Blonde (2022)

In this tragedy, based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, Ana de Armas is magnificent as the doomed star and thusly Oscar-nominated. The picture is gorgeous––cinematography, sets, wardrobe. But it's very sad and two and a half hours long. Hard to "enjoy," though I think it's good. 

Supporting strength comes from Julianne Nicholson as Monroe's mother, and, as two of her husbands, Bobby Cannavale as Joe DiMaggio (credited as "Ex-Athlete") and Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller ("The Playwright").

Director Andrew Dominik adapted the screenplay from Joyce Carol Oates' best selling 2000 novel, which was a Pulitzer finalist. It is fictionalized, as it contains horrors that did not happen. Here's an article about the book and what inspired Oates to write it.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis's moody score can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. Contributing to the look are cinematographer Chayse Irvin, production designer Florencia Martin, and costume designer Jennifer Johnson. And apparently de Armas wore dental prosthetics to make her look so much like Monroe.

Production company Plan B Entertainment, currently run by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, was behind this one, along with recent releases Women Talking and She Said, all of which focus on abuse of women. Not long ago I heard a short clip on NPR with Gardner mentioning the connections between the three, but since then I haven't been able to find the clip, much less the whole segment.

Due to nudity and sexual content, this is the first American movie to be rated NC-17 in nine years.

De Armas was last blogged for Knives Out, Nicholson for I'm with Lucy, Cannavale for Ant-Man (though he's been in plenty since then), Brody for See How They Run, and Cave and Ellis for Hell or High Water. This is Dominik's fifth time directing a feature and he wrote all but one. Irvin shot BlacKkKlansman and more, Martin designed Licorice Pizza and more, and Johnson dressed, among others, Beginners, 20th Century Women,  Kajillionaire, and I, Tonya, the latter also a period piece based on true characters. Come to think of it, BlacKkKlansman, Licorice Pizza, and 20th Century Women are set in the recent past as well.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics do not deem this platinum, averaging only 42%, while its audiences' roots are showing at 32. I downloaded it from Netflix and watched part of it on a plane ride and the rest in a hotel at the start of a vacation February 11.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Yes, there are battles, but they're sci-fi and cartoony––it's a Marvel joint, after all––so Jack and I sat through the 2:42 run time to appreciate the magnificent wardrobe and colorful cinematography in a story about the mythical country protecting itself from new foes. This sequel begins with the death and funeral of King T'Challa, presumably because the filmmakers and others are mourning the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman, who played T'Challa in the first Black Panther.

Angela Bassett has a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nod for returning as T'Challa's mother. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Martin Freeman are among those reappearing, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus adding her usual comic relief.

Ryan Coogler directs from the script co-written by him and Joe Robert Cole and Ludwig Göransson's score, available on Apple Music and elsewhere, includes some contemporary songs mixed in with the traditional soundtrack

Ruth Carter's gorgeous wardrobe is Oscar-nominated along with Makeup/Hair, Visual Effects, and Original Song. Autumn Durald Arkapaw is the talented director of photography.

Bassett was last blogged for Soul; Wright for Small Axe; Gurira for Avengers: Infinity War; Nyong'o, Freeman, Coogler, Cole, and Carter for Black Panther; Louis-Dreyfus for You People, and Göransson for Tenet. Arkapaw has shot eight other features and lots of shorts and TV work in her fifteen year career.

Rotten Tomatoes' audiences are forever loyal, averaging 94%, while its critics might leave a bit sooner at 84.

Marvel Cinematic Universe movies traditionally have at least one bonus scene at the very end, so the faithful do not leave or turn it off when the technical credits are onscreen. This has an important one at 2:31 but the last bonus, simply a card at 2:42 that says BLACK PANTHER WILL RETURN, is a disappointing copout. The opening MCI flipping comics pages are another tribute to Boseman.

We watched it with our Disney+ subscription on February 1, the afternoon of the first day it streamed there. One of the many benefits of watching at home is that I can pause to read credits, when the music and locations listings are at the end. Every streaming platform is a little different but they all shrink the viewing window to offer another show when the credits are rolling, which causes me to curse as I fumble the remote. Not surprisingly, the Disney site crashed around 7pm on the movie's first day, just as I was cursing and fumbling. I watched the credits days later, and rewatched them just now.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

With nine Oscar nominations it seemed like a must-see, despite the subtitles or dubbing and the 2:23 run time. But a few minutes of the first scene in the trenches gave me PTSD and we turned it off. Jack had read the book. He said there's more of this, people suffering from this, people worrying about this, and then more this. So we turned it off and watched a comedy. Let me know if you like it. Our attempt was on February 4 on Netflix. P.S. I refused to even start watching Saving Private Ryan (1998) lo these many years.

You People (2023)

Jack and I loved this updated version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) in which, like the original, an interracial couple has to deal with their parents' discomfort at their union. Not usually a Jonah Hill fan, I found him adorable as the awkward, sincere, funny, white, Jewish Ezra. Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are reliably wonderful as the main parents––militant Muslim Akbar and "Karen"-like Jewish Shelley––their characters married to Nia Long and David Duchovny, respectively. Lauren London is Ezra's Black, Muslim, sweet love interest Amira and Sam Jay (self-described as a Black queer woman, which could describe her character as well) plays Ezra's hilarious podcast co-host and best friend Mo.

There are many cameos, especially in the early Yom Kippur sequence, including Rhea Perlman, Hal Linden (Jack spotted him), Elliot Gould, and Richard Benjamin. Mike Epps appears in the second act and his character provides some backstory to Murphy's Akbar.

Hill co-wrote the screenplay with director Kenya Barris, who sits down in an airplane seat for his cameo. Some of the references in the opening sequence went over our heads but we kept laughing anyway.

The on-screen music credit as well as the Apple Music soundtrack go to Bekon, which turns out to be one nom de plume of Daniel Tannenbaum (another of his monikers is Danny Keyz). There are a host of songs as well, listed here and streaming there.

The between-scenes collages of Los Angeles sights are good fun, under the gaze of cinematographer Mark Doering-Powell.

Hill was last blogged for acting in Don't Look Up and for writing Mid90s, Murphy and Epps for Dolemite Is My Name, Louis-Dreyfus for Downhill, Duchovny for House of D, Barris for writing Shaft and this is his first time directing a feature, though he directed three episodes of the series Black-ish, which he created.

Long's 70 acting credits stretch back to 1986 and include lots of TV and movies, but the only one I've written about is Keanu. London, who was two when Long made her debut, has 29 credits, including I Love You, Beth Cooper, two episodes of Entourage, and one of Everybody Hates Chris. Jay was a writer on 71 Saturday Night Live episodes (2017-23) and other shows, and has acted in quite a few TV episodes.

Tannenbaum, under his various names, has produced music for Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and RZA, among others and scored two other movies. Doering-Powell shot 88 episodes of Everybody Hates Chris, 65 of Barris' Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish, and the movie Zombieland. I wrote a lot about Zombieland but neglected to mention the cinematographer. Oh well.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are apparently prejudiced, averaging only 43 and 38% (ouch!), respectively. We watched it on Netflix February 4, after the trauma of a few minutes of All Quiet on the Western Front.

Aftersun (2022)

This languid story of a moody, divorced Scotsman's Turkish vacation with his tween daughter kinda went over our heads, despite rave reviews, the Oscar nomination of Paul Mescal, and the adorable Frankie Corio as the girl. Her father Frank has a cameo but you couldn't prove it by me. Maybe we just weren't in the mood.

After three short films, Scottish director/writer Charlotte Wells makes her feature debut.

Oliver Coates's melancholy score is streaming on Apple Music and probably other platforms. Here's a list of songs.

If you decide to see it, wait until afterwards to read the following spoiler-filled explanations: spoiler-filled explanation #1 and spoiler-filled explanation #2. They did help after the fact.

Mescal made a splash starring in the Irish drama series Normal People on Hulu via the BBC and this is the debut of young Ms. Corio, a native of Scotland, who won the part over 800 other auditioners.

As noted, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are basking in this with an average of 95% while its audiences are throwing less shade than we are at 81. The movie has, as of this writing 57 wins and 157 nominations, so maybe you shouldn't heed my/our opinion.

Although we streamed it via our membership in the Independent feature Project (due to five of those nominations), it's now available for rent on all the usual sites.

Causeway (2022)

Jack and I liked a lot this drama about Lynsey, a brain-injured soldier (Jennifer Lawrence), trying to adjust to her former life in New Orleans. Brian Tyree Henry's layered performance as her friend James is deservedly nominated for the Supporting Actor Oscar as well as a pile of others. Jayne Houdyshell plays her first caretaker and Linda Emond is Lynsey's mother.

It's the feature directing debut of Tony-nominated and Obie-winning theatre director Lila Neugebauer, working from a script co-written by Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, and Elizabeth Sander.

Alex Somers' moody score can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

Lawrence was last blogged for Don't Look Up, Henry for Joker, Houdyshell for The Humans, Emond for 3 Generations, and Somers for Together Together.

Besides extensive stage work, Neugebauer directed three episodes of the Sex Lives of College Girls and one each of three other series. This is the first screenplay for all three writers, though Moshfegh and Goebel have another coming this year.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are keeping on the road, averaging 85%, while its audiences are thinking about a detour at 72.

This can be streamed with an Apple TV subscription, and we saw it January 28.

The Woman King (2022)

Jack and I love Viola Davis and looked forward to seeing her starring as Nanisca, an 1800s-era African general leading an all-female troop of warriors known as the Agojie. This is very well done, with spectacular production values, but I hate war movies and was seriously put off by the hand-to-hand combat. Watching in our home, I was able to audibly groan at the gore, cat call, and generally lighten the mood during the 2:15 running time. 

John Boyega plays King Ghezo and Thuso Mbedu stars as the teen protegé of Nanisca and her lieutenant Izogie, played by Lashana Lynch.

Gina Prince-Bythewood directs from a script by Dana Stevens, with the story by Stevens and Maria Bello, the actress. Apparently this is based on history. On a 2015 visit to Benin, Bello learned about the Agojie, who protected the state of Dahomey, now part of southern Benin. Bello is among the movie's producers. The team made every effort to hire women and people of color on the production.

Terence Blanchard's score, available on Apple Music and elsewhere, is terrific, as is the production design by Akin McKenzie and wardrobe by Gersha Phillips.

Davis was last blogged for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Boyega for Small Axe, Prince-Bythewood for Beyond the Lights, Blanchard for Da 5 Bloods. Mbedu has a few "breakthrough" nominations, though she has been working for about eight years. Stevens is new to me, though this is her seventh produced feature. Bello, most recently in these pages for acting in McFarland, USA, has three other feature producing credits and makes her writing/story-by debut.

McKenzie's credits include nine episodes of High Maintenance and the feature Wiener-Dog, each of which could not be more different from this project. Phillips worked on a favorite of mine, The Five Senses (1999), as well as Talk to Me (2007), Miles Ahead, and many more.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics and audiences all bow to royalty, averaging 94 and 99%, respectively.

We rented it from iTunes on January 21.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

This is a pretty fun sequel to the 1986 original with Tom Cruise returning as trainer of a new, younger crew of naval aviators called upon to execute a dangerous mission. The enormous cast features Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Jay Ellis, Manny Jacinto, and many more.

Joseph Kosinski keeps it moving, despite the length of 2:10 and thanks to engaging aerial acrobatics, from a script by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, with credit given to Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., who wrote the first Top Gun.

Lorne Balfe is credited as one of the composers on the Apple Music soundtrack, but in the movie he is not credited as such. Those honors go to Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, and Hans Zimmer. There are twelve songs, including Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone from the first movie and Hold My Hand, performed by Gaga but written in 1950.

Cruise was last blogged for American Made, Teller for Whiplash, Connelly for American Pastoral, Hamm for Bad Times at the El Royale, Singer for American Hustle, McQuarrie for Edge of Tomorrow, and Zimmer for Dune.

Kosinski is new to me, with three previous features under his belt, and Kruger wrote the live action Dumbo, though I failed to post that fact in the blog. Ellis played Lawrence in 36 episodes of Insecure and Jacinto was Jason in fifty of The Good Place. Balfe has hundreds of credits and some of them are score producer, as he does here. Faltermeyer scored the first Top Gun, two Beverly Hills Cop movies, two Fletch movies, and many more. This is Gaga's first feature composer credit. 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are flying high, averaging 96 and 99%, respectively.

The aerial stunts would probably be better on a big screen in a darkened theatre, but, since we don't do that anymore, we watched it with our subscription to Paramount+ on January 18. It's also available to rent on the usual platforms.