2021

The Power of the Dog (Director: Jane Campion)
Nominees: Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza, Old Henry, What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? The Worst Person in the World, Spencer, Azor, Sardar Udham, Cyrano, The Innocents, Boîte noire

Oscars pick: CODA
Nominees: The Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza, Belfast, Dune, Drive My Car, King Richard, Nightmare Alley, Don't Look Up, West Side Story

An example of the stupid, rude, and lazy comedy at this year's Oscars, was the jab directed at the Power of the Dog for being too boring to sit through. In truth, putting aside the fact that it's an artistic triumph, Campion's masterpiece was engrossing from beginning to end - the pacing was impeccable, and I was so wrapped up in the story, photography, direction, and performances, that time just fell away. Boring? Not in the least. 

A gay man and his brother, a widowed mother, and her son are at the center of this idiosyncratic tale, which upends western mythology in order to explore matters of repressed sexuality and toxic masculinity.

The apex predator in the film is rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), a cruel, coarse (petulant) son of a bitch, who'll hurt anyone he perceives as weak or a threat to his way of life (Peter and his mother, Rose). Part of this behavior comes from him just having an ugly side, part of it comes from pride and overcompensation, part of it is fueled by loneliness and jealousy. However, I don't believe it comes from a place of self-loathing - when we catch him in a private moment, he's content with who he is, and the memory of who he loved, it's only society that prevents him from being open about his sexuality.

When Phil eventually shows a softer side, it's perhaps because he sees himself in young Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) at that age, and through him, a chance to reclaim what he's lost, only with him in the role of 'Bronco Henry' (the now deceased cowboy who took Phil under his wing) - though it can seem a sudden and drastic pivot to go from mean to mentor, this does add a bit of ambiguity, as his change of heart can also be viewed as another way for Phil to stick it to the boy's mother, Rose (Kirsten Dunst at her finest) who he despises for marrying his brother.

His hateful behavior is driving Rose to self-destruction and that's where we drift into some tangled psychological webs, and the question of who's the spider and who's the fly, come into play.  

In addition, as shown in the examples above, Dog is a film of many layers, with many ways to read a scene.

Phil, for example, is possessive, he'd rather burn unused skins than trade them to those in need. And when Rose gives them away without permission, he flies into a rage, like a child having a tantrum ("They were mine!" he shouts) -- but more than that, her action prevents him from finishing the gift of the rope. His anger then is born out of extremes - hatred for Rose (who undermined his authority and embarrassed him), and affection for Peter.

As for Peter, Phil sees him as weak - unappreciative, and unaware that the young man's clinical, surgical mind is more dangerous than a bullet. For Peter, Phil is a tumor he needs to cut away in order to save his mother's life... though, even here there are layers - in an interview, Campion spoke of the ending and how Phil would, in turn, become Peter’s own Bronco Henry, with the rope representing their connection, and the secret between them - for a gay man at that time, she explained, it was easier to love a ghost than a real person.

My Top Films of 2021

🎬 In closing: Worst Oscar ever, for the cringey comedy, for the disrespect shown to animated features, for that sappy, anodyne movie winning the top prize over elevated works like PotD and Drive My Car - but most especially for the disturbing 'assault' (from a self-proclaimed vessel of love), followed by the standing O he later received (shameful). Though there were positives (DeBose's speech, Gaga's sensitivity, and patience with Liza) it was, in general, an unpleasant nights viewing - the fix, show-wise? The ceremony desperately needs a touch of class (see Gaga), they need to love and respect great cinema - drop the crass humor, the insulting introductions (see animated features) and allow all the awards to be given on the main stage. 

Best Actor: Peter Dinklage, Cyrano
Honorable Mentions: 
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog * Tim Blake Nelson, Old Henry * Lakeith Stanfield & Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah * Denzel Washington, Tragedy of Macbeth * Clifton Collins Jr., Jockey * Mahershala Ali, Swan Song * Simon Rex, Red Rocket * Vicky Kaushal, Sardar Udham * Stephen Graham, Boiling Point 

 

Best Actress: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Honorable Mentions:
Patti Harrison, Together Together * Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter * Kristen Stewart, Spencer * Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World * Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers * Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza * Milana Aguzarova, Unclenching the Fists * Jodie Comer, Last Duel * Babetida Sadjo, Our Father, The Devil * Thomasin McKenzie, Last Night in Soho 

Supporting Actress: Ruth Negga, Passing

Also: Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter & Kirsten Dunst, PotD

Supporting Actor: Anders Danielsen Lie, Worst Person in the World

Also liked: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

 




So many actresses, I didn't have room to nominate them all, but here are a few others I admired... Emma Stone, Cruella, Essie Davis & Thomasin McKenzie in The Justice of Bunny King, Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah, Seidi Haarla, Compartment No. 6, Joanna Scanlan, After Love, Jessica Barden, Holler, Lady Gaga, House of Gucci, Judi Dench, Belfast, Arawinda Kirana, Yuni, Alexis Louder, Copshop, and Rebecca Hall, The Night House

+ Note: Our Father, The Devil only had a limited release in the States in 2023, it played in festivals in 2021 and throughout 2022 - so I'm just going to place it in 2021, for the Best Actress nom.

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To Kill a Mockingbird

Drawing from Harper Lee's semi-autobiographical novel To Kill a Mockingbird tells its story through the memories of a child - as siblings Jem and Scout discover truths about prejudice, misconception, as well as learning that their unglamorous, unconventional father, was truly an admirable man. To me, it's a beautiful film, with a Southern Gothic ambiance that mixes romanticism with harsh reality - something that is reflected in the cinematography, direction, Elmer Bernstein's score, and the screenplay penned by Horton Foote. Acting-wise Gregory Peck gives the performance of his career and young Mary Badham is memorable as tomboy Scout. She's a natural, believable - which was needed as this tale unfolds through her eyes. Mockingbird captures the essence of the novel but improves upon it by cutting out the excess and the –at times- condescending tone.

Back to 1962

Platoon and Blue Velvet

Platoon was a good choice by Oscar, but I dunno, something about Oliver Stone's directorial style, the pitch and rhythms of his productions, and the way he gets on his pulpit and lectures - it generally doesn't stir my pot. Saying that Platoon is frequently stunning, the best thing he has filmed. It was the first movie to really show what it was like to be a soldier in combat in Vietnam, written a guy who lived through it. I like how Stone created a sense of confusion during the battle scenes; there was no cinematic safe haven or hiding place. I felt the chaos, the fear of it all. And it achieves this without glorifying war, which is a difficult trick. It filled me with revulsion and outrage, and that makes it an effective anti-war movie.

The acting is top rate – I really hated the guy Tom Berenger played and really loved Willem Dafoe (which might say a lot about my own character). And while it is overwritten and heavy-handed, it did generate a powerful emotional response in me.

David Lynch messed with my mind with his offbeat Blue Velvet, which I can only describe as Norman Rockwell meets Hieronymus Bosch, where wholesome suburbia is split open to expose the corruption and sickness inside. It's an odd melodramatic Oedipal nightmare that pendulums in style from ‘slick Hollywood’ to ‘grade Z’ production. While it is sometimes too goofy for its own good (too goofy to be a complete success in truth) and it leaves more questions than answers - it is an eye-opener - a screwed up ‘happening’, to be experienced more than understood. From the moment Kyle MacLachlan’s Jeffrey finds a severed ear in a field, the film spirals into a demented adventure that’s akin to a Hardy Boy stumbling onto a perverse freak show of crime. And no Hardy Boy ever met anything as unhinged as Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth. 

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Nazarin and Apur Sanser

Luis Buñuel's powerful Nazarin asks the question of whether there's a place in this world for a man who practices Christianity in its purest form. The title character, a Priest, is admirable in his steadfast faith, but he can also maddening in his strict adherence to it -- he gives when he has nothing, trusts those he shouldn't and is ultimately accused and abandoned by the very people and Church he serves. Nazarin is one of the director's most straightforward, and it knocked my socks off. The ending -while ambiguous- was memorable and stuck with me for days (was it supposed to symbolize a restoration of faith, or was it expressing the pointlessness of it all? After all, what good does a pineapple do a condemned man?) Trivia: Guillermo del Toro named this his favorite Buñuel film.

The 3rd and final chapter in Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy", Apur Sansar (also known as The World of Apu). Steeped in neorealism, the trilogy does hit a few dreamy dramatic beats but does so without losing its verisimilitude. Apur Sansar shows us our protagonist (Soumitra Chatterjee) as a struggling young man, who suddenly finds himself with a bride (Sharmila Tagore). Inexperienced, and certain he's made a mistake, Ray quickly clues us in that this couple were meant to be together. And their love story, told in montage, is heartwarming, ah, but if you've seen the previous picture's, you know this will be short lived. Because the Apu series is centered around death and grief. Seeing our lead character fall to pieces is gut-wrenching. However, life is also full of beginnings. and in this feature's closing scenes, we are given one that full of hope and smiles.

With Sansar, Ray has become even more accomplished on cinematic levels. This 3rd feature is complex, impressively structured. And all 3 are incredible looking pictures, rife with imagery and music (by Ravi Shankar), settings and scene transitions and characters that burn into your mind and linger.

Back to 1959

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