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! 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

As Vision said to Wanda, "But what is grief, if not love persevering?" 

This sentiment held true in this Ryan Coogler helmed epic sequel where the grief and mourning of Chadwick Boseman and King T'Challa hung over the whole 161 minutes, and at times threatening to overpower and drown the narrative. 

The plot itself was potentially so rich but an over-reliance on the meditation of grief and how it affects people differently can only work if this was not a typical MCU tentpole where there was no necessity to shoehorn MCU continuity (why did we really need Martin Freeman's and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss' characters?), the mandatory CGI battles, a backdoor pilot for Ironheart, introduce a whole new superpowered culture/people and also a homage to Boseman. 

Too many subplots led to a messy, unevenly paced show that genuinely needed that whole bloated 2.5 hours + to fit everything in, but in so doing, it lost the originality and freshness of the first film that was unbeholden to all these (dead)weight. 

The prologue and the opening sequence set a high bar for the film. A succinct moment of storytelling that involved more showing than telling, but the film just gradually slipped lower and lower from there. 

Similarly, the first action sequence was stellar. Engaging, intriguing and thrilling. But everything else after was rote and anaemic. Except for perhaps the hand-on-hand combat between Danai Gurira's Okoye and the enemy, there were no memorable action sequences. The beautiful grace of the Dora Milaje was unfortunately neutered, and the big climatic final act fight was a boring, flat CGI "spectacle" that lacked urgency or immediacy. 

Even the inevitable fight between our titular Black Panther and Namor was uninspiring.

Speaking of Namor, here we had an antihero, like Killmonger from the first film, who was an antagonist that was grounded in a tangible ideology. But unlike Michael B Jordan, Tenoch Huerta was never given the opportunity to develop his character. There was an attempt to give Namor some complexity in the second act, but it was too rushed and superficial, and by the third act, it seemed all had been forgotten. Similarly, the whole Talokan storyline was shortchanged with their entire introduction rushed through in an expository flashback and a muddled underwater introduction that somehow lacked the wonderment when we first glimpsed the Afro-futuristic Wakanda.

Further, in this film we had two tribes of colour - Indigenous and Black - pitted against each other, indirectly by white colonisers, and Coogler barely mined the complexity of this situation. Instead we spent time being introduced to Riri Williams, which as cool as she was and as well-intentioned the actress Dominique Thorne was, was essentially a superfluous character that lost her individuality once we hit the second act. Her presence only seemed to introduce to the audience Ironheart.

As the new lead, Letitia Wright has a lot on her shoulders and to anchor the film. However, as good an actress as Wright is, she lacked the screen presence to anchor an MCU film. Coogler et al also did her no favour with a character that was annoyingly one note and repetitive for the first two act and was rushed through a character evolution in the third act and the final moments that was unearned and jarring. And Wright just could not do much with what she was given, her grieve for her brother was repetitive and lacked nuance. Yes, we get it! She is angry that she could not save her brother. But is there more depth to that anger? Unfortunately, we never got to explore that because we had to go save Williams, and then go underwater to check out Talokan, and then save Wakanda. Everything that could have been mined was waved off with a title card that said "one year later". All in service to the MCU-mandated story.

On the other hand, we had the gloriously fierce and magnetic Angela Bassett who may the only one who deserve any sort of award recognition, an equally fierce and unexpectedly emotional Gurira, and the luminescent Lupita Nyong'o who was possibly the emotional centre of the whole film with her quiet strength and private grieving. These three women were the MVPs of the film and their screen time together were the best parts of the film. That singular scene between Bassett and Gurira was one of the most powerful scenes Coogler had done. Beautifully intense and achingly honest, these two actresses just owed it. However, one great scene was not enough to salvage this film.

And, what a waste of Michaela Coel. Absolute disgrace. 

That brings us to the technical aspect of the first film. The music by Ludwig Göransson was excellent and gorgeously mixed in afro beats with latin influences. And again, Ruth E. Carter's costumes were on point, though more for the Wakandans than the Talokans. Also, Hannah Beachler's production design was astounding and rich, although there were scenes that did looked fat and artificial. Nonetheless, these three artists are likely to repeat their Oscar nominations. Don't count out Rihanna too for an Original Song nomination too for a song that worked well in context, better than as a stand-alone single.

However, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw's lensing was perhaps not the best for the film. Maybe it was my theatre, but most of the film felt underlit and the underwater world of Talokan appeared muddled and uninspired. Which was such a shame.

Coogler tried to do too much with this film. Undoubtedly, Kevin Feige was to blame too. The three acts of the film should have been expanded to trilogy or even a miniseries, the first part dealing with grief, the second part as an introduction to Talokan, and the third part as the clash between the two cultures. These three storylines ought to be separated to allow them to breathe, but instead we ended up with a messy mash-up that did no one any service (except Feige's pockets).

Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심)

Park Chan-wook's latest is best described as an erotic, noir-tinged crime thriller that lacked sex. Essentially mostly a two-hander between a gloriously enigmatic and magnetic Tang Wei and handsomely dignified yet befuddled Park Hae-il, Park is back with another deep dive into the minds and psyches of seemingly simple yet utterly complex characters but all presented.  

Co-written by Park, Decision to Leave, won him the Best Director at this year's Cannes and it was not hard to see why as this film was filled with extraordinary details - the detailed production design, and the immaculate costume and makeup, especially of Tang and Park's signature directorial flourishes - fancy editing, overhead god-views, unreliable narrators, flashbacks, dolly zooms, etc. In essence, a feast for the eye and the mind. 

This film, though ostensibly a crime thriller, was less of a whodunit or a why-dunit, but an intimate exploration into the minds of two lonely individuals and the complications of their somewhat-forbidden relationship. Park's camera lingered on their body (language) as the spoken word became less important than what was not being said. In particular, Tang's foreign-ness - Chinese in Korea - not only presented an additional air of mystery surrounding her character but allowed her enigma to become a character unto itself. 

However, before you know it, Park swerved hard left and the third act was almost another story. The slow burn of the first two acts quickly cascaded into a crashing denouement, and suddenly emotions were gushing forth and consequences were befalling. Yet, this third act never seemed rushed. It may have been unexpected (although on hindsight, much foreshadowing had been made), but it did not seemed out of place. 

And in the end, the conclusion was as emotionally powerful as it was enigmatic. A fitting end to a story that traded on the simple resonance of complex emotions.