Welcome to my Film Critiques Page! This is where you will find all the critiques from the Featured Film Blog of the month! It is organized in a film poster Table of Contents so you can scroll down for the film critique your looking for easily!
MARCH 2022:
OSCAR TROUBLES…
The 94th Annual Academy Awards returned on Sunday night to the Dolby Theater after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, and there were shocking moments as Presenters handed out the Oscars, and one shocking disappointment for some viewers of the ABC Telecast came later in the show. And I’m not talking about Will Smith’s slap. I am talking about Belfast winning for “Best Original Screenplay” for Kenneth Branagh’s script written from his own experience growing up in Belfast during the tumultuous late 1960’s when ‘The Troubles’ began.
AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…
Elliot Page, Jennifer Garner and J.K. Simmons from the cast of the 2007 film “Juno” reunited to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the film’s release and present the “Best Original Screenplay” category at the Oscars. Juno won at the Oscars in the same category. The Nominated Films in the category were: Belfast, Don’t Look Up, King Richard, Licorice Pizza and The Worst Person in the World. The winner was Kenneth Branagh for his autobiographical screenplay about coming of age at the start of the Northern Ireland Conflict that lasted 30 years. It is often referred to as ‘The Troubles’ by Ireland. Previous winners in this category include Orson Welles co-win for Citizen Kane, Francis Ford Coppola co-win for Patton, Jane Campion for The Piano, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting, and Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained. Included from his acceptance speech is the quote below:
“This story is the search for joy and hope in the face of violence and loss, we lost some people along the way: Johnny Sessions, [star Jamie Dornan’s father] Jim Dornan, Leah Newman. We miss them; we love them; we will never forget them. And we will never forget all of those lost in the heartbreaking, heartwarming, human story of that amazing city of Belfast on the fabulous island of Ireland.”
– Kenneth Branagh
TWITTER TALKS OF IRISH PIZZA….
Some Twitter viewers were disappointed that the Irish movie took home the Oscar instead of one of the other nominated films. Even though Belfast took home the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for “Best Screenplay” this year, Don’t Look Up was the winner at the Writer’s Guild Awards, while Licorice Pizza picked up the winning trophy across the pond at the BAFTA Awards in England. This made the category a difficult one to predict among viewers and journalists within the industry that look to make predictions prior to the ceremony.
But most viewers thought Don’t Look Up or Licorice Pizza would take home the award and felt either one deserved it. However, when Kenneth Branagh was announced as the winner on Sunday night Twitter immediately had responses to the win. Most were disappointed in Paul Thomas Anderson not winning feeling he was due for a screenplay win with previous nominations in the category for his such films as: Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and There Will Be Blood. Some viewers felt baffled that it would go to Belfast over Licorice Pizza. Some Twitter viewers may be too young to remember Kenneth Branagh’s own long nomination history without winning the Oscar within the Academy.
A DECORATED IRISHMAN…
Kenneth Branagh had been nominated eight times when receiving his statue for Belfast. Branagh received his first nominations for “Best Actor” and “Best Director” in 1990 for the 1989 film Henry V. Belfast received seven nominations including one for “Best Picture”. Paul Thomas Anderson had received nine nominations heading into Sunday Nights ceremony. Their nominations history was evenly stacked going into the ceremony telecast. It was Kenneth or Paul’s award to lose.
Photo Credit: GQ
Some of those viewers felt it was more Paul’s than Kenneth’s due to feeling he was also robbed in 2007 when he received three nominations in major categories for There Will Be Blood. He was nominated for “Best Picture”, “Best Director” and “Best Adapted Screenplay” and went home without winning one of them for the film. It was Marty Scorsese‘s fault. Viewers also thought with the win at the BAFTA Awards a few weeks earlier, it would help the Oscar win possibility and would rectify that 2007 wrong Sunday Night if he won.
THE LAST DUEL OF KEN AND PAUL….
Unfortunately, the voting guild for the BAFTA Awards are England based and don’t always reject the US Film Audience reception and unless the film sweeps the category in all the United States Awards it becomes harder to predict the winner. And even though the Writer’s Guild has in history almost solidified the Oscar win weeks later. With all those added factors, it can become more difficult to make that prediction. Which was the case for the category this year.
There Will Be Blood
All the nominees had picked up an award in a different award show for screenplay running up to the Academy Awards on Sunday. The love was spread evenly among screenplays nominated. There wasn’t a consensus of who could win this year. The voting bodies of the various award shows truly felt the nominated films were all the best this year and couldn’t narrow it down to one film overall. And instead chose to share the wealth.
TWITTER THOUGH THERE WOULD BE BLOOD….
Most viewers just had a feeling it was Paul’s year with his history of nominations. It is possible those fans assumed Kenneth Branagh already had an Oscar. It can seem unbelievable he hasn’t won one yet. Quite often, it is often forgotten when discussing Branagh’s history, it feels like he won due to his abilities in the film industry already, but it’s just us fans feeling he should have won and trying to manifest that destiny. So, the fates of the two directors are connected in more ways than one to make it a steady race between the two leading up to Sunday.
To read some of the comments saying Belfast of all movies won over Licorice Pizza seemed a bit harsh to me. It could be I loved the movie, or it could be I’m Irish. Non the less, I thought to say the movie was boring and not of the same caliber to win is inaccurate.
HOW THE WORLD WATCHES MOVIES….
Films can play a large role in comforting America when she is going through a thing and film viewers often turn to movies to understand the world around them or at least find some way to relate what they are going through to the events they see in the films they choose to watch. Believing that, I then think when making such a statement to the statements of its caliber and being boring, one must compare two similar movies in that regard and I think that Belfast and Licorice Pizza are two completely different movies from plot, substance, to character development.
It doesn’t matter that both films relate in their scripted memories of both directors’ pasts growing up. Belfast heavily relates to world around us currently. We have delt with a lot of tumultuous issues and varying degrees of civil unrest over the last few years here in America and across the globe. And Belfast deals with Kenneth Branagh’s past living through the beginning of ‘The Troubles’ and his family’s choice to leave Belfast and immigrate to England as a result of it. The subject matter is war and civil unrest due to political events and religious differences and the effect it had on one Protestant Family living in Belfast.
Photo Credit: Getty
Photo Credit: Getty
Photo Credit: Getty
One story while the same in sharing of memories is very serious but also very relatable right now. While the other is memories of a teenage experience on a movie set. I would safely bet the voting body for the Oscars took this into account while viewing all the films and voting which screenplay is the best. They are both worthy of their nominations and both great films. It’s the context of the films that set them apart. I think some people need a film like Belfast right now.
They need to see the similarities in their journey to that of someone they turn to when trying to understand that journey. To have Kenneth share memories of what it was like for him being the victim of politics as a way of violence by any means necessary with the added layer of what it’s like for children to experience civil unrest and how they develop from it or despite it is a deeper understanding needed by some film viewers.
I believe it was made in the simplest fashion right down to Branagh’s choice of Black and White rendering was because he was telling a story of war and it requires little color and flashy action to tell it. I think he also told a story that not a lot of people globally are familiar with. If your Irish, you more than likely have a better, more informed understanding of what took place in Belfast than an American who grew up in say, an Italian family. It is a knowledge better understood by the Irish. The Italians do, however, understand the nature of religion being a catalyst to war and civil unrest. There is something those non-Irish viewers and their own unique family history may understand in the story that Branagh tells us through the nine-year-old eyes of Buddy.
Photo Credit: Helena Christensen
U2’S ‘TROUBLED’ CONNECTION…
U2 wrote a whole catalog of music about the 30 years of “The Troubles”. At least one of their most popular charted songs Sunday, Bloody Sunday reflects on one particular civil protest related to the Northern Ireland Conflict but after the events of Belfast. But both detail the ‘The Troubles’. If you’re a fan of U2, then your familiar with their feelings about the conflict that took place in Northern Ireland.
If your someone who doesn’t know a lot about what happened but have lived in America for a while or even just the at least the last five years, you’re probably familiar with some aspects of the experiences detailed in the Focus Features Film in terms of political violence and civil unrest. As someone who studied history, I was informed on it from an educated point of view but also come from an Irish family and have a cultural understanding and connection to the film that differs from other viewers who aren’t Irish.
CRITIQUES GO ON…
Maybe it’s none of that all and they just really preferred Licorice Pizza over Belfast. Which is also within the realm of possibilities. When I decided to critique the reaction of viewers after the win it was because the original film critique I was writing for this paled in comparison to the introspection. It was intriguing to read their reactions and decided to write about it. I felt I could write about reading those reactions, with my loving the film and put that up against how I personally make the decision of deciding what a great film is. The need was felt to defend my Recommendation of Belfast from the perspective that I judged it in when deciding. I honestly feel I wrote a better critique here then what I would have originally posted. But that will ultimately be for you guys reading to decide. I hope you enjoy it!
Kenneth Branagh wins “Best Original Screenplay” (video):