The Oscars are coming this Sunday, and I (as usual) am woefully behind on seeing practically any of the nominees. Why is that? Often, it’s because many of the Oscar movies are just very heavy watches. They’re not something you just put on for fun, and that’s what I watch a lot of these days, because I’ve got more than enough of “not fun” in my life without adding to it with media.
Still, that doesn’t mean I don’t care about those kind of movies. In fact, they’re usually the ones I’m most satisfied with after they’re over, even though they’re the ones I have to convince myself ahead of time to actually watch. I could probably get around this reluctance by setting a goal, but I think I’m goaled up for now.
In any case, I’ve watched three of the nominees this past week, and I’m here to tell you what I think about them.
First up, Sinners. A vampire horror musical art movie, which sounds like something that shouldn’t work at all, but ended up being really impressive. That’s not the sort of film that usually brings in $370 million worldwide, so that says something. I knew generally what it was about when I started watching it, though I’d done my best not to read too many details. It still didn’t really match up with any of my expectations. It was somehow a mix of pop and art which felt like it shouldn’t work, but did. I didn’t think it was the Best Movie of All Time, but I also think it’s a movie that would be better the second time through. (A big part of me wishes I’d never heard of the movie and just gone in with no expectations at all. That’s almost always a better way to watch something, in my book. Since I’d heard such incredible things about this one, I think my expectations really got in the way of my ability to just watch.
One Battle After Another. I almost stopped watching this movie around 20 minutes in. It was just so . . . disjointed and seemingly designed to do nothing else than push buttons. The movie didn’t really begin to work until the first third was over, which made me think the first third (which is setting the back story for the movie) should have just been axed somehow. The second third was decent, and the last third was great (especially the car chase through the hills, which was fantastic), but no one should have to get through a jarring first third in order to get to a good movie. I can’t really in good conscience recommend the film.
Frankenstein: This was an interesting film for me. I enjoyed it more than One Battle After Another, and it was more consistent through the whole movie, but it also felt a bit too much like a patient on Dr. Frankenstein’s table. Like the movie was a series of pieces that had been stitched together, each one analyzed and thought about on its own. I think my biggest objection was the framing device: starting with the ending, and then having Dr. Frankenstein tell the whole story about how the ending came to be. That muzzled a lot of the plot, since we already know where the whole thing is headed. I did enjoy the portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein, and the Monster was much more nuanced than most depictions, but it also made some very strange departures from the original. Not necessarily a bad thing, but for some reason I’d heard this was a really faithful adaptation, and it definitely wasn’t that. Moody, great effects, solid acting, and it definitely has a Message, but that message takes the front seat at times when it might have done better being a bit more subtle.
Of the three, Sinners is easily the best. It’s also the one I’m most likely to watch again sometime. That said, I liked F1 more than any of them, but since I’m mainly looking for escape these days, it’s little wonder why. I’ll be disappointed if One Battle After Another wins Director or Picture, though the acting was solid for the movie. (Sean Penn was particularly good in a disturbing way.) We’ll see if I have time to catch any of the others. Anyone have any I should really make time for?