by Nathaniel R
A few recent major pictures we didn't post full reviews on. Oops. Let's take them in order of preference...
Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
Synopsis: A slice of life in middle school as an introverted teenager with an unwatched YouTube channel tries to survive eighth grade.
Capsule: Such is the miracle of this movie that I felt pangs of recognition all throughout it even though I am basically the dad's age and not the daughter's, and also not a parent. I went to middle school a million years ago and so much about life as a teenager has changed radically since then. We didn't have social media, cel phones, and gun drills when I was a teenager...
An aside but I think people have forgotten how recent all these things were (they're all post 2000 essentially in terms of being normal everyday things. (It's funny to watch 90s movies now and remember that people didn't really even have cel phones). Still, almost everything felt 1000% universal and you-are-there immediate. It was not unlike the wonders of watching a particularly sharp and funny observational documentary like -- sorry this is a weird comparison-- Paris is Burning? A/A-
Bo Burnham is ridiculously talented and we hate him.MVP: Bo Burnham, the 29 year-old writer/director (!), because everything about this movie works including the naturalism of all the child performances, not just Elsie Fisher's already beloved authenticity.
Oscar Chances: I hope A24 pushes hard for an Original Screenplay nomination. I could see it happening with the right level of box office success and the right kind of campaign. Best Actress (Elsie Fisher), and Best Supporting Actor (Josh Hamilton) might be pipe dreams but it doesn't hurt to try. At the very least you'll see Elsie Fisher up for Breakthrough Performer prizes at year's end.
Incredibles 2 (Brad Bird)
Synopsis: Elastigirl is recruited by a superhero-loving philanthropist tech giant to restore the good name of superheroes by defeating a new villain Screenslaver. Mr Incredible struggles with his new role as stay-at-home dad... especially given the what's happening to little Jack-Jack who is manifesting one power after another.
Capsule: A truth: There are too many sequels to films that don't need them. Another truth: even if there are diminishing truths some properties are so genius the first time that we're willing to chase the high again and again. (In short, it's the audiences fault that there are so many sequels.) It was lovely to spend more time with these characters and a great moviegoing experience, too, while it lasted. And yet... forgettable? I remembered almost no details just a couple of days later unlike the original which seeped into the brain and lingered for years after the first viewing. B/B+
MVP: Jack-Jack, or rather the animation team devising the Jack-Jack versus racoon sequence which is amazing stuff.
Oscar Chances: A shoe-in for the Animated Feature nomination. But the questions are two: Can it shove into other categories like its predecessor (4 nominations / 2 wins) and can it win again? Oscar voters in that branch haven't been all that enthused about honoring sequels so one supposes it entirely depends on the competition.
Ant Man and the Wasp (Peyton Reed)
Synopsis: While under house arrest for his involvement in the events of Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) receives a message from the quantum realm from the original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer). The new Wasp (Evangeline Lily) and her father (Michael Douglas) think they know how to rescue her but everyone is after the tech they need to do it and time is running out.
Capsule: You can feel the strain, a bit, for laughs in the first 15 minutes but once you settle into the movie's goofy warmth, and relatively chill vibe (well, as chill as superhero movies get that is), it's quite a fun adventure and rarely drags since it's actually under 2 hours (like Thor Ragnarok it knows to quit while the party is still fun). In some ways it's a minor film and a formula, yes, but everyone involved is having a good time and that's contagious. Most of the actors get at least one really fun thing to play including Michael Peña and David Dastmalchian as Ant Man's trusted friends and even -- and this is less expected -- minor characters played by Randall Park who is keeping tabs on Ant-Man's house arrest, and Walton Goggins as a bad guy who is after the tech. (I REALLY did not appreciate the credits tag though, tying it back into Avengers: Infinity War, which was way too much of a downer, given the pleasant fun for two hours preceding that.) B
MVP: You know I wanted to type Michelle Pfeiffer here but in truth it's not much of a role. There's far too little of her. My vote goes, easily, to the visual effects team. So let's talk about that...
Oscar Chances: Though a nomination seems unlikely given Oscar history, I'd personally argue that the visual effects here are worthier of Oscar attention than the bigger Marvel successes this year (Infinity War and Black Panther). These actually feel, always, in service of the story rather than existing as mere spectacle. Though they're that, too, make no mistake. Between all the constant size-shifting and Ghost's unstable body, they're quite eye-popping and funny and tension-building in all sorts of specific ways. They really are super.
Oceans 8 (Gary Ross)
Synopsis: Ocean (Sandra Bullock) fresh out of the slammer, recruits other female criminals to rob a priceless necklace from the Met Gala, right off of the neck of the movie star Daphne Kruger (Anne Hathaway) who is wearing it.
Capsule: This movie was soooo up our alley we were counting down the days. While it was never less than pleasant to watch, it registers as a disappointment. Our expectations were too high for the minor laughs, minor tension, and minor character work on display. Everyone hit their marks but the filmmaking never escaped its workmanlike competence to find any inspiration. Still, honestly, I'd watch it again just for Hathaway, and Bullock & Blanchett's decidedly sapphic chemistry. B-/C+
MVP: Anne Hathaway, hands down. She's dialed the charisma and self-aware fun way up for her big screen return after a hiatus that lasted much much too long for our tastes.
Oscar Chances: Nope. This one is just for fun. Even the almost universally loved Soderbergh film Oceans 11 in 2011 received zero nominations.
NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS & PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED:
Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom (Chris Feil), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Jorge Molina), McQueen (Glenn Dunks), Mission: Impossible -Fallout (Chris Feil), Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Glenn Dunks), Sorry to Bother You (Chris Feil), Three Identical Strangers (Glenn Dunks)
NEW ON DVD, BLURAY, OR STREAMING & PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED:
Chappaquidick (Jason Adams), Disobedience (Jason Adams), Hannah Gadbsy: Nanette (Glenn Dunks), A Quiet Place (Chris Feil), Ready Player One (Chris Feil), Sheikh Jackson (Nick Davis), The Tale (Spencer Coile), You Were Never Really Here (Seán McGovern)