2022 Oscars: A Recap

I will eventually get around to discussing the winners, highlights, and lowlights of the 94th Academy Awards.   However, the only topic on anyone's mind is Will Smith slapping presenter Chris Rock after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett-Smith's haircut.   Rock commented that he can't wait to see Pinkett-Smith in "G.I. Jane 2".  The look on Jada's face told the whole story.  She was furious.   Smith laughed at the joke initially, but after seeing Jada's stink eye, Smith obviously couldn't abide the joke.  

As Rock continued to present, Will Smith walked on stage and towards Rock.  I was assuming, like nearly everyone watching, that Smith might jokingly confront Rock or perhaps hit him with a zinger of his own.  Smith hit him with a zinger all right, but not the verbal kind.   In a surreal moment in which I couldn't tell whether this was a bit, Smith slapped Rock.   After roughly twenty seconds of silence caused by the seven-second delay, I realized this wasn't a bit or a skit, but Smith struck Rock.  Where was security?  Why didn't they rush to intercept Smith?  

It turns out Smith cursed at Rock telling him to:  "Keep my wife's name out of your f****** mouth."  Rock responded that Rock "smacked the shit out of him" and further stated this was the best night in the history of the Oscars.   It is among the most controversial to be sure.   The slap added another dimension to a show which clocked in at nearly three hours and forty minutes.   

When he won his expected Best Actor Oscar, he cried and apologized to the academy and to his fellow nominees, although not to Rock.   He assaulted another man on live television in front of a worldwide audience.  Smith's actions cast a tense pall over the rest of the evening and his justifications during his speech were lame at best.  The elephant in the room was hardly addressed.  A less famous person would likely be sitting in a jail cell this morning after being arrested or at least have been escorted from the theater.   Why was Smith allowed to return to his seat and spend the rest of the show in his seat as if nothing had happened?   It was roughly 45 to 60 minutes before Smith was named Best Actor.  The Academy stated they thought about removing him, but they couldn't get the head honchos together in time to make a decision.   Huh?   And on Monday afternoon, the Academy condemned Smith's behavior and promised an investigation.  What is there to investigate?  Millions saw Smith slap Rock in the face, walk back to his seat, and no consequences were issued.    Even the audience shockingly gave Smith a standing ovation when he won.   Aren't these the folks who have publicly condemned others for far lesser offenses?   Yet, Smith got a pass.   Don't be fooled by proclamations of outrage and promises of investigations.   At the very least, Smith should not be allowed to attend future ceremonies or present Best Actress next year. 

The audience surely wondered how Smith would address the scuffle.   He attempted to justify his actions by stating he was like Richard Williams and would protect his family.   Smith further described himself as a "vessel of love".  He may be on any other night.   But not this one.   Was Smith out of line?  Absolutely.  There are better ways to handle such a situation and certainly in not such a public manner.  Should comedians at award shows now have to worry about an offended person assaulting them?  You might expect that type of retaliation from a nightclub patron, but from a peer at the Oscars?  Was the joke iffy in taste?  Maybe.  Your mileage may vary because comedy, like many things, is a matter of taste.  But that is hardly the point.   

Everyone has their own opinion on the Smith-Rock confrontation.   Let's get to the rest of the show:

* No matter who the hosts are, having an Oscar host will guarantee the show will creep towards midnight before finally ending.   The hosts Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall were no better or worse than recent hosts.   The trouble is:  With a host, writers now have to create lame bits which are peppered into the show.   The writers are now forced to find a host something to do.  Very little of what Schumer, Sykes, or Hall said or did will be memorable.  It isn't their fault.   They are just working the material given to them.  

*  Boy, did The Power of the Dog lose all momentum following its initial Golden Globe win and its early Best Picture favorite status.   Jane Campion's Best Director Oscar is the only award tallied for the film, although Sykes said she watched the movie three times and is only halfway through it.   That was the funniest joke of the night.   Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, nor Campion attempted to slap Sykes.   

*  CODA is an example of a film with momentum taking home the Best Picture Oscar.   The Producer's Guild Award and SAG Award for Cast in a Motion Picture were recent and paved the way for the first ever exclusively streamed film to win Best Picture.   The Power of the Dog reminded me of 2019's 1917, which saw its early momentum stalled by Parasite's win at the SAG awards.   

*  Dune nearly swept the technical awards with six Oscar wins, doubling CODA's haul.  Although CODA won all three awards for which it was nominated, including Troy Kotsur for Best Supporting Actor and Sian Heder's Adapted Screenplay.   

*  The In Memoriam segment was mangled by the focus on a gospel choir singing and dancing in front of the screen as the faces popped up.   Because of this, we could hardly see some of the names at times, and the idea of somehow making these deaths a joyous event is distracting.

*  Some nice reunions for White Men Can't Jump, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, and a special appearance from wheelchair-bound Liza Minnelli which was a sweet moment.   Speaking of The Godfather, why were they playing the montage with hip-hop music set as background?   It didn't fit.

*  Smith's ugly outburst also overshadowed the popular win for Summer of Soul as Best Documentary Feature.   That was the award Chris Rock was presenting. 

*  Awarding Oscars in eight categories prior to the telecast did not keep the show under three hours.   
But hey, the acting nominee clips are back and in full swing!   The clips add suspense and we don't need to rely on presenters telling us how awesome the performances are.   We can see it for ourselves. 

 

The Lost City (2022) * * *

Directed by:  Aaron Nee and Adam Nee

Starring:  Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Oscar Nunez, Da'vine Joy Randolph

Romantic screwball comedy meets Indiana Jones in The Lost City, not to be confused with the recent The Lost City of Z, although that movie and Loretta Sage's newest book share a nearly identical title.   The idea of a romance writer being swept away on an adventure is nothing new.   Romancing the Stone (1984) had a similar plot, but both Stone and The Lost City hinges on the chemistry of its stars to pull off the movie.   Like Romancing the Stone, The Lost City gives us two likable, wounded people trying to extricate themselves from a situation in which they are way over their pretty heads.

Shortly after Sage's first stop on her press tour, which is dominated by the appearance of her frequent cover model Alan (Tatum) in a Q & A session, Loretta is kidnapped by a British zillionaire (Radcliffe), who thinks Loretta can help him find lost treasure near a recently discovered lost city.   Loretta, still hurting from the loss of her husband five years ago, isn't much in favor of helping her kidnapper.   Alan, who harbors a crush on Loretta, decides to enlist a special ops acquaintance named Jack Trainer (Pitt) to rescue her.  

Jack is an expert at rescuing and taking on five henchmen in a fist and gun fight, but soon he's out of the picture and the guileless Alan and equally out-of-her-depth Loretta have to find their way out of the jungle on a remote Atlantic island.  While Alan is the cover model on all of Loretta's soft-core romance novels, Jack is probably closer to the guy she's envisioning when writing them.

Not much in The Lost City will surprise anyone, although there is one in a post-credits sequence, but Bullock and Tatum rely not only on charm but having personalities and energetically attacking the material.   This is Tatum's second movie in a row, after Dog, in which he plays a hurting guy who just wants to show the world he's more than just a pretty face.   Tatum and Bullock can handle light comedy with ease, but getting past their inner pain to find happiness adds an extra dimension.   

X (2022) * *

Directed by:  Ti West

Starring:  Mia Goth, Martin Henderson, Kid Cudi, Stephen Ure, Owen Campbell, Brittany Snow, Jenna Ortega

A group of amateurs set out to make a porno in 1979 Texas.  They have dreams of becoming stars but most will find themselves victims of gruesome murders.   They rented a cabin from a suspicious old man (Ure) who, once he and his sexually frustrated wife discover what they're doing in the cabin, start offing the group one at a time.   When religious programs on television denounce lust, we see this isn't the most welcoming climate to make a porno movie.

X captures its time and place well, but we find ourselves not caring much about the people whose lives are about to be snuffed out.   This is a late 70's-early 80's slasher film made forty years too late and without the camp sensibilities.   There is an interesting contrast in the performances of young Maxine and elderly, lonely Pearl, both played by Mia Goth, and X is more artfully made than some of the lesser slasher films of the era.  

However, aside from those positives, X doesn't distinguish itself from the movies it's either trying to emulate or pay homage to.   The subtext of sexual repression meeting sexual liberty is given as backdrop, but does a slasher film meets social commentary really gel?   If X is any indication, then no. 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel- Season Four (2022) * * *

 

Starring:  Rachel Brosnahan, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Zegen, Alex Borstein, Jane Lynch, Marin Hinkle, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, Stephanie Hsu, Luke Kirby 

Season Four of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has many of the same charms of the first three seasons and adds a few wrinkles.   Lenny Bruce (Kirby), for one, takes on a more "hands-on" approach to being Midge's unofficial mentor.   Susie (Borstein) reluctantly takes on the institutionalized Sophia Lennon (Lynch) as a client.  Midge, after being left on the tarmac after being fired as a famous singer's opening act, takes a job as the emcee and quasi-manager for a local strip club.   Midge's parents Abe and Rose (Shalhoub and Hinkle) focus on new careers while moving in with their daughter (or is it the other way around?).  Joel (Zegen) has a secret relationship with Mei (Hsu), an Asian woman whose parents are the landlords of Joel's thriving new hotspot.   

As the calendar turns from the 1950's to 1960, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel retains its buoyancy while doing its best to expand its characters' comfort zones.   A few things don't change, such as Joel and Midge's children disappearing for long sections of the show, only to appear to remind us they even exist.  And Midge's stand-up act remains unfunny, but like the first three seasons, the quality of Midge's act doesn't matter as much as her attempts to make a career of it.

There are also moments when Abe's love for his ex in-laws (Pollak and Aaron) come into full focus when Moishe (Pollak) suffers a heart attack.   Abe may be exasperated by Moishe sometimes, but when the chips are down, Abe is there for him.   The same could be said for Midge and Susie, Midge and Joel, and even Susie and Sophia to a lesser extent.   The characters in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel remain good-hearted even in the most troubling of times, except for the rivals to Rose's fledgling matchmaking business.   Who knew those who find love for others could be so heartless themselves?  

The Outfit (2022) * * *

Directed by:  Graham Moore

Starring:  Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Johnny Flynn, Alan Mehdizadeh, Dylan O'Brien, Simon Russell Beale, Nikki Amuka-Bird

Cutter (don't call him a tailor) Leonard Burling (Rylance) operates a small tailor shop in 1956 Chicago.  Aside from his assistant Mabel (Deutch), Leonard does all the work customizing suits for his clients, which include members of the Boyle crime family.   Crime boss Roy Boyle (Beale), his son Richie (O'Brien) and up-and-comer Francis (Flynn), frequent the shop to meet up, plot their next crime, and collect envelopes from a drop box situated on the shop's back wall.   Some of these envelopes contain money while other specially marked ones contain surveillance tapes made from the FBI bugging the store.  On the night The Outfit takes place, the Boyles are more interested in the tape.   What is on it and who is the informer feeding information to the FBI?  

Leonard, nicknamed "English" in condescending fashion by the Boyles, keeps his head down and his mind on his work.   He knows the Boyles are up to no good, but doesn't want to know what they're doing.   He is a master craftsman creating suits from scratch, but this crime business isn't his game.  However, when Richie is brought into the shop by Francis with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, shit just got real for Leonard and Mabel.   They never expected to be drawn into this violent world directly.

Leonard handles one emergency after another with unexpected calm and intelligence.   He can think on his feet.  His quiet demeanor and directness makes him credible when he is forced to lie to cover up what has gone on throughout the night.   We learn he once had a wife and daughter, but they died in a shop fire in his native London during World War II.  We think it was likely during the Luftwaffe air strikes, but we sense there may have been more to the story.   The thing about Leonard is:  There usually is more than what's on the surface.  

Rylance excels in a performance in which he doesn't (and can't) reveal all the cards.   Like a chess master, he has to see moves ahead in order to escape this night alive.   And what about Mabel?  Richie is her secret beau, but what does she know or not know?   Other crime figures enter the fray which complicates matters exponentially for Leonard.   But through it all, he doesn't panic and barely breaks a sweat.   He's almost too cool under pressure, which makes you wonder what secrets he's hiding.  

The Outfit at times plays a tad too theatrical since the entirety of the action takes place in one room over the course of one night.   But it keeps you guessing even well past the point you think everything has been figured out.   There may be one or two revelations too many to be completely believable, but The Outfit is steady, suspenseful entertainment. 

The Cursed (2022) * *

 

Directed by:  Sean Ellis

Starring:  Boyd Holbrook, Kelly Reilly, Alistair Petrie, Roxane Duran, Nigel Betts

The Cursed is a horror film enveloped in too much gloom and grayness, but the atmosphere works in certain scenes.   The overall product leaves you admiring the craftsmanship but not caring much about the plot or characters.   It is based in a 19th-century France in which werewolves were possible and the thought of them still terrifying to ordinary people.   I've seen enough werewolf movies to know I don't need to see any more.   

As The Cursed opens, French noblemen look to drive gypsies off forest land by making a lucrative financial offer, but when some gypsies refuse to sell, they are brutally attacked and killed by mercenaries although not before one of the gypsies curses the land before being buried alive.  Writer/director/cinematographer Ellis films the brutality from far away instead of up close, so we can see the full range of killings and burning of their dwellings.   It's effective.  

However, soon rich landowner Seamus Laurent's (Petrie) son grows ill after one of his friends digs up artifacts where the gypsies are buried and attacks the unsuspecting friend.  The son turns into a slimy werewolf, unlike the hairy beasts you've seen in movies like An American Werewolf in London.  If a werewolf even scratches another person, that person will grow violently ill and transform into a werewolf as well.   English pathologist John McBride (Holbrook) travels to the area to subdue the creatures before the danger grows out of control.   Similar monsters killed his wife and child some time back, so he knows what he's up against.

Holbrook at least gives us an efficient, intelligent hero with a personal stake in what's happening.  The rest of the people are thinly drawn folks who line up to be future victims, so we don't have feeling for them when terrible things happen.   The Cursed is a well-made movie at the service of a story which doesn't match those production values. 

 

Demolition Man (1993) * * *

Directed by:  Marco Brambilla

Starring:  Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Gunton, Nigel Hawthorne, Denis Leary, Glenn Shadix

Demolition Man is a rare blend of action and satire which is thought-provoking in its amusing way.  The movie posters promised a showdown between Sylvester Stallone's John Spartan and Wesley Snipes' Simon Phoenix, both of which were held in a cryogenic prison and thawed out years later to face each other and a society which is now foreign to them.   Simon is thawed out first and goes on a crime spree in a docile Los Angeles of the future where violence has been eradicated and people are ticketed for swearing.   

Spartan, a cop unjustly convicted of murder while chasing Phoenix in the past, is unfrozen by a reluctant police chief (Gunton) and partnered with an eager Leona Huxley (Bullock) to track down Phoenix.  Lurking from the sewers with his followers is Edgar Friendly (Leary), who is targeted as public enemy number one by the shadowy Raymond Cocteau (Hawthorne), creator of the Los Angeles of the future.  Cocteau, of course, is up to something more sinister while carrying on a calm facade.  

A movie like Demolition Man wouldn't be called Demolition Man without its share of fights and chases, but I also enjoyed the fish-out-of-water aspects of Spartan (and to a lesser degree Phoenix) in dealing with a society where violence is non-existent.    Spartan could adjust once he rids the world of Phoenix, but Phoenix would go stir crazy.    Where Demolition Man earns higher marks is how it's able to be slyly fun while having something to say about violence and freedom of choice.   Those who expected a mere action picture will be in for a surprise.    

Great Expectations (1998) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Alfonso Cuaron

Starring:  Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Bancroft, Chris Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Hank Azaria

Alfonso Cuaron's haunting version of the Charles Dickens' classic makes run-down mansions and tiny New York studio apartments appear romantic in their Gothic way.   The story is a romantic drama with struggling artist Finn (Hawke) forever in love with the distant blonde Estella (Paltrow), who in another life might actually love Finn back if she weren't taught from childhood to wound men and break hearts.  Estella's teacher is her eccentric and rich aunt (Bancroft), who once was so wounded by a breakup that she decided to use her niece as a weapon against all men.   Poor Finn is the one caught in this emotional crossfire.

With financial aid from a mysterious benefactor who Finn believes is the aunt, Finn travels to New York to strike out on his own as an artist.   Estella appears and then disappears from Finn's life in order to torment him while cruelly keeping his flame for her alive.   Finn believes he is so close to winning Estella's heart,  without understanding there isn't a heart to win.   Estella then marries a wealthy man (Azaria) and winds up hurting both he and Finn in one fell swoop.   However, Finn makes up excuses as to why Estella won't be with him.   He can't believe she won't.

Hawke is a steady hero blinded by love and thus winning our sympathy in the process.   Who among us hasn't once been infatuated with the unattainable person?   The quest keeps us going until one day you come terms with its impossibilities.   Paltrow is a compelling figure because she is part perpetrator and part victim herself because she is under the aunt's spell.   DeNiro shows up as a prisoner whom Finn aids in his escape as a child and then plays a larger part in Finn's life later on.   I also admired Chris Cooper as Finn's Uncle Joe who raises him once Finn's mother leaves and understands he can only guide Finn for so long.   The characters here are unique, yet universal in a strange world which provides an unlikely, painful, soul-crushing romance as its plot and in the end, everything turns out better than expected.   Most such loves don't end up that way. 

The Batman (2022) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Matt Reeves

Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano

Matt Reeves' vision of the Caped Crusader clocks in at just under three hours, yet there is little fat on it.  The Batman fits a lot of moving parts and characters into a story constructed in ways Agatha Christie would be proud.   High-profile Gotham politicians and power-moguls are being offed one by one by the evil and sadistic Riddler (Dano) and taunting Batman (Pattinson) with clues to dig further into Gotham's seedy and corrupt past.   

Batman is aided by Deputy Commissioner Gordon (Wright) in the quest to determine why and how the Riddler is tied to these events.   Shadowy characters and the criminal element are implicated, but that is to be expected.   The Riddler is angrier with, and takes his rage out on, the supposedly honest Gotham mayor and DA who turn a blind eye to injustice, something Batman would never do.   Small-time thief Selena Kyle (Kravitz) aka Catwoman is also involved on the periphery, but how?   One of the many strengths of The Batman is how the central mystery keeps us involved.  

Pattinson is no stranger to roles and movies which operate in the gray areas and shadows of life.   In this context, Batman/Bruce Wayne is a near-perfect fit.   His Bruce Wayne/Batman is someone who believes in black and white, but must learn to live in the gray if he is to survive.   Pattinson is as able and convincing in the physical demands of the role as well including the pronounced chin.   The Batman is chock full of strong supporting work all around.  

The Gotham of The Batman is not unlike the other Gothams of Batmans past.   It is gray, rainy, and wet.  So much so you would think it would be as flooded as the Miami of last year's Reminiscence.   The Batman is never dreary, but some sun once in a while wouldn't be a bad thing.   

Dog (2022) * * *

 

Directed by:  Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin

Starring:  Channing Tatum, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Nash, Bill Burr, Jane Adams

Dog is billed and advertised as a comedy, but despite occasional amusement from the misadventures involving former Army Ranger Jackson Briggs (Tatum) and a Belgian Malinois named Lulu who served in a war zone as part of Briggs' unit, Dog is a drama and a compelling one.   Briggs is a former Ranger who suffered serious brain damage requiring him to be on meds for the rest of his life to avoid having seizures.  However, civilian life has not treated him well, and he is desperate to return to active duty.   Despite receiving dubious medical clearance, none of Briggs' superior officers will vouch for him until one does.

The officer will make the call clearing Briggs to return if he does one thing:   Drive Lulu from Oregon to Arizona to attend the funeral of one of Briggs' former unit members.   Not as easy as it sounds, because Lulu is so traumatized by war that she is unable to be treated and will be put down after the funeral.  Briggs is every bit as traumatized, but still wants to return to the Rangers anyway.   To him, it beats building sandwiches at Subway for snotty customers or not being able to see his daughter who lives in California.  

We think we know what will happen and in many cases we are correct, but Dog is acted and directed (Tatum also in his directorial debut along with screenwriter Reid Carolin) with sensitivity concerning the animal's welfare and the plight of veterans who are unable to transition to civilian life.   Lulu isn't human, but experienced the same trauma and stress as her human counterparts.   At first, Briggs figures he can just keep Lulu chained up in the back seat of his truck and keep a muzzle on her.   Lulu runs away and she and Briggs encounter paranoid marijuana farmers who think the two are part of a government surveillance project.   The scenes here are allowed to play out and we find unexpected warmth as a payoff.

When Briggs schemes his way into a free hotel stay by posing as a blind veteran with Lulu as his seeing-eye dog, this also unfolds in an unpredictable way with the better side of human nature winning out.   Dog succeeds because it allows the best in its characters, both human and canine, to come out.  Sure the ending is predictable as Lulu and Briggs bond better than either would've expected, but we are heartened to know Briggs did the right thing.