So, 2023 is the year I finally started to get bored of the MCU, and I haven’t religiously watched it all as it drops. I still haven’t watched Secret Invasion or the second season of Loki. I think the increasing amount of bad or lackluster content coming out, and the loss of connectivity and direction in the franchise has made it a lot less fun to follow. It feels more like a chore. So when I eventually realized that The Marvels was coming out I decided I should give it a try, but go in with lowered expectations…
The plot
After Kree leader Dar-Benn opens up unstable wormholes to save her dying planet, Captain Marvels powers become entangled with those of Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau. With the three women randomly switching places every time they use their powers; they must work together to stop Dar-Ben from ripping the universe apart.
I really enjoyed the concept of them switching places, it’s something new we haven’t seen before from this kind of film and they had a lot of fun with it, especially in the beginning. The rest of the movie was pretty standard in terms of plot; go to a place fight the villain, go to a new place learn some things. Without the entanglement plot there wouldn’t have been anything particularly interesting about this film so at least they kept it fresh in some way.
The characters
In all honesty, when I saw Captain Marvel (2019) I wasn’t blown away by the character. I thought she was cool and it was exciting to see a female character be so powerful, but personality-wise she came across as a bit bland and uninteresting. A lot of people have unfairly tried to claim this is because Brie Larson can’t act, but if you’ve seen Room (2015) you know that’s not true so I think it was just down to the writing. In this movie I feel like they made her a little more fun and relatable than last time, probably building on what didn’t work before.
There’s also the issue of Carol’s sexuality, which has long been a source of speculation with fans hoping she could be confirmed as gay on screen. Now they don’t go so far as to actually confirm it in this movie but they do strongly hint at it in at least one scene. It’s strong enough to show they are acknowledging it but still disappointingly easy for them to edit out for any countries that might threaten to ban the film for its connotations. As a gay person that just gives me the ick.
By far the best character in the movie is Kamala Kahn aka Ms Marvel. Though I didn’t particularly rate her show on Disney+ last year, due to its weak story and bad pacing, I did instantly fall in love with Kamala and her family (who are also a big part of this film) so was the most excited to see them again, and they didn’t disappoint. The infectious energy that Kamala brings into the room is just really entertaining because you’re witnessing a fan meet their hero. But it’s not just her fangirling the whole movie, she actually has a lot to bring to the team power-wise, and the emerging mentor/student relationship between her and Carol is intriguing to watch.
Of course, it was also great to see Monica back from Wandavision – still my favourite MCU show – with the powers she gained on that show now fully formed. I’m not sure we learned all that much about her as a character than we already knew unfortunately, she mostly just served as part of Carol’s character arc, but they have definitely built up somewhere for her to go in the future.
The villain
The most disappointing thing about this movie was by far its villain Dar-Benn. I think Zawe Ashton did the best she could, but the material wasn’t there. I found her motivation quite interesting, wanting to save her homeland from annihilation, which made her somewhat sympathetic. However, her actions often didn’t live up to that setup and she just reverted to a villain doing villainous things. She came across as very generic, not bringing anything unique visually or characteristically to the MCU. She’s a villain that I think will be easily forgotten as the years go by.
The Universe
One thing about a movie set in a giant shared universe is that it has to bring something new to expand on that world. I’m not sure they totally succeeded in that regard. This was a space movie so they visited a lot of planets, but few of them were very unique to this movie despite looking quite nice. The best bit of world-building they did was with the musical planet Aladna, where their language is song. Was this concept a bit silly, yes a little, but after Thor: Love and Thunder, I won’t complain too much about a short musical section even if I didn’t love it. This planet however had the best production and costume design of the movie, with lots of bright colours that popped on screen and physical sets that really make a difference when you’re used to seeing people walk around in CGI.
In terms of the interconnected world of the MCU, this is actually the most connected it’s felt in a long time. Since Avengers: Endgame (2019) every MCU project has felt very separate with very little crossover and there’s been very little clarity on where the wider story is headed. This is part of what has made it less fun to keep up with the story, as the investment doesn’t seem as worthwhile. This movie is the most connected the world has felt in a while, bringing characters together from movies and 2 shows and building on some new crossovers down the line.
The future
Going into this movie with low expectations did help me enjoy this movie more than I would have if I had gone expecting a top-tier film. It’s entertaining and has some fun moments but it didn’t wow me, so it’s very middle of the road in terms of rankings.
At this point, Marvel can’t afford to have a movie like that, when people like me are already beginning to lose interest. I’ve already given up on the shows. How long before I give up on the movies too?
The ending of this film gave me some hope that if they have a plan and they focus on making higher-quality material they can breathe some life back into this franchise, but it may already be too late…
June was a crazy month for me, so I didn’t get time to see much, let alone review anything. But I was determined to get to the cinema and see a new release, so I got out to see Pixar’s latest offering, Elemental!
While many are firmly opposed to the trend of Disney remaking all of their old animated movies in live-action, I am more lukewarm about it. while I don’t want or feel they need to be remade, I accept that they are and some of them actually end up being good. As much as I hated Beauty and the Beast (2017) and The Lion King (2019), I enjoyed Aladdin (2019) and Cinderella (2015). And so, in the run-up to The Little Mermaid (2023) coming out, I was nervous about which way the dial would turn this time.
It’s been a long time coming! Through firings and rehirings and making DC movies instead, James Gunn has finally finished the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy he kicked off for the MCU way back in 2014. But in an Era where Marvel fatigue is setting in and projects are dipping in quality, has he managed to keep the franchise at the high standard he set for it or has it come to a whimpering end?
I’ve always been quite a big fan of Nintendo games (particularly when I was in my teens), so I’ve always wondered how or even if the games would translate into my other love, movies. After the Pokemon: Detective Pikachu film did quite well, It seemed only a matter of time before Nintendo got their flagship franchise, Super Mario Bros turned into a movie too. Ever since it was announced I’ve been eager to see how they would bring the beloved games onto the big screen.
I remember when I saw this movie last year, I immediately fell in love with it. it was everything I love about movies; it was fun, it was emotional, it was well acted, and it had a good message. I wasn’t sure it was going to actually get this kind of attention, so to see it not only win Best Picture but to have one of the biggest Oscars sweeps in recent history was really special. You can see how much people both in and out of the industry really warmed to this movie and just wanted to give it everything. And as I said in my predictions, because quality is so subjective, I think Best Picture should represent where cinema and culture is in that year. This is one of the few winners recently that I think correctly does that.
Of course, Best Picture and Director usually go hand in hand (it’s uncommon for a film to not win both) because directors have so much ownership over how the movie turns. The Daniel’s just had the most unique vision and style to the directing, compared to the other nominees, you can’t love this movie and not accredit it to them. Well deserved.
Well, my total stab in the dark between the two frontrunners paid off. I’m personally glad that this performance won, because it just touched me more than Austin Butler’s more flashy performance did. Though they were both very heavy ‘Oscar Bait’ performances, I think the decision came from the industry wanting to recognise the decades of work that Fraser has done, and wanting to acknowledge/apologize for the way he was treated for many years. Whereas Butler’s nomination is going to propel him as a star on the rise (and he will certainly have more chances to win), a win for Fraser is like an olive branch to welcome him back into the industry and acknowledge him as the star he could have been all along. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the coming years.
I am so unbelievably happy that Michelle Yeoh won this Oscar, and annoyed at myself for giving into doubt and betting against her. This win is such a historic one for diversity, as he first Asian Best Actress winner and only the second woman of colour. But apart from all that, Yeoh is just an international legend, who has never been properly recognized and it really was her time.
This was a forgone conclusion but still such a beautiful moment. The joy and emotion Ke Huy Quan exhibited when winning this award was so special, and the way he bounced around backstage with giddy delight afterwards. He had very similar narrative to Brandan Fraser in that he went away for a while and was rewarded for a big comeback. However, Quan’s disappearance was not through any kind of event but through a lack of roles simply because of his race. So, this win is a positive symbolisation of the changing landscape of casting within the industry, as well as the kinds of movies being made.
Even though I predicted this I was still surprised. This category was almost impossible to call, because it was so stacked with talent. A lot of people are mad that Stephanie Hsu or Angela Bassett didn’t win, and I do agree that I would have chosen one of them over Curtis’ performance, because they were simply stronger. However, we have to remember that actors vote for actors and that Curtis is just as much of an icon as Michelle Yeoh, who has also never been recognised by the academy. She is clearly beloved by so many people (including myself) that they saw this as their opportunity to give her those flowers for her lifetime of work and legacy. Yes, it’s a shame that they didn’t feel that way about Bassett, and there’s definitely a discussion to be had about why that is, but it’s not Curtis’ fault she won. Seeing how surprised she was and how grateful she is, it’s impossible for me not to feel happy for her in this moment.
After being snubbed at the BAFTAs, this really was the redemption story that Sarah Polley needed for Woman Talking, and she deserved it. When I saw this movie, I thought it must be based on a play, because it was so perfectly scripted and was laid out like that visually. But come to find out it’s based on a Novel, and it’s so impressive to me that she took that long-form prose and translated it so perfectly for the screenplay. It’s also a heavy movie with a lot to say about, women, assault and forgiveness in the realm of religion, that it needed a tight script to really get all its points across in a poignant yet still artistic way, and that’s what Polley did.
This was obvious, and I don’t really have much to say bout the film that I haven’t already said about it. I think it was great and it deserved it. Del Toro now has 3 different Oscars in all different categories (Producing, Directing and Animation), which does go to show what a creative talent he is, and I think he’s rightfully going to be remembered as an icon of the movie industry for years to come.
Another unsurprising but well-deserved win. It was clear this was going to win when it was nominated so many other places, and it also ended up as the second most awarded film of the night with 3 other wins. It’s quite an achievement considering this book was already adapted into a Best Picture winning film way back 1930. The story has only gained more context in the time since that version was released, and the world has changed so much that telling the story from a new perspective, with new technologies brought it back into relevancy.
I loved Ruth E. Carter’s designs for both Black Panther films, and so I’m very glad the academy decided to recognise her talent again rather than award something more conventional. But what’s actually really significant is that with this award, Carter has become the first black woman EVER to win 2 Oscars, which is something I genuinely did not believe until I fact-checked it. so not only is she an icon and a legend, she’s also a trailblazer.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they went for the giant prosthetic fat suit for the win in this category, as the academy has been obsessed with awarding prosthetics in recent years, and kind of ignoring hair altogether. This is now the second year in a row that one of my favourite films of the season won the acting plus makeup combo without a Best Picture nomination, after The Eyes of Tammy Faye last year. And on that subject, it’s kind of wild to me that The Whale managed to win 2 Oscars, whereas Tár, Banshees and The Fabelmans all went home with nothing.
In hindsight, I should have bet on All Quiet on the Western Front considering its traction going into the Oscars, but honestly, though I liked the music, it wasn’t what stood out about the film to me. I said I would have given it to EEAAO and I stand by that, but I guess that film won enough already. The upside of my prediction being wrong is that I now feel no obligation to ever watch Babylon, as part of my Oscars completionist mission.
Watch the performance of Naatu Naatu they did at the Oscars and try and tell someone it didn’t deserve to win this award. The house was brought down with energy and enthusiasm l, and that’s exactly what a great movie song should do! The only performance that really came close with impact was Lady Gaga’s, as she paired herself down with a no-makeup and jeans look. But it’s not her best song to be honest and she’s already got her Oscar. In a night of firsts, it’s also cool to note that Naatu Naatu is the first song from an Indian fil to win an Oscar, which is honestly surprising considering how many musical films come out of the country. It shows the increased accessibility of international films to the Oscars that had been building in the last decade.
At the beginning of awards season, it was thought that Everything Everywhere All At Once was the front-runner, but then it missed a couple of major awards, namely the Golden Globe and BAFTA. However in recent weeks it’s been clearing up award after award, so I think it’s safe to say that it’s back on top to take home Best Picture. I think it should, it’s a brilliant film with the box office to back it up and it reflects the current landscape of cinema as well as pop culture, with its themes and its cast.
Much like their movie, the Daniels have been sweeping the recent director awards and seem to be a shoe-in to win here, and it would be well deserved. The BAFTA winner isn’t nominated here and Speilberg won the Golden Globe, but I feel like that was based more on his celebrity than anything else. The Fabelmans is a great film, but it isn’t better than anything else he’s already won an Oscar for.
This is a tough one to call, as it’s been flip-flopping between Austin Butler and Brendan Fraser, with both winning multiple Best Actor awards. They both also have different narratives that have won in the past. Butler is a big flashy breakout performance, and Fraser if a working actor who’s struggled in Hollywood and is now making a comeback.
Because of this apparent white bias, and the fact that she was picking up lots of awards, including BAFTA and Critics Choice, meant that I was certain Cate Blanchett would take this award. Now, I’ve said it a million times, I am a Blanchett Stan. She’s more than deserving of three Oscars, and I loved her performance in Tár. However, Michelle Yeoh has been an icon for so many years without the recognition she deserves, and it really feels like it’s her time. She has been making a recent comeback, beating Cate at both the SAG and independent spirit awards, meaning the race is now neck and neck. I’m not ready to put all my eggs in the Yeoh basket and risk disappointment so my head is saying this is still Blanchett’s to lose.
Where Best Actor and Actress are still up in the air, it’s a foregone conclusion that Key Huy Quan is winning Supporting Actor. He’s cleaned up everywhere besides BAFTA (which was weird) and has the best awards narrative of the year. Having left Hollywood due to the lack of roles for Asian actors, and coming back for a film with a predominantly Asian cast, that made lots of money and is probably going to win Best Picture. All his speeches have been so beautiful and he’s gotten so much love, it would actually be quite depressing if he didn’t win.
This is one of the craziest categories I’ve ever experienced; it seems like someone different is winning it every time. Angela Bassett won Golden Globe and Critics Choice, Kerry Condon won BAFTA, Jamie Lee Curtis won SAG and Stephanie Hsu won at Independent Spirit (although that was a slightly different category). If I went with personal choice, I would say it should go to either Hong Chau or Stephanie Hsu, as they were my favourite performances of the group.
I think this one is firmly between The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once. If they are going to give Best Picture/Director to EEAAO I think they will probably give this award to Banshees so that it goes home with something, especially as the writing is the most impressive part of that film. However, most Best Picture winners also win screenplay so precedent would seem to suggest that EEAAO might take this after all.
The screenplay categories are somewhat infamously used as a pseudo-consolation prize for writer-directors (often women and POC) who have no shot at winning Best Director. That’s partly why I expect Martin McDonagh to win Original Screenplay. Because we, unfortunately, have yet another year with no female nominees for Best Director, I feel like the academy will (and should) give Adapted Screenplay to Sarah Polley for Women Talking, which is a beautifully written film that she deserves her flowers for.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio Is winning this. It’s swept it at every award, and each time Del Toro gives a passionate speech about animation as an art form, which lends itself totally to an Oscars moment. None of the other films, despite being good, really come close to the level of art and gravitas given to this film, and frankly, it’s refreshing when we have a year where they don’t just blindly give it to Pixar.
There’s a trend in recent years wherein one of the International Feature nominees gets nominated in several other categories, meaning it’s obviously going to win this one. This year that film is All Quiet on the Western Front Which has 9 nominations including Best Picture.
The first Black Panther won this award because of its beautiful and ground-breaking afro futuristic costumes, so I think it’s fair to say that Ruth Carter could win again for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Not only did she equal the beauty of the original for now Wakandan costumes, but she also had to design a whole new set of looks based on Mesoamerican history for the Talokan characters.
They tend to usually go for the film with the most prosthetic work in this category in recent years, but this year both Elvis and The Whale have that. I think Elvis has the better shot because it seems to be the film that the Academy liked more, and there are just so many more characters that they had to create in a period style.
Personally, I would love this to go to Everything Everywhere All At Once, because I really like the Avant-guard style of Son Lux and how it added to the chaotic nature of the film. However, I think Babylon is going to take it for its catchy 1920’s soundtrack. It’s the one film I haven’t seen, because I wasn’t really that interested in it, so I can’t speak on what it adds to the movie, but it did get stuck in my head when I watched the trailer.
I’d love Rihanna to take this, because it’s Rihanna, but also because I think Lift Me Up was such a touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman. However, it’s hard to deny the catchiness and fun that Naatu Naatu brings to the table, which is why I think it’s most likely to take it, as they did at the Golden Globes. If they perform it at the ceremony, everyone is going to be having fun.
The MCU is back for another year of blockbuster superhero movies, but it seems as if they’re not starting off on the right foot.
Everything was going along pretty safely for most of the evening (as you will see most of my predictions were correct) but then all of a sudden, right at the very end The Fabelmans decided to turn up to the party.
I’m not as shocked with this one, as even though I was sure Everything Everywhere was a lock in for this award, Banshees was the one I did say could potentially beat it. I’m not mad at it, because it was a beautiful movie, but it’s not what I wanted.
Some people were shocked by this one, calling it an upset for Brendan Fraser. Obviously, this is what I guessed based on Fraser’s feelings toward the globes so I’m not shocked.
No surprise here. The great Cate keeps on greating. There’s not really much to say about her win because she did an Anthony Hopkins and didn’t turn up. She’s maybe the greatest actress working today, I’ve never not seen her put in a good performance.
Both comedy lead wins were pretty much guaranteed, this was Farrell’s from the get go. None of the other performances in this category were as notable this year, despite a few of them being very good, and Farrell is the only one getting this kind of attention, and will likely the only one of them nominated at the Oscars. Whether he can win there over the drama leads is another story.
Again, this was Yeoh’s award from the moment she was nominated. As I’ve said she’s in a two horse race with Blanchett for the Oscar.
Ke Huy Quan was the one to beat for this award, even though I did say it could go to Brendan Gleeson. Quan seems to be sweeping this award at every turn so he’s definitely winning the Oscar.
This is where The Fabelmans upset began! While Angela Bassett’s win pleasantly surprised me, this was more of a disappointing shock. I never really enjoy when someone who’s won a bunch of times wins again, because it’s not exciting, but I did predict that someone like that win this with Cameron so I guess I have no leg to stand on. I think the globes really like celebrity, and the incredibly famous Spielberg directing a movie about is own life is such a flashy narrative I see why they picked it for the win.
Like I predicted, I guess the golden globes really love scripts about Ireland!
I was very close to guessing Naatu Naatu to win because RRR has gotten a lot of buzz. But I assumed that foreign films would not be favored outside of their own category (which RRR did not actually win in). Perhaps I perceived a bias that was not there. I’ll be looking to RRR to receive a few more wins as the season goes on; as well as Germany’s All Quiet on the Western Front, which has started showing up on a few shortlists too.
There was very little competition for Guillermo Del Toro in this category, as Disney didn’t put up much of a fight, so it was an easy win. But that shouldn’t undermine how deserving this film would be of winning in any other year.
Tár is getting a lot of attention this season. It doesn’t come out in the UK until the end of Jan so I can’t speak of my own feelings about it (although I do love me a bit of Cate Blanchett), but I expect this to be a major contender for this category.
Everything Everywhere All At Once needs to win this. It’s genuinely one of the best movies of the year; equally funny, entertaining and poignant. Everyone else I know who has seen it loved it just as much as I did and the fact that it came out back in March and we’re still talking about it shows how much it blew people away.
So this is interesting. If you didn’t know, Brendan Fraser (who many expect to be a major contender with The Whale) has spoken openly about how he was sexually assaulted by the former president of the HFPA (which votes on the Globes) and how he understandably wants nothing to do with this award.
I’m fairly certain that Cate Blanchett is taking this category. It’s being called her greatest performance ever, and this is someone with two Oscars, who is already considered one of the best actresses of all time.
This is another foregone conclusion for me, it’s Colin Farrell’s award to lose. His performance in Banshees is so delicate and heart-warming it really touched me. I’m just not as interested in the idea of any of the other nominees winning and I don’t see it for them. Farrell is also one of those actors that’s been working for so long, and we’re only just starting to appreciate him. I think he’s got a very strong chance at an Oscar, especially if he wins here.
Michelle Yeoh!
I’m torn here, because I feel like it’s between Brendan Gleeson and Key Huy Quan. I feel like you can’t acknowledge Colin Farrell’s performance without recognizing Gleeson as they really were an acting unit. Likewise, Quan did a lot of the same stuff that Michelle Yeoh was doing just in a smaller role, so if she’s going to win (which she will) then he should get the same. Short of there being a tie I’m going to guess at Quan for the win.
I’m surprised this is She Said’s only nomination, as it was such a powerful and well put together movie. So I would like them to recognize what Mulligan brought to the table. However, Curtis is having such a career resurgence right now and the Globes love a celebrity, so I think it’s more likely to go her way.
I think this is probably going to go to James Cameron for the technical feats of Avatar: The Way of Water. just like the first one (which won this award) it has been lauded for its use of technology in Cameron’s directing, and people clearly are just as captivated. Personally, I didn’t feel much of a difference from the first movie so I don’t think he needs to win again.
If The Fabelmans is going to win anything it could be this category, because it’s Spielberg and it’s an autobiography and people usually lap that up.
This category gets less and less interesting every year. All of these songs are fine but nothing really stands out to me as an iconic track. I think Taylor Swift’s fans will get very excited if she wins it for Carolina but the song that I think has had the biggest cultural impact (which I think is what makes a good movie song) is Lift Me Up. People were very excited for Rihanna to be releasing music again and captured people’s attention, especially as it was the theme for a much-anticipated movie.
It should be surprising to see only one Disney movie here, but seeing as Lightyear and Strange World absolutely tanked it really isn’t. I haven’t even seen Strange World yet and I’m usually first in line for Disney.
I’m not going to predict all the TV categories, because there are a lot, but I anticipate a lot of wins for The Crown because the globes LOVE that show. I hope to see Abbott Elementary win best comedy series and Quinta Brunson win best actress in a comedy. I want to see Jennifer Coolidge win supporting actress in a limited series.
The one category I’m nervous about is supporting actress in a series. Elizabeth Debicki was amazing as Diana in The Crown, and I think she’s most likely to win. However, Sheryl Lee Ralph is so good in Abbott Elementary that it makes me really wish they separated this category into drama and comedy because they both deserve it.
Jeremy Greer 