Anora was one of the several movies I’ve watched in the spirit of opposition research. It was what I expected, with some nice twists. But given the hype and the controversies about it, I finally decided I should watch it before I started ventilating unfounded opinions about it.
More often than not, movies I watch as opposition research live down to my expectations. This is because I read reviews and watch trailers, so I almost never go in cold. And THAT is why I like 90 percent plus of what I see.
Once in awhile, something takes me by surprise. Babylon is a good recent example. I had read enough fulminations about it to write it off as fundamentally objectionable ... but I kept reading reactions from people I respect who praised it.
Breaking with FR traditions, I decided to watch it for myself.
Yes, it has its flaws. It’s too long, for one thing, and it took me three evenings to sit through it. But at some point, it dawned on me that the cringiest scenes — as online graffiti artists portrayed them — are intended as a scathing satire, an indictment of everything that is wrong with Hollywood.
Once I realized what Damien Chazelle was trying to do, I started to think of it as something like Blazing Saddles where too many of the jokes didn’t quite land. I’m willing to cut him some slack for what he was trying to do. And I really, really liked the sprinkling of sane characters, starting with Manny, who see through the nonsense but are still devoted to making art.
Not a great movie, but its intentions were spot on.
watched Demi Moore in The Substance last week; that was one weird flick. About thirty minutes too long and just degenerated into gratuitous gore and muck at the end.
........
My brother mentioned it iirc he was not impressed and he loves film.