To Leslie - 1 nomination

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Andrea Riseborough

Leslie is the very definition of down and out. She is a raging alcoholic, yearns for a relationship with the son she abandoned and left with her mother in law Nancy, she's been kicked out of her residential motel, and her avocation is letting people down. In search of support, she appeals to her young adult son to allow her to stay with him to which he consents with the provision that she doesn't drink. When he discovers that she has violated his only rule, Leslie's son calls Nancy who takes Leslie home. The massive errors in judgement don't end there until she is finally sleeping outside a local motel where she gets a job and a place to live.  She develops a nice friendship with Sweeney who slowly helps her turn her life around.

This film has received a lot of attention primarily for the unlikely nomination of Andrea Riseborough over two African American actresses who the industry fully expected to be nominated; and for the incredible performance itself.  Fellow actresses across the industry led a no-funds campaign for Riseborough, citing the lack of funding available for small, independent films without large PR budgets to even begin an Oscars nomination campaign.  The performance is bone shaking and heart breaking.  Riseborough is loud and quiet at all the right moments, and the movie itself is a good one.  It's not flashy, the performance is solid, and frankly, I'd sooner punt Ana de Armas and her performance in Blonde to slide in Danielle Deadwyler for Till way before I'd bump Andrea Riseborough.  This is not an easy movie to watch, it's tough to hang in there while Leslie figures it out, but that makes the outcome even more satisfying in the end.  I'm glad To Leslie has gotten Oscars attention, and it's sad that more performances in small films don't get the attention that they deserve.

Blonde - 1 nomination

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Ana de Armas

The life and career of Marilyn Monroe is Blonde's story, and boy, is it bleak.  If you believe the film, poor Norma Jean had very few happy moments in her entire life, her marriages were hopeful but sad, her fame was nothing but a terrible burden, her self-doubt was debilitating, and her relationships were constantly abusive.  I don't know the real story but this film was a hell of a long downward spiral.  The only happy moments in her life came in a polyamorous relationship that landed her pregnant (and delighted) but the studio forced her to have an abortion she absolutely didn't want.

Ana de Armas certainly deserves some recognition for her portrayal of the star (the voice intonation, WOW!), but every time her real accent slipped through in her dialogue, it distracted me.  Not only that, but de Armas' body type is very thin and very narrow - she could be as small as a size 0 or 2.  Obviously Marilyn Monroe was not a large woman, but it is well known that she is wore a real size 14 or 16 (in today's sizes, probably about a size 6), and Hollywood's obsession with making a thin but sturdy woman into a petite, tiny one is offensive on its face.

Women Talking - 2 nominations

 

Best Adapted Screenplay Sarah Polley

Best Motion Picture of the Year Jeremy Kleiner (producer) Dede Gardner (producer) Frances McDormand (producer)

We have finally arrived at the Best Picture nominee I've most wanted to blog about, Women Talking. How I wish that the Academy (like SAG) had an award for the entire cast, but since it doesn't, I'd like to nominate every single actress in this film for the Lead Actress award (yes yes, I know that some of the women were in supporting roles, but each contributed to the whole so completely that I award the entire cast the Oscar, so mazel tov to Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey and so many others who deserve this prestigious made up award).

The importance of this movie can't be overstated. A community of women elected by their peers has come together to decide what to do about the continuing attacks on women and girls in their patriarchal and extremely conservative Christian community.  The women and girls have been given tranquilizers and raped (and in one case, a girl as young as 4 years old), but even when that is not happening, many of them are also severely abused by their husbands.  They are in a sheltered Mennonite community where they've received little to no education, and all they are perceived to be good for is household management. Even the act of not forgiving the men for their violence is considered sinful and would deny them their place in the hereafter, or so they've been told.

They debate three choices - forgive and do nothing, stay in the community and fight (maybe even expel the men), or leave and escape this life.  The power of their voices lamenting the bone-crushing sadness of no good choices, and the utter horror of having no personal autonomy make the film nearly debilitating for the audience.  The story is a loud and visceral scream from deep down in the soul.  I am only sorry that the brilliant direction from Sarah Polley was overlooked for an Oscars nomination, and frankly, I would have happily seen this film receive so many more as recognition of what it accomplishes.  It's a must see.

Triangle of Sadness - 3 nominations

 

Best Motion Picture of the Year Erik Hemmendorff (producer) Philippe Bober (producer)

Best Original Screenplay Ruben Östlund

Best Achievement in Directing Ruben Östlund

Triangle of Sadness might be the kookiest of all the Best Picture nominees, and that's in a category with multiverse madness, Everything Everywhere All at Once. The film begins on a high end, very exclusive, very expensive yacht and we learn a bit about the passengers and their stories.  A model and social media influencer (who have been invited to the yacht for free), a Russian oligarch, wealthy arms dealers, a lonely tech millionaire; they all come together with a ship's crew who caters to their every need and whim.  The crew are led marginally by their captain played hilariously by Woody Harrelson, and by Paula, the real woman in charge.

When the perfect storm of food poisoning, violent sea storm, and pirates combine, a handful of passengers and two of the ship's crew survive and are stranded on an apparently deserted island.  Paula assumes her default role of taking care of the surviving passengers while ordering Abigail, one of the ship's cleaning women to assist her.  It becomes clear that among all of these fancy people, Abigail is the only one with any survival skills.  Guess how much it matters that you own several vacation homes when stranded and just need shelter and food? Power shifts to the one with the skills who is truly able to take care of everyone with her ability to hunt, fish, and create fire. When Upstairs/Downstairs gets flipped on its head, the result is a hilarious and fantastic film.

Top Gun: Maverick - 6 nominations

 

Best Achievement in Film Editing Eddie Hamilton

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) Lady Gaga BloodPop For song "Hold My Hand"

Best Sound Mark Weingarten James Mather Al Nelson Chris Burdon Mark Taylor

Best Achievement in Visual Effects Ryan Tudhope Seth Hill Bryan Litson Scott R. Fisher

Best Motion Picture of the Year Tom Cruise (producer) Christopher McQuarrie (producer) David Ellison (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer (producer)

Best Adapted Screenplay Ehren Kruger Eric Warren Singer Christopher McQuarrie Peter Craig Justin Marks

We're back along the highway to the Danger Zone, and Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is up to his old shenanigans.  Acting as a test pilot for the scramjet prototype, Maverick once again defies orders and ends up in trouble. Thankfully, his old pal and flight school alum "Iceman" protects Mav from consequences but sends him to serve as an instructor at the Top Gun training academy.

While there, the Navy is given the assignment to destroy a uranium enrichment plant in an unnamed but clearly Middle Eastern country, protected by old equipment in the heart of very dangerous terrain.  Destroying the plant won't be easy, and the elite Top Gun graduates are skeptical that Maverick has anything to teach them. He wins their trust as his old teacher did... by outflying and outmaneuvering them on every test flight.  Complicating the matter is his old partner Goose's son, who Maverick promised would never be a Naval fighter, despite the young man's dreams.  Twists and turns ensue, and Maverick must fly the mission with his students himself to save the world.

This is one of the most exciting films I have ever seen.  I would have stayed and watched it a second time if I could have.  While I have mixed and weird feelings about Tom Cruise, he smiles and you remember why he is truly a movie star.  Having said all of this, is Top Gun: Maverick really a Best Picture worthy film? Not really.  Will you love every second of the flight? I can guarantee that you will feel the need, the need for speed.  LOVED it.

Here's the nominated song, "Hold my Hand."

And here's the trailer for the film.

Tar - 6 nominations

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Cate Blanchett

Best Motion Picture of the Year Todd Field (producer) Alexandra Milchan (producer) Scott Lambert (producer)

Best Achievement in Directing Todd Field

Best Original Screenplay Todd Field

Best Achievement in Cinematography Florian Hoffmeister

Best Achievement in Film Editing Monika Willi

Lydia Tar is possibly the most prominent ethnomusicologist, composer, and the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.  She is regarded as brilliant, innovative, and incredibly tough.  While guest lecturing at Julliard, she unabashedly challenges and mildly humiliates a BIPOC student who says he can't find any connection to conducting the music of old, white men.  As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Krista, a former female fellow in Lydia's program to nurture young women in music, has committed suicide, and Lydia is accused of sexual misconduct and intentionally ruining said student's future career prospects.  The accusation appears to be true based on how she treats a cello candidate for her own orchestra.  Lydia Tar perceives herself to be above the law, and we come to know her as a sexual predator - a woman who abuses her position of power and prominence.  She is removed from her role as conductor by the Berlin Philharmonic and must face her own choices and behavior - ultimately destroying her own career in the process.

This film is methodical.  It deserved every nomination it got, though I was surprised that it wasn't nominated for Sound. You've never seen Cate Blanchett like this before, and I suspect this role will be considered her pique career performance. This is the kind of cinema experience that sits with you over time.  I loved it, though many of the people in the theater with me didn't, and boy did they feel strongly about expressing that when the lights went up.  I suspect this is the kind of movie that people either really love or really hate and REALLY need to talk about wherever they land.  I rarely say this about any movie, but I thought it was amazing.

The Fabelmans - 7 nominations

 

Best Achievement in Directing Steven Spielberg

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) John Williams

Best Motion Picture of the Year Kristie Macosko Krieger (producer) Steven Spielberg (producer) Tony Kushner (producer)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Michelle Williams

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Judd Hirsch

Best Original Screenplay Steven Spielberg Tony Kushner

Best Achievement in Production Design Rick Carter Karen O'Hara

What a sweet film.  We follow young Sammy from the first time he sees a film (and by the way, here's an episode of my podcast 2 Movie Jews where Rabbi Yechiel Hoffman and I talk about the movies that made us love movies) through to Sammy's schooling and what we now know as the "making" of a young Steven Spielberg.  I swear that each film Spielberg has made in the last two decades has been billed as "Spielberg's most personal film ever," but with this one, I think it's actually true.  Even the title of the film - as brilliantly deciphered by The Bagel Report's co-host Esther Kustanowitz - is a permutation of Spielberg's own name.  FABLE = story = another word for the Yiddish word spiel; and MAN = typical Jewish end of a last name (as in BerMAN) or berg or stein.  Fabel-man : Spiel-berg. Got it?  Good.  Moving on.

We go with Sammy as he makes his amateur films, rolling the camera everywhere he goes and setting up movie shoots, casting his friends and family. It is through his constant shooting that he discovers his mother is having an affair with his father's best friend "Uncle Bennie," and his mother begs for him to keep her secret.  That's a lot for a little kid.  

When the family moves to Arizona for his father's work, Uncle Bennie follows the family there, which ultimately leads to the break up Sammy's parents' marriage.  Sammy's new school is mildly anti-Semitic, and he finds his first girlfriend, who coincidentally would love for him to find Jesus.  Sammy is finding his voice, finding his way, and despite tensions with his mother, she supports his artistic path and encourages him to follow him dreams. In a brilliant appearance by Judd Hirsch as Sammy's Uncle Boris, Sammy learns about entertainment as an actual possible career.

I liked the movie very much.  It's beautifully crafted filmmaking, and Spielberg on young Spielberg is a great experience.  I enjoyed every minute.  Will this film be memorable 10 years? I don't think so.  Will it crack the Top 3 list of Spielberg's films? I also don't think so.  But if you want to watch a nice movie and have a respite from the traditional heavy Oscar films, this is a good choice.