I ended up going back and finishing it. It’s not exactly bad- it’s more like it feels pointless. Pixar’s really lost the emotional core of their movies. I watched less than two hours ago, and I can only remember one character’s name. It’s not even a main character. There are multiple pointless subplots, like a special flower that looks like it’s being set up for some big purpose, but ends up just serving as a reference point for the main characters’ feelings.
(Less than half of) The Oscars
A pretty rough start full of flat jokes and failed bits, but it started to find its legs when John Cena showed up. Even so, I was disinterested enough that I moved to my computer to do work and watched in a tiny window in the corner of my monitor. The stream kept crashing, and I never rushed to restart it, so I missed a lot.
I didn’t agree with all the choices, but at least Green Book didn’t win this year.
I’ve seen the other four Best Animated Film nominees, so when Katherine said “Want to watch Elemental?”, I said “sure!” And when we were about a third of the way through it and Katherine said “This isn’t very good- want to watch something else?”, I also said “sure!” Maybe I’ll finish it tomorrow, but it sure didn’t feel like it needed finishing.
Afterward we switched to…
Yesterday
When this came out five years ago, I had nearly zero interest. It looked like the whole movie was in the trailer, and it pretty much was. But the cast is charming, Ed Sheeran is a hoot, and the cover versions of the Beatles songs weren’t bad.
Wow- what a ham-fisted hagiography of a film. Everything is so broadly telegraphed that you could guess the end from the opening scenes. One of those movies where the costumes look like they came from a Broadway production: you can tell what the represent, but even the people living in poverty and filth look like they dry-clean their clothes, then reapply clean dirt in the morning.
The Barber of Little Rock
A by the numbers documentary that manages to suck most of the life out of what should be a compelling and inspiring story.
One of the best movies about how relationships I’ve ever seen. Friendships are start, grow, face challenges, and change. New relationships become old ones. People are changed by who they meet. No words, but absolutely clear thoughts and feelings.
Unrelated to the actual film: the title of this post is a lie. I did not use a pass to see this- I actually bought one of those ticket things. Don’t tell the Blog Post Title Police!
Just slightly more magical than magical realism, Problemista is yet another version of the old “Salvadorean manchild working in at a ‘cryogenics for artists’ company loses his job and finds his quest for legal status in America tied to the needs of an eccentric and abrasive art reviewer,” but somehow this feels fresh.
Island In Between
A video essay about Kinmen, the island in between (oh, now I get the title) Taiwan and China. Interesting, but a little too clinical.
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
I’m not sure how “let’s make a 20 minute movie where my grandmothers dance, try on silly clothes, and joke about farting” works so well, but Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó is wonderful. It’s on Hulu and Disney+, and very worth watching.
Gosh, what a lovely looking film about far-future political intrigue centered on a sandbox planet. 160ish minutes with lots… of… slow… intense… talking… but it never dragged. Most difficult suspension of disbelief for me: Timothée Chalomet, hardened desert fighter fighter.
I bet it was hard to deal with all the sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
The Shorts
It’s hard to talk about these with out giving stuff away, so I’m going to be extremely vague.
The After
Holy cow, David Oyelowo can act. This could have easily slipped into unnatural melodrama, but Oyelowo never wavers.
Red, White and Blue
Strong story and performances, but unlike The After this one can’t quite avoid the melodrama.
Knight of Fortune
My favorite of the nominees. Funny, sad, heartfelt, touching.
Invincible
If you’ve ever wanted to see a 16 year old deftly anchor a 30 minute film, watch Léokim Beaumier-Lépine in Invincible.
The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar
I don’t know if it was seeing in a theater or just having more time to digest it, but I enjoyed this more the second time around.
Nimona (the movie) was pretty good. Decent (but mostly predictable) story. Animation that ranges from “inspired” to “we are running out of money”). Fun when it should be. A scary monster that’s pretty darn scary looking.
Nimona (the character) was great. Chloe Grace Moretz has exactly the right combination of snark and energy, and the character design takes it over the top. Totally steals the show from the main character, disgraced knight Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed).
Probably the best animated movie about a futuristic city based around medieval knights I’ve ever seen.
I thought I was getting tickets to the live action short film Oscar nominees, but I knew something was wrong when all the trailers were for animated movies (but I did get to see a brief flash of the comedy brilliance that is the Minions. One of them spanks another one’s butt! HILARIOUS!).
Five nominees plus two bonus movies that I think were added to make the run time more reasonable. Let’s give ’em each a sentence or two, in viewing order!
The nominees:
Our Uniform
I think this one was my favorite. Animated on top of articles of clothing, it’s about life in Iranian schools for girls.
Letter to a Pig
Second favorite. It starts with a Holocaust survivor talking about hiding from Nazis in a pig pen, then explores how that trauma impacts later generations.
Pachyderme
A quiet story of a girl staying with her grandparents, particularly her grandfather. Very low-key, soft animation. Worth watching, but there’s not very much animation in this animation.
Ninety-Five Senses
A man (Tim Blake Nelson)narrates over moments of his life that have varying levels of significance. Saying more would give away too much. Watchable, but not mind blowing.
WAR IS OVER!
Two soldiers on opposite sides use a carrier pigeon to play chess. Made with Unreal Engine, which made every shot feel like a highly detailed Fortnite scene. Also uses “So This Is Christmas” to drive an emotional beat it doesn’t quite earn. Not my favorite.
Bonus shorts:
Wild Summon
Marianne Faithfull narrates a documentary about the spawning habits of salmon, except the salmon are replaced by big-mouthed fish people wearing SCUBA gear. The stakes feel higher when it’s little humans trying to survive. I think someone misheard someone else saying “wild salmon” and decided it would make a good movie title.
I’m Hip
Nothing makes it clear that someone isn’t hip more than them constantly repeating that they are hip. Old-school style 2D animation that’s interesting but not innovative and a weak song made this my least favorite short of the night.
Bonus unrelated animation!
Someone shared a clip from the 1990 Jetsons movie that’s a music video for a Tiffany song, and somehow it rocks. It’s like CalArts animation grad students broke into Hanna-Barbera studios and animated one part of the film.
I knew about the first one (since I watched the movie specifically because he’s nominated for best actor), but didn’t realize the second until he showed up onscreen.
Rustin
He’s great, and the movie has some outstanding performances, but it’s so generic that it draws away from the power of the events shown. Still good, but I wish it was a little more adventurous.
Drive-Away Dolls
Exactly what the trailer promised. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan in a raunchy lesbian-centric pulp mystery road trip comedy. It doesn’t make sense, and lots of sections don’t work, but the leads are great. I laughed a bunch. Colman Domingo is really only in this for a few scenes, but I’m still counting it as a CDDF.
