On the November Radar…

Just five days until we can finally get this election over with. Thank goodness. Check your registration. Get out and vote.

Then, after checking your registration, and making a plan to vote, be sure to treat yourself to a movie. Between now and what Alex Jones keeps calling “the most important election in all of human history,” we have four major releases to look forward to this weekend alone, followed by at least one serious contender for acting Academy Awards and a sequel to a 24-year-old Best Picture winner later this month.

CONCLAVE – In Theaters November 1

Directed by Edward Berger

Starring Ralph Fiennes, with Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini

What is it about? A high-ranking Cardinal tasked with finding the successor to the deceased Pope discovers the former Pope had a secret that must be uncovered.

How am I feelin’ about this one? Before I offer my own speculations, I first have to grapple with two very divergent opinions about All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger’s English-language debut: Joey, on one hand, had a blast with Conclave at Telluride, fully engaged with it as a political thriller while also being surprised at its notes of dark humor. On the other hand, Awards Radar’s Favorite Special Boy was not a fan. According to the very smart movie analyst who tried and failed to become a Hollywood screenwriter because the entertainment industry was just too woke for his big logical storytelling brain, Conclave is actually bad because:

This is, in fact, a propaganda piece about the evils of the Catholic Church in the guise of a movie that is supposedly about the wonders of the Catholic Church … This movie is aCkShUaLLy about how the traditional Catholic Church is evil and how the Church needs to become a progressive bastion … Catholics all over the world should be extraordinarily pissed at this movie, and if you are a Christian believer, if you are a person who just believes in traditional religion, you should be upset at the hijacking of one of the great institutions of world religion on behalf of progressive causes.

That is such a good point, Ben. How dare anyone try to put forward the idea that the Catholic Church has become hopelessly archaic and corrupt? No movie with that point of view has ever been good. The best narratives are ones that come to the conclusion that the status quo is always righteous and the legitimacy of powerful, longstanding institutions should never be questioned. Good luck pitching that Harvard Law School dramedy script, Ben.

Pivoting to people with actual artistic talent, the thing that piques my interest here is the reaction to Ralph Fiennes in the lead role of a Cardinal who finds himself inside a whirlwind conspiracy involving the very papacy succession he is trying to organize consensus around. Reviews have raved that this is his best acting showcase in many years, and despite nearly everyone agreeing that he has been one of our finest working actors for three decades, Mr. Fiennes is still Oscar-less. Joey is among many who have him in the top five of his Best Lead Actor predictions right now. I… do not want to get my hopes up. After the shock of his absolutely lovely work in The Grand Budapest Hotel not even getting a “coattails” nomination despite the movie’s success everywhere else that year (and being one of the best comedic performances of that entire decade), it has become easier for me to believe that he will always be taken for granted by an industry that will continue to believe he’ll “have his time” year after year. Also Oscar-less is Stanley Tucci, whose sole nod so far in his career was for one of his worst performances in the abysmal The Lovely Bones, and Isabella Rossellini, whose last nomination was for… oh, right, she has never been nominated. Ever. Good chance to rectify that here, maybe?

Little baby boys with a reactionary podcast network bankrolled by fracking billionaires aside, there seems to be a budding consensus that the movie itself, while entertaining, comes off kind of network television-ish. Comparisons to Game of Thrones, Succession, and even Gossip Girl have been bandied about, with a lot of reviews noting that the fun of backroom verbal sparring and politicking is the primary focus of this movie more than any spiritual concerns. That might give it the impression of frivolity that could pass from the cultural zeitgeist early unless it is a box office hit. Five years ago, I would have said forget it… but mainstream adult dramas appear to be making a comeback.

BLITZ – In Theaters November 1, Streaming On Apple TV+ November 22

Directed by Steve McQueen

Starring Saoirse Ronan, with Elliott Heffernan and Paul Weller

What is it about? Follow the stories of a group of Londoners during the events of the British capital bombing in World War II.

How am I feelin’ about this one? It has been six years since Steve McQueen’s last theatrically-released film, the box office disappointment Widows, but he has been very busy in the interim. All five entries of his Small Axe miniseries were critically lauded, and Joey liked the three he saw at the New York Film Festival. He also put out the documentary Occupied City last year, which Joey did not like all that much. But now he has returned to the big screen with a movie that looks a bit more… conventional? At least relative to his previous feature films. But then again, a seemingly conventional heist thriller included an unbroken shot outside of a car to illustrate the stark residential segregation of Chicago. A seemingly conventional movie about American slavery included several sequences that would have been considered borderline experimental in their execution ten just years prior.

But according to Joey, this seemingly conventional story about perseverance during wartime is… a conventional story about perseverance during wartime. The only thing he observed as slightly off-kilter was the decision to frame a sort of Dickensian fable around an event as harrowing as the eight-month-long German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, which he claims results in a work from the previously iconoclastic visual artist that “doesn’t leave as much impact as usual.” And that’s really all I can say about this movie right now, sight unseen. Unlike most of McQueen’s past features, there haven’t been any controversies or debates surrounding this film that I’ve witnessed yet. I don’t have much to say about The Blitz itself, except to remind some of our more impressionable readers that having bombs constantly dropped on and near you is a horrible experience, and any threats from a nation to start bombarding another nation shouldn’t be taken lightly.

The only other thing to discuss at this point is where this movie leaves one of my favorite working actresses. Seventeen years after her breakout role as a precocious child in a World War II drama that netted her a Best Supporting Actress nomination, Saoirse Ronan is now old enough to play a mother in a World War II drama that seems very likely to land her only the second Best Supporting Actress nomination of her career. So. That’s cool. We’re all hurtling towards old age and death. Quite a few pundits consider her the frontrunner for the award, considering how she is going to be bolstered by her also-lauded leading performance in The Outrun and a steadily-building “overdue” consensus around her in general. Joey and I are less confident about the power of that narrative, mainly because of another contender we’ll get to shortly and because The Outrun itself did not make much of a splash in its limited theatrical run.

I mean… look. I have no sympathy for the Academy if they feel guilty about passing her over again this season. Y’all brought this on yourselves. You had the ideal opportunity to recognize her for Lady Bird, to make that her moment, and you blew it.

EMELIA PÉREZ – In Theaters November 1, On Netflix November 13

Directed by Jacques Audiard

Starring Karla Sofía Gascón, with Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez

What is it about? A disillusioned lawyer is tasked with assisting a fugitive cartel leader in undergoing sex reassignment surgery to both evade the authorities and affirm her true gender identity.

How am I feelin’ about this one? I guess I should start with how I am anticipating this musical crime thriller trans relationship drama from the director of Dheepan and A Prophet. Because, man, if you are the kind of person who is sick and tired of the same old formulas, if you are growing bored with broadly liked pabulum that fails to engender strong negative or positive feelings, then Jacques Audiard has answered your prayers. “Romantic,” “powerful,” “idiotic,” “cis nonsense,” “wholly winning,” “fabulous,” and “a debacle” are all descriptors of this film from critics when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. And can any of us really say those are surprising reactions? This is a movie depicting someone deciding the gender they were assigned at birth is not their true gender, except that someone is a powerful and ruthless drug cartel boss, and this depiction is through song-and-dance numbers, all taking place against the backdrop of a telenovela-style presentation. It is as if Audiard decided to point his bat at the bleachers, committed to swinging as hard as he can until there are no more fastballs thrown at him, and loudly announcing “I’m goin’ for home runs with every swing, hijos de puta!” Joey confirmed out of Telluride that this movie indeed is… a lot, but he also came down on grading this ambitious endeavor favorably for its high points outnumbering the missteps.

In our post-Everything Everywhere All at Once / Parasite era, anyone who claims this movie is going to be too weird for serious awards traction is just not historically literate on this topic. Full stop. Especially since the movie was a runner-up for one of the most reliable indicators of mainstream audience appeal only a few weeks ago. But I want to zero in on a particular candidate in this conversation: Zoe Saldaña, currently Joey’s predicted frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, I concur will be a major threat for that award this season. Might even pull a Keisha Castle-Hughes and get vaulted to lead status if voters make the rare decision to defy the unequivocal intentions of what the studio intends to campaign her as. Not just because of the Prix d’interprétation féminine award she shared at Cannes, not just because of the positive reviews she’s received from mainstream critics, not just because this category is easily the most favorable of the four acting competitions towards musical performances, but because the Academy has always been very much inclined towards rewarding business success to at least nearly the same degree as artistic merit… if not, in some ways, more so.

It is less consistent among the men, admittedly (though certainly not a rare occurrence, either), but for women, they have a much better chance of winning an Oscar if they have a track record of appearing in box office hits. Julia Roberts won her Oscar at the conclusion of a decade when she reigned as the queen of very popular mainstream rom-coms. Sandra Bullock was rewarded for (at the time) the highest-grossing movie sold with the leading lady’s name as the sole top-billed star. Kate Winslet went on a decade-long marathon of Oscar-nominated performances and eventually a win after starring in Titanic.

Which brings us to the present era. The only two movies of the 21st century so far to have claimed the title of Highest-Grossing Film Of All Time have been Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. Only one person acted in both of them. The industry is not going to let someone like that go unrecognized forever.

JUROR #2 – In Theaters November 1

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring Nicholas Hoult, with Toni Collette and J. K. Simmons

What is it about? While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, an ordinary man finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict — or free — the accused killer.

How am I feelin’ about this one? Not gonna lie, I wrote my Cry Macho preview as a sort of pre-eulogy for the legendary director Clint Eastwood. The man was 91 years-old at the time! The whole project screamed “Swan Song!” And yet here we are, with another directorial outing from the now 94 year-old film legend, although in contrast to Cry Macho, he is not appearing on screen this time around. This time, the star is everyone’s favorite War Boy Nicholas Hoult as a man wrestling with a… slightly contrived-sounding moral dilemma but one that is still ripe for some rich drama.

And according to Joey, rich drama is what has been delivered; he loved its thorny characterizations and unpredictable plot. But I guess Warner Bros. does not agree, since they seem to be burying this thing with an anemic limited release after a very quiet festival rollout? Why? This is a mainstream adult drama directed by a man with a proven track record of putting out adult dramas that make money at the box office! It is very strange.

The only possible explanation I can think of that Joey mentioned in his review is that this is an antiquated type of movie: the courtroom drama. And I do not mean that in a derogatory way! I miss when the 1990s regularly saw wide releases of modestly-but-still-handsomely-staged battles of wills between lawyers played by superstar actors arguing dramatically engaging cases. Sometimes you get terrible ones, sure, but for every Body of Evidence or Rules of Engagement, there were several more outstanding films like The Rainmaker… and more often than not perfectly functional but forgettable examples of the subgenre like The Client. But they used to be reliable, cost-effective sleeper hits not that long ago. Then again, the epic-length historical drama used to be a thing of the past and it seems like that made a big comeback last year.

Most reviews seem to be placing Juror #2 on the upper tier of that quality spectrum, and starring someone who has been enjoying a banner year so far and is set to play the main villain in one of the most anticipated releases of next year… and it is… being buried. For reasons I cannot explain.

Edit: Welp, we did it. Caving to the positive reviews and public pressure, Warner Bros. has relented and decided to support Juror #2 with “a small awards campaign.” Let this be a lesson to everyone — bullying works. Wait….

THE PIANO LESSON – In Theaters November 8, Streaming on Netflix November 22

Directed by Malcolm Washington

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, with John David Washington and Corey Hawkins

What is it about? Adapted from the August Wilson play about how the lives of the Charles family descend into conflict in dealing with their legacy and more in deciding what to do with the family piano.

How am I feelin’ about this one? In the latter stages of his life, it appears that Denzel Washington, surely one of the undisputed Great Actors of his generation (certainly not a distinction that I am going to dispute), has devoted himself to not only preserving and promoting the legacy of the renowned playwright August Wilson, but also turning the Washingtons into a full-on cinematic dynasty to rival the Coppolas. Everyone is well-aware of Tenet star John David Washington, and he is playing a major role in this film, but here he is aided by dear old dad producing and his brother Malcolm Washington making his directorial debut in this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage production blending history, familial conflict, black culture, and even the supernatural.

Normally I would be pumped to see a movie like this. The trailer was amazing, and I made my peace with Hollywood being dominated by the offspring of established entertainment industry figures. As our Favorite Special Boy and his parents can tell you, a person still needs to have at least some talent in order to break into the business. But one thing that keeps me holding back my enthusiasm is Washington’s record with these adaptations. Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom both featured across-the-board fantastic acting from its entire ensemble, but, as I noted in a previous article:

[Those plays] were specifically written to maximize the stage as a dramaturgical delivery mechanism that also, frustratingly, got “lost” somewhere in translation to the screen … [the stage is] a medium that’s more reliant on a tactile connection between the audience and the actors than on visual verisimilitude.

Frustratingly, Joey reported from Telluride that The Piano Lesson has not broken this unfortunate pattern. But that means the silver lining remains, with not just Joey but esteemed organizations celebrating the exceptional cast here. Jackson might be headed for a Spike Lee-esque situation where he actually wins a competitive Oscar after receiving an Honorary Award, but there is also some real buzz around Danielle Deadwyler – so unjustly passed over for her heroic performance in Till – and Ray Fisher – who pretty clearly saw his career get blackballed for a while after having spoken out about abusive workplace behavior on the set of Justice League and could be looking at a well-deserved comeback. All of them are competing as supporting performances, with only Washington the son being considered as delivering a lead performance.

GLADIATOR II – In Theaters November 22

Directed by Ridley Scott

Starring Paul Mescal, with Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal

What is it about? After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, the grandson of Rome’s former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla, is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.

How am I feelin’ about this one? So this is weird, right? I was literally in grade school when I saw Gladiator in theaters (yes, it was rated “R,” but I was raised in a family that was very determined to make me a Real Mayun so you better believe that was a prime contender to put hair on my chest as a kid). It was a hit… almost a quarter-century ago. So it feels like the time to strike while the iron was hot would have been, like, when George W. Bush was still President of the United States? In fact, Hollywood actually did try just that with a sequel idea from Nick Cave so certifiably demented I still cannot believe it got as far as it did (before Russell Crowe killed it on the spot; probably for the best, even if my morbid curiosity cannot help but wish it was produced).

But we do now have a sequel. Obviously not starring its original titular hero, having died at the end of the first one. And not starring its truant antagonist actor, either, since he also died in the climactic battle of the first film. But the seemingly ageless Connie Nielsen is returning, reprising her role as Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla. But instead of being the love interest, Lucilla is the mother of our new hero: Lucius Verus (played by lovable Aftersun dad Paul Mescal) robbed heir to the Roman Empire and son of Maximus Decimus Meridius. Also reprising his role is Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus, who I guess failed to lead the Senate in capitalizing on the power vacuum left in the wake of Emperor Commodus dying? Oh, well. I guess it’s like how the First Order rose up to take the Empire’s place in The Force Awakens because resetting every premise to the status quo conflict is the easiest way to get a sequel going.

But I do not want to give off the impression that this is destined to be a boring rehash of all the same beats of the first movie. I mean…. it could be, but the multiple antagonistic supporting players with a diverse array of personalities and motivations are not at all similar to the first movie. There is no one diabolical usurper to stand against our titular gladiator hero now. This time, we have two twins acting as more unhinged and batty co-emperors of Rome, a rival gladiator, and a diabolical former slave-turned-arms-dealer who plots to use Lucius’ rage to take control of Rome for himself all circling the Colosseum. This suggests there will be a greater emphasis on back-stabbing and political scheming than its predecessor, which could make for an interesting extension of the story.

Let us know which movie you are most looking forward to seeing this month in the comments.

(Side note, I hope the staff and readers of this website appreciate the sacrifices I make to contribute quality work here. I had to listen to nails-on-a-chalkboard nasally high-pitched sounds being formed into words and projected out of Ben Shapiro’s noise hole for several minutes to get those quotes from him about Conclave. You’re welcome.)