12/8/18 Crazy Rich Asians not yet nominated, 2018
I realize I may be alone in this, but I really hated this movie. I'm sorry, I thought most of the acting, with the exception of Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat), was horrible, ridiculously exaggerated. I totally understand and get that it was a big deal for a major motion picture to have a totally Asian cast and be a huge hit; I won't downplay the importance of that, however, I don't think the movie itself was worthy of all the praise heaped on it. It was lavishly designed, and I wouldn't be surprised if it received several nominations for production and art design. The story, of a man and woman in love but from two different worlds, is really not a new one; in fact, you could substitute several different ethnicities, and have a similar story. I enjoyed the soundtrack, and I liked Awkwafina's performance, which was over the top, but it fit the character and the cartoony nature worked. There were several times I wanted to poke my eyes out or at least take a nap, but I thought I should really stick with it. Ugh, just ugh.
12/15/18 The Favourite, not yet nominated 2018
Sadly, I paid full price for this 'gem' in a theater, happy birthday to me. The best thing was I was with a pal and so I didn't suffer alone. I had zero idea what the film was about before we went to see it, just that it was loved by the critics and had a lot of potential for Oscar nominations. That was all I needed to say yes when my friend wanted to see it (yes, totally blaming someone else). What a pretentious piece of shit. Directed (although not written) by Yorgos Lanthimos (writer and director of The Lobster and another awful movie, loved by the critics, Dogtooth). The movie is about the Queen Anne period in English history, and I'm not talking about the furniture. It's a time that isn't often covered in movies, which often feature Queen Elizabeth I or II, Henry VIII, Queen Victoria, and maybe the Georgian period. It's really about the relationship between Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), her 'favourite' the Duchess of Marlborough, Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and Sarah's rival, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone). The performances are wonderful and strong; the women are portrayed as smart, conniving, survivalist and independent (although in the case of Queen Anne it may not seem that way). It was nice to see a movie star three strong female characters, and while there were a couple of male characters with significant dialog (Nicholas Hoult as Robert Harley and Joe Alwyn as Samuel Masham), they really served the female leads. There are some historical facts in the movie, but I hope people don't use it as a history lesson. Queen Anne is most often shown as being whiny, childish, demanding and a little on the unstable side. We are given to understand one of the reasons for this is because she has had 17 children who have all died. The Duchess of Marlborough and the Queen have been friends for years, and it seems that the Duchess may be taking advantage of that relationship, and when Queen Anne, in a moment of pique/spite/sanity chooses to elevate Abigail Hill to a higher position in her household, creating jealousy between the two women. It's categorized as a comedy-drama, but I didn't think there was that much comedy, at least not the type of comedy I like or find funny. There are some beautiful costumes and sets, so there may be some nominations there, as well as for one or more of the performances. The classical music of the period was lovely, I love a little Bach, but the more modern components made me consider sticking a sharp object in my ear. If you feel you need to see potential Oscar nominees, then you probably need to see this, otherwise, honestly, spare yourself.
12/16/18 Bohemian Rhapsody, not yet nominated 2018
I was so afraid that I missed Bohemian Rhapsody in the theater and someone told me that you really have to hear it with the big screen sound, so I was thrilled to find out it was still playing at my neighborhood theater. Bohemian Rhapsody tells a story of the band Queen and its charismatic front man, Freddie Mercury. I'm not going to go into all of the controversy around the telling of their origin story, Mercury's struggle with his sexuality, his fight with AIDS, or the casting decision to dump Sacha Baron Cohen (or did he dump them) in favor of Rami Malek as Mercury. You never get the full story, even when (or especially when) the subjects are involved in the project, and I don't know if anyone would have been happy with a gritty, dark look at the band. I was so happy with the movie (especially after that horror show from the day before), singing (in my head) along to the songs, and crying (ugh, yes) at the scenes from Live Aid and the end. For younger people, like my brother, this is 'history', for me, it was part of my life: playing "We Are the Champions" in the fourth grade; trying to figure out why I liked "Another One Bites the Dust" even though I tried not to; reading stories or hearing rumors about Mercury's sexuality (especially after some of the leather outfits he was wearing); and watching Queen's electric Live Aid performance as it happened; and listening to Queen's last studio album and learning that Mercury was dying of AIDS. These weren't things my mother told me about, or I watched in some retrospective, it was my era (as my brother said). Anyway, sorry about the diversion into Nostalgia Alley. Rami Malek is spot on as Mercury, and actually most of 'the band' is on target, I only had a real problem with Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, but I can't quite put my finger on why, I think it was the hair; just bad. Gwilym Lee as guitarist extraordinaire, Brian May and Joe Mazzello as bassist (and resident funk fan) John Deacon also seemed to hit the mark. The band had fifteen albums and it seems the film barely scratches the surface in that regard. The movie portrays the long term romantic relationship turned friendship between Mary Austin and Mercury, how accurate that portrayal is, I don't know, but it was very important to Freddie and the story. The movie traces the origins of the band and very quickly moves through key moments, like creating the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" and different tours (I will say, those moments seemed like the lamest cinematically, the sets for the 'concerts' looked cheap and half assed) to internal conflicts which always seem to get resolved, like a family resolves its quarrels, to Freddie's split from the band and their reunion for Live Aid, and Freddie telling the band he had AIDS. Essentially the film packs in twenty years of history and anthemic songs into a little over two hours, and I think it does it in an amazing and powerful way. Normally, as you may recall, if a movie goes over two hours, I'm usually getting antsy by the 90 minute mark, but in this instance, I could have sat there for another hour. There was a bit of sadness (or there was for me), but also something uplifting about the movie and reconnecting with that music; so much so that I will be seeing Queen with Adam Lambert in St. Paul in August. I don't think the score or soundtrack can be nominated for an Oscar, but hopefully sound mixing/editing, maybe production or hair and makeup and costume, and perhaps even a Best Actor for Malek.
