Women Talking, The Pianist, Tangerine, Dogman, Traffic, Linoleum, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

- Women Talking [2022] - 88

Nominated for Best Picture and winning Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2023 Oscars, Women Talking is more than deserving of both recognitions. This is a film that handles a difficult topic, and handles it well. Where many films that tackle this show the horror of assault through the actions being done, Talking chooses to show brief and powerful glimpses of the aftermaths instead. In doing so it takes whatever sadistic power abusive viewers may have away, and forces the audience only to experience the victimization and horrors left over. The film is not gratuitous, it’s not dramatic, and it’s not flamboyant in any way; it’s just very serious. I do think that it struggles with some pacing and false ending aspects, but the journey itself is powerful, well envisioned, and meaningful even if the ultimate landing place is just OK. This is an easy recommend.

- The Pianist [2002] - 79

It’s difficult to critique anything around this subject or done this long ago — film has changed a lot in the last 20-years and WWII is obviously very serious [and, unfortunately, still very relevant] — but I watched this, this week, so here we are. The Pianist is an interesting tale told from a different perspective to most WWII films. Instead of being from the eyes of a normal person like you or I getting caught up in the Holocaust, a soldier on the front lines, or someone like Oscar Schindler who did all they could behind the scenes, The Pianist is about the loss of art that is not often talked about in typical circles. Abstracting the film in this way makes me wish it wasn’t a biopic — based on the very real Władysław Szpilman — and instead an amalgamation of artists that indicated the sense of culture and creative losses these people suffered. “Epic war dramas” are typically not my thing, but this one manages to stay fairly tight throughout while featuring moments of terrifying tension.

- Leon the Professional [1994] - 82

This was a very fun [albeit a little uncomfy] action/ spy/ thriller. Leon is a professional hitman [a “cleaner”] who inadvertently adopts the girl living next to him when her family is murdered by the local police-turned-mafia. The action scenes are great, the characters are Bond-esque, and the plot is wacky enough to be entertaining while not going overboard and encouraging too many “What?” moments. Where the film gets some criticism [and rightfully so] is the relationship between Leon and Mathilda [the first role for Natalie Portman]. Leon is an adult, Mathilda is a child, and there’s plenty of uncomfy moments with romantic suggestions. Though, to the film’s credit, Leon doesn’t cross that line and seems pretty intent on being fatherly rather than yuckerly, and Mathilda is a child with abusive parents who just witnessed a massacre… so she’s not exactly “all right”. If you can get yourself past these tones and take it for some interesting character building, this movie is a ton of fun.

- Tangerine [2015] - DNF

Unlike Soderbergh’s Unsane, Tangerine is a film that is both shot on an iPhone and feels like it was written and performed by someone who just got their first iPhone. I’m sure there’s cultural or societal elements to this that I wasn’t picking up, but the entire presentation was just so cheap and jarring that whatever message the film was trying to get across simply was not landing. Lots of shouting, lots of walking, I don’t get the critical hype around this film in any way.

- Dogman [2018] - 83

Dogman, however, was great. This is an Italian film about a man running a dog grooming shop in a small, coastal, Italian town next to his close-knit group of friends/ business owners who all play soccer together in the evenings. This little pod of existence isn’t all bucolic bliss, however, as there’s a local bully who harries anyone and everyone and is largely ignored by the police. Laying out the foundations of the entire film with it’s opening shot, Dogman is a very smart film and one I hope more people see. It suffers a little bit from having one too many “What?” moments for me, but is entirely engaging otherwise. Well acted, well shot, and well envisioned, I’d most closely relate this to Blood on Her Name in a vaguely conceptual way, but it really stands on its own as original and clever. Even the title takes on an entirely different meaning as the credits begin to roll over Dogman’s tiny, seaside town.

- Traffic [2000] - 86

Speaking of Soderbergh, I watched his 4x Oscar winning film, Traffic this week and uh… it was really good. You’ll definitely have to be a fan of his to enjoy the construction of the film, and it’s a little less impactful in 2023 given the plethora of “disparate storylines that converge together” movies that exist now, but it still largely holds up and maintains itself as a thoroughly entertaining ride. Hell, even if you just watch it for the entirely bonkers cast list there’s enough meat on its bones to keep you engaged. Traffic is also an interesting study as an evolution of Soderbergh’s filmmaking. There’s very clear ties from this to his 2011 Contagion in ways that show a lot of interesting growth and refinement. I think the ending is interesting, if a little flat, and that lack of finality is both intriguing and a little disappointing. In some ways its perfect [things continue, nothing means anything], in others… I still want film stories to have strong conclusions. Either way, this is a great ride and one worth taking.

- Linoleum [2022] - 89

Maladroitly similar to Traffic, some films are worth their slightly off-kilter presentations. Linoleum is a prime example of this. For most of my sitting with Linoleum I was in the “it’s pretty ok” park and the whole things felt very redolent of 2001’s Donnie Darko watered down to a near nothingness that I didn’t find terribly enthralling. However, as the journey came to an end, I found my feelings hurt, my eyes watery, and my time well spent. Linoleum is an entirely beautiful, touching, and sweet drama/fantasy with a dash of scifi flavoring for good measure. Led by comedian Jim Gaffigan, Linoleum tells a story of legacy, self-worth, and identity that I don’t think should be missed. I don’t know that it will be anyone’s favorite movie, but it will be one that makes it on lots of short-lists. I’d most closely relate this to 2003’s Big Fish [except better in every way] with a small flare of the aforementioned Donnie Darko.

- Weird: The Al Yankovic Story [2022] - 30

I’ll open this short up with the fact that this is clearly a mismatch of film to viewer here. I tend to dislike satire because I find it terribly boring and pointless and most satires get so caught up in whatever it is that they’re satirizing that they forget to make compelling characters or a narrative that means anything. Likewise, I tend to disparage biopics because I can’t tear myself away from the “but what really happened?” question when presented with something that is obviously a dramatic retelling of events. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a biopic that satirizes the world of biopics… You can see where the collapse of interests occurs. The film is entirely pointless with each event connected only vaguely to the one before it and each scene serving only as a catalyst to get us from one Weird Al song to the next. The film feels like an anthology-style lovechild between Austin Powers and Don’t Look Up where the intended goal was to make an extended music video that collapses Al’s career into a few choice songs. It’s funny… I guess, there were moments where I gave cynical chuckles, but it isn’t funny enough to justify it’s nearly 2-hours runtime or cover that it has a near complete lack of narrative or purpose by the end. As someone who’s pretty lukewarm on Weird Al in general, this didn’t provide any interesting information or insight but, If you’re already a fan of the funny accordion man, you’ll probably find a lot more entertainment in this than I did. This is a pretty clear-cut case of “not for me”.