News & Blues
Lincoln Fletcher might have been a different sort of man if his father's fingers hadn't the shape of bratwurst and his mother not been an angel walking the earth. Intentionally or not, they formed a man who believes all things consists of parts, and all parts have a purpose. Once you understand the nature of that purpose, you can fix anything. When his struggling Hollywood filmmaker son, Harrison, fails to sell his Sartre-inspired movie proposal, Lincoln devises a plan to cheaply make the film by using his sister, Fillie’s farm in Indiana and augmenting the film crew with his wife’s New York relatives. Can a novice director make cinematic art with a hodgepodge of acting neophytes, a Yiddish-spewing octogenarian, and relatives more comfortable with cows than cinema-verité? Lincoln Fletcher may have the skill to fix anything, but he first must find a way to mend his own broken parts.
Commendations & Caveats
It’s Oscar time and I’ve done you the favor of watching all but one of the ten nominees, including risking my life to do so in a theatre. I have to admit none of the films will be remembered a year from now because none are spectacular. However, there are one or two I really liked, a few that were entertaining, and the rest I’ll not watch again. One film I liked best, Red Rocket, didn’t make the cut.
My ranking reflects my degree of enjoyment after watching the film. It doesn’t necessarily evaluate artistic quality. That opinion will show up in my comments.
- Dune – I didn’t want to see it, because I’m old enough to have seen the best of this genre, so I doubted Dune was exceptional. I finally gave it a try and after ten minutes I was glancing at my phone and an hour later I gave up.
- King Richard – I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but as a biopic, it offered nothing original or revealing that you hadn’t heard before if you followed the remarkable Williams sisters.
- Nightmare Alley – This is one weird dark movie, part freak show, part crime noir, part Bradley Cooper in every scene.
- The Power of the Dog – No, there’s no dog in it. Lots of great acting, amazing scenery and slowly rolling story, however.
- West Side Story – If you loved either the earlier film version or the Broadway show, then you’ll rate this as the best picture. I liked it a lot but didn’t gush.
- Licorice Pizza – I love licorice and I love pizza, but this movie failed, in my mind, to live up to the hype surrounding it.
- CODA – We saw this earlier in the year and when you add plucky and funny deaf people versus the world, you can’t go wrong. Some wags are touting this as the Best Picture favorite. I’d be disappointed and justified in saying this year’s noms aren’t a great series of films.
- Drive My Car – I’m surprised this film ranked so high. It’s a three-hour slug that moves fairly quickly until the two hour and twenty-minute mark. Very original concept and presentation. I guess I liked it more than I thought leaving the theater.
- Belfast – I’ll pick this film in my family Oscar pool as the Best Picture winner. Great acting, interesting story, and a bittersweet and appropriate ending.
- Don’t Look Up – I know, I know, people may like this movie, but don’t consider it an Oscar-worthy flick. Back in the day, it wouldn’t have made the cut, but I’ve watched it three times because it’s funny and poignant. None of the other films were and that’s what I needed.
