KK

Knock at the Cabin Listen. This is an impeccably staged film. Shyamalan continues to show off his masterful flair over choreography, rhythm and style. When it comes to bringing things to life on screen, he really is at the top of his game. But as you might expect, the story is just not up to snuff. The on-the-nose pseudo-Christian hate crime parable aside (I don't go to Shymalan for subtlety), the film plays out exactly as you expect it to...which makes it all painfully empty and kind of boring. At least with Old, its ridiculous pulpy absurdity saves the ride. But this film just feels pretty conservative in its narrative and messaging. I hear the novel is more bleak and daring, which is a shame, because if Shyamalan just had the guts to stretch a bit beyond his more safe "family friendly" entertainment, he might have had something really strong here. Still, I'm a big fan of this recent Shyamalan renaissance. For the most part, he's been putting out consistently solid, excellently shot rides and I look forward to the next one.

Sigh. This is how they killed Star Wars...

It's his best chance since Lincoln, but no. Considering it hasn't won a single award in the race, it won't win this one either. My bet is on Justin Hurwitz, unfortunately.

Right. But there was a time, when you didn't have to badger and oversaturate the market with 10 films a year to stay in people's minds. The MCU films benefit from saturation of the market, and easy marketable IP. But even then, I wonder if people are out there, quoting lines and re-enacting or even parodying scenes from those films.

As it has often been said, I don't think it's inaccurate at all to say that Avatar never really caught on in the cultural zeitgeist or consciousness outside of its technical/financial feats, certainly not like Cameron's past films. But then again, what was the last film that really did that anyway? LOTR? Maybe Inception? Outside of niche cult hits, big movies are far more "ephemeral" in memory than they used to be.

Good list Gloin! Though I'm surprised to see Saint Maud ranked all the way at the top. I thought it was really well made and directed, but ultimately leans on the derivative end, as many of these kind of contemporary art horror films do. Nice to see The Disciple on there as well!

It is certainly not getting 3 billion. Haha. It will definitely beat Top Gun, but I think it's going to be a bit of a slow crawl to $2 billion, though I don't doubt it'll get there.

Decision to Leave Park Chan-wook reigns in and focuses his sensibilities to make his own Vertigo. More restrained and subtle than his sensational classics, it remains visually inventive and beautifully shot. But the spotlight is on serving and affording space to the tender love story in the middle of its noir mystery. It's not my favourite film of his, but it is very good. White Noise Ambitious, admirable and exhausting. In the spirit of PTA's Inherent Vice or David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake, there are a lot of interesting moments in which it tries to capture the psychedelic, post-modern spirit and flourishes of its source novel. But ultimately, I don't think it works. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery That was a whole lot of fun! As with the first one, the twists don't surprise, but it is all wildly entertaining. Give us more!

She wrote a bunch of music for Tár that's on the DG concept album for the film, but none of it really made it into the film. In the movie itself (which is quite good), during the driving scenes, there is one drone-y track that is mixed so low in the sub that it's essentially inaudible. It definitely doesn't make sense nominating it, given the film is essentially driven by the Elgar and Mahler.

Yeah, it's not so much an issue in the film. But I don't think we're hearing "awkward" in a child-like way, so much as it really just feels like a more aged, mature woman trying to pose as a child.

Sigourney Weaver plays one of the children. Where the other kid actors are full of life and personality, Weaver's character definitely sounds like a 70-year-old cosplaying a 15-year-old poorly.

Avatar: The Way of the Water Ridden with all the narrative tropes and clichés designed for a child of the 80s, and doused with a naive twee sentimentality, it is still a rather impressive experience to watch unfold on screen. The children are well-cast (save for an awkward Sigourney Weaver) and bring a lot of spirit to the new film. And the new tribe is beautifully designed, even if they beg for similar story beats from the last film to be repeated. And Cameron definitely knows how to stage a good action climax. It's all silly, but you can't help but be on the edge of your seat waiting for what's next. It's entertaining stuff. There is more of Horner's thematic material in film than on the OST. You can tell Cameron really relied on the original score to push the film forward. But you can't help but notice a lot of the vitality and exuberance of its predecessor has been lost. Despite his noble efforts, Franglen's tribute to Horner is rather vanilla.

Yes, Adams is not wrong. Film music, as an industry, is not very conducive to inspired music writing. But the exceptions do prove that it manages to happen despite that every now and then (and the European film market did offer better conditions for this), which Williams himself has proven on several occasions. Somehow I doubt Adams would find much interest in the Dune score.

This would indeed surprise me, since the original music is virtually non-existent in the film other than a sub drone that is mixed waaaaay down under traffic noise (as much as Hildur's press circuit will have you believe otherwise). I'm guessing Women Talking will make the list instead, since I've heard that is a more overtly musical score.

If Hildur's Tár is eligible (which I believe it is), there's no way on earth Williams's score isn't.

Can't argue with that!

100% it will get nominated, even if it means backtracking on their own rules (which they have done time and time again when convenient)! The PR narrative around Spielberg's swan song, and John Williams final gift to his longest standing creative partner is just far too juicy to ignore. The Academy loves a good story and Hollywood loves to pat itself on the back.

With multiple dragons, I think there's just more CGI in this show, and the quality is definitely beneath the final seasons of GoT for VFX. But in terms of real locations, framing and composition, I actually think it's a few steps up, at least from the first few seasons. Either way, it's the writing and staging of characters that's the real highlight of the show. The finale, while just a little wonky in its pacing for a finale, reaffirms the high quality of this show. Just great stuff. Can't wait for season 2!

I watched the first two episodes and stopped. But then heard a lot great things about the last episode and decided to skip to it with a friend. Genuinely cracked out loud at the ending...how does this kind of shit get past the writers' room? Bhaha is this for real? Jeez...what a mess.

Thanks karelm! You can actually spot the tail end of the ceiling mics at the top of the frame. And no, it's the same audio from the filmed performance and it plays fine for me, so I'm wondering if the sync problem is on your end? Let me know!

Well, the girls were barely teenagers in the first half. And people mature the most physically in those 10 years. Ser Criston and the Strongs were already adults from the beginning, more or less. Anyway, I'm not complaining. I think the two new leads are fantastic and bring a great new energy to the show.

With the official time jump in today's episode, just wanted to chime in here and say that this show has really been firing on all cylinders (except for the music lol). Just great writing. Feels like early GOT, but with more maturity even.

Never expected this to sound like Williams, but that main title sounded pretty boring.

Well, sure. I'm not trying to make this a debate about the subjective musical integrity of Shore's music...there are plenty of other threads that have waded through this and I've said more than my piece on it. Though I'll add that I think you're carrying a pretty reductionist view of what you consider "advanced" and not. And that even in its simplicity, there is actually another kind of complexity Shore builds, especially as film music. But all that aside, those deliberate choices ended up being fundamental to those scores' success. It's why that music made the splash it did in Jackson films...and why it felt like such a breath of fresh air in the midst of long trodden path of indulgent romantic fantasy music that had existed up until that point. Not unlike what Kilar's score did for Coppola's Dracula. And in doing that, it achieves what most film scores only dream of doing, but rarely get to. It lives and breathes as its own world. I do not believe McCreary's score does that. And that's fine. I never expected the score or show to ever raise to those heights. But I also find the whole thing rather boring and flavourless for my taste. I'm glad it's doing more for others.

It would be rather bizarre if Williams won for this. But he will certainly get nominated. Hildur is getting a lot of buzz for Women Talking and I imagine Tar will do well too. So could be her year again. The character of those descending fifths in the beginning sounds close to the intro idea that leads into the main melody (which is doubled on celeste). From what I remember, the main theme itself is rather simple in shape. Maybe I'll noodle something out from memory later when I'm at the piano.