I, Tonya

[center][img width=550]https://imgur.com/7j4Umrp.jpg[/img] [size=14pt][b]I, Tonya[/b] (2017)[/size] [i]"One of the most controversial and talked-about sports events in memory, the women's figure skating competition."[/i][/center] We've reached one of my favorite points in a Marathon like this. I take in what I just watched and look at what's ahead and think I'm in that next level where everything is going to be incredibly good. (This is usually burst a few films later when I'm terribly disappointed in a film I remember loving.) I never expected to be impressed by a film about Tonya Harding, I usually look down on sensational tabloid journalism stories and Craig Gillespie isn't a director I think much of. When I first watched this, I was pretty dazzled by the storytelling, the performances, the editing, effects and soundtrack. While it's not what I would think of as rewatchable, this was my 5th viewing and the best film I've seen in this Marathon so far. [center][img width=500]https://imgur.com/8bAqIX0.jpg[/img] [i]"I thought being famous was gonna be fun. I was loved... for a minute. Then I was hated. Then I was just a punch line. It was like being abused all over again. Only this time, it was by you. All of you. You're all my attackers too."[/i][/center] Few actors have come to define themselves in this decade like Margot Robbie. Bursting into the spotlight with The Wolf of Wall Street, defining comic book character Harley Quinn in a terrible film she's single-handedly spun off into a franchise, and twice Oscar nominated. So breakthrough, blockbusters and credibility in less than 10 years, and she hasn't disappointed yet. Something that becomes very clear when you watch this film multiple times is that while there's an overall jokiness to the film because of conflicting accounts, the portrait of domestic abuse got swept into that when it's actually the most thoughtfully-handled part. Nobody is excused and nobody is given full sympathy for their situation. It's credibly presented how Harding was abused by her mom and carried that into her relationship with Jeff Gillooly whose own youth and upbringing makes him weak and quick to lash out. (Sebastian Stan isn't just excellent, I never thought he had it in him.) The characters are not judged, they are allowed to be true. [center][img width=500]https://imgur.com/HxDDuRh.jpg[/img] [i]"I didn't stay home making apple brown betties. No. I made you a champion. Knowing you'd hate me for it. That's the sacrifice a mother makes."[/i][/center] Allison Janney goes big, but that's who she's playing too. You see someone who only understands the world through how you can manipulate it to suit you, and who sees everyone else's goals as obstacles to knock down. Between the lines Janney's mom believes she loves her daughter and doesn't receive the credit she deserves. It's also weird now to see how committed Paul Walter Hauser is that I thought he was an amateur actor until I saw him play Richard Jewell. I'm going long here so I'll skip over the skating sequences, which are prime examples of invisible effects, slick editing and a soundtrack that can take one move and break it all down so that we get 4 different needle drops in a matter of seconds.

X-Men: Apocalypse

The X-Men films have always been a mixed bag of party terrible and pretty awesome. Sometimes it leans more one way than the other, but except for The Wolverine I've always come out feeling somewhat entertained despite major problems. The reviews on Apocalypse have been mixed to terrible which puts a different perspective on this reaction. Take for example Oscar Isaac. The franchise has done a pretty good job to this point getting high-caliber actors into some rich, complex scenes. Now we have this future acting legend playing the main bad guy and he gets remarkably little to do. (So little, there's a scene showing him working on cool costumes for his four allies while the good mutants are still organizing.) There's a scene with just Isaac and Fassbender and the two have nothing interesting to talk about.

That's all downside and I expected that going in, but that's not all Oscar Isaac gets to do. The buzz of disappointment has set the bar so low that anytime he wasn't shouting to the heavens, which is more often than not, I was delighted. That's a good way of explaining my non-hate for this movie. The entire middle is a lengthy side trip involving Col. William Stryker and three new mutants (Jean Grey, Cyclops and Nightcrawler) attempting to rescue Mystique, Beast and Quicksilver. Disconnected from the main plot, the script puts in everything you want to see in an X-Men movie, like another awesome and hilarious Quicksilver rescue - that joke has not gotten old - and an old (surprise?) favorite returning for some of the most violent action ever seen in the franchise. I'd always heard about the R-rated rage attacks of Wolverine, and they got away with it here. It's like Friday the 13th directed by Robert Rodriguez. The moment also ends with a great line of dialogue.

My favorite mutant

The quantity of special effects is way out of proportion to the story and character. The opening reminded me of The Mummy Returns. (Why does the sunlight look like computer screen? They couldn't get the glow of sunlight correct?) However, Fassbender gets more of an arc here than Days of Future Past, as does McAvoy, who I felt spent too much of the last film feeling sorry for himself. Jennifer Lawrence is above this, but she hasn't checked out. These are actors who can hold the screen, no matter what. Because of them, the series remains more of an actor's showcase than other superhero franchises, including Marvel. The new additions don't do as good of a job, particularly Sophie Turner (Jean Grey) who seems overwhelmed and Alexandra Shipp (Storm), who seems more excited to be in the film, like she won a contest. 

"Not all of us can control our powers."
"Then don't!"

Bryan Singer ends up with a movie that works better as a collection of scenes, but he also brings back one of the key elements that sets this superhero group apart. These aren't the cool kids, like The Avengers. Even though they can do cool things, they are outcasts in society, often picked upon because they're different. Even at Xavier's school, some students call one of the team a freak and in their own insecurity each think the slur is aimed at them. That's powerful and effective stuff that doesn't go unnoticed. This isn't the epic fun of Captain America: Civil War, but it's nowhere near as bad as Batman vs. Superman.
RATING: * * * - Okay

2015 Awards

BEST ACTRESS

1)    Daisy Ridley – The Force Awakens

2)    Lily James – Cinderella

3)    Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

4)    Anne Dorval – Mommy

5)    Sarah Snook - Predestination

6)    Julianne Moore – Maps to the Stars

7)    Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Faults

8)    Ellen Dorrit Petersen – Blind 

9)    Brie Larson – Room 

10) Cate Blanchett – Carol 

                                                                       

BEST ACTOR

1)    Matt Damon – The Martian

2)    Leland Orser – Faults

3)    Michael B. Jordan – Creed 

4)    Hugh Bonneville – Paddington

5)    Paul Dano – Love & Mercy

6)    Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant

7)    Jacob Tremblay – Room 

8)    Antoine-Oliver Pilon – Mommy 

9)    Jason Mitchell – Straight Outta Compton

10) Colin Farrell - The Lobster

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1)    Suzanne Clement – Mommy

2)    Cate Blanchett – Cinderella

3)    Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

4)    Mia Wasikowska – Maps to the Stars

5)    Elizabeth Banks – Love & Mercy

6)    Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina

7)    Kristen Stewert – Clouds of Sils Maria

8)    Rachel Weisz – The Lobster

9)    Rooney Mara – Carol 

10) Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1)    Sylvester Stallone – Creed 

2)    Steve Carell – The Big Short

3)    Harrison Ford – The Force Awakens

4)    Michael Keaton – Spotlight

5)    Nicholus Hoult – Mad Max: Fury Road

6)    Joel Edgerton – The Gift

7)    Chris Ellis – Faults

8)    Oscar Isaac – Ex Machina

9)    Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies

10) Tom Noonan – Anomalisa

BEST ENSEMBLE

1)   The Big Short

2)   The Hateful Eight

3)   Spotlight

4)   Cinderella

5)   Mommy

6)   What We Do in the Shadows

7)   Faults

8)   Straight Outta Compton

9)   The Martian

10) The Lobster

 BEST DIRECTOR

1)    Mommy

2)    Mad Max: Fury Road

3)    The Big Short

4)    Blind

5)    The Hateful Eight

6)    The Martian

7)    Anomalisa

8)    Faults

9)    The Gift

10) Ex Machina

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

1)    Ex Machina

2)    Force Awakens

3)    San Andreas

4)    The Martian

5)    Mad Max: Fury Road

6)    Jurassic World

7)    Avengers: Ultron

8)    Paddington

9)    The Nightmare

10) What We Do in the Shadows

BEST MAKE UP

1)    Mad Max: Fury Road

2)    Ex Machina

3)    Predestination

4)    Carol

5)    The Hateful Eight

6)    Crimson Peak

7)    What We Do in the Shadows

8)    Goodnight Mommy

9)    Cinderella

10) Brooklyn

BEST SOUND

1)    Mad Max: Fury Road

2)    The Hateful Eight

3)    Furious 7

4)    Jurassic World

5)    The Tribe

6)    The Revenant

7)    The Force Awakens

8)    Ex Machina

9)    The Martian

10) San Andreas

BEST SCORE

1)    The Hateful Eight

2)    Mad Max: Fury Road

3)    The Force Awakens

4)    Cinderella

5)    It Follows

6)    Carol

7)    Ex Machina

8)    Sicario

9)    Inside Out

10) Bridge of Spies

BEST ART DIRECTION

1.   Crimson Peak

2.   Cinderella

3.   Mad Max: Fury Road

4.   Carol

5.   The Hateful Eight

6.   The Revenant

7.   The Force Awakens

8.   Kingsman

9.   Krampus

10.  Paddington

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1)    Cinderella
2)    Carol
3)    Mad Max: Fury Road
4)    Crimson Peak
5)    The Hateful Eight
6)    Kingsman: The Secret Service
7)    The Duke of Burgundy
8)    The Force Awakens
9)    Brooklyn
10) Chi-Raq

BEST EDITING

1)    Blind

2)   Mad Max: Fury Road

3)    Mommy

4)    Furious 7

5)    The Force Awakens

6)    The Martian

7)    Sicario

8)   Tangerine

9)    M:I – Rogue Nation

10) The Big Short

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1)    Mad Max: Fury Road

2)    The Revenant

3)    Crimson Peak

4)    Carol

5)    The Good Dinosaur

6)    The Assassin

7)    The Hateful Eight

8)    Cinderella

9)    Chi-Raq

10) Youth

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1)    The Big Short

2)    Mad Max: Fury Road

3)    The Martian

4)    Cinderella

5)    Predestination

6)    Paddington

7)    Spotlight

8)    Room

9)    Straight Outta Compton

10) Steve Jobs

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1)    Mommy

2)    Faults

3)    Blind

4)    What We Do in the Shadows

5)    The Hateful Eight

6)    Maps to the Stars

7)    The Lobster

8)    Anomalisa

9)    Gett

10) Carol

BEST SCENES

1)    Mommy – Wonderwall

2)    Mad Max: Fury Road – First chase

3)    Jurassic World – Pteradyctals on Main Street

4)    Furious 7 – The Heist

5)    Straight Outta Compton – Listening to “No Vasaline”

6)    Pitch Perfect 2 – Underground Battle

7)    Mommy – What might’ve been

8)    Inside Out – Inside other minds

9)    Phoenix – Last Scene

10) The Martian – Rescue

11) Room – The Escape

12) Sicario – Parked Ambush

Most Original Film or Filmmaking

1.    The Tribe

2.    Anomalisa

3.    Chi-Raq

4.    Mad Max: Fury Road

5.    The Lobster

6.    What We Do in the Shadows

7.    Predestination

8.    Blind

9.    Room

10. Ex Machina

11. Wild Tales

12. The Nightmare

13. Inside Out

14. Tangerine

Best 2015 Release Listed as 2014 on IMDB

1.    Mommy

2.    What We Do in the Shadows

3.    Predestination

4.    Faults

5.    Paddington

6.    Blind

7.    Maps to the Stars

8.    Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem

9.    Creep

10. Wild Tales

11. Love & Mercy