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Barbie (Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Will Ferrell) – Hooray for Greta Gerwig! The director/writer/actor pulled off a nifty trick in turning Barbie into a funny, whimsical, farcical romp with a feminist message without getting overly preachy or totally saccharine. Mattel, the company founded by Harold Matson and Ruth & Elliot Handler, gave Gerwig the room and the budget to take its most beloved property, the Barbie doll, and turn it into the first of the films to be built around Mattel toys.

What Gerwig created is a blockbuster beyond anyone’s expectations. Starring perhaps Hollywood’s currently most bankable actress, Margot Robbie, with heartthrob and La La Land’s Ryan Gosling, Barbie is part fantasy, part musical, part history lesson, and part coming-of-age commentary on the male-dominated world.

Barbie isn’t a perfect film, but it manages to make the audience smile, wink, and cry in equal measures while presenting a world of pink that appeals to kids who grew up with Barbie over multiple generations. In 1959, when Barbie was introduced, girls played with baby dolls, not full-figured young women with their own dream house and soon, a full array of clothes and friends.

Robbie makes a perfect “Stereotypical” Barbie, looking perfectly smiley, waving, busty and innocent. But she has a nagging thought that strikes out of nowhere: what happens when you die? As you’ll see, it’s a show/movie stopper. Something is awry, and Barbie doesn’t know why. With the help of “Weird” Barbie (a perfectly cast Kate McKinnon), she realizes she must leave Barbieland and visit the Real World to find the person who is messing with her.

Ken (Gosling), who pines to be Barbie’s boyfriend, invites himself along. When they get to Real World in Los Angeles, Barbie feels rejected but Ken suddenly feels respected even in his rhinestone cowboy outfit. Eventually, Barbie finds Mattel, where she is welcomed by the all-male executive team led by its buffoonish CEO (played expertly by Will Ferrell). Like Barbie, Mattel wants everything to stay exactly the same. But, to play on an old phrase, “the Barbie is out of the Dream House.”

She escapes the board room, which leads to the third act, the pseudo-serious part of the film. It is here that the right-wing media goes bat-sh*t crazy as Barbie morphs into a more worldly woman. She meets Gloria (America Ferrera), the Mattel CEO’s assistant, whose own frustrations as woman and mother have led her to question her life. Gloria’s daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), is rebellious and has even rejected her old Barbie, even as mom continues to love it.

Eventually, Barbie heads back to Barbieland, only to find it completely changed. It’s now Kendom, a patriarchy that Ken modeled after his version of the Real World. All the women, the Barbies, who previously ran Barbieland, are now objectified and serve the Kens.

You get the picture. The film then moves to a wrap-up that is quite satisfying, heartwarming, and thoughtful. Barbie is a phenomenon, a full-fledged hit and bridge to a future filled with movies based on Mattel toys. That is not a pleasant prospect. Barbie isn’t the first movie based on a toy or a doll in the way Superman was the genesis of super-hero films. But it is a new stake in the ground for live-action movies based on Mattel toys. Barbie is not just a kid’s movie even though every mother is taking their daughters to this film. There is a nostalgia element to Barbie, which carries a much deeper message than Ruth Handler ever envisioned when she named her doll invention after her daughter.

Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.) – Nobody in Hollywood thought that a film about Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the “father of the atomic bomb” could be a blockbuster. But trusting the story to Batman, Dunkirk, Tenet, Intersteller, and Inception director/writer Christopher Nolan guaranteed that the story wouldn’t be some boring biopic. Getting lucky that the film would be released the same week as Barbie, leading to an internet meme surrounding a Barbenheimer double feature, created a seismic event. Opening with $82 million the first weekend ensured a profit.

Oppenheimer is a masterful, brooding, exciting re-telling of Oppenheimer’s life from his college days in the 1920s through the mid-1950s. Under Nolan’s deft touch, the film presents a complicated, haunted protagonist whose brilliance is exceeded only by his ego. His partnership with humorless Army General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) led to the development of the bombs that ended World War II and ushered in the atomic age and its potential to destroy the world.

Oppie focused on the science while clearly recognizing the implications of his work if he and his hand-selected group of scientists succeeded. Working from their secret location in New Mexico, where Oppenheimer owned a ranch, the Manhattan Project team raced their German enemy and their Russian “ally” to create a superbomb.

We all know how it ends yet the movie captivates thanks to a blasting, atonal soundtrack by Oscar winning composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther). Shot in IMAX, the film pops off the extra big screen with an intensity that matches the explosiveness of the nuclear reaction that relied on fission. If possible, make sure you see this movie on an IMAX screen. Don’t settle unless you must, and please don’t wait to watch it at home.

The cast is first rate led by Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who worked with Nolan on The Dark Knight and Dunkirk. Murphy usually plays dark villains, and he masterfully portrays Oppenheimer as pained, haunted, and uncomfortable in his own skin. As disciplined as Oppenheimer is in his scientific endeavors, he is reckless in his personal life as he flirts with Communism and engages in personal affairs. When, before 1950, Oppie becomes a critic of nuclear proliferation and an advocate of international oversight of the technology, he becomes the target of sinister forces within the government. The hero of the end of the war becomes a pariah, abandoned by some of his closest associates during the “Red Scare.”

The film is presented brilliantly as flashback as Oppenheimer faces a secret hearing to determine whether he should keep his security clearance, a veiled attempt to discredit him. Murphy and Nolan play this post-war period as a lens into Oppenheimer’s moral struggle, perhaps even penance for developing such a lethal weapon.

The supporting cast is outstanding, most notably Robert Downey, Jr. as Lewis Straus, the head of the Atomic Energy Commission. A complicated man, Straus turns from Oppenheimer’s chief sponsor to his secret nemesis, eventually orchestrating Oppie’s fall from grace. Downey is fantastic! Write it down now, he will get an Oscar nomination as will Murphy.

Emily Blunt plays Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty, a biologist relegated to housewife who became a fierce defender of her husband. Blunt’s performance is both understated yet powerful. Florence Pugh, a surprise Oscar nominee for Little Women, steals scenes as Jean Tatlock, one of Oppenheimer’s lovers and muse.

As much as I like superstar Matt Damon, I think he was miscast as Groves. Portraying the no-nonsense, by-the-book General who oversaw the building of the Pentagon before taking over the Manhattan Project, Damon doesn’t quite have the bearing the part requires. He certainly doesn’t detract from the film, but it feels like he was hired for his star power.

And there are lots of cameos, most notably Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, and Matthew Modine. And I challenge you to identify the cameos of Gary Oldman and Tom Conti before the closing credits.

Oppenheimer is an incredible film thanks to Nolan and Murphy. It exceeded my already high expectations. It is great that it has become a box office hit because it is a good story and, most importantly, a cautionary tale about the long-term impact of revolutionary technology.

No Hard Feelings (Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti) – By the time Jennifer Lawrence (JLaw) was 30, she was inarguably the best actress of her generation with one Oscar from four nominations and being the highest paid actress in the mid-2010s. The only actress even close was Kate Winslet. Now (still only) 32, JLaw can name her project. Yet she chose to take time off from acting, to set up a production company, advocate for women’s rights, and become a spokesperson for several humanitarian causes.

The first time I saw her was in the independent film, Winter’s Bone, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination at age 22, the second youngest actress ever so nominated. I had missed her on TV’s Bill Engvall Show as a rebellious daughter and in small roles in little films. When watching Winter’s Bone, I told my wife: “She’s the real deal.” Indeed!

Even JLaw can’t save No Hard Feelings, her return to romantic comedies (rom-coms). My first reaction when I left the theater was “This film is beneath her.” She plays Maddie Barker, a broke waitress at a bar in Montauk, NY, the Long Island winter resort for rich New Yorkers. She lives in the house willed to her by her late mother. She can’t make her property tax payments; she’s estranged from her boyfriend and sleeps around; and her car was repossessed. To this point, the film shows promise as a different kind of comedy.

In desperation, she responds to an ad for a young woman to “date” the 19-year-old son of helicopter parents who are concerned about their reclusive, awkward, boy who is lacking in social skills. The parents, played by Laura Benanti of TV’s Supergirl and Matthew Broderick, the original, super-confident teen, Ferris Bueller, want their son, Percy, to come out of his shell and shtup a girl. They lost me right here! Maddie, in desperation, responds to the ad and sets about trying to lure the kid (Andrew Barth Feldman, who starred on Broadway in Dear Evan Hanson and on screen in one of the High School Musical sequels). It’s more difficult than it should be.

The rest of the film contains the merry mix-ups that always occur in the rom-com genre. The kid finds out what his parents are up to; Maddie develops real feelings for the kid; Percy rebels after he realizes the deception. Eventually, inevitably, mercifully, the movie ends … happily. Sorry for the spoiler! If you are thinking about seeing it, go for it. It’s safe; it’s light; it’s breezy. And, yes, as any research will reveal, JLaw goes full frontal on a beach in one of the best scenes in the film.

You can’t go wrong with a JLaw movie whether it’s Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy, Causeway, Hunger Games, or the early X-Men films. But this is not a very good film, and it’s way below JLaw.

Air (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker) – As sports movies go, Air is a breath of … well … fresh Air. Not since Moneyball have we had a feel-good story about sports. Like Moneyball, the story isn’t about a player … although it is really the story of how Michael Jordan became an industry by having a shoe named for him … but about a person behind the scenes. In Moneyball, it’s Billy Beane.

In Air, it’s Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), the Nike representative who convinced owner Phil Knight (Ben Affleck) to put the company’s then-scarce basketball money all on one player – Michael Jordan. Although Nike was a powerhouse in sports like track & field, it was being lapped by Adidas and Converse in the quest for the big names in pro basketball.  While MJ was highly touted coming out of national champion, North Carolina, he wasn’t necessarily viewed as a generational talent … at least by anyone other than his mother, Deloris (Viola Davis), and Sonny Vaccaro if this movie is to be believed.

Sure, Adidas and Converse wanted him. And MJ was obsessed with Adidas’s merch(andise) and shoes. Nike wasn’t even in the running, as MJ’s agent David Falk (Chris Messina) makes perfectly clear in Act I of the film. Vaccaro knows that Nike is faltering in basketball and needs to put all its eggs in one basket. Against all established practice, he goes to see the Jordan family. This pisses off Falk but wins him points with Deloris, who is clearly the decision-maker of the family.

The rest is pure, predictable Hollywood filmmaking and sports history. Not to spoil it for the two people in the world who don’t already know it, but MJ ends up with Nike, gets his own shoe, dubbed Air Jordan, and becomes king of the world.

With an all-star, A-list cast, Air can’t miss. Affleck directs in his best effort since Argo. Damon added 25-30 pounds to play the paunchy Vaccaro. Davis gets to play a real person with an ease that must have been a relief for her. And Chris Messina gets to represent the stereotypical jerk of an agent usually portrayed in TV (Entourage) and film, Jerry McGuire notwithstanding.

Air is every sports fan’s movie dream. It’s light, relatively short, full of stars, and tells a familiar story without being preachy or melodramatic. Damon and Affleck, best friends since childhood, teamed up for the first time since Good Will Hunting. Affleck does (at least) his third movie with Jason Bateman (Extract, State of Play), who plays Nike’s chief marketing executive. It’s all very cozy and comfortable. There’s nothing wrong with that.

2023 Oscar Nominees at A Glance

All Quiet on the Western Front – War is hell. This is the third adaptation of the 1927 novel about World War I. It’s a German production (the favorite to win Foreign Film) and a dark look at the “war to end all wars” from the perspective of the losers. All of the characters die so don’t expect to leave smiling. The original film won Best Picture in 1930.

Avatar: The Way of Water – At 3:12 minutes, this sequel is another special effects extravaganza from Director James Cameron, who can spend more money to make more money than anyone in Hollywood. With over $2 billion in box office, Water is swimming in deep visual waters. The kids flooded the theater to see this film, which is now third all-time only to Cameron’s Avatar, and Avengers: Endgame. Cameron’s Titanic is fourth.

The Banshees of Inisherin – The early favorite for Best Picture, this quirky flick reunites In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh with actors Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell. All are nominated for Oscars as are supporting actors Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan. It is essentially a buddy film where one decides he just doesn’t like his friend anymore. This film gives new meaning to the term digital.

Elvis – It’s another over-the-top musical from director Baz Luhrmann. Austin Butler is the favorite to win Best Actor for his uncanny imitation of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n Roll, who is portrayed as a pawn of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Everything Everywhere All at Once – This year’s most unexpected film, it is equal parts fantasy, family saga, and morality tale about the choices we face. All four stars – Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis – have been nominated for acting Oscars. Travel to the multiverse in this low-budget gem.

The Fabelmans – Steven Spielberg’s deeply personal, autobiographical story of his teenage years feels like a throwback to old Hollywood. With amazing performances by Michelle Williams, Judd Hirsch, Paul Dano, and Seth Rogen, The Fabelmans makes you smile, cry, and revel in nostalgia of those uncomfortable years where dreams face reality.

Tár – Cate Blanchett gives an otherworldly portrayal as the heralded conductor of the Berlin Symphony who drives herself to madness. Lydia Tár is a relentless perfectionist in this dark drama. Blanchett might just win her 3^rd Oscar.

Top Gun: Maverick – Tom Cruise reprises his role as cocky fighter jet pilot in this terrific sequel to Top Gun. A massive box office hit, Maverick cleverly includes dozens of references to the original with a new group of young pilots (including Miles Teller as the son of Goose) faced with an almost impossible mission. Filmed in San Diego, Top Gun: Maverick is often credited with reviving Hollywood post COVID.

Triangle of Success – If ever there was a headscratcher of a Best Film nominee, it is this wacky tale of a group of rich super-jerks who get stranded on a deserted island when their cruise ship sinks. The “toilet lady” becomes the savior in this class struggle. Woody Harrelson makes a cameo as the drunk, wacked-out captain of the ill-fated ship. My least favorite nominee of the year.

Women Talking – Women trapped in a religious sect where they are sexually abused are tasked with deciding whether to leave or fight for free will. This is a film about freedom, fracture, fear, and formidability set in rural isolation. Director/writer Sarah Polley is nominated for her screenplay, and the movie is among the longshot Best Picture nominees.

A Few Others Whose Actors or Screenplays are Nominated for Oscars

Aftersun – This small film went right to video. Unknown actor Paul Mescal plays a loving, but troubled, father who takes his daughter to a modest seaside resort. In some ways, this is a coming-of-age film for both father and daughter. I won’t promise a happy ending.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Without Chad Bozeman, this sequel doesn’t sing but it’s a big budget blockbuster the kids love. Approaching $1 billion in box office, it’s a big film from Director Ryan Coogler. Nominated for several technical awards, Wakanda earned Angela Bassett a Supporting Actress nomination, her first in 30 years since What’s Love Got to Do with It. She is the sentimental favorite.

Blonde – Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe in this dark story of the bombshell’s sad, victimized life. De Armas isn’t the first Marilyn impersonator, but she might just be the best. She shows a depth of character we often don’t see. Another straight-to-video movie, Blonde isn’t great, but the performance is.

Causeway – Jennifer Lawrence stars as a combat vet who returns home for rehab and a second chance. Brian Tyree Henry earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination as the car repair guy who befriends her and shows her that there is life after tragedy. This is a fine tale of friendship and hope.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Daniel Craig reprises his southern detective, Benoit Blanc, in the sequel to the very clever murder mystery, Knives Out. This one is set on a private island with an eclectic, generally unlikeable, cast of characters. A fake murder turns into a real one as Blanc solves the mystery. Plenty of twists and turns helped the script by Writer/Director Rian Johnson to be nominated for Adapted Screenplay.

Living – British character actor Bill Nighy plays a 1950s-era civil servant whose dull, by-the-book life gets turned upside down when he receives a cancer diagnosis. It’s a tremendous performance in a gem of a slow-moving, subtle film.

To Leslie – Relative unknown Andrea Riseborough is nominated for Best Actress for her depiction of a desperate, unlikeable junkie who sacrifices every relationship for her habit. A “little film,” this character study is a story of whether redemption really is possible.

The Whale – Best Actor nominee Brendan Fraser stars as a morbidly obese online teacher who is ostensibly committing suicide while trying to reconcile with his estranged daughter. Hong Chau is nominated for Best Supporting Actor as a caregiver who also was the sister of the teacher’s now deceased male lover. This is a fantastic film that feels like a stage play.

Pete Mitchell (aka Maverick) goes ballistic with Penny Benjamin AGAIN! The World War I novel, “All Quiet on the Western Friend,” is made into an Oscar-nominated movie AGAIN! James Cameron spends years producing an Avatar movie AGAIN! Elvis left the building AGAIN! Director Martin McDonagh launches a film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson AGAIN! Black Panther birthed BP2, forcing us to go to Wakanda AGAIN!

2022 was a lousy year for movies. It was a year where people … mostly young people … went back into theaters but not in droves unless you’re talking about comic book films. Some of our best actors and actresses are now playing superheroes and supervillains. Tell me it isn’t true, Viola Davis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, and Andrew Garfield!

Some of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture only made a token appearance in a real theater. Others went right to TV movie channels or streaming services (Elvis, All Quiet on the Western Front). Most were ignored (Triangle of Success, Tár, Women Talking) even after they were nominated.

No wonder the five actors nominated for Best Actor are someone named Austin Butler, someone named Paul Mescal, and B-List actors Brendan Fraser, Colin Farrell, and Bill Nighy. Supporting actors include Brian Tyree Henry (who?), Barry Keoghan (Who?), and Ke Huy Quan (WHO??). Maybe this is good for Hollywood, but it is no wonder that the Oscar ratings have sunk to historical lows.

Did anyone see To Leslie? It was so unknown even in Hollywood that it took a spirited effort by her manager, the director, the director’s wife (actress Mary McCormack), and an organized group of A-list actresses (Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Amy Adams) to lobby and host screenings to get its star, Andrea Riseborough, nominated for Best Actress.

How about Causeway, a movie so unheralded that, despite starring Jennifer Lawrence, it almost can’t be found on any streaming service. (See Amazon Prime)

As a result, even I will be watching the Oscars more for the fashion than the awards. Well, maybe I’ll watch to see whether any actor slaps another. Maybe Will Smith and Chris Rock should be invited after all.

The Awards

OK, I will get serious now.

BEST PICTURE: The best movie was The Fabelmans. I hope it wins. In old, traditional Hollywood, it would. Steven Spielberg has expertly crafted a coming-of-age film with exceptional performances by stars Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch. The winner is likely to be Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s weird, fun, bizarre and feels like a foreign film, but it’s not. Stars Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, and Ke Huy Quan are all nominated for acting Oscars. With a budget of only $25 million, it is the anti-Avatar, a special effects-driven movie made on the cheap. Hollywood, which should resent James Cameron’s maximalist approach to filmmaking (Avatars), should love it.

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett should win for Tár. She plays a renowned orchestra conductor who drives herself to the kind of madness only a perfectionist can. The movie is nominated for Best Picture but shouldn’t have made the cut. The performance is fantastic. Blanchett could now take the baton of any symphony orchestra. The runner-up … and possible upsetter … is Michelle Williams, who plays the mother in The Fabelmans. Blanchett has two Oscars from eight nominations; Williams has five nominations but hasn’t won yet. Hence, she just might win this year. Or will Michelle Yeoh (of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame) ride the Everything Everywhere wave from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards?

BEST ACTOR: Austin Butler has won almost every award for his portrayal of Elvis. In Baz Lurhmann’s interpretation of the life of the King of Rock ‘N Roll, Butler may be the best Elvis impersonator ever. He may indeed win. But for my money, the best performance by an actor belongs to Brendan Fraser in The Whale. There probably are not two more different performances than these two. Fraser’s performance is transformative in the way that Charlize Theron’s was in Monster. Butler’s is great mimicry.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shoot me if Angela Bassett wins for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This is always the toughest category to pick because Hollywood has a habit for choosing an outsider. The sentimental favorite is Jamie Lee Curtis, who won the SAG award for EEAAO. But if I were voting, I would choose Hong Chau for The Whale. As the main caregiver for the dying teacher, she is sympathetic, tough, and loving all at once. Besides, she was equally incredible in The Menu but was not nominated for that performance.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Every performance in this category is Oscar worthy. Ke Huy Quan, as the seemingly clueless husband in Everything Everywhere All at Once, will likely win. His transformation into the emissary from the Alphaverse is really fun to watch. I would love to see 87-year-old Judd Hirsch win for The Fabelmans. It’s been 42 years since he was nominated for Ordinary People. Wouldn’t it be great to see him get the award for this little performance as the grandfather who encourages his grandson to go for his dream of making movies? He is unlikely to win, however.

BEST DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg helmed this masterpiece of storytelling in The Fabelmans, his autobiographical story. He picked the actors to portray his mother, father, grandfather, and other family members and let them create compelling moviemaking. He deserves his 4^th Oscar from 20+ nominations as a director and producer. He has few peers in history. But Hollywood hates to allow dynasties (how else to explain Meryl Streep only winning three Oscars from 20+ nominations?). If he is to be beaten, it might go to EEAAO’s The Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who got their start in music videos. It might be the first shared award that includes an Asian American director. And it would show how two young guys with a small budget can produce a fantastic film.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM: I only saw one of these, but it will win. All Quiet on the Western Front is the latest adaptation of the 1928 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The first movie version in 1930 won the Best Picture Oscar, the second ever awarded.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: It’s Elvis or All Quiet on the Western Front. Let’s go with Elvis because its cinematographer is Mandy Walker. No woman has ever won this category, and her work on Elvis was spectacular. Hollywood has a gender problem … and here is a chance to take a step forward.  If she doesn’t win, it will go to the war movie, All Quiet on the Western Front, which won this category in the British equivalent of the Oscars (it also won Best Film).

I won’t venture forth with predictions on Original and Adapted Screenplays, but I want to make a point. On Adapted Screenplay, I don’t think that movies adapted from other movies (Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery) should win this category. And why should the third adaptation of the novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, win when its writers have already seen the two others?

The Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held on March 12^th. If I were you, I would record the show but watch the fashion pre-show. And if you spot Will Smith, watch out!

Elvis (Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge) – Nothing about Baz Luhrmann’s movies is subtle … ever. Moulin Rouge is an amazing, giant film. The Great Gatsby is grand. Australia is panoramic and sprawling. Even his version of Romeo + Juliet, the one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, feels larger than any other stage or film version.

In Elvis, Luhrmann lures us into the saga of The King of Rock ‘n Roll, the biggest, grandest star between Frank Sinatra and Beyoncé. An average biopic of Elvis would superficially trace the would-be-star from his humble beginnings in Tupelo to a toilet in Graceland with his rocketing to fame as the hip swinging recording, TV and movie star to his service in the military to his return as pop icon to his degeneration into aging, bloated legend.

Elvis covers most of that ground but not all. It tackles Elvis as largely a depressing, manipulated pawn of Svengali Colonel Tom Parker, his manager. Luhrmann’s Elvis is a talented kid with musical roots in rhythm and blues, rockabilly, and country. It is Parker’s eye for talent and his uncanny promotional skills that lands Elvis a recording contract, concert and TV gigs, and a residency in Las Vegas that almost kills him. Parker (Tom Hanks in one of the few performances where you never forget it’s Tom Hanks) is the focal point of the film. At least that’s Luhrmann’s version, which forever will become the narrative on Elvis’ career.

With nine Oscar nominations, Elvis is a smashing film. It’s full of music, punch, and grandiosity. For all of its accolades, it is interestingly not nominated for either directing or screenplay; or, for that matter, music. Rather, it boasts nominations for cinematography, costume design, make-up & hairstyling, sound, production design and, of course, for Best Actor for Austin Butler.

My point here is that Elvis is a spectacle, a Baz Luhrmann original, style over substance. When we celebrate Elvis the movie, we are not celebrating Elvis the person. That’s too bad. In Luhrmann’s movie, Elvis is a victim. Parker is the devil.

Austin Butler is fantastic, perhaps the best Elvis impersonator ever. His range is impressive. He sings several of the songs himself and is mixed with the real Elvis in others. He totally inhabits the character and is one of the favorites for Best Actor.

Like most Luhrmann films, we are left with our eyes wide open, lured by the grandeur and lost in the plot. Elvis deserves its nomination as Best Picture, but it won’t win. Luhrmann has still never been nominated as Best Director despite his distinctive style. I just wish there was more substance.

All Quiet on the Western Front (Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Daniel Brühl)– In 1930, the second year of the Academy Awards, All Quiet on the Western Front won the Oscar for Best Picture. For some reason, 90+ years later, the producers of this film and Netflix decided there needed to be a remake. This wasn’t the first time. A 1979 TV movie featuring Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Holm, and Donald Pleasance received nine Emmy nominations, including one win for sound editing.

Edward Berger’s 2022 version is nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best International Feature Film.  It will almost certainly win the latter category (as Germany’s official entry) and perhaps some technical awards, too. It won’t win Best Picture.

All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues) is a visual spectacle, quite a feat for perhaps Netflix’s biggest production ever (about $20 million). More than that, it is a sobering, depressing glimpse into the horrors of war. Set in 1917, the third year of the “war to end all wars,” All Quiet is anything but quiet. Its booming soundtrack and unrelenting battle scenes lay bare the exhausting, frightening and brutal reality of World War I from the eyes of a German soldier, Paul (Felix Kammerer), and his soon-to-be dead friends.

They enter the war together in the midst of nationalistic fervor, optimistic that being a soldier of the Kaiser’s army will yield them respect and glory. It doesn’t last long. Once at the western front, they face the stark horror of death and destruction. They wallow in mud, slop, and guts, becoming killers in the process. One by one, they die.

Meanwhile, the armistice talks have begun. With Germany’s troops exhausted and hopelessly stalled, a peace agreement is reached although the fighting, as we see, won’t end until 11 am on 11/11 of 2018. This war will never end for those who fought it. Three million people died in the war, and the western front hardly moved at all, the definition of futility.

Ultimately, All Quiet on the Western Front is an anti-war epic with no winners. At two-and-a-half hours, the film is exhausting yet utterly compelling. It uses color sparingly, depicting the soldiers almost completely in gray to create a stark look and feel. Its soundtrack, by Volker Bertelmann, is haunting.

But before recommending it, I must ask whether we really needed yet another dreary, depressing war picture … let alone a remake of an Oscar winner adapted (now) three times from the 1928 novel by Erich Maria Remarque? I think not. However, I suppose that, if Netflix is going to fund it, then aficionados of the movie war genre will certainly appreciate it and be impressed by its scope and unrelenting nature. Watch it for the art because there is nothing hopeful or uplifting about it.

Triangle of Sadness (Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly De Leon, Woody Harrelson) – No way does this quirk of a film deserve to be one of the 10 films nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. Maybe it’s just me. No stars; ridiculous storyline; unresolved ending. Yuck! But OK, here goes:

In Part One, we find out what the “triangle of sadness” is and meet Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a supermodel, and her boyfriend, Carl (Harris Dickinson), an aspiring model. They aren’t the happiest of couples. Together, in Part Two, they go on an exclusive yacht cruise with a bunch of ultrarich international egotists, none of whom have redeeming qualities. The cruise’s nameless captain, played by Woody Harrelson, is a drunk who never leaves his cabin.  The cruise staff, envisioning a big payday at the end, is trained to say “yes” to everything the guests want … and I mean everything. By the time the guests show up at the Captain’s dinner, they seem oblivious to the storm raging around them. 

Soon enough, as the gourmet food is ingested, prolific projectile vomiting ensues. As the ship rocks relentlessly, the sewage system backs up, passengers roll down the stairs, and almost everyone is sick. Then come the pirates, who throw a hand grenade on board, causing an explosion and sinking the ship.

Part Three follows the survivors, which include Yaya, Carl, the head steward, a stroke survivor, and a half dozen others, to the shore of a seemingly deserted island. They are a useless group of rich losers except for Abigail (Dolly De Leon), the “toilet lady,” a low-level member of the crew who quickly takes over because she can start a fire, forage for food, and demonstrate survivor skills. It’s a stunning turnaround – the people used to barking orders are now at the mercy of the least rich around them. Abigail plays it for all its worth, including turning Carl into a sex slave. I won’t give away the last part of the film, but I promise it isn’t very satisfying.

The lovers of the film consider it a hysterical satire targeting the entitled and privileged. Dolly De Leon’s performance is excellent and earned her a Golden Globe supporting actress nomination. I even concede that there are funny moments in this extraordinarily dark comedy. The Swedish filmmaker, Ruben Östlund, received Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, too. The film won the Palme D’or, the top award at Cannes, garnering an 8-minute standing ovation. His previous film, Square, also won the Palme D’or. I must be missing something.

Maybe I am just not sophisticated enough or just can’t relate to the biting satire. I thought it was a colossal waste of time. But if you are willing to spend two-and-a-half hours, you can rent the film on Prime Video for $5.99 and stop any time you like.

The Whale (Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton) – If I had a vote in the actor section of the Academy of Arts & Sciences, it would go to Brendan Fraser for his astonishing performance in The Whale. It’s not an easy movie or performance to watch, but it is transcendent. 

The Whale is an adaptation of a multiple award-winning play written by Samuel D. Hunter, who also wrote the screenplay. In the hands of director Darren Aronofsky, whose specialty is psychological dramas like Black Swan and The Wrestler, The Whale feels like an exploration into self-loathing. The entire movie covers only one week.

Fraser plays Charlie, a 500+-lb. reclusive, online English teacher with a good heart and deep psychological scars. Charlie is dying; he has severe congestive heart failure. He is effectively committing suicide by eating himself to death. His life has been devolving for at least eight years since he left his wife, Mary (Samantha Morton), and daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), in favor of his new love, a man (who later committed suicide).

As Charlie’s health has declined, he refuses to go to the hospital despite being begged to do so by Liz, his lover’s sister who is also a nurse. She deeply cares for Charlie because they share a common tragedy but also because they have become co-dependent friends. In effect, Liz serves as a hospice nurse, providing comfort and even abetting his death quest. Hong Chau, who also was wonderful in The Menu, delivers a mesmerizing performance that is nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

As the week progresses, Charlie’s singular focus is on reconciling with his estranged daughter, a rebellious, deeply scarred teenager who, in her own words, “hates everybody.” She manifests this hate by using him, mocking him, and outing him. As her mother says, “She is evil.” Charlie will have none of that; to him, Ellie (Sadie Sink) is wonderful, glorious, beautiful, and talented. He realizes that she hates him for abandoning her in favor of a man. But he believes it is all his fault, that she is redeemable.

Of course, the film’s title, The Whale, acknowledges Charlie’s size but, more importantly, refers to Moby Dick, Herman Melville’s classic novel and the subject of an essay Charlie cherishes and keeps nearby.

The film feels like a play; it essentially takes place in one room. The Whale cuts deep; it will tear you up … and make you tear up. It should have been nominated for Best Picture. It is well worth your time if, for no other reason, to see Brendan Fraser’s and Hong Chau’s performances. You may want to wait to watch it at home if it comes to streaming before the Oscars in March.