Jackie (2016)

Natalie Portman is just divine. I'm glad she made this triumphant return to serious films. Jackie Kennedy created this fairy tale of Camelot quite brilliantly ex post facto. I actually didn't know how the Camelot analogy came about, but now I do and it's a fascinating study of a grieving woman with a legacy to think about. And Portman plays the part as regal as we imagine Camelot, helped immensely by the gorgeous, glamorous costumes of the 60s. She speaks just like Jackie Kennedy. It's in fact so spot on with the cadence and rise and fall of her voice that it's kind of annoying.  Her regular speech was very breathy like a whisper. Portman is poised and always in control, even when in a vulnerable grieving state. She strictly instructs the journalist on what he is to publish. There is a great philosophical/theological scene with a priest in which we see Jackie in a different position. It is perhaps the only moment she is not in the power position. She listens to him, and genuinely takes what he has to say with authority.

The breathy voice along with the beautiful score by Mica Levi is haunting. It's the perfect word to describe the tone of the movie. The cello is a pretty haunting instrument and the dissonance, from the very first notes at the beginning of the film, give it a creepy vibe. The fantastic use of the Camelot soundtrack contributes to the eerie aura surrounding the Kennedy legacy. The camera is often uncomfortably close to the face. Grief up close is discomfiting. We literally get an intimate look at her.

The story centers around the week following JFK's assassination. There are several flashbacks weaved seamlessly into the plot. It shouldn't work, but this disconnected storytelling does work. The interview with the journalist is used as a vehicle for the flashbacks. There is a very authentic look to the White House Tour and some of the other seemingly archival footage. It is a story that makes you think about legacy. What is legacy? How is it formed? How is it manipulated? And what did JFK do? Our remembrance of JFK is very much colored by the aftermath of his assassination. Thanks, Jackie.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

By no means is it a fun film. No, it's about as depressing as it gets-. I really appreciated the storytelling. Kenneth Lonergan's script is well developed, unfolding in stages, weaving in flashbacks seamlessly, slowly revealing how our characters became the characters they are. It is an emotional story made more so by full fledged characters. Casey Affleck plays the troubled brother of the deceased. He is very good, dealing with grief in his own way. His expression does not change when he is first informed of his brother's death. Grief is a process, and we watch him go through various stages. Lucas Hedges, too, is excellent. His is another approach to grief. He provides some comic relief to the audience. What is perhaps so impressive about the characters are how real them seem. That's why it's so powerful.

Fences (2016)

I've never seen the play, but this is supposedly verbatim from August Wilson's words. This is the first film adaptation of any work of Wilson's. He is an American treasure, and Denzel Washington does an honorable job doing him justice. You don't mess with something that ain't broke. Denzel is an actor's director. He lets the stars (most of all himself) shine. Most of the cast is straight from the 2010 Broadway production, for which Denzel and Viola Davis both won Tonys. The whole cast is excellent. They've gotten some flack for basically just putting on the play in front of a camera. But I don't have a problem with that. Plays tend to have deeper scripts. And they retain all the elements of this essential portrait of American life. 

My Oscars Predictions 2017

ABC finally got Jimmy Kimmel to host the Oscars. Being abroad this year, I don't know if I'll be able to watch the Oscars. I've missed all the other award shows this year. But that being said, I really ought to be able to find it. As global events in 2017, awards shows should be streamable live. If you have exclusive broadcasting rights then it is irresponsible and downright annoying to not give me live access from Italy.

This last week, I've been hurrying to watch the rest of the major nominees. And I finished just in time, seeing all the nominees from the top six categories. Almost all the screenwriting nominees too, save for 20th Century Women. We've gone to the Cineteca di Bologna every week this month. They show films in the original language there instead of dubbing them like they do everywhere else in Italy. It's worth the 30 minute trek across the city, plus it only costs 4.50 for students. This week I saw Fences, and it was my 1000th film logged on Letterboxd. It's a big milestone film for me.

Having gone to Cannes this year, I saw a lot of movies, a lot of very high quality movies and foreign movies. As a result, some of my top 10 is nowhere to be found at the Oscars, like Clash, The Handmaiden and After the Storm. With a record-tying 14 nominations, La La Land is the front-runner by far, and with very good reason. For anyone counting, I'm predicting 10 wins for La La Land, that's losses for Ryan Gosling, costume, Audition and Original Screenplay. The record is 11 for Titanic, Ben-Hur and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. But perhaps 10 is appropriate, because that's how many West Side Story got (one of my other favorites).

Best Picture (in likelihood of winning):
1. La La Land
2. Hidden Figures
3. Moonlight
4. Hacksaw Ridge
5. Manchester by the Sea
6. Arrival
7. Lion
8. Hell or High Water
9. Fences

Best Picture (personal ranking):
1. La La Land
2. Arrival
3. Moonlight
4. Hell or High Water
5. Fences
6. Lion
7. Manchester by the Sea
8. Hidden Figures
9. Hacksaw Ridge

Best Director:
Will Win/Should Win: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Second Choice: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
The wunderkind will become the youngest ever winner of the Best Director Oscar at just 32. Jenkins was arguably more emotionally invested in his personal story, so I feel bad that he isn't going to win this one. Denis Villeneuve will one day get his, but this is not his year.

Best Actress:
Will Win: Emma Stone (La La Land)
Should Win: Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Natalie Portman is just divine, but Emma Stone's character is every member of the acting branch. And don't get me started on Elle. Sure, Isabelle Huppert has never been nominated for an Oscar, but Elle was just offensive on so many levels, surely liberal Hollywood felt the same way?

Best Actor:
Will Win/Should Win: Denzel Washington (Fences)
Second Choice: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
This is probably the closest acting race. Affleck was the favorite for a long time, especially before the sexual harassment allegations (years old allegations sunk Nate Parker's chances and I suspect it will pull down Affleck too), but Denzel is the master and has already won a Tony for this role. Some have criticized him for being too theatrical, but I don't see anything wrong with that.

Best Supporting Actress:
Will Win/Should Win: Viola Davis (Fences)
Second Choice: Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Though it's arguably a co-leading role, Davis already has a Tony for this role and will finally have her Oscar after Meryl stole her Oscar for the Help.

Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win/Should Win: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Second Choice: Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
He may only be in a third of the film, but his performance is very affecting.

Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: Moonlight
Should Win: Arrival
This will be the consolation award for Barry Jenkins.

Original Screenplay:
Will Win: Manchester by the Sea
Should Win: Hell or High Water
This is tough one. My gut says go with the La La Land bandwagon, but I think voters will choose to honor Manchester by the Sea here, a consolation prize for Kenneth Lonergan. Chazelle will have his chance to go up on stage for Direction. The Lobster fell apart in the second half. And I haven't seen 20th Century Women yet.

Cinematography:
Will Win: La La Land
Should Win: Silence
La La Land is just so beautifully shot that it can't lose. But I think Silence should win; it's not easy to make torture look so good.

Costume Design:
Will Win: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I haven't seen all the films in this category, but I'm picking the legendary Colleen Atwood.

Film Editing:
Will Win/Should Win: La La Land

Makeup and Hairstyling:
Will Win: A Man Called Ove
I didn't see A Man Called Ove, but I think it must take something really special for a foreign film to get nominated in a below-the-line category. The first Star Trek movie actually won this award, if anyone remembers.

Production Design:
Will Win/Should Win: La La Land
Because did you see the Griffith Observatory and the party and Los Angeles? I haven't seen Passengers yet.

Best Score:
Will Win/Should Win: La La Land
This is probably the surest award of the night cause it's a musical. I haven't heard Passengers, but all the rest of the nominees are all beautiful in their own way.

Best Song:
Will Win/Should Win: City of Stars (La La Land)
I really want to see Lin Manuel Miranda win an EGOT for his song from Moana, and maybe he will if La La Land splits the vote, but I suspect he'll have more chances in the future. This is La La Land's show.

Sound Editing:
Will Win: La La Land
This is typically the loud blow-em-up category, good for Hacksaw Ridge, but I think voters will just vote La La Land down the line. I haven't seen Deepwater Horizon.

Sound Mixing:
Will Win: La La Land
I haven't seen all the nominees, but I think the musical will win the sound mixing award.

Visual Effects:
Will Win: The Jungle Book
Should Win: Kubo and the Two Strings
Yes, literally the whole Jungle Book is visual effects and it looks so darn real. But it's very rare an animation is nominated for visual effects and they do some pretty amazing things too.

Animated Feature:
Will Win: Zootopia
Should Win: Kubo and the Two Strings
I didn't see Moana yet, but it has been an excellent year for animation, especially in a year when the Pixar heir isn't nominated, nor Your Name (directed by the supposed new Miyazaki). I loved My Life as a Courgette, but Kubo and the Two Strings was amazing. Zootopia was great too, but more typical.

Documentary Feature:
Will Win: 13th
I've only seen 13th. I know the front runner is the towering epic OJ, but how many people actually sat through the whole thing? I think a lot of people won't vote for it because it's TV disguised as a movie. Plus, they snubbed Ava Duvernay for Selma a few years back.

Foreign Language Film:
Will Win: The Salesman (Iran)
Should Win: Toni Erdmann (Germany)
I haven't seen all of the films in this category. But Toni Erdmann was actually the funniest movie I've ever seen. In a normal presidency it would win, but Asghar Faradhi boycotting the Oscars is a better story. I think there will be a whole lot of protest votes for him in liberal Hollywood. Moreover, South Korea didn't submit The Handmaiden, Japan didn't submit After the Storm, and Egypt's The Clash wasn't nominated, some of the best movies of the year.

Best Animated Short:
Will Win: Borrowed Time
I only saw Borrowed Time and Piper and both were great.

Best Documentary Short:
Will Win: Watani My Homeland
Should Win: Extremis
Watani is the only one I didn't see. But I've heard some very good things about it. Plus Syria is in the news nonstop. Extremis was the best one I saw. It was really powerful. Joe's Violin was powerful too, and I usually wouldn't bet against the Holocaust movie, but it was a little rougher around the edges. I fell asleep watching The White Helmets, sorry. And 4.1 Miles could've come straight from a 60 Minutes profile.

Best Live Action Short:
Will Win: La Femme et la TGV
Haven't seen any of them so your guess is as good as mine.

Results: I scored a dismal 14/24. It was almost unthinkable that La La Land would lose the top prize but Moonlight was at least a worthy winner (though the whole envelope mishap really undermined the surprising nature of the win). I kind of saw it coming when La La Land lost both sound categories and then the film editing category too. That was a bad omen. I thought Jimmy Kimmel did very well as host. Some were predicting that Barry Jenkins would win director and La La Land would win Best Picture, but few were predicting a split the other way. Side note, I think John Legend is fine but he John Legend-ified the two songs from La La Land, and I did not like his rendition. His style is distinctive and it didn't work for these songs. And on another note, shame works. How do you get Hollywood to vote for people of color? Shame them and don't stop. There is work still to be done.

Evita (UK Touring Production) (2017)

I didn't love Evita. I saw it at the Edinburgh Playhouse on a weekend trip. We happened to pass by and saw it was the last night of Evita. It was great for 20 pounds, but the theater wasn't full for a reason. Mostly because the music isn't that recognizable or good, other than Don't Cry For Me Argentina. But also, the story is kind of boring and the story isn't very clear in Act I. Act II plays out more traditionally, but Act I was a little all over the place. It portrays Eva Peron in a rather negative light, which I didn't know about the show. I don't quite understand the symbolism of Che, the narrator. Apparently, he's not Che Guevara, but the name and mannerism is not a coincidence.

The actress that played Evita was actually pretty good. And the set was well done, including the iconic balcony. In this production, it is in three parts, and it moves, being repurposed in different scenes. My biggest problem with this production was that the sound was way too loud. I couldn't actually understand what they were saying because the speakers were overpowering. 

Hidden Figures (2016)

Hidden Figures is an excellent, straightforward crowd pleaser. It highlights three African American women at West Area Computers division at NASA who faced challenges at every turn. It is an important story for our generation, hopefully inspiring girls and African Americans and other POCs to enter STEM fields. The story draws attention to the fact that minorities need to be so much more brilliant to achieve the same level as less brilliant white men.  Octavia Spencer's character has the foresight to see that her division is about to become obsolete and being so self-reliant, she teaches herself Fortran. Not only that, she teaches her co-workers Fortran to keep them relevant and indispensable. They need to be that much better to keep their jobs. Also, I think it's hilarious that computer was a human job. From the perspective of 2017, it's funny to think about doing all that math by hand. It sounds like a nightmare.

I thought Pharrell and Hans Zimmer's music was very fitting for the era. The acting is all phenomenal.  Octavia Spencer is the Oscar-nominee, but i think Taraji P. Henson steals the show in her pivotal outburst. And Janelle Monae has had some amazing year.                                            

The Taste of Betel Nut (Bing lang xue) (2017)

This Chinese film seems kind of student-like at times. By that I mean that it doesn't really have a sense of what it wants to be. There are some beautiful shots, but the style varies. Further, there is a compelling love triangle that is not properly resolved. The movie's resolution actually comes from an outside force, a side-plot that was rather insignificant in the grand scheme of the plot. I think that outside obstruction was an unnecessary diversion from the central plot, which is consequently left open. I'm not sure how to interpret the ending.

There is very little dialogue in the movie. The main protagonists live happily together. Nothing needs to be said. It is with the introduction of a third character, a disruptor in paradise, do we add dialogue. Funnily enough, their voices don't sound like they look. At times the movie seems a little cheesy, in a supremely Chinese way. I think Korean and Japanese films have found their way into the Western mainstream, but Chinese movies retain very Chinese elements that I think Western audiences don't appreciate. For example, the different styles of music from the cheesy loud pop to the deep heavy piano sound very Chinese. It's not a bad thing, but I think it is very distinctive.

We get a look at life in Hainan, allegedly the Hawaii of China. It is really pretty. It is a provincial side of China I do not often see. They oddly speak a combination of Mandarin and Cantonese. They have their own customs and dress.