A telling moment: after she leaves the pub, there is a close-up of Rory Kinnear doing a Jim-from-The-Office face, played for laughs. But if the entire conceit of the movie is that these lookalike men are a figment of her imagination, why would the audience be privy to their alone-time? I don't think Garland has an answer; he just intended it as a throwaway joke about men not taking women's pain seriously. He didn't stop to consider how it relates to the mythology that he himself created.
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Zoo in Budapest 1933
The zoo = the theater, the animals = characters, and the two lovers = young cinephiles. Lost for a night in the movies, until the people onscreen begin to seem real...
Half-star off for the horrendous copout ending.
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Never Rarely Sometimes Always 2020
"You appreciated the unflinching honesty. Never........rarely.......sometimes........always."
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"You found the protagonist compelling. Never........rarely.......sometimes........always."
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"You thought this film successfully mined tension from its conflict-heavy premise. Never........rarely.......sometimes........always."
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"You find karaoke scenes that double as emotional exposition detestable. Never........rarely.......sometimes........always."
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"You think victimization alone can sustain a feature-length narrative. Never........rarely.......sometimes........always."
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"You find it depressing that something like this is considered one of the best films of 2020. Never........rarely.......sometimes........always."
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Nomadland 2020
Here's a film that extends too much empathy to its characters - or rather, it's so focused on extending empathy it forgets to be a film, i.e. a work of art(ifice). Zhao shoots everything in shallow focus handheld so she can catch the little details of each character's visage - as a result, none of the shots are well-composed, or really composed at all. Just a face and a blurred background. In order to abstain from imposing an artificial plot…
