Fire of Love

Fire of Love is an incredibly sweet and intriguing documentary about a volcanologist couple who devoted their lives to studying volcanic eruptions. It’s established early in the film that Katia and Maurice Krafft were killed in the 1991 volcanic eruption of Mount Unzen in Japan. The majority of what the documentary shows us is from their beautiful volcano footage throughout their careers. 

Like all great couples, there is a balance between them. Katia is quieter, more reflective, studying the geological formations up close and trying to find their mysteries through photography and writing. Maurice is more grandiose, documenting the kinetic movement of eruptions and lava flows through film and out in front of cameras promoting their newest books and documentaries. Maurice is also more of a daredevil, at one point taking a second-hand inflatable dinghy out on an acidic lake to collect samples. Katia anxiously stands on the shore, hoping they make it back before the boat springs a catastrophic leak. 

The information presented on volcanoes is minimal, focusing more on spectacular images captured by the Krafft’s, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. While these images may be older, and found on old film reels, they are stunning. The magnificent views of glowing lava, flowing, spewing and burning are amazing and never made me question the quality of the Kraffts camera. And it is heroic how close the Kraffts were willing to get to these active volcanoes, even donning suits to protect them from projectile rocks and lava that look like something out of a 50s B sci-fi movie. 

For me, the real tragedy of this film is not Maurice and Katia’s death, but the fact that they could not spend more of their time on earth in volcanoes. Towards the middle of the film, we are shown their life when they’re not by volcanoes. The fact that there are still bills to pay by writing books or editing film feels so mundane when you’ve been in the beating heart of an active volcano. It’s tragic to think how we all waste so much time on the humdrum money-making tasks just to survive, when we could be out in the fantastic wilds of nature truly living. 

“Alone they could only dream of volcanoes. Together they can reach them.”

Summer 2022 Movies with my Kid

This summer I’ve been utilizing my one on one time with my older son to take him to movies. Don’t worry, that’s not all we do, it would be a boring summer. We also frequent the parks and go roller skating. He’s had fun going to more movies in the last month than he’s been to in the last two years. He is now vaccinated and willing to wear a mask when the theater is more crowded. Hopefully my younger son will be vaccinated and mature enough to join us next year. Anyway, here are the movies I took my kid to see.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie

We kicked off the summer in bun-tastic style (Get it…cause Bob’s Burgers is all about those puns!) This was my son’s first PG13 movie in a theater and I think we picked a good one. Like the show, the movie is pretty tame in the violence, sex and language department, so great to take an 8 year old with you. Also like the show, most of the dirty jokes fly right over a kid’s head. The movie itself was fine, the plot was a little recycled from old seasons, but didn’t feel flat it the moment. The one thing that really separates the movie from the show is the choreography. I did not expect so much dancing (of course I expected the singing!) and it did not disappoint. I would love to see footage of what the animators were basing these dance scenes off of, especially the scene in the weird little carnie neighborhood.  3 1/2 out of 5 burgers. Could’ve used more of Tina’s signature awkwardness and sexy zombies. 

Jurassic World Dominion

So when I was eight years old Jurassic Park came out to theaters. I was dying to see it, but my parents thought it would be too scary for me. Honestly, 8 year old me might have flipped out and panicked in the theater during the first t-rex attack, but I still hold a grudge to this day about the injustice of not seeing Jurassic Park in theaters as a child. Anway, here I am nearly 30 years later taking my own 8 year old kid to see Jurassic World Dominion. 

To be critical, JWD was not great. A lot of scenes seemed clunky or unnecessary. At times the dinos looked very fake. Other times Chris Pratt had the range and charisma of a chipped triceratops toenail. However, at times it just felt like Jurassic Park fan fiction put on the big screen and the JP loving dork in me ate that shit up. There were a few terrifyingly enjoyable dino-attack scenes, and I was proud to see my son not afraid of them. If anything scared him, it was those giant locust swarms. Honestly, they kinda freaked me out too. 

Jurassic World Dominion may not be great, but it was a real treat to take my kid to a big dinosaur movie while he’s still young enough to be into it.

Lightyear

Next, we traveled to infinity and beyond with Pixar’s newest film, Lightyear. This week, his father had the day off as well, so it was his first movie out with his father too since Toy Story 4. Besides embarrassing the poor boy as he tripped over people’s legs in the theater, I think it was a successful mission. 

Now honestly, I was a probably more excited to see Lightyear than most moms hitting the theater with their kids. Buzz has easily become my favorite Disney character, so to give him an origin story, a new voice and hair… I was eager but so afraid to be let down. I was not disappointed. Confused at times, my suspension of disbelief hanging my a thread at one point, but not disappointed. Honestly, my fan theory since trailers came out was that Zurg was powered by BuyNLarge and we’d somehow get tied into the WALL-E universe. Spoiler alert, I was wrong. But it was still fun. 

Thor: Love and Thunder

After taking a few weeks away from the movies, we took the kid to see his first big Marvel movie in theaters, Thor: Love and Thunder. There were some moments that I worried might be a little too scary for him (Christian Bale made a very creepy Marvel villain), but he reassured me it was not scary for him at all. We especially loved the moment when all the kids help fight, Thor style. When he got home he made himself a Mjolnir out of paper (he’s very into origami at the moment) and said it was the best movie he’s ever seen! 

Oscar Predictions 2021

Happy Oscar weekend, everyone! Congrats on making it through another harrowing year. I’m so happy to go back to the movie theaters, even if I still wear a mask during the show (except when shoveling popcorn into my mouth).  

Let’s start off with a little game I like to play every year and narrow down the Best Picture nominees to a top five. I believe this year those top five would be…

CODA, The Power of the Dog, Belfast, Westside Story and Nightmare Alley

Anyway, thanks for indulging me. Onto my official Oscar night predictions:

Lead Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch or Will Smith seem tied. I would not mind Andrew Garfield winning, but he seems unlikely. Will Smith for the win.

Lead Actress: Wait, how have I only seen one of these movies? Are movies with brilliant leading women not worthy of Best Picture or something? Ugh, I respectfully pass.

Supporting Actor: I’d love to see Troy Kotsur take this, but he seems like a longshot. 

Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst. Nuf said. 

Director: I would love to see Jane Campion win this, but as long as it’s not Paul Thomas Anderson I’ll be ok.

Original Screenplay: Belfast

Adapted Screenplay: CODA

Cinematography: All of the nominees are beautifully filmed in their own spectacular fashion, it’s hard to pick a winner. My dark side wants Nightmare Alley, but I’m guessing the Academy will pick The Power of the Dog here.

Film Editing: I think King Richard excels here. 

Production Design: I think Dune is destined to win this one, even over my beloved Nightmare Alley.

Costume Design: My black little Disney heart would love to see Cruella take this, but I think it will go to Dune. 

Best Sound: West Side Story

Makeup and Hairstyling: I didn’t see all of these….so why not Cruella. 

Original Score: I think Hans Zimmer is well overdue for another win. Dune. 

Original Song: As much as I’d like to see Lin Manuel Miranda EGOT, I think they chose the wrong song to submit. They would have won with We Don’t Talk About Bruno. Belfast and Van Morrison for the win. 

Visual Effects: I was honestly very impressed with Shang Chi’s effects, so I say they’ll upset Dune here.

Documentary Feature: Flee

Animated Feature: I will lose my f*cking shit if The Mitchells vs the Machines loses this one! I wish it were up for best picture. Anyway, Disney is playing it too safe lately and needs to up their game when we’ve got amazing, fun and visually creative movies like this. 

International Feature Film: I think Drive My Car is pretty much a given here.

Best Picture: I really didn’t care which movie won this, until I saw CODA. Now I will be crushed if anything else wins. I want just a simple, sweet, heartwarming story about ordinary people to win. Is that so hard? But honestly, as long as it’s not Dune or Licorice Pizza I’ll get over it. CODA for the big win!

CODA

The title CODA is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults. The film follows Ruby (Emilia Jones) as she navigates her senior year of high school. She wakes up before dawn to help her dad and brother on their fishing boat, being the only one that can hear the radio. She often falls asleep in class and she joins the school choir, possibly because a certain boy signs up for it too. After stumbling to find her confidence in choir, her teacher, Mr. V (Eugenio Derbez) discovers that Ruby has a natural talent for singing and offers to coach her in hopes of getting into Berklee school of music. Ruby struggles to juggle her music rehearsals with her family needing her. 

I love the mother-daughter relationship shown in this film. Ruby’s mother, Jackie (Marlee Matlin) asks “If I been blind would you want to paint?” She wonders if this love of music is just a form of teenage rebellion. Later she also confesses that she hoped Ruby would be deaf as well, so that they could be closer. This is a very heartfelt and sweet conversation where she tells her daughter that she was afraid being deaf would make her a bad mom. 

Ruby is often put in awkward, embarrassing and hilarious situations being the only hearing person in her family. Her father, Frank (Troy Kotsur), blasts music when he picks her up from school, saying “I love rap music, my whole ass is vibrating.” In an early scene we see Ruby interpreting her father’s sign language to a doctor. Her father vigorously signs the symptoms of his jock itch, Ruby tones it down for the doctor, clearly embarrassed. Later in the film, she and the boy are practicing their duet, only to be interrupted by the sound of Ruby’s parents having sex, clearly unaware of how loud they are. 

While this film has very funny moments, the reality about the family’s situation is often tender. Ruby confesses that children used to make fun of how she talked when she was younger, a wound that stifles her confidence in choir, but I love the way Mr. V uses this information to help Ruby. At times the family seems to use Ruby as a crutch, relying on her too much. They expect her to be the interpreter for an interview with the local news, causing her to miss rehearsal and wearing Mr. V’s patience thin. And the one time Ruby isn’t on the fishing boat is when her father and brother needed a hearing person the most. 

At it’s heart, CODA is about a family navigating two worlds at once. Ruby loves music and would be a fool not to try to get into Berkely. But she has never done anything without her family and fears leaving them could be detrimental. The moment during the choir performance where we see everything from Frank’s perspective, no sound, but seeing how everyone around him is moved by his daughter’s singing is eye opening and beautiful. He realizes just how special his daughter’s musical ability is and that moment in the truck where he feels Ruby singing moved me to tears. Later, Ruby signing as she sings was absolutely beautiful.

CODA is nominated for only three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and adapted screenplay. Troy Kotsur is nominated for supporting actor in his wonderful role as Ruby’s father. I would love to see him win, I’m sure he would sign a wonderful acceptance speech. I’m personally saddened that Sian Heder was not nominated for director. I think the tone and her vision for this wonderful film should be acknowledged. 

I love that films have become so much more inclusive, telling stories of women, people of color, the disabled and other minorities. Between last year’s Sound of Metal and now CODA I hope to see more great movies about the deaf community, it will only help the world to be inclusive and understanding. I sometimes worry that stories about normal, working class people with disabilities leading ordinary lives are often overlooked and maybe that is what makes CODA so extraordinary. 

“Let them figure out how to deal with deaf people. We’re not helpless”

Dune

Let me start off describing my personal experience watching Dune. My husband came home from a business trip where he watched Dune on his phone on a plane and was raving about how great it was. First, I condemned him for watching it on his phone, I’m sure Denis Villeneuve’s vision cannot be properly appreciated on a four inch screen and with turbulence. Second, my husband insisted we watch that film together that night, after a full day with the kids and our youngest fighting bedtime. We didn’t start the film until after 9 pm. I promptly fell asleep, chalked it up to a long day and promised to give it a good try the next evening. I fell asleep again the next evening. On the third evening I finally stayed awake for the film and while I found the visuals very cool, overall I was unimpressed. Fast forward to Oscar season and I knew I needed to give Dune a fair watch all in one sitting. Knowing my record, I armed myself with coffee, a sweet snack and watched it in the middle of the afternoon. I still fell asleep about three quarters in, while the dragonfly-helicopter was about to crash! However, I got a better understanding and appreciation of this film. But I do wonder, did anyone else have a similar narcoleptic response to Dune?

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is based on the sci-fi classic novel by Frank Herbert. It’s partially a tale of imperialism where people want to control the planet Arrakis so they can harvest spice on the desert planet. Spice is like fuel and makes space travel possible. Then there are ideas of destiny and inheriting power. Paul (Timothée Chalamet) has two birthrights to earn. His father (Oscar Isaac) is Duke of House Atreides, ruler of Caladan, and his mother (Rebecca Ferguson) is part of a mystical sisterhood. Through his father he’ll gain traditional, political power. Through his mother he is learning The Voice, an otherworldly power. And on his own, Paul must grapple with his visions and gain the trust of the Fremen, if he is to survive in the wild desert.  

The out of this world style and visual effects are where Dune excels. I loved the array of costumes from sleek uniforms, tactical military gear, bulbous helmets, mysterious cloaks and wind-whipped flowing gowns. While the space ships are not in the forefront of this sci-fi film, they make an impact. They are colossal, often a mix of organic and futuristic. Watching these massive monolithic ships emerge from the water is impressive. And I especially liked the dragonfly-like helicopters. 

Dune is currently nominated for an impressive ten Academy Awards including Best Picture, visual effects, sound, film editing, production design, cinematography, screenplay, costume design, and makeup and hairstyling. And Hans Zimmer is nominated for his hypnotic original score, his twelfth nomination.  

I want to apologise for falling asleep so many times while trying to appreciate this film. Perhaps it’s the subdued cinematography, everything is earth tones and not very bright. Maybe it’s the ethereal music, it can be very zen and relaxing. Perhaps I’m just not the target audience for Dune, I’ve never read the book and simply did not get into the story. However I did love the stunning visuals and I would bet money on Hans Zimmer winning an Oscar for his brilliant score. 

“An animal caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg to escape. What will you do?”

Belfast

The opening scene in Belfast shows a peaceful neighborhood suddenly erupt into violence. Nine year old Buddy (Jude Hill) is playing down the street, pretending to be a knight, armed with a trash can lid and a wooden sword. As he runs home for tea time, his friendly neighbors call out to him. Then he sees a swarm of angry men turn down his street. Stunned, the boy just stands in the street as chaos happens all around him until his mother drags him inside their home. Inside, he and his older brother take cover under the kitchen table. The boys can see the violence from their front window, as a car explodes right in front of their home. This sets the tone of innocence among violence in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. 

After the initial attack, life continues in the once quiet Irish neighborhood. A check point is established down the street, complete with sandbags, barricades and armed men. Buddy and the children still walk to school. And Buddy’s father (Jamie Dornan) still leaves for weeks at a time for work, often in London. Buddy’s mother (Caitriona Balfe) is left alone to guide her boys through the turbulent times, not an easy task, especially with a few bad influences in the neighborhood. Eventually, the family must ask themselves whether or not to leave Belfast, the only home they’ve ever known. 

Prevalent in Buddy’s life are his grandparents, Granny (Judi Dench) and Pop (Ciarán Hinds). The grandparents are a wonderful, slightly cantankerous couple offering wisdom to their grandson and making the audience laugh and cry. They make such a lovely impact in the family’s life that it makes the thought of leaving Belfast unbearable. And they make such a strong impact in the film that both Dench and Hinds earned supporting actor Oscar nominations. 

One of my favorite scenes in Belfast takes place in a movie theater. The whole family, Granny included, goes out to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It’s so sweet and wholesome to see them all lean forward as the flying car takes its first dive off a cliff and then see them singing along together with the movie. It’s a fun and safe escape from all the violence in the streets, grandpa’s fading health and all the turbulence in their lives. 

Belfast is currently nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, sound, and original screenplay. Down to Joy by Van Morrison is nominated for original song. Kenneth Branagh is nominated for best director, his second nomination in this category. And as I said previously, Dench and Hinds are both nominated for their supporting roles as the grandparents. I seriously doubt this film will leave empty handed. 

Belfast is a beautiful, stirring movie filmed in glorious black and white. It’s Kenneth Branagh’s most personal film, depicting his own time as a child in Belfast. This being such a personal story brings out the innocence, family ties and simple, wholesome heart of this story to the forefront over the turbulence. 

“-Be good. And if you can’t be good… –Be careful!”

Licorice Pizza

In the opening scene of Licorice Pizza it’s school picture day in the 1970s and we watch a fifteen year old boy pursue the photographer’s assistant, a twenty-five year old woman. The boy, Gary (Cooper Hoffman) is persistent, confident and packs a punch of charisma with his baby fat. And the woman, Alana (Alana Haim) is pretty but something about her lacks that confidence and charisma. Perhaps she’s charmed or surprised a boy like this would take interest in her. Anyway, this begins their whirlwind relationship as they jump from one enterprise and misadventure to the next around the San Fernando Valley. 

The two leads, Hoffman and Haim, make their feature debut in this film and lead with excellence. Hoffman is the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. We can see the resemblance in his face and he can captivate and hold an audience like his father. This film shows he has a strong presence and great comedic timing. I think time will tell if he has his father’s range as well. Haim is the youngest member of her family’s indie rock band Paul Thomas Anderson has made music videos with. Here Haim shows she’s ready to be a movie star and even holds her own in scenes with Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper (who steals the show for a while). 

In fact, the scenes featuring Bradley Cooper as Jon Peters are some of the best and funniest in the film. He is so intense, getting in Cooper’s face and threatening him in the most absurd ways all while wearing that iconic white jumpsuit. And then, as the gang is making their getway, they find him out of gas on the side of the road, so he hops in the truck, right between Gary and Alana, hitting on Alana the whole time. His moment at the gas station is the best, just climbing up and taking the gas nozzle out of a man’s hand.

Licorice Pizza is nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Paul Thomas Anderson is nominated for his directing and original screenplay. This is his third directing nomination, his fifth for a screenplay. 

While we expect this film to be all about Gary, it’s Alana who springs forward in the end. We watch her as she rides Gary’s coat tails for a while, trying to match his energy and figure out where she fits in with his group of friends. It’s awkward to see Alana as Gary’s bikini clad model as he tries to sell waterbeds. Her attempt at becoming an actress goes no further than her being arm candy to Jack Holden (Sean Penn in a hilarious William Holden-type character). And her moment of political activism is distilled down to being a beard for a closeted candidate. And she’s a pro driving that truck up and down those suburban hills. In many ways, Alana’s story arc is what it’s like to be a young, pretty woman in the world, especially in LA. 

“There’s no gas-o in the goddamn car-o, Steve-o!”

King Richard

There is no denying that Venus and Serena Williams are two of the greatest tennis players of all time, but how did two little girls from Compton rise to such greatness? In King Richard, we see that the answer lies in their family, their attitudes, and especially their father, Richard. 

Played by Will Smith, Richard Williams is a father first and a coach second. At first glance, he looks like the most embarrassing dad to ever walk down a Compton sidewalk in his short shorts and his relentlessly positive can-do attitude. He works nights and then pours his time into training his daughters, rain or shine, on the run-down tennis courts in their neighborhood. He protects his daughters from the gangs and older boys checking them out, even suffering a few brutal beatings from the gangs. Richard records video on their early 90s camcorder of Venus and Serena in hopes of getting the girls a professional coach. Even when he does get the girls a coach, Richard makes sure he is in charge and puts his girls happiness first, often to the dismay of the coach. And as Venus and Serena gain more attention, Richard protects his daughters in any way he can. One of my favorite moments is when Richard stops an interview, just naturally swoops in and unapologetically ends it, not to embarrass his daughter but to protect her. 

The one thing that really sticks with me after seeing King Richard is how the Williams family is always positive. I cannot recall a single negative word spoken within the family and this is such a stark comparison when we see little white girls at competitions throwing down their rackets saying, “I suck!” While training, at competitions or in their little home, where the four girls share one room, the family regards each other with only warm words and there is never an absence of positive affirmations. Even though they could be rivals we never see the daughters fight, and that is refreshing. Even when the parents found out that young Serena had secretly signed herself up to compete and I was sure that girl was in trouble, her parents were right there to support her, encouraging her to finish what she started and have fun. 

The film does not let us forget that the Williams family is at a disadvantage for simply being black. At tennis competitions at swanky country clubs, the Williams family sticks out like sore thumbs and they know it. At one point Richard tells his family, “Can’t be the only black people here and be late!” When a girl tries to cheat in a tennis match against Venus, the family does not call it out, but simply rises above it, calling it “a little adversity.” And the relentlessly positive Richard even tells the girls who lose to his daughters to be proud of themselves, 

King Richard is nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, film editing, original screenplay and best original song (Be Alive by Beyoncé). Will Smith is nominated for best lead actor for his portrayal of Richard. And Aunjanue Ellis has earned her first Oscar nomination in her supporting role as Oracene ‘Brandy’ Williams.

King Richard is one of those inspirational sports films that you want to show to kids. Some might look at Richard’s extreme training for his girls as too much, but the results don’t lie. Venus and Serena are amazing athletes and wonderful role models. It’s great to help encourage a budding athlete to see two young black girls from a rough neighborhood excel beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Except these dreams weren’t wild, they were just Richard’s dreams. And he makes us all proud of his daughters. 

“The most strongest, the most powerful, the most dangerous creature on this whole earth is a woman who knows how to think. Ain’t nothing she can’t do.”

Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car opens by showing us intimate, peaceful moments between Yûsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and his wife Oto (Reika Kirishima). Like a musing poet, she poses elegantly in their bed spinning a tale about a girl so infatuated with a boy she breaks into his house just to feel closer to him. Yûsuke listens in a dream-like state. Oto’s storytelling seems to be their custom after making love. Later we understand how healing and intimate Oto’s stories are to Yûsuke, especially after her sudden and unexpected death. 

The bulk of the film takes place two years after Oto’s death. Yûsuke takes a residency job in Hiroshima to be the director of a theater production of Uncle Vanya by Anton. Chekov. It’s a long drive to Hiroshima but Yûsuke seems to enjoy driving in his outdated red Saab. Driving around town alone is when he usually runs his lines, aided by a cassette tape, with a recording of Oto reading all the other lines. At times it seems her voice is what propels the car forward. 

However, part of Yûsuke’s new gig in Hiroshima comes with a driver. Yûsuke is hesitant at first, but after meeting Misaki (Toko Miura) and letting her drive him to his hotel, he allows it. Misaki is a scrappy young woman with a scar on her left cheek and a cigarette in her mouth. She prides herself in her ability to drive, her one skill that she says her mother gave her. 

Within the play Yûsuke directs, is a young man from his past with Oto, Kōshi Takatsuki (Masaki Okada). Takatsuki is a famous movie star, but some missteps in his personal life has complicated his career. Yûsuke decides to cast Takatsuki with the lead role, but can the young man hack it? More importantly, can these two work together despite the tension between them and their unspoken past with Oto?

What Drive My Car is at its core is a subdued, long hard look at repressed grief, guilt and loneliness. Yûsuke uses his work and his car as a shield, hiding his grief, trying to remain professional, diligent and constantly moving. But when other characters enter that car with him, they penetrate his shield, participate in his grief and share their own. It’s haunting, healing and metamorphic what can happen inside that red Saab. 

Drive My Car is nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, best international film, and adapted screenplay. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi is nominated for best director, his first nomination. 

While Drive My Car is three hours long, has multiple story arcs, including a play in multiple languages and handles heavy subjects like guilt, grief and loss, it does not feel like a chore of a film. The beautiful cinematography soothes, the movement of the car and winding roads hypnotize. The stories never feel drawn out or bogged down, but flow so naturally as they connect. Drive My Car is a brilliant film, thoughtful film and worth the 3 hours to sit and absorb this quiet, beautiful testament to suffering and continuing onward. 

“Those who survive keep thinking about the dead. In one way or another, that will continue. You and I must keep living like that. We must keep on living. It’ll be OK. I’m sure we’ll be OK.”

Nightmare Alley

Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a haunting and mesmerizing film experience. Set in the late 1930s, Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is a man running from his past sins. The opening images of him hiding a body under floorboards and then burning the whole house down, haunt him. He stumbles across a carnival and is offered a job to help them pack up in a storm. He stays and learns how to be a grifter from Zeena (Toni Collette) and her sidekick husband Pete (David Strathairn). But Stan is ambitious and eventually runs away with the girl doing an electricity act, Molly (Rooney Mara). They start a psychic act in a swanky hotel, but things get complicated when Stan ignores Zeena’s best piece of advice, “Don’t do the spook show.” 

The film is broken up into two main acts: the carnival and the stage show. The carnival has a very run-down, dirty and worn feel to everything. We are often in a maze of big top tents, banners advertising the world’s strongest man or glowing glass jars of pickled specimens. While most of the carnies seem happy, we know there is cruelty lurking under the surface, especially after Clem (Willem Dafoe) explains to Stan how he finds geeks for the sideshow. 

My favorite setting in the carnival is inside the “funhouse” where depictions of the seven deadly sins welcome you and signs read “Take a look at yourself, sinner” next to warped mirrors. You walk through the fun house through huge opening mouths of the devil or skulls. It looks more frightening than fun, and serves as a warning to the weak minded carnival goers. On a second viewing, I saw it as a metaphor for Stan’s life. 

The second act is when Stan and Molly are on their own doing a stage show in a swanky hotel. Everything in this part of the movie is very clean, shiny, upper class and has a beautiful art deco look. I don’t want to give away too much about what happens in this part, but even though the look is completely different, that intense foreboding atmosphere that is established before in the carnival scenes lingers and intensifies to this film’s magnificent finish. 

Nightmare Alley is currently nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, cinematography, production design and costume design.

This is by far my favorite Oscar nominated film this year. In fact I watched the film a second time and loved the foreshadowing I could see throughout the film. Both times, I was hooked with that first image and could not look away until the very end. Perhaps it’s because I’m a sucker for Bradley Cooper, but I think more of it is about Guillermo del Toro’s perfect direction, the intense and beautiful settings and a story that unfolds so methodically that it keeps you on the edge until that last laugh. Nightmare Alley is one of those rare films that gets a Best Picture nomination and not much else simply because there is no denying how great it is. 

“Step right up and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe! Is he man or is he beast?”