The Oscar Project Reviews
It's hard to come to a movie with a title like Judas and the Black Messiah without any preconceptions, but the more openly you can approach this movie the better. The film follows the events of the late 1960s when a young petty criminal named Bill O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) seeks to avoid prison time for stealing a car by working with the FBI to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, led by Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). O'Neal must gain Hampton's trust, while simultaneously navigating the world of a very white criminal justice organization that he doesn't fully trust. You might think coming into this film that it's going to glorify the Black Panther Party, but it does not. Neither does it paint them in a fully negative light. There are moments where the people involved in the party are violent and vengeful, but there are also tender moments, showing their humanity. Throughout the film, I found my own allegiances changing from scene to scene, keeping my on my toes as I tried to figure out exactly who was on who's side on screen. Kaluuya was long rumored to be an Oscar contender for his role in this film, and won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor back in February 2021. I was not surprised to see Stanfield receive a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar alongside Kaluuya and honestly think his portrayal of the O'Neal's Judas character was better than Kaluuya's. Overall, this is a powerful film with strong performances throughout the cast. I highly recommend this film as we wait to see how many Oscars it can bring home at the end of April. 8 out of 10
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To say that Malcolm & Marie is just a drama about a couple fighting with each other over the course of one night is a vast oversimplification. The layers to this film run deeper than the emotions of the title characters that play out on the screen and must be peeled back one at a time to truly understand its importance. At its core, this is a film about a relationship, one that is tested by influences both internal and external. Malcolm (John David Washington) is an up and coming young film director who returns home after a film premier with his girlfriend Marie (Zendaya). He is on top of the world after receiving a number of accolades about his film, which focuses on the troubled life of a young girl addicted to drugs. While Malcolm is overjoyed about the reception, he is angry about the critical reaction, even before the reviews have been published. And to top it off, Marie is mad...about something. It has been said that art made within limitations often leads to better art and this couldn't be more true of Malcolm & Marie. Filmed entirely in one location during the summer of 2020 at the initial height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, it keeps things simple by letting the characters act and react on the screen before us. You won't find any quick camera moves here. There are no expensive special effects. The house itself is simple and the use of black and white as a medium is clearly intentional to keep the color textures simple, even though nothing in the content of the film is ever black and white. The film itself is a roller coaster of emotion. Anyone who has ever been in a serious relationship likely knows many of the fights the pair have throughout the night and understands that the "initial problem" that starts the fight probably isn't the "actual problem." Both Zendaya and Washington have their moments to shine being equally raging and quiet, contemplative and emotional. They go from being sexy and intimate one moment, to screaming at each other and calling out terribly hurtful names the next. It feels real without being forced. In the end, many people will see this as nothing more than a couple arguing on screen for two hours, but there is so much more to unpack here. In a world where nothing is certain, this feels like the most basic kind of uncertainty out there and one that everyone can relate to. 9 out of 10 Malcolm & Marie is available streaming exclusively on Netflix. Just like the title suggests, this film is a great show piece, and while it attempts at finding a deeper meaning and message about acceptance and being oneself, the film ultimately falls a bit flat in telling the story of P. T. Barnum (P. T. Barnum) and his rise to circus fame. Don't get me wrong, there are sequences in this film that look fantastic and the way things transition from one phase to the next is seamless. It's clear that the filmmakers took great pains to show the way Barnum's showmanship intersected with his personal life and vice versa. All of the typical circus sideshow oddities are there from the "bearded lady" to the "dog man" and everything in between. It was even a bit surprising that in the 21st century, these characters were treated as callously as they were at the beginning of the film, set up as being true oddities even though we have a much better understanding of the conditions that make people unique today. The film shows a young Barnum working as a tailor's apprentice before meeting the girl of his dreams, the rich Charity Hallett (Michelle Williams). They marry and have two children before Barnum loses everything and opens his museum of wax figures in New York to dismal sales before eventually bringing in the "freak" performers. His willingness to employee these individuals is ridiculed by critics, but enjoyed by (most of) the public which eventually leads to bigger and bigger successes. But despite all the spectacle, the film is terribly predictable. There are attempts at being profound and inspiring, but they are covered over with the music throughout, which often takes over scenes that feel like they should have a little more space to be quiet and breathe. The frenetic pace of the various performances and dance numbers make the 105 minute run-time feel stuffed full and forced. That said, there are a few scenes where some brilliant acting shines through, specifically one very touching scene between Zendaya's trapeze artist Anne Wheeler and Zac Efron's Phillip Carlyle. Unfortunately, this only further exposes the problem plaguing the rest of the film by showing there can be quiet moments of reflection. Jackman's performance, while nothing extraordinary, is entertaining and fills the screen, proving who the true showman in this piece is. 6 out of 10 The Greatest Showman is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and on demand as well as streaming on Disney+. Oliver Stone delivers an inside peek into what it may have felt like to experience Vietnam first hand as an infantryman. I have never been in the military, and I most certainly have never been in a war zone like the one portrayed in Platoon, but I can imagine this is pretty much what it would feel like. It's clear that Stone knows what he's talking about, having been in Vietnam himself and he wanted to make sure that reflected on the screen. The cast of the film is what really makes it shine. Between the young and initially naive Chris (Charlie Sheen), the hardened warrior Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger), and the idealistic Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe), you get the full spectrum of people involved in the war. We see young men getting their first taste of the atrocities that exist in war, often on both sides of a conflict. I couldn't help comparing this film to Apocalypse Now, and through that comparison is the only way I can find fault with this film. That is not to say this is a bad film. Quite the contrary. The film is fantastic and allows you to take the journey with Chris throughout the film as he goes from grunt, fresh of the plane in Vietnam, to a man who is willing to take on his superiors when he perceives they are doing wrong, but also aggressively interrogates a perceived enemy after one battle. This is a war film that has stood the test of time. It is told with an eye toward realism and intensity that gives is a feeling of truth. 9 out of 10 Films that redefine a genre usually come along once a generation, and I would consider 1917 the defining war film of today, as Saving Private Ryan was over two decades ago. Even though it is told on a grand scale at time, the story here is very personal. British commanders in World War I find out that another battalion is walking into a trap in the attack they are set to carry out the following morning. The brother of one of the men is sent to carry the message of the trap, along with one other soldier. The only path they can take to get there in time goes directly through enemy held territory. Much has been made about 1917 and it's intensity as a film designed to look like one single shot and in that respect it doesn't disappoint. The lengths that the filmmakers went to achieve this effect cannot be understated, and it creates an amazing feeling throughout the film. While there are a few instances where cuts and breaks are clear when characters pass through a doorway or behind a rock, most of the cuts are seamless. Initially I thought this effect would make the entire film feel restless, being in constant motion. But the effect is subtle when it needs to be and frenetic when the action calls for it. About a third of the way into the film, there is an incredibly personal moment between the two soldiers. The camera continues to move around them as the scene plays out, but it does so in a way that is reminiscent of how you would frame a basic two shot, just without the standard cutting you might find in that type of scene. A similar scene appears closer to the end of the film between one of the soldiers and a French woman. Her terror is palpable and again the scene is presented in a constantly moving camera, but at a very slow rate that allows the viewer to take in the entire scene, and understand the depths of her fear beyond just her words and gestures. In short, this film is a masterpiece and deserves every accolade it received, and probably many that it didn't. You can trace a line from All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) through The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Patton (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979), Platoon (1986), and Saving Private Ryan (1998) and all the way to 1917. It's almost fitting that 90 years later, we have cycled through every major conflict of the 20th Century and returned to the war that filled the screen in All Quiet on the Western Front. Even with the benefit of nearly a century of hindsight, that conflict is still just as brutal as it was then, and the haunting images in 1917 capture that brutality in a beautiful and thought provoking way. 1917 is available on Bluray, DVD, and on demand. 10 out of 10 A fresh take on the murder mystery, Knives Out brings an all-star cast together in one of the most dysfunctional family comedy dramas in years. The centerpiece of the story is the death of famous murder mystery author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) in his remote country estate while most of his family sleep in the house below. With his throat slit and blood all over the study where he is found, suicide it the most logical cause of death, however Daniel Craig's mysterious investigator Benoit Blanc is brought in by an anonymous party to investigate further, under the assumption that Thrombey was murdered. We meet a colorful cast of characters including Thromby's daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), her husband Richard (Don Johnson) and their son Ransom (Chris Evans). Michael Shannon plays Thromby's son Walt who is in charge of the extensive publishing empire while Toni Collette is the wife of Thromby's other son, tagging along with the family even after her husbands death. Director Rian Johnson does a masterful job early in the film of painting the picture that just about anyone in the family might have a reason to off their father/grandfather. Interviews in the lounge at Thromby's home provide an opportunity to cut from one family member to the next when they get asked the same questions by investigators. The last key player in the story is Thromby's nurse Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), daughter of a woman who immigrated to the United States illegally and worries what will happen now that the man she was caring for has passed. Multiple family members insist they will continue to help her all while Blanc enlists Marta as the Watson to his Holmes. I won't reveal the killer (or if there even is one) so you can see for yourself, but this one should keep you guessing right up to the end. Knives Out is available streaming now on Amazon Prime. 8 out of 10 While I have never been a die hard Queen fan, I have always appreciated their music and enjoyed the partial look behind the curtain provided by this film. I did a little research on Queen performances after watching this film and can't believe how well the musicians were portrayed on the screen, with the obvious focus being on Rami Malek's Freddie Mercury. There are definitely parts throughout the film where Malek completely disappears and all you see on screen is Mercury. The same can be said for Gwilym Lee's portrayal of guitarist Brian May and Joseph Mazzello as bassist John Deacon. Overall, the casting of the film was spectacular and the roles seemed genuine throughout. From various information I read at the time of the release, this film doesn't delve as deeply as it could have into the causes of Mercury's downfall before rising again for the LiveAid performance in 1985. I know some have quibbled with this fact, but I didn't mind it. There was enough to give the general idea of what was going on with the superstar, while not becoming an R (or X) rated film intended to get reactions from the public. I appreciated the focus on family throughout the film, be it biological family or family created by the coming together of people from different backgrounds. The message there was strong, even if it may not have been 100% true to the details of reality. In the final verdict, if you're a Queen fanatic, you've probably already seen the film, but go watch it again. And if you've ever wondered just how they put all those odd pieces together for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody," you'll love the montage that shows the making of that track. Again, not necessarily how it actually happened, but a fun look behind the curtain no less. 8 out of 10 |
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