The first time I really registered anything about Philadelphia Film Society’s SpringFest was around 2023, as I was in a car somewhere in Indiana going to my brother’s wedding and discovering a few things I would’ve liked to see. The first time I actually manage to go was also related to a family member’s wedding (my aunt’s) and – no shade to my family members – but I absolutely was not going to be missing an early screening of I Saw The TV Glow (it was worth it).
Since the last year – when it expanded to a full week – it threatens ever so more to become an actual bonafide festival something along the lines of New Directors/New Films over in New York, though here there’s frequently known quantities that probably would’ve been in Main Fest last year except for scheduling or something that’s coming out imminently. An extra screen of films isn’t much to complain about, especially given how some distributors have been acting with early screenings and with the amount, it lets me look forward to the future (my last assignment for IGN was 40 Acres, which I saw here). Consider this post something of an accountability post: I’m not going to do daily coverage other than Twitter but I will make my best effort to do a round-up after the fact if timing permits.
Up above is my schedule for the most part. I may shift a couple things around if it gets too late, energy’s low, etc. Press badge things baybee. There’s a lot I’m quite looking forward to and now looking at it I might do some mini-roundups just from the amount. Don’t hold me to that.
Awards season officially comes to a close on Sunday and with the Guilds officially sown up I figured I might as well post some predictions on them. Probably isn’t going to be all that dissimilar from what a lot of other places are saying with the precursors and all, but this year does feel like the first in a while that there’s an actual race happening at the end. Far as the nominees themselves go, those are all mostly hits too; partially cause of little variation, but there were also just a lot of great movies last year. In the interest of fairness, I’ll try to limit the “Should Be”s to only one mention per movie. I’m skipping the Short categories simply because there’s way too many options and I haven’t seen the nominated ones, but I’m sure you can find one just by searching Vimeo, Criterion Channel, HBO or what have you. So, whaddawe got?
Best Picture
Will Win: One Battle After Another was anointed a frontrunner the minute reviews dropped and so far this season, it’s been a pretty clean sweep. Sinners has been putting up a pretty good fight – especially with SAG – but if a split were to happen it’d go there. I wouldn’t count on it though.
Should Win: One Battle After Another. I mean cahm awwwwwwwn, you don’t really need me to explain it right? Yeah it’d be cool if Sinners won but let’s be real here. It’s the best movie of 2025 and it’s only getting more relevant each day.
Should Be Nominated: Pretty much every nominee in the catagory is a movie I enjoyed or was vaguely pro on with one glaring exception. If they really needed a blockbuster pick and didn’t feel like going with Avatar: Fire and Ash, then why not Weapons? It’s as entertaining if not more so than F1 (a movie I have not seen) and it’s smarter than it appears to be. Maybe Sinners got the horror pick.
Best Director
Will Win:Paul Thomas Anderson is winning Best Director. He swept every single precursor. It’s his year and he’s been long overdue, and he did a damn good job at it.
Should Win: That being said, wouldn’t it be cool if Ryan Coogler won? Not just because it’s been far too long coming for a Black director, but because he managed to pull it off for the most part. Getting two great musical numbers is more than a lot of people do, that’s for sure.
Should Be Nominated: The one International pick this year went to Joacim Trier for Sentimental Value but it really should’ve gone to one of NEON’s other stables: Jafar Panahi. It Was Just An Accident was one of my favorites of last year and that’s because you could feel the freedom behind the camera. I guess he’ll just have to settle with the Palme D’Or.
Best Actor
Will Win: I honestly have no idea who’s taking it home this year. BAFTA went to a movie that’s not even nominated in this catagory, and Marty Supreme‘s momentum has been lagging for a bit now. Loathe as I am to trust SAG entirely thanks to blowing my predictions two years in a row, I think it Michael B. Jordan has a decent shot. Anyone in this category would be excellent, but his dual roles lept off the screen. Besides, he’s been due a nomination for a while now, and who knows if it’s gonna happen again.
Should Win: But they should just give it to Timothée Chalamet. Say what you will about his campaign, he did the damn thing in Marty Supreme as one of the most annoying men alive with singular focus and drive. I do still think he has a decent shot too so don’t be surprised if he does win but if he doesn’t, can you imagine what the next one is gonna look like?
Should Be Nominated: Seconding Kirsten Dunst’s Instagram posts and grumbling about Jesse Plemmons getting passed over for Bugonia. He has the perfect energy for Yorgos Lanthiamos and better yet, he channels a deeply sad rage behind the deadpan insanity of Teddy Gatz. What gives, Academy?
Best Actress
Will Win: It brings me no pleasure to report this but Jessie Buckley is winning for Hamnet, a movie I thought was perfectly fine but perhaps lean a tad more mixed the more I think back on it. She’s decent enough in it, perhaps underserved by the screenplay, and she’s won every single precursor this entire season. I guess I should be glad it’s not fucking Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue (a movie that is not real, I don’t care what people keep saying).
Should Win: Rose Byrne‘s nomination for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is the award itself since as far back as a few months ago it seemed like such a long shot to even get there. But she should be the frontrunner; all of her prodigious abilities are on display, and she’s never anything less than completely mesmerizing on-screen. Call her unsympathetic if you want. It just feels real.
Should Be Nominated: Chase Infiniti being left off annoys me the most, but by far the saddest miss on nomination morning was Amanda Seyfried for The Testament Of Ann Lee. She’s a force to be reckoned with, so dedicated that it might make you believe in God, or at least some higher power. We’ve really been taking her for granted, but thankfully she doesn’t seem too bothered. I think she’ll be back again.
Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: I guess it’s gonna be Sean Penn now? Benicio Del Toro looked like it was his for a while there, and Stellan Skarsgard is probably the close second if not the winner thanks to vote splitting. But I guess the power of Lockjaw is just too much.
Should Win: If the surge from the BAFTA incident does turn out to be real, let it be known that Delroy Lindo would be a fantastic choice. Delta Slim is a stalwart presence, and yeah it might also be a make-up for Da Five Bloods (or so I’m told). There’s really almost no bad choice in this category again.
Should Be Nominated: Critics – including yours truly – went wild over 28 Years Later (it was an honorable mention on my Film Stage list) for probably all the reasons why general audiences seemingly recoiled from it. Who knows if it would’ve really had enough momentum the whole season but at least this time, Ralph Fiennes was truly a longshot and not a baffling omission. It’s a quintessential performance, and yet deeply surprising all the same.
Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: The current frontrunner is Amy Madigan for Weapons but I think it might be Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners, based on nothing but past BAFTA wins. It may be a close race, Teyana Taylor could sneak in as well. I feel certain that it’s probably not going to be anyone from Sentimental Value just because of the vote split, even though they’re all quite good performances.
Should Win: Amy Madigan would be a great choice honestly. Aunt Gladys is, on the surface, an overly showy character, the kind of thing that lends itself well to drag. But what makes her stick in the mind is the moments of quiet. Was there a more chilling scene last year then when she took off her wig and asked Alex “Do I feel like hurting them?”
Should Be Nominated: I’ve been fairly open about my mixed-to-positive feelings on Hamnet and specifically Jessie Buckley winning. That being said, I do think Emily Watson does a great job in her limited amount of screentime. Probably the definition of a supporting performance and honestly, it’s been a while since she’s been up there. Game has to recognize game, after all.
Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Lock for Ryan Coogler and Sinners. He’s leaving there with something tonight, even if it’s just this. Could this be the most an Oscar winning screenplay has talked about cunnilingus? It’s certainly amongst the most entertaining.
Should Win: It Was Just An Accidentseemed like it was going to be the Foreign Language pick post-Cannes, and then through a combination of NEON buying everything and people in general not really giving a shit about the Middle East, it fell enough that this could be considered an award itself. Jafar Panahi, Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, and Mehdi Mahmoudian should win though; not because Iran has suddenly become relevant (though, that could push it honestly) but because it balances the thorny moral conundrum with the humor of his past work. The man was forced to make movies on an iPhone for 10 years, an award is the least they could do.
Should Be Nominated: The best A24-released film of last year is – of course – the one that slipped through the cracks, despite Julia Roberts’ best effort. Eva Victor‘s screenplay for Sorry, Baby is a marvel of tone; quirky without becoming overly precious, heartfelt without dipping into schmaltz, devastating without inducing whiplash. If this is what they can do for a debut, imagine what they can do on a bigger scale.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: I can assure you there has not been an award more certain than Paul Thomas Anderson once again, maybe even if he hadn’t won WGA or a billion other precursors. Yeah, you could’ve said that about Nolan but he missed some of them and anyways he was always going to win one.
Should Win: Apologies to the rest of the category but it should be him. Vineland is a practically unadaptable book like most Pynchon, and the fact that PTA managed to wrangle enough of a skeleton to be recognizable while taking it on his own path should be applauded (even if we didn’t get Leo jumping through a window in a dress wielding a chainsaw, or Regina Hall as a ninja assassin, or the entire Japanese Insurance Adjuster Addicted To Pills). Plus honestly, as much as I love Bugonia the ending still doesn’t work for me. The rest you can take or leave.
Should Be Nominated: Rian Johnson‘s last two Benoit Blanc flicks both got nominated in their respective categories, and it figures that when he goes and makes a fantastic one, it gets shut out. Wake Up Dead Man! featured my favorite scene of the year – as much a product of Bridgett Everett as it is the writing – and honestly, it should’ve been Netflix’s priority. How can you seen Glenn Close giving this performance and not try and push her for Supporting Actress at least???
Best Animated Feature
Will Win: Voters still don’t really respect the category if the secret ballots (among others) are to be believed. Besides all that, KPop Demon Hunters was so big Netflix was forced to put it in theaters and they might’ve even gotten an exception on it. Thin as it is on both character and story, the Sony Style hasn’t gotten completely old yet, and the tunes are fun enough to make it better than most kid flicks nowadays.
Should Win: And here’s where I admit I, also, do not take this category very seriously, because I’ve only seen two of the nominees. Arco was one I caught at Philadelphia Film Festival (Little Amelie or the Character of Rain was also there but it sadly didn’t fit into my schedule); NEON was only giving us the dub so who knows if the original language might’ve been better. What I’ll say is it got me teary eyed by the end, and the visual melange comes together in something unique, derivative as it might be.
Should Be Nominated: I honestly don’t know if I saw enough animated features last year to really give an opinion on this – not because I didn’t want to, but mainly cause I don’t think many of the interesting ones got much of a release here and I don’t keep up with the big anime; with apologies to Boys Go To Jupiter, because I had a screener and did not watch it. So do yourself a favor and take a scan of the Shortlist. Almost anything not made by a major studio is probably worth a gander (with the exception of Scarlet, which I’m told from some friends is Bad). Judging by the Croatian entry, East Europe is doing some interesting stuff over there. No idea what all has releases in the US so go sailing for that as you wish.
Best International Feature
Will Win: NEON took 4 out of the 5 slots here and might’ve gotten pretty close to a 5th as well. 2 of those are also nominated in Best Picture and while The Secret Agent feels like it might be surging, the winner is probably going to beSentimental Value. I do like that one a bit more than the former, and since it’s also got a lot of acting noms plus Director and won BAFTA – along with Joacim Trier and Eskil Vogt’s past nomination for The Worst Person In The World – it seems like a safe enough bet.
Should Win: It Was Just An Accident should’ve been the frontrunner and it should’ve gotten way more nominations but alas, for some reason people here don’t care about Iran unless it’s Asghar Farhadi (France actually submitted this one, because of Panahi’s legal troubles in his home country and because there’s no way the government would ever have approved it). I kind of think it could win it too, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.
Should Be Nominated: As is typical, lotta great submissions in this category, and No Other Choice might’ve made it if for some reason Park Chan-Wook and/or the Country Of South Korea was alienating to the Academy for some unknown reason. They care even less about African film though, which is a goddamn shame because My Father’s Shadow is one of the unsung gems of last year, a devastating tour through memories anchored by three extraordinary performances. Thankfully BAFTAs got this one right, as much as I would’ve wanted Pillion to win everything.
Best Documentary Feature
Will Win: Tempting to say the documentary about Russia will win (Mr. Nobody Against Putin) and it very well might seeing as it won BAFTA. Netflix has gotten a lot of wins in this category, and The Perfect Neighboris pretty accessible, if not effective and novel in form. Personally that was one of my bigger disappointments of last year, a film that’s admirable in form but might be less than meets the eye, borderline exploitative even. In other words: An Oscar Movie.
Should Win: I grant it’s more traditionally structured as a documentary and a story and not nearly as novel despite also having a unique form. But The Alabama Solution‘s use of contraband cell-phone footage stands out as remarkably urgent, boiling your blood even if you already believe the prison system should be abolished. Of course, I haven’t seen everything in this category either, and it might be I’m being too hard on The Perfect Neighbor. At the very least, you owe yourself a visit to HBO Max to check out The Alabama Solution
Should Be Nominated: Much to my great annoyance, neither of my personal favorites of last year even made the shortlist. I could expect that from Teenage Wasteland – aka Middletown – seeing the status of release, but seriously, did no one see Predators?? Perhaps they too found the scene involving a YouTuber excruciating to watch, or maybe the subject matter of To Catch A Predator put people off. Either way, it should be on Paramount+ and David Osit crafted a near-masterpiece examining not just the culture Chris Hansen wrought, but asking why someone would do this in the first place.
Best Original Score
Will Win: I saw predictions for it all the way back in April and sure enough, Ludwig Gôransson has been cleaning up for Sinners. He’s won twice before – which doesn’t always mean you’re the frontrunner – but there’s worse people to give a threepeat too. Plus that score does slap, the man did the work and it’s great.
Should Win: You don’t have to give it to vague Zionists but it’s been a real long time coming for Johnny Greenwood anyways, and he’d likely have won if his score for There Will Be Blood hadn’t gotten disqualified. Thankfully, his work remains excellent and I can’t imagine that famed River Of Roads sequences working as well as it does without those drums or that piano.
Should Be Nominated: The Academy gave the award to The Social Network back in 2011 and said “Alright, that’s enough electronic music for today”; so much so that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross probably won a second time both because it was more ambient and it was giving Jon Bastiste his first. Which is all to say that there’s absolutely no reason why Oneohtrix Point Never – aka Daniel Lopatin – got passed over for Marty Supreme other than an inexplicable dislike for moderate tempo electro. Hamnet‘s big cue isn’t even original and it still got in but god forbid a previous winner like Daniel Blaumberg try to get a little religious with it.
Best Original Song
Will Win: “Golden” was the number one song in America for quite some time. Everyone’s kids are listening to it. It’s won every single award so far. If it didn’t exist they probably wouldn’t even be doing songs on stage this year. What are you not gonna give it to the big pop hit? It’s a cute enough song, it’s probably going to win a ton of Grammys next year too.
Should Win: Sorry Diane Warren, maybe you should try writing a song both as good as “I Lied To You” from Sinners and also setting it to a scene half as good as the centerpiece Juke Joint Dance. To get a little crackpot, it might have a chance of getting caught up in the sweep of Sinners plus Raphael Saadiq has been around for a long time; Göransson is also on it too though, so perhaps giving him 4 might be too much. Either way, if Nick Cave had been nominated for Hell Or High Water maybe Taylor Sheridan would still be writing good movies instead of keeping linear cable alive.
Should Be Nominated: A lot of songs were in movies last year, I am certain I’m forgetting quite a few. I would also guess that The Testament Of Ann Lee‘s mix of actual Shaker hymns along with original joints is the reason it got passed over even though “Hunger And Thirst” or “All Is Summer” should be up there. So instead I’ll bitch about Challengers being shut out and ask: what does Nine Inch Nails have to do to get another damn award? Yeah, maybe “As Alive As You Need Me to Be” isn’t gonna be at the top of their best and no one gives a shit about Tron but I refuse to believe either the Warren Pick or “Dreams of Joy” are half as good as it. Get it together Hollywood.
Best Sound
Will Win: They sure do love it when Big Car Go Nyooom and even if F1 hadn’t been nominated in Best Picture for God Knows What reason, it’s been the industry frontrunner for a bit. I would imagine those cars are indeed very loud and I’m sure they mixed Brad Pitt’s voice quite well so you could hear it.
Should Win: Unless of course one of the big Warner movies gets it in a sweep (which could happen!) In the interest of not listing the same one over and over again and because I can’t really decide between the two, Sirât would be an inspired choice here. I’m not sure it really adds up to much compared to a lot of critics, but sound is crucial to that film and boy does it work. Just like The Zone Of Interest it missed out on Score. Unlike that film it’s also not really a frontrunner so don’t expect much.
Should Be Nominated: I feel like I might be scraping the barrel a bit here since I don’t really have much to quibble with here. Avatar: Fire and Ash was probably a strong contender here but on a scan of the shortlists I see Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Surely they had some good airplane and underwater sounds in that but no matter, Tom will be there next year come Digger.
Best Casting
Will Win: New category this year so there isn’t really a lot to go off on. Sinners won the Guild prize and it’ll probably be taking a lot of the below-the-line awards that Frankenstein or OBAA don’t get. It’s a pretty good choice to, the cast is exceptional all the way down, and Miles Catton was a tremendous find. Just about every award here would be good though.
Should Win: As good as the faces in The Secret Agent are and as interesting as it would be, One Battle After Another assembled a fantastic roster of people already in the PTA slate like Alana Haim and interesting picks like Jim Downey on through all the side characters. Cassandra Kulukundis has also been his casting director since Magnolia, and isn’t this where that kind of award should be going? She’s made some banger choices over the years!
Should Be Nominated: Yet again I peruse the Guild casting list and this time, I see that Pillion was nominated in Independent. I do not think that movie ever had a real shot at being nominated for Oscars despite the DGA of it all, howver, isn’t this also the type of thing that should be nominated? Both Harry Melling and Alexander Skårsgard do incredible work, but it’s the side characters that really flesh things out from the initial first date to the motorcycle club. Really I just wanna take this space to shout-out Pillion, now in theaters. One of my favorites of last year!
Best Production Design
Will Win: Frankenstein has been cleaning up in the below the lines as far as the physical aspects of film are concerned, and since it’s a Guillermo Del Toro pick that I’m presuming a lot of people have seen, I wouldn’t be surprised if it cleans up here. Once again, there’s always the chance for a Combination Sinners and OBAA Sweep but it seems like they could cancel each other out a little unless they trade off.
Should Win: Now that’s a real difficult choice ain’t it. All the nominees here are good, but only one is legendary production designer and Mr. Sissy Spacek himself. That’s right, Jack Fisk is nominated for Marty Supreme and he should win, because that’s a damned good 50s design of New York and I can only imagine what they had to do to get that bathtub scene to work. He’s Tha God and it’s been long overdue.
Should Be Nominated: Call it the bias from having so many digital environments even though it still got a Best Costumes nomination. Avatar: Fire and Ash still constructed a ton of physical models and you see every bit of it on screen. It still feels tactile like no other film does and I sincerely hope James Cameron gets to do the exact number of these he wants.
Best Cinematography
Will Win: PTA allegedly took his name of the credit he’s usually had the past couple of times for One Battle After Another because he wanted Michael Bauman to ride the wave. We love a generous king, and I love the cinematography of that movie. If nothing else, give it to him for the shot of Willa closing the door as she’s driving.
Should Win: A woman’s never won this category and there’d be worse options than to get caught up in a Sinners Sweep. Autumn Durald Arkpaw was one of the ones I wrote about in year-end wrap up and she really made great use of those shadows. But like a lot of categories this year, just about anything would be great.
Should Be Nominated: Once again I took a scan of the shortlist and saw Sound Of Falling(Germany’s submission in International Feature). You know what, that’d be kind of inspired! The hazy look is so important to the atmosphere of the film and it moves along like a dream. If it had been nominated in International it’d probably be here. Meanwhile, I believe you can find it on MUBI.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Will Win: As mentioned above, Frankenstein has been getting all the physical below the lines of this nature, and with the creature effects it’s a complete shoe-in. Most of the others are longshots but would all be fun choices except for…
Should Win: Sinners, which had those really gnarly vampire effects as well as the period hairstyling and all. It did win a couple Guild prizes so a sweep wouldn’t be a huge shocker. Horror rarely gets its due anyways here and it’d be inspired for something relatively lower key.
Should Be Nominated: I do find it rather funny that Marty Supreme missed out on this while the other Safdie brother film – The Smashing Machine – earned it’s sole award here. Again, there’s way too many options here but frankly, why not? Period hair is a skill too!
Best Costume Design
Will Win: You really want me to repeat myself? Frankenstein, Genre, Period Okay!
Should Win: Rather than talk about Sinners again, let’s celebrate Avatar: Fire And Ash with an inspired nom here for all the physical pieces. Was most of it because of Varaang’s headdress? Yeah probably. Did she still eat? House down boots, mama!
Best Film Editing
Will Win: One Battle After Another is sweeping this so expect this to be one of the big ones as it goes on the path to Best Picture.
Should Win: It’s immaculately edited too, not just the River Of Roads but the entire thing feels so much shorter than its considerable 3 hours.
Should Be Nominated: As many quibbles and ethical concerns as I have withThe Perfect Neighbor, I can’t argue it isn’t a well-assembled film and an achievement in itself. Documentaries rarely get in here since it’s so tied to Best Picture but they deserve just as much a shot as everything else.
Best Visual Effects
Will Win: Avatar has taken these every single time they’ve been up and Fire And Ash is once again a very deserving nominee. Forget all the goofy camera shit and just marvel at how tactile it all feels and how seamless it looks.
Should Win: Avatar: Fire And Ash definitely should, but it could also be Sinners and that’d be real cool too.
Should Be Nominated: It didn’t make the shortlist and really it’s just because it’s on my Movies Fantasy League roster. That said, Predator: Badlands did make a very polite looking Yatuja and also Elle Fanning that was just a torso. Would’ve been cooler than The Lost Bus or something, no shade.
As mentioned previously, because of a hectic schedule and less films than expected on the final day, I’m just going to combine both days into one and end with a summary.
Silent Friend (Ildikó Enyedi): B
If ever there was a vibes movie, this one’s it. Most of the time I enjoyed the imagery; it gets real interesting somewhere around the second act with the student in the 70s taking care of the houseplant that may be able to communicate with some sort of language. The rest of the stories have different resonances (the Turn-Of-The-Century one most prominently) and there’s the connecting thread of the tree and history, but Enyedi keeps it thematically loose for the most part. So deliberate I started to get restless during it, and while I see it reaching for grand emotion, I don’t think it gets there.
The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho): B+
Probably should’ve expected something from the director of Bacarau to get wild. Filho shows great creativity in the sequences involving the leg but the meaning of it as it relates to the story feels way more elusive unless it’s something that actually happened around the same time (he keeps panning to a portrait in some scenes, which I assume is the current ruler of Brazil). Wagner Moura does an excellent job, and there’s some resonance with our current times; I do think it could’ve done a slightly better job at situating it in context given the overall complexity of the story.
Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie (Matt Johnson): A-
Had meant to watch at least some of the webshow before going into this and now having seen it, I think going in blind was the best possible choice. Seeing it with an enthusiastic crowd most definitely helped – the energy was truly electric – though Johnson and McCarroll don’t lean too much on running gags and if they do, they’re easy to pick up on. Lots of laughs to be had from the truly outrageous “How the fuck did they do that?” stunts to stupid background gags to the perfect use of a passerby. Made me want to check out the show in earnest, and it’s probably the best thing the Canadian government has spent money on in the last few years.
Primate (Johannes Roberts): B/B+
You know exactly the reason why you’re going into this movie, and so do the filmmakers luckily. Roberts slices basically everything extraneous down to the bone, which on one hand means it gets to the goods pretty fast. On the other, that means there’s barely any actual character development or much of a plot but honestly, who needs either of those things? It’s a good slasher flick with all the right tensions and some very good monkey VFX to be a fun time, not to mention some truly gnarly gore. When the biggest complaint is that it’s lit too dark, I guess you aren’t doing too bad.
The Plague (Charlie Polinger): A
About an hour and a half of detailing why 12-13 year old boys are some of the most evil sociopaths on this planet and doing it with sharp direction. Body horror elements are overstated to the point where it might’ve been better to lose them entirely, but then again the scariest part is really the arbitrary nature of childish cruelty. Everett Blunck is fantastic as a realistically awkward pre-teen while Kayo Martin is a demon sent from hell; you know exactly who this kid is, you have met him. Polinger films beautifully eerie underwater footage, often cutting off the heads of the subjects to leave just dangling torsos, and he ends it with a startling abstract image. For all that might be familiar about it, I don’t know another film that gets how unintentionally useless adults can be in bullying situations and how that peer pressure extends until you can’t even recognize yourself anymore. Difficult to shake; could give you flashbacks.
Dead Man’s Wire (Gus Van Sant): C+
Spent the entire runtime thinking that Bill Skarsgard looked distractingly like Michael Shannon and I have no idea if that was part of his acting choices or just a result of it being the 70s despite him not looking like the guy at all). In any case, reasonably compelling even if he’s the most annoying man alive; it doesn’t help that Van Sant layers in references to Dog Day Afternoon, a far better film in basically every aspect. Never really bought into the attempt at sympathy through an Evil Bank, which is perhaps among the biggest failings. Any movie that features My’hala this prominently – and thus reminds one that Industry will be coming back – can’t be wholly negative; she’s a great reporter.
Is This Thing On? (Bradley Cooper): B
Braced for cringe faildad, ended up with a kind of nice romantic comedy. Much better direction than writing, though apparently it’s based on a real story so some of the events can’t be blamed. Arnett isn’t too bad as a standup – and it also gives him a Bojack reunion with Amy Sedaris. Not really much going on but not entirely unpleasant. I should really check out A Star Is Born one of these days.
Sentimental Value: A-
Immensely moving, knotty family drama. Attention will deservingly be on the trio of Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, and Elle Fanning but I want to bring attention to Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes, not the most central character but in a way the more difficult role having to reconcile the more difficult feelings. Main reservation is what purpose the flashbacks – though affecting – serve in relation to the story of the film. They seem to be narrated by the same actor as in The Worst Person In The World but they’re so infrequent they come across as a little jarring. I’m sure I’ll be able to parse that connection when I haven’t spent 11 days straight watching movies.
And so we’ve finally come to the end. Including Lesbian Space Princess (which I didn’t actually see at the festival), I watched a total of 40 films. Had I been able to get into Hamnet I might not have gotten that much. Would I advise doing that? Not really, unless you have an exorbitant amount of free time and/or can take off the time to do so. I at least have the benefit of not being jet-lagged or expected to crank out words, which has been helpful in avoiding regret on takes. Overall, the slate this year was mostly highs; nothing really disappointed me, nothing made me want to sprint for the exit, and there weren’t any huge disasters. At most I would only criticize NEON for holding back on several high profile screenings, which just isn’t very good for anybody and in general leads to a shitshow. All I know is making a year-end list is going to be absolute murder, and because I’m going to be submitting ballots this year, I’m not doing an actual writeup. However, you can go check out the full list of everything I saw here. I will do my best not to change it too much but know that I make no promises. Till next time, ie whenever I have a take I can’t pitch anywhere or something extremely dumb.
Decided against doing a full day, since I missed Kika due to a couple running over, and I wanted to transcribe an interview so I could condense and file next week. Don’t anticipate any of those issues today. Apologies on this one coming out late, just had too much going on.
Songs of Forgotten Trees (Anuparna Roy): B/B+ Deserving winner of the Orizzonti directing prize, even though thinking back on it I don’t know that it really contains that much in it. Thought for a while it was trending in a love story direction, and while the vibes are there it’s more an enigmatic friendship. Roy doesn’t dive into how these two women met or how long they’ve known each other, and the whole recurring bit with the trees and forgetting is poetic, but seems to lack something. Another pretty good debut that deserves at least a few more eyes.
Keep Quiet and Forgive.Credit: PBS Films
Keep Quiet and Forgive(Sarah McClure): C+/B-
Powerful stories, functionally directed. The focus seems mainly to be on Lizzie’s book and Voices Of Hope but there’s a surface level examination of both. If you’ve read the ProPublica and other stories on sexual abuse within Amish communities, you basically know the gist here and while there is value in hearing their words straight from them, McClure doesn’t really offer much else other than reiterating the systemic nature of the abuse as well as tying it into similar Mennonite cases. A full history on both sects would probably be unnecessary but you won’t really get much info out of them. Decent as a piece of journalism, some questions about when it was filmed notwithstanding and it does contain some very disturbing moments (like the drawing). Good intentions only take you so far.
The Testament of Ann Lee. Credit: Fox Searchlight
The Testament of Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold): A-
Ecstatic and feverish but oh so earnest. Ann’s faith is never much in doubt – which is somewhat refreshing – and Seyfried’s truly magnificent performance shows why people would choose to live in celibacy to follow this sort of odd Mancunian woman. Reports of it being a musical might be slightly oversold, though there are a few song sequences that appear to be separate from others; one of Fastvold’s best choices is to have all the songs be diegetic, so the sailors on the boat yell at them to shut up while they’re trying to worship. Those worship sequences are absolutely mesmerizing in their coordination, the rise and fall of the music with its occasional pieces of anachronism (an electric guitar coming in right as an eclipse fills). Of course it’s not as reachingly thematic as The Brutalist but in some way, there’s a tighter emotional core in the story of a woman who wants to do her best for God; it might be a little too hagiographic of her as well, though I don’t recall the Shakers ever having some of the worst bits of American Cults, but the whole modesty part of it can raise a few eyebrows. Moment I knew it was something special was “I Am Running, I Am Mad”.
Man Finds Tape. Credit: XYZ Films
Man Finds Tape(Paul Gandersmanand Peter S. Hall): B+
Rating’s a little lower than expected but being completely honest, I cannot justify putting it in the same tier as Noroi: The Curse or even my beloved Red Rooms. Which isn’t to say it’s shallow so much as shifts focus slightly in a way that lets some things fall by the wayside, and while it’s gripping, I wouldn’t exactly call it scary (save for a couple of moments towards the end). Really dug the faux doc aesthetic, especially as someone who enjoys watching Nexpo vids on creepypasta; Gandersman and Hall deeply understand those communities and the way things spiral out of control not only in “real life”, but also eventually in the story itself. Not a movie that ends up explaining much, which might all be for the better. In any case, though it might not have been about snuff as I’d expected, it swerves in interesting ways to scratch that horror itch for me.
Tomorrow: Combining Saturday and Sunday into one because I can feel myself slowing down, and this is already behind.
Going to try to keep these short going forward, since I’m anticipating a full weekend of 5 movie days. At some point I’ll also go back and fix some of the formatting and captions as well.
Wild Foxes(Valéry Carnoy): B-/B Fairly standard coming-of-age with a dash of boxing for that extra “punch”, if you will. Carnoy freshens it by making Camille (Samuel Kircher) already the best in his class, outgoing and gregarious up until a bad fall sets him back. Couldn’t quite figure out the connection between the plural of the title and whether the foxes – which Camille feeds and ends up kickstarting the plot – relate as a whole to the testosterone fueled teenage antics of his friends. I admit to also finding it a tad bit frustrating with regards to the treatment of the character’s fear and especially how it impacts his friend Matteo (Faycal Anaflous), which isn’t even beginning to get into racial or class disparities. Dunno whether his ornamental girlfriend’s interests figure in at all, though it seems for a minute he might switch sports. Calling it inspirational is a stretch but in the end it fulfills the requirements of its genre.
Nuestra Tierra (Lucretia Martel): B/B+
If you want an indication of how much I’ve slacked when it’s come to Venice and sundry coverage this year, I didn’t realize this was a documentary until looking up bits on Letterboxd before the screening. I’ve only seen The Headless Woman (Zama is forever on the list) so I’m not particularly equipped to say whether this fits into Martel’s overarching style or interests. What I can say is it features some rather cool usage of drones, including one shot where a bird flies into it and sends it tumbling to the earth, perhaps in synergy with the falling camera from the video detailing the shooting of Javier Chocobar. He was the leader of the Chuschagasta, an indigenous Argentinian community that had existed for centuries before they were brought into conflict with a mining operation. More than a little connection to last year’s No Other Land though obviously there’s less footage to comb through and less immediacy, since this was a settled court case. Martel largely gives voice to the Chuschagastas, showing their archival photos, playing their stories and forming the fabric of a community still trying to get recognized by a country overwhelmingly influenced by Europe. At times I could feel my attention drift a bit which isn’t necessarily its fault, though it does seem to detour a bit from the case itself in trying to sculpt a history. When it focuses, it’s incredibly damning, but often times beautiful and vibrant; as much as the history of violence is important, so is the history of the people themselves.
It Ends(Alexander Ullom): B+/A-
Come for the horror inflected logline about four friends trapped in a loop of Florida highway; stay for the gradual shift to existentialist drama. Spent a bit of the opening wondering if the dialogue was going to try to hard to be current, eventually relaxed into it as Ullom establishes a rhythm and a routine of driving, stopping, exploring, then getting back in. All four actors are uniformly excellent, establishing who they are and what they mean to each other within a few scenes and always coming across as realistic youths. Ullom also makes a smart choice to remove all of the survival barriers including the need to sleep, meaning that the conflict turns increasingly philosophical as the foursome debate whether they’re dead and if there’s any meaning in their situation. It’s not the most controlled script – though Ullom shows a deft hand at editing – but it’s never tedious. You could easily view it as a metaphor for life, bolstered by the hopeful ending. For all that it feels targeted to GenZ, it’s pretty cross-generational and maybe even eternal. At the very least it’s a trumph of low-budget filmmaking, reminding me the most of James Ward Bykirt’s Coherence without the sci-fi thrills.
Train Dreams (Clint Bentley): B
Perfectly fine, occasionally moving. Joel Edgerton’s reserved yet warm, nailing the emotional scenes as required and doing a pretty good job of it. I think part of the problem for me is the amount of voiceover narration; that probably would’ve told me it’s an adaptation even if I hadn’t gone in knowing and really it just made me want to read the book. At its best when it’s focusing on the relationship between Robert and Gladis (he has great chemistry with Felicity Jones), could’ve used at least a tad more focus on the experience of immigrants given how much it haunts the movie. Confirmed from a couple review scans that it does, indeed, feel Malickean what with all the nature shots and the sunsets and the love. Of course the camera is largely static and as much as I’ve felt bored by Malick, he does have the capacity to stun. Perhaps I’m being a little too hard on it. Not Oscar Bait by any means and all the parts are there, it just never quite gets to transcendence. I almost wish I’d gone to Reflections In A Dead Diamond.
Tomorrow: Attempting the first of a few full days, including Amanda Seyfried’s Christian Musical and a movie that might be about snuff.
Not too bad of a day. Found yet another late-breaking surprise; I guess I haven’t been too stingy with the high grades.
Christy (Brendan Canty): B
AKA: Christy (Ireland), as presented in the guide to distinguish it from the Sydney Sweeney Christy (US). Similar in some ways to Urchin in that they’re both slice-of-life portraits of a downtrodden man in the British Isles, though despite Canty’s direction not being quite as showy as Dickinson’s I think I kind of liked this a little more. Spent a good portion wondering if it was going to spring some sort of twist regarding either the title character, his half-brother Shane, or both; dunno if it’s better that it declines to do so and it might be that I misunderstood an earlier Instagram video not as a Pedo Hunter one but of a fight Christy was in. The best scenes come courtesy of Jamie Ford’s Robot, so named because he’s in a wheelchair. He’s just a ton of fun to listen to as he banters back and forth, I could’ve watched an entire movie centered around him. Really as a whole it shines when it’s just hanging with Christy and the people of the Council he finds himself with, not so much when it’s leaning into typical social issue patterns. Thoroughly pleasant watch with lots of beautiful boys.
Growing Down(Bálint Dániel Sós): B+ Bit shocked I hadn’t heard more about this before now, although a quick Wikipedia check shows me it was in the Perspectives section at Berlin (for feature debuts). Grabbed me practically from the beginning, with its overwhelming sound over the title card before a quick cut to a camera sailing into a car window. Sós demonstrates a pretty stellar grasp of technique, from the precise edits to the stark black-and-white cinematography, not to mention distance. He and screenwriter Gergő V. Nagy craft a rather knotty ethical dilemma: widower Sándor (Szabolcs Hajdu) – at a critical moment in his relationship with his girlfriend and fellow single parent Klára (Anna Háy) – witnesses a potentially life-threatening accident involving his son Dénes (Ágoston Sáfrány) and her daughter Sári (Zonga Jakab-Aponyi) and in a split second choice, decides to lie for his son. It’s austere and tense as several relationships, not to mention a human life, threaten to completely crumble under the weight of parental love and/or selfishness… and then Sós occaisionally throws a lifeline, like a scene – shot from afar – involving a birthday gift that in lesser hands could be derail the whole thing but instead comes off as a facet of life that keeps going on even in the face of complete tragedy. The kind of utterly singular and controlled vision you want from a debut, and simply beautiful to look at too.
Blue Film(Elliott Tuttle): A
Yet another singular debut, this one even more spectacular and quite possibly the best thing I’ve seen at the fest. All I knew going in was it involved a camboy, Aaron Eagle(Kieron Moore), hired for the night by a mysterious stranger Hank (Reed Birney); what I only got hints of from my friend – hi Zoe – was that sexual abuse was involved but still, I don’t think anything could’ve prepared me for how gripping and unsettling this would be. Tuttle has crafted a two-hander (always at risk of being too stagey) interrogating the nature of desire and the reasons why people turn out how they do. In a way, it’s a good pairing with Springfest entry Predators, another film asking why someone would do such a heinous thing. Moore and Birney are simply astonishing together, the former alternating between the highly guarded Straight Masc Dom persona and the latter layering on a regretful older mentor. Like a lot of my favorites, the two play around with the idea of performing and truer personality, captured especially in a deeply uncomfortable yet strangely erotic scene involving age-play, shot in the kind of consumer grade video that resembles a porno you’d find on some tube site (I wish I’d written down some of the comments from the livestream that opens the film, both it and Moore’s dialogue are perfect encapsulations). Both the producer at the Q&A and the introduction stressed that it will be controversial; it’s circling distribution but had trouble even finding a festival that would accept it. That’s entirely understandable given the way it extends Birney’s character understanding. But that’s not the same as excusing, and the constant back-and-forth is where the film derives the most power. It’s perhaps the most honest film I’ve seen about taboo, kink, and responsibility, one that might be a difficult sit but is the kind of thing queer filmmakers should be getting full support for.
Sham (Takeshi Miike): B-/B
For all that Miike’s prolificacy is harped upon, rarely do we ever get to see that range beyond the outre and the most violent or wacky. After all, when you’ve directed over 100 films across genres and demographics you’re gonna have to be able to adjust to fit the material. Sham might be Miike’s most restrained film but for those who associate restraint with something like Audition are probably going to be disappointed. Not so much because of the lack of violence or whatnot, but more that this ripped-from-the-headlines story chooses the wrong track to focus on, at least at first. That opening features some of the Miike we know, as middle school teacher Yabushita (Go Ayano) goes off on a highly xenophobic rant about mixed-race Japanese to Ritsuko Himuro (Ko Shibasaki), then proceeds to subject her son Takuto (Kira Miura) to such an extreme regiment of bullying it’s almost impossible to believe. Which is kind of the rub, as from what I can tell; screenwriters Hayashi Mori and Masumi Fukuda (who wrote a book about the case) fashion something like a Rashomon story and in Miike’s hands, it’s suitably gripping and well acted, but the actual case seems to be far more definitive then you would think. Although its tempting to compare it to Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Monster – what with the bullying and the split narratives that circle back – at its heart it’s much more similar to Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt. Had it just been a courtroom drama and a film about a wrongly accused teacher or even just about bullying, it could’ve been stellar. Unfortunately, despite the 2-hour runtime it never digs into the circumstances around the case, like the media frenzy (now there’s an interesting one, a film about an alleged bully being himself bullied by the media) or the histories of the parents, or even the Japanese school system. None of this might bother you in the moment while watching – except when questions arise that could be related to Japanese legal proceedings or the like. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a Lifetime/TV Movie – it’s a little too well constructed for that. If anything it’s proof that we’ve been sorely deprived of Miike’s true skill and range but still we get some stuff like a great title drop.
Tomorrow: I look for things to fill in my schedule.
With The Mastermind today, I’ve basically seen all of my most high profile choices (only Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent are left). So far haven’t really had much in the way of disappointment or misses barring Hamnet and Sirât so hopefully those come around sooner rather than later. Here on out it’s all new to me.
The Good Sister (Sarah Miro Fischer): C-
Inert MeToo drama that barely gets to what it even promises. I was intrigued by the idea of having to reckon with your own sibling committing an act of sexual violence, but there’s no indication that lead character Rose even understands why she’s being called to testify and barely seems to struggle with it at all. The movie itself struggles to provide any sort of drama or intrigue, merely gesturing to themes without really doing a whole lot beyond that. Couldn’t bring myself to work up all that much ire; more on the side of failure but not anything to really be bothered about.
Hysteria (Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay): B
Now here’s something with a thorny dilemma. Grabbed me from the starting premise, in which assistant director Elif – amidst an incident involving a burned Qu’ran on the set of a historical film – loses the keys to a producer’s apartment she’s staying at, and subsequently the tapes she was responsible for. Büyükatalay uses the burning as a jumping off point to ask questions about artistic integrity and representation, early on featuring a character noting how Europeans tend to make films about racism in their countries to absolve themselves. It’s self-aware enough to see that Elif has a lot less to lose than the extras accused of theft and while the two threads don’t always feel cohesive, they come together in a confrontation scene that gives a great jolt. Not quite sold on the ending but I appreciate the swings it takes without fully biting the hand.
The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt): A-
Talk about someone who knows how to end a film. I really have not kept up with Reichardt as I should, though given the rumblings about Showing Up I know she’s capable of being quite funny. Screen Unseen Attempt The Mastermind is indeed quite funny for much of its run time; the centerpiece art theft (calling it a “heist” feels like giving it too much credit) got a big laugh from me out of one line as did the prep and the aftermath. Reichardt’s editing is sublime, swift and lean, very pleasing on the jump cuts but lingering just as long as it should. Josh O’Connor remains magnetically watchable, enormously charismatic in the beginning but still with that deep well of sadness that only grows as his competence and arrogance dims. Like his performance in La Chimera (a movie I must revisit), he’s skilled at revealing the depths of a silence and simply staring. The political thread running throughout the background is part of what makes the ending so good, and I really dug the jazzy score from Rob Mazurek. I perhaps blanked out only a couple times (late in the day and all) and I do wish Alana Haim was afforded more to work with. As funny as it all is, it never loses sight of the depths of O’Connor’s failures as a father, a husband, and all around person.
Resurrection (Bi Gan): B+
Must a film be coherent, thematically or narratively? Is it not enough to watch 6 discrete, lusciously filmed mini-movies about the senses as well as Chinese cinema history? Yes, actually. It’s been almost a decade since I’ve seen Long Day’s Journey Into Night and this is definitely a film from the director behind that. The whole thread about “deliriants” and “other ones” and “dreaming” barely felt like a thread, to be honest, or even a frame story. Not that I particularly minded as somewhere within the second story I started treating it more like an anthology of metaphor and just kind of rocked with the mini stories happening. Occasionally dull and not all that emotionally involving, but every so often Gan provides the razzle and dazzle, and that can be enough for the vibes.
Tomorrow: Some under-the-radar picks, and I check in with what Takeshi Miike is doing.
Only got two today, as I didn’t want to see Jay Kelly and none of the ones at the top looked particularly interesting. Feel like I might be seeing less this year than last but I’m sure it’ll pick up over this next weekend, and is probably just as well. That being said, had at least one unexpected triumph.
My Father’s Shadow(Akinola Davies Jr): A
Only knew it was Un Certain Regard and some passing Cannes reviews, was completely unprepared for the near experimental track it takes in the opening with its collage of film and thunderous soundtrack. Davies Jr’s debut (writing with his brother Wale) is less Bicycle Thieves (though one could easily draw that comparison what with the father searching for money) and more Aftersun, but with a stronger political bent. I was a little concerned it could be too ominous on the soundtrack; African history is not my strongest but given that it’s set on the eve of an election you can do the math. And when it does come it’s properly devastating, but more important is that you forget something bad is going to happen for a large period as you hang with this family through Lagos. Godwin Egbo and Chibuike Marvellous Egbo are truly marvelous finds even if they weren’t actual brothers, striking the perfect balance between inquisitive carefree kids and watchful youths sensing that something is troubling their father. As that father, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (unfamiliar to me, but it appears he’s big in the UK) projects warmth and good nature, immensely charismatic but – like Paul Mescal – able to thread a discomfort without it overwhelming. The 16mm haze is absolutely beautiful and the score from CJ Mirra and Tuval Anthony is simply wonderful. Hard to believe this is a debut, so assured and graceful. It’s one of those films that reminds me why I come to festivals.
Redux Redux. Credit: XYZ Films
Redux Redux(Andrew and Kevin McManus): C
Too many good films in a row, only inevitable I find something lackluster. I was already a little wary of it just from the concept of “woman travelling parallel universes to enact vengeance on the man who killed her daughter” because of the fash potential, and despite the guide noting Terminator I was unprepared for it to be mostly about her doing it with one of his victims she manages to rescue by accident. Bits of it could form a reasonably compelling movie – the one about multiversal smugglers is neat worldbuilding – but I got off on the wrong foot the minute Mia started talking; she’s written way too “clever”, sounding like some melange of old tough broads while also being quite blasé for someone who almost got serial murdered. There’s a similar lack of care throughout some of the other details, not enough to be bothersome so much as make you ask questions. Perhaps most symptomatic is a blaring score that’s almost constant throughout the movie. I won’t say the most interesting thing that happened was someone throwing up in the theater although if that didn’t happen, I can’t say I really would’ve remembered much about it in the end.
Tomorrow: Checking back in with Josh O’Connor and a long ass Chinese film.
Today was pretty much the rest of my most anticipated. I’ll be seeing The Mastermind and Sentimental Value later in the festival, so after that it’s things I’m either taking a chance on or haven’t had much interest to begin with, which can sometimes feature surprises in itself. Of course, there’s always a chance that some of the other popular showings could have late screenings but given the way distributors have been acting this year, I’m not holding my breath. Pretty much all of the ones below I anticipated giving high scores, a couple can be more acquired tastes.
Sound Of Falling: A-
In which you simply must surrender yourself to some absolutely beautiful shots. I’ll be honest, a few of the timelines weren’t exactly clear to me and it’s perhaps a bit too elliptical; the unifying theme appears to be death and its seductive pull between 4 generations of women. Recurring bits like each of them remarking on something being “warm”, the buzzing of flies, and gazes into the camera provide some form of linkage but it really is one you just kind of vibe with or you don’t. Mascha Schilinski was the co-winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes this year (third place basically) for her second feature, the first German woman since Maren Ade to be in Competition. Very easy to see why, and it’s just as easy to imagine it taking a deeper hold in my mind or simply evaporating away like so many memories and traumas.
No Other Choice. Credit: NEON
No Other Choice: A-
I expected the score on that one to be higher and it very well could rise. That was almost certainly because as someone who’s been unemployed for almost a year now, I was expecting this to hit like a truck. While it didn’t quite do that, it is highly relatable and in some way reassuring to see that job hunting remains the same basically everywhere in the world (there’s no one to talk to, no way in). Park layers on the comedy much more than usual, almost teasing us with the prospect of our main character going on a killing spree in order to make himself the most viable candidate. And when it does come, it’s both satisfying and sad as you’d expect, sympathies going up and down. It’s less of a movie about class rage than inevitability, where everyone’s insistence that they have no control in the matter is really just a means of avoiding discomfort or humiliation. As bleak as it may seem, it’s still incredibly entertaining and stylish as the Park Chan-Wook we know and love (all the match cuts, dissolves, transitions etc), with a little less of the emotional gutpunching but more of the bloody laughter.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Credit: A24
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You: A
Easily the most stressful experience I’ve had at this festival and I mean it entirely positively. Mary Bronstein’s second film (hadn’t heard of her until this was announced at Berlin, because Yeast came out when I was a child) feels incredibly personal as so many portraits of motherhood do, but bracingly there’s seemingly zero upsides. Rose Byrne deservingly won the Silver Bear for Best Lead Performance, portraying a woman overwhelmed and under the influence, only just holding herself back from going completely apeshit. And she would be entirely justified: on top of her job as a therapist, she’s got a child with a feeding tube who isn’t hitting her weight goals to the constant judgement of her doctor (Bronstein), a husband overseas who could not be less helpful, her own therapist (a very welcome Conan O’Brien) who’s becoming more and more antagonistic, and a giant hole in the ceiling of her apartment. Bronstein’s husband Ronald is a frequent collaborator of the Safdies – with Josh on board as a producer – and that’s absolutely felt in the sound design and occasional mystical glimpses into jewel-like tunnels. Those parts don’t feel as connected thematically but if anything, they offer a small reprieve from the absolutely demonic screeching of the child, who’s unnamed and unseen except for the broadest of outlines. A$AP Rocky drops by as well for another excellent supporting turn after Highest 2 Lowest, as the manager of the hotel Linda’s forced to relocate to and proving to be something of her only actual friend, even if she can’t seem to recognize it. For me, If I Had Legs was first and foremost about the visceral experience, and it can absolutely be overwhelming. Byrne holds it all together magnificently – as she’s done in basically everything she’s ever been in. This is a frequently funny movie on top of being creepy, and her skill alone should be seen in the way she screams “giant FUCKING HOLE!!!” over the phone before calmly approaching a pharmacy counter. Lots of movies have shown “bad” women and mothers, there’s vanishingly few that have been willing to ask if someone should even be one in the first place.
Frankenstein. Credit: Netflix
Frankenstein: B+
Exactly what you’d expect from “Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein” and luckily for me, that’s all positive. I couldn’t tell you if it’s a completely one-to-one from the book since – like everyone else – my knowledge comes from cultural osmosis and general summaries. What I can say is that it’s handsomely crafted, fully Crimson Peak mode with the graphic gore to match (though without being too excessive). Oscar Isaac is very sexy on top of delivering a good performance, and Jacob Elordi holds his own rather well, even when he’s just being tall as hell. All the usual themes of man playing God, nature vs. nurture, etc. are there and I don’t know that it really adds all that much to centuries of analysis. There is, however, a lot of queerness both in the bodies depicted and in the Monster Of It All, which may also be in the book. Del Toro’s big gooey heart comes in at the ending and it fits in perfectly. I had a pretty good time, and it’s solid craft all around. This being a Netflix joint I can’t tell if the cinematography is a little washed because of them or something else, but it doesn’t at least look especially flat to me. I’m kinda glad we got a guy making freaky goopy gothic flicks, you can tell he loves it all.
Tomorrow: Bit of a lighter day but we’ll see if we can’t squeeze a few more in.
Get this. Get this!!! Directors who are known for being good… make good films.
Arco. Credit: NEON
Haven’t yet had a 5 film day, which is probably for the best in terms of focus and energy. I had debated going to Sirât – of which I’ve heard many a good thing – but ultimately decided to wait until its official release. It’s one of the 6+ movies NEON acquired this year at Cannes in their quest to snag the Palme again (successfully, as you’ll see in a bit), a move I still consider rather gauche. They also released one of the ones below, which I totally forgot about until the bumper rolled. Not that it particularly means much of anything, but it is helpful in planning to know if something has any chance of actually coming out in the near future versus imminently, so I’ll probably know in a couple weeks whether I should’ve kicked myself for missing it an Hamnet. Anyways, a pretty good day yesterday!
Arco: A-
Clearly inspired by Ghibli – specifically, Miyazaki – in ways that got my hackles up within the opening minutes; not helpful was the dub NEON insisted on sending us, since this is a French production, and while it’s not bad it still has some of the stiffness I associate with Netflix dubs (this is also a Netflix France co-production). As you can guess by the score, it won me over gradually, first off by the quality of the animation itself – there’s some Hosada and Yuuasa in there, as well as a melange of numerous other works that still feels coherent as a whole – which captures the typical framerate anime tends to use, along with the propensity to have static backgrounds or shots with no motion. The plot’s a little extended by the end but its simplicity helps it enormously. I won’t lie and say I got a little teary eyed at the end; whether it earns it fairly or not is another question, especially with one late minute twist very similar to a movie from 10 years ago. Even if it doesn’t have much deep to say, I still appreciated it on a visual level; there’s some truly beautiful scenes, and it works to make you really care about the characters. Still feel a little robbed not getting Swann Arulaud but the cast does a good enough job, and I hope this sort of Franco-Japanese blending becomes more common.
Urchin. Credit: BBC Films
Urchin: B
I don’t want to start every review off making comparisons to other films or remarking on familiarity but sometimes that’s the only thing that’ll do. Which is to say, Harris Dickinson’s debut feels very similar to Mike Leigh (eg Naked) and the Safdies’ with its portrait of a fuckup out of prison trying to keep himself off the streets. Frank Dillane – most famous for being in Harry Potter after I stopped watching those – generates sympathy for his homeless addict character, coming off as somewhat pleasant and funny when he’s not trapped in a downward spiral. He doesn’t quite have the depth of character and neither does the film really; Dickinson (who also appears in a minor role as a fellow straggler) does show promise behind the camera, with a number of abstract and surreal sequences, and a pretty good visual eye. Promising, wouldn’t say he should quit his day job quite yet.
It Was Just An Accident. Credit: NEON
It Was Just An Accident: A
The film Panahi has been working towards for more than a decade, not that he really had much of a choice. I didn’t get a chance to catch the features he made on house arrest (saw part of This Is Not A Film, have a library copy of No Bears waiting for me) and my only other reference is Offside so I couldn’t say whether the mostly static camera is due to this one also being shot mostly in secret. What I can say is that it’s a deserving Palme winner, a knotty moral dilemma about the Regime as Iranian film tends towards without making any of its characters explicit mouthpieces for one side as they try to determine if they’ve found their prison torturer, who’s voice they’ve only heard. All of them have been through hell – some more traumatized than others – but none of them seem to know what kind of justice they want. Lest you think its a grim drudge, Panahi laces in frequent comedic moments revolving around how hard it is to enact revenge, as well as how transactional relationships have become; one of the funniest moments there involves a security guard pulling out a credit card terminal for a bribe. It leads to a stomach-churning climax, followed by what might be the best ending of the year. France has submitted it for Best International Feature, due to being a coproduction and because it’s most certainly banned in Iran. Even if he doesn’t win, it’s a triumph for a director who’s fought to make the films he wants under the most oppressing circumstances.
Bugonia. Credit: Focus Features
Bugonia: A-
Lanthimos continues to expand the possibilities of scaring the hoes, albeit in a way that still feels like it takes place in our world. Knew it was an adaptation of the Korean film Save The Green Planet! (original director Jang Joon-hwan was supposed to direct this one but had to drop out, staying on as exec producer) but hadn’t seen that, and judging from at least one of my friends as well as the introduction, it’s probably best that I went in knowing only it’s about a guy who kidnaps a CEO, believing her to be an alien destroying the world. I can imagine the 2003 version being much lighter even with the standard tonal shifts; as scripted by Will Tracy, it’s an angrier film than you might expect. Of course, being a Lanthimos joint it’s frequently hilarious in rather fucked up ways, particularly Emma Stone’s initially calm reactions to her predicaments. Jesse Plemmons continues to prove a perfect addition to the stable, deadpan and almost rational sounding before the cracks start appearing. Bugonia nods to the confused ideological soup a lot of Americans have fallen into both with Internet radicalization and the general feeling of a chaotic world; one could explain why Plemmons’ Teddy Gatz is Like This, but they inevitably feel like mere justifications or excuses. Newcomer Aidan Delbis plays off the two well as Teddy’s cousin, and as CEO Michelle Fuller, Stone gives one of her best performances. I don’t know if it was the sound mixing or just the Film Center theater but one of my biggest reservations is the score, too often blaring and bombastic, doing too much. The ending also gives me a bit of pause; while admirable in its audacity it sort of throws a wrench into ultimate thematic meaning. Despite that, it’s extremely gripping and entertaining, the kind of button-pushing that feels resonant while also pondering where exactly things failed.
Tomorrow: A straight block of heavy hitters featuring highlights from the Big Three Fests, and I see about getting into Frankenstein
Life of the Mind 