Past Lives

PAST LIVES

2023 | Dir. Celine Song | 106 Minutes

"We're not babies anymore."

Childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung reconnect in person after 24 years apart. Although Nora is married and happy with her life in New York City, the pair question destiny and what might have been.

Celine Song's semi-autobiographical Past Lives is a bittersweet film about missed opportunities and the unyielding progression of life. Despite presenting what is ostensibly a love story premise, the picture instead delivers an admirably realistic narrative that alternates between a casually voyeuristic lens and a more intimate perspective. Devoid of misguided grand romantic gestures, the narrative instead portrays a mature relationship between two people with an indelible bond that has lost all romantic potential due to circumstances that are beyond the control of any one person, and it does so with plenty of natural humor and heartfelt empathy.

Past Lives invites the audience to people-watch but not to judge. The picture opens with a conversation between unseen observers as they innocently speculate about the relationships that connect the three leads, while various pairings of people populate the background in scenes that take place in public spaces as if nudging the viewer speculate themselves on the details surrounding the various connections. These moments juxtapose well with the intimate insight the story provides for Nora and Hae Sung's complex and nuanced friendship.

The way that language is used in Past Lives to convey love and kindness is rather ingenious. When Nora and Hae Sung initially reconnect over Skype, the dialogue calls attention to the fact that Nora's Korean is rusty because she exclusively speaks it when conversing with her mother and with Hae Sung, implying that her connection with Hae Sung as at least as strong as her connection with Hae Sung without outright calling attention to the fact. Nora's husband Arthur speaks Korean to her, albeit poorly as she points out to Hae Sung, in an effort to be closer to her, communicating to the audience everything they need to know about how much Arthur is committed to Nora. In one of the film's most amusing scenes, Hae Sung and Arthur try to communicate with one another in the other's native tongue, both earnestly trying to be friendly with awkward mixed results at best. When Nora and Hae Sung have a heart-to-heart in Korean while Arthur is present, the dramatic tension is almost unbearable.

The powerful connection between Nora and Hae Sung is played to perfection by the picture's two leads who share spectacular chemistry. As Nora, Greta Lee is naturally charismatic, delivering an equally funny and dramatic performance. Teo Yoo is incredibly charming and affecting in the role of the lovesick Hae Sung. Playing Arthur, John Magaro is also very impressive, believably embodying a remarkably understanding husband placed in a uniquely uncomfortable position, truly the source of much of film's comedy.

Past Lives is a soulful, profound film that contemplates lost love. The feature authentically depicts the process of two people confronting paths not taken and genuinely moving on. It's a universally relatable narrative that is perfectly captured in this lovely and somewhat melancholy picture.

FRAGMENTS

- Recommending Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to a man who clearly has a crush on you is low-key malicious

- My movie streaming app crashed the moment Nora hugged Hae Sung in the scene after the pair meet in person for the first time since they were kids

Oppenheimer

OPPENHEIMER

2023 | Dir. Christopher Nolan | 181 Minutes

"We might start a chain reaction that destroys the world."

In 1954, J. Robert Oppenheimer appeals the United States Atomic Energy Commission's decision to revoke his security clearance. A private hearing is held to review Oppenheimer's leadership on the Manhattan Project while scrutinizing his history with members of the Communist Party. In 1957, a Senate confirmation hearing is held for Lewis Strauss to become Secretary of Commerce. Adversarial to Oppenheimer, Strauss quickly finds that the scientific community and history are not on his side.

Adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin's 2005 J. Robert Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a sweeping epic charting the rise and fall of a deeply flawed genius. Written and directed by the celebrated auteur, he tells his most personal and contemplative story yet, exploring festering guilt and overwhelming anxiety through the eyes of the father of the atomic bomb. A decidedly unconventional biopic that chronicles the man's career rather than his entire life, the film celebrates scientific ingenuity but also condemns the nuclear arms race in no uncertain terms, a resounding protest against political agendas manipulating and exploiting scientific advancement.

The audio-visual components of Oppenheimer are unmistakably Nolan. Consistent with the director's non-linear storytelling tendencies, the feature interweaves two primary storylines occurring years apart with elegant aesthetic coding, structuring the narrative around an emotional through line rather than a strictly chronological one. Oppenheimer's demoralizing 1954 security hearing behind closed doors, depicting key events through flashbacks as he recounts his fraught education at Cambridge through the Trinity test at Los Alamos and the years that followed in which he used his influence to promote nuclear disarmament, are filmed in color. The events surrounding Lewis Strauss's humiliating 1959 Senate confirmation hearing, with flashbacks presenting his seemingly contentious professional relationship with Oppenheimer, are filmed in black and white. It's a fascinating approach to deliver the impression of a man from both internal and external perspectives, poignantly expressing both his confidence and his insecurity with nuance in the color sequences while conveying his supposed arrogance as perceived by Strauss with incomplete context in black and white. Ludwig Göransson's moody score is appropriately atmospheric, but it is incessant and occasionally more distracting than complementary.

Nolan's strength as a filmmaker are on full display showcasing the scale of the Manhattan Project. The gathering of the scientists, and their interpersonal conflicts and their collective accomplishment are the most engaging parts of the film. Conversely, Nolan's greatest weakness remains his inability to write nuanced female roles. While they serve their purpose as key figures in the protagonist's life, the roles of Jean Tatlock and Kitty Oppenheimer can be distilled down to purely temperamental forces that consistently behave like emotional disasters.

Cillian Murphy is excellent in the lead role, equally superb in portraying the confident man of science and the anxiety-stricken wretch overcome with guilt. As the vindictive Lewis Strauss, Robert Downey Jr. gives one of the very best performances of his career, absolutely convincing as a jealous and spiteful man who relishes in utilizing backhanded tactics for political gain. Making the most of her role as Kitty, Emily Blunt's considerable talent shines through despite the character being drunk and upset for the majority of the picture. The massive supporting cast features memorable performances David Krumholtz as Oppenheimer's lifelong friend physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi, Matt Damon as the amusingly straight-forward General Leslie Groves, Florence Pugh as the bewilderingly mercurial Jean Tatlock, Josh Hartnett as Oppenheimer's conflicted colleague Ernest Lawrence, Dane DeHaan as the hateful Major General Kenneth Nichols, and Alden Ehrenreich as Strauss's conscientious Senate Aide.

Oppenheimer is a monumental cinematic achievement. Despite turning up all of his signature proclivities to maximum output, Nolan's unconventional biopic is never over-indulgent. The film presents a sprawling narrative that leans heavily into the nature of regret and the folly of political division in the atomic age.

FRAGMENTS

- Barbie and Oppenheimer were released on the July 21, 2023 in the United States, creating the cultural phenomenon dubbed the "Barbenheimer" in which moviegoers opted to watch both pictures as a tonally-contrasting double feature, significantly benefitting both films financially

- The fake post-credits scenes for this film circulating around the internet amuse me to no end

007 CONNECTIONS

- Rami Malek (Lyutsifer Safin in No Time To Die)

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame)

- David Dastmalchian (Kurt in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp, and Veb in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania)

- Matt Damon (Asgardian Actor playing Loki in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder)

- James D'Arcy (Edwin Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame)

- Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova in Black Widow, Thunderbolts*, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day)

Maestro

MAESTRO

2023 | Dir. Bradley Cooper | 129 Minutes

"It's so fucking draining to love and accept someone who doesn't love and accept themselves, and that's the only truth I know about you."

Conductor Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre meet at a party and quickly fall in love. As the years pass following their marriage, Leonard and Felicia's relationship becomes increasingly strained due to Leonard's success constantly placing the family in the public eye and his habitual indulgences in extramarital affairs with men.

Bradley Cooper's second feature in the director's chair, Maestro is more the story of a complicated marriage than a standard biopic. A stylish film, the feature sincerely explores the challenges behind some of the most loving romantic relationships. The narrative is only underscored by the musical achievements and occurring throughout Bernstein's career instead of directly focusing on them, placing much more emphasis on the emotional highs and lows of his private life. Most of the picture is seen through the perspective of Bernstein's loving but frustrated wife Felicia, sidestepping the often artificially aggrandizing nature of movies about real life artists.

Maestro is an aesthetically appealing picture. Shifting from one style of filmmaking to another throughout the course of its runtime, the black and white photography gives way to Technicolor and the boxy Academy ratio eventually changes to widescreen. It is an inspired way to present the passage of decades. The film's musical score is made up of Leonard Bernstein's works, perfectly demonstrating the timeless quality of his acclaimed musical works.

Bradley Cooper is impressive as the celebrated conductor-composer, fully committed to the part, even genuinely learning how to conduct an orchestra to convincingly perform a key scene. Although as good as Cooper is in the lead role, the old age makeup is a bit distracting as the picture covers Bernstein's later years, decidedly more exaggerated than the way he mimics the way Bernstein spoke. Giving a nuanced and heartbreaking performance as Felicia, Carey Mulligan is mesmerizing. Mulligan believably embodies a woman whose patience is regularly put to the test by disagreeable actions taken by the man she loves unconditionally, sometimes communicating all of this with just a subtle look.

Maestro is a sweet film about an imperfect relationship. The picture takes a refreshing approach to telling the story of a public figure on film, providing ample emotional insight into the person behind the public image that goes well beyond the standard biographical narrative. Confident aesthetic flourishes and a pair of memorable performances delivered by its leading stars further enhance the feature.

FRAGMENTS

- Miriam Shor also appears in 2024 Best Picture Academy Award Nominee American Fiction

- Martin Scorsese was initially attached to direct Maestro but left the project to make The Irishman, while Steven Spielberg who was approached to direct the film after Scorsese's exit encouraged Bradley Cooper to helm the picture upon seeing an early screening of Cooper's A Star is Born

- It's rather controversial for Bradley Cooper, a Catholic man, to wear a prosthetic nose and play a Jewish man

- Who abandoned Snoopy in the vestibule?

MCU CONNECTIONS

- Bradley Cooper (Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

- Miriam Shor (Recorder Vim in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Killers of the Flower Moon

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

2023 | Dir. Martin Scorsese | 206 Minutes

"Evil surrounds my heart. Many times I cry and this evil around my heart comes out of my eyes. I close my heart and keep what is good there, but hate comes and I say I ought to kill these white men who killed my family."

Great War veteran Ernest Burkhart is taken in by his uncle William King Hale, a reserve deputy sheriff who plots to rob the oil-rich Osage Nation completely of their wealth while presenting himself as a friend to the tribe. Per Hale's bidding, Ernest courts and marries an Osage woman Mollie Kyle, and suspicious tragedy after suspicious tragedy befalls Mollie's family shortly thereafter.

Martin Scorsese spends over three hours meticulously chronicling an infuriating criminal conspiracy targeting wealthy Osage Native Americans in the 1920s orchestrated by an insidious villain posing as a friend to the tribe. Plumbing the depths that some men would sink to when they are driven by greed and a false sense of racial superiority, Killers of the Flower Moon is a saga detailing the destruction of a people through murder, financial exploitation, marriage, psychological manipulation, and more murder. Adapted from David Grann's non-fiction book of the same name, Scorsese shifts the focus away from the federal investigation of the crimes, instead placing the nephew of the criminal mastermind front and center. It's a creative decision more in fitting with the auteur's preference for making crime thrillers and gangster movies but the resulting picture, while reasonably engrossing, is somewhat tonally monotonous. 

Killers of the Flower Moon is well-made and appropriately epic given its source material, but it's undeniably too lengthy and marred with pacing issues. The production as a whole is an impressive undertaking to be sure, as Scorsese's production clearly went to great lengths to ensure historical accuracy and cultural authenticity. However, much of the film plays out as a series of gradually escalating atrocities stretching on for far too long before a somewhat disjointed conclusion. The core of the drama is centered on the relationship between Ernest and Mollie, particularly Ernest's internal struggle between doing right by his wife and the Osage or remaining loyal to his uncle, and it's just more frustrating than engaging to witness Ernest inevitably making morally bankrupt decisions at nearly every single turn.

The role of Ernest Burkhart is perfectly suited to Leonardo DiCaprio's strengths as a performer, and he plays the part of a charming but morally-conflicted man nearly buckling under the weight of his conscience so very well. Lily Gladstone gives a heart-rending performance as Mollie, a woman who is both desperate for justice for her family and her people but also staunchly in denial about her husband's loyalty and motivations. Delivering some of his finest work, Robert De Niro is absolutely excellent as William Hale, the self-proclaimed King of the Osage, convincingly putting on a friendly face, even speaking the language of the people, while running a secret campaign to thoroughly pillage the wealth of the Osage Nation with cold menacing precision. The extensive supporting cast features notable performances from Jillian Dion as Mollie's alcoholic third sister Minnie, Jesse Plemons as the soft-spoken lead federal investigator Thomas Bruce White Sr., and Brendan Fraser as Hale's hilariously shouty attorney W. S. Hamilton.

Killers of the Flower Moon is a period epic by way of Martin Scorsese's penchant for focusing on unsavory criminal enterprises. While conceptually enticing, much of the picture comes off as an overindulgent slog, one that is appropriately depressing but perhaps should have spent more time in the cutting room. The whole endeavor would have simply been an immensely appealing but unfortunately flawed picture if it were not for phenomenal nuanced performances from its lead actors.

FRAGMENTS

- Lily Gladstone delivered a brilliant and memorable performance as a guest star on the excellent FX television series Reservation Dogs

- Robert De Niro paddling Leonardo DiCaprio inside a Masonic Temple is sure to be remembered as an indelible fixed point in time in cinema history

- Though it came as a surprise for some that Killers of the Flower Moon didn't receive a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, one could argue that it isn't a very good adaptation of David Grann's book as the narrative is centered primary on Ernest Burkhart's involvement in the conspiracy rather than the federal investigation

The Holdovers

THE HOLDOVERS

2023 | Dir. Alexander Payne | 133 Minutes

"I find the world a bitter and complicated place, and it seems to feel the same way about me. I think you and I have this in common."

At a boarding school in New England, classics instructor and staunch loner Paul Hunham is charged with supervising the children unable to join their families during the winter holiday break. An unexpected change in plans leaves Mr. Hunham alone with Angus Tully, a clever and defiant teen determined to rebel against the irritable teacher. Through various shared mishaps and experiences, with encouragement from affable cafeteria manager Mary, Mr. Hunham and Angus form an unlikely bond.

Nearly two decades after their lauded collaboration on Sideways, Alexander Payne reteams with Paul Giamatti to deliver The Holdovers, a touching dramatic comedy that perfectly captures the mood and aesthetic of a 1970s coming-of-age picture. Written by David Hemingson, the screenplay is razor-sharp with excellent dialogue, nuanced characters, and themes of social alienation along with a sizable dose of Vietnam War angst, period-appropriate as a throwback to films of the era. At its heart, The Holdovers tells a moving story about a pair of resentful misfits forced to spend the holidays together and they both gradually learn to be more empathetic people. The more viewers learn about Mr. Hunham and Angus, the more invested they become in their respective personal journeys.

Though shot digitally, the post-production work on The Holdovers convincingly makes the picture resemble a film from the 1970s. Perfectly complementing the visual aesthetic are the inspired audio choices. The feature's mono sound mix immediately evokes a feeling of coziness and soundtrack includes memorable needle-drops such as Damien Jurado's "Silver Joy" playing halfway through opening title sequence, and Labi Siffre's "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" prominently featured in a montage of Angus wandering the campus alone in the middle of the night and at the very end of the picture.

Playing mean old Mr. Hunham in a complete showcase of his full range as a seasoned character actor, Giamatti gives one of the best performances of his career - hilarious, tragic, and incredibly moving. Perhaps the cast's most impressive asset is breakout star Dominic Sessa as Angus, a soulful and charismatic young performer who more than matches both Giamatti's frantic energy and his pathos. In the prominent supporting role of Mary, a naturally amiable but amusingly straight-forward woman in the midst of grieving the loss of her son, Da'Vine Joy Randolph is truly excellent, bringing incredible warmth and subtlety to make the character completely her own.

Exploring loneliness, grief, and unlikely human connections, The Holdovers is a heartwarming picture that's authentic in setting, tone, and emotion. Featuring well-rounded, flawed, but immediately lovable characters, a snappy screenplay, and a superb story that promotes empathy but still carrying a humorous bit of an edge, it is a real gem of a film. There is a timeless quality to feature, and it may just become an offbeat holiday classic for many cinephiles.

FRAGMENTS

- Unquestionably my favorite film released in 2023, immediately one of my favorite films of all time

- The vintage Universal Studios logo, and the retro style Focus Features and Miramax logos opening the film are a nice touch

- I've been a big fan of Paul Giamatti's since American Splendor though I fully acknowledge that he sometimes ends up in some pretty bad roles (such as the rather embarrassing take on the Rhino in The Amazing Spider-Man 2) though the triumph of his role in this film more than makes up for those questionable parts

- The illusion of the 1970s setting was nearly perfect for me until the shot of the China Trade Gate at the entrance of Boston's Chinatown showing the Hot Pot Buffet restaurant which opened in 2010

- During the scene in which Angus explains his father's condition, a woman sitting one or two rows behind me at my screening started to weep which immediately made my eyes tear up