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Saturday people! So good to see you. Thanks for joining me on this busy weekend.
Today is the FilmWeek Oscar preview, live at the gorgeous Alex Theatre in Glendale. This is where all of the LAist critics get on stage and try to predict what will happen at next weekend’s Academy Awards. It’s always fun when we’re in the same room with each other, and our audience is so engaged and knowledgeable. Plus, there are several categories that could go in a number of ways, including best picture. If you’re in town and you’re free, there are still a few tickets left; if not, this will air next weekend in place of a regular FilmWeek episode.
Then Sunday is the LA Marathon. I am not running it this year, but Chris is, so I’ll head up there to cheer for him and our running club friends. But it’s going to be crazy hot — high of 86! — and we lose an hour for Daylight Saving Time. (Don’t forget to spring forward!) So again, if you’re in town, head on out to the marathon route. It’s such a blast and it’s so inspiring. The signs are always hilarious, and the event provides a real sense of community.
If staying indoors is more of your thing, here’s what we reviewed on this packed week at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. Take us with you as you’re running around (as long as it’s not for 26.2 miles — surely no one wants us in their ears that long).
THE BRIDE! The exclamation point says it all. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on “The Bride of Frankenstein” is a big swing, full of brazen anachronisms and bold style. This is not going to be for everyone, and it’s hugely divisive among our fellow critics, but I admire what she was going for here (with a couple of reservations). Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale co-star. in theaters.
THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB. We spent quite a bit of time this week catching up with Oscar nominees, including Kaouther Ben Hania’s film, which is up for best international feature. She combines the real-life audio of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was trapped in a car in Gaza with actors portraying the emergency operators on the other end of the call. Alonso and I don’t agree on this film, but it’s been devastating audiences. With this review, we’ve now discussed all five nominees in the international feature category. Available for online rental.
THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR. This gripping tale of a neighborhood being torn apart by racism and gun violence is up for best documentary feature, and I imagine it’s the front-runner, in part because it’s probably the one most people have seen. It’s also excellent. Composed entirely of deputies’ body cam, dashboard and interrogation room video, Geeta Gandbhir’s film is about a specific block in Florida, but it’s also about America. Streaming on Netflix.
MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN. Here’s another documentary feature nominee that’s worth checking out. Co-director Pavel Talankin, who you see above, was a school teacher in a small town in Russia whose job was to shoot video of daily happenings and events on campus. When Russia invaded Ukraine, and the propaganda machine kicked into gear, Talankin used his position to document the indoctrination. The results are chilling. I so admire his bravery. Available for online rental.
PROJECT HAIL MARY REACTION. There’s so much interest in this movie that I knew I had to shoot an out-of-the-theater reaction right after I saw it this week at IMAX headquarters. What I didn’t realize was how much of a fervent fan base there is for Andy Weir’s book, which provides the source material. People have strong feelings in the comments. We’ll have a full review of this Ryan Gosling sci-fi comedy when the embargo lifts on Tuesday.
MOVIE NEWS LIVE! Among this week’s topics were HBO Max and Paramount+ combining into one streaming platform, Daryl Hannah’s op-ed about how she’s portrayed in the Ryan Murphy series “Love Story,” “Little House on the Prairie” getting a reboot on Netflix, and Catherine O’Hara’s posthumous Actor Award for “The Studio.” Join us on Fridays at Noon Pacific.
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Over at our Patreon, you still have a few days to vote in our March Off the Menu poll. This month, we’re honoring Robert Duvall, who died recently at 95. We decided not to include big, obvious choices like “The Godfather” movies and “Apocalypse Now,” and we already reviewed “Network” after the Faye Dunaway documentary. But Alonso had a wealth of choices in curating this poll, and 1997’s “The Apostle” is currently in the lead. There’s still time, though, so join us and vote! Details on the perks we offer at various levels are available on the Membership tab.
Gotta go take Molly out for her morning stroll — yes, we are still fostering this sweet, senior Boston terrier — but some things to put on your calendar before I go:
We’re doing our annual Oscar predictions livestream with the great Glenn Whipp from the LA Times on Tuesday at Noon Pacific. Here’s a ballot you can print out and play along with us. We’ll try to help you win your Oscar pool!
Watch the Academy Awards with us next Sunday, March 15! Alonso and I will once again be going live on our YouTube channel starting at 330pm Pacific time, and the show begins at 4. This was so much fun last year, and this year it feels like anything could happen. I’ll have a link for that in next week’s newsletter.
Then let’s meet back up on Monday morning to discuss everything that went down on Oscar night. Our reaction livestream will be at 9am Pacific on March 16. Whether or not you can make it on Sunday, let’s get together and chat about all the winners and big moments. I’ll have that link for you next week, too.
Finally, you can hang out with us in person at the Gardena Cinema! Alonso and I will be showing Martin Scorsese’s 1986 comedy “After Hours” on Saturday, March 21. We’ll be there starting at 6pm to hang out and chat with folks, then the movie will begin at 7. It’s Breakfast All Day After Dark. Come support your local arthouse cinema. I’ll have that ticket link for you when it becomes available.
Thank you so much for sharing some of your weekend with me. If you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I hope you’ll share it with someone else. And if someone shared it with you, I hope you’ll subscribe. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.
