I missed last year's full round up, but I'm happy to say I've seen all 10 best picture nominations this year and have a little to say about each one, I'll let you know which ones may appeal to you, and what I rate the highest.
I thought every movie was very well made and they all score 7 or higher for me, but they are not for everyone. I'm hoping that you have seen at least one, and maybe my reviews may help you find one you like, or try something that isn't on your radar. Whether you're drawn to action, a scare, human emotion, unconventional storytelling or just the pure beauty of great cinematography, there's something here for you. I feel that the awards could be spread around this year.
Classic Fantasy - Frankenstein
Political Action - One Battle After Another
Blues Music and Horror - Sinners
Weird and Anxious (apparently comedic) - Bugonia
Romantic Heartbreak - Hamnet
Historical Drama and Samba - Secret Agent
Contemporary Family Dysfunction - Sentimental Value
Beauty and Calm - Train Dreams
Technology and Sport- F1
Conflicting Hero - Marty Supreme
Frankenstein - I loved the new version of Frankenstein directed and written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro. The beauty of Guillermo’s art in all its splendour with luscious colours, textures and magnificent sets. Solid performances, with the added pleasure ingredient of Christoph Waltz, but especially Jacob Elordi bringing the creature to life. Masterful storytelling that I later learned was a very personal project for del Toro. Touching friendships next to existential conflicts. Gruesome anatomical fascinations play with style within cultural context. Similarities with del Toro’s sublime Shape of Water, but with the magnitude that the classic brings. So so good. 9/10
One Battle After Another Dicaprio and Penn were superb. I had trouble categorizing it - IMDb helped named the thing - dark comedy. The visuals for the last car chase were mind blowing. Definitely Tarantino-like. Rich characters. Del Toro was such a warm welcome relief. Crazy scenes like the fall from the roof, long shots maybe like the tunnel escape and the house with all the illegal immigrants. Very scary interrogation scenes without being violent. Scary show of military power over helpless citizens. Odd amount of vaping by Bob. Whacky scenes with Penn and the secret codes. White supremacy underworld felt a little misaligned. 8/10
Sinners - What a superb movie cocktail with so many ingredients: Oh Brother Where Art Thou | Shawn of the Dead | Crossroads | Django Unchained | Interview with a Vampire | In the Shadows. I’m out of practice and let’s say my head’s still foggy from the holiday cold and flu - so I missed that Jordan played both twins and I did need English closed captions. It was a beautiful and wild ride. I do like me a good vampire movie. Add up some superb music and a well paced plot and I’m a happy guy. Buying it was only a dollar more than the rental and it came with some wonderful extras. 8/10
Bugonia - I didn’t feel it was a comedy. It was terrifying at times. But when Michelle gets to grips, there lots of "what could happen next" tension. A very nervous ride with a variety of artful craziness. 8/10
Hamnet - “Just back from seeing the movie Hamnet. Very emotional. Giving my beautiful family a virtual hug and kiss goodnight.” Such a powerful and emotional film but in slow motion. I've never been able to decipher the bard to sentences I can understand, but I can feel the drama when it’s performed. And perhaps this is the way to sum up this work of art. The production, sets, costumes and music were not lost on me. The cast were superb and made England in the 16th century come alive. 8/10
The Secret Agent - I loved the look - the colour was beautiful. The building of tension was subtle, but effective. Casting was spot on. Lots of feelings without over explanation. The gunfight was raw. The timeline didn’t matter. The background story was opaque. But there was a sense of browsing through an exhibition in a foreign land where you don’t really understand much, but you come away with a feeling of a place and time of rich culture and something very wrong. 7/10
Sentimental Value - Live review notes: Almost made me cry. Unusual choices for soundtrack. Absence of dialog was beautiful. A difficult film to watch at times. Slow and serious but very suspenseful. I was quite afraid of what could happen. I shed a tear with the last sisters’ scene. So much depth in the facial acting of Skarsgard. What a powerful cinematic family portrait. I loved how the house was its own character. 7/10
Train Dreams - There’s a later scene where Robert recognizes a man he used to work with and he associates names - reminded me of my modern work world - people coming and going all the time. A slow, sad, and lonely life with (many) moments of pure joy and beauty. And so fittingly / wisely / poetically - an understanding / wise view of the world (from an airplane). Stardust / naturally connected to this world. Beautiful cinematography and sound, great closing song by Nick Cave. 7/10
F1: The Movie - Initial thoughts “Torn. A week ago I was excited about going to see #F1TheMovie. I’ve been a F1 fan for most of my life. I know there’s going to be a ton of over-the-top stuff and ickiness. I can’t not see it. Just need to manage expectations and resist the hype from F1 drivers and supporting cast.” Better than I expected - includes lots of real tech talk. Can’t remember another Hollywood movie (sports at least) set so much in real life before. 7/10
Marty Supreme - If you liked Uncut Gems, you may like this one from the same director. I thought they may be related and was going to suggest it was like Uncut Gems - but not as tight. 7/10 for the out-of-time soundtrack and a tremendous performance by Chalamet.
BONUS review of Blue Moon. It wasn't nominated for best picture, but I wanted to see Ethan Hawk's performance that he's nominated for. Hawk’s delivery of the magical dialog was mesmerizing. Qualley was equally as mesmerizing (for me) and Cannavale was a superb “extra”. The sad tension and interaction between Rogers and Hart was superbly staged. One of my favourite lines was “Take your time, that’s the wonderful thing about art isn’t it - it waits for you.” I loved the compact set and of course the perfect piano accompaniment throughout. It Inspires me to write better words. 7/10
Lastly, I finally got around to updating my username on IMDB - I'm PJMixer there (wow - I've rated 597 movies and shows since 2000) and many places.
