Happy Saturday, With My Deepest Gratitude

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It’s feeling like a happier Saturday this weekend, because I’m so grateful for the incredible outpouring of support we’ve received for our LA Wildfire fundraisers. Just from our Oscar nominations livestream alone, we’ve collected well over $1,000, and that number keeps growing as folks contribute more Super Thanks. In case you missed the chat on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel, here’s a link. Because of your generosity, we’ve already been able to donate $1,000 to the Pasadena Humane Society, with plans to do the same for the Entertainment Community Fund and World Central Kitchen very soon. Again, we can’t thank you enough, and we’re excited to meet and chat with our viewers who’ve signed up to do charity Table for One reviews with us. We have the best community.

As for the Oscar nominations themselves, I’m thrilled about some and bummed about others that didn’t make the cut. The way I screamed when I heard Coralie Fargeat’s name in the best director category for “The Substance” … well, it was too early in the morning to be that excited, that’s for sure. I was also happy to see “Flow” in both the animated feature and international categories. Both movies were on my top-10 list this past year, along with “Anora,” which earned six nominations, four for Sean Baker alone (directing, editing, original screenplay and best picture). Another of my favorites this year, Brady Corbet’s epic “The Brutalist,” received a well-deserved 10 nominations, including best picture. Plus: a visual effects nomination for the Robbie Williams music biopic “Better Man.” How cool is that?

And yet I remain boggled by the continuing popularity of “Emilia Pérez,” which is an ambitious mess. It leads all films with 13 nominations — a record for a movie not in the English language — including best picture, best director (Jacques Audiard) and best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón. She’s the first out transgender actress to receive an Academy Award nomination, and the precedent of that is exciting, particularly at a time when transgender people are feeling more marginalized than ever in this country. But it’s such a weird and ungainly film, I don’t understand how it’s emerging as the awards-season frontrunner. Columnist Gustavo Arellano doesn’t hold back in this brilliant and insightful takedown of “Emilia Pérez” in the LA Times.

I was also sad to see that “Challengers” didn’t get a nomination for its propulsive Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross score, or anything else for that matter. I shall continue to soothe myself my blasting it in the car.

But! New movies just keep coming, and some of them were surprisingly good this week, given that it’s January. Here’s what we reviewed on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast:

• FLIGHT RISK. Mel Gibson hasn’t directed a movie in a decade, and you’d never know he directed this one from the marketing. The central idea is cool — three people in a rickety plane over the Alaskan wilderness fight each other for survival — but the dialogue is terrible. Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace star. In theaters.

• PRESENCE. Steven Soderbergh’s latest experimental lark has an incredible premise: It’s a haunted house movie in which the ghost is the camera. He uses this technique in long, elegant takes to create maximum suspense. The performances are all strong, too, especially from Callina Liang as the family’s teenage daughter. In theaters.

• ONE OF THEM DAYS. I’m so glad we caught up with this comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA as LA roommates struggling to scrape together rent money by the end of the day to avoid being evicted. It’s heartfelt and profane in equal measure, and the two lead actresses have incredible chemistry. Plus, it just felt good to laugh this week. In theaters.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! Oscar nominations, Razzie nominations and the start of the Sundance Film Festival: We get into all of it in our latest livestream. No news next week because one of my absolute best friends since childhood is coming to town, but we’ll be back on Feb. 7 at Noon Pacific, so join us then.

For RogerEbert.com this week, I reviewed the documentary “Eternal You,” which explores how companies are using AI to create avatars of the dead. So you can exchange messages with a deceased loved one through ChatGPT, or listen to a recreation of their voice, or enter a virtual reality simulation with them. Is this a ghoulish and exploitative practice? Or a compassionate means of providing closure? The filmmakers remain neutral on the subject, but I know where I fall on it. I think it’s deeply creepy, and I get a little personal about my own parents’ deaths in this review. What do you think: Would you ever turn AI to connect with someone through the digital afterlife?

That’s gonna do it for me this week. Quick reminder that if you’re a member of the Lunch Date level on our Patreon, we’re having our monthly online meet-up this Monday at Noon Pacific. If you’re interested in learning about the perks we offer at various levels, check out the Membership tab. It’s a good group, so come join us!

Thank you so much again for your support, have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.

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