2023 Oscar Nominees (pt. I)

Women Talking

Top Gun: Maverick

Well, dear readers, we’ve arrived at the infamous season that I love to hate. And no, I’m not talking about Spring being sprung. I’m talking about Oscar season—the time of year when every other award show around the world wraps up their congratulations and snubbing, and leads us to the most notable award show of all: the Academy Awards. Like many critics and humans, I do not believe the Oscars are the end-all, be-all for what is worthy of watching and celebrating. There are simply too many movies that are released in a single year, that it is inevitable for our favorite performers and filmmakers and films to be overlooked. Additionally, the voting members of the Academy have a history of belonging to the most privileged and already well-represented-on-screen groups of society (i.e., white, male, and rich.) Last year I dedicated an entire month to reviewing Oscar-nominated films that I had missed, but don’t worry, I will only be spending this week and next week catching up on Oscar-nominated films—because as I progress further into my career as a film critic I (ironically) care less and less about awards season. That being said, this is one of the most random lineups of Best Picture nominees that I have ever seen. You’ve got a war movie, an over-the-top biopic, an over-the-top emotional action-comedy, a deeply personal exploration of a family unit, a chaotic commentary on class, a depressing Colin Ferrell bromance (I’m sorry but now I’m positive that McDonagh movies are not for me), a depressing but surprisingly funny Cate Blanchett affair, a sequel to the movie Avatar(??), and tonight’s two films. Up first is Sarah Polley’s adaptation of Miriam Toews 2018 novel: Women Talking. This is the kind of incendiary film that is shocking to watch unfold, but no more shocking than the real-life events that inspired this story. Toews’ novel describes its story as a “reaction through fiction”, and Sarah Polley’s film describes it as “doomsday, and a call to action”. Women Talking transports us to an isolated, ultraconservative Mennonite colony in an unknown location and point of time, and is centered upon a small but significant gathering of women. Without the word ever being uttered, we learn that every single woman in this colony, from young girls to the elderly, have been raped by the men they coexist with. For years the men have used animal tranquilizer to incapacitate women at night, so that when they awake, bloody and bruised, only then can they react. To add insult to injury, in this highly-religious environment the men have accused the women of being attacked by ghosts, their own anxieties, or perhaps the devil himself. In the wake of the most recent, violent, and foul of their crimes—the raping of a three year old girl—the attackers have been jailed in a nearby city where the rest of the men travel to bail them out. In their absence, a group of women gather together to decide what their own fate will be from here on out. Their collective and respective anger and fear has reached a boiling point and a decision must be made—do they stay and forgive the men (as god prefers or whatever), do they stay and fight, or do they leave? Women Talking is like 12 Angry Men—but with balls. (And with women!) These specific women are not necessarily meant to represent women-kind as a whole, but they are all connected by their harrowing plight for survival—which is something most women, unfortunately, can relate to. It’s hard for me to sum up all of my complex feelings about this complex movie in a singular blog post, because the material is so raw, rich, and realistic it feels irresponsible to oversimplify. Women Talking is exceptionally written. There were several lines in this film’s script that spoke to me, and several instances throughout where I was utterly, physically awestruck. “If god is a vengeful god then he created us in his image”, I mean, hello!?! I won’t lie, there’s not much about this movie that is pleasant or lighthearted, but any semblance of niceness in this movie would just take away from its overwhelming and necessary sense of realism. I didn’t expect to like this movie, in fact, I expected to be bored and/or depressed by it. But I was completely captivated and moved by this movie, and its stunning performances. Women Talking stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Frances McDormand—and Ben Whishaw stars as the one good man in this village who sticks around to write down the minutes of this important meeting. Part of what felt so painful, and so plausible about this movie, were the different reactions and viewpoints of each woman in this story. Some feel anger, or sadness, or resentment, or fear, or numbness, or in the case of the village’s only trans man who was also raped, they refuse to ever speak again. These women cannot even read or write, but generations of suffering and abuse have turned them into stellar fighters, debaters, and caretakers. They are the only people keeping their village going, and yet they are perpetual victims of a world in which they never had any say in. And to watch all of these women come to grips with that fact, was stirring to say the least. I am not religious, but it is still quite easy to imagine this attemptively utopian village separated from the sins of the city could still be susceptible—if not more so—to the whims and demands of men. You could travel to the furthest, most isolated corners of the world, and there will still be handsy, controlling, entitled men. I say that not for dramatic effect, but because the very true story this film is based upon occurred in the remote eastern lowlands of Bolivia—but it could’ve and does happen anywhere. Because boys will be boys. Women Talking is a distressing, disturbing, but entirely necessary film. And, this may be just be my point of view, but as someone who tends to avoid sad cinema, this film moved me in a way that it did not expect. I did not cry, I did not wring my hands, instead I just watched. I watched and I watched and I could not look away. Sarah Polley is not nominated for Best Director, but the way this film was shot and edited was completely captivating and somehow totally unpredictable. It may not shake you in the way that it shook me, but it will certainly grab your attention if you have any soul at all. While Women Talking is a haunting and daunting film to watch, I cannot stress enough how shockingly NOT boring it is. Especially, when compared to the film that I watched next. Now, this next part might lose me some friends, readers, and bros, but I have to speak my truth. I watched Top Gun: Maverick, and I do not have much to say about it. I wouldn’t say that I was bored the entire time, but whenever there weren’t any planes in the sky doing crazy shit, well, I just didn’t care. Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 bro classic Top Gun, and follows Tom Cruise’s character “Maverick” as he teaches a new class of pilots how to be the best top guns they can be. I have never seen the original Top Gun, which might be why my appreciation for its sequel is so low. But I’ve seen the homoerotic beach volleyball sequence and I’ve heard the song “Danger Zone” enough to know that it is a classic among generations of dudes. But even fans of the original say that Maverick is a markedly better film, to which I say “…really? Oh wow.” Listen, I know when I am not the intended audience for a film, therefore there’s no point in me shitting on it, but I did want to say something. So I’ll leave you with my very crudely-written notes that I took throughout this film:

god I don’t know what’s worse: seeing a Tom Cruise credit pop up or seeing a Miles Teller credit pop up

I personally prefer to stay OUT of the danger zone

what’s crazy is that I don’t know what’s happening and I also don’t care 

Tom Cruise is gonna save this flight program by flying super fast? word

so is this man’s name maverick?

Ed Harris is contractually obligated to play a pilot or spaceman 

okay the boredom I expected to feel with Women Talking I’m actually kinda feeling with this

oh and everyone in this bar who is in their twenties and thirties knows all of the words to great balls of fire, great 

Tom Cruise is training them to be better and Miles Teller is stubborn and Glen Powell is like “yeah well your dad is dead”?? lmao

the only part that made me feel anything was the part with Val Kilmer but it feels a bit exploitative? idk…I don’t like when a movie uses someone’s real life ailment or disability to further their fictional story and now Tom Cruise is crying and I’m crying and then they kill Val Kilmer??? what was the point of any of that then…

also maybe I missed it but they didn’t specify who they’re fighting in this movie, I think to avoid being problematic?? but the whole thing is military propaganda so…

Tom Cruise loves to break the rules and I bet that’d be really cool if I knew what the rules were, and if I gave a shit

I can suspend my disbelief and accept that Jennifer Connelly could afford a house AND a sailboat on a bartender’s salary, but I just can’t accept Miles Teller as a leading man, I’m sorry! Even with that mustache, I felt nothing. But Glen Powell and Jay Ellis…? You have my attention, hubba hubba, awooga, etc.