Cinema Sight by Wesley Lovell

The DVD Report #660

Peter J Patrick

February 18, 2020

DVD Report

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New This Week

Ford v Ferrari was nominated for four 2019 Oscars and won two for Film Editing and Sound Editing. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Sound Mixing. As such, it falls behind 1966’s Grand Prix, which was only nominated for just three Oscars for Film Editing, Sound, and Sound Effects, but won all three.

Auto racing films have been movie staples at least as far back as 1932’s The Crowd Roars, directed by Howard Hawks and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, and Eric Linden. They were very popular through the mid-1960s with Blake Edwards’ The Great Race starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood; and John Frankenheimer’s aforementioned Grand Prix, starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, and Toshiro Mifune, culminating in 1971 with Lee H. Katzin’s Le Mans, starring Steve McQueen. More recently we’ve had such successes as 2013’s Rush directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl; and the long-running franchise, The Fast and the Furious, which began in 2001 and was still churning out prequels and spinoffs as late as 2019.

Based on a true story, James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari is about the Ford Motor Company’s mid-1960s revenge on Italian race car champion Ferrari which its owners sold to Fiat in a bidding war with Ford. Ford spent more money developing a race car that would beat Ferrari at the racing pinnacle Le Mans than they would have spent buying the company. Carroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon) was an automotive designer and retired race car driver who was put in charge of developing the car and British race car driver Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale) was the man he picked to test the car and drive it at Daytona and eventually Le Mans. That they succeeded against the odds was never in doubt if you know the history of the Ford-Ferrari feud. What makes the story interesting is the tension between Shelby and Miles and the Ford executives who put obstacle after obstacle in front of them.

This Day in Oscar History: February 18 (2019)

Wesley Lovell

February 18, 2020

This Day in Oscar History

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Here’s what happened today in Oscar History.

Born

Died

Released

Poll: Now That You’ve Seen “Sonic the Hedgehog”

Wesley Lovell

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Polls

Now That You’ve Seen Sonic the Hedgehog…?

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Trailer Watch: The Invisible Man (2020) Updated

Wesley Lovell

Trailer Watch

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New Trailer (#2) / New Poster (#2)

The Invisible Man, updated

Preview Link: CLICK HERE for all of the new content as well as the original.

Oscar Preview: Weekend of Jan. 3-Feb. 16, 2020

Wesley Lovell

Oscar Preview

Comments

We had four films release over the last few weeks that have the potential for Oscar nominations. Here we discuss the features that released during our Oscar season coverage. Films like Birds of Prey and Dolittle flamed out at the box office, so even though they would have been Oscar contenders in a general sense, they don’t appear to be contending for much of anything at present.

The Assistant

With an early festival debut, this look at sexual harassment in the workplace has garnered strong early attention from critics. 89% from Rotten Tomatoes and 77 rating from MetaCritic suggest the film is doing well enough that it could enter the conversation. The problem is, the film’s public scores have been terrible, one of those rare instances where audiences utterly disagree with critics and that could harm the film’s potential.

Julia Garner stars as a college graduate who goes to work in the powerful entertainment industry figure and suffers through a full day of harassment, the likes of which only deepen when she finally stands up for herself. It’s a piece that speaks to Hollywood’s recent struggles revealed through the #MeToo movement that highlights the depths to which misogyny and sexism permeates every industry, including the most liberal of all industries.

The film’s big problem is that it’s opening far too early for an Oscar contender. Most films that release prior to summer struggle to retain the attention of Oscar voters through the entire season. There’s always a more important film lurking on the horizon. This film will desperately need support form critics at the end of the year to make it to the Oscars, but right now, the film has the remotest chance of getting nominated. The other problem for the film is that its director hasn’t yet made a name for herself. This film will probably do that, but it will take another prominent effort (or many) to really bring her into the fold.

This Day in Oscar History: February 17 (2019)

Wesley Lovell

This Day in Oscar History

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Here’s what happened today in Oscar History.

Born

Died

Released

Oscar Nominations

Poll: What Are You Most Anticipating? (Mar. 2020, Wide)

Wesley Lovell

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Polls

What Are You Most Anticipating? (Mar. 2020, Wide)

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Film Preview: The Jesus Rolls (2020)

Wesley Lovell

Film Previews

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Page Revisions:

(February 9, 2020) Original
(February 16, 2020) New Trailer (#2)

Release Date:

February 28, 2020

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A spin-off of The Big Lebowski centered on the notable bowler, Jesus Quintana.”

Poster Rating: C- / C- / D+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) Cheap and cheesy with holes in incorrect positions. It’s an ugly design. (#2) Another relatively ugly design with nothing exciting or enticing about it. (#3) You don’t typically see major motion pictures with this poor an eye for design. You really do, but you’d think they could or would do better.

Trailer Rating: C / C

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) This trailer never finds a hook that would bring in non-fans of this character, a minimal figure in the cult favorite The Big Lebowski. The need for this film is never established in the trailer and the cheesiness with which it’s infused doesn’t make it look subversive, indie, or interesting.

(#2) This trailer may seem more straight forward with its story than the teasing original, but none of that makes the whole affair look palatable. It’s a horrendous mess of a trailer that looks like someone wanting to mirror the Coen Brothers style without having any idea how to accomplish it, even with a talented filmmaker like John Turturro behind (and in front of) the camera.

Oscar Prospects:

None.

Trailer #1

Weekend Preview: Feb. 21-23, 2020

Wesley Lovell

Weekend Preview

Comments

Below are six previews for films opening next weekend.

Brahms: The Boy II (Wide)

The Call of the Wild (Wide)

Emma (Limited)

Impractical Jokers: The Movie (Limited)

My Boyfriend’s Meds (Limited)

The Night Clerk (Limited)

Film Preview: Impractical Jokers: The Movie (2020)

Wesley Lovell

Film Previews

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Page Revisions:

(February 16, 2020) Original

Release Date:

February 21, 2020

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The story of a humiliating high school mishap from 1992 that sends the Impractical Jokers on the road competing in hidden-camera challenges for the chance to turn back the clock and redeem three of the four Jokers.”

Poster Rating: –

Review: There was no poster immediately available for my review. Should one become available in the future, this section will be updated.

Trailer Rating: C-

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: If we didn’t already see enough lame practical jokes with the Jackass movies, this film comes along looking nearly identical, but with fewer hostile practice jokes. Fans of Jackass or this particular group of television practical jokers might be interested, but the rest will stay away.

Oscar Prospects:

None.

Trailer #1

This Day in Oscar History: February 16 (2019)

Wesley Lovell

This Day in Oscar History

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Here’s what happened today in Oscar History.

Born

Died

Released

Oscar Nominations

Precursor: 65th Filmfare Nominations & Awards (2019)

Wesley Lovell

February 15, 2020

92nd Oscars (2019), Precursors

Comments

Not much to go on here since no American films are on the list and no Oscar contenders are, either.

Award Tallies

(13) Gully Boy
(3) Article 15, Uri: The Surgical Strike, War
(2) Kalank, Saand Ki Aankh, Sonchiriya, Tindey

Nominations Tallies

(19) Gully Boy
(11) Article 15, Sonchiriya, Uri: The Surgical Strike
(8) Kabir Singh, Kesari, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota
(7) Kalank, War
(6) Judgementall Hai Kya, Mission Mangal, Saand Ki Aankh
(5) Chhichhore
(4) Badia, Photograph
(3) Bala, Bharat, Good Newwz, Mardaani 2, The Sky Is Pink, Super 30

The Awards