vmiserable arrive unprepared for the night of the Oscars 2023at least as regards the 10 titles nominated for Best Film. For those who have carried on, good for them. For everyone else, here’s where to see Avatars, Nothing new on the western front And Tar before the ceremony: live on Sky and streaming on NOW on the night of 12 March.
Oscars 2023: here’s where to see the 10 films nominated for the highest award
Avatar – The way of water. At Cinema
And the sequel to the 2009 film signed by James Cameron (who already has the third one ready). We are on the planet Pandora. Jake (Sam Worthington) starts a family together with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Five children, with related problems, and the threat of always: the man. The little family escapes into the sea and from here the wonder for the eyes starts. Box office record and four Oscar 2023 nominations: Best Film, Production Design, Sound and Visual Effects. No direction, to Cameron’s disappointment.
“Avatar, the ways of water”. (Disney)
Nothing new on the western front. On Netflix
All the cruelty and futility of war in a powerful film, very loosely based on the novel of the same name, written in 1929 by the German Erich Maria Remarque already transferred to the big and small screens in 1930 and the late seventies respectively. Nothing new on the western front is the story of Paul Baumer, enlisted in 1917 in the German army together with three schoolmates.
In the dark and cold of the French trenches, the three will touch the horror of the great war and see the myth of the struggle for the homeland sink into mud, blood, violence, in a story that has no way out. A great pacifist film which garnered 9 nominations.
Felix Kammerer in All Quiet on the Western Front. (Netflix)
Elvis. On Prime Video and on Infinity
Whole life of Elvis Presley, “The King”, in a very rhythmic musical signed by Baz Luhrmann (remember the magnificent Moulin Rouge?) interpreted by an amazing Austin Butler. Childhood in the ghetto of Tupelo, Mississippi, the first songs and love for the blues, the troubled love story with Priscilla and addiction to pills: the film Elvis shows lights and shadows of one of the biggest rock stars in the world, focusing on the contrasted relationship with the manager Colonel Parker (a very good Tom Hanks).
A glittering and unbridled biopic, accompanied by a splendid soundtrack which makes it impossible to sit still on the sofa.
“Elvis”. (Warner Bros.)
The spirits of the island. At Cinema
We are in the twenties. On a beautiful green island off the west coast of Ireland live two great friends, Padraic (excellent Colin Farrell) and Colm (wonderful Brendan Gleeson). One of the two, suddenly and for no apparent reason, decides that he wants to end the relationship. A disruptive choice that will trigger a series of events and will reflect on the entire community. A small but great story of pain and loneliness, which has the civil war in the background, but which also leaves room for a smile.
The noir comedy of Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri), set in a splendid landscape made unforgettable also thanks to the direction, received nine nominations.
Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan in “Spirit Island”. (Searchlight Pictures, 20th Century Studio).
Everything Everywhere All at Once. At Cinema
Evelyn’s story (Michelle Yeoh) Chinese woman, lost in laundromat, teenage daughter, dazed father, bland marriage, accounts that never add up. The arrival of a tax inspector (Jamie Lee Curtis) coincides with an adventure: our protagonist will have to catapult herself into the multiverse, to save herself and her ramshackle family from a mysterious cosmic force. The part was intended for Jackie Chan, but then the writers preferred a female figure.
A film at times demented, a film that blends kung-fu (where weapons are represented by everyday objects, such as dildos and toothbrushes), drama, fantasy, comedy. An underdog who, surprisingly, has already won something: the first place in the ranking of nominations 2023, with 11 nominations.
Jamie Lee Curtis (Deirdre Beaubeirdra) and Michelle Yeoh (Evelyn Wang) in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. (A24)
The Fabelmans. At Cinema
It is the autobiographical film of Steven Spielberg, what he “never thought of doing before Covid”. The story revolves around the little one Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), who thanks to mom and dad discovers the passion for the big screen, a source of wonder from the first meeting with The greatest show in the world by Cecile DeMille.
Wonder perfectly transferred to the viewer: in two and a half hours, which run very fast, Spielberg summarizes the stages of his lifethe trauma of his parents’ separation, but also the themes and reasons for his great career, the magic of (his) work, in a declaration of absolute love addressed to the mother, to whom the film is dedicated. But also on the big screen.
Paul Dano, Mateo Zoryan Francis-Deford and Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans”. (01 Distribution)
Tar. At Cinema
Directed and produced by Todd Field (his latest film, little childrendates back to 2006), is the controversial story of Lydia Tár, accomplished conductor, manipulative woman (she would like to rule the world, as she does with her musicians), proudly lesbian, who at the height of her success is accused of abuse and sexual solicitation.
An intense and extremely elegant work, which revolves around an unforgettable character, played by a mammoth Cate Blanchett (“If he had refused, the film would never have seen the light”, commented the director). It goes without saying that Blanchett is nominated for an Academy Award for lead actress and she is heavily favored.
Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár.
Top Gun: Maverick. Free on Paramount+ and on rental
Sequel to the eighties cult film. Same beach, same Ray-Bans, imperishable Tom Cruise in the role of Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchel, an aviator called to train a special team of students of the Top Gun Academy, among which appears the son of Goose, his deceased flight mate. The team will have to carry out a very complicated mission and only by seeing him will we find out how he will end up.
On the other hand, the mission of the sequel was fully successful, arriving in theaters after years of work due to Covid: Tom Cruise is a perfect old Maverick, the original film is cited in the right way, without exaggerating (in short, it is forbidden to say: “the first was better”).
Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”. (paramount)
Triangle of Sadness. On DVD and in the cinema
Directed by the Swedish Ruben Östlund, tells the story of two models and influencers, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), who before leaving the catwalks embark on a luxury yacht together with a group of nouveau riche. From Instagram opportunity, the cruise soon turns into a real nightmare.
When the time comes for the gala dinner, a storm breaks loose and the certainties of a glossy and hypocritical world drown in the waves and the contradictions of a society based on inequality emerge clearly, where social classes are separated by a crystal wall which seems impenetrable. PS Triangle of sadness is the bastard wrinkle that forms between the eyebrows when he assumes a frowning expression.
“Triangle of Sadness”
Women Talking – The right to choose. At Cinema
Based on the Miriam Toews novel of the same name, Women Talking is a film directed by Sarah Polley inspired by chilling true events of a Mennonite religious community in Bolivia. A group of women regularly drugged and abused by men who live together in their own village have 24 hours to figure out if and how to get rid of their captors.
Inside a barn, the protagonists confront each other and begin to think about themselves, about their lives, to faith as an obstacle to their freedom. To a possible escape. The film is a profound reflection on forgiveness, religion, power, solidarity and self-determination. Of note is the cast of extraordinary actresses, including Rooney Mara, Clayre Foy, Frances McDormand, Jessie Buckley.
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