Rambling Film

Reviewing all of the Oscar nominated shorts has become one of the things I look forward to the most after the nominations are announced. This is the quickest I've ever found all of the shorts to watch before the ceremony. The majority of these shorts are available to watch online. Below are my quick reviews Best Animated Short The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse - Platitudes: The Movie. C+ The Flying Sailor - Based on the true story of a man in Halifax who was blown 2 kilometers back during an explosion and lived to tell about it. Of the shorts lists, this was not the one I expected to see animated dick in. It's amusing and used several different styles of animation in it's quick 7 minute run time. Respect. B Ice Merchants - I LOVE this short. It's so perfect. Lovely hand drawn animation, clever story, a perfect combination of sweet and sad. A+ My Year of Dicks - Oh god, the awkwardness of being a teenage girl that I wish I could forget. I laughed, I cringed, I

James Foster (Alexander Skarsgard) is an author suffering from major writer's block. Looking for inspiration, he and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) take a vacation to the fictional island of La Tolqa where they meet another couple, Gabi and Alban. (Mia Goth and Jalil Laspert) It's through them that James and Em find out about the country's very strange way of dealing with out of control tourists. We're in a time where a very clever and unique film like Everything Everywhere All At Once is getting a ton of well deserved Oscar nominations and right as January is ending, we're given another film that is also unlike anything I've ever seen. Infinity Pool is crazy. There are other films about cloning out there, but the way this film goes about it feels very fresh.  Mia Goth continues to swing for the fences with her performances. She is absolutely the star here. Especially towards the end of the film when things really start to go off the rails. Skarsgard is great

Today is one of the most exciting days for anyone who blogs about movies and Oscars...nomination day! Like every year, there's plenty to like, but also plenty to complain about. Here are a list of the nominees + my thoughts. Best Picture All Quiet on the Western Front Avatar: The Way of Water The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All At Once The Fabelmans TÁR Top Gun: Maverick Triangle of Sadness Women Talking We really wasted a Best Picture nomination on Avatar, huh? When The Woman King, the Menu, Babylon and Glass Onion exist? Triangle of Sadness is the big surprise here. It was good, but not over the other films I named, in my opinion. Best Director Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once Todd Field – TÁR Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans Ruben Ostlund – Triangle of Sadness NO women. No Gina Prince-Bythewood? No Sarah Polley? We had back to back women winners the last two years now shut out

Evelyn (Julianne Moore) and her son Ziggy (Finn Wolfhard) are forever on opposite pages. They don't get each other. They don't try to. Ziggy is out to impress a classmate, Lila (Alisha Boe) and Evelyn puts her interests on another young boy staying at the shelter she works, Kyle (Billy Bryk) Jesse Eisenberg is one of those actors I root for even. This is his first time in the director's chair, shooting something he wrote originally as an audio book. It's exactly the kind of thing I'd expect Eisenberg to make. Witty and awkward, somewhat off beat. It's fitting. Wolfhard's character might have been Eisenberg had he grown up during gen Z. Ziggy is obsessed with his follower count on a Twitch like streaming service. He longs to impress Lila, and his interactions with her, someone vastly more mature are the epitome of cringe. Alisha Boe is a very good actress but having seen her as a teenager 5 years ago in Thirteen Reasons Why , she feels very miscast. I almost

A Russian figure skater (Veera W. Vilo, who also penned the screenplay) is found unconscious on the side of the road in Finland. Her grandmother (Leena Otila) whom she hasn't seen in years takes her in and helps her establish a new life there, free from the abuse she suffered before. Vilo wrote the script based on experiences she and other friends had as competitive gymnasts. Her intention is to bring to light the unfortunate connection between female sports and human trafficking. Choosing ice skating as her medium feels very relevant. We're not that far removed from the drama that went on during the winter Olympics with the Russian team.  She carries the film well. The skater (none of the characters have names) has clearly been through a lot, and now she's in a new country where she doesn't fully grasp the language. She's met with patience and compassion, which we see with juxtaposition against the horrid abuse she experienced before. Leena Otila radiates warmth as

We follow prosecutor Julio César Strassera (Ricardo Darin) and his young team of lawyers who are tasked with taking on the heads of Argentina's military during the country's former dictatorship.  I hadn't realized this film was available to stream on Amazon Prime, otherwise I likely would've seen it sooner. It's surprise Golden Globe win for Best Foreign Film is what pushed me to see it. It's a solid courtroom drama, but I probably should've read a Wikipedia article prior to viewing. I'm quite ignorant about what happened during this dark time in Argentinian history. There are a few quick title cards at the beginning, but I still felt like I was lacking a fair amount of knowledge throughout. Had the film been less engaging, I probably would've paused it and researched like I had to do with the dreadful Silent Twins.  The testimony we listen to regarding the atrocities committed is heartbreaking, and the trial scenes are when the film is at its strong