Snugglecub – Page 24 – Academy Award Best Picture Winners

2022 – Elvis

2022 – Elvis

After watching Elvis, the big question I’ve been trying to answer is… did I enjoy the film? And I think the answer is, no. That is to say, I enjoyed certain aspects of the movie, but on the whole, I don’t think it worked for me. And I’m sorry to say, I think I know why, and I know there are many, many people who are going to completely disagree with me. It was the director, Baz Luhrmann. He has a very distinct style, and his fingerprints were all over this film, from the script to the cinematography, from the editing to the pacing, from the music to the set design. It had Luhrmann’s stamp on every frame.

Now, on the one hand, that’s awesome. Luhrmann told the story the way he wanted it told, and it is always really cool when you can tell who directed a film just by watching it. But it was the subject matter that threw everything off. Luhrmann’s style worked perfect for another of his big hit films, Moulin Rough. But here, I think the biopic of the life of Elvis needed a more subtle approach. The director is great at the bold and in your face spectacle, and Elvis was certainly known for that… on the stage. But behind the scenes, I wanted more intimacy, more sensitivity, more detail.

One thing I’ve seen Luhrmann use in other films is split screens and panels, and this worked just fine for the story. It was especially effective during the montages and expositional excerpts. But there were too many other things that didn’t quite work. For one thing, the break-neck pacing was too fast, and constantly left me feeling like I was getting the cliff-note version of Elvis’s life. I wanted more details, longer scenes that delved into Elvis’s relationships with his family, his manager, and his wife. I don’t feel like I got the detail I wanted. I mean, the film barely touched on his military career or his movie career, and I felt like I wanted to know more about that. I mean, Elvis was actually in 33 movies over a 16 year period, and this two hour and forty minute movie barely spent ten minutes on it. But when it came down to it, I suppose this movie wasn’t about Elvis’s career. It was about the abusive relationship Elvis had with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

And then there was Luhrmann’s choices concerning the film’s music. I mean, here we have one of the biggest rock music sensations of all time, and yet there were scenes underscored by modern rap music, which felt disconnected from the story and absolutely unnecessary. Didn’t ELVIS have enough music to cover the whole plot of the movie? Of course he did. And modern rap music in a story that took place before modern rap music even existed brought me out of the story. It just felt like a lost opportunity to showcase the King. And even when they did use Elvis’s music, they mixed it with more dramatic underscoring the changed the tone of the songs to fit the scenes. It was like Luhrmann was trying way too hard to be dramatic, and it made the movie feel a little too full of it’s own subject matter.

And finally, I have to say that I didn’t care for the way the character of Priscilla, played by Olivia Dejonge, was handled. They didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t show her in a bad light or make up things that weren’t true. I just don’t think they gave her enough prominence in the film. To be certain, she wasn’t ignored. But I do think she was underused. It was a little bit as if she was an afterthought that was only there to make the film a little more historically accurate. Maybe that is just me showing my ignorance of the singer and his life and career, but I would have expected the love of his life to have a more prominent role in a film about him.

But there were things that I did like about the movie. I loved the costumes. They were spot on, and looked great on the big screen. I loved the acting. Tom Hanks, did a great job as always. Actually, he arguably played the lead role, as the entire film was told from the perspective of Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s manager, who manipulated and abused Elvis, taking most of his money. It is hard to picture Hanks playing the bad guy, but I think that’s exactly what he did here. Austin Butler was amazing as Elvis, himself. There were times when he looked exactly like the real superstar, but then there were other times when he really didn’t. The structure of his face was just different enough to break through the illusion the filmmakers were trying to create. I wonder if this might have been fixed with a little deep-faking technology, or would that have been too expensive to accomplish.

Other significant characters in the movie were Elvis’s parents, played by Helen Thomson and Richard Roxburgh, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King. There was even a great little scene with Alton Mason playing a very young Little Richard. But mostly, I loved the recreations of Elvis’s most famous performances. The ’68 Comeback Special in his black leather outfit was so cool! That’s one thing this movie did brilliantly. It showed Elvis as the fantastic performer he really was.

2022 – The Banshees of Inisheran

2022 – The Banshees of Inisheran

This was a strange movie. After I finished watching the film, my first though was that I liked it, but I wasn’t sure exactly why. The acting was incredibly good, but that wasn’t it. I mean the story. Did I enjoy the plot? I think yes, I did. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it didn’t have a very enjoyable plot. The two main characters were barely likeable, and they made decisions that just didn’t make much sense. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

I’ll give a very brief plot synopsis. Pádraic, brilliantly played by Colin Farrell, is a simple man who is completely content with his life on the small fictional Irish Island of Inisheran off the coast of Ireland. His lifelong friend and drinking buddy is Colm, played by Brendan Gleeson. One day Colm decides he no longer wants to be friends with Pádraic, saying that he is too dull, and that he no longer has room in his life for dullness. So he no longer wants to be friends. Hurt by this rejection, Pádraic attempts to reconcile with Colm, who initially treats him with indifference that soon grows into anger. Colm tells Pádraic that if he ever speaks to him again, he will cut off one of his own fingers. More than once, Pádraic continues his attempts to get his friend back, and Colm keeps his promise, throwing his severed digits at Pádraic’s door, until his left hand is nothing but a fingerless stump.. But when Pádraic’s beloved miniature donkey chokes to death on one of the bloody fingers, Pádraic retaliates by burning down Colm’s house, knowing that his former friend is still inside. The next morning, the two men meet on a beach, and Pádraic says that the feud would only have been settled if Colm had stayed and died in the burning building. The end.

What on earth did I just watch? Wikipedia describes this as a black comedy, but once again, I found nothing funny about the movie. Maybe I’m just being a stick-in-the-mud, or maybe I’m taking the plot to literally. Maybe I’m just not getting the humor. But critics actually praised the comedic content of the film. Personally, I just found it depressing and unnecessarily macabre. Was the death of a lifelong friendship, or Colm’s inexplicable inability to feel any sort of empathy for his former friend’s pain supposed to be amusing? Were the extreme acts of self-mutilation supposed to make me cringe, but chuckle at the same time? They didn’t. Were the dire predictions of death by the mysterious old lady supposed to make me laugh? Were the village idiot, Dominic, played by Barry Keoghan’s desperate attempts to look for love and attention supposed to make me feel awkward, but tickled? They didn’t. They just made me feel sad for him, and sympathetic for Siobhán, Pádraic’s sister, played by Kerry Condon, who was the object of his affections.

I have to think that the things that happened in the film were supposed to be metaphorical. I mean, what man in his right mind would cut off his own fingers to make someone leave him alone? And after the first finger had been severed, what man in his right mind would continue trying to reason with him? I guess the basic plot just made no sense if you take it at face value, because normal people don’t behave that way. And the characters were not portrayed as stupid. So I have to think that it was all a metaphor for something that I just didn’t get. Pádraic was so desperate to have his friend back that he couldn’t see when to leave well enough alone, and Colm was so mentally unstable that he horribly maimed himself. That’s what I got out of the story.

Now… all that being said, the movie can still be enjoyed if you focus on the acting, the poignant score, and the directing. The movie was nominated for nine Oscars, and unfortunately, it didn’t win a single one. All four of the main members of the cast were nominated in the acting categories, but my personal favorites were Farrell and Keoghan. I’ve seen Farrell in other dramas, and had an idea of what he was capable of.

But Keoghan really surprised me. He was so good and so believable as Dominic. The scene in which he asks Siobhán if she could ever love someone like him was so sweet and so sad. Keoghan was absolutely wonderful in that moment. She gently turns him down, but it is the last time he is seen alive on the screen, and when he is later found dead in the lake, I have to wonder if he committed suicide after the rejection. It was never made clear what happened to him.

Then there was the score by Carter Burwell. It was one of those film scores that was incredibly expressive, and did a fantastic job of setting a sad and depressing tone over the entire film. It was drastic and melancholy, and yet somehow beautiful at the same time. It easily draws you into the story and makes you want to weep for the sake of loneliness. Simply enchanting.

And the director, Martin McDonagh, really did a great job of telling the dark and bewildering story without being flippant or apologetic for either the macabre tension or the un-believability of the actions of Pádraic and Colm. It is what it is, and when it comes to it, I supposed I didn’t need to understand the movie to enjoy watching it. I liked it. But again, I’m just not exactly sure why.

1938 – Miliza Korjus

1938 – Miliza Korjus

The Great Waltz

I’ll start this review off by saying that I didn’t particularly care for Miliza Korjus’s performance, and I have two reasons why. She wasn’t terrible, but she wasn’t great, and sadly not worthy of her nomination. I’m not going to say she couldn’t act, but I’ve seen better. And I’m not going to say she couldn’t sing, but again, I’ve heard better. But I will give her one thing. She was absolutely gorgeous.

So let’s look at those two points a little more closely. First was her acting. As I said, she wasn’t bad. But her performance seemed to lack passion and conviction for me. The role she played was that of a vain opera star who is won over by the music of Strauss. In stereotypical fashion, she was used to getting her way all the time. But if you are going to play the spoiled diva, then play it. Give us a little more energy, more drama. Be more grandiose and more animated. She had these qualities, but I think that they were a bit too subtle. It felt to me like she was holding back, almost as if her command of the English language affected her self-confidence. I don’t know if that was true, but that’s what it felt like.

And then there was her singing. Now, this might not have been her fault, but that was why she was in the movie. She was there to look pretty and to sing. Maybe it was a bad sound recording, but she sounded shrill and unpleasant to listen to. I have no doubt that she sounded fantastic if you were listening to her in a live performance, but in this film, her soprano voice became a little piercing. She sounded a little like Snow White, in the first Disney animated feature, and thus fit for a cartoon character. Her occasional staccato melismas were awful. Granted, there were times where she sounded alright, especially when she was singing in a lower register, but her high notes were just not pleasing to the ear.

But there was one scene in particular that I actually liked her performance a lot. It was the scene in which she first hears Strauss’s Tales From the Vienna Woods, and finds herself falling in love with him. She was properly mesmerized by the beautiful music, entranced by the grandeur of the lovely melody. In that moment, I believed her. But if that was the highlight of her performance, I think I wanted more.

The Incredible Hulk Cast Photos

William Hurt as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross

The Incredible Hulk

Cast Photos

The Incredible Hulk

So I’ll say right off the bat that I’ve never been a huge fan of the Hulk. First off, the whole concept of the Hulk has never appealed to me. Just a big monster who’s only real skill is extreme violence. Second, I’ve never really been impressed with any of the other Hulk movies. There was the TV version, in which he is played by Lou Ferrigno, which had 3 movie length features, and then there was the film in 2003 starring Eric Bana. The former couldn’t really portray the character’s true power, and the latter made him look like a cartoon in a live-action film.

But here, I think they began to get it right. Now played by Edward Norton, The Hulk got another makeover. He looked so much more realistic than the previous versions. His skin wasn’t such a neon green, his face looked more like a real face. And let’s face it, the Hulk’s look is very important when it comes to the believability of the character. That‘s not to say this version was perfect, but it was the best we’d ever seen. And the quality of the representation only got better from here on out.

Edward Norton was great. He got the differences between Bruce Banner and the Hulk. He played both sides of that coin and it was pretty awesome. As Banner, he showed intelligence, and a keen awareness of his particular condition. At this point in the character’s overall arc, he had absolutely no control over the green monster. If he allowed himself to change into the Hulk, he was liable to destroy, hurt, or even kill, with no hope of controlling his actions, and so he did his best to not make the change. But inevitably, the transformation would happen, and the carnage would begin. Now here, they were finally able to display his true awesome power, his raw savagery. He was fast, vicious, and just an absolute force of nature. But one notable difference, they showed that he still had a little of Banner’s intelligence when fighting. He used a makeshift shield, two halves of a police car as boxing gloves, and the infamous Hulk Clap to put out a fire.

The only person that was safe from his rage was Betty Ross, played by Liv Tyler. The first time I ever saw this movie, I’ll be honest, I didn’t like Tyler’s portrayal. Something about the actress just rubbed me the wrong way, and I don’t exactly know what it was. But the more times I have watched the movie, the more she grows on me. She did just fine, so really, I have no complaints there. Betty’s father Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, played by William Hurt was such a great antagonist. He was an egotistical military man that is so easy to hate.

And then there was Hulk’s main rival, Emile Blonsky, aka, the Abomination, played by Tim Roth. He was an interesting character, in that in order to fight the Hulk, he becomes obsessed with becoming a bigger monster. I actually don’t know much about how the comic books treat the Abomination, so I can’t comment on how the two compare with each other, but here, he felt a little generic, just a grey version of the Hulk. But really, who else could they have pitted him against in the film that introduced him to the MCU? Though, as I’m thinking about it. I understand that even though the Eric Bana Hulk was not officially part of the MCU, this movie essentially picked up where that previous movie ended. And this movie made the Hulk kind of cool in my mind. So now I might have to go back and watch that other film, just to get a little more insight into the character.

Now, I’ll briefly address the elephant in the room. This was the only time Edward Norton played Bruce Banner / the Hulk. In all his subsequent appearances in the MCU, he was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, who I actually like better in the role. I’m not saying Edward Norton was bad. I just can’t imagine what direction the character would have gone in, if Norton had continued to play the part.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

Banner is running from the military and Blonsky. ParKOUR!
Hulk destroys the bottling factory.
Banner reunites with Betty, and cannot make love to her.
Banner is trapped in the bridge at the University, and changes into the Hulk.
Hulk fights an enhanced Blonsky and saves Betty from being killed by Thunderbolt Ross and his men.
Banner suppressed the change in Dr. Stern’s lab.
Blonsky gets injected with Banner’s blood and becomes the Abomination.
Banner jumps from a helicopter and only changes into the Hulk after hitting the ground.
Hulk defeats the Abomination.
The post credit scene where Tony Stark pays Thunderbolt Ross a visit.

Thor Character Posters

Thor Cast Photos

Thor

Cast Photos

Character Posters

Thor

I have to say that Thor is probably my favorite MCU character, and I’ll be honest, a lot of that has to do with Chris Hemsworth. Not only is he incredibly handsome, but he has personality for days. He is an actor that has proven, time and again that he is not just a pretty face (and body), and that he has the skills of an intense dramatic actor, when the need arises. He can also do comedy, which is sometimes harder than drama. Hemsworth has it all.

But on top of all that, the character of Thor is awesome. I have always had a love for the mythology of Greek gods and goddesses. Norse is a little less known to me, but I know a bit, and as far as I can tell, from what I know of Thor from comic books, I think the script captured the God of Thunder perfectly. So he was acted wonderfully, and written accurately. What’s not to love. This being the beginning of the Thor franchise within the MCU, Thor starts out as a vain, brash, hot-headed boy, son of a King, powerfully played by the incomparable Anthony Hopkins, and a powerful warrior.

But the movie was so much more than just Thor. We were introduced to another major player in the MCU, Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston. In fact, Loki was so well-played and was such a popular character, that he eventually got his own TV series, which was really good! And we got a few minor characters. The Warriors Three, Fandral, Volstaag, and Hogun were there, though I would have liked a little more back story on who they were and why they were there.. True, they were only minor charaqcters in the comic books, but I think a little more could have been done with them. And there was Lady Sif, a good, strong female hero.

So of all the new cast members, I want to make special mention of Anthony Hopkins’ Odin. He was incredible, and practically stole every scene he was in. He played the All-Father, and there wasn’t a hint of weakness in him. Even when his emotions of love, guilt, and regret at his treatment of Loki caused him to falter and fall into the Odinsleep, there was still a core of strength that was impressive, and that was all Hopkins. And his improvised growl of fury at Loki while disciplining Thor was both powerful and appropriate. I mean when your son disobeys you and ignites a war because of his arrogance, I guess rage is the only response that will suffice. Just one more example of how great an actor Anthony Hopkins is.

So the main thrust of the movie is Thor’s story arc, how he grows from that brash, disobedient boy, into a mighty hero with a sense of responsibility and respect for the world around him. But to follow that journey, we have to experience that fall from grace, and his redemption, coming in the form of self-sacrifice. In the end, he is willing to sacrifice himself to save innocent lives, and his girlfriend. Oh yeah, he meets Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, a beautiful young Earth scientist who turns into an infatuated schoolgirl whenever Thor is around. Not that I can blame her. He’s just so incredibly nice to look at.

The visuals and the aesthetics of the movie are beautiful. The glowing colors, the majesty of Asgard, even the arid beauty of the New Mexico desert, all made for a gorgeous backdrop to the story. The costumes, the sets, and the digital effects were simply spectacular. The Rainbow Bridge looked fantastic on the screen, as did the boss fight that allowed Thor to redeem himself and once again become worthy of lifting his hammer. The whole movie just looked incredible, though I could do without all the tilted angle shots. The film’s director, Kenneth Branagh, put in around one hundred eighty Dutch angle shots in the film because he said that is the way they appear in the comic books, and it helped to translate the dynamism from the pages to the screen. But I think it should be used as a purposeful effect, and when used too liberally, the effect is lost. After a while, it just becomes distracting. But that is only a minor complaint for a movie that was all part of Feige’s master plan to establish the major characters of the MCU before bringing them all together to create the larger tapestry, which is still being woven today.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

Odin’s exposition at the beginning to set up the narrative.
Thor’s battle with the Frost Giants
Odin punishes Thor and the growl.
Loki discovers that he is a Frost Giant
“Another!” Thor smashes the mug.
Thor attacks the SHIELD facility to get his hammer.
Lady Sif stabs the Destroyer
Thor’s powers are restored and he kills the Destroyer.
Thor’s battle with Loki, and the destruction of the Rainbow Bridge.
Odin’s conversation with Thor at the end. Reconciliation between father and son.

1938 – John Garfield

1938 – John Garfield

Four daughters

Ok, John Garfield was one handsome man! But what’s more, he could act. He knew how to use his posture, his facial expressions, his eyes, and his attitude to create a complex character. He wasn’t exactly a likable character, but I don’t think we were supposed to like him. Garfield took that one dimensional role and gave it another layer that made me question whether Mickey Borden was just a loser, or if he was really life’s victim, as he claimed. I mean, were his intentions good, or was he just a shiftless drifter who fell in love with a girl he couldn’t support.

But I guess that was the big question. If he was just a loser, would he really commit suicide so that his wife could have a better life? And was that the coward’s way out, or an act of love and bravery? I actually think it was both. He knew, or at least was convinced, that he wasn’t capable of making Ann happy, so he stepped aside in a grand and dramatic gesture. But a strong man would have done one of two things. Either he would have just divorced her, allowing her to return to the man she really loved, or he would have pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, become a better man, himself, and become worthy of Ann’s love.

Either way, Garfield did a fantastic job. He left me both despising and liking Mickey at the same time, so that when he died, I felt something and mourned his passing. I have a feeling that it was a little more than the script gave him to work with, and I think the actor elevated the role. But the whole thing worked because his ultimate sacrifice accomplished what it was supposed to. It allowed Ann to return to Felix, and that is what the movie wanted us all to want.

The two scenes that stood out to me as very well-acted were Mickey’s first scene, and then his second to last. In the first, he immediately showed us how he was a drifter with little concern for others or himself. He took things without asking, he was disrespectful to strangers who would welcome him into their home, and yet he proved himself to be a talented musician. In that second to last scene, there is a crazed look in his eyes as he determines to run his car off the road, in a successful attempt to kill himself. Well done, Garfield. Well done.

1938 – Basil Rathbone

1938 – Basil Rathbone

If I Were King

Basil Rathbone’s outstanding performance in this movie took me completely by surprise, and here’s why. The only kind of film I remember seeing him in are swashbuckling movies in which he is a master swordsman and fencer. Even though he generally plays the villain, he is still handsome, brash, bold, and courageous. He is always witty, confident, and even arrogant. But here he plays against that go-to character, and creates a weaselly, sniveling, devious, childish, and crafty king, who looks and behaves like he has never touched a sword in his life.

And yet he pulled it off perfectly. Not only that, he actually made me like the character by the end of the film. The part was so well-written. King Louis XI could so easily have been portrayed as a typical bad-guy, as many villains are in films. But even though he did have plenty of negative qualities, he also had several redeeming traits as well, and Rathbone made them all believable. The part was so contrary to his normal role, his performance impressed me, and showed me a completely different side of the actor. He was amazing.

He created a memorable character. Some of his little quirks were his distinctive cackling laugh, his hunched shoulders, his small steps, his perpetual sneer. He played a little weasel. Clever, confident, and petulant, all at the same time. There was only one thing that I didn’t really care for, but I don’t hold it against him. He was no worse than any of the other actors in the film, certainly no worse than the film’s lead, Ronald Colman. The story takes place in France, but half the cast had a decidedly British accent. The other half had obvious American accents. There was no consistency, and no attention to that little detail.

But like I said, the character was written quite well. He actually had a sense of honor… a skewed one, maybe, but honor nonetheless. There was a touch of honesty and at times, a sense of fairness and decency. After watching the end of the movie, I would hesitate to call his character a villain. I might categorize him as an antagonist, but not a villain. And I think Rathbone’s Oscar nomination was well-deserved. It was the perfect marriage of a smart script and a great actor.