Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Cyrano - I loved this! I really wanted to see it before I updated my Best of 2021 list, but it took FOREVER for it to be available on one of my streaming services. I think it would have made the cut during my reassessment, but oh well. I saw a lot of love for this during awards season, but then it got a total of zero nominations (I think?) and I haven't heard anyone talk about it since. I didn't realize that it's a musical, but that makes me really, really happy. I've since added some of the songs to my Spotify playlist because some of the songs are stunning; "I Need More" is my favorite - it really showcases Haley Bennett's voice. Bennett is a really strong, captivating actress. I've loved her in everything I've seen her in. But my personal highlight in this is Kelvin Harrison Jr. I'm just patiently waiting for his career to explode (if you aren't familiar, then please watch Waves - his performance is something I think about often). I love Peter Dinklage, too, but his voice isn't the greatest - and since it's a musical, I think that a strong voice is incredibly important. Obviously, the story is strong (it's a classic for a reason!), but it's also just so beautifully made, which caused me to go "oh who made this??" only to realize it's Joe Wright. So OF COURSE it's beautifully made! It's JOE WRIGHT! He has never made a visually dull film. Which just makes it even weirder that this film was basically ignored? I just looked it up because it is really baffling and apparently it did get one nomination for Costume Design, so the Academy knew of its existence, clearly, but decided to ignore it in every other category. Huh. Anyway, highly recommend!

2. Where the Crawdads Sing - The book has been sitting on my "to read" pile for a year or two, but haven't gotten to it quite yet. I wish I read it before watching this because I know that it is probably far better than this movie and I would have loved to be surprised by the ending. I really love Daisy Edgar-Jones - she was incredible in Normal People and really proved herself in that Mormon mini-series that I can't remember the name of right now. She is definitely the strongest aspect of this movie, because otherwise it is a boring mess. It definitely feels like a Nicholas Sparks movie, except they hired really bland actors (aside from Daisy). I think my biggest problem is that the two male characters look so much alike - I thought it might be part of a twist or something (it's not), but also they are so fucking dull. Just no charisma at all (one of them is Harris Dickinson - who I previously described as having the charisma of a garbage bag. This is the third film I've seen him in and I stand by this claim). I don't recognize the other guy from anything, but he's just as bad. I also don't think that a girl living in a marsh would...uh...look like this (once again, I'm supposed to believe that Daisy isn't one of the most gorgeous women you'll ever lay your eyes on...). Her hair smooth & shiny; her skin clear and even-toned. It's all just so unbelievable. Plus, the blue floral dress she wears looks identical to one that we had at my work a few years ago (I think it might be the same one, but I'm not 100% sure. My point is that it's not a cheap dress). The story is pretty bland for most of it - and all seems fairly obvious. However, I really wasn't actually expecting the ending?! I thought it was going to end in a more ambiguous way, as in, leaving you guessing who the killer really was. I think if Daisy had some better actors to play off of, and if it really committed to showing someone authentically poor and living off the land, then maybe this could have been a good movie. 

3. Smile - I truly love a great marketing campaign, and this really hit the mark. In case you missed it, they hired people to stand in crowded arenas smiling. Like really creepily just standing there smiling into the camera for no reason at all. It kind of freaked me out when people started posting these random people smiling, so I was super relieved that it was part of the marketing this movie and not a bunch of freaks. It definitely got people talking about the movie and created some mystery and intrigue. I also think that this has a little bit of originality to it for a horror movie (although I do think there is some inspirations from recent films like It Follows). Unfortunately, it just doesn't quite work for me. I didn't hate it, but it definitely relies way too much on jump scares, and goes too batshit in the end (and not in a good way like Malignant). It also feels terribly long and just drags the story out far too much. And obviously I do not like the cat scene - incredibly unnecessary. I just don't really connect to the story either, because if all of this were happening to me I would just beg to be locked up (like, HELLO I'm going fucking insane someone please just put me in a room where I can watch tv all day). It does have some great commentary on suicidal depression and forcing yourself to "smile" through the pain ("I smile, and I smile, and I smile" is still one of my favorite movie quotes of all-time). And the main actress, Sosie Bacon, is really great - and I feel really dumb for only *just* figuring out that she is the daughter of one of my favorite Hollywood couples, Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick. I guess I would have figured it out if I knew her name, but I only knew her face from 13 Reasons Why and Narcos: Mexico. But now that I know who she is, I realize how much she looks like Kyra. I'm interested to see what she does next. On a random side note: how fucking cool is her ex-boyfriend's apartment? 

4. Nope - I'm a big fan of Jordan Peele as a director. I thought Get Out was brilliant, and even though I didn't love Us as much, there are still moments of sheer genius within it. I was all in for this. Plus, Daniel Kaluuya is great - one of my favorite young actors (I prefer him with the British accent, though. Posh Kenneth forever!). I don't know Keke Palmer very well - I think I've only seen her in Scream Queens and the Scream tv show (weird that those two things have no connection to each other). I like her though - she seems sweet and honest, and doesn't seem to take herself too seriously (and I adored the pregnancy announcement - it was so cute!). This is a rare time in which I'm rating a movie higher than how much I personally liked it. It's stunningly made, with every detail perfectly curated - from the sound design, character development, depth and layers of the story, it's all flawless. But....I was kind of bored throughout? It just didn't really hold my interest and that is incredibly disappointing. I felt like maybe the pace was off a little bit, but others seem to disagree. I'm not really sure why I wasn't captivated. It's not something I would ever watch again, while I definitely would watch both Get Out and Us again (maybe even Us more so because I feel like there were little things I missed). I also don't really think it's scary at all, which is fine, but I definitely feel like it's advertised and talked about as a horror movie. It's more Western Sci-fi (although there are some disturbing moments). I think the biggest problem that I have with it is that I don't have much to say about it. I really liked Kaluuya in it, though. His little "nope" throughout the movie really made me smile. And when he manually locks his truck door as if that's going to protect him while the sky is seemingly swallowing everything whole. I giggled. Anyway, as I said, I've rated it higher than my own personal enjoyment simply because it's well-crafted, full of imagination while also explicitly referential, and I can completely understand why film enthusiasts enjoyed it. 

5. The Wonder - This is definitely one of those movies that hit me harder after absorbing it. I rated it 3 stars, but I might reconsider and add a 1/2 star to that. I think the most interesting aspect about it is that if feels dated while watching it, but I can see the connection to modern religious zealots who are willing to put others at risk due to their "beliefs". The story is fairly simple - set in the late 1800s, this nurse is hired to watch a young child who claims that she hasn't eaten anything in months but remains "healthy". Locals start to tout it as a "miracle". It's honestly very boring for the most part, but there is some intrigue in finding out exactly how this miracle is taking place. *slight spoilers ahead* I think I was expecting a straightforward explanation, but the part that really hits strong is that when she explains the "miracle" to this group (of men) that hired her, they completely reject the explanation and turn it on her - she's suddenly the villain for telling the truth. It's really interesting, and unexpected. The score is really beautiful - haunting and mesmerizing. Florence Pugh just gets better and better, yet I don't love her in period pieces (I'll never understand the Oscar nomination for a rather mediocre and miscast role in Little Women). There is something about her that feels too modern. I was excited to see Niamh Algar because she was sooooo great in Censor, so I wanted to see if that was a fluke, but unfortunately she's barely in this so I can't tell yet. I think the only thing I really, really didn't like about this movie is the weird introduction "you are about to watch a movie" part - it's just one of the dumbest things I've seen in a while for a movie like this (and just unnecessary? Did they think that would make it feel modern or cool?). Overall, I definitely liked this but I LOVE that it seems to be sticking with me.