āThereās no place like home.ā
~Ā The Wizard of Oz, 1939Ā
Is that so?
Clearly, Dorothy has never lived through a pandemicā¦ I donāt know about you but I would much rather be battling flying monkeys than hiding from an invisible virus.
As the fun parts of winter are over (Christmas, NYE, my birthday) I think weāre all looking ahead to G&Ts and sunshine. But fear not, there are some great films coming outāIām especially looking forward to Sound of Metal, starring Riz Ahmedāto keep us sane and entertained.
In the meantime, I have a favour to ask. A few people have mentioned that Salty Popcorn ends up in their seldom-seen āPromotionsā tab on Gmail. If youāre a Gmail user, could you take 2 seconds to move this email from āPromotionsā to āPrimaryā?
This will help train the Gmail algorithm, for you and for others, so it knows that you subscribed to Salty Popcorn with the intention of reading it.
Also, feel free to reply to me with your thoughts of my reviews, to make suggestions for future editions, or to simply talk about your favourite film!
Thanks for reading! šš»
Do you know someone whoād like a taste of Salty Popcorn? Feel free to send it on.
Upcoming Releases
Supernova
UK: 5 March // USA: 29 January
Long-term partners Sam (Colin Firth) and Tusker (Stanley Tucci)āthe latter of whom has been diagnosed with early-onset dementiaātake a road trip through England to the Lake District, meeting friends and family along the way.
Minamata
UK: 19 February // USA: 19 February
Based on a true story, Minamata follows American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) as he travels to Japan to research the story of a coastal town being ravaged by mercury poisoning as the result of gross industrial negligence.
Fact(s) of the week
Did you know that in 1940, when The Wizard of Oz was first released in the UK, the BBFC gave it a "for adults only" rating?
Alsoāthis one really blew my mindāToto was paid more ($125* per week) than the actors that played the munchkins, some of whom were paid $50-$100 per week (with their manager, Lew Singer, taking a 50% commission!)
*According to the two inflation calculators I checked, $125 in 1940 is equal to approximately $2,300 in todayās moneyā¦
Review:Ā Pieces of a Woman
Star rating:
3
Worth a watch?Ā
Maybe
Where to watch:Ā
Netflix
Blurb:Ā
Following her tragic home birth, Martha (Vanessa Kirby) finds herself alienated from her husband (Shia LaBeouf), her family and is almost completely detached from life itself.
The review (NO spoilers):
Pieces of a Woman walks a fine line between the greatness of the birth scene and dull disconnect of the aftermath.
The 24-minute labour scene marks a powerful, passionate and harrowing introduction that intimately connects us with the characters and the story we expect to unfold. However, it also sets a precedent that the film struggles to live up to.
Whilst there are moments that come close, the aftermath feels mostly detached and the film itself is brought to a jarringly slow pace. But thatās not to say I didnāt enjoy it, because, for the most part, I did.
For me, the downfall of Pieces of a Woman is that it was overstretched. In its attempt to deeply explore the ripple effect of pain and heartache that follows tragedy, weāre left with a film that only just scratches the surface.
What makes this film stand out is the Oscar-worthy performance from Kirby, as well as the acting of her fellow cast members. Thereās a lot of controversy following Shia LaBeouf in light of recent domestic abuse allegations. Whilst this is, inexcusable on LaBeoufās part, it would be a shameful waste to let him overshadow Kirbyās talent.
Scroll down for the criticās cut and whatās coming in the next issue.
If you likedĀ Pieces of a Womanā¦
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2017 | Amazon Prime
Whilst this takes a more comedic approach to loss, itās far from ālightā. Written and directed by Martin McDonaghāthe mind behind In BrugesāThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri follows a grieving mother (Frances McDormand) as she challenges the local police (Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell) to solve her daughterās murder when they fail to find a culprit.
For the record, this film isnāt really anything like Pieces of a Woman, but if youāve not seen it then nowās the time.
The criticās cut šØSPOILER ALERTšØ:
When I saw the trailer for Pieces of a Woman, I thought the second half would focus on the trial of the back-up midwife Eva (Molly Parker) ā it didnāt. When I realised this, I thought maybe it would instead focus on the crumbling relationship between Martha and Sean - it didnāt, not really. So perhaps instead it would focus on Martha herself and how she deals with the loss of her child? Not quite.
Instead, the film tried to focus on all these factors, as well as the coldness of Marthaās mother (Ellen Burstyn), Seanās infidelity, his alcoholism, the lawyer (and Marthaās cousin) that he cheats with and Marthaās insincere sister (who doesnāt get enough attention in my opinion) and the list goes onā¦
With so much to explore and so little going on, each one of these factors come close to rendering each other meaningless.
But one moment that really stands out for me is when Martha was in court and she said that her daughter smelled like apples ā that is what had me drying my eyes. Suddenly her new obsession had been explained, and to me it felt incredibly intimate.
In the next issue:
Promising Young Woman
UK: 12 February // US: 25 January | Watch the Trailer
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