finneypollard

SNL still has occasional moments of brilliance, and this show had plenty. Unfortunately I had not heard of Nate Bargatze before. I don't know how I missed him. His opening monologue was subdued but hilarious. "Diving donkeys," indeed. I rarely LOL alone, but he was a hoot and a half. Multiple very clever skits, but the jewel was the "Lake Beach" music video, a perfect take on, er, Southern yokel/bumpkin social life (folks whose necks are overly rosy). I'm from there; it was perfect and hilarious. Bonus cameo from the inimitable Christopher Walken who finally is as old as he looks. I'm nearly there; I can say that. And not to be overlooked, real rock by the always great Foo Fighters. This episode was top notch. Kudos all around, 10/10 show credited to Nate B. I'm a total fan now. I came home from the hospital today after a 3-hour mastectomy yesterday. Thanks, Nate. I needed that!

Visually very pretty, I have to admit - scenery and costumes. For the most part Chalamet's Wonka was very appealing, and most of the other actors were good, but nobody quite seemed enthusiastic enough. The story is thin and didn't grab me at all. Characters are too mediocre - need to be more over-the-top for this kind of fantasy. And sadly the music was very, very mediocre. Songs were musically and lyrically simple and didn't really contribute to the overall film. All sounded very similar. Only a couple stood out (Oompa Loompa, Sweet Imagination). You can definitely tell that the additional songs were NOT written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Otherwise it was as if they just slightly tweaked the basic idea over and over to make this feature length. It was occasionally fun, but not enough. Maybe it got more interesting in the second half, but I didn't see any reason to keep watching past about 45 minutes, and that was a stretch. Could've been great, fell very short.

Good film, a little disjointed, plodding at times, and a tough, dark story. The lottery win was presented in snippets throughout the film, which was a little frustrating (kept wondering if I had blinked and missed something until at least halfway through). I lived all over Texas for twenty years, and I do feel they captured the West Texas vibe well, although the location overall was less important than the story itself. Wardrobe was also perfect. Film a solid 7/10.

But here's the thing: Andrea Riseborough's performance was truly the best I have ever, ever seen. Absolutely 10/10. I'm a grownup (and then some), and I've watched movies for decades and decades. This woman was phenomenal. I have not seen the other nominee's films, but (no offense, y'all) I can't imagine how anybody else could have been any better.

I watched the entire thing mainly because of the exceptional acting by Ms R, as the movie itself unfortunately didn't grab me as much as I'd hoped.

Quirky film, but, damn, the lead actress was phenomenal. Glad I hung in until the finish.

Beautiful job by Andrea Riseborough.