
YARDCG
Joined Jan 2025
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YARDCG's rating
By now, I have seen 8 out of the 10 Oscar Best Picture nominees this year - and I can emphatically say Maria is better than all of those. I wasn't a big fan of Jolie before, and though her performance her is undeniably a powerhouse, I can't say it surprises me that it's apparently not accurate to either Callas or the opera. (At the same time, The Brutalist makes a total joke out of the life of the architect who had inspired it, yet this is apparently not an obstacle to it because they stuck a different name on him.) Still, setting that controversy aside, Maria has SO MANY other merits.
There is the absolutely top-notch set design, with Callas' mansion feeling PHYSICAL in a way films rarely achieve. There is the luscious cinematography, with beautifully framed shots of Callas' walks through Paris. There are the strong performances of supporting characters. There is the entire structure where it chooses to give in to Callas' medicine-addled delusions and strategically dole out moments of her past through this framing. The dry lines of Maria's exhausted servants in the present are well-contrasted with the refined dialogue in her past, with figures like JFK and the notorious magnate Aristotle Onassis. The film even manages to work in the infamous JFK-Monroe affair in a way which feels completely natural.
In all, this film really got robbed by the Academy, deserving far more than just the Best Cinematography nomination it received. In addition to that, it is very much deserving of Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Production Design and Best Sound nominations - far more so than shallow works like A Complete Unknown or The Substance which ended occupying virtually all of those categories.
There is the absolutely top-notch set design, with Callas' mansion feeling PHYSICAL in a way films rarely achieve. There is the luscious cinematography, with beautifully framed shots of Callas' walks through Paris. There are the strong performances of supporting characters. There is the entire structure where it chooses to give in to Callas' medicine-addled delusions and strategically dole out moments of her past through this framing. The dry lines of Maria's exhausted servants in the present are well-contrasted with the refined dialogue in her past, with figures like JFK and the notorious magnate Aristotle Onassis. The film even manages to work in the infamous JFK-Monroe affair in a way which feels completely natural.
In all, this film really got robbed by the Academy, deserving far more than just the Best Cinematography nomination it received. In addition to that, it is very much deserving of Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Production Design and Best Sound nominations - far more so than shallow works like A Complete Unknown or The Substance which ended occupying virtually all of those categories.
This is simply another bright candy wrapper from A24, like far too much of their output. Consequently, you have the crisp, high-definition shots, some interesting scene transitions, consistently annoying and repetitive soundtrack choices with sound mixing insistent on making that music far too loud (curse Nolan for making it "cool" with Interstellar) and a gnawing void at its core.
I think this was MEANT to be a narrative of Kidman's uptight, controlling CEO having her desire for submissiveness unlocked by Dickinson's intern and ultimately reigniting passion for life. The problem here is that she NEVER actually seems in control of ANYTHING. In a performance reminiscent of a similarly trash character from Jurassic World, Kidman's character is basically always apologetic, always giving in to people who are supposedly her inferiors at work after only token protest and unable to exercise any power in her family either. We are meant to believe an underling could just write a CEO into a mentorship program without her knowledge and she would simply shrug and accept, rather than cancelling the thing and kicking the underling out immediately? Her company is meant to be in the business of coldly eliminating countless warehouse jobs through automation; yet she never, ever evidences the cold grip one would have to have to go through with that.
Likewise, Dickinson's character just comes across as a dead-eyed creep to me. It's hilarious that he is simultaneously a former dog trainer, an intern at this high-powered company doing....something (he is literally NEVER shown with any kind of a responsibility) and also a bartender in time outside of the internship (one would think being a certified dog trainer would pay far more than bartending and obviate the need for it, but what do I know?) That he is also able to juggle all that and also not one but multiple relationships without looking dead tired all the time is even funnier. Nothing about his performance makes it convincing how he is able to get away with repeatedly undermining his CEO from the very start - nor what actually makes him so attractive to some three women across the narrative. The way his character is written comes across like textbook PUA wish fulfilment; the fact this thing was directed by a woman might be the strongest evidence ever that some women do find the whole "negging" mess attractive.
Beyond that, the film does grasp at a few other topics (AI! Kidman's husband stage theater! Their elder daughter being an unfaithful lesbian!) but has nothing meaningful to say about any of it. The dialogue in general is remarkably bad, to the point so many conversations are just tiresome. I was bored and hoping for it to be over even before the halfway mark - hardly a good sign for anything, but especially damning for a supposed erotic thriller. It's funny how the most obvious explanation for Dickinson's transparently gaslighting act - that he is simply aiming to sleep his way the top - is not even considered by anyone in the company, and the whole thing chooses to end with a literal whimper.
I think this was MEANT to be a narrative of Kidman's uptight, controlling CEO having her desire for submissiveness unlocked by Dickinson's intern and ultimately reigniting passion for life. The problem here is that she NEVER actually seems in control of ANYTHING. In a performance reminiscent of a similarly trash character from Jurassic World, Kidman's character is basically always apologetic, always giving in to people who are supposedly her inferiors at work after only token protest and unable to exercise any power in her family either. We are meant to believe an underling could just write a CEO into a mentorship program without her knowledge and she would simply shrug and accept, rather than cancelling the thing and kicking the underling out immediately? Her company is meant to be in the business of coldly eliminating countless warehouse jobs through automation; yet she never, ever evidences the cold grip one would have to have to go through with that.
Likewise, Dickinson's character just comes across as a dead-eyed creep to me. It's hilarious that he is simultaneously a former dog trainer, an intern at this high-powered company doing....something (he is literally NEVER shown with any kind of a responsibility) and also a bartender in time outside of the internship (one would think being a certified dog trainer would pay far more than bartending and obviate the need for it, but what do I know?) That he is also able to juggle all that and also not one but multiple relationships without looking dead tired all the time is even funnier. Nothing about his performance makes it convincing how he is able to get away with repeatedly undermining his CEO from the very start - nor what actually makes him so attractive to some three women across the narrative. The way his character is written comes across like textbook PUA wish fulfilment; the fact this thing was directed by a woman might be the strongest evidence ever that some women do find the whole "negging" mess attractive.
Beyond that, the film does grasp at a few other topics (AI! Kidman's husband stage theater! Their elder daughter being an unfaithful lesbian!) but has nothing meaningful to say about any of it. The dialogue in general is remarkably bad, to the point so many conversations are just tiresome. I was bored and hoping for it to be over even before the halfway mark - hardly a good sign for anything, but especially damning for a supposed erotic thriller. It's funny how the most obvious explanation for Dickinson's transparently gaslighting act - that he is simply aiming to sleep his way the top - is not even considered by anyone in the company, and the whole thing chooses to end with a literal whimper.
Major annual celebrations like Christmas and New Year are not just broadly fun times, but are also excuse to pump out trashy comedies in every country large enough to make it viable, so it's no surprise that the same happened this year with Sankranthi - apparently the sun transmigration festival. This is a Telugu-language film (incidentally, the first one I have seen) - and Andhra Pradesh, the heartland of Telugu speakers, also apparently hosts the largest concentration of movie theaters in India, so the market was clearly there.
Let's not mince words - Sankranthiki Vasthunam is the kind of a film I have not seen in a long time - and for good reason.
The kind of film which does not even make ANY attempt at fight scene choreography and either makes "bad guys" run straight into others' weapons or simply edits past the fights to their conclusion.
The kind of a film which films a scene inside an ambulance with what I'm 99% is an obvious "CGI" backdrop in the windows. (And similarly represents gunfire with extremely fake "sparks" in a way I have not seen in forever.)
The kind of a film with unfunny attempts at comedy that go on way too long and recurring gags which miss way more often than they hit.
And the kind of a film which has the main character break the fourth wall and directly lecture at the camera when the script decides it's time to get even remotely serious and deliver a message.
Additionally, it somehow manages the feat of being silly while ALSO unironically venerating police violence - the male lead's forced retirement for "human rights" concerns is portrayed as pure corruption on the part of superiors, yet he is literally shown to kill in ambushes without any chance at a surrender.
Having said that, it does have a few saving graces which prevent me from rating it even lower. While it's never a remotely great comedy, considerably more jokes land in the first half than the second. The first half also has the better songs - while none rise even close to music from last year's Malayalam Premalu in either lyricism or sequence direction, they are fun enough and better than some of the other Indian film songs I've heard.
Last and by no means least, it's refreshing to see a narrative where lovers separated start moving on fairly quickly, with too many far more acclaimed Western films from last year instead making lead characters imprint onto their first significant relationship like ducklings.
In all, there's a foundation of a much better comedy here, but it got buried under scene after scene of self-indulgent tripe.
Let's not mince words - Sankranthiki Vasthunam is the kind of a film I have not seen in a long time - and for good reason.
The kind of film which does not even make ANY attempt at fight scene choreography and either makes "bad guys" run straight into others' weapons or simply edits past the fights to their conclusion.
The kind of a film which films a scene inside an ambulance with what I'm 99% is an obvious "CGI" backdrop in the windows. (And similarly represents gunfire with extremely fake "sparks" in a way I have not seen in forever.)
The kind of a film with unfunny attempts at comedy that go on way too long and recurring gags which miss way more often than they hit.
And the kind of a film which has the main character break the fourth wall and directly lecture at the camera when the script decides it's time to get even remotely serious and deliver a message.
Additionally, it somehow manages the feat of being silly while ALSO unironically venerating police violence - the male lead's forced retirement for "human rights" concerns is portrayed as pure corruption on the part of superiors, yet he is literally shown to kill in ambushes without any chance at a surrender.
Having said that, it does have a few saving graces which prevent me from rating it even lower. While it's never a remotely great comedy, considerably more jokes land in the first half than the second. The first half also has the better songs - while none rise even close to music from last year's Malayalam Premalu in either lyricism or sequence direction, they are fun enough and better than some of the other Indian film songs I've heard.
Last and by no means least, it's refreshing to see a narrative where lovers separated start moving on fairly quickly, with too many far more acclaimed Western films from last year instead making lead characters imprint onto their first significant relationship like ducklings.
In all, there's a foundation of a much better comedy here, but it got buried under scene after scene of self-indulgent tripe.