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haroldgross · 3 years

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New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/oscars-2021/

Oscars 2021

There wasn’t a chance I was going to try and prediction nominations this year given all the rules changes and expanded eligibility rules (no screen release necessary). Heck, even the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) didn’t bother to hold their annual trading on the nominations. But, now that they are in, I’m willing to try and predict winners.

While there were some odd gaps and snubs, there are some nicely competitive categories. The big question is how much Netflix-hate and politics will play into the results. With rare exception, there are few winners that could be selected that wouldn’t be worthy in the following lists, but when choosing “the best” things always get a little dicey.

And with that preamble, here are my first impressions and some thinking out loud. I’ll post a final call before the night as per tradition.

Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) Frances McDormand (Nomadland) Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)

What a great range of talent and styles…which only makes prediction that much harder. However Frances McDormand has been buzzed about for months now. And while Davis and Day delivered amazing performances, Mulligan is still my favorite for the levels and tightrope. Only Day challenges it for me, but she had less of a plot to work with some ways. My guess is still McDormand.

Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Anthony Hopkins (The Father) Gary Oldman (Mank) Steven Yeun (Minari)

Boseman, regardless of performance, is likely to get this on the upswell of loss alone. For me, Oldman was the more complete and believable character and performance.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy) Olivia Colman (The Father) Amanda Seyfried (Mank) Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

Yuh-Jung Youn stole Minari. And Seyfried was luminescent in Mank. I’d bet on Seyfried if Minari didn’t have such growing support and if we all didn’t need such a good laugh (which Youn delivers). Colman was wonderful, but her performance doesn’t quite gel without the rest of the ensemble, by design. And though Bakalova has been gathering accolades, she’s much younger than Youn and has “plenty of time” in the voter’s eyes to prove herself.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) Leslie Odom, Jr (One Night in Miami) Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah)

There is no good answer here. Cohen truly captured Hoffman in a way that deserves to walk away with the statuette. But Odom navigates a complex problem with savvy and Stanfield delivers an oily and complex man with conviction. As much as I’d like this to go to Cohen on the merits, I think Odom is the likely winner here.

Adapted Screenplay

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm The Father Nomadland One Night in Miami The White Tiger

There is no perfect choice in this group. All have their challenges. One Night in Miami is probably the front-runner, though there may be a surprise in here.

Original Screenplay

Judas and the Black Messiah Minari Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

Again a great list, but Promising Young Woman was the most impressive of this list for me, especially as a first feature. However, Trial may get this due to Sorkin love (and not undeservedly).

Directing

Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg Mank, David Fincher Minari, Lee Isaac Chung Nomadland, Chloé Zhao Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell

Best Picture

The Father Judas and the Black Messiah Mank Minari Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

There are times I’m glad it isn’t up to me. There is no question that Nomadland is the front-runner, whether it should be or not. For the record, I don’t think it should be in this list. Mank is by far the best crafted and fully complete vision delivered. Promising Young Woman is the most surprising and delicately crafted. The Father is unique and clever. Judas and Trial are incredible windows into events and people of the past. Sound of Metal and Minari are peeks into worlds you most likely aren’t familiar with. But Nomadland has somehow grabbed the attention. It may still fall to split votes or political tides, but of this list, it is among the weakest films in my opinion.

International Feature

Another Round (Denmark) Better Days (Hong Kong) Collective (Romania) The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia) Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Another Round is the most familiar title, but Collective and Skin are currently gaining recognition. I’m hoping to see them all before the day of reckoning, but for now I’m going with Another Round based solely on press and buzz.

Original Song

“Fight For You” (Judas and the Black Messiah) “Hear My Voice” (The Trial of the Chicago 7) “Husavik” (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) “Io Sì (Seen)” (The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)) “Speak Now” (One Night in Miami)

I honestly just don’t care enough to have an opinion yet. Suspect, though, that it will be Fight For You or Speak Now.

Original Score

Da 5 Bloods, Terence Blanchard Mank, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Minari, Emile Mosseri News of the World, James Newton Howard Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

Soul is the score to beat, no pun intended. All were solid, but Soul’s already snagging awards for its score and that is likely to continue, and is certainly worthy.

Documentary Feature

Collective Crip Camp The Mole Agent My Octopus Teacher Time

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Documentary Short Subject

Colette A Concerto Is a Conversation Do Not Split Hunger Ward A Love Song for Latasha

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Live Action Short Film

Feeling Through The Letter Room The Present Two Distant Strangers White Eye

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Animated Feature Film

Onward Over the Moon A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Soul Wolfwalkers

All entertaining, but Soul is the walkaway here. It is a full look at a difficult subject, done in an inventive and effective way.

Animated Short Film

Burrow Genius Loci If Anything Happens I Love You Opera Yes-People

Don’t know enough yet here to discuss the possible outcomes.

Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah, Sean Bobbitt Mank , Erik Messerschmidt News of the World, Dariusz Wolski Nomadland , Joshua James Richards The Trial of the Chicago 7, Phedon Papamichael

Judas, News, and Trial are all cut from the similar cloth of classic cinematography. Judas and Trial also have the added skill of mixing in historical or seemingly historical footage. All are done very well. But Nomadland and Mank are more stylistic and more characters within the story. Mank is, by far, the most impactful delivery of the group, and the most artistic, but I am not sure that it can overcome its stream-only origins. I can also see Judas walking with this as a consolation prize.

Film Editing

The Father Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Father and Promising Young Woman are neck and neck for me in this category. Nomadland was very harsh in its edits, causing the flow to falter rather than flow. Trial has some clever editing to tell the story, but it felt more driven by the necessities of the script than the editor. Father may get this if folks don’t want to give it Production Design. Nomadland is likely to take it as part of its potential tsunami.

Production Design

The Father Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank News of the World Tenet

You couldn’t have put together a list of more different films that relied on their production design, and all done excellently. Three are period pieces, but Mank is highly stylized, while Ma Rainey’s and News are more invisible. But The Father tells its story through the production design and Tenet creates an entire world and mythos. Honestly, The Father should get this, but Tenet may get this as one of its few opportunities for the gang of Nolan.

Costume Design

Emma Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank Mulan Pinocchio

Ma Rainey’s, hands down for me, for the range of economics and cultures it covered. As wonderful as Mank’s were, the Black and White aspect mutes the magic of what was done. Mulan was just a bit too forced, as was Emma, though that latter would typically win this category.

Visual Effects

Love and Monsters The Midnight Sky Mulan The One and Only Ivan Tenet

Yeah, Tenet. No question.

Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma Hillbilly Elegy Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Mank Pinocchio

Mank. Makeup and hair for black and white photography is a bear and this was done flawlessly and on a huge scale.

Sound

Greyhound Mank News of the World Soul Sound of Metal

As wonderful as Soul is, Sound of Metal uses sound (beyond just the music) as more of an essential character and story element. It also is one of its few chances this year, so think this may be where it gets its nod.

NOMINATIONS BY FILM

Provided just for reference, but certainly interesting to consider when considering who has the attention of the voters. Only films with 2 or more noms are listed.

Mank (Netflix) — 10 The Father (Sony Pictures Classics) — 6 Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.) — 6 Minari (A24) — 6 Nomadland (Searchlight) — 6 Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios) — 6 The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) — 6 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) — 5 Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) — 5 News of the World (Universal) — 4 One Night In Miami (Amazon Studios) — 3 Soul (Walt Disney) — 3 Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Films) — 2 Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios) — 2 Collective (Magnolia Pictures/Participant) — 2 Emma (Focus Features) — 2 Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix) — 2 Mulan (Walt Disney) — 2 Pinocchio (Roadside Attractions) — 2 Tenet (Warner Bros.) — 2

#Movie Review

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gigsoupmusic · 4 years

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Taraf de Impex and Fanfare Ciocărlia electrify Brixton with Balkan Beats

Forget about Roman London. Last night, London was proudly Romani. The Electric Brixton was packed to the rafters with well over fifteen-hundred frenzied punters as first Taraf de Impex, and then Fanfare Ciocărlia, brought a taste of the Balkans to Lambeth. 'Felicitări!'

Ask the average Brit on the street to name a Romanian contribution to the music scene and, sadly, you would be hard-pressed to hear anything other than the Cheeky Girls. Ask someone a little more erudite and, if you're lucky, they may have heard of Angela Gheorghiu, the soprano singer, whose version of Puccini's La Rondine is out of this world and a firm favourite among opera enthusiasts.

As it happens, many Brits and indeed people around the world will have heard Fanfare Ciocărlia's music before, though they will be excused for not realising they were Romanian. During the end-credits of the controversial comedy about a fake Kazakh journalist, Borat, cinema-goers heard their bizarre uptempo cover version of Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild, originally made famous in the classic 1969 movie Easy Rider. However, with no prior knowledge about the soundtrack, most will have assumed, erroneously of course, that this was a Kazakh band. But Fanfare Ciocărlia are no more Kazakh than Hammersmith-born Sasha Baron Cohen. They are Romanian. Very, very Romanian. Given that the average Brit's knowledge of Romanian music is so poor, it is thanks to music promotors such as Kazum, the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, and the media company Romanians in UK, among others, to help set the record straight. And, in spite of the fact that the vast majority of the congregated throng appeared to be from the Romanian diaspora, a decent percentage of those voices I heard around me appeared to have London accents. So perhaps, in a few years time, and with more concerts such as tonight's, there will be less ignorance about Romanian music in general.

I first fell in love with this type of music via the outstanding opening to Emir Kusturica's Palme d'Or-winning Serbian movie, Underground, which came out in 1995. The classic comedy begins with a marching band running behind a horse and cart, playing Balkan gypsy music written by Bosnian composer Goran Bregović, who later went on to compose Ovo Je Balkan, the song that allowed Milan Stanković to represent Serbia at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. It is a scene that has stayed with me for almost twenty-five years and it introduced me to this genre.

It is not at all odd to discuss Serbian traditional music in a review about Romanian music. Balkan traditional music is very much intertwined across those many borders that have been defined politically. A brief look at Fanfare Ciocărlia's discography will reveal songs written by the legendary Romani Serb Šaban Bajramović (aka Šabi), and you must check out an album called Balkan Brass Battle, in which Fanfare Ciocărlia took on, battle-style, the Boban & Marko Marković Orchestra, a brass band from Serbia, which was recorded at the Pensiune Dracula hotel in the north of Romania in 2011, one of the classic albums from the Berlin-based Asphalt Tango Records, who were furthermore one of our many hosts yesterday evening in Brixton.

Gheorghe Anghel "Caliu", on violin

The evening started with a real treat. Taraf de Impex is a brand-new side-project of Taraf de Caliu, a group of lăutari (Romanian traditional musicians) headed by charismatic violinist "Caliu", which is the nickname of Gheorghe Anghel (no relation to the similarly-named aforementioned opera singer). Many of the other musicians bedecking the Electric Brixton stage were, like Caliu, former and present members of a rather more well-known group called Taraf de Haïdouks, who appeared in many movies, most famously Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried, starring Johnny Depp among others, who is a huge fan of the band.

The best way to describe their music would probably be 'electro-Gypsy', though it's very hard to define it exactly. We were introduced to one song as being a cha-cha-cha, but it was like no other cha-cha-cha I had ever heard before. Many tracks were gloriously jazzy. Various guests were brought on, clearly luminaries from the Romanian gyspy scene, including Haïdouks' accordionist Marius Manole and some really unique singers towards the end who deftly showed how one can truly turn one's own voice into a musical instrument.

Caliu (left) and Marius (right)

It was a joy to watch some of the traditional instruments come out, in particular to hear the cimbalom, a type of hammered dulcimer originally from Hungary and known in Romania as the țambal mare. This was a unique opportunity for most of the Westerners in the audience, though no doubt quite old-hat for the many Romanians who made up the majority.

The traditional cimbalom, or țambal mare.

Following a short musical interlude of Balkan tunes courtesy of DJ Sacha Dieu, the main act came on to rapturous applause. Fanfare Ciocărlia began fairly low-key, with openers Toba mare and Sirba monastirea, the latter from their celebrated first album Radio Pașcani, but soon began to up the tempo in a way that only these twelve Roma musicians know how, including a number of tracks from their most recent album, Onwards to Mars!, including Saintes & Dates and Mister Lobaloba, the latter being as far removed from Mr Bombastic aka Shaggy's original song as you could possibly imagine.

Fanfare Ciocărlia take to the stage As it happens, there weren't as many cover songs as we were anticipating. A blast of the intro to their version of Gershwin's classic Summertime was disappointingly short, as was their nod to the 007 James Bond theme-song. They didn't even bother with the Venezuelan classic Moliendo café, though I was most disappointed not to hear their famous version of Duke Ellington's classic Caravan, one of the many songs they played alongside the Serbian brass band on the aforementioned Balkan Brass Battle album of 2011, and which had previously appeared on their fourth album, the 2005 Asphalt Tango release Gili Garabdi – Ancient Secrets of Gypsy Brass.

There again, with such a large back-catalogue, there were always going to be some disappointed people. Not that we could see many, however. All around us people were whipped up into a frenzy, with hands in the air, girlfriends on shoulders, coats and jumpers thrown around the auditorium. When the band finally played Born to Be Wild, the crowd went, well, 'wild', as foreshadowed from the song's title. Now, back in the mid 1990s I was a regular at this venue, then known at The Fridge. I was a devotee of the Goa trance scene, attending the legendary Friday-night parties Return to the Source and Escape from Samsara, as well as the odd Pendragon event. I have not, since those heady days, seen a more up-for-it crowd in this venue than I did last night. In fact, I would even say that they were on a par. Hands flailing around to the high-energy Balkan beats made trips to the bathroom hazardous, especially while carrying an expensive camera like we were. Plastic glasses of beer procured from the bar often did not complete their journey intact as they made their perilous voyage towards our vantage point. Although the smoking area on the top floor was packed early on in the night, so much so that people had to sit on the floor between the legs of strangers, as soon as Fanfare Ciocărlia came on, said area was completely empty, as this photo below shows. Indeed, in my three visits to the smoking area during their set, I did not see another soul.

The smoking area at the Electric Brixton, empty throughout Fanfare Ciocărlia's set Such was the power of this village band from Zece Prăjini in the north-east of Romania that that the hoards of erstwhile chain-smoking Romanians that had earlier filled the smoking area had decided to stay on the dancefloor, as though under a gypsy spell; a spell that had so captivated a sound engineer from Berlin who came across them by chance in 1996 – around the time I was dancing to Goa trance at The Fridge, as it happens. The rest, as they say, is history. Come 2012 they were entertaining the audience at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. Ironic, as 'peace' is the last thing you can expect from this loud band. They are not called a 'Fanfare' for nothing.

Born to Be Wild was swiftly followed by Iag Bari, the eponymous track from their third album, and two stage invaders began to dance with the musicians, which did not appear to faze them too much. As the security chased them off, the band was coming to the end of their set, which – unless we imagined it – included a short cover of The Turtles' classic Happy Together. Finally, to rapturous applause, they finally left the stage, but not before all twelve members decided to join the audience and play their instruments among the sweaty already tightly-packed crowd. Some members of the public even slapped notes onto the shiny foreheads of some of the players. This is a tradition that goes back some time, most notably at Balkan gypsy weddings, and commonplace at music festivals such as the famous Trumpet Festival held at Guča in Serbia, which attracts over half a million people every year and succeeded in leaving Miles Davis astounded. Below you can check out a nine-minute video we filmed last night, starting with Fanfare Ciocărlia's version of Born to Be Wild, followed by the band's promenade through the Brixton crowd at the end of their set. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Mfej5KxgQ Video of Born to Be Wild, followed by the promenade through the crowd Do check out the book Gypsy Music: The Balkans and Beyond, by Alan Ashton-Smith, which dedicates quite a lot to both Taraf de Haïdouks and Fanfare Ciocărlia as well as describing traditions such as the gifting of money to musicians as detailed above, and so delightfully reconstructed in London SW9.

Kudos to Kazum and all the other promoters and organisers who made this fantastic evening happen, and for promoting Romanian music to a wider audience. Hopefully, one day the Cheeky Girls will no longer be the first to come to the mind of the average Brit when asked to name a famous Romanian musical act. A fantastic evening. Or, as the Romanians would say, 'Extraordinar!'

Read the full article

#Caliu #Electrogypsy #FanfareCiocărlia #TarafdeHaïdouks #TarafdeImpex

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impuretale · 7 years

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Daniel from Mrs. Doubtfire is a Nightmareishly Crappy Person When You Watch The Movie as An Adult

Growing up, I loved the movie Mrs. Doubtfire. Adored it as a kid -- it was the first real exposure I had to the concept of divorce and it in some ways made the idea a lot less scary to me in retrospect. As a kid, I was with Daniel when he just wanted to be with his kids more (his apartment was too small and his job not good enough for them to live with him full time, but he wanted more visitation, which seemed fair to me). I was mad when Sally Field seemed so unwilling to give him a chance, especially when it seemed like he was still in love with her. I was mad when she got a new boyfriend. I also thought nothing of the implications behind the fact that Daniel flat out attempted to murder said new boyfriend by slipping something he was allergic to in his food, and never apologized for it or took responsibility.

So rewatching this movie as an adult, I realized my perspective on the whole thing was different. As with watching Labyrinth and realizing I no longer sympathized with Sarah, I came to understand just how much crap Sally Field put up with in this movie and how the movie TRIES to frame Daniel’s story as character growth, but it’s incomplete.

Daniel’s major obstacle with regard to getting more time with his kids?

He’s messy.

That’s what the movie wants you to believe, anyway, because in donning the Mrs. Doubtfire costume and taking a job as Sally Field’s housekeeper, his out-of-costume relations with his kids and even with Sally Field seem to be improved because he cleans his apartment now. He’s turned his life around but no, Sally Field can’t let him take the kids after school because they just adore Mrs. Doubtfire so much. Damn his misfortune!

Here’s the thing, though: Sally Field didn’t divorce Daniel because he was messy. That’s looking at the party scene at the beginning as a child and thinking “oh no what a mess no wonder she’s angry” because you’re too young to process the other very real stresses that are present.

Daniel threw a birthday party for his son. That’s what catalyzes the divorce. Let’s break down WHY:

1. Daniel just quit his job. Over a line he refused to read. (And as an aside I seriously don’t know why he couldn’t just tell the lady trying to get him a job that he’s a VOICE ACTOR and not just that he “does voices” other than “we need a montage of Robin Williams making funny noises so we have something to put in the trailer.”) Now, we have nothing confirming what he was being paid to do this -- save that he’s freelance, so he likely didn’t get any severance pay because HE DIDN’T FINISH THE JOB HE WAS HIRED TO DO. Obviously Sally Field doesn’t need his income to pay for their home because they’re still living there throughout the movie, but this smacks of “she’s the breadwinner and he gets to follow his dreams of getting paid to do Borat impressions.” HOWEVER:

2. This birthday party involved loud music (possibly even a DJ), party supplies, food, a MOBILE PETTING ZOO, and other things. We know this party wasn’t planned in advance (see point 3), so Daniel just dropped a metric ton of money on a lot of last minute crap that had to be delivered in the span of 4 hours (because that’s when he expects Sally Field to be home), get a lot of kids over there, etc. He had the cops called on them for noise and because there were animals running loose in an upper crust San Francisco neighborhood. Very likely, there were citations.

3. Daniel’s son was forbidden from having a birthday party because of his grades. So on top of being deeply financially irresponsible with what definitely wasn’t his earned money, after quitting his job, he also undermined his wife in attempting to discipline her child.

So no, movie. The problem was not that he was messy, and how dare you frame the story in such a way to suggest that was the one lesson he needed to learn. He learns no other lesson. The movie attempts to show he understands discipline with that hamfisted “Mrs Doubtfire said turn off the tv and do your homework” scene but it doesn’t connect. There is no moment of him, seeing them defy his requiring they work first, play when they’re done, where he goes “Damn maybe I encouraged this.”

So the movie, at LEAST, needed to give us that much. But there was also a need for him to show he was learning to properly manage his money other than “hey I’m not evicted yet” by virtue of him still living in the same place. Show him struggling to make bills and realizing this was a lot easier with Sally Field was helping/doing all the books herself. Maybe even have him trust somebody who winds up misusing his money/property at some point when he has started making some headway.

What the movie ALSO needed? And what might have prevented the seeming months of heartache after he was denied anything more than supervised visitation? Was for him to stand up in that courtroom and admit that he did something wrong, not go “I guess I’m crazy because I love my kids so please give me no consequences for my actions that nearly resulted in a good man’s death.”

We needed as an audience an honest moment where he makes an account for the reasons why his marriage ended, what he’s learned in the ensuing months, and actually apologize for deceiving his family (and potentially defrauding a government official -- because his social worker likely added his visiting “sister” as a tenant in his apartment to her paperwork). We didn’t get that. Instead we got another scene of him at the studio with Sally Field underlining why all of his misery is her fault because she continued to be the responsible adult in this situation.

And then her giving up and agreeing and giving him visitation anyway.

Think about that.

#mrs doubtfire #mrs. doubtfire

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