Lone Lotus Flower

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Godzilla vs. Kong

THE GIST: Dormant since last protecting the planet from its latest threat, Godzilla suddenly attacks humans, a behavior at odds with his modus operandi. What could be triggering it? Meanwhile, containing Kong has become almost untenable, and if the two alphas were to face off . . .

Godzilla vs. Kong is the latest entry into the MonsterVerse, the universe of monsters from Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Following the very successful example set by Marvel Studios with their MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) formula, this movie completes Phase 1, which started out really well with Godzilla, followed by the similarly well received Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Unfortunately, this movie is not as successfully, largely because of a script that treats every single human character, some of whom we've encountered before, as cardboard placeholders, ostensibly there simply to fill the air in between monsters' fights.

Kyle Chandler's character, for example, had a big role in King of the Monsters, and is now working for Monarch. Yet, both he and the organization are barely mentioned in this movie, even though Monarch is supposedly in charge of everything related to the monsters.

His daughter, played by Millie Bobby Brown, was a key character in Monsters as well, and features prominently here, but she utters trite lines and does unrealistic things. The two guys who help her don't fare much better; in fact her sidekick, played by Julian Dennison, comes across as a complete loser.

The cast includes names like Alexander Skarsgård, Demián Bichir, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González, and the great Lance Reddick, but their characters are either underdeveloped or criminally underutilized. What a pity.

THE BOTTOM LINE: If all you care about are the two oversize guys getting top billing, than fear not, because they never looked better and their time onscreen is definitely entertaining. But if you're expecting a well rounded story, with some human depth, you'll likely be disappointed. Like I was.

Grade: 5

Bright Path

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The Unholy

THE GIST: A discredited journalists stumbles upon a girl to whom, supposedly, the Virgin Mary speaks. She starts performing miracles, and hordes of believers flock to the town. Could this be his ticket to redemption?

The Unholy is a boilerplate horror movie that explores the power of faith and religion on people, specifically when it's unclear whether God or Satan are really at work.

The first half isn't terrible, but then things start unspooling too quickly to sustain a minimum of believability.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan works pretty hard to sell the weak script and Cricket Brown is quite good at playing the girl with the visions.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I've seen worse horror movies, but I've seen better as well. It's not a bad story, but it shows weaknesses that drag it down.

Grade: 5

Secluded Cabin in the Woods

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The Oath

THE GIST: In a politically divided America, the administration introduces an oath of allegiance to the country and the president that smells of fascism. A couple refuses to sign it on principle, but when Thanksgiving arrives, and the visiting relatives have probably all signed it, will peace be kept?

The Oath is a very simple comedy that tries to tackle a fairly serious subject with hilarity.

It succeeds in generating a few laughs, but at some point it veers into surreal territory, and the lead, while sympathetic at first, starts morphing into a bigot.

I wasn't expecting much from it, but ultimately it feels more like a comedy skit drawn out to feature length.

Ike Barinholtz is pretty good, but it's Tiffany Haddish who has a more commanding role here.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Check it out if you're looking for some light fare, but don't expect too much from it.

Grade: 5

Two Women

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Soul

THE GIST: Right after landing a dream gig, a musician ends up in the hospital. However, his soul refuses to move on and will try anything to get back into its body.

Winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar, Soul is the latest wonderful creation of Pixar Animation Studios, and it's a virtual balm for the soul.

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste also won the Oscar for Best Original Score for their beautiful work.

Wonderful animation that unspools on a solidly written screenplay. It doesn't get much better than this.

Plenty of effort went towards portraying Black characters that reflected Black people's real lives, and it shows.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Not just for the little ones, this movie has a message for everyone, no matter their age. Two thumbs way up!

Grade: 9

Coming and Going

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The 93rd Academy Awards - The Winners

So finally, after a huge delay, last night the Academy Awards for the year 2020 were handed out in a ceremony that turned out to be pretty intimate but good. Los Angeles's Central Station was large enough to accommodate all the attending nominees and certainly looked great.

It's a bit puzzling what the Kodak Theater was reserved for. I figured the night's performances, for stuff like Song of the Year or others, were going to take place there; instead it was only shown once, to hand out the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to an organization (the first time) that apparently has done a lot over the last century to help people working in the movies when in need.

But the prize wasn't handed out on the stage, and those in attendance were kept in what looked like the foyer. Even more puzzling, the nominees for Best Song of the Year all performed live, but during the pre-show, ordinarily the red carpet, when few people tune in at all. I completely missed them and only know this because a friend saw them and told me.

I figure something must have happened at the Kodak Theater that forced a scrambling and reordering of whatever was supposed to happen there, and that was that. But who knows?!

Not having picked a host for the second year in a row -- a poor choice in my opinion -- each subsequent presenter was tasked with filling the air with some anecdote before listing the nominees and declaring a winner. This obviously took time, fairly longer than we're used to with regular Oscar presenters, but the information was occasionally interesting.

I'm just wondering, since the ceremony flowed pretty nicely and went only slightly overtime, whether we'll see songs, dances, and (my favorites) montages at the Oscars ever again. They might all get the cut just like the host, so no more entertaining opening numbers either.

And now some random thoughts about the night:

• Original Screenplay went to Emerald Fennell: very happy this multi-hyphenate got to go home with an Oscar
• The director of Another Round gave a very emotional and touching acceptance speech. I can't imagine the pain they went through for losing their daughter so suddenly
• Very happy for Daniel Kaluuya; he's a very talented actor whose work I really admire
• Super happy for Chloé Zhao's Best Director win; Nomadland is a real masterpiece and she deserves the credit; it's also nice to see another woman finally land this prize -- way overdue! She also gave a really nice speech
• Sound of Metal's win for Best Sound was awesome, especially given the amount of work that went into creating the particular sounds of the movie, which are a huge element of its success. The movie also took home the prize for Editing, which only adds  to its luster
• Several speakers acknowledged the precariousness of the times we live in right now, whether related to all the pandemic deaths, systemic racism, inequality, police brutality, or general divisiveness. Social activism was definitely at the Oscars last night, and that's a good thing. We definitely need the people that have the most visibility to speak up and engage their fans for the common good
• I just saw Soul and loved it, so I was very glad it won Best Animated Feature as well as Score, which is obviously a key element of it success
• I haven't seen Minari yet, but I heard only good things about Yuh-Jung Youn, so her win seems well deserved and certainly historic
• Despite its shortcomings, Mank is a technical wonder, so I was happy to see its Production Design and Cinematography get recognized
• I wasn't very familiar with all the Best Song nominees, but I know H.E.R. is a very accomplished artist, so I was happy for her
• I was ecstatic that Nomadland took home the top prize, since I loved that movie, and I was happy for Frances McDormand too, who is absolutely phenomenal throughout. I almost wished to see Viola Davis win as it would have been, I believe, the first Black actress to earn two Oscars, but I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't speak about her performance (though I'm sure it's great -- it's Viola Davis!)
• One sour note here: this is McDormand's third acting Oscar, and there were no protesting voices about her "already having gotten her due" and "already having won twice" like there were when Meryl Streep looked a favorite to win her third Oscar a few years back, after an almost 30-years-long drought. Just saying . . .
• The final award, for Best Actor, was the big shock of the night, with my beloved Sir Anthony Hopkins winning his second Oscar for what sounds like the best work of his career. I couldn't have been happier. I understand a lot of people wanted to see Chadwick Boseman being recognized posthumously, but this is an award for the Best Performance of the year, it's not a memorial for a beloved actor no longer with us. There are other Oscars for that, and I can't imagine there's anyone who can say that Hopkins isn't deserving of a second statuette (which made him the oldest recipient of an acting Academy Award ever, by the way). Posthumous Oscar shouldn't become a thing. It's hard enough to get nominated for one, let alone win, that one shouldn't also have to compete with plain sentimentalism

So that's it. I enjoyed the night and was overall happy of where the wins landed. One thing is sure: the Academy's revamping of its membership, after the #OscarsSoWhite campaigns, really is working, bringing about changes that will only widen the appeal of movies for years to come.

Here's the list of the winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Judas and the Black Messiah

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Father

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Anthony Hopkins, The Father

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Gary Oldman, Mank

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Frances McDormand, Nomadland

Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah

LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amanda Seyfried, Mank

Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Olivia Colman, The Father

Youn Yuh-jung, Minari

Best Achievement in Directing

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

David Fincher, Mank

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Thomas Vinterberg, Druk

Best Original Screenplay

Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas, Judas and the Black Messiah

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

Darius Marder, Abraham Marder, Derek Cianfrance, Sound of Metal

Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay

Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern, Nina Pedrad, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami

Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller, The Father

Ramin Bahrani, The White Tiger

Best Animated Feature Film

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Onward

Over the Moon

Soul

WolfWalkers

Best International Feature Film

Colectiv

Druk

Quo vadis, Aida?

Shaonian de ni

The Man Who Sold His Skin

Best Documentary Feature

Colectiv

Crip Camp

El Agente Topo

My Octopus Teacher

Time

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

Terence Blanchard, Da 5 Bloods

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Mank

Emile Mosseri, Minari

James Newton Howard, News of the World

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste, Soul

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

Richard Göransson, Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, "Husavik"

H.E.R., D'Mile, Tiara Thomas, Judas and the Black Messiah, "Fight for You"

Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, La vita davanti a sé, 'Io Si (Seen)"

Leslie Odom Jr., Sam Ashworth, One Night in Miami, "Speak Now"

Celeste, Daniel Pemberton, The Trial of the Chicago 7, "Hear My Voice"

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah

Mank

News of the World

Nomadland

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Achievement in Film Editing

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Father

Best Achievement in Production Design

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

News of the World

Tenet

The Father

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Emma.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Mulan

Pinocchio

Best Sound

Greyhound

Mank

News of the World

Soul

Sound of Metal

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma.

Hillbilly Elegy

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Pinocchio

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Love and Monsters

Mulan

Tenet

The Midnight Sky

The One and Only Ivan

Best Documentary Short Subject

A Concerto Is a Conversation

A Love Song for Latasha

Colette

Do Not Split

Hunger Ward

Best Animated Short Film

Burrow

Genius Loci

If Anything Happens I Love You

Já-Fólkið

Opera

Best Live Action Short Film

Feeling Through

The Letter Room

The Present

Two Distant Strangers

White Eye