other family members. All she has to show for herself now is a pink suitcase filled with junk.

What happened?

The film doesn't really go into details or a flashback about what happened over those six years, but the story is not an unusual one when it comes to lottery winners. Believe it or not, it's a common outcome for many lottery winners.  They are more likely to go bankrupt than anyone else, a phenomenon that occurs when people are suddenly rich but have no idea how to handle money. And it is clear when Leslie wins with all of her "Woo hoos" and "I'm buying everyone a drink" reaction to her win, that she is a good old girl, ill-prepared for success.

So this is all about just how far down will Leslie go?  Can she redeem herself?

After several false starts (she really wants to be good), Leslie finally has an epiphany of sorts, meets Sweeney (Marc Maron who puts in a surprisingly poignant performance), a motel manager who gives her a job cleaning the rooms that includes room and board and he also helps her get clean. But will she make it?

So winning the lottery can be controversial.  And, believe it or not, so can an Oscar nomination.

There is Oscar controversy around this film.  Well, not the film itself but around the star, Andrea Riseborough and her Best Actress nomination. Her nomination was a big surprise, especially a performance in a film that only made $27,000.  And that's not for opening weekend, that was what it made for its entire run last year (it came out in March). Nobody saw it. 

So how can someone get an Oscar nomination when no one has seen the film?

Written by Ryan Binaco and directed by Michael Morris, this is your basic low-budget indie film, shaky camera and all, which might explain why no one saw it, even with an unrecognizable but excellent Allison Janney in the cast.  It's also grim and not a fun movie to watch, but Riseborough's performance makes the film so word must have gotten out about that.  The rest is Oscar controversy history. 

And here is the controversy.

Allegedly there was a grassroots campaign for Riseborough that included private screenings of the film by some of Riseborough's famous fans, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, and other celebrities advocating for her on their social media. However, the Academy has a rule against campaigning.  Film reps are only allowed to contact voters once a week per movie and supposedly there were more than that. Okay, I get that part, but not sure how word-of-mouth is really breaking any rules.  But there are those who are not happy about who Riseborough might have replaced in the nominations, such as Viola Davis, thus a flap has been stirred up.  As a result of this mini-scandale (I'm using French because I am a classy gal), the Academy conducted an investigation and Riseborough's nomination was upheld, but the Academy has also said it will conduct a review of campaign procedures for the future.

But, did she deserve the nomination?

Yes, she is as deserving as any of the other actresses. Hers is a raw, believable performance, especially considering Riseborough is a British actress playing a West Texan. It's a difficult role and she is all in.  I believed every minute of her performance.  And why shouldn't she be nominated?  She is not new to films. She has been in the biz since 2005, starred in many films but is one of those actresses where you recognize her face, but you don't know her name.  Among her many credits, she played Michael Keaton's love interest in "Birdman," Wallace Simpson in "W.E."  and most recently starred in "Amsterdam" and has four projects already in post-production. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...will she win the Best Actress Oscar?  No, but this nomination will certainly help her career.  We will now know her name and not just her face and she is certainly deserving of that. (Amazon Prime)

Final thoughts: Why was Andrea Riseborough's Best Actress nomination so controversial and Paul Mescal's was not?  No one really saw "Aftersun" either. They both took the place of other, more well-known, actors who might have been nominated. I remember thinking Brad Pitt deserved one for his role in "Babylon," but he was snubbed. So everyone needs to get over griping about Riseborough's nomination.  She deserved it.

 

Thanks for Reading!

See you at the Oscars March 12!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)

For Your Consideration, Part I. Have You Seen These Oscar Nominated Films and Performances?

[I review two more of the 2023 Oscar nominated films for Best Picture: "The Fabelmans," and "The Banshees of Inisherin." I also review the Oscar nominated performance of Brendan Fraser in "The Whale."] 

But first, here is a list of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture 2023 (click on the links for my original reviews):

"Top Gun: Maverick," "Elvis," "Tar" and "Everything Everywhere All At Once." Stay tuned for my reviews of "All Quiet on the Western Front, "Women Talking" and "Triangle of Sadness" (and I probably won't get to "Avatar: The Way of Water," because not my kind of movie and at a whopping three hours and 12 minutes, it appears to be another one of those bloated, overlong films I am against, so I already know I won't like it.). 

That makes a total of ten nominees for Best Picture to be decided at the Oscars March 12 (and don't get me started on what I think about there being up to ten nominees.  Okay, you twisted my arm. I will start.  I don't like it!)

The Fabelmans (2022)

Director Stephen Spielberg's love letter to his family and his youth.

Young Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan) gets the movie bug after seeing the big train crash scene in Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 epic "The Greatest Show on Earth."  He is five and living in New Jersey with his mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and Dad, Burt (Paul Dano).  The family is later joined by three daughters, and as time goes by, Sammy starts making movies using his younger sisters as his actresses.  Burt is a hard working scientist already involved in computers and Mitzi is more of a free spirit who was once a concert pianist but gave it up to be a homemaker and piano teacher. Burt is the steady, financially supportive one, Mitzi the fun emotionally supportive one. Burt thinks Sammy's interest in movie-making is fine as a hobby, but he will need to eventually get a "real" job.  Mitzi, on the other hand, thinks her son has something special and encourages him to make movies. 

In 1957, Burt is offered a job in Phoenx.  The family moves there along with Burt's best friend, Bennie (Seth Rogan), who by the way, unlike the kind but unexciting Burt, is charismatic and fun.  Mitzi had insisted that Burt get Bennie a job there too.  Mmmm.  The plot thickens.

When Mitzi's mother dies, Sammy's eccentric Uncle Boris arrives (played by a very funny Judd Hirsch).  Boris was a lion tamer and also worked in films.  He gives Sammy a speech about the conflict between family and art. If you have talent, you must cultivate it, but the dark side is the sacrifice one must make for art and the guilt associated with neglecting one's loved ones for it.  

And for that speech and short appearance in the film, Hirsch earned himself a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

Hirsch is on screen for only a few minutes, and if he wins, he will join the ranks of Oscar winners who were on screen for less than 20 minutes.  Fun Fact: So far the acting Oscar for the least amount of screen time goes to Beatrice Straight for "Network."  She won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for only five minutes and forty seconds of screen time!

Anyway, Sammy discovers a family secret that leads to his estrangement from his mother, and the family eventually moves to Saratoga, California for a good paying job for Burt, this time leaving Bennie behind.  Sammy also discovers that he and his sisters appear to be the only Jewish kids in a school full of WASPS, kids who don't seem to like Jewish kids.  Sammy - he wants to be called Sam now - is mercilessly bullied by the school jocks until he reveals his talent for movie-making by successfully filming the annual Senior Ditch Day.

And as this is a movie memoir about Spielberg's own life, the rest is history.

This is a departure from the kinds of films we are used to seeing from Spielberg.  It is clearly a labor of love, a bit of nostalgia about Spielberg's early life that beautifully captures the 1950's and 60's (and I should know, I was there!), all about people trying to figure out who they really are and what course to take in life.

But fact or fiction, the story, written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, is compelling, and there are moments of brilliance, like the young Spielberg, er, Sammy recreating the train wreck scene from "The Greatest Show on Earth" with his newly acquired Lionel train set and Sam's meeting at the beginning of his film career with famed director John Ford (humorously played by director David Lynch), where Ford tells him that horizons on the top or bottom of the screen are interesting, a horizon in the middle is dull and then tells him to get the hell out of his office. You will love the little homage to that at the end.

There are many such special brilliant moments, and while watching, one can't help but wonder how many of those moments are true, the actual facts of Spielberg's life?  

You expect brilliance from a filmmaker like Spielberg, who is at the top of his game, but, like so many movies these days, it's just too long. It definitely dragged in places, and that is not surprising for a family drama where not that much happens in a two and a half hour long film.  Spielberg could have definitely shaved off at least 30 minutes and made this film even more compelling.  But all of the actors put in great performances, especially Michelle Williams, who is  nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and Gabriel LaBelle, who plays the teen-aged Sammy.  He reminded me of a young Tom Cruise and, I predict he has a wonderful acting career to look forward to.

Rosy the Reviewer says...though too long, an enjoyable movie experience, and I am hoping this one will win the Best Picture Oscar and beat "Everything Everywhere All At Once," which currently looks to be the front-runner and which I hated.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

What do you do when your best friend suddenly says "I just don't like you anymore?"

Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) have been best friends for years.  They have been meeting at the local pub every day at two o'clock for years, but one day Colm tells Padraic he doesn't want to be friends anymore, and in fact, he no longer likes Padraic.  Colm feels his life slipping away and he wants to concentrate on his music, not the dull chatter he accuses Padraic of inflicting upon him. Padraic is too nice and for Colm that's dull. So Colm tells Padraic to stay away from him and if he talks to him again he will start cutting off his fingers one by one, quite a threat coming from a fiddle player!

Well, easier said than done.  It's 1923 and the two live on a small isolated (fictional) Irish island with one pub.  The Irish Civil War is booming from across the water, and it seems that Colm has started his own personal war with Padraic, one that Padraic just can't accept.  He can't believe that they are no longer friends, and, because of that, he just can't seem to stay away from Colm. He needs to understand what happened, so he keeps pestering Colm. So Colm delivers finger #1. How far is this thing going to go?

The revelation here is Farrell.

I always thought of Farrell as a sort of wise guy, a hard man and super intense, but here he is vulnerable, and yes, kind of dull as the emotionally injured Padraic.  Not dull as an actor, mind you, but he plays the not-very-smart but very, very kind Padraic, beautifully.  Gleeson is no sloutch, either, but this is Farrell's movie.

Speaking of Gleeson, he and Farrell are besties in real life too.  They met on the film "In Bruges," and have been pals ever since.  In a recent interview with the two, Farrell tells the story of meeting Gleeson in his hotel room.  He had "set down the jar" a year or so before, so was feeling nervous when Gleeson asked him if he wanted a drink.  Gleeson proceeded to head over to the mini-bar and pulled out two bottles of water.  Farrell was touched that Gleeson knew he was sober and would do that.  Gleeson, likewise, gushed over his friend by saying that he knew right away that Farrell was a kind man.  Gleeson went on to say that his Dad had been kind and he was drawn to kindness.

So it's ironic that the two would play friends with a troubled relationship. 

Colm is getting older and sees his own mortality.  He is trying to find meaning in his life while he still has time and blaming that lack of meaning on others.  He no longer wants to be "aimlessly chatting," which he blames on Padraic. So he feels he needs to give up old friends and being nice.  He wants to concentrate on "meaningful stuff" like music and art. 

Can you be too nice? 

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh (who is probably best known for his Oscar nominated "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and this year has nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), this is a tragicomedy, a treatise on friendship and a character study about what happens when one of your good friends moves on. And it asks the questions: Can you be too nice?  Is being nice the equivalent of being dull? And should we move away from friends who no longer seem to fit into our lives? These are the kinds of questions that could keep you up at night but don't get me wrong.  This is not all serious stuff.  It's quite funny at times and Farrell and Gleeson are an amazing couple!

Both actors are nominated for Oscars for their performances - Farrell for Best Actor and Gleeson for Best Supporting Actor.  

Who will win?  Both are deserving but I think the Best Actor trophy will go to either Brendan Fraser for "The Whale (see below)" or Austin Butler for "Elvis."  Both have already picked up Golden Globes and other awards for their performances (though Farrell also won a Golden Globe). Best Supporting Actor will probably go to Ke Hue Quan for "Everything Everywhere All At Once," as he has the comeback story of the year.

Rosy the Reviewer says...will "The Banshees of Inisherin" win the Best Picture Oscar?  Probably not.  Is it worth seeing?  A resounding yes!

The Whale (2022)

A housebound morbidly obese man tries to reconnect with his angry young daughter.

Brendan Fraser gained some weight, donned a fat suit, and with the help of some CGI, plays Charlie, a man so morbidly obese he is not only housebound, but barely able to get around his apartment. He earns money by conducting an online college course on writing essays. He is so ashamed of his appearance, he has told the class that his camera doesn't work and that is why they can't see him. 

Based on a play by Samuel D. Hunter (he also wrote the screenplay), the film does feel very much like a stage play as it takes place solely in Charlie's apartment and people come and go.  

First we meet Thomas (Ty Simpkins), a young missionary going door-to-door who happens to encounter Charlie having an attack while watching gay porn.  Thomas not only saves Charlie but he wants to also save Charlie's soul.  Then Liz, Charlie's friend and nurse (the wonderful Hong Chau), arrives. She doesn't want anything to do with religion.  She is not trying to save Charlie's soul, she is trying to save Charlie's life.  

Then, Ellie (Sadie Sink), Charlie's 17-year-old daughter arrives - sigh.  She is one piece of work if ever there was one.  She is angry, hates everyone, especially Charlie, and is just plain mean.  She has never forgiven Charlie for leaving her and her mother when she was eight.  You see, Charlie fell in love with a man and left his wife and daughter. His wife kept him from seeing Ellie, so Ellie and Charlie have had no relationship over the last eight years.  Sadly, Charlie's lover died and that is when Charlie started to stuff his sorrow with food and his grief and depression has led him to not want to live. He is very unwell and refuses to go to the hospital.

But despite Ellie's mistreatment of him, Charlie desperately wants to reconnect with his daughter before he dies. He offers to pay her to visit him, to give her the $100,000+ money he has saved and to write her school essays for her.  She reluctantly visits him but does everything she can to make his life miserable while she's doing it. I wanted to slap her. But Charlie wants to feel he has done something right in his life and his daughter is it. Poor Charlie.  If I had a daughter like her, I certainly wouldn't think I had done anything right. 

To get this movie, I think we are supposed to understand the themes in "Moby-Dick."

But I kind of didn't. I'm not even sure I read "Moby-Dick," or if I did, that I understood it at the time.  Not big into whaling ships and trying to kill a whale. But this is what I think I figured out. The "Moby-Dick" reference in the film is literal and figurative.  Literally, six-hundred-pound Charlie is a whale (duh), because he weighs about as much as a whale, and at least twice during the film, Charlie rises up off of the couch and appears huge, as if he is a breaching whale. And like Ahab in "Moby-Dick," Ellie hates Charlie for "swimming off," and leaving her and her mother, so she wants to make him pay. Is Ellie Ahab, wanting him dead for leaving her and her mother?  Not sure, but she is certainly mean enough to be Ahab.

There are also many religious references in the film. Though the whale in "Moby- Dick" has often been thought to be a metaphor for God or the force of nature, and most of the characters in the film have been affected by religion, the role of religion in the film is murky, and I didn't really understand why Thomas, the young missionary, was even in it. Seemed like a superfluous character with not much to do.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this film is dark and even excruciating at times. If you remember "Black Swan," or "mother!" you know that Aronofsky definitely has a dark side and his movies can be difficult to watch. This one is no exception, but I did chuckle once when Brendan/Charlie says that he wasn't that bad looking back when he wasn't so fat.  Right, Brendan. You were one handsome kid! 

And speaking of which, this is one of those performances that the Academy loves to recognize, when a handsome actor is willing to make himself look unattractive in pursuit of his art.  But this performance is not all fat suit.  Fraser puts in a poignant, touching and sometimes scary performance and he is deserving of this nomination. It shows how far he has come since "George of the Jungle!" 

Rosy the Reviewer says...not a pleasant movie to watch, so I am not going to give it a big recommendation, but Fraser is the front-runner for the Best Actor Oscar and Hong Chau has a Best Supporting Actress nomination so you might want to see it for the performances.

Thanks for reading!

See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" and Some Movies You Might Not Know About

[I review the movies "Everything Everywhere All At Once," "Ummi" and "Smile." The Book of the Week is "Sex, Drugs & Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director" by Joel Thurm ]

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

A middle-aged Chinese woman must save human existance by doing some universe hopping. 

Trying to summarize this film in one sentence is practically impossible. Trying to explain it is just as difficult. Having no idea it was going to become the darling of Awards Season, I wasn't going to review this film, but then it started to win awards (it won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Picture), and then it was not only nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, but it received the most Oscar nominations of all of the other films (11), so I thought I needed to weigh in. 

I was not going to review it because I did not like it. 

In fact, I very much did not like it. I would say I hated it, but my mother taught me not to say hate.

Anyway, the story revolves around middle-aged Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), who runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan). They have been married for 20 years and have a daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu).  They are being audited by the IRS, Waymond is about to serve Evelyn with divorce papers, daughter, Joy, is gay and depressed that she has disappointed her mother, and Evelyn's difficult and judgmental Dad, Gong Gong (James Hong) has been staying with them. Life is not happy in the Wang household and Evelyn's life is not going the way Evelyn thought it would.

Okay, I get that.  Our lives don't always turn out as we expected. Life is hard. I can totally identify.  But then the film lost me.

Enter the "Alphaverse," a set of parallel universes that exist because of the various life choices one has made. The "Alphaverse" includes "verse-jumping," which enables people to access skills, memories, and even bodies from their parallel-universe selves.  Turns out this "multiverse" is threatened by Evelyn's own daughter, Joy, AKA Jobu Tupaki, and in her misery, she has created a black-hole into oblivion called Everything Bagel that threatens the multiverse. Evelyn is called in to save the universe.

Turns out Evelyn had the possibility of many other lives -  as a professional singer, a novelist, a chef, a teacher, and a rock? She also could have been a kung fu master/movie star and all of those particular skills come in handy when she verse-jumps and lives those other lives in order to fight Jobu and the forces of evil and save reality.  And if you understood any of that, you are much smarter than I am. 

Written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (AKA The Daniels), that's the story in a nutshell and it does have some fun, even poignant, moments - I liked the theme of the mother/daughter relationship - and if you are a fan of martial arts films, there is lots of that too. Jamie Lee Curtis is quite funny as the IRS agent and everyone loves Ke Huy Quan who plays Waymond because he hasn't worked much since he was a child star and starred in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Goonies" and is now very much enjoying his fame and subsequent awards. Everyone loves a comeback story, I guess. I also can begrudgingly give this film props for originality.  

BUT - and notice I put that BUT all in caps - all the jumping around from one universe to another became annoying and the film was just too much chaos for me. I consider myself a fairly sophisticated movie-goer.  I mean, "Citizen Kane" is my favorite movie, for god's sake, but this? I just didn't get it. I tried.  I really tried.

But then, I'm old. I guess I am feeling my age.  I did not get this movie and did not like it, but it appears to be the darling of the younger generation which is ironic because it stars a 60-year-old woman and it's about an older woman dealing with life.  I don't begrudge Michelle Yoeh her Best Actress nomination because she is a wonderful actress, and I don't even begrudge Jamie Lee Curtis her Best Supporting Actress nomination (her first ever nomination), despite the fact that I don't generally like her.  

The acting was not my problem with this film. It was the film!  It definitely was "everywhere all at once," and I found it annoying.  In fact, when I first watched it, I couldn't finish it.  It drove me nuts.  But then when it started to receive awards, I thought I would give it another try.  Still didn't like it, even with the mother/daughter angle and the poignant ending which almost saved the film for me, but after two hours of not getting it, it wasn't enough.  So there you go. It just wasn't an enjoyable film experience for me.

I have to add that I also ha..., I mean totally disliked "Tar," too, which was also nominated for Best Picture, but, thank god, "Babylon" didn't make the cut.  "Everything" and those two were the last three films I saw, and I very much disliked all three. So I guess it's three strikes I'm out.  Maybe I have lost my movie mojo and Rosy the Reviewer should pack up her broomstick and ride off into the sunset, because I just don't seem to like much of anything I am seeing lately.  But I won't because movies matter, and I can't help myself.  I have opinions. I won't be happy if "Everything" wins Best Picture, but if "Tar" wins, I might just have to get that broomstick out after all.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are over 55 and not a big fan of martial arts movies, I am thinking you won't like this film.  But I am not going to dissuade you, because it seems my opinion is in the minority. With Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Kwan favorites for winning Oscars, you should probably see it for yourself. (in theatres and on Showtime)

Umma (2022)

It's all about mothers.

Amanda (Sandra Oh) is a Korean immigrant living on a farm with her homeschooled daughter, Chrissy (Fivel Stewart).  They raise bees and live without technology because Amanda is "allergic" to electronics and electricity. The two are living completely off the grid.  They have a good, loving relationship and Amanda is happy with her life until Chrissy tells her she wants to leave the farm and go to college.  

Things get worse when Amanda's uncle arrives to tell her that her mother, her Umma (Korean for mother,) has recently died and he gives her Umma's ashes in a suitcase. Strange things start happening as memories of Amanda's abusive childhood come back and she is haunted by the ghost of her mother, literally. She must fight of that evil spirit that threatens to turn her into her mother. And we eventually discover why Amanda is "allergic" to all things electrical.

This is Sandra Oh as you have never seen her. The film, written and directed by Iris K. Shim, is a bit over the top and kind of slow moving and doesn't totally work, but it's atmospheric, moody and the best part?  It's only one hour and 23 minutes!

Rosy the Reviewer says...a supernatural film that deals with our own worst fears - turning into our mothers! (Netflix)

Smile (2022)

After witnessing a traumatic event, a doctor starts having hallucinations and feels she is being threatened by a deadly entity.

As a young child, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick) witnessed her mother's death by suicide.  Now she is a therapist in a psychiatric ward.  Laura (Caitlin Stasey), a Ph.D. student, is brought in after witnessing the suicide of her art history professor.  She claims that ever since the suicide an entity with a crazy smile has been stalking her and telling her she is going to die.  Then she falls to the floor, screaming, overturning a table and breaking a vase.  Rose calls for help and when she returns to the room the girl is standing with a crazy smile on her face and proceeds to slit her own throat with a broken shard from the vase.

And that, my friends, is how this horror pic begins. 

After witnessing this suicide, Rose is given some much-needed time off, but then she starts having hallucinations, seeing people looking at her with crazy smiles and telling her she is going to die. She starts to exhibit odd behavior. What is happening?  Is this all in her mind? When she learns that Laura's professor was grinning at her when he killed himself, Rose interviews the professor's wife and discovers that someone killed himself in front of him.  She goes on a mission to try to understand what is happening and to find a way to elude her own possible death, and after doing more research Rose, discovers that there is a pattern of people who killed themselves after witnessing suicides.  It's as if an evil entity is being passed from one person to another.  Is that what is happening?

This is your classic "B" horror movie starring unknowns (except for Kal Penn, who plays Rose's boss), featuring menacing music and lots of "gotcha" moments - you know those close-ups of a face, quiet moments where nothing seems to be happening, and then GOTCHA!  You jump out of your seat.  Lots of those here. 

There is nothing like a scary movie to get the blood pumping and take you on a wild ride, and this one, written and directed by Parker Finn, will do that. Though I am not a big fan of blood and gore, I sometimes like scary films, because what people in horror films have to go through somehow makes our own worries seem small.  I mean, if I was being followed by an evil entity, I don't think I would worry so much about whether the house was clean or if Oprah would discover my blog.  So I indulge from time to time, though I have to watch alone because Hubby gets too scared. And speaking of blood and gore, a warning: there is lots of it here.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like scary, this is scary as hell. It will make you nervous the next time someone smiles at you! (On DVD, Fubo, Paramount+ and for rent on various platforms)

***The Book of the Week***

Sex, Drugs and Pilot Season: Confessions of a Casting Director by Joel Thurm (2022).

Behind the scenes at some of your favorite TV shows and movies!

Joel Thurm may not be a name you recognize, but he was a starmaker, one of the most powerful casting directors in Hollywood, responsible for casting such films as "Grease," "Airplane!" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," as well as the TV shows "Cheers," "Taxi," "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," "Starsky & Hutch," "Charlie's Angels," "The Golden Girls," "Knight Rider," "The Cosby Show," and more. His first big moment was recognizing John Travolta's potential and casting him in the TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," which took him from being a teen idol to a major movie star. Thurm also played a role in the careers of River and Joaquin Phoenix. 

So Thurm has insider tales to tell and he doesn’t hold back, though he is adamant there was no proverbial casting couch shenanigans on his watch.  However, he has no problem weighing in on other production bigwigs who indulged. He also details just what it is that a casting director does and reveals how casting decisions were made and those who almost made the cut. Can you imagine James Mason as Mr. Roarke on “Fantasy Island" instead of Ricardo Montalban?  Or Elaine Stritch as Dorothy on “The Golden Girls" instead of Bea Arthur? Those were early thoughts until Thurm worked his magic.

Thurm asserts that 90% of the success of a TV show or film is good casting, and he laments that casting directors don't get the respect they deservie, hence this book about show business from a casting director’s viewpoint, one that as far as he knows has never been written. The book ends with a list of every pilot that made it to series at NBC when he was there with his trenchant opinions about each.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like show biz behind-the-scenes tell-alls, this is for you!

Thanks for reading!

See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)

"Babylon"...and More!

[I review the new movie "Babylon" as well as "The Invitation" and a book! - Geena Davis's memoir "Dying of Politeness"]

Babylon (2022)

The not so golden side of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

After "La La Land," which I loved, I said in my gushing review that I couldn't wait to see what writer/director Damien Chazelle would do next.  Well, here it is and, for me, it is a shocking addendum to "La La Land."  Where "La La Land" was a love letter to Hollywood and the movies, this film is like a Dear John letter, as in the romance is over. It is for me, anyway.

Like I said, I loved "La La Land," but I am sad to say, I did not like this movie.

This is all about the Golden Age of Hollywood, but the part that wasn't so golden - the unglamorous, dark side of Hollywood, with the price of fame and its ephemeral nature and the drudgery that sometimes accompanies the making of films so that we in the audience can be entertained.  It's also about the effect talking pictures had on Hollywood.  According to Chazelle it was a big party during the silent movie era, but as soon as sound came to town, everyone had to shut-up and take movies seriously.  Careers fell when audiences didn't like the sound of their favorite actors' voices or tried and true storylines that worked well with no sound suddenly seemed silly with dialogue.

The story is told in part through three characters: Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), a young woman who has come to Hollywood in the 20's to become a star; Manny Torres (Diego Calva), another Hollywood wannabe who will do anything to get ahead in Hollywood; and actor Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), the handsome but aging leading man.   

When Nellie meets Manny early in the film, she tells him "It's written in the stars.  I am a star."  And she manages to make a name for herself in silent films by being able to not only cry on demand but manage her tears one by one, but sadly, when sound arrives, her voice is considered annoying and she finds her career in trouble. 

Manny makes himself useful to powerful people like Jack Conrad and works his way up the ladder. Manny's story is all about the American dream, and Manny's American Dream is to make it in La-La Land. All of these characters intersect at various times during the 1920's and 30's as their careers go up and down.

So that's the basic story, but to tell that story, Chazelle seemed to feel he needed to go very dark and shocking.  

If you remember the movie "Singing in the Rain," which also told this same story - the advent of talkies and the actors who struggled with it - this is almost a remake of that, and Chazelle gives it a big nod at the end of the film, and there are many other nods to Hollywood movies and actors of the past. You can figure that Brad Pitt is playing a John Gilbert character, a silent movie idol who struggled when the talkies came along.  It's fun to try to match the characters with real life actors from back in the day, to catch the allusions to other films and recognize the faces of many actors doing cameos. 

But that's where the fun ended for me. I understand Chazelle wanting to show us that Hollywood can eat people alive and making movies can sometimes be hard, tedious and even boring work but for some reason he felt the need to add the shock factor. The film starts with a cringeworthy scene featuring elephant poop and continues with projectile vomiting and a man eating live rats.  And there is more, but I choose not to remember the rest, because as the movie progressed, it seemed to be just one unpleasant situation after another.  

This film was just trying too hard to be shocking and what shocked me the most was that this was where Chazelle went after the beautiful, delightful and uplifting "La La Land."

I know the movie industry has been in a slump since the Pandemic, and watching this, I couldn't help but wonder if Chazelle, and/or the movie industry in general, has decided they need the shock factor to get us all off our couches and back into the theatres. If that's the case, I am going to stay home.  

And speaking of trying too hard, I have always been a big fan of Margot Robbie, but I just didn't believe her as the "wild child," Nellie LaRoy.  I could feel her trying too hard to be this out-of-control woman who has come to Hollywood to become a star. But no doubt she will get nominated for her performance because there was a lot of ranting and raving and crying going on. 

Sadly, this was just was not an enjoyable movie experience for me nor was it a satisfying one.  That is how I judge a film.  Was it an enjoyable or at least satisfying movie experience?  And it makes me sad to say it because I loved "La La Land" so much but for this film the answer would be a no.

And here's the thing.  Maybe if this movie hadn't been so long I would have enjoyed it more.

This movie was THREE HOURS and eight minutes!  That is just uncalled for.  Chazelle could have easily cut an hour off of this film without it making any difference and probably would have made it better.  PLEASE...filmmakers, if you want us back in the theatres do not make us sit through three hour films!

Okay, rant over.

However, there is a positive.

I have to give a shout out to Brad Pitt.  He almost saved this movie for me.  I have been wanting him to flaunt his handsomeness and here he does that, but he also shows his acting chops.  As the handsome matinee idol whose career takes a turn for the worst, he is funny but also poignant.  A wonderful tour de force and he certainly should have won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, though I question whether his part was a supporting role. In my book, he was the star. Let's hope the Oscars do better because he deserves one for this. 

As I was watching the film, I was thinking that Chazelle was mad at the movies because he paints such a cynical picture. But then he gives Jean Smart, who plays columnist Elinor St. John, one of the best moments in the film, when she sets Jack Conrad straight about his career.  In a brilliant speech, she tells him that the spotlight is fleeting, but he can take comfort in the fact that his movies will live on after he has gone. He will come alive for future audiences who see his films. And though Chazelle goes dark to make us appreciate what it takes to make a movie, I think he ends on a positive note by saying that movies matter because of what movies can do. They bring a disparate group of people together who are all enjoying the same experience.  For a few hours, it's a community.  

And I agree, but if he wants me to continue to be a part of that community, he shouldn't make a three hour movie and he needs to leave out the elephant poop!

Rosy the Reviewer says...all in all, though there were moments I enjoyed and this film will no doubt get many award nominations, because it's the big, boisterous, epic kind of movie that gets nominations, for me this was a huge disappointment (in theatres).

The Invitation (2022)

A young woman is invited to a wedding in England but it turns out to be much more than she expected...in a bad way.

The film begins with a suicide and then fast forwards to Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel who you might recognize from "Game of Thrones"), a New York City hospitality worker, who attends a self-help event with one of those "find-your-relatives" DNA tests in her swag bag.  She decides to try it and wouldn't you know?  She discovers a cousin she didn't know about and he's a charming Brit named Oliver L. Alexander (Hugh Skinner).  Since both of Evie's parents are dead, she is keen to find family.  Oliver invites her to join him at the wedding of a rich friend in England, an offer she can't refuse since all expenses will be paid.

The wedding is at the estate of the DeVille family and there she meets Walter - "Walt" - the handsome Lord of the Manor (Thomas Doherty).  And can I say that Evie is a bit over incredulous at the luxury of the place and actually acts like an Ugly American and is a big klutz? Not a good look. She is an accident waiting to happen and her behavior makes a bad impression on the scary butler (Sean Pertwee). But she appears to make a good impression on the handsome Walt.

But like I said, she isn't a very good guest. On her first night, Evie goes for a jog. Who does that?  Who goes for a jog at night in an unfamiliar place? And she goes into a room that she was particularly told to stay out of. But okay, let's see what will happen. She starts to see things and also starts to have nightmares that relate to that suicide I mentioned. What's going on?

Written by Blair Butler and directed by Jessica M. Thompson, this is a gothic thriller with the requisite gotcha moments (I counted five), but despite the gotcha moments, it takes over an hour before "the secret" is revealed and what is really going on at the DeVille mansion and this so-called wedding. It's a bit slow but I enjoyed the female empowerment theme.

Nathalie Emmanual does a fine job as Evie, but I was distracted by how much she looks like Meghan Markle, except with a nose ring.

Rosy the Reviewer says...one step above a Lifetime movie but, hey, I have been known to do the occasional Lifetime movie.  A fun gothic diversion (Netflix, Prime).

And if you aren't up for a three hour movie in the movie theatre and you are not in the gothic mood, why not read a book?

"Dying of Politeness" by Geena Davis

Actress Geena Davis shares her life and accomplishments in this candid and self-deprecating memoir.

Who knew that Geena Davis and I had so much in common?

• We both wanted to be actresses from a young age, studied acting in college and our Dads encouraged us.
• She was an exchange student in Sweden and I have visited my Swedish relatives there.
• We grew up with no shower and everyone used the same bath water on Saturday nights (I know, ew)!
• And it was important to be polite at all costs

We are so alike except the main difference: she became famous and I didn't. Ha!  

Davis tells her story that starts with her knowing she was going to be an actress from a very young age.  She shares her romantic interests including her marriage to actor Jeff Goldblum, who it seems from reading this she never got over.  She also talks about finding a sort of second career as an Olympic archer as well as her lifelong fight for women's rights.

There are also behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the many movies that she has made such as "The Fly," "A League of their Own" and, of course, the iconic "Thelma and Louise."  She met Susan Sarandon on set and they became besties in real life. Total opposites in their approach to the world, Geena says that Susan helped her speak up and give up on some of that politeness. It's all told in a breezy and, shall I say? A very polite way.

Rosy the Reviewer says... it's a funny, candid and touching memoir, and if you are a fan or even just a celebrity maven, you will enjoy this. (check it out from your local library)!

Thanks for reading!

See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)