Servants (2020)

Ivan Ostrochovský's Služobníci (Servants) is a gorgeously shot film about Catholic schoolboys resisting totalitarianism in 1980s Czechoslovakia. I don't know if it's because I (incorrectly) thought this was going to be a gay story, or because I really do not care about religious convictions, but I was bored. Sure, Ostrochovský's film is clearly inspired by the gorgeous spareness of Paweł Pawlikowski's Ida, and of course I adored that movie, but this film is all beautiful pictures without anything really to say. Central to this muddle is Servants' focus on the Communist operative who is killing the young men who are in the right, here. Why should the film focus on this character so much, examining his inner life? (He is played by Romanian film star Vlad Ivanov, and I'm glad they got such a great actor for this role, but... he's playing a terrible person, and the film isn't actually about him. This whole business is a confused mess. 

Servants was released in the U.S. in February of 2022, and it's currently playing on MUBI.

Oscar Nominations 2019: Part 3 of 11

Part 1: Roma, The Favourite, Vice, A Star Is Born.
Part 2: Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Part 3:

Mary Poppins Returns

4 Nominations

• Production Design: John Myhre (Nine, Dreamgirls, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago, Elizabeth) & Gordon Sim (Nine, Chicago)
  
• Costume Design: Sandy Powell (The Favourite, Cinderella, Carol, Hugo, The Tempest, The Young Victoria, Mrs Henderson Presents, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Shakespeare in Love, Velvet Goldmine, The Wings of the Dove, Orlando)
• Score: Marc Shaiman (South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, Patch Adams, The First Wives Club, The American President, Sleepless in Seattle)
  
• Song - "The Place Where Lost Things Go": Marc Shaiman (South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, Patch Adams, The First Wives Club, The American President, Sleepless in Seattle) & Scott Wittman
  

Director: Rob Marshall

Cast: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Jeremy Swift, David Warner

This is a charming little film. It does feel just a tad off – Emily Blunt is cute, but she doesn't quite feel like Mary Poppins. She isn't, after all, Julie Andrews. How could she be? Mary Poppins Returns is less stagey than his other films. I found that to be quite appealing. I find myself so frustrated with the sound-stage look of most of his films, and so I was delighted that this movie was underneath the lovely London sky, so to speak. But then... the biggest musical number in the movie is, of course, on a sound stage. I really cannot understand why Marshall does this. You're making a movie, sir. Go outside for Heaven's sake. Still, I was delighted that Marshall actually cast two theatre actors in his film. It's always nice when actors in Hollywood movies can actually sing. Emily Blunt doesn't have a great voice (again, she's not Dame Julie), but her voice is pretty when she uses her full voice and lets go of breathy sound. Speaking of Blunt, she just missed a best actress nomination here, and I think it speaks volume for the imagination of the Academy here that she did. Blunt was only ever going to be a also-ran kind of nominee. The Academy, in fact, consistently shows imagination and principle when voting for best actress nominees (except when it comes to Meryl Streep), and they deserve credit for that. I think this movie will win score, since Justin Hurwitz's gorgeous First Man score somehow got snubbed. And it will deserve it. Marc Shaiman's score is lovely, and the songs are mostly lovely, and this movie was pretty damn cute.
Will Win: Score

Could Win: Song

My Rating: #31 out of 66

First Man

4 Nominations

• Production Design: Nathan Crowley (Dunkirk, Interstellar, The Dark Knight, The Prestige) & Kathy Lucas
  
• Sound Mixing
• Sound Editing
• Visual Effects

Director: Damien Chazelle

Cast: Ryan Gosling,Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Corey Stoll, Ciarán Hinds, Pablo Schreiber, Shea Wigham, Lukas Haas, Ethan Embry, Olivia Hamilton, Brian d'Arcy James, Cory Michael Smith

This movie was not for me, despite Ryan Gosling's brilliant performance at this film's center. I wrote a lot about what I liked and didn't like and why I didn't think it worked, so I won't rehash that here. What I want to say about these nominations is that Justin Hurwitz's score for First Man was literally the best thing about the film, and the fact that the music branch did not nominate him is actually crazy. To have nominated Alexandre Desplat (last year's winner and now 10-time nominee) is just insanely conservative. I do not understand. The music branch tried some new things this year with its nomination process – they always seem to be doing that – and that is fine, but they need to figure out a way to become less insular. The music branch is small, and they seem to nominate the same people over and over. It's very frustrating. Hurwitz's work this year was superb. I will complain more about the music branch when we get to The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, I'm sure, so I'll stop now, but I've listen to the score for First Man more than any other score this year, and I can't imagine anyone sitting down to listen to the Isle of Dogs score more than a couple of times.

Will Win: Visual Effects
Could Win: N/A
My Rating: #43 out of 66

Zimna Wojna (Cold War)

3 Nominations

• Director: Paweł Pawlikowski
• Cinematography: Łukasz Żal (Ida)
  
• Foreign Language Picture: Poland (Ida, In Darkness, Katyń, Man of Iron, The Young Girls of Wilko, Nights Days, The Deluge, Promised Land, Pharaoh, Knife in the Water)

Director: Pawlikowski

Cast: Malek

For me, Cold War isn't quite as great as Ida, but I think this is mostly because of the subject matter and not because of the work the director is doing. Pawlikowski is obviously a superb filmmaker. This is an epic story, and it is told economically and beautifully. All of the actors are absolutely excellent, and Joanna Kulig probably should have been in the running for best actress. Yalitza Aparicio is great, but Kulig's performance in this is really searing. Pawlikowski's best director nomination was perhaps a surprise to some folks; it wasn't to me. The directing branch frequently does things right and selects excellent filmmakers from around the globe. Occasionally a stinker gets in, but usually they do things well. It's great to see Łukasz Żal here again too. His work is just so good. In short, the fact that this has 3 nominations speaks very highly of the Academy's choices this year. These are discerning, excellent nominations. I don't think Cold War can win any awards on Oscar night, but good for Pawlikowski. I can't wait to see what he'll make next.

Will Win: N/A

Could Win: Actor, Film Editing
My Rating: #28 out of 66

Cold War

Cold War is beautifully made, spare, exacting, and sad. But I didn't emotionally connect to the two main characters the way I wanted to, and this meant I didn't connect to the film quite as I would have liked to. In many ways, Cold War is a kind of melodrama about Poland under Stalin, but I'm not sure Cold War has much to say about the political situation. The acting is great, though. Both leads are fantastic. And the film's music is unforgettable.

Oscar Nominees 2015: Part 4 of 12

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.
Part 4 of 12:

Selma

2 Nominations

• Picture
• Original Song: Common & John Legend

Director: Ava DuVernay

Cast: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, André Holland, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Common, Wendell Pierce, Lorraine Toussaint, Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Roth, Stephen Root, Colman Domingo, Stephan James, Trai Byers, Oprah Winfrey

This is one of the best films of the year. It is my #10 for 2014. It's excellent; it's hard hitting. It is also – and this is quite an achievement – a film about the past that is also fundamentally a film about the present. DuVernay has made a film about the importance of the Voting Rights Act to USAmerican politics. This is hugely important – the Supreme Court, just two years ago, gutted the Voting Rights Act, declaring (is that the correct term? no.) cynically pretending, with its head firmly in the sand, that people of color are not systematically kept away from the polls in Southern states. DuVernay's film is superb, and anyone who has seen her previous work knows that she is only going to get better. There are more things that need to be said about Selma and Oscar, though. Here it is in the Best Picture category, but its director, lead actor, screenwriters, and costume designer didn't get nominated. Many people have cried foul, and I am inclined to join them. The Best Actor category was crowded: it almost always is, in fact. As for director... the Directors branch was clearly being foolish this year because nominating Morten Tyldum in this slot over Ava DuVernay was short-sighted and silly. The Imitation Game is an asinine piece of calculated feel-good Oscar machinery, and Selma is a hard-hitting historical exposé that speaks to our contemporary moment. But, you know, the Academy is mostly old white men (and their old, white wives). I will say, though, that Selma was way too late to the party. This film and others that were released on or after December 25 (A Most Violent Year, Cake, Still Alice) did not do well with the Academy. They need time to watch those screeners, and these films need time to build buzz. Selma's campaign was mismanaged. I blame racism for a lot of things, and racism was surely partially to blame for Selma's weak showing with Oscar. But this is also the fault of Selma's publicity team. This was a mismanaged campaign; do not mistake it.

Will Win: Song

Could Win: Picture

My Rating: #10 out of 76

Wild

2 Nominations

• Actress: Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)
• Supporting Actress: Laura Dern (Rambling Rose)

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

Cast: Witherspoon, Dern, Thomas Sadoski, W. Earl Brown, Keene McRae, Michiel Huisman

This movie was a surprise to me; I had no idea it was going to be as good as it turned out to be. It is an unimaginative nominee here, though. Witherspoon is hardly giving a notable performance here. It's a nice role and a smart movie, but not anything brilliant. Dern is brilliant here, and I was so happy to see her name on nomination morning that I actually cheered quite loudly in my apartment. She is the best thing about the movie, and my companion and I left the film praising Laura Dern and remembering all of the great work she has done over the years. Neither woman has a chance of winning on Oscar night, but I will be rooting for Laura Dern nonetheless.
Will Win: N/A

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: #27 out of 76

Inherent Vice

2 Nominations

• Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood)
• Costume Design: Mark Bridges (The Artist)

Director: Anderson

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston, Joanna Newsom, Owen Wilson, Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Jena Malone, Benicio Del Toro, Eric Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short

A stoner movie that is way, way more than a stoner movie. This is a film about how mass culture is sold to us and how – in the best tradition of socialist critique – everything is immanent to capitalism. It's also fun and trippy and has plenty of what-the-fuck moments. I found the script difficult, as well, but I loved it for its difficulty and its complexity, and I loved the difficult, conflicted characters at this film's center. I'm not going around recommending Inherent Vice, but I enjoyed it thoroughly, and the script is incredibly good; its nomination was well deserved.
Will Win: N/A

Could Win: N/A

My Rating: #34 out of 76

Ida

2 Nominations

• Cinematography: Ryszard Lenczewski & Łukasz Żal
• Foreign Language Picture: Poland (In Darkness, Katyń, Man of Iron, The Young Girls of Wilko, The Deluge, Promised Land, Pharaoh, Knife in the Water)

Director: Paweł Pawlikowski

Cast: Agata Trzebuchowska, Agata Kulesza, Dawid Ogrodnik, Adam Szyszkowski, Jerzy Trela, Halina Skoczyńska

Easily one of the best films of the year and currently available on Netflix Instant. This is a tight little gem of a film; it's short at 90 minutes, and it is cruel and cold and unsparing, as well as gorgeous and clear and always surprising. I cannot say enough good things about it. It's my number two movie for the year and when I saw it in the theatre I had to sit in my seat for a solid five minutes after the movie ended before I was able to talk to my friends or think about moving around. This is superb filmmaking. Oddly enough I don't think it is going to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar. We'll see. I haven't yet seen Leviathan, but it currently seems to have the buzz on its side. None of that matters, though, move Ida to the top of your Instant queue. It is shockingly good.
Will Win: N/A
Could Win: Foreign Language Picture
My Rating: #2 out of 76

Things I've Seen Recently (That You Might Wanna See)

I started watching Jon S. Baird's Filth thinking what have I gotten myself into? I couldn't really remember why I had moved Filth to the top of my queue, but there it was on top of my DVD player and so here I was watching it. (I probably queued it because of its star – James McAvoy – or because it had something to do with police corruption. I do love a good crime film.)

Anyway, Filth is a strange, surrealist kind of thing, around which I was having a bit of trouble wrapping my brain, until I remembered/realized that it was based on an Irvine Welsh novel. At this point I decided just to go with it. Filth is a surrealist satire of masculinity, policing, and (perhaps) Scotland more generally. It's about a man who is totally losing it, but sort of has no idea that he's anything other than the awesome specimen of masculinity he imagines himself to be. Baird's film, itself, keeps us in suspense about how much the main character understands about himself, or what he's up to. This works for a long while and is fascinating for most of the film's runtime.

The acting, too, is really great. Shirley Henderson in particular, is excellent, but the cast is very good all around, with lots of recognizable faces: McAvoy plus Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots (who was Zac Efron's love interest in the recent rom-com That Awkward Moment), Gary Lewis, Jim Broadbent. Filth really is filthy, too, and McAvoy is suitably distasteful in the role, but I wondered about how satirical the whole thing really is. Baird's screenplay and direction not only satirizes everything about Filth's protagonist, he also sort of can't help loving him. I think Filth would actually like it if its main character actually were everything he imagines himself to be. This is an odd tack for a satire to take, and it is something that, after a while, began to grate on me as the film continued. It's all good and well to demonstrate how distasteful masculinity of the sort on display in Filth is, but if you also secretly think this kind of masculinity is cool, you kind of lose me.

A film I can recommend completely without reservation, on the other hand is Paweł Pawlikowski's Ida. The film is in black and white and is the story of a Polish orphan who wishes to become a nun. Before she takes her vows the mother superior requires her to see her only living relative, an aunt who is also a hard-drinking, chainsmoking judge. Ida's aunt tells her that though she was raised by Catholics she was born Jewish. She begins to tell Ida about her family and what happened to her family during the genocide of European Jews during the Second World War.

This film is so good that I want to give nothing else away. Pawlikowski's film is only eighty minutes long, but packs an enormous emotional wallop. It's also beautifully, gorgeously shot, and superbly performed. Ida's aunt is played by Polish film star Agata Kulesza and it is one of my favorite performances of the year: by turns funny, pathetic, witty, and heartbreaking.

Ida has been selected as Poland's entry into the Foreign Language competition for the 2014 Academy Awards, and it seems to me like a shoo-in. It's on DVD already, so check it out and get a jump on this year's Oscars. This is one of the best films of the year.