Women Talking. That’s entirely what this movie was. Women talking. A more intelligent person than me would have known ahead of time. However, my decision was based on the months of anticipation surrounding this movie’s Oscar-time release and the outstanding critic (90%) and audience (86%) scores it has received. Women Talking was an all-too-familiar example of a movie receiving a Christmas-time release to be as fresh as possible at the start of the awards season, failing to meet its hype. While a good film, Women Talking offers little originality. Sadly, it isn’t very memorable.
Category Archives: Frances McDormand
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
Talk about The tragedy of being bored. Now and then, a movie earns more undeserved praise than it is worth because of an established director securing multiple acting heavyweights. The most recent example I can think of was in 2017 when Steven Spielberg combined with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks for The Post; the movie was dubbed an Oscar lock, especially after 2015’s fantastic movie Spotlight (also about a newspaper reporting a highly publicized scandal) received six Academy Award nominations, including two wins. Drab, The Post failed to meet expectations, earning just six Academy Award nominations and winning just two.
Nomadland (2020)
I listened to a podcast about Chloe Zhao’s (Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider) Nomadland and how this might feel like a top ten movie in a typical year but maybe closer to the back five range rather than a front-runner for best film of the year. I agreed with that sentiment and wished I had said that myself. Like so much else associated with the year 2020, with a few exceptions, this year of films will quickly be forgotten. The fact that Nomadland is the clubhouse leader to win Best Picture at the time of this March 1st post seems incredible to me. I thought 2019 was a bad year, but it still produced memorable movies such as 1917, Ad Astra, and Parasite that will be remembered for years. While there are still a few movies I have yet to see that I think I’ll enjoy (most notably Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Trial of the Chicago 7), I have seen the other movies that likely will earn a nomination for Best Picture. It’s the weakest list I’ve seen in a long time, coming off a year in which I had said the same thing.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
In an Oscar season that hasn’t been so much a run of disappointing movies as much as has been movies that didn’t whet the appetite, Martin McDonagh’s (Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has a chance to finish in my Top 10 movies of the Year. In contrast, I wouldn’t have had a chance since I began writing this blog in 2010. While I enjoyed its dark theme, its complex characters, and even, to an extent, its quirkiness, this movie was close to perfect. It is a lock for the Best Picture nomination, which shows just how down the year 2017 is for the film.
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Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
Romantic comedies are very rarely my thing. I often try to avoid them like the plague. There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule. If it’s a Rated-R raunchy romantic comedy like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, There’s Something About Mary, etc. I’m in. But those movies have become their brand. Before 1997, you didn’t see movies like this made. I’m talking about the PG or PG-13 romantic comedies. I like Notting Hill, Garden State, and, of course, Groundhog Day. And I think movies like My Best Friend’s Wedding, Hitch, High Fidelity, etc. are serviceable. With Something’s Gotta Give, the film sought me out rather than vice versa. Somehow when I clicked the like button on Netflix, a list of other movies came up, and I guess I clicked on the picture of the film and added it to my list. I don’t remember doing this. So when it arrived and I ripped open the envelope with excitement, a “What the f*** is this?” comment and a look of befuddlement was an understatement. So there it sat next to my television for a couple of weeks. In the back of my mind, I knew I would give it a chance. It did earn high marks on Rotten Tomatoes, and it did have a star-studded cast. It would have a short rope, but it would get a chance. I’m glad I did. It was far from a great movie, but, despite some severe flaws, it was entertaining enough to recommend a watch. With that said, this movie is a one-and-done for me. I won’t ever watch it again. One of the reasons I do this blog is so that I can remember the movies I watch. It is much easier to read a five-minute summary.
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