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vistavision · 4 years ago

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EMA (2019) de Pablo Larraín

Vu sur mubi: EMA(2019) de Pablo Larraín J'étais bien curieux de découvrir ça, car j'ai beaucoup aimé l'un des derniers films de ce réalisateur chilien; son film JACKIE (avec Nathalie Portman) sur les répercussions qu'a entraîné l'assassinat de John F. Kennedy dans la vie de sa femme Jackie Onassis. Dans ce court avis, je ne pourrai cependant pas comparer et replacer complètement EMA au sein de la filmographie du cinéaste (mis à part qu'il utilise aussi un prénom comme titre!), car JACKIE (2016) est le seul que j'ai vu jusqu'à maintenant. Je vais donc prendre EMA comme un film qui me serait tombé dessus par hasard un samedi soir. Le film s'ouvre sur un panneau de signalisation en flamme à l'intersection d'une rue urbaine. Fallait-il se préparer à un film nihiliste qui fait exploser les règles d'une société balisée? Un peu oui! En tout cas sur le plan intime, familial. Le film traite de séparation. Celle entre une danseuse (Ema) et son chorégraphe de mari (Gaston), mais aussi celle d'avec leur fils adoptif. Le film semble mettre le feu à des symboles normatifs à de nombreuses reprises au fil du récit : les liens du sang y sont plutôt malmenés puisque la sœur d'Ema se retrouve le visage brûlé par le fils adoptif (raison pour laquelle l'enfant est remis aux services sociaux). Le film semble aussi pointer le patriarcat et le type de relation qui en découle. Gaston (Gael Garcia Bernal) est l'homme de règles et de pouvoir, celui par qui la culpabilité prend naissance chez Ema. C'est lui qui possède la troupe de danse dont Ema fait parti. Cette dernière n'a donc que très peu de latitude dans sa vie (un peu comme le personnage de Scarlett Johanssen dans le Marriage Story [2019, Noah Baumbach] de l'an passé). C'est aussi par l'infertilité de Gaston que semble s'illustrer ce grand manque de latitude que ressent Ema. Cette infertilité qui bloque le rêve d'enfanter, et qui pousse à errer. La question qui parcoure le film semble donc tourner autour de ce que doit composer une véritable famille, au-delà des traditions, et sur les concessions à faire pour combler l'intersection des rêves personnels, des ambitions de chacun, des responsabilités, et de l'amour sincère. Sans trop en dévoiler, les contorsions nécessaire à la réalisation de cet équilibre, frôlant l'absurde et impliquant beaucoup de tromperie, m'ont beaucoup fait rire à l'issue du film. Le réalisateur ne semble pas trop croire à la réponse donnée puisque les actions des personnages sont un peu douteuses, mais la conclusion est empreinte d'une certaine tendresse pour ce rêve de famille proposé. Et cela donne de belles idées. Ça inspire. Pour une rare fois, le cinéma ne met pas en exemple le modèle de la famille hétéro-normative. EMA est un film assez étrange pour une 8e œuvre de cinéaste, car Pablo Larrain a concocté un film qui a tout d'une première œuvre; jeune, éclatante de couleurs, avec un certains mépris des conventions. On dirait presque une œuvre du réalisateur Tom Tykwer à ses débuts (Cours Lola Cours [1998], La Princesse et le Guerrier [2000]). Le film est aussi aux antipodes de JACKIE (qui avait l'allure d'un film de la maturité). C'est d'avantage sur le plan thématique que Pablo Larrain échappe des similitudes, car les deux films traitent d'un deuil, d'un point de rupture. Mais ici, plutôt que de se refermer sur le personnage, ça éclate vraiment de partout esthétiquement. Les couleurs popent et s'opposent comme les feux de signalisation en début de film, marquant les différentes individualités à combler. C'est une sorte d’ode à la liberté et à la vie qui écarte la couleur grise dans les avenues proposées. À voir si on cherche un cocktail vivifiant pour les yeux. À revoir pour mieux comprendre les saveurs proposées (qui ne sont pas celles de la norme). Un bon film je crois bien. Et la musique de Nicolas Jaar n'est pas sans rappeler celle de Mica Levi dans JACKIE, fantastiquement planante. À garder de côté pour les temps brumeux... Mathieu Lefèbvre

#ema #pablo larraín #critique

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double-croche1 · 5 years ago

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[PREVIEW 2020] Nos albums et films les plus attendus de l’année prochaine ! 💿🎬✨ ALBUMS : JANVIER 24/01 : Okay Kaya - Watch This Liquid Pour Itself 31/01 : Poliça - When We Stay Alive 31/01 : Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar 31/01 : Loving - If I Am Only My Thoughts FÉVRIER 14/02 : Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 14/02 : Tennis - Swimmer 28/02 : Kevin Krauter - Full Hand Date à préciser en février : Moses Sumney - græ Pt. I MARS 06/03 : Chassol - Ludi 06/03 : Honey Harper - Starmaker MAI 15/05 : Moses Sumney - græ Pt. II Et ceux bientôt annoncés de : The Strokes, La Femme, Future Islands, Jessy Lanza, Jimmy Whispers, Chromatics, Tops, Yumi Zouma, Westerman, Puma Blue, Lionlimb, Liss, Lenparrot, Phoenix, Better Person, Thundercat, Hinds, Lebanon Hanover, Real Estate… EXCLU : Interviews d’Okay Kaya et Loving à venir ! ✨ FILMS : JANVIER 01/01 : ‘Séjour dans les monts Fuchun’ de Gu Xiaogang 08/01 : ‘Les Siffleurs’ de Corneliu Porumboiu 08/01 : ‘Tommaso’ d'Abel Ferrara 29/01 : ‘Waves’ de Trey Edward Shults 31/01 : ‘Uncut Gems’ de Josh et Benny Safdie (sur Netflix) FÉVRIER 26/02 : ‘Dark Waters’ de Todd Haynes MARS 04/03 : ‘Monos’ d’Alejandro Landes AVRIL 08/04 : ‘About Endlessness’ de Roy Andersson 15/04 : ‘Ema’ de Pablo Larrain JUILLET 22/07 : ‘Tenet’ de Christopher Nolan Et ceux bientôt annoncés : ‘The French Dispatch’ de Wes Anderson ‘Pour le meilleur et pour le pire’ de Stéphane Brizé ‘Annette’ de Leos Carax ‘On the Rocks’ de Sofia Coppola ‘Vitalina Varela’ de Pedro Costa ‘The Stars at Noon’ de Claire Denis ‘Titane’ de Julia Ducornau ‘Mandibules’ de Quentin Dupieux ‘The Northman’ de Robert Eggers ‘Mank’ de David Fincher ‘Le Sel des larmes’ de Philippe Garrel ‘Viens je t'emmène’ d’Alain Giraudie ‘Saint Maud’ de Rose Glass ‘The Zone of Interest’ de Jonathan Glazer ‘Blood on the Tracks’ de Luca Guadagnino ‘Earwig’ de Lucile Hadzihalilovic ‘Bergman Island’ de Mia Hansen-Løve ‘Where to Land’ de Hal Hartley ‘Shulan River’ de Hou Hsiao Hsen ‘Alvin Ailey Biopic’ de Barry Jenkins ‘Blossoms’ de Wong Kar-Wai ‘Mektoub My Love : Intermezzo’ d’Abdellatif Kechiche ‘Mektoub My Love : Canto Due’ d’Abdellatif Kechiche ‘Le Genou d’Ahed’ de Nadav Lapid ‘Pop. 1280’ de Yorgos Lanthimos ‘Apollo 10 1/2’ de Richard Linklater ‘Paradis sale’ de Bertrand Mandico ‘The Occupied City’ de Steve McQueen ‘Falling’ de Viggo Mortensen ‘Molly in the Darknet’ de Gaspar Noé ‘Triangle of Sadness’ de Ruben Östlund ‘Eté 85’ de François Ozon ‘La Pièce rapportée’ d’Antonin Peretjatko ‘First Cow’ de Kelly Reichardt ‘La Pire Personne au monde’ de Joachim Trier ‘Benedetta’ de Paul Verhoeven ‘Dune’ de Denis Villeneuve ‘Memoria’ d’Apichatpong Weerasethakul ‘I Am Going to Kill You’ de Nicolas Winding Refn ‘Da 5 Bloods’ de Spike Lee ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ de Charlie Kaufman ‘Comes Morning’ de Naomi Kawase ‘Siberia’ d'Abel Ferrara ‘Possessor’ de Brandon Cronenberg ‘The Story of My Wife’ de Ildikó Enyedi ‘The Souvenir : Part II’ de Joanna Hogg ‘Par un demi-clair matin’ de Bruno Dumont ‘Petrov’s Flu’ de Kirill Serebrennikov ‘Serre-moi fort’ de Mathieu Amalric ‘Next Round’ de Thomas Vinterberg ‘Tre Piani’ de Nanni Moretti A&B

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second-tolast-blog · 8 years ago

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My Favorite Movies of 2016 in Nine Digestible Categories

Every year it is the same story. As the year happens, people bemoan the state of movies. Then by the end of the year, and people compile their end of the year lists, we realize that movies are not a dying medium, slowly being replaced by television. Studios just succumb to the antiquated model of old release patterns. Movies vying for Oscars has to come out late in the year for momentum and blockbusters must be released in the dead heat of the summer. Both “20th Century Women” and “Why Him?” were close to sell outs last weekend as I attended my local multiplex. “Lion,” although only playing in two theaters in New York, sold out a 560-seat theater and its highest billed actor was Dev Patel.

Sure, those films were helped by the holiday bump and limited releases, causing the demand to look greater due to the lack of supply, but people are still going to the movies. And if not, the means of production has allowed for filmmakers to make $20 million indies with sources of output like Amazon Prime and Netflix along with the traditional studios to distribute to a wider net of audiences. With emerging voices like Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle and returning veterans and legends like Jarmusch and Scorsese releasing films this year, it is hard to begin eulogizing cinema.

So, it is my job to highlight 20 of my favorite films of the year. And to not succumb to the usual listicle, this list will be broken down to ten categories because all these films deserve to be watched.

Best Movies of the Year where Mahershala Ali Plays an Untraditional Father Figure for about 10 minutes of the movie

Moonlight, Kicks

Thank god for “Moonlight,” a film that has been written about so much that I do not know what I can bring to the conversation at this point. Without it, people may be left to try to salvage Nate Parker’s ill-begotten “Birth of a Nation,” as the obligatory black film of the year that it was positioned as at Sundance back in January of last year. But, “Moonlight” should not be considered a token of a film. Its rise to the top through think pieces and word-of-mouth speaks to how it was able to naturally build its base of spectators. “Birth of a Nation,” on the other hand, struggled to connect partially due to its controversy but also to its haphazard “Braveheart” style hero narrative and questionable use of victimhood especially that of rape. “Moonlight” is cinema at its best. It is a passport to a world, a mindset, an experience that is not readily available. It is empathy.

While “Moonlight” has dominated the conversation, Justin Tipping’s “Kicks” has been barely touched upon. It has been spoken so little of that since I saw it I have questioned my love of this small film. Tipping riffs on “Bicycle Thieves,” in which an African American teen, Brandon, gets his brand-new sneakers stolen in a city right on the outskirts of Oakland. This allows for Tipping to breeze through the neighborhood as Brandon and his two buddies searches for the men who stole his shoes. It’s a small film that screams that this is a first feature, but the style is so assured. Tipping is not afraid to take risks, allowing for flourishes of style and metaphors (there is a motif of an astronaut that aggressively highlights Brandon’s alienation for the things around him) that many more conservative filmmakers would not bother to entertain. Like “Bicycle Thieves” the plot is simply an excuse to explore a post-world II Italy, the plot here is an excuse for Tipping to explore the neighborhoods that has been forgotten about in film since the early 90’s. These characters are so richly drawn beyond what could easily be caricatures. If “Boyz in the Hood” gave a glimpse to life in “the hood,” “Kicks” is a portraiture. Also, best Mahershala Ali performance this year.

Best Movies of the Year where the Central Theme is that Grief is a Motherfucker

Manchester by the Sea, Jackie

There are horror movies which relies on jump scares. Like a roller coaster these momentary jumps are fun but ultimately has no lingering effects except for a scratchy throat. That is exactly the same way I feel about tearjerkers. Movies like “Lion” or “Beaches” live on sentimentality and tears. Like a superficial thrill ride, these films have a purpose and place. But, then there is a film like “Manchester by the Sea.” The film is filled with little moments that prove that Kenneth Lonergan is one of the great humane dramatist working today. Sadness and grief seeps into you like water slowly draining into the ground. But, what is so illuminating about the film is how the film portrays people dealing with grief; with anger, ambivalence. These characters are simply living. I have a friend, unfamiliar with Lonergan’s works and what struck as well was how funny the film was. That’s because even when our closest love ones are gone that does not mean that life stops going.

What happens, though, if someone’s life is defined by a person who dies? Pablo Larrain is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. In “Jackie,” he takes what could have been a maudlin drama and with an incredible score by Mica Levi, creates a horror film. The monster for Jackie Kennedy is the weight of legacy, purpose and the American ideal. Is this what the real Jackie Kennedy went through in the immediate aftermath of JFK’s assassination? Probably not. But, what historical fiction does is to draw a parallel with these pristine historical figures with everyday living. What struck me most with “Jackie” was the amount of decisions that had to be made immediately after the tragedy. The same with “Manchester.” Jackie Kennedy mourns while also keeping up appearances in a role that has been bestowed upon her. She is the first lady of America, after all. She can’t be seen too sad, angry, or drunk. The real-life piece that is written about her weeks after JFK’s funeral which is fictionalized here as a framing device, was instrumental in sculpting that image. It sculpted a Camelot.

The Best Movies of the Year Where Coming-of-age is Manifested as a Monster

Closet Monster, The Fits

Not enough movies talk about how scary it is to become an adult. I’m in my early twenties, on the precipice of doing adult things like getting a full-time career and job and I still go to sleep at night in the fetal position. So, it is no wonder that puberty, adulthood and burgeoning sexuality has been portrayed in films as some sort of monstrosity. “Closet Monster,” a small Canadian film that I do not know anyone who saw, creates a monster in a teenager who is discovering his sexuality for the first time as he goes off to college. But, the complexity of this film from first time director, Stephen Dunn, comes from the fact that he is not defined by his burgeoning sexuality. Rather, this stress is compounded by the facts of adolescence. Pressure come from his single-parent father, whose self-destruction comes from the loosening of his grasp of his child, his artistic ambitions while confined in a small Canadian suburb, and the trauma from the abandonment of his mother. The monster in the on-the-nose title is not just one of repressed sexuality, but rather repression in all fronts. It’s no wonder that the violent act that occurs in this film is not because of sexuality at all.

The monster in “The Fits,” another small film by a first-time filmmaker, Anna Rose Holmer, also rides the line of imagined or real. Her characters are on the precipice of teen-hood. This is the time when divisional lines are truly cemented, especially gender norms. Her protagonist starts off in a boxing gym, filled with males but is drawn across the hall to an all-female dance troupe. Insecurities are never immediately present especially from those who are feeling it. It usually comes with a look. Especially for a teenager, there is no greater currency than a sense of belonging. “The Fits’s” ability to hone in on that central need in a way that is not pedantic really creates a powerful image. The final shot of bliss as Royalty Hightower finally embraces the monster that would make her belong is one of the great cinematic images of 2016.

The Best Horror Movies Where the Little Girl is the Most Terrifying Things about It

The Wailing, The Eyes of My Mother

To be fair, little girls are terrifying. It probably has something to do with the corrupting of something innocent that gets into the crawl of everyone’s skin. “The Wailing” is a Korean epic of a possession movie. And like the best Korean films, there is fluidity with genre in this film. The film readily goes from horror to police procedural mystery to comedy. Horror films are best when it comes from an assured hand and Na Hong-Jin is certainly assured in his skill and style. He slowly paces out the film with mood, atmosphere and uncertainty. At 2 ½ hours, each layer is lovingly paced. Not all the best movies have something to say in the undercurrent of the film. Some can just be plain scary and fun.

From the epic nature of “The Wailing,” comes the efficiency of “The Eyes of My Mother.” Nicolas Pesce’s first feature runs at a little under an hour and 20 minutes, and will undoubtedly become a cult film in which high schoolers show their friends to revel in how fucked up it is. Once again, this film thrives on the assured hand of Pesce’s direction. The black and white photography, the loving reconstruction of a minimalist household and the combination of aspects of image, costuming and setting creates a total cinematic experience. This film is informed by many in the past. The black and white images is reminiscent of early David Lynch and the economy of violence reminds me of the European art-house horror from Bunuel to Franju. Eyes plays a big role in horror films. It is scary to not be able to see and sight is connected to something so fragile and disposable. The camera is our eyes to this particular world. And the film works with the whole image. In one scene, we saw our hero/monster washing dishes and it is what we see through the window that is grotesque and haunting. These are images, that will not escape anybody who will eventually discover this film.

The Best Movies Where the Traditional Notions of How We Fall in Love is Questioned

The Lobster, The Love Witch

Love is overrated. Well, the way most people think about love is overrated. “The Lobster,” from Greek satirist Yorgos Lathimos, skewers our societal pressure on people to find a partner. The film’s dystopic setting strips away all that feels human so that all that is left is a kaleidoscope view of human interactions. Here, people decide that they are perfect for each other because of the most artificial of reason; short-sightedness, nose bleeds and beautiful hair. Everything is played pitched perfectly to dry deliveries anchored by Colin Ferrell at his best. Oh, and if I was had to be turned into an animal I would be a turtle. They have a portable shelter and could be proficient on both land and water.

I took a B-movie class at SUNY (Inset NY state city here) and the films we saw was a mish mash of exploitation with some rising to the top with subtle feminist’s ideology. But, for most of them, they are pure sexploitation of the woman’s body. Anne Biller lovingly recreates this subgenre of 60’s sexploitation film to create the defining feminist statement of the year. Everything is so acutely detailed that you might get distracted by the immersion into the world. The colors are in technicolor splendor, the clothes are beautifully retro and the acting is purposefully stilted that requires levels of acting that Brad Pitt will never reach. Yet, underlying all this is a story of a woman, a witch, who because of societal pressures keeps changing to what a man wants. She is the fantasy of every man but no man ever becomes the subject of her fantasy. In a genre that is often defined by superficial satisfactions of the id, Biller is able to create a nuanced film while not only embracing all the idiosyncrasies of a form from a bygone age, but by upending them.

Movies that follows the day in the life of its protagonists that eventually leads to drunken screaming and crying

Blue Jay, Krisha

The way people get excited about Marvel Movies is the way I get excited by the latest Mark Duplass joint. His latest film is a micro-budget film with Sarah Paulson that follows the familiar trope of two people walking and talking for a day that had been perfected by Linklater in the “Before Trilogy.” But, what it does with that trope is create an intimate film about lost love that becomes unpredictable. You question why are two central characters are doing what they are doing until the end makes it crystal clear. “Blue Jay” deserves to be watched twice just for the nuances that Paulson is able to portray that will not be clear the first time through. As if anyone needs any reminder that Sarah Paulson was a great actress.

In another micro-budget indie, Trey Edward Shults’ first feature does not even have any actors of note in it. In fact, everyone in the film is played by members of his own family about a story that is based on events from his life. “Krisha” is truly a family affair. Everyone knows the anxiety of coming back home for a big family dinner. Here, Shults films it as if it was a sweeping epic film. The way Terrence Malick films the fields in “Days of Heaven,” is how Shults moves his camera through the big open house as Krisha comes back home after stints in rehab. To call Krisha self-destructive will be an understatement. Here Stults captures moments of family that feels too close to home. With specificity comes relatability; Krisha prepares herself before she goes into the house, children running around with no care for the adult conversations, courtesy small talks with family members who no one cares for. In the end, it is the conflict of hope and shame family has for Krisha that makes the film unforgettable.

Movies in which Adam Driver plays a character who is unsure of himself

Silence, Paterson

Quentin Tarantino has always said that he was afraid about the complacency old age might bring him with his directing. Well, Martin Scorsese has not grown complacent. With “Silence,” Scorsese proves to be as vibrant, self-reflexive and edgy as he was in the 70’s. This film will be the definitive mark of his greatness. “Silence,” is the nearly three-hour epic about Jesuit priests facing persecution for their faith in Japan. The film becomes a meditation of faith in all kinds of obstacles. And as an early-twenties American living in the 21st century with no religion to call my own, I identified with the plight of the people longing for Catholicism and the priests that bring them. Scorsese creates a total cinema that is more sensory than any artificial 4D can create. The theater melts away and you become immersed in 17th century Japan. The first two hours are physically brutal but the genius is with the emotionally brutal last hour when the form of storytelling changes, ending in a beautiful final shot.

Best dog of the year goes to the now departed Marvin, whose presence in “Paterson” puts him in the pantheon of great dogs in cinema alongside Toto and Uggie from “The Artist.” I don’t know how to explain this film to people except to say that it is the exactly what you expect from Jim Jarmusch. He has not made a film like this in a while; a poetic meditation of a bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey. Much of this film was influenced by the poetry of William Carlos Williams and the film moves like a poem. There is a structure but not a traditional story structure. The film ambles along like a NJ Transit bus and characters move in and out. Adam Driver as Paterson warns at one point, before he reads his poems, that it does not rhyme. I feel like I have to preface this film the same way. But, I like my films like that. Jarmusch instead populates the film with colorful characters, including a couple that cyclically fights and breaks up and a gang in a convertible warning about dog-jackers.

Documentaries that subvert the form

Kate Plays Christine, Cameraperson

I love meta explorations into the form of films and why we watch them. So, to see Robert Greene continue to question why people watch film while also making his audiences question what is real brings me pure bliss. Here, Greene follows actress Kate Lyn Sheil as she prepares to play Christine Chubbuck, a real-life reporter who committed suicide on live television in the 70’s. There is no role for Sheil, just the process. But, through the process in which we see her try to get into the head of a person who suffered through manic depression, Greene and Sheil begin to question our obsession with these figures. Chubbuck fought against the increasing exploitation of violence on the news and her senseless violence has since made her into a cult figure that has seen people desperately searching for the video of her death like it is the holy grail. It’s unclear what parts of “Kate Plays Christine” is real but the questions certainly are.

What we learn from that film and “Cameraperson” is the camera is inherently subjective. We see what the camera person wants us to see. And we know based on what images are put together and what sequence they come in. Kristen Johnson has been a longtime cinematographer for some of the greatest documentarians from Michael Moore to Laura Poitras. Through those films, she has saved plenty of footage and compiled a film that is a diary of sorts. Through the montage of out of context footage, we get a story of who Johnson is, despite the fact that we barely see Johnson. The only times we do is when she shows footage of her mom and she documents her struggles through Alzheimer’s. It is an amazing way of presenting self and highlighting the power of the form. Also, it is strangely satisfying to see the philosopher, Derrida, casually crossing a street in Manhattan.

Movies in which little trinkets given to the main character serves as important character development

Kubo and the Two Strings, American Honey

Laika takes a Studio Ghibli approach to filmmaking. Their films take time and persistence to make, not just because of their intricate animation style but because so much attention is put to little humane moments. Animation has the distinct advantage of being able to do the impossible, but the best of animation comes when the human moments are recreated amongst the impossible. “Kubo” is Laika’s crowning achievement in their young history and it is a shame that more people did not see it. It’s an exploration of grief and how people deal with it but it never stops being a children’s film. It achieves the sublime beauty of storytelling and art. This the type of movie that kids will be drawn to because of its beauty and action and watch again to realize the complexity of emotions it is tackling with. Here as an unnecessary dig, “Kubo and the Two Strings” does more for the genre of animation than all of Illumination films combine.

Rhianna is the soundtrack of youth. Last year the French film, “Girlhood” had the best use of “Diamonds” is a film when four young French girls lip-sync to it bathed in neon lights. Now, a bunch of runaways in Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey” does the same to “We Found Love” in a Midwestern grocery store. Rhianna is freedom. And “American Honey” is the truth. A somewhat divisive film, the film follows a magazine crew, a mish mash of reckless youths selling overpriced magazine subscriptions. Our protagonist is Star, played by a future star in Sasha Lane, as she decides to leave her constrained life to freedom with this band of merry people led by Riley Keough and Shia LaBeouf. The film wanders along with this crew who has no destination. Rather, the destination is a journey for Star as she achieves self-actualization through wandering across the American landscape. This is a life unknown to me, a pleasure to be in, and an aftertaste sweet as Tennessee honey.

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joereid · 8 years ago

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The Best of Movies, 2016

10 CEfOscar nominations are on Tuesday! Which means I better get my ballot out here or else ... okay, I don’t have an end to that sentence that makes sense, but believe me, I HAVE to get my ballot up before Tuesday. I will hopefully find the time to write up some thoughts on the categories in the next few weeks — and you can go read my Top 10 Movies post from New Year’s in the meantime.

Best Picture 1. Arrival 2. American Honey 3. 20th Century Women 4. Moonlight 5. Little Men 6. Manchester by the Sea 7. Hail, Caesar! 8. Silence 9. The Invitation 10. Jackie

Best Director Andrea Arnold, American Honey Barry Jenkins, Moonlight Pablo Larrain, Jackie Martin Scorsese, Silence Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Runners-Up: Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea), Mike Mills (20th Century Women), Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster), Karyn Kusama (The Invitation)

Best Actor Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea Colin Farrell, The Lobster Andrew Garfield, Silence Trevante Rhodes, Moonlight Denzel Washington, Fences

Runners-Up: Adam Driver (Paterson), Logan Lerman (Indignation), Gael Garcia Bernal (Neruda), Dev Patel (Lion)

Best Actress Amy Adams, Arrival Kate Beckinsale, Love & Friendship Annette Bening, 20th Century Women Viola Davis, Fences Rebecca Hall, Christine Natalie Portman, Jackie

Runners-Up: Isabelle Huppert (Things To Come), Ruth Negga (Loving), Emma Suarez (Julieta), Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Supporting Actor Tom Bennett, Love & Friendship Alden Ehrenreich, Hail, Caesar! Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea Andre Holland, Moonlight Daniel Radcliffe, Swiss Army Man

Runners-Up: Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane), Tracy Letts (Christine and Indignation)

Best Supporting Actress Tammy Blanchard, The Invitation (and Tallulah) Paulina Garcia, Little Men Greta Gerwig, 20th Century Women Lily Gladstone, Certain Women Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Runners-Up: Riley Keough (American Honey), Molly Shannon (Other People), Julianne Moore (Maggie's Plan), Janelle Monae (Moonlight)

Best Original Screenplay 20th Century Women (Mike Mills) Don't Think Twice (Mike Birbiglia) Little Men (Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias) Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) Other People (Chris Kelly)

Runner-Up: The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou), The Edge of Seventeen (Kelly Fremon Craig), American Honey (Andrea Arnold), The Meddler (Lorene Scafaria)

Best Adapted Screenplay Arrival (Eric Heisserer) Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt) Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Taika Waititi) Love & Friendship (Whit Stillman) Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)

Runner-Up: Fences (August Wilson), Julieta (Pedro Almodovar), Lion (Luke Davies)

Best Ensemble 20th Century Women Little Men Love & Frienship Moonlight Silence

Runner-Up: The Lobster, Manchester by the Sea, Certain Women, Hell or High Water

Best Cinematography American Honey (Robbie Ryan) Arrival (Bradford Young) Lion (Greig Fraser) Moonlight (James Laxton) Silence (Rodrigo Prieto)

Runner-Up: La La Land (Linus Sandgren), Jackie (Stephane Fontaine), Hail, Caesar! (Roger Deakins)

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Best Original Score 20th Century Women (Roger Neill) Arrival (Johan Johannsson) Hell or High Water (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis) Midnight Special (David Wingo) Moonlight (Nicolas Britell)

Runner-Up: Kubo and the Two Strings (Dario Marianelli), Julieta (Alberto Iglesias)

Best Breakthrough Actor Michael Barbieri, Little Men Timothee Chalamet, Miss Stevens John Early, Other People Ashton Sanders, Moonlight Hayden Szetzo, The Edge of Seventeen

Runner-Up: Connor Jessup (Closet Monster), Lewis MacDougall (A Monster Calls)

Best Breakthrough Actress Krisha Fairchild, Krisha Royalty Hightower, The Fits Riley Keough, American Honey Morgan Saylor, White Girl Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch

Runner-Up: Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen / The Bronze), Melissa Rauch (The Bronze), Sasha Lane (American Honey)

Best Documentary Feature 13th Cameraperson O.J.: Made in America Tickled Weiner

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Best Foreign Language Film The Eyes of My Mother The Handmaiden Julieta Mountains May Depart The Salesman

Best Animated Feature Kubo and the Two Strings Moana Zootopia

Best First Feature The Eyes of My Mother (Nicolas Pesce) Krisha (Trey Edward Shults) Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight) Other People (Chris Kelly) The Witch (Robert Eggers)

Runners-Up: Swiss Army Man (Dan Kwan, Daniel Schienert), Lion (Garth Davis), The Edge of Seventeen (Kelly Fremon Craig), Tallulah (Sian Heder)

Best Editing Arrival The Invitation Krisha Moonlight The Witch

Runner-Up: 20th Century Women, Always Shine, Hell or High Water, Jackie, Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Art Direction Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Hail Caesar! Hidden Figures Jackie Swiss Army Man

Runner-Up: 20th Century Women, High Rise, La La Land, 10 Cloverfield Lane

Best Costume Design 20th Century Women Hail, Caesar! The Handmaiden Love & Friendship Sing Street

Runner-Up: Jackie, La La Land, Kubo and the Two Strings, A Bigger Splash

Best Sound Arrival Krisha Kubo and the Two Strings Rogue One Silence

Runner-Up: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, A Monster Calls, The Jungle Book

Best Makeup and Hairstyling Everybody Wants Some!! The Handmaiden Silence Sing Street Swiss Army Man

Runner-Up: Nocturnal Animals, Rogue One, Hail, Caesar!

Best Visual Effects Arrival Doctor Strange The Jungle Book Midnight Special Pete's Dragon

Runner-Up: Kubo and the Two Strings, Captain America: Civil War, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themm

Best Cameo or Limited Role Margaret Bowman, Hell or High Water Laura Linney, Nocturnal Animals Frances McDormand, Hail, Caesar! Katy Mixon, Hell or High Water Michael Shannon, Loving

Best Original Song “Someone in the Crowd,” La La Land “How Far I’ll Go,” Moana “I’m So Humble,” Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping “Drive It Like You Stole It,” Sing Street “Montage,” Swiss Army Man “Try Everything,” Zootopia

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hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff · 5 years ago

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Before the title card in Pablo Larrain's film Ema is a following shot of the platinum-blonde title character walking down the middle of an empty road lit by neon and fire. It is perhaps the only truly familiar authorial element in Larrain's latest feature. Ema marks Larrain's return to his homeland of Chile after a successful Hollywood debut in Jackie, and he also returns, for the first time since Tony Manero, to apolitical subject matter. There are no coups, riots, or assassinations in Ema; nobody even dies. Instead, a dancer couple (Mariana Di Girolamo as Ema and Gael Garcia Bernal as Gastón) spars after Ema returns their son to foster care after he immolates a family member, trying alternately to destroy and repair the atypical family.

The film was co-written by playwright Guillermo Calderón, the scribe behind Neruda and The Club, and like those, it has the hallmarks of a type of theater epitomized by Harold Pinter, in which highly ambiguous character actions frequently baffle but always intrigue, making the pursuit of a coherent interpretation difficult but worthwhile. Larrain, however, is a melodramatist and an optimist at heart. He lives for big, revealing speeches, moments of misrecognized virtue, and the reassertion of clearly defined moral values, and whether dealing with fictional or historical figures, they tend to be powerless and victimized, caught up in situations with almost impossibly high stakes. Much of the intrigue of his work comes from the tension in those competing modes, and Ema is no exception.

Ema is, at least per her partner Gastón, the best dancer in his dance troupe, and perhaps the only one who understands dance and music as more than exhibitionism, but her decision to return their son Paco to foster care sends Gastón into a tailspin, causing him to berate her and the rest of the troupe. Ema copes in her own way: filing for divorce, and attempting to seduce her lawyer, other dancers, and Paco's new, married foster father. Many of these scenes are played on the brink of hysterical realism, as when Ema, through her wit and willingness to dance on a table, convinces her lawyer to let her pay in haircuts & manicures, or when Gastón chews out Ema and two friends for their dancing and taste in music, which he views as antithetical as art in the standard anti-consumerist, anti-exhibitionist manner. In another memorable scene, Ema interviews for a teaching job with a principal who is so impressed she denounces her own position as an authority figure.

Some have argued, and they are not wrong, that none of these people are ever acting like human beings. This is true, but arthouse cinema at its best often rejects mimetic realism, but in recent years that style, the stuff of more commercial entertainment industries, has come close to conquering the arthouse as well. More grounded character studies resembling Ema are a dime a dozen. What makes this one fascinating is how aggressively it seems to fight itself, how hysterical characters act without absurdity ever displacing Larrain's familiar aesthetic. Sometimes, as when colorful, expressionistic lighting threatens to overpower characters, it seems as if Larrain is unwilling to commit himself fully. Other times he is deadly serious, and his talented performers convince you that you should be, too.

The film is scored by Chilean-American Nicolas Jaar, one of electronic and ambient music's contemporary masters, tasked here with making reggaeton music that only barely passes the test, if at all. It's another instance of an accomplished but arguably mishandled component of the film that, by the very nature of its oddness, heightens again the reality on which the film takes place. The result is the creation of a universe in which coincidence after coincidence is suddenly plausible even as it scans as if it exists solely to present another obstacle for its protagonist. The culmination is an ending so bizarre it would play as parody if not for the sincere moralism on display, but that tension again works in favor of the film. The various people responsible for this film are all visibly talented, but arranged in a haphazard manner. Whether that is for better or for worse is, even more than most things in life, strictly a matter of preference.

Follow Forrest Cardamenis on Twitter - @FCardamenis

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