I used to watch movies all the time and keep up with all the new releases. I gave that up years ago because pretty much all movies were disappointing to me. None of them seemed to be saying or doing anything new. The bulk of them even fail as entertainment. But when you run out of things to do, well... Most of these got some sort of Oscar mentions.
Joker -- Everybody is talking about Jaoquin Phoenix's performance and rightly so. He's a phenomenal actor. The movie itself is gut punch after gut punch. There is no respite. It is brilliantly shot and structured. Visually stunning. It owes a debt to Taxi Driver, obviously. But theme-wise, it's another cruel-world-destroys-a-decent-man story. Nothing wrong with that, other than it makes me roll my eyes. As beautiful as the craftsmanship and acting was, it doesn't strike me as rewatchable.
Ford versus Ferrari -- This is a man's movie. That is to say all the major characters are men and it celebrates traditional masculine roles and attitudes. In that sense it is kin to movies such as The Right Stuff and Master and Commander. Christian Bale gets to play a goofy wildman. Matt Damon (whom I increasingly like) gets to play gruff and homespun. Theme-wise, it's another powerful-people-are-keeping-the-true-believer-down story. Nothing wrong with that, other than it makes me roll my eyes. But it is a lot of fun so it has a high probability of being a rewatch.
JoJo Rabbit -- Part delightful, part depressing. This kid Roman Griffin Davis is the one who should get the best actor award. It starts out to be an irreverent comedy about some Nazi youth in the last days of the Third Reich, if you can believe it, and it's brilliantly funny and touching, even considering the main kid has a goofy version of Adolf Hitler as his imaginary friend. But this is no Hogan's Heroes. We transition into finding a Jew hiding in an attic and a slow descent into tragedy and terror. Yet, oddly, it never feels like a beatdown. It never loses its sense of humor or the humanity of its characters, even the Nazis. A remarkable achievement. Of the movies I've seen lately it's the only one that seems fresh and original, even daring. It doesn't make me roll my eyes, but if I rewatch, I'll turn it off about half way.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood -- Well, that was, um...interesting. The story of a fading Hollywood TV star and his friend and stunt double. They have various highly stylized adventures culminating in a re-imagining of the Manson family massacres, wherein the family, instead of committing the Tate-LaBianca murders, end up trying to kill the TV Star and his stuntman who end up killing the Manson crowd in a most gruesome manner. In a way, this is of a piece with Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds wherein a bunch of badass Jews demolish Nazis -- it's a fantasy of evil served justice that they didn't get in real life. Much could be made of Taratino's self-conscious view of Hollywood as a righteous fantasy machine, and I'm sure pretentious film reviewers will. If the ultimate statement of Once... is unclear, it is still beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, cleverly structured, and rife with points of nostalgia for someone my age, and often utterly mesmerizing. No eye roll. Likely rewatchable.
Icarus -- This won the Documentary Oscar a couple of years back. It is riveting. It begins with a very accomplished amateur cyclist (the documentarian) who decides to pursue a doping regime and document the process as an expose on the ineffectiveness of anti-doping measures. In the course of this he works with, and befriends, a legendary Russian doping master who had worked with Russian Olympic teams. The Russian takes advantage of the opportunity to become a whistleblower in the Russian Olympic doping scandal and things go from interesting to deadly serious as the highest levels of Russian politicians take umbrage and the stakes become mortal. Definitely recommended. Free on Netflix. No eye roll, but there is rarely a reason to rewatch a documentary, maybe doing further reading into the story counts as a rewatch.
