Too bad about The Brutalist. I will be watching it because my son and my father-in-law are named Laszlo Toth and I hear they speak Hungarian which is my husband’s first language.
Conclave did nothing for me. It was a tedious film about a bunch of men who want nothing to do with women. A bunch of men who are responsible for a religion that has so many many many bad effects on people's lives. Oh - and did I say ... a group of men that has not use for women other than for them to cook their food. It was totally predicable.
Glad to see “I’m still here” at number two because I’m seeing it this evening. (The cinema I have membership with sent a mailer just about it, which they don’t often do)
Spot on about Conclave and Anora, but too much hate for 2nd half of the Brutalist. The stuff in Italy was unnecessary, especially that scene (we’d got the point, no need to make the character a monster), but the rest was still compelling and I found the Epilogue to be a kicker of an ending in the exact opposite way to the end of Conclave
We're still working our way through the Best Picture noms. (I think we actually made the full circuit last year, except for Maestro, which everyone seemed to think sucked.)
Anora is great—emotionally wrenching but also very funny—I'd be happy to see it win.
Wicked isn't as awful as I'd worried it would be. After having to see it a dozen times with my kids (it's very much a children's movie), I think some of the big musical sequences are really effective, but most of the rest of the movie sucks. Elphaba is too dour and humorless to be a charming protagonist, and the pacing is excruciatingly slow.
I also loved Dune: Part 2, although of the year's sci-fi desert epics, I feel like Furiosa was unfairly overlooked.
Regarding Emilia Perez: I think the backlash started after the average movie-goers (such as me) heard about the film and it started watching it. Even if it didn't offend people with its casual depiction of organized crime, and with it obviously americanized Spanish dialogue, this film is some odd stuff and would have been a very controversial to be in consideration for Best Picture.
This is the funniest movie review I have ever read: "The airport novel as Oscar movie. Look, it’s ultimately dumb, preachy pulp, with an ending that literally made one of the elderly people in my audience yell out “What the hell is going on!” But it also looks marvelous and has a handful of the best performances of the year and is never boring. That counts for a lot this year."
Thanks for all the info, nicely done. I can't stop laughing about the elderly person yelling at the end of conclave. I'm not elderly (well, maybe elderly-ish) but boy howdy, can't get over that ending.
It was honestly very funny. I saw it midday on a Friday or something, and there was a decently sized audience (probably 25 people in the theater with me?) and the average age was around 60. There was a lot of muttering when the last five minutes happened, lol.
We were in a full house and near the end some guy (who was with others) stood up and yelled, "this is bullshit" and walked out. We got a good laugh out of him.
“ the whole “Paul can’t be messiah because bad things will happen” struggle is underbaked (just as it is in the books, I’m sorry).”
Which is why Herbert wrote Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Really, the three books should be read as one very long novel, sort of like Lord of the Rings.
(Long disquisition on God Emperor dodged.)
I don’t know if you’ve seen the Dune/Children of Dune miniseries from SciFi, but they’re worth tracking down. Setting aside the early 2000’s SciFi production values, the scripts and acting are really good.
I've read the original six Dune novels at least half a dozen times starting in my teens, and as an almost middle-aged adult, I can understand why Paul's angst is tedious and off-putting for some readers. I think the Villeneuve movies actually did a nice job of streamlining some of that while still trying to convey how it would feel to suddenly realize you're going to be responsible for mass death.
As far as the books go, I agree that Dune Messiah and Children of Dune (along with God Emperor) help a lot to retroactively clarify Paul's dilemma. It's not just anguished philosophizing about the weight of history; he's torn over whether he has what it takes to make the awful personal sacrifice his son ultimately has to take on.
Too bad about The Brutalist. I will be watching it because my son and my father-in-law are named Laszlo Toth and I hear they speak Hungarian which is my husband’s first language.
Conclave did nothing for me. It was a tedious film about a bunch of men who want nothing to do with women. A bunch of men who are responsible for a religion that has so many many many bad effects on people's lives. Oh - and did I say ... a group of men that has not use for women other than for them to cook their food. It was totally predicable.
Glad to see “I’m still here” at number two because I’m seeing it this evening. (The cinema I have membership with sent a mailer just about it, which they don’t often do)
Spot on about Conclave and Anora, but too much hate for 2nd half of the Brutalist. The stuff in Italy was unnecessary, especially that scene (we’d got the point, no need to make the character a monster), but the rest was still compelling and I found the Epilogue to be a kicker of an ending in the exact opposite way to the end of Conclave
You should have included a few of your favorite movies that weren't nominated (assuming that there are some).
I made a whole list! https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-ten-or-so-best-movies-of-2024
We're still working our way through the Best Picture noms. (I think we actually made the full circuit last year, except for Maestro, which everyone seemed to think sucked.)
Anora is great—emotionally wrenching but also very funny—I'd be happy to see it win.
Wicked isn't as awful as I'd worried it would be. After having to see it a dozen times with my kids (it's very much a children's movie), I think some of the big musical sequences are really effective, but most of the rest of the movie sucks. Elphaba is too dour and humorless to be a charming protagonist, and the pacing is excruciatingly slow.
I also loved Dune: Part 2, although of the year's sci-fi desert epics, I feel like Furiosa was unfairly overlooked.
Regarding Emilia Perez: I think the backlash started after the average movie-goers (such as me) heard about the film and it started watching it. Even if it didn't offend people with its casual depiction of organized crime, and with it obviously americanized Spanish dialogue, this film is some odd stuff and would have been a very controversial to be in consideration for Best Picture.
I'm not surprised that you are a fellow member of the Martin Campbell Appreciation Society. There are dozens of us.
Always horny for flicks with environmentalists as villains, that's our Sonny!
Brilliant reviews! Weighted well and concise with a lovely humorous wit. Well done.
This is the funniest movie review I have ever read: "The airport novel as Oscar movie. Look, it’s ultimately dumb, preachy pulp, with an ending that literally made one of the elderly people in my audience yell out “What the hell is going on!” But it also looks marvelous and has a handful of the best performances of the year and is never boring. That counts for a lot this year."
Thanks for all the info, nicely done. I can't stop laughing about the elderly person yelling at the end of conclave. I'm not elderly (well, maybe elderly-ish) but boy howdy, can't get over that ending.
It was honestly very funny. I saw it midday on a Friday or something, and there was a decently sized audience (probably 25 people in the theater with me?) and the average age was around 60. There was a lot of muttering when the last five minutes happened, lol.
We were in a full house and near the end some guy (who was with others) stood up and yelled, "this is bullshit" and walked out. We got a good laugh out of him.
“ the whole “Paul can’t be messiah because bad things will happen” struggle is underbaked (just as it is in the books, I’m sorry).”
Which is why Herbert wrote Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Really, the three books should be read as one very long novel, sort of like Lord of the Rings.
(Long disquisition on God Emperor dodged.)
I don’t know if you’ve seen the Dune/Children of Dune miniseries from SciFi, but they’re worth tracking down. Setting aside the early 2000’s SciFi production values, the scripts and acting are really good.
I've read the original six Dune novels at least half a dozen times starting in my teens, and as an almost middle-aged adult, I can understand why Paul's angst is tedious and off-putting for some readers. I think the Villeneuve movies actually did a nice job of streamlining some of that while still trying to convey how it would feel to suddenly realize you're going to be responsible for mass death.
As far as the books go, I agree that Dune Messiah and Children of Dune (along with God Emperor) help a lot to retroactively clarify Paul's dilemma. It's not just anguished philosophizing about the weight of history; he's torn over whether he has what it takes to make the awful personal sacrifice his son ultimately has to take on.