I was reluctant to watch The Favourite (2018) because I watched The Lobster (2016) last year and couldn't really get into it. Both are black comedies directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. I really enjoyed The Favourite, though. The script's as rich as the mise-en-scène, and the first-rate acting (Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz), queer costumes and make-up, and creative camera angles, including wide fisheye shots, make this crude comedy of manners lots of fun. Another thing remarkable is it was shot using natural light rather than artificial, and this added to the contrast between the historical and the contemporary that the film plays with.
All right, so now I've watched the eight Best Picture nominees for Oscars 2019, and here's how I rate them from best (1) to bottom (7/8).
1. Roma
2. The Favourite
3. Bohemian Rhapsody
4. Black Panther
5. BlacKkKlansman
6. Vice
7/8. A Star Is Born / Green Book
I think all of them are good, but the first two are greats, 3 to 5 are very good, 6 is pretty good, and 7 and 8 are just so-so good. I've already forgotten what happens in A Star Is Born (Lady Gaga sings on a stage?) and I'm not sure how the Best Picture award could go to something as trite as Green Book, or what the film was trying to say (Hey, see here, some white people aren't so bad after all?), but that said, I didn't watch any of the eight and feel like I was wasting my time. I'd probably see only Black Panther a second time, and maybe Roma in a few years. And at some point I'll definitely check out Lanthimos's Dogtooth (2009) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017).
Comments