Tag Archives: movies

King’s Ransom

The Promised Land

by George Wolf

Just going by its trailer, you might not expect The Promised Land to have much in common with Saltburn, but the similar themes are there. So while there’s no shocking bathwater here – or much bathing at all – there is a sweeping historical epic of one man’s quest for social climbing.

The man is Ludvig von Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen), a longtime captain in the German army who returns home to Denmark in 1755. Desiring both wealth and honor, he visits the court of King Frederik V with a promise to bring the King what no one else has managed to deliver: settlements on the Danish heath.

Ludvig promises to tame the barren land in exchange for a noble title, a manor and some servants. And to seal the deal, Ludvig will finance the farming project with his own military pension.

Battling the elements and the roaming outlaws will be tough enough, but Ludvig also must face the wrath of sadistic county judge De Schinkel (Simon Beenebjerg), who wants to claim the land as his own and make good on his promise to Ludvig that “life is chaos.”

Director and co-writer Nikolaj Arcel adapts Ida Jessen’s historical novel as a harrowing tale that consistently reveals new layers throughout its two compelling hours.

Mikkelsen – teaming again with Arcel after 2020’s terrific Riders of Justice – is perfection as the battle-tested soldier with steely-eyed dreams of nobility. Ludvig’s arc plays out patiently, but as the Captain takes in two runaway peasant farmers (Amanda Collin, Morten Hee Anderson), a well-meaning pastor (Gustav Lindh) and an unwanted child (Melina Hagberg), Mikkelsen ensures the awakened humanity feels well-earned and real.

And Arcel keeps the stakes rising to thrilling effect. Cinematographer Rasmus Videbæk’s majestic frames serve and volley with the twists of the screenplay to mine drama that can be as subtle as a framed patch of dirt or as overt as the triangle that springs from Schinkel’s intended fiancée Edel (Kristine Kujath Thorp) eyeing Ludvig as the man who can save her.

What price ambition? It remains an intriguing question, whether you’re surrounding it with delicious ultra-modern pulp or re-imagining true events from hundreds of years past. The Promised Land takes the road less adorned, forging a rousing tale of savagery, revenge and fulfillment that will not be denied.

Freeze Frame

Scrambled

by George Wolf

There’s an old adage about comedians making up jokes to hide real pain. It’s clear that for writer/director/star Leah McKendrick, there’s a very real struggle at the heart of Scrambled, and her film is better for not letting us forget that.

McKendrick plays Nellie, a 34 year-old perennial bridesmaid who clings to the “single bitches 4 life!” mantra, even as more members of her crew (including SNL’s Ego Nwodim and the always welcome June Diane Raphael) start settling down and getting pregnant.

Nellie has to face up to some harsh biological facts. Her mind and body can remain ready to mingle – but her fertility has a shelf life and the clock is ticking. So while she auditions a string of suitors from “The Nice Guy” to “The Prom King” to simply “Nope,” Nellie consults a amusingly deadpan doctor (Feodor Chin) about freezing her eggs.

Or, as Nellie’s Dad (a priceless Clancy Brown) calls it, “millennial feminist voodoo.”

McKendrick scores some big laughs with the family’s reaction to Nellie’s family planning, but this is an an issue that is very real for the first time feature director, and plenty of women like her. And beneath the jokes about Nellie’s dating habits and her parents’ longing for the return of her ex, McKendrick makes sure we see Nellie in fully formed terms.

She’s a grown ass woman choosing when and how she may want to have children. And in doing so, Nellie’s forced to navigate the social, physical, and financial barriers that can leave her feeling punished for embracing her own journey.

But Nellie moves forward – with both smiles and middle fingers. McKendrick’s recipe for Scrambled finds a nice balance of flavors, and we get a full-flavored dish of empowering humor.

Forget Me Not

Anselm

by George Wolf

Give a few minutes to Wim Wenders’s Anselm, and you may be inspired to make up some new words to describe the experience.

Like awesommersive. Or historiography.

The film wows you from the outset, as Wenders (Pina, Wings of Desire, Paris Texas) follows German artist Anselm Kiefer around his studio. The use of 3-D (and 6k resolution!) isn’t there to hurl objects from the screen to your eyeholes, but instead to surround you with artistic vision that is often as massive in scale as it is in meaning.

While Wenders does present some layers of biography, it’s clear that the overarching purpose here is to document Kiefer’s work and the mission that continues to drive his “protest against forgetting.” For decades, Kiefer has stood as a provocateur intent on exposing the “open wound of German history,” and Wenders has crafted a mesmerizing ode that delivers an appropriately mixed media aesthetic.

Archival footage permits the older and younger Anselm to become one. We hear his declarations of seeing through the world through a different lens, and then witness the creative process that convinces us it is undoubtedly so.

And even if you don’t know Kiefer from Sutherland, Anselm is a big screen experience that is not to be missed. As much about the art as it is about the artist, Anselm is an unforgettable journey into what makes both so necessary and vital.

Nom Nom Nom 2024

by Hope Madden and George Wolf

2023 was a great year for great movies, great screenplays, great performances, and great craftsmanship. Many of this year’s categories are stacked with deserving nominees., and overall, it was not a bad job by the Academy.

But we do have a few nits to pick.

Best picture

  • “American Fiction”
  • “Anatomy of a Fall”
  • “Barbie”
  • “The Holdovers”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Maestro”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Past Lives”
  • “Poor Things”
  • “The Zone of Interest”

Solid, but we would put “Godzilla Minus One” and “The Color Purple” in for “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest.”

Best actor

  • Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
  • Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
  • Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
  • Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
  • Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”

All great choices.

Best actress

  • Annette Bening, “Nyad”
  • Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”
  • Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”
  • Emma Stone, “Poor Things”

These are strong, but we would have loved to see Fantasia’s performance in “The Color Purple ” in Bening’s spot.

Best supporting actor

  • Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”
  • Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
  • Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
  • Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things”

All good here.

Best supporting actress

  • Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
  • Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”
  • America Ferrera, “Barbie”
  • Jodie Foster, “Nyad”
  • Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”

Very strong list.

Best director

  • Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest”
  • Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things”
  • Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
  • Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • Justine Triet, “Anatomy of a Fall”

No Bradley Cooper? No Greta Gerwig.? We take umbrage, and would put them in over Glazer and Triet.

International feature film

  • “Io Capitano,” Italy
  • “Perfect Days,” Japan
  • “Society of the Snow,” Spain
  • “The Teachers’ Lounge,” Germany
  • “The Zone of Interest,” United Kingdom

Very nice.

Animated feature film

  • “The Boy and the Heron”
  • “Elemental”
  • “Nimona”
  • “Robot Dreams”
  • “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Not a great year for animation, but these are worthy.

Adapted screenplay

  • “American Fiction”
  • “Barbie”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”
  • “The Zone of Interest”

We’d put “Barbie” in Original Screenplay and add “The Color Purple,” but okay.

Original screenplay

  • “Anatomy of a Fall”
  • “The Holdovers”
  • “Maestro”
  • “May December”
  • “Past Lives”

Good choices.

Visual effects

  • “The Creator”
  • “Godzilla Minus One”
  • “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
  • “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”
  • “Napoleon”

Nice to see the relatively low budget “The Creator” included here.

Original score

  • “American Fiction”
  • “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”

All strong, but where’s “Godzilla Minus One”? Criminal.

Original song

  • “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”
  • “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”
  • “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”
  • “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”
  • “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”

We would have loved to see Road to Freedom from “Rustin” included in this category.

Documentary feature film

  • “20 Days in Mariupol”
  • “Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
  • “The Eternal Memory”
  • “Four Daughters”
  • “To Kill a Tiger”

“Anselm” should be here, and maybe “Still: A Michael J. Fox Story.”

Cinematography

  • “El Conde”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Maestro”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”

So great to see “El Conde” on this stellar list. It was beautiful, and hopefully this nomination will cause people to seek it out. But, to be honest, we’d have given its spot to “Barbie.

Costume design

  • “Barbie”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Napoleon”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”

Animated short film

  • “Letter to a Pig”
  • “Ninety-Five Senses”
  • “Our Uniform”
  • “Pachyderme”
  • “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”

Live action short film

  • “The After”
  • “Invincible”
  • “Knight of Fortune”
  • “Red, White and Blue”
  • “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”

Documentary short film

  • “The ABCs of Book Banning”
  • “The Barber of Little Rock”
  • “Island in Between”
  • “The Last Repair Shop”
  • “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó”

Film editing

  • “Anatomy of a Fall”
  • “The Holdovers”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”

We’d probably go with “Barbie” over “The Holdovers” here.

Sound

  • “The Creator”
  • “Maestro”
  • “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “The Zone of Interest”

Production design

  • “Barbie”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon”
  • “Napoleon”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”

Makeup and hairstyling

  • “Golda”
  • “Maestro”
  • “Oppenheimer”
  • “Poor Things”
  • “Society of the Snow”

The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will air on ABC on Sunday, March 10, live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Origin

by George Wolf

Origin is so loaded with theories, facts and history, you may wonder why writer/director Ava DuVernay didn’t just make the film a documentary. After all, 2016’s 13th showed DuVernay can certainly command the genre.

I’m guessing she gives us the answer with a telling line of dialog: “Real people, real things.”

The main character, Isabel Wilkerson, is a real, extraordinary person, and author of the source book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.” And the film works as well as it does because of how well DuVernay unveils both the results of Wilkerson’s work and the personal journey that made it possible.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s tremendous turn as Wilkerson doesn’t hurt, either.

We first meet Wilkerson shortly after the news of Trayvon Martin’s murder first breaks. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist is looking to take some time off to care for her elderly mother, but her colleagues (Blair Underwood, Vera Farmiga) are hoping she can address the issue in print.

Even Wilkerson’s husband Brett (a wonderful Jon Bernthal) thinks she’s happier working, but Isabel is hesitant.

“I don’t write questions, I write answers,” she explains. And Isabel finds many lingering questions in the Martin murder, the Charlottesville tragedy, and the increasing drumbeat of fascism in America. Her mind is restless, because while racism is a symptom, using it as “a primary language to understand everything isn’t sufficient.”

But as Isabel suffers heartache and loss in her personal life, she researches history in Germany, India, and America’s Deep South to find the connective tissue she sought – caste systems perpetuated through unending violence until they’re accepted as the natural order.

DuVernay utilizes Wilkerson’s classroom presentations, conversations with her cousin Marion (Niecy Nash, terrific) and fact-finding interviews as sufficiently organic vehicles for flashback. The history lessons are rife with discovery and heartbreak, and compelling enough to keep a firm grip on your attention.

There are flashbacks to Isabel’s personal history as well, including a look at her relationship with Brett that is tender, funny and poignant, buoyed by the sweet chemistry between Ellis-Taylor and Bernthal.

And though the third act can get especially lecture heavy, the material works as a narrative whole because DuVernay finds her own layer of tissue that connects us to both the real people and the real things.

The cycle of trauma -be it personal or systemic – can only be broken by confronting it. Origin confronts it with questions and answers, humanity and inhumanity, in ways compelling enough to change the very way we look at the world around us.

Honey Don’t

The Beekeeper

by George Wolf

About two-thirds of the way through The Beekeeper, director David Ayer and star Jason Statham hit us with the film’s highlight. It’s an elevator sequence that takes an unexpectedly gory turn, then adds a clever surprise for the finishing touch.

If only the rest of the film could be this interesting.

Statham is playing his usual one man killing machine, this time named Adam Clay. He’s living a quiet and reclusive life as a beekeeper in rural Massachsetts, until a cybercrime firm scams Clay’s only friend (Phylicia Rashad) so badly she kills herself.

Clay takes very explosive, very lethal revenge.

But the phishing firm’s CEO Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson in hipster douchebag mode) has friends is high places, including a former CIA director (Jeremy Irons, classing up the joint). Danforth wants Clay taken out, but he soon learns that will not be so easy.

See, Clay is more than a beekeeper, he’s a former beekeeper, an elite group of enforcers who are outside the chain of command and charged only with “protecting the hive when the system is out of balance.”

Bad news for anyone standing between Clay and the scale-tipping Danforth.

Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Expend4bles, the Point Break and Total Recall reboots) rolls out a script that feels like a discarded idea from Denzel’s first Equalizer film. Each step closer to “the head of the snake” gets more ridiculous, all presented with a bone dry seriousness from Ayer (Fury, Suicide Squad) and Statham that screams for a little self awareness.

Instead, The Beekeeper keeps pushing toward its own misguided goal of sermonizing about corruption while celebrating vigilante vengeance. Where it lands – elevator ride aside – is strictly in plug-and-play Statham territory, another ironic reminder of why his comedic turn in Spy was such a joyous bullseye.

Survive and Advance

Society of the Snow

by George Wolf

2012’s The Impossible proved director J.A. Bayona could recreate a real life disaster with heart-racing precision, and then mine the intimate aftermath to find a touching depth.

Since then, he’s had his big screen mind on monsters, with results both miraculous (A Monster Calls) and mixed (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom). Now, Netflix’s Society of the Snow finds Bayona back in the true adventure business.

And his business in Society of the Snow is heartbreakingly, thrillingly, unbelievably good.

It’s the latest account of the 1972 Andes flight disaster, a legendary ordeal that has been detailed in several books and films over the last five decades plus. Bayona read Pablo Vierci’s “La Sociedad de la Nieve” while researching The Impossible, bought the rights soon after, and now teams with co-writers Bernat Vilaplana and Jaime Marques for a harrowing and fittingly reverent treatment.

Following Vierci’s lead, Bayona makes sure we get to know many of the members of the ill-fated Uruguayan rugby team, who were on their way to a long weekend in Chili when their plane – carrying 40 passengers and 5 crew members – went down among the snowy peaks.

After an introduction that endears the young men to us via enthusiastic friendship and youthful naïveté, Bayona pulls us into the crash experience with a spectacular, terrifying set piece almost guaranteed to whiten your knuckles and quicken your pulse.

It’s a stunner, as it should be, because it anchors the film in a survival mode that will be tested beyond what most people could ever imagine.

The ensemble cast, filled mainly with newcomers, is deeply affecting. The survivors will be pushed to their physical, moral and spiritual breaking points, and these young actors make sure not one exhausting second of it feels false.

Bayona and cinematographer Pedro Lugue present the Andes as a beautiful monster in its own right, capable of majesty and menace in equal measure. The smaller you feel, the better, so experience this one on the biggest screen you can find.

Forget what you know. Even if you’re aware of what these people went through, Society of the Snow will reframe the tale with a deeper level of humanity and courage. And should this legend be new to you, resist the urge to research until after you’ve seen Bayona’s take.

It’s one unforgettable journey.

2023 COFCA Nominations

Nominees for the 22nd annual Columbus Film Critics Association awards 

(Columbus, December 31, 2023) The Columbus Film Critics Association is pleased to announce the nominees for its 22nd annual awards. Winners will be announced on the evening of January 4th, 2024.

Founded in 2002, the Columbus Film Critics Association is comprised of film critics based in Columbus, Ohio and its surrounding areas. Its membership consists of 28 print, radio, television, and online critics. COFCA’s official website at www.cofca.org contains links to member reviews and past award winners.  

The 2023 Columbus Film Critics Association awards nominees are:

Best Film 

American Fiction

Barbie

Godzilla Minus One (Gojira -1.0)

The Holdovers

The Iron Claw

Killers of the Flower Moon

May December

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The Zone of Interest

Best Director 

-Greta Gerwig, Barbie

-Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

-Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

-Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

-Celine Song, Past Lives

Best Lead Performance

-Bradley Cooper, Maestro

-Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon

-Colman Domingo, Rustin

-Zac Efron, The Iron Claw

-Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

-Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

-Greta Lee, Past Lives

-Carey Mulligan, Maestro

-Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

-Margot Robbie, Barbie

-Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

-Emma Stone, Poor Things

-Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Best Supporting Performance 

-Penélope Cruz, Ferrari

-Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

-Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer

-Jodie Foster, Nyad

-Ryan Gosling, Barbie

-Glenn Howerton, Blackberry

-Charles Melton, May December

-Julianne Moore, May December

-Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

-Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

-Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

Best Ensemble 

Asteroid City

Barbie

The Color Purple

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work) 

-Willem Dafoe, Asteroid City, The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka), Inside, and Poor Things

-Matt Damon, Air and Oppenheimer

-Colman Domingo, The Color Purple, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, Rustin, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

-Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute) and The Zone of Interest

-Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction, Asteroid City, and Rustin

Breakthrough Film Artist 

-Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon – (for acting)

-Cord Jefferson, American Fiction – (for directing and screenwriting)

-Charles Melton, May December – (for acting)

-Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers – (for acting)

-Celine Song, Past Lives – (for directing and screenwriting)

Best Cinematography 

-Matthew Libatique, Maestro

-Rodrigo Prieto, Barbie

-Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon

-Robbie Ryan, Poor Things

-Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Best Film Editing

-Michael Andrews, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

-Kirk Baxter, The Killer

-Nick Houy, Barbie

-Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer

-Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Poor Things

-Thelma Schoonmaker, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Adapted Screenplay

-Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

-Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

-Tony McNamara, Poor Things

-Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

-Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Original Screenplay

-Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Asteroid City

-Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik, May December

-Sean Durkin, The Iron Claw

-Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie

-David Hemingson, The Holdovers

-Celine Song, Past Lives

-Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute)

Best Score 

-Jerskin Fendrix, Poor Things

-Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

-Laura Karpman, American Fiction

-Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon

-Naoki Satô, Godzilla Minus One (Gojira -1.0)

Best Documentary 

20 Days in Mariupol

32 Sounds

American Symphony

Anselm (Anselm – Das Rauschen der Zeit)

Kokomo City

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Foreign Language Film 

Afire (Roter Himmel)

Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute)

The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka)

Godzilla Minus One (Gojira -1.0)

Perfect Days

The Zone of Interest

Best Animated Film 

The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa dô ikiru ka)

Elemental

Nimona

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Frank Gabrenya Award for Best Comedy

American Fiction

Asteroid City

Barbie

Bottoms

The Holdovers

No Hard Feelings

You Hurt My Feelings

Best Overlooked Film 

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Blackberry

Rye Lane

Showing Up

Theater Camp

You Hurt My Feelings

COFCA offers its congratulations to the nominees.

Previous Best Film winners:

2002:  Punch-Drunk Love

2003:  Lost in Translation

2004:  Million Dollar Baby

2005:  A History of Violence

2006:  Children of Men

2007:  No Country for Old Men

2008:  WALL·E

2009:  Up in the Air

2010:  Inception

2011Drive

2012Moonrise Kingdom

2013:  Gravity

2014Selma

2015Spotlight

2016La La Land

2017Lady Bird

2018If Beale Street Could Talk

2019Parasite (Gisaengchung)

2020Promising Young Woman

2021The Power of the Dog

2022The Banshees of Inisherin

For more information about the Columbus Film Critics Association, please visit www.cofca.org or e-mail info@cofca.org

The complete list of members and their affiliations: 

Richard Ades (Columbus Free Press); Dwayne Bailey (Bailey’s Buzz); Adam Barney (The Film Coterie); Sam Brady (I Am Sam Reviews); Logan Burd (Cinema or Cine-meh?); Kevin Carr (www.FatGuysattheMovies.com, Westwood One); Michael Cavender (cinedump.com, pophorror.com); Bill Clark (www.fromthebalcony.com); Olie Coen (Archer Avenue, DVD Talk); John DeSando (90.5 WCBE); Johnny DiLoretto (90.5 WCBE, PencilStorm.com); Chris Feil (FilmMixTape.com, TheFilmExperience.net); Mark Jackson (MovieManJackson.com, ThatMomentIn.com); Brad Keefe (freelance); Kristin Dreyer Kramer (NightsAndWeekends.com, 90.5 WCBE); Adam Kuhn (Corndog Chats); Roger Legg (The Film Coterie, Faith and Film); Hope Madden (Columbus Underground, WTTE-TV, MaddWolf.com); Paul Markoff (Filmbound); Denny O’Leary (Columbus Free Press); Lori Pearson (Kids-in-Mind.com, critics.com); Mark Pfeiffer (Filmbound, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema); Melissa Starker (Freelance); Brandon Thomas (MaddWolf.com); Rachel Willis (MaddWolf.com); George Wolf (Columbus Underground, WTTE-TV, MaddWolf.com); Jason Zingale (Bullz-Eye.com); Nathan Zoebl (NathanZoebl.com, Psycho Drive-In).