Matt at the Movies: A Thanksgiving Medley
Matt at the Movies: A Thanksgiving Medley
Matt sees three films this week: The Holdovers - 8.0; Saltburn - 9.0; Napoleon - 7.5
Before we get to a wonderful slate of movie reviews this week, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving to relax with loved ones.
After nearly four months, the SAG-AFTRA strike against the four major studios came to an end. SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and the union have stated that the agreement is “valued at over one billion dollars in new wages and benefit plan funding.” New guardrails have been put into play involving the future use of AI, but it seems there are many vagaries as to how the big four will try to incorporate this technology. Films are now going back into production, and while some release dates have shuffled Hollywood is back in business.
The must see list for Oscar’s Best Picture race is shrinking. This week Matt at the Movies checked off Alexander Payne’s wry 70’s nostalgia pic The Holdovers, Emerald Fennell's wicked sophomore release Saltburn, and Ridley Scott’s wonderful mess of a three hour epic Napoleon. That leaves us with the following unseen films still in the running according to various online prognostications:
All of Us Strangers
American Fiction
Ferrari
Leave the World Behind
Maestro
May December
Origin
Poor Things
Zone of Interest
All the films listed above will be coming out over the next two months. May December (Dec 1), Leave the World Behind (Dec 8), and Maestro (Dec 20) will be coming to Netflix over the next few weeks. Zone of Interest is also the leading contender for Best International Feature. Poor Things’ Emma Stone is seen as the frontrunner to pick up her second Best Actress statue while Bradley Cooper holds a slight edge over Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) to bring home best actor for his work as conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.
However, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer still has the most buzz in many major categories, including Best Picture. This seems to be one of the strongest slates of films in recent memory; it may even eclipse 2019’s slate.
With all that said, let’s tackle our first of three reviews of the week.
The Holdovers
In a Nutshell
Set at a small snowy New England boarding school in 1970, we meet an aging world history teacher deep into a bottle of Jim Beam, caustically dissecting students' essays. His beratement has the prose of beautiful poetry from the mouth of writers like David Milch.
Staff and students alike seem to not be able to stand the cranky yet brilliant Mr. Hunham, who earned the nickname “Walleye” from a lazy eye (which only adds to his lore). The headmaster has put him in charge of handling five students who are unable to travel home from Barton Prep over the Christmas holiday. The “holdovers” will spend the break bunking in the school infirmary.
Troubled student Angus Tully, mourning the loss of his father, was supposed to vacation with his mother at St. Kitts, but circumstances have imprisoned him with Mr. Hunham. To make things worse, the other four holdovers are eventually whisked away to a ski resort by a rich parent, except for Angus who cannot reach his mother. He is now left with his teacher and a lonely school cook, Mary, who recently lost her son in the Vietnam War. The three characters are all in varying states of melancholy, grief, and anger due to their current stations in life. Through experiences together at dinner tables, small town gatherings, and even a field trip to Boston we learn about each person’s life struggles. The repartee, particularly between Mr. Hunham and Angus, is both biting and hilarious, while Mary steers the ship to ground them each from killing each other. As more backstory is revealed you realize the movie is about lost potential, handling grief, and how to move forward with life.
Time is money, why should I go?
You get two powerhouse performances from both Paul Giamatti — who seems predetermined to have been born for this role as an overeducated curmudgeon (see Sideways) — and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as a grieving mother reflecting on the loss of her son. She should be a lock for best supporting actress at the Academy this year.
From cinematography to wardrobe to the soundtrack you are transported back to the early 70’s. This is a true period piece straight out of a time capsule. Catch it while you can at the Independent Picture House.
Spill the Tea
Two-time Oscar winning writer/director Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, The Descendants) once again teams with Paul Giamatti, who plays an alcoholic, misanthropic educator.
From the grainy filter over the footage to groovy title card fonts and Cat Stevens humming in the background, we are truly living in 1970. This movie is a vibe to wrap yourself up in like a warm blanket over the holidays. It received first runner up from the people’s choice at the Toronto International Film Festival and will make a big push at the Oscars this year. Similar to other heartfelt films of recent years like The Green Book (2019) and CODA (2022), this may be another example of Hollywood choosing a feel good story over darker themes such as Oppenheimer.
Star of the Show
With all respect to the amazing performances by Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the role of the troubled but highly intelligent third lead went to first time actor Dominic Sessa. Sessa was a student at Deerfield school and had just finished the fall play. His head of school said they’d be filming some scenes on campus for an upcoming movie. Sessa made several auditions and secured the part, which you can read more about here. He is the vehicle through which the story runs through, and he handles it with seeming ease. To go toe to toe with a heavyweight like Giamatti and carry your own weight, let alone steal some scenes, was a delight to view on the screen. Excited to see where his next steps are in the business.
Best Ten-Minute Stretch
When Angus realizes he is not only a holdover but the only student left to spend the rest of the holiday break with Mr. Hunham, he snaps. Giamatti’s character chases him throughout the school — as only a sixty-something out of shape man can — to find him with a dislocated shoulder procured from jumping off a gymnastics springboard to the hardwood gymnasium floor.
They head to the hospital to get it reset and the tense yet hilarious conversations that occur throughout the ordeal show why Payne has won multiple writing Oscars.
Oscar Bait Rating (out of 5)
🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 Best Pic, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay
Matt at the Movies Score
Recommend - 8.0 (a witty and heartfelt movie for the holiday season)
Breakdown
Pieces together the overall “vibe” this movie brings from other releases.
Saltburn
In a Nutshell
Oliver (Barry Keoghan) enters his first year at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2006 as a reserved, booksmart loner who is desperate to branch out of his social circle. Hovering like a gravitational force is the handsome and charming aristocrat classmate Felix (Jacob Elordi), who shines like the north star in Oliver’s eyes.
A seemingly innocent kindness of lending his bike due to a flat serves as a meet cute that opens doors to a completely different way of life for the main character. Felix learns of Oliver’s parents substance abuse problems and his real-life earnest lower-class life intrigues him enough to invite him to stay for summer break at his family's estate, named Saltburn.
Felix’s family is an incredibly eccentric crew including an absent minded professor cliche father, Sir James Catton, played to perfection by Richard E. Grant. Mother Elspeth, played as laissez-faire as possible by Rosamund Pike, is a former hard partying, loving, but distinctively distant mother in the most British way possible. Felix’s sister Venetia seems to be a rudderless vixen that lacks all the charm of her brother. Family friend and classmate Farleigh, who is protective of Felix and wary of Oliver’s intentions, tags along to act as foil in what seems to be a summer charity case ritual by his best friend.
Black tie nightly dinners, laying out in the rural English countryside basking in the summer heat, and copious amounts of alcohol among other vices take up their days. Oliver slowly works his way into the good graces of each of the family members and intends to leach on as long as possible. However a massive themed birthday party put on by the family for Oliver leads to a series of events that throw this summer of aristocratic indulgence for a wild loop. As the movie pushes on and we learn more about our main character. Cracks start to form to make us wonder if this is a case of social climbing or something more sinister.
Time is money, why should I go?
This movie is both visually stunning and off-the-wall insane. Its dialogue oozes dry British wit and cold exchanges. The rapport is both hilarious and telling of how generational wealth infects the dynamics of a family. At one point in the movie the family is in the salon watching Superbad making small quips and you realize there are four academy award nominees engaged in silly conversation. The usage rate of their talents to deliver such a script to real life is an absolute treat to take in.
Spill the Tea
Writer/director Emerald Fennell’s first film, Promising Young Woman, won a best original screenplay Oscar in 2020. You can feel that film's attitude and even plotline themes of someone pretending to be something they are not in this film.
It has also been a banner fall for actor Jacob Elordi, who is most known for his work as an all-around terrible human in HBO’s Euphoria, as well as the love interest in the popular Netflix movie series The Kissing Booth. The tall and handsome Aussie — as well known for his dating history as acting ability — has been able to jump into some more interesting roles as of late. He recently played iconic singer Elvis Presley in Sophia Coppola’s Priscilla and is able to let his natural charm dazzle us as Felix in this film. He seems to be more than a pretty face and it will be exciting to see what he does next.
Star of the Show
Barry Keoghan has had a meteoric rise playing distant and emotionally vulnerable characters with his incredibly unique Hollywood look. He burst onto the scene with his haunting performance in Yorgos Lathimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer in 2017 and has never looked back, scoring films with Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) and Marvel/D.C. comic movies (Eternals & the future Joker of The Batman reboot). His ability to slowly deliver menacing dialogue while keeping a leering gaze is incredibly chilling. He can go from happy go lucky to instantly dark, seemingly sociopathic like no other actor in recent memory.
His work in last year's The Banshees of Inesherin garnered his first Oscar nomination as the dopey but hopeful Dominic. All his aforementioned talents are on display in Saltburn, leaving you both in awe and stunned as he infiltrates this wealthy family one by one.
Best Ten-Minute Stretch
When Oliver arrives at Saltburn he is instantly welcomed by their creepy butler Duncan (played by Paul Rhys, who is also in our third film Napoleon) and is given the lay of the land by Felix. Opulence and eccentricity are laid out by each of the family members and we see how this family cohabitates. It feels half Downton Abbey and half The Addams Family as Oliver begins to read the family dynamics. The montage of care free wealth on display makes for a lovely set up to the devious plans of the main character.
Oscar Bait Rating
🏆 🏆 🏆 Director, Best Actor, Cinematography
Matt at the Movies Score:
Highly Recommend - 9 (social climbers and sociopaths are a guilty pleasure)
Breakdown
Pieces together the overall “vibe” this movie brings from other releases.
Napoleon
In a Nutshell
We pick up during the height of the French Revolution in 1789 as a young gunnery lieutenant, Napoleon Bonaparte, is trying to make a name for himself (If you know your history, he was born a Corsican outsider).
He uses his skill in war and artillery to secure French victories and the capture of Toulon from the British. His early victories seem like a love letter to prove his greatness to his mother Maria. As he gains power and prestige he finds himself wanting the affection and devotion of Josephine, a widow and survivor of the Reign of Terror. Although unable to garner him an heir to the empire, she nonetheless seems to be the main catalyst for his drive and ego to achieve greatness.
As we see his campaigns move toward Egypt, Austria, and Russia during the Napoleonic Wars, his love for the greatness of France and moreover the affection of Josephine cause his ego to push too far. His coalition of enemies defeat him and banish the emperor to the island of Elba off the coast of Italy in 1814.
He makes one last push during the Hundred Days War to usurp the newly installed Bourbon king and vanquish those who have wronged him. You know the rest: his army makes its last stand against the forces of the Duke of Wellington of England, who defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Napoleon is sent to live out his days on the small island of St. Helena where he dies in 1821.
This movie seems like a history lesson mixed in with some erotic and playful moments intertwined with Josephine. We don’t get to see him using his mind to plot, work the French court, and amass the love of his soldiers that he is most famously known for. Anytime we are about to gain greater insight into him as a man, we are whisked away to another campaign so that the sufficient runtime can allow the whole story of his life to be told. It is beautifully shot, visually impeccable, and quite often funny to see the quirks that made a legendary mind work.
However, this film could have been deeper and more sincere if we just dove into a smaller period of time in his life. The recently released Priscilla captured her courtship and short marriage to Elvis Presley, but went deep in their decade plus relationship while leaving out filler. Some clever editing could maybe have helped this film as well. I’m not sure if someone as accomplished and complicated as Napoleon will ever truly be brought to the big screen, but this film's attempt is a worthwhile swing.
Time is money, why should I go?
This is the second large scale film of the year about a “great man” after Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. We cover over thirty years of his life showing his rise to emperor of France and his deep obsessive love for his wife Josephine. These are two greatest themes of the movie and create the most intense as well as hilarious threads of the film. Ridley has never shied from an epic (Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and Exodus: Gods and Kings) and the action sequences are some of the best in his career. The capture of Toulon in 1793, Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, and his defeat at Waterloo in 1815 are breathtaking. The execution of these historically critical moments of military history are alone worth the price of admission. The cheeky and psycho-sexual nature of his relationship to his wife Josephine put a refreshing new lens on the topic with a commanding performance from Vanessa Kirby who serves as Napoleon’s fiery muse throughout his life. For the vast scale and commitment to bringing early 18th century France to life on the screen, this is a must see in the theater.
Spill the Tea
Legendary eighty-five year old filmmaker Ridley Scott has been on tear recently, giving interviews in the lead up to this release. He takes on AI, the current state of film, and biting responses to French critics who have taken umbrage with this film. Say what you want about the film, but Ridley is a breath of fresh air who does not give a shit what the masses think.
Napoleon was shot in only sixty-one days. Scott has a four-hour-plus director's cut that he hopes to release on Apple TV+ in the coming months. Coming in at roughly 2.5 hours, you can see there is still plenty of meat on the bone with long time jumps that focus more on the highlights of his life over the intricacies of his relationships with confidants, his soldiers, and the coalitions that made up his adversaries in early 19th century Europe. Think war scene sizzle reel, and not an introspective character study.
Films have tried to capture the Napoleonic era; War and Peace (1956) and Waterloo (1970) produced middling results. It makes you think that such large scope stories about “great men” need to be a mini-series like HBO’s John Adams to truly understand the scale of their deeds both positive (Napoleonic Code) and negative (three million dead from his campaigns). Complicated historical figures never quite seem to translate to the big screen even in the best of hands.
Star of the Show
Oscar winning actor Joaquin Phoenix teams up with Ridley Scott again in another period piece epic (Gladiator) and does not disappoint. Scott seems to let the circumstances and conflicts of Napoleon’s life come to the dictator in a reactionary way that opens up his performance to wonderful individual moments.
Phoenix uses the disrespect from various envoys who see his character as a low class brute, to embarrassing cheating scandals from his wife Josephine, and the doubt of his advisors to create an underlying air of gravitas from his insecurities that holds throughout the film. He delivers defiant one liners to dignitaries, his wife, and even kings that I found both extremely amusing and often quite silly.
All the while, Phoenix’s Napoleon possesses a strong passion and duty to his country, but even more importantly his wife. If you look through a rolodex of current actors in Hollywood today, I can’t think of another that could tip toe this line of the absurd and powerful in a subdued way like Joaquin Phoenix did in this film.
Best Ten-Minute Stretch
As a young general, Napoleon is given the task to take the port city of Toulon back from the British. The assault on the fort and destruction of the British fleet is mesmerizing as he commands his troops to victory. At the end of the battle, he returns to his horse, hit by a British cannonball. Covered in blood, he reaches into the chest cavity and pulls out the ball that almost killed him. He calmly hands the projectile to his brother and instructs him to send it home to his mother as a token of his victory.
This is Ridley’s version of Napoleon's psyche personified in one scene.
Oscar Bait Rating
🏆 🏆 🏆 Production Design, Best Actor, Best Director
Matt at the Movies Score
Recommend - 7.5 (a brash new take on one of history's most complex figures)