By Unknown - IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71615799
Tár - (2022)
Yeah, this was a good one. It has something of a laboriously slow start - but with running times these days, a film can well afford to do what this does in really letting us get to know the character. The character in question is Lydia Tár, world famous conductor and composer - a kind of intellectual giant who is just as pretentious and removed from us mere mortals as you'd imagine. It also doesn't take long to realise that Tár is a compulsive liar - in fact, almost pathological in that regard, and she uses her position to reward favours from those hopefuls who'd like to be part of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The sexual nature of this system has led to one young lady obsessing with her, and committing suicide - whereupon all of the bad things about Tár's character are about to come home to roost in a big way. She has a family, and a huge career - she has everything to lose, but does she deserve what she has? The film touches on contemporary issues in a way that opens up in an interesting manner. Mozart...Bach...if these men were questionable characters, is it reasonable to shun their music if you're an eminent maestro? What difference is there to that, and the talented of today? How do you separate the music from the person who composed it, or conducted it? I struggled at first to stay with this, but it rewarded my attention with a masterful second half.
8.5/10
By Warner Bros. Official poster IMP awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70099316
Elvis - (2022)
Okay, this one. I've set myself the goal of watching all the Oscar nominated films this year - before the ceremony. This means I had to watch
Elvis, despite me having a rocky relationship with Baz Luhrmann films. It has all the requisite dazzle you'd expect from one, and all the dumb, boring and predictable narrative choices you'd expect as well. I did like the way the story came from Colonel Tom Parker's viewpoint (played by Tom Hanks, despite him being somewhat ill-suited for the role.) Parker basically scammed Elvis Presley for his entire life, riding his piggy bank all the way to an early grave - but there's little else you'll learn during the near 3 hours you'll be sat watching this. It has some cringeworthy moments, and from the age of 18 onwards Elvis never seems to age his entire life - but this is a shiny, sparkly Vegas show of a movie - right up Luhrmann's alley. I don't think Austin Butler should win an Oscar for his performance (please no) - and
no way should this win Best Picture (don't you dare Academy) - but as for the other 6 nominations - Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing and Production Design, I wouldn't complain.
6/10
So, I've seen 8 out of the 10 Best Picture nominees so far. Only
The Fabelmans and
Women Talking to go. It'll be the first time in a
long time that I've seen all of the nominees before the ceremony - and I'm pretty happy and excited about that.
By https://media.vogue.mx/photos/630e35...r-pelicula.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71664732
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths - (2022)
So, this is the first Iñárritu film for 7 years - he hasn't directed one since
The Revenant, and there hasn't been much hoopla about it. He would have at least expected a
Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination, because it's an achingly personal and spectacular movie. It's very much similar to a Luis Buñuel film, with surrealism taken to extremes at times. For example, when the movie starts the main character's wife has had a baby, but the baby requests the doctor to go back - so they shove the baby back in. It's a stream of consciousness kind of film, but the themes are well defined and obvious - Iñárritu is questioning what it means for him to be Mexican, especially since he's become so integrated into the United States now. Silverio (Daniel Giménez Cacho) is obviously modelled on him, and constantly has to face questions about his ethnicity and home in relation to the place he calls home now. It's a fun trip - and at times brilliant. A shame the brilliance doesn't cohere to the entire film - but I liked it one hell of a lot all the same. Too much fun, and such a visual feast - this really took me away last night.
8/10
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths was only nominated for Best Cinematography. (A deserved nomination). It means I've seen 4 out of the 5 films nominated in this category now. I only need to see
Empire of Light now - the Roger Deakins entry. Darius Khondji, nominated for
Bardo, has only ever been nominated one other time - for
Evita (1996).
By the way. My last three Oscar nominated movies :
Tár - 2 hrs 38 min
Elvis - 2 hrs 39 min
Bardo - 2 hrs 39 min -- is there a reason for this?