The Son

What a tremendous fall for director/co-screenwriter Florian Zeller. From Best Picture and Best Director nominee (and Best Actor winning, for Anthony Hopkins) for “The Father”, to possibly one of the worst movie ever made about mental health illness. I feel so highly offended for all the people suffering from psychiatric disorders, and also their families and loved ones. 

This was a film that had no finesse and no nuance. Zeller (and co-screenwriter Christopher Hampton) told everything with a sledgehammer and bludgeoned it all bluntly into a deeply insulted audience. It grossly misunderstands what mental health illnesses are and gratuitously misused it for dramatic effects. 

At just over two hours long, it was tiresome by the time we reached the halfway mark. Nothing would have been lost if Zeller had edited himself better and trim the film by 20 to 30 minutes. In particular, that whole epilogue and the flashbacks served no purpose other than handholding an imbecilic audience. 

There honestly was a great story within this film. An exploration of inter-generational trauma, a meditation on a failed marriage and its associated harm, or even simply a story about moving on. Perhaps it worked better as a stage play and Zeller’s ideas translated better in its original French (and without Hollywood interference). 

Instead, we had this misguided Oscar bait. If not for the big named stars attached to this film, this could easily have passed off as a clichéd, melodramatic Hallmark/Lifetime movie. 

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern tried their best. Dern, in particular, had some good moments, but Jackman, clearly the leading role, was saddled with an abominable script, an unsympathetic and annoying character and was just so flat such that his big moments felt unearned and only triggered even more eye-rolling. 

Vanessa Kirby was honestly barely trying. Any one could have played her role. And poor Zen McGrath, as the troubled son, I hope his acting career recovers from this debacle. 

The only bright spark was a cameo by Hopkins. Those brief minutes showed why he is such a revered actor and why he won his Oscars. 

Zeller needs to go back to his roots. Trust his stories and his words as they were. Or if something new, stay away from (big) studio notes.   

Women Talking

Sometimes the most horrifying stories are based on real life and “Women Talking” was a truly horrific story powerfully acted by an ensemble of phenomenal female actors (and one lone man) and assuredly written and viscerally directed by Sarah Polley. 

This film was truly an ensemble piece and any of the women in the film were deserving of accolades that had unfortunate alluded them this award season. Rooney Mara was the closest to a leading role, and she exuded warmth, love, grace and compassion despite being in a horrendous position. However, the biggest showstoppers and scene stealers were Jessie Buckley and Claire Foy. They had the showiest roles as they negotiated the messy and uneasy roles their complicated characters inhabited. These two ladies should have been nominated for Oscars! Shout out also to Frances McDormand in a small, yet memorable role, and to Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy and Michelle McLeod. 

Also, kudos to Ben Wishaw, as the lone male actor, who was brilliant in a restrained and surprisingly layered role that stood out for its tenderness and vulnerability. 

This film was, as stated in its opening, an “act of female imagination”, and it could not have been adapted by a male writer or made by a male director. Polley’s adaptation was smartly written and her direction was intelligent and uncompromising but yet delicate and sincere. Polley presented the story much like a biblical parable - a touch of distance, matter of fact yet true, and with a moral lesson but not didactic or bludgeoningly obvious or saccharinely sincere. She did not shy away from the visceral horror of the truth but yet she did not dwell on them, instead focusing on the complicated emotional journey that such trauma carried. 

Polley should have been nominated for a DGA or an Oscar for directing, and sight unseen, Kazuo Ishiguro may be Polley’s biggest competitor for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. 

Luc Montpellier’s flattened and desaturated cinematography took a while to get used to, but it made sense as the film went on where we were shrouded in the same darkness these women were in - isolated, no electricity, uneducated and unsure. These women could be any woman, their features are not important, but their stories are. 

Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score was also hauntingly beautiful with its simplicity which then made the intrusion of modern music slightly jarring yet narratively effective. 

It is unlikely that “Women Talking” will win Best Picture. It is too small, too niche and obviously alienating to the typical Academy voter. But it was truly one of the best films of the year.  

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Jonathan Majors as a terrifyingly complex villain and Paul Rudd as the reliably funny, wise-cracking, unexpected hero could not save this mid-tier MCU entry. Phase 5 has sadly officially started not with a bang but with a soft yelp. In today’s parlance, this was more a soft launch than a grand entry. In totality, this was a “Star Wars”meet “Honey I Shrank the Kids” that lacked both the former’s drama, intrigue and pathos, and the latter’s humour and tenderness. It was a fun, entertaining 2 hours with some chuckles and scattered laughs, but at the end, it was hollow and did not really made me excited for the next instalment. That said, after “Loki” and this, I do want more Kang. 

The biggest problems that contributed to the emotional vacancy were the supporting characters and the overwhelming use (and reliance) on CGI. 

Without a good supporting cast to prop up and support our hero and villain, the story simply lacked an emotional core no matter how hard Rudd and Majors tried to make us care. And boy, Majors really chewed his scenes and exuded an enigmatic malevolence, and Rudd was a constant comedic presence as a almost-reluctant hero. 

On our hero side, Kathryn Newton as Rudd’s on screen daughter simply has no comedic chemistry with Rudd. She is a good actress but her comedy chops needs work, and with her having the most screen time with Rudd, their banter did not work which made their scenes rather trying to watch and the second act less urgent and weighted than it should be. 

Evangeline Lily, whether it was due to her personal views and opinions or not, was majorly sidelined considering The lWasp is in the title itself. As a result, their emotional payoff was vacant. 

But at least we had Michael Douglas - who stole the show - and Michelle Pfeiffer - acting her heart out - to provide the levity, wit, quips and love. 

Pfeiffer also had the best scenes with Majors. Though they may have been exposition heavy but, by golly, these two acted against each other so well. 

On our villain side, M.O.D.O.K was a hoot!! Deadpanned, absurdist humour that got the best laughs. However, at times it did seem out of sync with the rest of the film. Director Peyton Reed should either have leaned into that aspect for the whole film or used 

MODOK a little more sparingly. 

The whole movie was also practically one big CGI extravaganza with at least 90% filmed on a green screen (other than the cold open and epilogue). This distinct lack of real sets (yes, I know we are in the Quantum Realm) lent a sense of detachment, both emotional and realistically. It did not help that 

Marvel’s CGI quality seemed to be getting worse. This was definitely no “Avatar 2”. 

Nonetheless, kudos to the actors for acting in such conditions but director Peyton Reed, writer Jeff Loveness, and MCU head honcho Kevin Feige could have done better. A smaller story with more intimate story telling, without losing the grandeur and immensity of Kang’s plans, could have been done. 

Stay to the very end for both a Kang Dynasty (mid-credits) and a Disney+ series (post-credits) scene setters. 

Corsage

A fantastic, highly nuanced showcase for a magnetic Vicky Krieps as the complicated Empress Elizabeth, but in a film that could neither match or carry Krieps’, or Sisi’s, complexity and weightage. 

The emotional shallowness surrounding the character was as light as Sisi’s weight despite writer/director Marie Kreutzer’s similar obsessiveness to create inter-character conflicts. There were multiple interesting threads, Sisi and her children, Sisi and her husband, Sisi and her horse-riding “instructor”, Sisi and her cousin King Ludwig, but they all failed to be anything more than superficial lip service - an excuse for Kreutzer to film some beautiful scenes and string together vignettes of moments that supposedly should deepen Sisi’s characterisation but simply lacked substantial purposes. 

Perhaps the most meaningful relationship was between Sisi and her lady-in-waiting Countess Marie Festetics, and that relationship would have been so much interesting if, like most of the film, Kreutzer had fictionalised more of it. 

That said, as the protagonist we were still deeply empathetic towards Sisi as she struggled to find a way to fulfil her feministic desires and ideals in a misogynistic society but the narrative failed to provide a reason for us to root for her. And Krieps was really selling it giving us a full tour of Sisi’s interiority and, if there was any justice, she would have deserved an Andrea Riseborough-esque grassroot Oscar campaign!

White Noise

The best and most unbridledly joyful entertaining moment in Noah Baumbach’s big budget Netflix absurdist dramedy was the closing credits with the whole cast dancing to LCD Soundsystem’s “New Body Rhumba” in a supermarket. And even that, “Pachinko” did it better with their opening credits. 

That says a lot about Baumbach’s latest Lynchian-like horror/sci-fi family drama that was actually just a Trojan horse for his usual marital drama. Kudos to him for venturing out of his wheelhouse and comfort zone, but unfortunately it was more miss than hit with its absurdist bent that tried to cover too much ground. It ended up being interesting but distant, with no emotional connection or relatability. 

Every character was a caricature of some form and laden with unnecessary exposition and dialogue that Baumbach tried to pass off as banter rather unsuccessfully. Again, it says a lot when the kids were more interesting than the adults. 

Adam Driver did his best but his character was neither relatable or sympathetic, and this wasn’t a role Greta Gerwig was meant to play. Perhaps it was just Baumbach’s direction and purpose to have his leads be as exaggerated as the 80s the show was set in, but it just grated. And boy, was Jodie Turner-Smith wasted.

Unfortunately, other than a shot for a Best Song nominee, “White Noise” was mostly just that. 

Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front)

Based off the original 1929 German novel, and a remake of the 1930 Best Picture winner, this German production by Edward Berger was a terrifying, brutal and visceral depiction of the futility of war that may have been the most immersive war movie since “Saving Private Ryan” and really ought to be screened in cinemas. Not only for the epic and distressing battle scenes but also to fully appreciate the stark beauty of James Friend’s cinematography that punctuated the film and the ominous dread of Volker Bertelmann’s score. 

At almost 2.5 hours long, Berger’s film was well paced as it negotiated the final months and days of the war, juxtaposing the tragic ignominy and brutal horror with the youthful optimism and idealism. The stark contrast really drove home the underlying anti-war message especially as Berger also highlighted the parallel storylines of diplomats/politicians trying to negotiate an armistice in the comfort of their fineries and the generals and military leaders in their literal high towers pursuing their “false pride” and oblivious to the morality of their vainglorious decisions. 

Superbly acted by newcomer Felix Kammerer as we followed his journey, experiencing both his horrors and the occasional joy amidst the camaraderie of his childhood friends and found family. Especially in that final long epilogue, the feeling of dread and possible inevitability was expertly stretched out and teased by Berger and performed by Kammerer. 

Experienced actors Albrecht Schuch and Daniel Brühl buttressed the rest of the lesser known cast and their presence and performance were assured and helped to inform the emotional truth of war. 

A definite Best International Feature Film Oscar nominee and also a possible front runner given its many below-the-line standouts: sound, editing, music, cinematography, hair and makeup, and costume. 

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

A re-imagination that borrowed elements from the classic Disney animation and the original 1883 Italian novel but entirely stamped with Guillermo del Toro’s storytelling vision, aesthetics and cinematic style. A gorgeous stop-motion animation musical fantasy that showcased not only the phenomenal animation of the creative team but also boasted a brilliant voice cast, and together they painstakingly brought all the amazing characters to life retelling a familiar story but one now imbued with del Toro’s characteristic wonder, pathos and heart. 

An absolutely entertaining animation for the whole family! The children will delight in the cuteness and relate with our titular Pinocchio; the adults will enjoy the richness of the themes of death, life, love, war, responsibility and family. 

Like all of del Toro’s fantastical creations, the character and creature creations were standouts. The simple complexity of Pinocchio was a sight to behold especially considering the technical difficulty of animating him. Then we have all the non-human characters: Ewan McGregor’s cricket, Cate Blanchett’s monkey, Tilda Swinton’s sphinx and sprite, Tim Blake Nelson’s rabbits and the voiceless Dogfish. Each of them were spectacular creations and each voice actor capably  imbued their character(s) with distinction and individuality. 

Of the human characters, David Bradley as Geppetto was a heartbreak and a half; Christoph Waltz as Count Volpe was a cruel, nasty piece of work, a villain we all rooted against; and Ron Perlman as the Podestà was unsympathetic and cold. 

However, one of the biggest star and highlight of the film was Alexandre Desplat and his amazing score. The score drove a lot of the scenes through the film and it was characteristic without being overwhelming, and emotive without being manipulative. It may very well get Desplat another Oscar win (a nomination is assured!). 

A sure Best Animated Feature Film nominee, and a long shot for Best Picture, “Marcel” will be its closest competitor. As good and as entertaining as the former was, “Pinocchio” edged out with its technicality and complexity, and overall entertainment.