Avatar: The Way of Water [IMAX 3D]

James Cameron has gone and done it again!! That was an absolute, mind-blowing, utterly immersive,  cinematic experience like no other. It was exactly how I felt when I first watched Avatar the first time. This was what IMAX 3D is made for! There is totally no other way that this film should be enjoyed: on the big screen, in 3D. IMAX will really show off the scope and the scenes filmed in 48fps. 

Cameron has just propelled himself to the front of the Best Director race. This film is also now, without a doubt, a Best Picture nominee. Even if there were only five nominees, instead of ten, this would be in the race. It also has served notice to Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick as the number one popcorn blockbuster for 2022.

Seriously, Namor and Talocan has nothing - absolutely nothing! - on the Metakayina and Pandora! The visual effects team are a shoo-in for the Oscar. Simply stunning and groundbreaking and mesmerising. All divers will totally get it. The underwater world has never been defined, enhanced, souped-up as realistic as this. The ocean battle was nail-bitingly epic!

As for the story itself, to be honest, we were not really here for that. There was nothing special or groundbreaking about the plot. Every single plot point and "twist" was telegraphed and predictable. But yet, Cameron still managed to have us by the leash as we followed through the simple - really basic - storyline for 3 whole hours. Why? Because the world that he has created was simply amazing and he just immersed us fully into this hyper-realistic, alien world that is being threatened by evil humans (read: White Capitalists)

And boy, these humans are vile and disgusting!

In a clearly demarcated case of good vs evil, it was easy for the audience to root for the Na'vi, but simply just that could be a bit too boring, so Cameron et al wove in some mystic elements, familial drama, internal conflicts, a bit of love and romance, and of course eco-conservatism. 

As for the acting, the performance capture was flawless but only Zoe Saldaña stood out. Sigourney Weaver was a tad distracting and Kate Winslet did not get much to do. Sam Worthington's character had less of an arc this time round, and Stephen Lang chewed his scenes up! The young stars, as the next generation, were really front and center, and they could have had a bit too much teenage angst. 

Then again, nothing could have overshadowed the visual effects and directing.

Undoubtedly, Avatar: TWOW will also scoop up almost every single technical Oscar nomination: Sound (Editing and Mixing) was incredible; Production Design was unbelievable; Editing was essential in the storytelling; Score was by Simon Franglen and it really befitted the film; and Cinematography by Russell Carpenter was just gorgeous and sublime!

Also, please give it up to the fantastic stunt team!! The underrated and undersung heroes of this film (and many others!!)

Avatar: TWOW has done - again - for cinema what Avatar did. It broke cinematic and technical barriers and reset the bar to a higher level.

I think I might just go watch it again! In IMAX 3D!

Bones and All

Through its meandering, and unnecessarily long 130 minutes run time, there were flashes of Romantic poetry and European/Italian romance, but those cinematic beauty were lost amidst a story that tried to do -and tell - too much. 

At its core, Luca Guadagnino's latest Silver Lion-winning film was a teenage love story with a cannibalistic horror bend, and yet he and screenwriter David Kajganich had to squeeze in elements of a horror comedy,  road trip buddy movie, coming-of-age story, all the while whilst trying to build up an urban fantasy myth and backstory. And lest not we forget the familiar strains of family drama and psychological crime thriller. Cutting out three or four of these strands and focusing on a simpler story would have made this film so much stronger.

This thread of young love was previously last explored by Guadagnino in his awards-winning Call Me By Your Name and the subliminally underrated series We Are Who We Are. So we know he has the chops to tenderly navigate the emotionally choppy waters of first/young love. 

And again, he had two great stars - Taylor Russell was charismatic and magnetic and definitely an actress to keep an eye out on, and Chalamet has already proven his chops (although to be honest, he has yet to really establish himself as an actor-actor). But where Guadagnino failed in this case was that firstly, their chemistry was fluctuating and at times absent; secondly, Guadagnino obviously favoured Chalamet who, perhaps unfairly and unconsciously, outshone Russell in a film that was ostensibly her story; and lastly, just not enough time was spent exploring their relationship to each other.

Hey, but at least we had Mark Rylance who dialled the creep-o-meter up to 12 and a creepily fascinating Michael Stuhlbarg in an entirely unnecessary scene of lore building that had no genuine pay off. And of course an almost unrecognisable Chloe Sevigny in an extended cameo as she waits for her next big thing.

The score was by Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose, and for once I struggle to remember any significant/memorable moment from it; cinematography was by Arseni Khachaturan and there were some beautiful lit scenes especially those in the golden/blue hours.

Bones and All will get some indie-awards love, but it will be a long shot for any Oscar glory. I would rather watch all 8 hours of We Are Who We Are again. 

Aftersun

A fantastic film! Easily one of the best films of the year!

Intelligently written and confidently directed by first-time filmmaker Charlotte Wells. Aftersun was an gently told but profoundly affecting story told in the fragmentary kaleidoscopic-like of memory recollection. The last 5-10 minutes were a tour de force of experiential storytelling, packing an emotional wallop without the sledgehammer and drama. Tears were freely wept.

The lean 109 minutes film was a visual and visceral experience of walking through one's mind palace through the fog and haziness of years. Wells had successfully captured through an unique cinematic language, the pain of memory and trying to capture what was lost and whether it had ever been found/had. The film continued to haunt long after the screen had faded to black and the credits rolled and as we ourselves searched our memory for what we had already seen to try to answer the myriad questions that creep in and permeate our thoughts. 

It forced us to question not just the film but also our own life experiences. Truly a formidable storytelling by Wells!

However, Wells storytelling only could have worked with the cast that she had. Newcomer Frankie Corio anchored the film as we wandered through her memories - specifically a summer holiday she shared with her father in Turkey in the early 90s. Corio was luminescent and effervescent and disarmingly charming, and her chemistry with Paul Mescal - as her father - was realistically natural.

Mescal was astounding! A finely tuned, nuanced performance that showed formidable range and depth. The darkness in him only became apparent as the film reached its final third and at the end, as we reconciled what we had just witnessed with the man we first saw in the beginning. 

Of course, this film was not without its fault and the most glaring issues were Wells' tendency to occasionally to squeeze as much directorial debut tropes as possible, and also the unsubtle use of foreshadowing and musical cues.

That said, the music by Oliver Coates were on point, but it was the cinematography Gregory Oke that really stood out as his camera weaved in and out, unobtrusively into our protagonists' private spaces.

Aftersun absolutely deserved all its accolades! But come Oscar time, it may eventually end up being too small. Although with Barry Jenkin as one of its producers, it may very well have momentum and stage some well-deserved upsets in Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Picture!

This is one film that I cannot wait to watch again! 

 

The Menu

From producer Adam McKay who brought us the multi Oscar-nominated satirical comedies The Big Short (skewering the financial/banking sector), Vice (skewering politics and Dick Cheney) and Don't Look Up (skewering climate change), we get this bleakly dark comedic satirical thriller skewering fine dining and foodie culture. 

The Menu, directed by Mark Mylod and written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, may not be as well executed as those aforementioned films (mostly written and/or directed by McKay), but boy was it immensely fun. At a sleek 106 minutes long, this film relentlessly poked fun at not only the foodies and fanboys, but also the chefs and the whole hospitality service industry. This was a non-stop laugh fest as the scathing absurdism of the satire was unfortunately all too familiar and recognisable. 

However, the key ingredient (hah!) to this film's success was how expertly Mylod et al delivered the expectantly unexpected turns in the story. How the film was going to end was never really in doubt, but how it was eventually going to get there was a delightful cat-and-mouse game of guessing and giving yourself up to just go with the storytelling. 

But, this film would not have worked as well as it did without its tremendous cast! Ralph Fiennes was fiendishly good. He would have made Gordon Ramsay peed in his pants!! By gosh, he was terrifying and yet oddly empathetic. And the other scene stealer was Hong Chau. She has been doing so much fantastic good work since she broke out on Downsizing and Homecoming. 

Of course most people would come to see Anya Taylor-Joy and she really did well here. Reminding us of her haunting debut in The Witch and excellent performance in The Queen's Gambit which seemed to have been suppressed by the Hollywood factory recently. And Nicholas Hoult was hilarious in an unexpectedly darkly comedic role. 

Judith Light and Janet McTeer should have more screen time and things to do. Actually they should have been paired together. That would have been dynamic!

Following the success of Knives Out (and seemingly Glass Onion), smartly written whodunnits or whydoits are excitingly coming back to the big screen!

Without the behind-the-camera pedigree, the on-screen Oscar A-listers and a subject matter that may be alienating, it will be hard for this film to really enter the award conversation, much less the race. Although I do see chances for it in Best Original Screenplay and a long shot for Best Actor. Hong Chau might have a chance to use this film as a bolster to a possible campaign for The Whale. 

She Said

A fascinating, unapologetic deep dive into the investigative journalism of NYT reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey as they worked to bring to light the horrendous details of Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct. 

Based off a screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, director Maria Schrader offered a beautifully layered, touchingly cinematic retelling of a bombshell story that most would have already known the ending. The film was not exploitive and neither did it excessively or over-dramatically sensationalise the story, instead, Shrader et al deliberately humanised the story by offering insights into personal lives of the protagonists - Kantor and Twohey - and the less famous victims of Weinstein. And to that credit, the casting was phenomenal. 

Zoe Kazen was clearly the lead as Kantor and she carried the story with aplomb; and Carey Mulligan as Twohey, in a clearly supporting role, was as engaging and mesmerising as ever. Mulligan is definitely in the run for another Oscar nomination this year. However, both actresses were overshadowed by Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle. These two powerhouses played two lesser known victims - Zelda Perkins and Laura Madden - and their scenes were knocked out of the park. In particular, Morton, who only appeared in one scene which immediately after, one was left breathless and in awe, and with a keen realisation that that was why she was cast.

At just over two hours, many people may find it too long just because, in all honesty, this was a rather direct depiction of the drudgery of investigative journalism: chasing down leads, facing rejections, getting doors slammed at your face, etc. There was no over-glamourising of the profession or the hard work that Kantor and Twohey put in. Sure, there were some poetic licenses and magic wand waving for things to happen, but they never really distracted from the truth of the matter. These women worked hard to expose the systemic injustice that kept predators like Weinstein in position.

This story could only have been told from a woman's POV and it showed. The sensitivity in which Schrader et al handled the situations were never exploitive or sensationalise. The women's pain and suffering were upfront and center, they were honest and raw, they were painful yet ultimately hopeful.

The only misstep was the angle in which Ashley Judd was inserted into the movie: as the hero of the story. This film - and the Weinstein story itself - did not really need a hero. If anything, the heroes would have been Twohey and Kantor for chasing down the truth. But yet, they never did seem to accept or portrayed themselves in that role. And rightly so. 

Nicholas Britell's score was gorgeous and he is definitely one to watch out for. His Andor score has been sublime! Natasha Braier lensed the film, and those diner scenes between Kazan and Zach Grenier were sumptuous!

Mulligan is definitely a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination, and possibly a clear chance of winning now that Michelle Williams is out of the running. The film might have a shot for one of the ten Best Picture nods and also possibly Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Oscar season has definitely begun!