What begins as a dark joke about the Eucharist at the expense of Catholics is instead transformed, thanks to the fatal earnestness of the writing, into a screed against scripturalism and the ordination of women. So, sort of a misfire.
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The Last Duel 2021
Better than your average Ridley Scott film because the script is not total bunk. In fact, it's pretty good: the choice to bring on Nicole Holofcener to round out the Damon/Affleck collaboration with an actual woman's perspective bears fruit here, and the movie does seem to come alive a bit in the Marguerite chapter. Scott's direction is, though, exactly as prosaic as you'd expect, dutifully transcribing an intelligent story acted with integrity and commitment by the players. While he does…
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Nomadland 2020
The movie aims for a documentary style and represents itself as a hybrid feature; the narrative following Frances McDormand's character Fern has the actress playing scenes alongside an ensemble of nonprofessionals. Some of them share stories of loss and struggle in extreme close-ups that do not feature McDormand, suggesting that her opposite reaction shots have been filmed separately and spliced together with the monologues. As well, the non-monologue scenes present themselves as self-conscious displays of spontaneity: every interaction between characters…
