 By Andrew Martinez Cabrera Entertainment Editor “Last night was a movie fr” is a saying I seldom say, and watching the 96th Academy Awards earlier this month was no different. The Oscars felt like a three-hour-long, bloated movie where you already saw the ending coming a mile away. Most of my excitement stemmed from getting my guesses right (anytime Oppenheimer won) or wrong (a la Poor Things). It was like a more tamed version of sports betting, where I ethically assume the endorphin rush is on par. So let me take you back to Hollywood’s biggest night, where Oppenheimer sweep was the talk of the town and we got “I’m Just Ken” stuck in our heads again.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers Kicking off the Oscars was one of my favorite moments of the entire broadcast: Da’Vine Joy Randolph receiving her first Academy Award for Mary Lamb, an elite school’s head chef in The Holdovers. Alongside Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa, her performance stuck out to me because I had seen her in a principally comedic role before on television and here, she perfectly balanced her comedic sensibilities and her dramatic chops. Tearfully accepting her award, already crying earlier when Lupita Nyong’o was introducing her, mentioning that the glasses Randolph’s character wears were the real glasses her grandmother wore, a person in her life who influenced the role. Starting the Oscars was a heartfelt moment where one of my favorite performances of last year was rightfully recognized. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer Continuing the winning streak of Oppenheimer, RDJ won his first Academy Award after previously being nominated three times before for Chaplin and Tropic Thunder. Accepting the award with his trademark, almost exaggerated charismatic act expected from him, RDJ started off his speech with this quip, “I'd like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order.” Towards the end, he addressed Christopher Nolan and the producer of the film, Emma Thomas, saying, “Here’s my little secret: I needed this job more than it needed me. Chris [Nolan] knew it, Emma [Thomas] made sure she wrapped — surrounded me with one of the greatest cast and crews of all time. Emily [Blunt], Cillian [Murphy], Matt Damon ... it was fantastic and I stand here before you a better man because of it. You know, what we do is meaningful, and the stuff that we decide to make is important." RYAN GOSLING’S “I’M JUST KEN” PERFORMANCE (Barbie) One of the most noteworthy/most talked about thing about this year’s Academy Awards wasn’t Best Picture or Best Director but rather a musical event that has already had more of an impact than this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. Ryan Gosling, donning a pink suit, sat mysteriously behind Margot Robbie, already giggling as soon as the first lyrics were muttered. Gosling, singing and making his way across the aisles, pointed the mic towards Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, and Greta Gerwig to sing some of the lyrics. Leading towards the stage (and grabbing the hand of one lucky cameraman) and then on the Dolby stage, a spoof on the “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” sequence from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes unfolded, cumulating on a final dance number where multiple background dancers and a variety of different Kens took the stage to deliver the performance of a lifetime that blew the roof. If it wasn’t already stuck in your head during the summer, it sure was recemented. For some extra enjoyment, please do yourself a favor and watch this video taken by Francesca Scorsese of her father, 81-year-old Martin Scorsese just dancing gleefully, as Gosling takes the stage. BEST LEADING ACTOR - Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Surprising nobody, Cillian Murphy’s momentous performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer took the Oscar home. Having collaborated with Nolan on six different films over twenty years, starting with 2005’s Batman Begins, Murphy had this to say during his speech, “Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, it’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively, satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the last 20 years. I owe you more than I can say, thank you so much.” After shouting how his wonderful cast and crew as well as his family, Murphy concluded his speech, "You know, we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world, so I’d really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere. Go raibh míle maith agaibh." The Irish phrase at the end roughly means “thank you.” BEST LEADING ACTRESS - Emma Stone, Poor Things Now, this was my biggest shocker of the night. Just two days prior, I watched Poor Things and Past Lives back-to-back in the theater, and while I thought Emma Stone was good, I was sure that Lily Gladstone had it in the bag for Killers of the Flower Moon for her role as Mollie Burkhart. As I say that, I’m sure Emma Stone thought the same thing when Michelle Yeoh called her name when a look of shock came across her face, which in a way is weird because of how much she campaigned for it during awards season. Trying to take control of her anxiety, stumbling over her words and admitting her anxiety, she said to the audience, “Yorgos [Lanthimos, Poor Things’ director] said to me, ‘Please take yourself out of it,’ and he was right, because it’s not about me,” Stone said. “It’s about a team that came together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. And that is the best part about making movies, is all of us together. And I am so deeply honored to share this with every cast member, with every crew member, with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film.” She ended her speech thanking her family, ending with a joke about her broken dress. BEST DIRECTOR - Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer If Murphy secured the bag, then Nolan winning his first Oscar was also inevitable. Nolan took home the Academy Award after being nominated for the second time for Best Director, previously for 2017’s Dunkirk. Accepting the award from another award-winning director, Steven Spielberg, Nolan started with a somewhat profound and shocked retrospection, “To the Academy — movies are just a little bit over 100 years old. We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.” “What Happened?” – OPPENHEIMER WINS ‘BEST PICTURE’ Ending the night was the moment that sealed the internet joke that is Oppenheimer Sweep. Introducing the award was none other than the legendary Al Pacino in celebration of the 50 years since The Godfather Part II. Instead of reading all of the nominees, Al Pacino, in that classic raspy voice and seeming very simply disoriented, announced to the world (and please read it in his voice for the fullest effect): “Ten wonderful films were nominated, but only one will take the award… and I will have to go to the envelope for that,” Pacino said, taking his time to open the envelope. Pacino opens it partially, looks at it for a literal second without building up any tension whatsoever, and matter-of-factly states: “I see Oppenheimer.” No one really reacts at first, then it settles, and a select few begin clapping. It takes a few more seconds for the orchestra to understand what happened, and Ludwig Gorranson’s score begins to swell as a shaky handheld camera rushes towards Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, also a bit confused, but standing up to accept the award. However, my favorite part of all of this is that underneath the hecticness and the crescendoing music, Al Pacino simply goes, “What happened?” before his mic is made quieter. Oppenheimer’s expected win was made special purely because of an old man who seemingly made the job more fun by being informal. My plea for the Oscars is to ask more old people to announce the last award of the night because it seemingly always goes wrong and it is so funnier for it, much more than the written “comedic” bits (*cough* Jimmy Kimmel *cough*).
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 Image c/o NIKO TAVERNISE/WARNER BROS By Matthew Colvin Entertainment Columnist After a two and a half-year long wait that was nearly as torturous as the pain box lead protagonist Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) hand was forced into in the first Dune film, writer/director Denis Villeneuve’s massive, ambitious and oh-so-sandy sequel has arrived. It is bigger, weirder, and more spectacular than the first film in almost every way. Put simply, Dune: Part Two is the sort of film that reminds you exactly why some movies are meant to be seen on the big screen.
Dune: Part Two picks up almost immediately after the ending of Part One, and it doesn’t waste time recapping or expositing what has already occurred on the desert planet of Arrakis. As such, the first film is effectively mandatory viewing if you want to understand the complex plotting and worldbuilding on display here fully. Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) have formed an uneasy truce with Chani (Zendaya), Stilgar (Javier Bardem), and the rest of the Fremen natives of Arrakis as they continue to flee the brutal soldiers of House Harkonnen who seek to snuff them out, ending the bloodline of House Atreides. The sequel feels a deal more fast-paced than its predecessor; Part One concerned itself greatly with set-up, spending much of its runtime on slow-burn worldbuilding and sowing seeds for later plot developments. Many elements that were introduced but not fully realized before are brought to the forefront now, from the Bene Gesserit’s insidious scheming to Paul’s mysterious visions, and since the audience is already familiar with these story threads, Part Two doesn’t have to waste any time before getting straight into the action. On the topic of action, the intense battle sequences between the Fremen and the Harkonnens, ranging from grand battles on fields of sand to intimate, intense duels, are utterly spectacular and account for many of the film’s most visually dazzling moments. As the story plays out, Paul finds himself ascending in the ranks of the Fremen in the name of claiming his role as ‘Lisan al Gaib’, a Messianic figure for the Fremen, while seemingly slowly losing his morals in the process. The central story is effective, largely due to the inherent tragedy it includes; Paul is a good person fighting for the right things, but the power of blind fanaticism overrides his original motivation and turns him into someone almost unrecognizable from who he was at the start of the film. The narrative at the core is powerful, but what truly makes this film astonishing to behold is the craft on display. The use of color, combined with Greig Fraser’s incredible cinematography, keeps the movie consistently beautiful from start to finish. One particularly striking sequence is set on the Harkonnen homeworld, which is so devoid of color that the whole scene looks as if it’s been shot in black and white. Fraser’s team shot the entire sequence with a modified infrared camera, and the footage was converted to monochrome in post, creating an incredibly striking, eerie visual feel. It is this brand of creativity that pervades the entire feature, and those moments of brilliant imagery will stick with viewers long after the credits roll. The sound design is incredibly immersive, made to be experienced in larger theater speakers; and when mixed with Hans Zimmer’s heated, often heart-pounding score, it becomes nearly unmatched. The performances are solid across the board, with a handful of standouts. Chalamet sells Paul’s entire arc over the course of the film exceptionally well, but Rebecca Ferguson’s performance as his zealous mother guiding his political and religious ascension is so gripping that it nearly overshadows him. It is a massive upgrade from her largely underwhelming presence in the first film. Likewise, Austin Butler shines as the new character Feyd-Rautha, an antagonist who would run the risk of being almost cartoonishly evil if it weren’t for how much sheer energy and fun he injects into the role. Dune: Part Two proves that science fiction can thrive just as well as any other genre in the film industry with competent direction and a passionate, skilled team (and the generous $190 million budget probably didn’t hurt either). So hop on your sandworm, get over to a theater, and see this one on the biggest screen you can before it goes streaming, because this film is as cinematic as they come. As it was written.  By Andrew Martinez Cabrera Entertainment Editor Four years ago, a global pandemic shut down the world. On the entertainment front, streaming services dominated the industry and cinemas took a heavy toll. Director Christopher Nolan, a well-known advocate for the movie theater experience, fought for his last film, TENET, to be released in theaters amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Famously, Nolan fought with Warner Bros. to give TENET a proper theatrical release before putting it on MAX, formerly HBO Max. The rift between director and studio was so strong that they parted ways in a public and ugly divorce, causing him to shop his next film, Oppenheimer, to other studios. TENET went on to gross $364 million upon release, making it the first successful theatrical release during the pandemic but failing to break even on its 200 million dollar budget.
Now, in 2024, TENET was given a second life and re-released in theaters. Over the weekend, I got the chance to see it on the biggest screen possible, as it was meant to be seen. TENET, like other Nolan blockbusters, involves time as a central narrative mechanic but takes it to its most convoluted endpoint. Following a spy known only as The Protagonist (John David Washington), he sets out on an international mission only equipped with a secret word, “Tenet,” where he uncovers a mysterious weapon that can bend an object’s entropy, inverting it. With this physics-laced and incentive plot device, Nolan crafts a Bond/La Carré-esque spy film with a time-travel twist that needs to be seen rather than understood, which viewers often mark as its weakness. Usually, I’m a proponent of logistical narratives in film. However, cinema is a visual medium and TENET is one of the best mainstream examples of letting the images wash over you, even if they’re packaged with dense and incomprehensible exposition. It’s one of the few times that the marketing behind a film rang true when they spoke about TENET as something no one had ever seen before. I’d say that TENET makes more sense the more you see it but the less the viewer understands, the better. It is a cinematic trick pulled on viewers, listening to characters intelligently spew out physics jargon while a pulsating synth soundtrack plays in the background and you’re just left there shaking your head and agreeing just to fit in. In pulling a Raymond Chandler, where the plot becomes so labyrinthine that even the author himself doesn’t understand what’s going on, you only become in tune with the images projected. I don’t know why a car is speeding backward on a crowded freeway during a high-octane car chase or why they have to crash a real-life 747 into a freeport in Oslo, but my brain knows that it’s exciting because it’s a practical spectacle. Once “why” ceases from the viewer’s lexicon, TENET connects. To say that TENET lacks a coherent plot and relatable characters yet rather upholds cold, engineer-like precision over the film’s technical aspects misses the whole of what TENET has to offer. Like Oppenheimer, TENET explores a world in which a scientific breakthrough is destined to destroy us, albeit while also having scenes like the protagonist fighting an inverted version of himself. But infused in these action scenes is the message itself, where someone in the dark quite literally has to grapple with the mistakes of the past to correct the future. It’s a paradoxical conundrum driven by a character’s idealism that ramps up to TENET’s emotional catharsis. Nolan is a humanist and the only way he can articulate it is through scientific language and dramatic, large-scale thrillers. He’s an artist communicating his message through spectacle, even if his dialogue can seem formalist to a fault. When a discussion concerning free will’s effect through inversion arises, a scientist of all characters simply talks about inversion as such: “Don’t understand it, feel it.” While we may not understand what a “temporal-pincer movement” is, we do understand the weight of two characters who see their friendship as cyclically tragic and inevitable, a person’s ability to save oneself, and a familial love that connects us all. While it doesn’t reach the emotional apex of his other movies like Interstellar, to say it’s missing any emotion is a misreading. To say that is not emotionally sufficient is arguable but perhaps I am also idealistic in thinking TENET packages all of this pathos. To reduce myself to the simplest conclusion: the film rocks. So watch TENET with open hearts. Don’t just see it, feel it too. |
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