4 Thoughts on The Emmys

1. The Host - Wow, I didn't think it could get any worse than the miserable guys from SNL from a few years back (Colin something and Michael Che? That sounds right?), but Cedric the Entertainer was...horrible. First, I don't think many people in the audience got what he was even talking about for most of it because everything was very dated. A Tom Brady Super Bowl joke? An "all flies matter" joke about Pence? Those things happened AGES ago. And he kept bringing up his own shows that, maybe, the CBS audience might know about, but certainly not a wide audience. I mean, I laughed at his Martin joke, but then I was like, really? A joke about Martin in 2021? Everything just landed with a big thud, which is definitely disappointing because the opening was cute with everyone in the audience singing "Just a Friend", which is such an infectious song - I'm sure it will now be stuck in my head for weeks. I also didn't mind the "Where's my f-ing Emmy" skit, only because Fred Savage appeared. 

2. The Show - Unfortunately, I had a triple whammy of having had too much to drink just hours before, getting my period (TMI, I don't care) and then, about 30 minutes in, getting a migraine in my left eye so bad that I usually would have locked myself away in a very dark, soundless room, but I made it through the show with one eye trying to focus on the disaster before me. But, it was more disappointing for me because I actually enjoy scrolling twitter during awards shows for hilarious commentary, but when I get migraines I literally can't look at a phone screen (I'll never understand people who tweet "I have such a migraine!". I often don't believe them because why are you essentially making things worse for yourself by tweeting? To gain sympathy from strangers, I guess? I mean, I tweet random crap too - it's nice to just vent sometimes, but the migraine thing is weird to me). Anyway, the experience was not fun, and I contemplated going to bed several times, but then I kept telling myself that it was almost over - except it never was. It lasted for-fucking-ever. And other than the host being a complete disaster, there wasn't much else to it. The presenters all did...fine? Nothing too memorable. I think the problem was mostly with the speeches - everyone just took so fucking long, and some completely ignored the music playing them off multiple times. Sometimes this works, and comes off as endearing, but also the production team is trying to stick to a schedules, so, like, say thank you and then shut the fuck up! Also, how did I not realize that Debbie Allen from Grey's Anatomy is the Debbie Allen? My brain never put that together at all, which is weird because she looks the same. I never realized how much she did behind the scenes, and from that montage of all that she has accomplished, it's refreshing to see someone who deserves the praise actually win such a big honor (unlike someone...like...*cough* Tyler Perry *cough). 

3. The Winners - I expected Ted Lasso and The Crown to completely dominate the awards this year, and I think they are both absolutely deserving of it. I'm fully on board the Ted Lasso train. Choo-fucking-choo!! If you told me two years ago that I would be rooting for Jason Sudeikis (the most boring, mediocre comedian around) to win an award, I would have laughed at you. But when things like this happen, I actually applaud myself for my ability to be open-minded about performances. I truly do watch everything with a blank slate and will fully admit when someone that I may have never liked before turns in a performance of a lifetime. Sudeikis is absolute perfection in this role - his positivity is infectious, his comedic timing is perfect, and more recently he has driven a really emotionally resonating storyline with such a natural ease. As for the supporting cast - Hannah Waddingham is spectacular, and I was rooting for Brendan Hunt over Brett Goldstein (Coach Beard is my favorite), but people love Roy Kent (for good reason), so I'm not complaining about his win. And also, speaking of actors I don't usually like, Juno Temple is winning me over with this role too (it's slow, but it's definitely happening). The Crown is a more established show that the Emmys have been awarding since the beginning, and I still maintain that it is deserving of every one of them (but I'm so glad Emma Corrin didn't win - I think if they went for Supporting, they might have won). The winners for the Limited Series categories were pretty split between Mare of Easttown and The Queen's Gambit, with Mare winning the performance categories and The Queen's Gambit winning production and series. I think that was a bit expected, but I do think Anya should have won over Kate (Winslet's performance was very uneven for me). And I actually wasn't expecting Evan Peters to take the win, but I'm pretty happy with that result. Julianne Nicholson has been in the game for years and has been severely underrated, so it's really nice to see her get some recognition. 

4. The Fashion - I think one of the reasons that I was looking forward to this is because I was hoping it felt "normal". Last year's Emmys were literally called the "pandemmys" and they had people in fucking hazmat suits giving out awards. Like, just think about that for a second. The past 20 months have just been so fucking wild and unbelievable, but I know so many people who are at their limit (including myself) and I'm worried about what's going to happen if people don't start feeling that normalcy soon. There's still a part of me that wonders if throwing a big awards celebration and having celebrities wear overly expensive dresses and jewels during a pandemic is wildly inappropriate, but a bigger part of me longs for it. Plus, I fully believe how you look effects how you feel about yourself - and so many people found themselves working from home wearing sweat pants every day, and I just went in the complete opposite direction. I wore a dress almost every day to work - the brightest and boldest I could find in my closet because I knew it would lift my mood even ever so slightly. So, with that being said, I love the fashion at awards shows. The bright colors trend definitely dominated with stunning looks from Kaley Cuoco and Michaela Coel. Keri Russell also looked stunning (and I saw her on a few worst lists...what?!). I also really loved Samira Wiley's suit - even though it was black, it had this really amazing sparkle to it and she just glowed in it. Also, on the men's side - I love men in velvet suits, so Sudeikis was perfect, but also I died when I saw Brendan Hunt's top hat and cane (it's hilariously perfect for him). As for the worst, I don't like to do it, but sometimes I can't help myself (and this has no correlation to the person, just the dress), but what was Aidy Bryant wearing?? It looked like she was going to a high school renaissance fair. I know a lot of people liked Anya's dress, but it looked far too prom like for me (it was mostly the combo of that dress with that hair that did it). And why was Annie Murphy wearing a bathrobe??? But truly the worst - Emma Corrin - the unflattering color, fit, matching gloves with those claw-like nails, topped (literally) with a bonnet. I can't even look at them with a straight face. 

Thoughts on 5 Films

1. The Mauritanian - I didn't know much about this movie. I think it went fairly under the radar until Jodie Foster earned some acting nominations for it. The real story is fascinating, but I feel like the film is not really telling us anything we don't already know (torture = bad; Guantanamo Bay = especially bad). It's well-acted - particularly by Foster and Tahar Rahim (not so much a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch's southern accent), but I don't really feel like it has anything memorable or emotional - and this story should be emotional. It doesn't even get to the particularly interesting part of the story until an hour and 40 minutes in and I became so bored that I just spent most of the time skimming through Wikipedia for the true story instead. The story is actually ENRAGING, but I think the film is just so...formulaic (I'm actually surprised that it wasn't embraced even more by awards circles - it's definitely the type of movie that the Academy, in particular, loves to award). It just never hits the notes that it should. And once again, the real footage at the end broke my heart way more than the entire movie. 

2. Cinderella (2021) - I would LOVE to stick up for this reimagined version of this classic fairytale, but so many unfortunate choices were made. SO. MANY. I was already disappointed by initial reactions (and the trailer was rough), so I had reservations going into it, but still hopeful that it could be fun. It's not. It's actually quite dull and uninspiring. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what the issue is, but I think it's mostly a combination of the aforementioned unfortunate choices. First, the casting is a huge miss. I don't know much about Camila Cabello, other than that "Havana" song that was on repeat on every radio station for like a year. I think I would be able to forgive her bland performance...if she could sing? I actually feel bad typing this out, but her voice is horrendous. Obviously, James Corden is a huge misfire, but luckily he's not in it enough to cause any real damage. And casting Billy Porter in the Fairy Godmother role is somehow both inspiring and completely obvious that it's...boring. Plus, I don't know the actor that plays the Prince, but he is not hot, can't sing, and is so unmemorable that if you showed me a picture of him I highly doubt I would not recognize him. Second, the pop song mash-up trend is, sadly, over. Glee did it well (mostly), but the Pitch Perfect trilogy really overdid it so much that I just role my eyes at anything that attempts to do it. I should have guessed it would be used here (Kay Cannon wrote the Pitch Perfect movies). Even the cover songs are dull - and after that disastrous promotional traffic stop debacle, I can't listen to "Let's Get Loud" ever again. Third, the one thing that really should have shined is the costume design - she wants to create beautiful dresses (more on this in a sec), but the ones she designs are basically copies of Marchesa Notte (current master of the 3D floral dresses). I would have loved a modern version of classic Cinderella's ice blue gown (the 2015 film version stuck to the traditional version). And last, the whole "girlboss" version of Cinderella is soooo...nonsensical. She's so overly confident, especially for someone who is essentially being abused by her step-family. The whole thing just makes my head hurt thinking about it. The *only* good thing is that if you watch close enough Nandi Bushell makes a quick appearance kicking ass on the drums (I literally screamed out loud "IS THAT NANDI?! I love her). 

3. Kate - Wow. So I looked at my list of films watched to see what movies I was going to write this newest post on, and I honestly just blanked so hard on this movie (questioning "I watched a movie called Kate? What the fuck? Did I, really?"). That's how unmemorable and generic this female-led assassin action film is. And I stress the "female-led" part because they are literally all the same - you can interchange this with Ava, Atomic Blonde, Gunpowder Milkshake, Jolt etc., and just set it in Japan and you have this movie. I'm a big fan of Mary Elizabeth Winstead (seriously, I think she should have been nominated for an Oscar for her performance in 10 Cloverfield Lane, and does anyone remember that show BrainDead? It was actually pretty good! Definitely deserving of more than one season). But, I don't like her at all here. She's just oddly so dry. And I'll never believe that this little tiny woman can over-power a group of men twice her size (and I didn't believe it when Jessica Chastain, Kate Beckinsale or Karen Gillan did it either - but somehow, Charlize is totally believable). There's also a whole lot about this plot that just doesn't make sense - like, why poison? Wouldn't they kill her in the quickest way possible (also didn't they steal this plot from Crank? Which, oddly I JUST RECENTLY WATCHED FOR THE FIRST TIME and it is awesome). And why did she choose to steal the most noticeable car I've ever seen? It's literally glowing with neon lights (LOL). I will say that the scene with her walking in, all covered in dirt and blood, with the bright white sunglasses, cigarette lightly hanging from her lips, is fucking killer, though. It's a shame that they widely used it for promotion, so the scene itself has very little impact. 

4. Malignant - This was not something I had on my list of new releases to watch right away. I thought it would be something I watched years from now (as I do with many horror movies). But then the reactions started to come in, and most called it completely bonkers (in a seemingly good way, and also everyone was very careful about not including anything spoilery in their assessment which is always appreciated, but it also got me very curious). Luckily, it's one those movies released on HBO Max concurrently with its theater release, so I moved it right to the top. I LOVE the HBO Max deal that was made this year (much better than Disney+ in which you still have to pay the same amount of money as seeing it in a theater, which is frankly bullshit). I know it's not going to continue after all the debacles with actor/director contracts and disputes, but it's nice while it lasts. Anyway, it's exactly as described - just absolutely bonkers. I don't think it's as good as everyone is claiming, but I appreciate that it really goes for it - and to get slightly spoilery - the whole film shifts to something quite indescribable during the prison cell scene (complete with a Foxy Cleopatra and Aileen Wuornos cosplay characters). For most of the movie, I was pretty indifferent - the story is interesting, the murders are gory (but not really scary), I like Annabelle Wallis (ugh, she was my favorite character in Peaky Blinders. I just loved her so much). There's also some surprisingly great dialogue - "How many times do I have to watch my children die inside of you?" is perhaps the meanest thing I've ever heard an abuser say and he definitely deserved a gruesome death for it. Also "So I'm putting out a BOLO for Sloth from The Goonies?" made me laugh. However, I was mostly really confused by all the praise. I think the "twist" is obvious (and now I'm getting really spoilery, so please stop reading) - I wrote down "her conjoined twin is the malignant cancer, obviously". But I couldn't quite put together how they were going to wrap it all together to make the story cohesive (and somehow mind-blowing at the same time). I just thought they would explain that she has some sort of psychic visions because of the "twin" thing that somehow was triggered by her head injury. But, the film goes for crazy. Truly crazy. And it basically turns into a monster movie, which is definitely an unexpected surprise. I can definitely see this turning into a whole franchise. 

5. Four Good Days - This story has been done before, of a parent dealing with their addict child - the dichotomy of trying to help but also letting go of someone who isn't committed to helping themselves, most recently with Ben is Back and Beautiful Boy. Both of those movies are quite mediocre, and this one joins them (only it's about privileged white girl drug addict instead). It's honestly surprising how many bad movies Glenn Close chooses to participate in. I'm pretty sure this was seen as Oscar-bait on paper (as I'm sure Hillbilly Elegy was as well), and I think Mila Kunis probably thought this might be her moment to be taken more seriously. I adore Mila and I think she is stunningly beautiful, but she's not a good dramatic actress. Addiction, itself, is really scary, but there is something really harrowing about heroin addiction because it just destroys your body (I mean, alcohol and cocaine does to, but heroin is much more outwardly noticeable). But I find it hard to believe that this woman is so destroyed that she has sores all over, and has lost her teeth, but she still maintains those perfectly drawn in eyebrows?? (also, on a ridiculous side-note, as personal preference I think drawn in eyebrows look terrible. I love makeup, but this trend is just so distracting sometimes). Anyway, overall it's not something that I'm going to remember. I was really hoping for an incredible devastating ending - I was definitely prepped for it, but then...it wimps out. Just complete mediocrity in every sense of the word.   

Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Reminiscence - This movie had a lot of good things going for it: (1) It's written & directed by Lisa Joy. She co-created Westworld, which isn't the most consistent show, but it certainly has its moments of sheer brilliance. (2) When people discuss "the greats" among actors, I think Hugh Jackman is often overlooked. He's one of the most versatile actors, which I think proves far more talent than most actors who "stay in their lane". He can do musicals, rom-coms, iconic superhero roles, and dark adult dramas all with a natural ease. I always look forward to anything he does because even if I don't end up liking it, I know that there will be a solid performance, at the very least. (3) It looks beautiful - the futuristic neo-noir vibe is usually something that sucks me right in. So, needless to say, I was ready for this. And, it's not bad, necessarily, but for me, it's something worse than bad - it's forgettable. Strikingly average. It's very boring, repetitive, and about 40 minutes too long. It does look pretty, but that only gets you so far. And speaking of pretty, I usually like Rebecca Ferguson but this reminded me of the one time I didn't - in another Hugh Jackman movie, The Greatest Showman, because she was really miscast. Why is she given singing roles? Is she a singer? Because...she can't sing. Her voice is incredibly bland and average and...soulless. In this she's supposed to have this mysterious, sexy night club singer vibe (complete with a Jessica Rabbit red dress), and it just doesn't work for me at all. Plus, the whole "all endings are sad especially if the story is happy" theme is so overdone - we get it, it doesn't need to be repeated a dozen times. The story was definitely dumbed down for a wider audience, which is always disappointing. 

2. Annette - Well, I didn't love this movie, but I certainly took a lot of notes while watching it (I always write little notes while watching things because I forget stuff so easily). I am a huge fan of Holy Motors, even thought I didn't fully understand it - it's oddly beautiful, and as previously mentioned, for someone with memory problems - it's unforgettable. I was expecting to be perplexed by Annette, but it's actually far more cohesive than Holy Motors. There are still moments of having that "what the fuck am I watching" feeling, for instance - any scene that features Baby Annette, but overall I don't think it's something that will stick with me. The weirdness of it all doesn't feel as organic as it does in Holy Motors. I've said it many times, but I'm not the biggest fan of Adam Driver, but when he's good, he's really good (Star Wars and The Dead Don't Die are movies that I liked him in...everything else can get thrown in the garbage. I said what I said.). And, this may be a little bit of of side rant, but also not, because this film has a main theme of celebrity culture, paparazzi, and actors as performance artists, but Driver, in real life, comes off as such an asshole to me. I *know* that he struggles with social anxiety, and as someone who also struggles with it, I have to call bullshit on that as an excuse to be rude. He gets paid (a significantly large amount of money) to represent a film. Some argue that actors are just paid to act and they don't have to cater to fans, but I completely disagree. They sign contracts that involve promoting their projects - and there is a certain level of fame that comes with projects that is easy to avoid if you can't handle it (but signing on to do Star Wars and then trying to opt out of the fame part is idiotic). Also, I don't think actors have to cater to fans in their private life - like if they are out at a bar with their friends at a non-industry event they should be left the fuck alone. Anyway, that's my rant on the subject (in summary: social anxieties are not an excuse to be rude during press tours). I absolutely think that he took this role as some sort of commentary on his relationship with fame and the media, but it's incredibly eye-rolling. As is his stand-up "comedic" acts in this movie - I'm not sure what these performances are supposed to be? Funny? Insightful? Disarming? It's none of these. It reminds me of that Bo Burnham special that everyone raves about that I really, really, really don't want to watch (please don't make me). There are things that I like about the movie, for sure, like the opening musical number, the 360 tracking shot of the conducting scene is stunning, and Marion Cotillard is always spectacular. But it just gets exhausting to watch - the symbolism is so in-your-face (the half-bitten apple, the waltz during the storm, the creepy fucking puppet child...we get it!). I was not really expecting it to take such a dark turn - eerily inspired by Natalie Wood's death (and how odd that I'm currently reading a biography on her!). Oh and the only other thing that is worth mentioning, but also a very minor irk that I have with this movie, is that she's a world-famous Hollywood...opera singer? So famous that paparazzi follow her everywhere. Uh...ok? I dare you to name one famous opera singer who has been featured on TMZ. 

3. Cruella - So, this is actually kind of good! I was (and still am) skeptical of how they can create a story that basically asks the audience to sympathize with a dog killer, but they do a good job of avoiding the issue altogether really (the whole "Dalmatians killed my mother" plot that was heavily criticized by film twitter, isn't actually a plot - she actually blames herself for her mother's death). Instead, it's an origin story of how Cruella became the voice of a fashion empire. I think it works so well because we do see her be a little bit of a trouble-maker right from childhood. And I also like that she's not turned evil because of a man (like in Maleficent and Oz the Great and Powerful). Obviously, I enjoyed the fashion bits - especially that it's an unexpected ode to the early punk fashion that emerged in London in the mid 70s. The costume design is just glorious - from the metal tie to the garbage dress. I am thoroughly stunned by the creativity and showmanship of some of the designs. Other things I liked about this: Paul Walter Hauser's comedic timing, watching the two Emmas out act each other in every scene, the use of one of my all-time favorite songs "Hush", and, of course, the cutest dog ever that I would give my life for - Winky. I have some criticisms (Stone's accent, the obvious plot twists, the length), but overall, it held my attention, made me smile, and has quite a few gasp worthy moments. I look forward to the sequel.

4. CODA - As I've previously said in some posts, learning ASL is one of my goals this year - and, unfortunately, it's not going great. I haven't quite figured out a technique that solves my memory problems (I'll remember how to sign words and phrases for a few weeks but then my mind goes completely blank). I tried really hard to follow the signing used here, but it was way too hard. I heard mixed things about this movie, and that it's specifically criticized for its depiction of deaf people as a "burden", but I do think that being the only hearing person in a family would be...a burden, especially for a teenage girl who is trying to find herself and her own passions independent of her family. And I trust that if Marlee Matlin is involved, someone who has been changing the industry from the inside for the past 30 years, then it's a relevant story for the deaf community and it's done with respect (but everyone is offended by something nowadays, which is fine, but that doesn't mean that your experience is everyone's experience). Overall, I like this movie - it's cute, well-acted, and tells an interesting story. It's also very average for this type of story (just as I saw criticism, I also saw some claiming this their favorite of the year, which is crazy to me. But people also rate an enormous amount of films 4-5 stars, which is also absurd. Most films are 3 stars. I don't think there's been a 5 star film since 2011). There are a few really funny moments - like how the father listens to rap music really loudly (which is also a coincidence because just the day before I watched this, I was showing someone that hilarious video of the interpreter during a live performance of "WAP", and they questioned why there are interpreters at concerts so I explained that deaf people can feel the beat so this way they can also know what the lyrics are and THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE ME and said that it's just a way for musicians to seem "woke". *stares blankly into the void*). I also think it's funny that the father hates Boston ("that city is full of assholes". True story.). And even though it is completely expected, the ending is full of emotions - the scene leading up to it with the parents watching her sing in the choir is so well done. It got me. 

5. Jungleland - I had never heard of this movie, but it stars two favorite men of mine - Charlie Hunnam and Jack O'Connell, AS BROTHERS (not quite as good as the Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund as brothers casting, but still somehow also perfect). I've gushed about Charlie Hunnam before (super hot), but I rarely get to talk about O'Connell because he's not in enough!! He needs to be in everything! Far better actor than 90% of actors his age (also, he's super hot). I didn't really think much could really be added to the genre of "boxing" films, but I appreciate that this focuses more on the relationship between these two brothers and that they are just trying to make ends meet. They get caught up with a crime family and are tasked to transport a kidnapped young woman, and you can kind of guess the rest of the story from there. It's a quiet little character driven film that has potential, but it just never quite gets there. It also becomes a little unbelievable and ridiculous (if you knew that your daughter was hanging out with "a bad crowd" and she just showed up at your door with two strange men with her, would you let them in...and...then make dinner for them?? Just absolutely stupid). Proper solid ending, though.