Down to the wire - my last four films Mudbound, Phantom Thread, The Breadwinner, The Florida Project

It's the day of the Oscars, and I'm done. I couldn't watch another movie if my life depended on it. Having said that, there are only seven movies I have not seen. I'm impressed.
2/25/18 Mudbound, Nominated Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, 2017

I was pleasantly surprised by Mudbound; that's not to say I had any preconceived ideas or expectations, I knew next to nothing about it, except I heard that Mary J. Blige was in it. This is an ensemble movie, I mean, if you take one of the characters away, it could totally change at least two storylines. Mudbound is based on the novel by Hillary Jordan (which I have not read), so I don't know how faithful it is, but it is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, so that should mean something. I like that the stories are told from different perspectives, visually and narration by different characters. The movie is set in 1940s Mississippi, featuring a black family, the Jacksons, who have been working the land as tenant farmers, and a white family, the McAllans, who recently bought the land. The 1940s are only eighty years after the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, and twenty years away from the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and sixty-five years before America's first African-American president; all that is to say, race relations in Mississippi and the rest of the U.S. are tense and often violent. The McAllans are headed by Henry McAllan (Jason Clarke), an engineer, who decides to go into farming, something his father, Pappy (Jonathan Banks, you probably know the face and not the name), left behind. Henry married to Laura (Carey Mulligan), who believed and supported Henry's decisions early on, but later becomes more cynical; Laura does much of the narration (shared with Mary J. Blige's character, Florence Jackson). Henry's brother, Jamie (Minnesota's own, Garrett Hedlund) is very different from his brother, in temperament, interests and life experience. Hap Jackson (Rob Morgan) is the head of the Jacksons and married to Florence; Florence and Hap have several children, the oldest is Ronsel (Jason Mitchell), who has learned to read and write, and will have experiences his parents could never imagine. The movie is told using flashbacks, which sometimes I like and sometimes I don't, but I think it works really well here, because, well it does. Just trust me. In fact, I really don't want to tell you too much because it all ties together, but there are some twists. I was impressed by a lot of things: I thought the cast was terrific; there was a quiet strength from both female leads; Hap had his own strength and dignity as he feels forced into helping Henry McAllan, almost like a slave. That's what it felt like just watching it; Hap didn't have a choice. Jamie brings some humanity and decency, much to the dismay of his father and brother, although as a side-note, several times when Jamie/Hedlund spoke, I could only think of Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday "I'm your huckleberry". Anyway, this is a powerful and relevant film, with some great acting, and the Oscar-nominated song is up there as my top two, and I look forward to Oscar night, because I hope Mary J. Blige sings it and blows everyone away. If you watch the movie, it is at the very end, so don't turn it off until you hear it. There's a lot more to say about the movie, but I feel rushed for time and space, and don't want to give away any spoilers.

2/27/18 The Florida Project, nominated Best Supporting Actor, 2017
After reflecting about The Florida Project and why I didn't like it, and what it reminded me of, it reminded me of the few John Cassavetes films where there seems to be no real idea of where the film is going, dialog that seems improvised, a lot of shouting, and characters I didn't care about. So, that pretty much sums it up. The characters live in a run down Florida motel, near enough to Orlando and the magic of Disney to confuse a few foreign visitors, but not the residents/long term guests. These long-term guests are people struggling to make it every day: low paying jobs or no jobs, trying to raise kids, and just not able to get ahead in life. I think there is a story to tell about this 'invisible population', but I do not think is it. The main character is a little girl, Moonee (newcomer, Brooklynn Prince), who gets into mischief with her young friends, some is probably typical of seven or eight year olds (it's been so long, I don't remember), and some is due to the fact that she has to do a lot of without any responsible adult supervision. The only real adult in her life is Bobby (Oscar nominated Willem Dafoe), the manager of the Magic Castle motel. Bobby does his best to run the motel, but also keep an eye on the kids and to help out the families when he can. Moonee's mother, Halley (another newcomer, Bria Vinaite), is a train wreck; honestly, not a lot to like or admire, and it's amazing that she hasn't lost custody of Moonee - yet. I think this would have been a better movie had it been done as a short because in a short you have a limited amount of time to get your point across, and you cut out extra crap that adds nothing, like the difficult relationship Bobby has with his adult son; either examine it and figure it out, or just leave it out of the movie. It seems kind of lazy to try and try some parallels or comparisons (or get the audience to make inferences): Bobby has a difficult relationship with his son, that is why he tries to help the kids (I don't know if that was the point, but then, if there's no point, cut it out). In 2004, there was a British short that won the Oscar, called Wasp, which focused on a single mom raising three kids in council housing struggling to make ends meet (she feeds her kids raw sugar when she is out of food), and there is a lot of chaos. But, it made it's point and I liked it. I enjoyed the last ten minutes of The Florida Project, my adrenaline was really going, and then it was over. So, I didn't need 90+ minutes of watching Halley be a terrible parent, maybe 45 would have been enough. I think the Best Supporting Actor will go to either Woody Harrelson or Sam Rockwell, both in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

3/3/18 Phantom Thread, Nominated Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, 2017

Phantom Thread would not have gotten any consideration for any awards, and I certainly would not have gone to see it if Daniel Day-Lewis was not in it. That being said, even with Daniel Day-Lewis in this endurance test, I did not want to see this movie at all. And, three hours later (the trailers and commercials were at least twenty minutes) I owe my friend a movie, because this was horrible. It made me want to eat a mushroom omelet (and if you've seen the movie, you get the reference). I am so angry at having spent my time watching a narcissistic, Oedipal, whiny dress designer manipulate and insult his lovers and sister. Jennifer Lawrence had the right idea, turning the movie off after three minutes. Good on you! So, my short take is: this is NOT the best picture, Day-Lewis does NOT deserve the Best Oscar (please see Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq. or Timothee Chalafant in Call Me By Your Name), Leslie Manville does not deserve the Best Supporting Actress Award for glowering for 130 minutes (Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird, Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water or Mary J. Blige in Mudbound, and finally, the score was intrusive, and I couldn't wait for moments of quiet. It is mercifully off the list.

3/3/18 The Breadwinner, nominated Best Animated Film, 2017

The Breadwinner is an international production, directed by Irish director Norah Twomey, who also directed Oscar-nominee, The Secret of Kells. I only mention this because I recognized the animation style. It was produced by a couple of Canadian animation studios and Angelina Jolie's production company.  So, with that little bit of background done, The Breadwinner is set in Afghanistan as the Taliban are establishing their reign of terror. Parvana is the middle child of Nurullah, a teacher and amputee (it's mentioned he lost his leg fighting; I assume fighting the Russians during the war in the 1980s) and Fattemah; the family struggles to survive, selling anything they own that might be of value, but also selling reading and writing services. Nurullah is arrested for insolence and violating the rules of the Taliban, including having his daughter, Parvana, out in public. This may seem ridiculous to us, but it was life, and in some parts of the world, still is. Parvana, her elder sister, Soraya and their mother try to figure out how to survive and how to get Nurullah out of prison. Parvana realizes the only way they have a chance is for her to disguise herself as a boy cutting off her beautiful long hair. The little family battles against outsiders, but also a distant family member who sees the only remaining male of the family, baby Zaki, and Soraya as a possible financial boon, try to force the family to leave with him. Parvana is off on her own adventure as "Aatish", the male name she adopted, which means fire, as she uses her new identity and some money to try and get her father released. There is a story within the story as Parvana tells of a young man on a quest to find stolen seeds from the evil Elephant King (there is a subtle change in the animation during these sequences). I don't think The Breadwinner will win, only because there is so much hype around Coca, but I hope more people see it; it might be good to show in schools to help educate kids on another culture, a culture that is often vilified in the U.S. It shows family values, strong female characters, and a different way of life. I would say don't just plop your kid in front of the television and it on because it's animated; watch it together, because there are some upsetting moments as the family is torn apart. Definitely worth watching.