Doomsday's Andrei Tarkovsky Love Fest

I can see why you didn't like it, but I don't see it as self-indulgent or pretentious. It's certainly off-kilter, but it's also a sexy, vulgar, and hilarious romp that can be enjoyed just for its juicy performances and power dynamics. Obviously I like the movie a lot so that makes that reading easier, but I honestly don't see that sense of snobbery you see.

To paraphrase Colin Farrell's Bullseye: Necessary? No, but it was fun. Those aspects you describe as self-indulgent are precisely what separates this from the humdrum costume dramas Doomsday alluded to in his intro. It's that devilish streak of perverse pleasure that makes the film so much more lively and modern.

I think you disliked the movie for the reasons that I enjoyed it. Ah well, variety is the spice of life.

Green Book

Like many others that have come before it, Green Book is one of those movies that has fallen victim to its own reputation. Upon its release it was met with a ton of praise and called 'moving,' 'powerful,' and 'important.' The hype train started rolling and with it so did the backlash. People began to say that it's approach to racism is antiquated and takes a big step back. People say that the stereotypes are offensive and that we've evolved from these kinds of movies long ago. So which is it? Is it a deeply stirring story? Or are we watching this generation's Birth of a Nation (the Griffith one that is)?

The story is pretty simple and you can probably figure it out just by looking at the poster; Viggo Mortensen plays Tony Lip, a bouncer at the popular Copacabana and someone who is trying to make a name for himself with the local mob figures. There's all of two short scenes dedicated to this. When the Copa closes for repairs he takes a job as a driver for Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), an African American piano virtuoso. He's on a tour of the Deep South and needs someone who can drive and perhaps be some muscle if need be. Tony takes the job despite the fact that he may be a little racist. We know because some black guys were fixing his floor, his wife offered them a drink then Tony threw the glasses away when they left. On the road though Tony and Dr. Shirley learn some things about each other. What those things are still have me scratching my head.

Before I go on, I'll mention that I'm not usually one to let public opinion sway my enjoyment of a movie. After the rave reviews came out I saw some hot takes about how it actually sends all the wrong messages about race. I have to say that Green Book certainly sends some messages and they aren't really the ones I was expecting. For one, the movie seems more concerned with pointing out stereotypes than commenting on racism. Not only is there the now infamous scene where Tony tells Dr. Shirley about fried chicken, the 'food of his people,' he also exposes him to Little Richard, Aretha Franklin and jazz. A major theme of the movie was basically telling a sophisticated black guy how to be more black. And what does Tony get out of the whole thing? Not much. It's vaguely established that he may or may not have a problem with African Americans (remember he threw the glasses away) but by and large he's an Italian stereotype and Dr. Shirley teaches him more about diction than he does about race relations. When the racial divide does rear its head it's mostly Tony telling Shirley 'just because you're black doesn't mean you can judge me either.' Another theme that's kind of touched upon is the role reversal. There's a scene where the car breaks down and Tony gets under the hood and takes care of business while Shirley calmly and comfortably sits in the back seat...all in plain view of a bunch of other African Americans working in a field. Role reversal, am I right? I think the main problem isn't that the wrong messages were being sent, it's that it couldn't decide on what they were trying to say. It couldn't even decide on what the characters wanted to be. There's a throw away scene where Tony 'saves' Shirley from being arrested after he was caught hooking up with another man in a shower. Why was this scene here? To show that Tony is progressive about race AND homosexuality? And it's never mentioned again so what's the point? There's a lot of stuff here that's lightly touched upon and the movie never goes full speed in any one direction.

Green Book isn't a terrible movie but it's one that could have used a lot of polish. Unfortunately I think a lot of people gave it great marks while patting themselves on the back because racism is bad. There are many other movies that address racism in more powerful and direct ways but at the same time I can understand why people would like this easy to swallow and oftentimes humorous movie. It's a movie that you'd watch with your grandparents who never watch movies all that much while telling you how much they like Victor Morganson. Green Book is a movie with good intentions but it's too muddled to really make an impact. I seriously still don't know the main point it was trying to make.

B- so says Doomsday, I wouldn't put it in my top 10 but it's a movie whose appeal I can understand even if I don't agree with it.

AFI Motion Pictures of the Year

1917
The Farewell
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Knives Out
Little Women
Marriage Story
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Richard Jewell

Special Award
Parasite

Might be the first time I watch all these movies before Oscar nominations are even announced. Unless there’s a dark horse waiting to derail us. Oh... it’s gonna be that Waves movie. It’s always A24.

Waves isn't going to be nominated, that movie is going to be... polarizing, or maybe just ignored.

Even 1917?

That awful show does not help your case.