This site reviews the best in genre film (where genre is taken very broadly). Reviews are grouped into lists so you can compare films with similar subjects.
Foster on Film has three parts:
The Important Films: Here I will look at the films that changed the art form and our society. I have selected my favorite genres and picked the films that are required viewing to understand those genres.
The Great Films: My look at the masterpieces of cinema. Here you’ll find lists of the top films by the greatest directors and actors. This is also the home of my Foscar project, where I attempt to fix the Oscar’s Best Picture awards.
Film Review Lists: Reviews of films grouped by genre and sub-genre; a guide to anyone who gets into one of the “what are the 10 best X films” discussions. These are reviews, not critiques, so aimed more toward “is it good?” than “why is it good?”
Rankings/Lists: A collection of all my other lists of the best films.
Genesis started with 4 artsy, well-heeled students (Iâll ignore drummers for now), all of whom thought of themselves as writers, not performers. I donât think thatâs the best way to label them. Tony Banks was The Writer, but Iâd call Peter Gabriel The Artist (with a capital âAâ) and Anthony Phillips The (Musical) Talent. And Mike Rutherford was there too.
After their attempt at pop failed, they picked up on the trend for more complex rock with shades of classical and folk that was sweeping over England and they got it right in one, becoming a foundational band of progressive rock. Problematically, they then lost The Talent, but lucked out in replacing him with an even great Talent, Steve Hackett. Theyâd also gone through multiple drummers, and now stabilized on a skilled one with Phil Collins, who brought with him a touch of jazz. He could also sing, doing a reasonable impersonation of Gabriel⌠Gee, I wonder if that will be important later.
This five-piece version of the band was nearing on perfect: Art, Talent, Writing, and Skill all at their peak. Plus Rutherford. And they created some of the greatest rock albums of all time.
Of course it couldnât last. It never does. Friction between members, particularly Banks and Rutherford being dicks to Gabriel and Gabriel going all in on being THE Artist, caused Gabriel to go solo. The loss of The Artist hurt, but his spirit was still there, and they all envisioned themselves to be artists. They had The Writer, who could still pen smart, complicated works for The Talent and the skilled drummer. Oh, and Rutherford was there too. After numerous auditions, Collins reluctantly took over as front-man (his idea had been to become a purely instrumental band), and he wasnât bad.
But after two albums, friction hit again, this time with Banks and Rutherford being dicks to Hackett while Hackett just wanted to do something. Itâs weird to think that Collins was the one that got along with everyone.
Now, any sane group who found themselves losing their Talentâwho was also the guitaristâwould find another talented guitarist. But they didnât. Instead, Rutherford, a mid-tier bassist, took on the role of guitarist, following a master, while still playing bass. To say he wasnât up to the task is being polite. And Banks now had to write to the level of talent left in the group. At least Collins was a good drummer, except he didnât drum when he sang, and he was starting to get interested in drum machines because, sure, why not strip away one area where the band could still excel. They managed two albums before the loss of talent and the possibility of big money with simple pop tunes pulled them to the dark side.
So, time to rank the albums of Genesis. Itâs not too tricky. After a bump, Genesisâs output can be divided into 4 eras: Classic/Prog, Transition 1, Transition 2, and Pop. And each era is less than the one that came before. So, starting with #15
#15 Calling All Stations Â
Ug. This is a terrible album, dull, lifeless, and dim. I canât find anyone who thinks this was a good idea. Collins had finally quit due to a combination of his successful solo career and fading health, and Banks and Rutherford wanted some of that sweet, sweet Genesis money. But, being dicks, they wouldnât let their stage musicians, whoâd been playing with them for years, in as official members. But they knew they needed a singer. Ray Wilson’s voice doesn’t fit what they are doing (David Longdon, later of Big Big Train, auditioned and would have been a much better fit), but he isnât the problem. It’s the songs. The hooks are missing for pop music, and the complexity is missing for anything more. And while Genesis lyrics have been weak since the ’70s, these are atrocious. There’s nothing good here
Least Bad: The Dividing Line
Worst: Congo, Shipwrecked, Not About Us
#14 We Can’t Dance Â
With the ’90s, Genesis tried to once again do something of value. They didn’t try very hard, but there are more long tracks, and a few with what counts as complexity for late Genesis. But the band can’t do it. Driving the Last Spike and Fading Lights are attempts at the epics theyâd managed 15 years earlier, but the skill is lacking. If you can’t do it, it’s probably better not to try. And there’s still the lame ’80s-ish ballads and synth disasters. The longer runtime just gave them more chances to fail.
Least Bad: Jesus He Knows Me
Worst: I Can’t Dance, Never A Time, Tell Me Why, Hold On My Heart, Since I Lost You
#13 Invisible Touch Â
’80s Genesis has a very ’80s sound, and that’s not a good thing. With The Artist and Talent of the group long gone by ’86, the remainders are smartly not even trying to do anything worthwhile. This is lowest common denominator pop, and it hardly works as that. And let’s not dwell on the lyrics. Domino had potential to be something more, but those ’80s synths and drum machines kill it.
Least Bad: Invisible Touch, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Worst: In Too Deep, Anything She Does
#12 From Genesis to Revolation Â
The first album, written when the members were still teenagers and planning on being writers of pop tunes. Their producer was even keener on pop, wanting them to sound like The Beach Boys. Once you get past the intrusive strings (if you can; I canât), you end up with an OK psychedelic pop album. There’s potential, although it isn’t clear potential for what. In the Beginning and The Serpent remind me of The Animals, in a good way. In The Wilderness has a few suggestions of what was to come. But nothing is memorable.
Best: In the Beginning, The Serpent, The Conqueror
Worst: Fireside Song, In Hiding, Window
#11 ABACABÂ Â
With ABACAB, Genesis tossed off the last pretense that they were a great band and embraced mediocrity and money. Gotta love the laziness of the title track, where they didn’t even bother finding lyrics, but just sing the structure of the song, but not even the final structure. Well, as pure pop, it could be worse; it would be worse. I am thrown that they cut the best song from this recording session, Paperlate. If for some reason you want 80âs cheese, this isnât a bad place to go for it.
Best: Keep It Dark, Man On The Corner
Worst: Who Dunnit?, Like it Or Not, Another Record
#10 Genesis Â
Why do bands self-title albums in the middle of their career? Oh well. This is the height of pop-Genesis, mainly because they stray a bit. It’s all pretty simple, with repetitive drum machine bangs, lackluster keyboards, and barely-there guitars. But it has its moments, and those moments are almost entirely in the two Home By the Seas. The album also never sinks to the lows of other pop-era Genesis, so it wins on both ends.
Best: Home By the Sea/Second Home By the Sea
Worst: Illegal Alien, Just a Job To Do
#9 Duke Â
The last album (chronologically) I call good, and the end of their second transitional period. The old Genesis was being buried, but there was still some life left. I always found Duketo have a touch of jazz, which gives it character. I’d have been OK with the new band staying like this. The loss of Hackett is felt strongly, but Collins does a particularly nice job on the drums and Banks still has a few tunes in him.
The Best: Behind the Lines, Duke’s Travels/End
The Worst: Alone Tonight, Please Don’t Ask
#8 And Then There Were Three Â
The first record of the second transitional era, The Talent had left, leaving a huge hole. The trio was having a hard time figuring out what it was now. There’s lots of prog here, though not much I’d call art rock. It’s so much simpler than what came before, but still complex for a rock album. It’s hard to say what this album is, except that it holds together surprisingly well. They found their answer in the final song: Follow You Follow Me is terrible prog rock, but itâs great pop.
The Best Burning Rope, Follow You Follow Me
The Worst: Say It’s Alright Joe
#7 The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Â
This is where I’ll get in trouble with most old-school Genesis fans. When I got into Genesis in the later ’70s, it was a biblical truth that this was the pinnacle of the band, but it’s never clicked for me. Oh, there’s greatness here, but there’s also problems, and it’s easy to see the band splitting apart in the music. I love Gabriel, but this was too much Gabriel for a band. He got lost in the story (that he insisted only he could write) and it isn’t much of a story. The rest of the band was pissed, and it feels like it. There isnât enough interesting music or compelling melodies for a double album, but Gabriel had more lyrics he wanted shoved in somewhere. Yes, this is a good album, but not the Holy Grail it was made out to be, and it rarely tops rankings any more.
The Best: Most of the 1st disk
The Worst: Most of the 2nd disk
#6 A Trick of the Tail Â
So Gabriel had left, apparently to the relief of both the remaining members and Gabriel. The loss of The Artist hurt, but The Writer had ideas and had The Talent and a skilled drummer to pull them off. And Rutherford was there too. Collins took over singing, and while he wasn’t the best singer around, neither was Gabriel, and there was enough similarity that the band didnât have to adjust too much. They set out to prove the band could still work without Gabriel, and they pretty much did. The album lacks the absolute classic songs of earlier albums, but it has no significant weaknesses. This is a reasonable entrance album into Genesis for non-prog folks.
Best: Dance on A Volcano, Los Endos
Least Best: Entangled, Robbery Assault And Battery
#5 Wind & Wuthering Â
I’ve always found it odd that the 4-man band improved on their second time out. This is a great album, keeping the overall solid level of A Trick of the Tail, but adding in a few top notch songs. Itâs generally described as âautumnal.â
Best: Eleventh Earl of Mar, Unquiet Slumbers For the Sleepers/In that Quiet Earth/Afterglow
Least Best: Your Own Special Way
#4 Trespass Â
Their second album, this is when Genesis became Genesis. Thereâs multiple epics with a good deal of theatrics. It has a slightly darker tone than other Genesis albums. Trespassgets far less attention than it deservesâI suspect because it predates Collins and Hackett, so it doesnât technically have the âClassic Lineup,â though I group it in the Classic Era. Itâs a fantastic album, nearly equal to the next two on this list.
The Best: The Knife, Stagnation
Least Best: Dusk
#3 Nursery Cryme Â
Oddly, a lot of critics claim their was a fundamental change between Trespassand Nursery Cryme, but I disagree. What changed was the personnel. This is Trespass, with a better guitarist and a better drummer. Considering the crap Collins would do later, it’s sometimes easy to gloss over that he was a damn fine drummer. The melodies are a touch stronger and the whole thing is a slight bit crazier.
Best: The Musical Box, The Fountain of Salmacis
Least Best: Seven Stones, Harlequin
#2 Selling England By the Pound Â
I guess Iâm not going out on a limb with my final rankings as this more often than not ends up in one of the top two slots of any Genesis ranking. And for good reason. It very much fits with Trespassand Nursery Cryme, but now not only better, but perfected.
Best: Dancing With the Moonlight Knight, Firth of Fifth, The Cinema Show
Least Best: More Fool Me
#1 Foxtrot Â
The record company owner heard this and said, “this is the one that makes their career.” Who knew execs had taste? Everything was working for the band. Hell, they even were getting along. It’s the best Genesis album with the best Genesis song. Supperâs Ready is the best thing Genesis ever did, and very few bands have done anything near this level. So with it taking up half the album, Foxtrotis going to be on top. It helps that the other side is good too, on par with the previous (and next) albums, but itâs Supperâs Readythat grabs the ring.
Best: Supper’s Ready, Can-Utility and the Coastliners
Lest Best: none
[This is not my picks for the best of the yearâIâll do the FOSCARs laterâbut just how Iâd vote based on the options presented. And I will be skipping the animated shorts as I have not seen enough of them]
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
CILLIAN MURPHY (Oppenheimer)
[Iâd have given it to Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) for a performance that excels. For the nominees, this is a year of competence, instead of greatness. Each actor did his job, but nothing was really special. JEFFREY WRIGHT (American Fiction) would be my 2nd choice as heâs particularly believable. BRADLEY COOPER (Maestro) is in overly broad bio-pic Oscar-bait mode, COLMAN DOMINGO (Rustin) is fine, and PAUL GIAMATTI (The Holdovers) is just being Paul Giamatti.]
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
MARK RUFFAL (Poor Things)
[This is the best category for the year. RYAN GOSLING (Barbie) and ROBERT DOWNEY JR (Oppenheimer) are also deserving winners. Even my lesser ranked nominees, STERLING K. BROWN (American Fiction) and ROBERT DE NIRO (Killers of the Flower Moon), are better than the top Lead Actors.]
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
EMMA STONE (Poor Things)
[Stone puts in the single best performance of the year and one of the best of the century. LILY GLADSTONE (Killers of the Flower Moon) and SANDRA HĂLLER (Anatomy of a Fall) are adequate. CAREY MULLIGAN (Maestro) overdoes it, unsurprisingly for that film, and ANNETTE BENING (Nyad) is the worst of the group, acting hard, but not well.]
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
DANIELLE BROOKS (The Color Purple)
[Without my top choices, JULIANNE MOORE (May December) and ROSAMUND PIKE (Saltburn), BROOKS and DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH (The Holdovers) are the best of a lackluster bunch. EMILY BLUNT (Oppenheimer) and AMERICA FERRERA (Barbie) are OK, while JODIE FOSTER (Nyad) shouldnât be a nominee.]
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
THE BOY AND THE HERON
[This one was easy. ELEMENTAL & NIMONA are cute enough kidâs films, but nothing more. ROBOT DREAMS would have been a good short film. And SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE is poorly paced, questionably focused, and is only half a movie.]
COSTUME DESIGN
BARBIE
[A difficult choice between BARBIE and POOR THINGS. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and NAPOLEON are uninspired choices, and OPPENHEIMER being a nom is just odd.]
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
POOR THINGS
[Barbie should have been nominated if hairstyling mattered. None of the other choices — GOLDA, MAESTRO, OPPENHEIMER, and SOCIETY OF THE SNOW â are in competition.]
PRODUCTION DESIGN
POOR THINGS
[The snub for ASTEROID CITY is ridiculous, but Iâd have ranked it 3rd. Second goes to the incredible work on BARBIE, but nothing beats the imagination shown in POOR THINGS, an all-time great. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, NAPOLEON, and OPPENHEIMER are nowhere near it.]
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
POOR THINGS
[Iâm choosing Ludwig GĂśranssonâs score because it is the most effective IN the movie. I donât know that I would sit around listening to it, but it is perfect for what it is supposed to do. If I was going for great music thatâs worth just listening to, Iâd Choose INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, but Iâm ignoring it for the same reason all the Oscar voters will â weâve been there. AMERICAN FICTION is good if I want some pleasant light jazz. It didnât do much for me while watching the film, but itâs nice. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOONâs score does set the mood, though it isnât special. The score for OPPENHEIMER was one of my problems with the film. Itâs way too in your face. It should have either been more subtle, or it needed to be better melodically, i.e., do what Williams or Korngold have done.]
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
IâM JUST KEN (Barbie)
[The only good thing I can say about the bland IT NEVER WENT AWAY (American Symphony) is that it isnât the absolute crap of THE FIRE INSIDE (Flaminâ Hot). And Iâm surprised how little there is to WAHZHAZHE – A SONG FOR MY PEOPLE (Killers of the Flower Moon). As for the most likely winner, WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? (Barbie), it just annoys me. I donât want to hear another mumble-cry-talked song. IâM JUST KEN may not be a classic, but itâs a lot of fun.]
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR
[A charming, and very Wes Anderson short. Two of the remaining noms deal with grief; KNIGHT OF FORTUNE does it wonderfullyâsensitively but with some humor in the darknessâwhile THE AFTER does it cheaply, over the top; while the first is nearly tied with HENRY SUGAR, I loathed the second and Iâd be happy to hear all copies had been mysteriously destroyed. INVINCIBLE is an Oscar-bait drama. RED, WHITE AND BLUE is in the right place politically, but thatâs not enough.]
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
ISLAND IN BETWEEN
[I canât say any of these deserve to win. My choice has an interesting subject (a Taiwanese island close to mainland China) but doesnât have anything to say about it. It wins because the others are weaker. Oscar docs tend to be overly-direct message pictures filled with face-to-the-camera statements, and weâve got 3 of those: THE LAST REPAIR SHOP is Oscar-bait sob stories. THE ABCS OF BOOK BANNING has children saying âbanning is bad,â and THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK is an unfocused race film that doesnât rise to the level of a 60 mins segment. NÇI NAI & WĂI PĂ at least is different from those. Itâs an âold people are adorableâ film; YMMV on how condescending you find it.]
SOUND
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
[I hate voting on sound without knowing the theater is set perfectly, but sound really was important in THE ZONE OF INTEREST. THE CREATOR, MAESTRO, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING and OPPENHEIMER are fine.]
VISUAL EFFECTS
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
[If what you could do on a budget was a factor, then GODZILLA MINUS ONE would be the easy winner, but the Oscars have never been about budgets or restraint. THE CREATOR also looks great. While I do understand all the VFX involved in both MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING and NAPOLEON, I think there were plenty of better choices.]
CINEMATOGRAPHY
POOR THINGS
[This is another easy one, at least from the nominees; POOR THINGS is absolutely beautiful. None of these are bad. MAESTROÂ is inconsistent. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and OPPENHEIMER do their job. EL CONDE is the 2nd most interesting.]
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
POOR THINGS
[BARBIE comes in 2nd. AMERICAN FICTION has major structural problems, and OPPENHEIMERâs screenplay is⌠predictable. And the script is NOT what makes THE ZONE OF INTEREST interesting.]
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
MAY DECEMBER
[THE HOLDOVER is a distant 2nd. ANATOMY OF A FALL, MAESTRO, and PAST LIVES arenât worthy]
FILM EDITING
POOR THINGS
[ANATOMY OF A FALL and THE HOLDOVERS are fine, but nothing more. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON has poor editing, and OPPENHEIMER is sometimes good, sometimes bad. None of them are in POOR THINGâs league]
DIRECTING
YORGOS LANTHIMOS (Poor Things)
[Lanthimos is the best of the year, but the Academy didnât nominate my 2nd, 3rd, or 4th choices. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN (Oppenheimer) comes in second of the nominees, purely on craft. His artistry is unimpressive, but it is a meticulously made film. JUSTINE TRIET (Anatomy Of A Fall), MARTIN SCORSESE (Killers Of The Flower Moon), and JONATHAN GLAZER (The Zone Of Interest) were not in contention for me.]
BEST PICTURE
POOR THING
[Easily the best film of the yearâgenius work and art at the highest level. Canât say enough about it. And as this is ranked choice, the rest in descending order are: BARBIE, OPPENHEIMER, THE HOLDOVERS, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, AMERICAN FICTION, THE ZONE OF INTEREST, ANATOMY OF A FALL, MAESTRO, PAST LIVES. Of note, Iâd only have nominated my top 2.]
As I am now being inundated by awards speculation, I find it time to say something about one of the biggest films of the year. Oppenheimeris a good film. Itâs a very good film. The acting is excellent across the board. I could go on praising it, and I would, except it has been greatly over-praised by too many, and there is non-stop talk of it taking Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards, which it does not deserve.
Itâs good.
Itâs not great, and it is nowhere near a masterpiece. I am bothered by these claims of masterpiece. It is competent filmmaking and excels in some areas. John Grisham is a good writer, but he isnât Shakespeare. The Pelican Brief isnât Macbeth. I think most reasonably literate people would agree. So I find it depressing that people reasonably literate in film canât tell the difference between this and greatness.
I could start with the real flaws of the film. The music, for instance, is far too noticeable, far too on the nose, far too distracting, to be so uninteresting. You want to draw that much attention, then do what John Williams or Erich Wolfgang Korngold did. If you canât do that, then be subtle. Thereâs also the editing â not terrible â but too many shots were held for a moment too long, and too many scenes lasted longer than needed. And of course, thereâs the sound mix, but then it is Christopher Nolan, and honestly, for Nolan, the sound mix wasnât that bad. Iâm kinda proud of our boy for realizing this time that people should understand spoken words.
But the issue isnât whatâs wrong, because this isnât a bad film. Itâs a good film. The issue is what isnât good enough for this to be a masterpiece. To be clear, there is no reason it should be one. Masterpieces are hard to come by. If people would quit drooling all over themselves, Iâd be content to call it good and thatâs a nice thing for a film to be. But, since thatâs not the case, then it is time to bring up the obvious issue: Masterpieces are made by masters. Nolan isnât one. Heâs a skilled professional. Heâs meticulous and knows how to make a film. But thatâs it. Heâs no Hitchcock, no Murnau, no Hawks, no Gance, no Huston, no Powel, no Curtiz, no Lean, no Kubrick, no Wilder, no Coppola, no Scott. Not even a Tarantino.
Going through his works I find Nolanâs shots are consistently fine. They do the job. They do whatâs needed for the plot. They do nothing interesting, nothing of great artistic merit or brilliance. They are sufficient.
His mise-en-scène, that is the look of the frame, is competent. If a lab should look well used, then it does. If there should be papers strewn about, then there are. Anything extraordinary? No.
His use of color and lighting? Good enough. He doesnât tell the story through those, or define characters, the way Powel or Huston or Lean did time after time. Instead, things look more or less natural and everything is visible, which isâŚfine.
Then he has his Nolan-isms. He still thinks it is clever just to tell a story out of order. And it occasionally is, particularly if you donât keep doing it. He is well known for hisâŚnarrowness of focus⌠in that his world is nearly devoid of women. And he doesnât have humans speaking to each other in his films, rather, at each other. Everyone just makes speeches all the time. Thatâs not necessarily a problem, though after two hours, I do long for something approaching a conversation instead of dueling lectures.
So thatâs Nolan, and Oppenheimeris a very Nolan film. In it he does what he always does. Iâd say he does it better, but still very Nolan. If anything is unusual, it is how simple and straightforward the story is. No one should be confused by anything here. I prefer a more complex tale, but I do appreciate that he kept relatively close to the facts. Grading on a curve of truthfulness of biopics, this is a real winner. His spoon feeding with the (very) occasional hallucinatory image was treating the audience like juveniles, but he didnât do it often.
Which means this is one of Nolanâs better films. Perhaps his best, though Iâm only saying perhaps. It is a competent piece of filmmaking. A fine work of edutainment. Iâd even recommend it to people who arenât in a hurry. But best film of the year? There is real artistry out there, works of imagination and depth, works that should be acclaimed, works that are masterpieces.
Scott (Paul Rudd), his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) are pulled into the Quantum Realm so that there will be a movie. Scott and Cassie run into rebels while they try to find a way back to our world, while separately Hank and Hope are led though the realmâs twists and turns by Janet who has many, many secrets which she continues to keep for no good reason. They all meet up eventually to fight Kang The Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) who is also trapped and is one of Janetâs secrets.
This is an MCU movie, so on a scale of movies, itâs pretty good. On a scale of action movies, itâs even better. But on a scale of MCU movies, itâs not so good. Itâs less than it should be in almost every way, but its real problem is quite specific.
No, this isnât an issue of âsuperhero fatigue.â The problem has nothing to do with superheroes. Nor it is the problem the strange claim that MCU movies are too much alike and just following a template. No, the issue here is the opposite: Quantumaniafails to follow the template.
People get confused on what the MCU template is, talking about action beats and mirrored villains. But nope, thatâs background. The MCU template is to have charismatic if flawed characters (sometimes very flawed) interact in witty ways while they do stuff. The stuff doesnât matter, just so long as they are active while they interact. Itâs the characters that draw us in, not the action. Itâs why Winter Soldier works so well even though the plot makes no sense. The story IS the characters.
So what went wrong here?
To begin, there are five leads. Now usually Iâd call that an ensemble, but an ensemble needs to be built and maintained. Joss Whedon and James Gunn are masters of that. Director Peyton Reed is not. Heâs OK with sidekicks, but this Ant-Man movie jettisons the sidekicks, leaving us with 5 leads and no way to give each the attention they need. Everyone is underdeveloped and underutilized.
So, is the little we get good?
Youâd think it would be easy with Scott since we know him from past films. Heâs a funny kind of everyman (who happens to have some remarkable skills). But here, heâs Cassieâs dad. Thatâs it. Thatâs all he is. He has no other traits. He isnât Scott Lang; heâs Cassieâs dad. OK, this is not good, but could work if Cassie was something special. Whatâs Cassie? Sheâs Scottâs daughter. Thatâs it. Weâre told sheâs smart, though we donât see that. All we have is Cassieâs dad and Scottâs daughter. They donât even have a story. They do nothing. Early on there’s a suggestion of conflict with Cassie wanting to help and Scott not wanting to, but that’s dropped, which is just as well as it was a terrible idea. As far as the plot goes, they could have been cut from the film, but that would be OK if they had some kind of arc or we learned more about their characters or they just were really engaging. But they are just Cassieâs dad and Scottâs daughter.
As for the other three, Hope is barely in the movie. Physically she is. We see her standing or sitting or walking, but otherwise, she has zero character. Again, she could have been cut out of the film. Iâd have been a bit pissed if I was Evangeline Lilly.
Janet⌠Well, Janet isnât a character either, though in a different way. Half the time, sheâs an exposition machine. The rest of the time sheâs an anti-exposition machine, refusing to tell even the most essential information she knows, instead simply saying how bad things are and leading the others forward. The plot is all about her. She is the only one necessary for the plot and the whole film could easily have been rewritten to be just her and Pym on an adventure. But again, she has no character.
Which leaves Hank Pym, who, like Hope, suffers for the lack of focus on him, but this is the only case where it isnât a disaster as Pym actually seems like a character. He has a personality. I attribute that to Michael Douglas just having fun. Itâs not much, but itâs something.
Other things donât work as well as they should. Kang is generic and his power levels fluctuate so wildly it is impossible to determine when anything is a threat (the power level issue is a problem for most everyone). Bill Murrayâs cameo comes off as Bill Murray, not a character, so breaks any sense of a world. The art design is very pretty, but has no focus; thereâs nothing to go âoh wowâ about, rather just a lot of attractive colors.
But none of that matters in the end. Itâs the characters, and this film doesnât have them. I donât want to spend time with Scott and Cassie and Hope and Janet because thereâs nothing there to spend time with. I donât care about what happens to them because thereâs nothing to care about.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is better than a random shootâem up youâll stream from Netflix, but that was known before the film was made. If you want some action, itâs fine. But I want more from an MCU film, and this one is a disappointment.
[Iâm not covering the shorts or documentaries, and I never do sound as I donât trust my viewing environments. Iâve seen everything Iâm voting on except Avatar: The Way of Water(so Iâm going to treat it as Avatar I) and Andrea Riseborough in Leslie, but then thatâs been the story of this award season; nobody has]
CINEMATOGRAPHY
ELVIS(Mandy Walker)
[I wouldnât have called ELVISthe best of the year (why isnât Babylon here?), but it is best of the nominees. BARDO: FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS has some wonderful moments, but many others where Iâd call the cinematography good, but nothing special. TĂR comes in third, doing all that is needed for the story, but nothing more. I think EMPIRE OF LIGHT is only here to note Roger Deakinsâ lifetime work. And ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT was very good, but for what they were doing, it needed to be better still].
VISUAL EFFECTS
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
[OK, completely unfair, but as the original would win in this category by a mile, Iâm confident in giving it to this sequel.]
COSTUME DESIGN
BABYLON(Mary Zophres)
[Huh. A category with a whole lot of deserving nominees. Thatâs weird this year. BABYLONwas not a great movie, but it was a beautiful one, and part of that was the never ending string of amazing costumes. Still, this is a close call with BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, and I wouldnât be upset if that won. Both ELVISand EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE have costumes that advance the plot, and the plot kinda is the costumes for MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, though I did find that the weakest nominee.]
PRODUCTION DESIGN
BABYLON(Florencia Martin; Anthony Carlino)
[Again, BABYLONis a great looking one. ELVISâs design is good, but BABYLONjust tops it.]
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER(Camille Friend and Joel Harlow)
[Some good choices here, with both THE WHALE and THE BATMAN as standouts in makeup. And the work in ELVISand ALL QUIET is good too, but the variety of ingenious work in WAKANDA FOREVER takes the award.]
FILM EDITING
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (Paul Rogers)
[This one is easy. Editing this, with worlds changing many times in a scene, must have been insane. The editing in THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, ELVIS, and TĂRvaried between fair and poor, leaving only MAVERICK as competition, and while itâs editing is good (anything being good in that film is a rarity), it is a distant second.]
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
BABYLON(Justin Hurwitz)
[This was a lightweight year for scores. BABYLONâs does the most to define the picture. The others, with one exception, were OK, though none had that magic I look for in a great score. The exception is ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, where the score was poorly conceived and is distracting.]
[Itâs a shame that just the song is nominated. Itâs the dance that is overwhelming, but the song is good, and is part of an amazing scene. And all of the other nominees are terrible, songs I never want to hear again.]
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
[The stop-motion animation here must be rewarded. This is absolute masterwork in animation. Most of the rest is good enough (the songs are a weak spot) not to detract from that animation. THE SEA BEAST is a strong second, with excellent animation, and even better script and voice work. PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH is also worthy, making this one of the better categories. The final two arenât in the running, TURNING RED is generally poorer and condescending, while MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON is as if the goal was to make the MOST Indie film ever, with every indie film trope turned up to 11.]
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
LIVING (Kazuo Ishiguro)
[Not a great category, but LIVINGhits the right notes when needed. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY has a reasonable number of clever lines, so slips into second. For the rest: TOP GUN: MAVERICKâs script is absolute trash and its nomination is absurd; WOMEN TALKING has the screenplay of a stageplay, and not a good one, with far too many repetitions; ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT is a particularly poor adaptation of the novel.]
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (The Daniels)
[A better category than adapted screenplay. The winner takes it due to wit and twists. Of the rest, TRIANGLE OF SADNESSâs screenplay has some issues, but the others show a skilled hand.]
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
KE HUY QUAN (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
[This is considered a lock, and I agree it should be. BRENDAN GLEESON is good enough in The Banshees of Inisherin while I found BARRY KEOGHAN annoying in the same film. JUDD HIRSCH wouldnât make my top 2 for supporting actor in The Fabelmans. BRIAN HENRY (Causeway) is my 2nd place choice, but he doesnât have a chance.]
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
JAMIE LEE CURTIS (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
[A category with no embarrassing choices. None are better than CURTIS, so Iâll let my desire for her to get an Oscar decide it. HONG CHAU (The Whale) would be an equally good choice. KERRY CONDON (The Banshees of Inisherin) gives the best performance of that film, and ANGELA BASSETT (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) is always good and she only lags behind because she seems less her character and more just ANGELA BASSETT. STEPHANIE HSU (Everything Everywhere All at Once) would be my last choice.]
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
AUSTIN BUTLER (Elvis)
[This is a three-way for me, between BUTLER, BRENDAN FRASER (The Whale), and BILL NIGHY (Living). FRASER is just turned up a notch higher than Iâd like, and BUTLER has more to do than NIGHY, but all three are reasonable choices. COLIN FARRELLâs role is a bit too easy, and PAUL MESCALâs performance seems to be more about the editing. All that said, I hope FRASER wins.]
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
MICHELLE YEOH (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
[This is a two way race, YEOH or CATE BLANCHETT (TĂĄr), and both are excellent, but Yeoh does more. ANA DE ARMAS (Blonde) and MICHELLE WILLIAMS (The Fabelmans) are both quite good, but theyâre footnotes.]
DIRECTING
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
[This is rough, choosing between The Daniels and Steven Spielberg for THE FABELMANS, but when itâs hard to choose, Iâve got to go with the better result. The directing for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN and TĂR is fine, and that of TRIANGLE OF SADNESS is a little less than fine.]
BEST PICTURE
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
[Nothing else is close. Nothing else would be in my top 10 for the year. THE FABELMANS is the most skillfully made film of the year, so itâs not an embarrassment as a nomination. ELVIS, TĂR, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT,
WOMEN TALKING, and TRIANGLE OF SADNESS are need reedits, and the last two need radical rewrites. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN is OK, and TOP GUN: MAVERICK is garbage (and it is a complete embarrassment to our country that this thing is in the same list as ALL QUIET â makes Americans look like war-mongering assholes). And it is just so stupid.]
Overall, not a great year or a great group of nominees, but the right winners could make this a feel good year.
Why must artists create autobiographies? They put themselves into all their work. Why must they be so literal about it? I knew everything I ever wanted to know about Steven Spielberg from Jurassic Park and Close Encounters and Raiders. I donât need to see him, or any artist, masturbating. [Note: Iâd also appreciate it if novelists would quite writing about novelists and filmmakers would quite making films about filmmaking.]
So, is THE FABELMANS well directed? Yes. Of course it is. I knew that before I watched it. Yes, there are moments of emotional impact. Yes, it looks great. The acting is excellent. The colors are rich and help tell the story, and yes, yes, all of that and more I knew before I watched it. Heâs Goddamned Steven Spielberg. And if I was Goddamned Steven Spielberg, Iâd really try and make something that wasnât two and a half hours of yelling âHey everyone, look at me. ME! ME! ME!â Firstly, because everyone would already be looking at me.
I suppose you donât get to be this great a filmmaker without being arrogant. (Erase âI supposeâ â thereâs no supposing here.) That arrogance is on display in his many better films. And thatâs OK. Itâs more than OK. I just want it turned down enough that a great director can focus on stories that needed to be told, or it would be nice if they were told, or anything other than âNow you will all see where my greatness came from.â
Sigh. Yeah, this thing should not have been made. It is a waste of talent. Yet it is still one of the best nominees this year. As far as applied skill, it might be the best. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, WOMEN TALKING, TĂR, and particularly TOP GUN: MAVERICK look like they were made by hacks or first year film school students by comparison. TĂR is more interesting, but it doesnât display the mastery of the art form. But I think being interesting matters, and THE FABELMANS is not interesting.
Or is it? I generally ignore the source material and closeness of adaptation, but in this case itâs hard. I thought the first German adaptation of a German book in a setting of vital importance to Germany would be closer to the novel then a 1930s American version. But this is hardly All Quiet On the Western Front. Iâd call it inspired by the novel, but I might as well say inspired by World War I.
The changes start with almost all characterization. In the book, Paul was a person, with plans and desires. Here is a blank slate, an everyman. This film also is missing what I consider to be the two most important sections of the book â the boysâ indoctrination and Paulâs return to his hometown. Those were the heart of the story. Changed too is Paulâs death (OK, all the deaths are changed), now being used to make a statement about the evils yet to come instead of one of the pointlessness of it all. And then there is the addition, a subplot of the signing of the armistice, which feels out of place and harmed the tone and pacing. Well, the director was concerned about looking ahead to a time the book knew nothing about.
Alright, so as an adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front, I didnât think much of it. How is it as a movie? Itâs not bad. It is successful in painting the bleakness of war, and all of the battle scenes are powerful. But without characters, itâs hard to feel anything except depression. And since itâs not saying anything new or unexpected, two and a half hours are unnecessary. Add in the subplot and the music that draws attention to itself, instead of to the story (the nomination for score is ridiculous) and we end up with a film that makes its point, but which Iâll never go back to. And yeah, Paulâs death here isnât just different, itâs horrible.
No, this one shouldnât win Best Picture.
Also, why is the default on Netflix the English dub. At least they had the original, but I’d have made that the default and had people switch away from it if they so desired.
Currently the film with the third best odds to win Best Picture, TĂĄr is an interesting film, constructed to be unsatisfying for everyone. Itâs precisely (at times delicately) made, with superb performances, particularly by Blanchett, but I canât say I enjoyed it and have a hard time figuring why anyone would.
And the one line descriptions, of âjustice comes to an abusive lesbian directorâ are completely off the mark.
Lydia TĂĄr is a prickly character, who might beâprobably isâvery cruel and manipulative. Or maybe not. Those around her might be victims, or might not be, and certainly are not acting out of the best of motives more often than not. What happens to TĂĄr is partly her fault, but partly isnât, and nothing that happens to anyone is fair. Plot-wise, enough happens for about 30 minutes. This film is about character in service of theme. It does fine with character (though it intentionally obscures a great deal), but theme is where things get rocky. I felt like I was in the middle of the worst kind of Twitter argument, with people using the film to support diametrically opposed ideas: Itâs been called the ultimate anti-woke movie and a powerful #metoo statement and yes, itâs easy to take it to be either, but harder to take it as both. With such lack of clarity, and so little satisfaction, Iâd have liked to have spent less than two and a half hours with these people.
I suppose Iâll rank it as one of the better nominees, but also as one of the least enjoyable.
And today it is another of the Academy Awards Best Picture nominees. 2022 was the year of the âEat the Richâ combined with âmodern culture is emptyâ satires, and strangely also of surrounding them with water. The other two films that spring immediately to mind are Glass Onion and The Menu. None of them have any concept of subtlety, which isnât necessarily a problem. Not necessarily⌠Triangle of Sadness stands out as the one that has no concept of editing.
Thereâs enough here to make a good movie, but only if you started post-production from scratch. The first hour should be no longer than 20 minutes and the first two sections need a completely different construction. Since I donât like anyone, and everything being said is not only clear, but hammered over and over, Triangle of Sadness becomes tedious rapidly.
Sure, this is a better film than Maverick, but I got more enjoyment from watching, and making fun of, that silly film.
Have some Oscar nominations to catch up on, and tonightâs was Elvis, or as it should be titled, âBaz Luhrmannâs Elvis,â as he Baz Luhrmannâs all over it. The thing is, thatâs why I like it. The more Luhrmann it is, the better, and itâs very Luhrmann. I couldnât care less about the real Elvis Presley. Heâs not on my list of the top 1000 subjects of bio pics I want to see, should I ever make such a list, which is fine as Luhrmann isnât all that interested in the real Presley either. And that lack of accuracy (including not focusing on important elements of the manâs life) isnât a problem since, unlike the lying Bohemian Rhapsody which had little connection to Freddie Mercury but was presented as the truth, Elvisis presented as the ravings and twisted statements of Col Parker, who is clearly an unreliable narrator.
So, weâve got a skillfully directed (depending on what we count as the job of the director), beautifully filmed, and wonderfully acted picture. Austin Butler deservers his Best Lead Actor nomination just as Mandy Walkerâs cinematography nom is reasonable. And I wouldnât have been upset if Luhrmann got a directing nom (he did not). But it shouldnât have landed a Best Pictures nomination. OK, in a world where Maverickgot one, sure, as it is vastly superior to that, but setting a more reasonable bar, itâs just not great. Good, but not great. Script and editing are the weak spots, and theyâre pretty weak. Thereâs whole sections that should have been rewritten, and hundreds of minor nips and tucks would have helped, along with some major slices, and probably a few additions.
Well, âgoodâ isnât a bad place for a movie to land.
In a world of stunted emotions, a strung-out, emo Batman (Robert Pattinson) is called in by Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to help solve the gruesome murder of the mayor by a new costumed vigilantly, The Riddler (Paul Dano). The Riddler is a BDSM gimp merged with an insel, who somehow is very effective at killing people. To solve the crime, Batmanâthere is no Bruce Wayne, only Batmanâwith the help of his Butler Alfred (Andy Serkis) must confront the gangsters Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and the Penguin (Colin Farrell), and dig into his own past. He also encounters Catwoman (ZoĂŤ Kravitz), who he uses for his investigation, but then she sticks around in the movie for no reason and the two kinda-sorta have a romance because the script tells them to (really, there is no other reason).
My god it never ends! Some movies are 3 hours because they have 3 hours of story to tell. And sometimes, rarely because studios know better, a movie is 3 hours because the director is unwilling or incapable of editing his film. This is the second case. Scene after scene is too long; each says all it has to say, and then says it again. And again.
But the length points to a second problem, which is this isnât a movie; itâs two movies that donât belong anywhere near each other, squished together. One of those is a gritty, intense, crime movie, where an off-putting private detective works with a hostile police force to find a serial killer in a very corrupt city. This is the good part of The Batman, which would have been much better if it wasnât a Batman film. Thereâs no need for Batman to be in this movie. It would be more suited to Benedict Cumberbatchâs Sherlock Holmes, but a new quirky detective would have probably been better. Everything Batman-like doesnât fit and Pattinson showing up wearing little ears is just silly. Focus on the mystery and make it a hard-R, and weâve got a good thriller.
Then thereâs the second movie; itâs a childrenâs, action, superhero origin story where an immortal being with variable powers takes mind-bogglingly stupid actions and laughs-off death over and over (oh god the bomb in the face was ridiculous) on his way to learning that vengeance is morally (or strategically) wrong. This movie was always going to be weak, but the real problem is how unnaturally it fits with the crime section. In this section, no one acts in any sensible way, physics doesnât work, and nothing matters:
Machine gun to the chest. No problem.
Semitrucks exploding. No big deal.
Bomb in the face. Minor inconvenience.
And it all ends in a big explosion-filled climax because thatâs what superhero origin movies do.
Even saying all that, there are additional problems with the main character. Our Batman shows little emotion besides moping and rarely speaks in anything outside of a monotone. He also has boots heavy enough for Frankensteinâs Monster to suggest he go buy something lighter (itâs just funny; he can be heard long before he shows up in scenes, clomping along). And he has an unnecessary voice-over that blends in to his stereotypical 1950s teen girl diary. Yes, Batman keeps a diary. It adds nothing and turns the film into a comedy. And like many bad narrations, it vanishes for most of the film, only to return at the end when the filmmakers didnât trust their images.
What bugs me with The Batman over other failed DC projects is that thereâs a really good movie here. Even now if they cut it down to 90 minutes and trashed the action set pieces, youâd have something worth seeing. But director Matt Reeves and company had no concept of restraint or control, producing a mess.
Callie (Carrie Coon) brings her teenage son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and awkward, precocious daughter Phoebe (McKenna Grace) to live on her recently deceased fatherâs ramshackle farm. Phoebe quickly discovers a connection to the Ghostbusters and with the aid of her teacher (Paul Rudd) and new friend (Logan Kim), sets out to solve the mystery of the farm and the nearby mountain.
I donât recall a sequel going so far from the mark. Ghostbusterswas an original, zany comedy that fired on 12 cylinders with improve-like jokes flooding every moment between over-the-top slapstick. Ghostbusters Afterlife is a semi-serious, sentimental (very, very sentimental) light family picture that from time to time drifts into drama and then veers into straightforward comedy. Itâs laid out like a childrenâs movie, but it isnât one. This isnât for kids and it isnât about mining new comedy. This is a pure nostalgia trip. It target is the middle-aged who grew up with the 1984 movie and have forgotten what it was and why it was funny, but instead treat it like holy writ. Itâs for those who take Ghostbusters as part of their identity and demand respect. Itâs pandering of the highest order to those yearning for childhoods that were nothing like what they now falsely remember.
The mass of sentiment increases until at the end of the movie we are tossed into a black hole of nostalgia.
In short, the concept of Ghostbusters Afterlife is terrible.
And yet, itâs not a bad film. It may be supercharged schmaltz, but itâs executed with professional hands and a watchful eye. When it tries for humor, it usually manages it, and when it goes for emotion, it succeeds far beyond what it has any right to. I could see all the gears in motion, and still those gears turned and pulled just the way they were meant to. Itâs easy to criticize the film in general, but thereâs little to complain about once you get to the specifics.
The kids are surprisingly likable, particularly Phoebe who is supposed to be uncharismatic while the young actress playing her, McKenna Grace, positively shines. The on-the-nose silly kid, Podcast, avoids becoming annoying. And Paul Rudd brings all the charm that is Paul Rudd in the unenviable role of sidekick to children.
The movie goes to all the places it has to fill in all the dots for its faux childrenâs plot, but knows to get out quickly on the details that normally would be a drag: The older teenagers, adjusting to the new town, not being believed by the adults. It does what it must, but then dashes on to more rewarding material. In fact it is always moving.
It would be a better world if there were no call for films like this. But as there are, this is how you do it. I may have hated the idea of what I was watching, but I was entertained.
