With the Actor Awards finally behind us, we now turn our movie attention to next weekend’s Oscars. So here’s my third, and final, installment of my Mini Movie Reviews. (If you missed the first two, you can still read them here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-i, and here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-ii.)

In case you didn’t realize this, the nominees vary a bit from awards show to awards show. I will try to see the few that didn’t overlap with the Oscars in the next two weeks, so if I have any pressing thoughts on those few, I’ll most likely just tweet them out. (I’m @MajorCelebrity, in case you’d like to follow me now.)

However, Mr. X and I were obligated to force ourselves to continue watching these mostly-not-fun films because we had to vote for the Actor Awards, (the former SAGs,) which took place last weekend. I’m a big believer in fairness, so I insisted on viewing all the performances, no matter how unworthy of awards most of them are.

But I’m afraid that the spate of lackluster films for this year continues. If I did not firmly adhere to those fair voting practices, I would have quit most of the flicks in the first ten minutes or so. The only movie I really enjoyed, (except for the occasional sadness in it,) is Song Sung Blue. So let’s begin with that one:

Song Sung Blue—Outside of the ending sadness, which isn’t even true, this was my favorite movie of the year, and the most normal one.

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue.

For those nescients among you who think this is a Neil Diamond biopic, (I’ve read that error from people who have even seen the film, which is just insane,) it definitely is not! It’s the true (to a point) story of a couple in Milwaukee who do a Neil Diamond “tribute band” beginning in the late ’80s.

I was shocked at how good Kate Hudson is in it; she’s just about perfect. Now I’m glad she’s received so many nominations for the role. And my long-lasting crush, Hugh Jackman, should have definitely been nominated, as well. It’s a shonda that he has not been.

Now I can’t wait to see the 2008 documentary about the couple on which this fictionalized is based, but that endeavor will have to wait until after the Oscars because my dance card is full until then.

Wicked: For Good—Even having seen the stage musical…*twice, I still had no idea what the premise of this second part of the Wicked story is. They should have not broken the one Broadway show up into two films; that was greedy of them. This second half really needed the thing they do at the beginning of TV series’ episodes, where they show us the highlights of “previously on…” So I had to stop the movie halfway through and look-up what was going on with it.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked: For Good.

*[Note: Even though other commitments made me miss the Opening Night the first time Wicked was out here in LA, I saw it a few weeks later, in order to review it on my TV show. And my old pal Adam Lambert was in it…in the chorus! Don’t ask. But it was soooo disappointing. I didn’t need to ever see it again, but I knew that two of my friends in New York wanted to see it on Broadway when I was visiting, and I had an in for tickets, so I was happy to take them to the musical. But even those two usual Pollyanas didn’t care about the show!]

It is very visually interesting, and—I’m surprising even myself to say this—Ariana Grande is really lovely in it. So there’s that. I began watching it just because she was nominated, so, in my fair mind, I had to, but I wound-up wanting to finish it, perhaps just to hear Ariana and Cynthia Erivo sing For Good, which is a beautiful and powerful song. I haven’t stopped singing it in my mind for weeks now!

Hamnet—As Mr. X declared, this is superior filmmaking. But I say mostly—get the F out of here with it! (I’ll elaborate in the next paragraph.)

Even though I’m not a fan of this one, the two boys in it are revelations. And they’re brothers in real life. Jacobi Jupe plays the young, (about eleven years old) son, the titular Hamnet, while his older brother Noah Jupe plays the lead actor of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. After I saw the movie, I realized that Noah was also the wonderful young actor who had played Nicole Kidman’s son in 2020’s The Undoing! I had lauded him in a couple of articles back then, and am shocked it’s taken this long for him to get to the forefront of moviegoers’ consciousness. And little Jacobi’s performance is like he’s channeling a grown-up great actor; it’s almost haunted.

I do love this image of Hamnet near the end ofthe film.

But the movie is a mess. Just as its director Chloe Zhao’s hair always is. The lead character, Agnes, (Shakespeare’s wife, although they never once mention his last name, and refer to him as, “Will” just once, near the end,) wore one dress for the entire many-years-long film. (Or perhaps iterations of it, which is almost equally crazy.) And the couple never ages over the many years, although they both work outside, (with no sunscreen,) and lose a child, which ages you immediately.

And worst of all…the story is false! About a real-life person who was a cultural icon!!! That’s inexcusable. They also never make the years known, so all the action is a confusing jumble. And it’s hard to figure-out where everyone is living. Or why anyone’s upset. And why it seems to be perpetually summer, in England, of all places! And why the wife had to be lying down to have one of the twins, but then have to sit on a “birthing stool,” (or some such name,) to have the other one a minute later. Also, what ever happened to Shakespeare’s father? He was there one minute, then totally disappeared from the narrative!

I hate movies that are not clear. It’s just so pretentious of the writer and director.

Weapons—I watched this odd film the same night as The State of the Union Address, and this horrific movie was less of a horror than what Orange Hitler had to say!!!

Amy Madigan in Weapons.

But outside of that, despite all the excellent performances, and interesting presentation for the first half, Mr. X and I wound-up hating it. It totally fell apart near the end, seeming like the writer/director just got tired of figuring-out how to wrap it all up, and threw a bunch of horror movie cliches at the audience.

But just about everyone in the cast, especially Benedict Wong as the school Principal, is excellent in it.

Bugonia—Yet another movie that I hated with every fiber of my being! This is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, possibly even worse than Sinners, actually.

How the heck is it labeled a “black comedy” and a “thriller?!” It’s neither. It’s more horror than anything. By now I realize that Emma Stone and her director buddy, Yorgos Lanthimos, are just creepy weirdos. Upon researching the film, (in the middle of watching it, actually, because it was so awful that I needed a break,) I discovered that it’s a remake of a 2003 South Korean film, but that fact does not excuse this disturbing duo from foisting it on the public. They owe us all our time back.

(Bottom L-R) Emma Stone, Aidan Delbis, and Jesse Plemons in the insanely-named, (even though we can all look up the meaning,) Bugonia.

But Jesse Plemons is wonderful in it. It’s a shame the Academy Award voters didn’t see fit to nominate him for an Oscar, as he has been for the Actors and the Golden Globes.

And Aidan Delbis, as Jesse’s autistic cousin, is good, although I have a feeling that, unlike Leonardo DiCaprio’s incredible performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, he’s just playing himself.

And that’s it for my 2026 film reviews. I really hope that next year’s are better, but with everyone trying to be so “different” in show biz, I don’t have much optimism on the subject.

The Oscars aren’t until next Sunday, March 15th, so you all have time to follow me on Twitter (or X) @MajorCelebrity before then. (If you don’t already, of course.) After what is sure to be a crazy and exhausting few days before the awards show, I’m looking forward to just sitting in front of the television and live-tweeting it all for you guys! May the best people win.

I had to pause my pre-Golden Globes movie-viewing last month because the films were all so depressing that I felt my soul being squashed down!!!

So now that I’ve had a bit of a breather, I had to dive back into them so I can vote fairly for the upcoming Actor Awards, which is the new name for the SAGs this year. (Kind-of a stupid/pretentious change, I know.)

But at least it gives me the chance to steer you guys in the right directions. So here is my second batch of Mini Movie Reviews of the 2026 films, most of which have at least one nomination for someone or something in one awards-bestowing organization or another. (If you missed the first bunch, you can still read about them here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2026-part-i.)

As I did in Part I, I’m summing each one up with one word, followed by a few brief (for me) thoughts in specific. I’ll go worst, (and I do mean worst,) to first this time.

Sinners—Weird. And horrible.

This is truly one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen! It’s like one veeeery long SNL skit—a mashup of an old-time Southern black experience story and…vampires. To paraphrase Trevor Noah’s every-few-seconds dramatic queries while hosting the recent Grammys—Are they kidding me?

Sinners.

For those who have been fortunate enough to have missed this one—I’m not exaggerating. Sinners is a horror vampire story taking place in the very racist south, (Mississippi, to be exact,) in 1932!!! Who thought of this??? It actually makes Frankenstein look like a comedy!

I noticed in the credits that the company had an “Emotional Wellness Coordinator” listed. Yeah, they needed one…just for the audience!!! Me in particular. Because of all the graphic sex talk, (and an act or two, as well,) this is not appropriate for young people. Or me! (Oh no—I just also noticed that Sinners is also being presented on IMAX! So it does get worse!)

I’m sure the story was meant as an allegory or metaphor for something, but its meaning escapes me. And I don’t want to spend any more time on it.

And there’s a dance an hour in that is one of the stupidest things I’ve seen in film. The jumping to the future, totally out of context, would usually have bothered me, but at that point, I just really didn’t care at all. But the scene is worse than even my worst dance club night! And that’s sayin’ somethin’.

I don’t know the exact politically correct way to state this next sentiment, but I feel all those Oscar nods, (a record-setting sixteen,) are to make-up for all the years that movie awards, specially the Oscars, have been considered “so white.” (Remember the social media movement, declaring “#OscarsSoWhite”? It’s been going on for eleven years now!) I don’t agree with either situation—works should be judged solely on their merit, not their race, not the reputations of the people involved, (such as white director Paul Thomas Anderson, whose film this year, One Battle After Another, is almost as dreadful as this one, yet it keeps winning awards, as well.)

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You—Waste-of-time.

This one is actually a supreme waste of time. Except that Rose Byrne is great, and is such a pretty woman.

The extreme close-ups are sooooo annoying! The whole time, I felt like they were doing that Martin Short 60 Minutes spoof from SNL.

A$AP Rocky, (whose handsome self was a fun surprise in the film,) and Rose Byrne.

And what’s up with the silly ultra-long title??? I had assumed it was about the struggles of a woman in a wheelchair. No lie. (I still have no idea what’s up with that title.)

And how is this even close to being a comedy??? I think nominating committees don’t know the definition of “comedy.”

I’ve read all kinds of artistic excuses as to why the young, sick daughter is never shown, but I say it’s because the producers knew better than to exploit an emancipated child. You can fake sickly-looking on film, but not anorexic-being. (They never explain the kid’s malady, but she needs a feeding tube, and doesn’t eat otherwise, and the doctor keeps saying she has to gain weight, so it can’t be anything simple.)

Blue Moon—Interesting-yet-boring.

This story of one night in the life of old school Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart is semi-true, possibly enough.

Andrew Scott and Ethan Hawke as songwriting team Rodgers and Hart in Blue Moon.

I haven’t seen Ethan Hawke in anything, (that I can remember, anyway,)* but he’s really excellent in this one, playing Hart. He has to carry the entire film, doing practically a ninety-minute monologue! (Who does he think he is—me???) *[Note: After I wrote this article, I researched Hawke’s films. And out of his four decades of constant movie-making, I’ve seen only 1999’s Snow Falling On Cedars and 2001’s Training Day. And I don’t even remember him in either!]

But, as good as he is, he totally reminded me of Andy Cohen on New Year’s Eve. (If Anderson Cooper had played the bartender, everyone would see the comparison.)

Blue Moon really seems like more of a play than a movie. So I assumed it had already been, but the answer is no, it has not. But if it ever is produced as such, it cannot star Ethan Hawke. And that’s not because he’s a movie star, or too busy, or hates doing live shows, or is just not interested, but rather due to the fact that he’s normal height! Hart was 4’11”! (I dare you to find more than a couple of photos of him standing next to anyone!) Movie magic made Hawke look diminutive, but that cannot be done on stage. This just might be a vehicle for the talented Peter Dinklage, though!

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery—Tedious.

Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig.

This was the only current movie, (in the Fall, when awards season began,) I had even a drop of interest in seeing because it was a whodunit from the Knives Out franchise. But even it was a disappointment.

And it’s not nominated for anything, so I should have just passed.

In all three of the Knives Out movies, I’ve felt that Daniel Craig is thinking how good he is at being an (unnecessarily) Southern detective. And he is actually not. Good at it, that is.

Marty Supreme—Good!

Even though this is the longest of the bunch, it’s the most entertaining. And it’s a normal sort-of film, which I like better. We can basically follow it, and the action is linear, which makes it more enjoyable.

However, (and this is a major “but,”) almost none of the story is true, even though it’s about a real-life ping-pong champion from back in the day! If you read enough materials on it, you’ll discover that the creatives refer to the story as “a fictionalized original,” saying it’s not meant to be a biopic. But most viewers won’t research the topic, as I incessantly do, for just about everything. So the writers and producers are doing an injustice to not only the subject, (the late Marty Reisman in real life,) and his family and friends, but to the movie-going public! And to history!

But there are two very impressive aspects of Marty Supreme. One is that Timothee Chalamet is actually doing the complex ping-pong playing! He trained for years for it! So good for him. He’s a tough kid.

Marty Supreme.

The other is that even my critical-of-looks self believed that Timothee’s bad skin in the film is real! (But, sadly, his bad teeth are.) I read that even Gwyneth Paltrow, with whom he has sex in a few scenes, (meaning that she saw his skin as up-close as one can,) was fooled—she advised him what to do to get rid of acne!

But, very annoyingly, there is sooo much weird stunt casting! None are necessary, especially creepy Fran Drescher, (as Marty’s mother,) and also-creepy Sandra Bernard, (as her caregiver or something,) except that those two characters are also creepy. (or it actually might just be that the actors personalities come through!) And although the man from Shark Tank, (Kevin O’Leary,) is perfectly despicable as his character, (as he appears to be in real life,) I hate it when actors lose jobs to non-actors.  It reminded me of a small confrontation I had over a dozen years ago with a famous director on his same decision of hiring non-actors. So, now that I’m at the end of this set of Mini Movie Reviews,) here’s that intense personal story:

After seeing Reitman’s Up In The Air in a Screen Actors Guild screening, (which means we were all actors and our guests,) star George Clooney and director Jason Reitman were doing a Q-and-A with the audience. Jason was proudly boasting that, instead of actors, he had used many “real people,” as he put it, who had been fired in real life, as the fire-ees in the film. But he was bragging about that to a theatre full of actors!

Even though I never participate in these post-screening Q-and-As, I very bravely (and nicely) asked him, “Don’t you feel a little funny to announce to a room full of mainly unemployed actors that you hired so many non-actors instead of us???” He obnoxiously answered that he wouldn’t have gotten the lines that these real-life fire-ees came up with had he used actors. I was dying to chime in again and ask if he didn’t know that half of us do improv and may have come up with something even better! Or that most of us have been fired in our lives, most likely even from acting jobs!!! We know the experience more than most!

Reitman didn’t even want to answer me to begin with, but George Clooney made him, saying, “Wait now–the girl deserves an answer.” I’m just glad that he saw me as still young-looking enough to be categorized as a girl!

You can read my final-for-the-season batch of Mini Movie Reviews after the Olympics, when I will force myself to watch the rest of the nominees.

Once Christmas was over, and with it went all the Hallmark holiday films that Mr. X and I had watched almost exclusively for over a month, we were free to finally start seeing some of this awards season’s contenders.

And we actually have to watch some of them so that we can vote fairly in a month for the Actor Awards, which is the dumb new moniker for the former SAGs.

Let’s get started on these mini movie reviews for 2016!

So here is my first batch of mini reviews. (I have sooo many more, but I wanted to get this crop out before the Golden Globes this coming Sunday, without over-burdening you.)

And let me tell you—I wasted waaaay too many hours on these. I’m so glad that I’ve chosen to watch most films at home this year, rather than at industry screenings. It’s bad enough taking those hours to see the films, (most are very long this season, though I can’t figure out why,) but since the pandemic lockdown, I can’t abide spending those extra hours surrounding the screenings—getting ready, having to arrive at least one hour early, (and standing in line for the privilege of doing so!,) listening to some of the actors talk after, (I’ve even turned-down ones with Hugh Jackman, my now-only celebrity crush, speaking!,) and then traveling home. And most importantly, we have closed captions at home, which trust me, we need for most of the mumbling actors these days!

I haven’t seen even one performance that’s worthy of even a nomination for anything so far! And I had not one drop of interest in seeing any of these. (I was a tad curious to see the new Knives Out, which has no nods that I know of, but even that was a big disappointment, which I’ll tell you about next week in Part II.)

I’ll begin with giving each one a one-word review, and then follow that up with a few more thoughts. But my word for them overall is definitely “uninspiring.”

One Battle After Another—Unwatchable.

Leonardo DiCaprio.

As much as I adore Leonardo DiCaprio, I couldn’t get past the first fifteen minutes of this nauseating dud. When Teyana Taylor’s character insisted that Sean Penn’s character get a boner for no reason, with no one touching him, not even himself, I almost threw-up. And gave up.

I learned later that it’s directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, whose work I usually detest, (especially his most recent, the inane Licorice Pizza,) and this one is no different. (But I will have to force myself to see the rest of it before voting for the Actor Awards because the actors in it received nods in all five of those categories! And you know how into fairness I am. So I won’t allow myself to vote until I see all the nominated performances, no matter how nauseating the films.)

Jay Kelly—Cliche-city.

Or “draining”; it’s your choice for which one word describes this one the most.

And there are so many continuity issues. For example, at one point George Clooney has a blue gift box with a new sweater in it, and he takes it with him when he leaves a dinner party. But in the very next contiguous scene, he’s instead carrying some form of big, flat, artwork container instead of the gift box! And then—poof, it totally disappears altogether!

Jay Kelly in the Italian forest.

There’s also some weird craziness, such as the character choosing to walk through not only a forest, but an unfamiliar one, at that, by himself at night, which is crazy to begin with, but he also got cell phone reception in it!

I hadn’t known before I saw it that it was directed by another man whose work I’m not a fan of—Noah Baumbach. Ugh. I should have realized it as soon as I realized that his wife, Great Gerwig, plays Jay’s manager’s wife in it.

After the Hunt—Confusing.

Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield in this utter depress-fest.

This was my fourth dud in a row, which made me decide that I’d probably do better with *KPop Demon Hunters!!! And once again, I didn’t realize that this was directed by yet another one I’m not a fan of—Luca Guadiagnino, who previously helmed the very creepy Call Me By My Name. Another critic, Peter Bradshaw, wrote of it, “Luca Guadagnino misfires with this bafflingly overlong, overwrought #MeToo campus accusation drama,” and labeled the screenwriting “worryingly muddled and contrived,” and the characterizations “unfocused.” I wish I had thought of those perfect descriptors!

*[Note: I could not get through the animated KPop Demon Hunters, either. Mr. X begged to stop about ten minutes in, just as I was trying to understand it. I wanted to at least hear its song, Golden, which I have a feeling will win some awards. I actually love it!]

Frankenstein—Stunning.

But, to continue on an “s” theme, sort-of studied and surely slow.

However, I still see several Oscars coming their way.

Jacob Elordi as the Monster. Shocking, isn’t it?

And I must say that I was almost astounded by the fabulous physicality of Jacob Elordi. Who would have thought that that cute, young guy was capable of that performance??? Well, I guess that Guillermo del Toro did! You go, boys!

I could tell the score was composed by Alexandre Desplat because the music was so beautiful and distinguished.

Outside of those pluses, and the gorgeous sets and cinematography, The story itself is pretty muddled and hard to follow at times. I had never seen any version of Frankenstein, outside of “Young,” so I actually had to research it later that night.

Sorry, Baby—Creepy.

This is supposed to be a comedy, yet I had to watch a Dateline after it to cheer myself up! There’s not one laugh, nor even a chuckle, in it. It’s just totally depressing.

Sorry to ME for have forced myself to watch this one!

Perhaps they think my name is “Baby,” because they really do owe me an apology for wasting my time!

I guess the writer, Eva Victor, (who’s also the director and star,) gets off on saying the f-word in its sexual meaning, (as opposed to us New Yorkers who just say it every other word, as a filler,) and foisting it on others. There are other ways to express that act, such as “did you sleep with him,” instead of using that one word ad nauseam.

But that’s just one little complaint about the movie—it’s a bore-fest to begin with, and so much of it is left way too unclear, such as if the two women were sexual partners during their graduate school years. Plus, Eva delivers every single line in the same boring flatlining style that it was very hard to watch. Mr. X fell fast asleep during it, which is the only good thing about it—he really needed that rest!!!

Train Dreams—Purposeless.

I dream of a world where I haven’t seen this film!

Mr. X and I kept asking each other what’s it’s about!!! And still never got the answer by the end. So I’m saving you the time.

And lastly, I will try my best to tweet my thoughts on the Golden Globes on Sunday as they go along, because I may not have time to review them officially in my upcoming birthday week! However, the show is on against the football play-offs, so I haven’t yet decided which to give up watching live. Just in case, my Twitter handle is still @MajorCelebrity.

This is the third and final installment of my Mini Movie Reviews of some of this year’s nominated films. They have nods not just for the all-important (to those in the movie biz) Oscars, but also the recent Golden Globes and Critics Choice, and this weekend’s SAG Awards, the entity for which Mr. X and I vote.

There should be an “s” at the end of this sign for this column!

The SAGs are actually the reason I see so many films, most of which I definitely did not want to see this year! But I feel it’s just not right to vote unless you’ve seen all the performances, (and stunts, in our case,) and all the tech categories for many of the other guilds and academies.

As a matter of fact, the nominating committees could not have possibly seen The Substance or else it would never have received any nods, or in some cases already, wins for Demi Moore!

And let me not bury the lead—Sing Sing is by far the best film of this year! I had been invited to about fifteen screenings of it, but a prison film with an all-male cast did not call out to me, so I passed every time. But in the interest of fairness, once Colman Domingo was nominated for a SAG Award for his performance in it, I had to force myself to see it before I voted. I’m glad I did because it is soooo powerful! The rest of my mini review is a few paragraphs down.

But here are my thoughts on this final batch before the SAGs this Sunday, once again in the order in which we watched them:

The Brutalist—This was more than disappointing; I had such high hopes for it. Mr. X said, “The movie is as stupid as the credits” which are sideways and crooked!!! There are soooo many holes. And way too many different accents.

If it were a true story, that would be one thing.  But it’s a weird convoluted made-up tale, which is just tedious and confusing, and means nothing.

The Brutalist.

I was pretty shocked at just how meh it is.  After the first three hours, (that’s right—it’s way over three hours!,) I told Mr. X that I didn’t find it special, thinking that he’d tell me I missed the significance. But, to my surprise, he totally agreed, which made me feel better.

I’m a fan of Adrien Brody, but he definitely does not deserve all the awards he’s been getting this season for this performance. Just sayin’. Even industry peeps are sheep, in this case fooled by the length of the film, I feel.

And by the way, even though this movie is brutal, on several levels, the title refers to the type of architecture the main character is known for. You’re welcome for clearing that up.

Deadpool and Wolverine—I had no idea what was going on at all the entire time, but I always love seeing Hugh Jackman, my last remaining celebrity crush. And let me tell you—Hugh absolutely gives it his all! And in a means-nothing movie, to boot. (In the middle of one particularly emotional scene for him, Mr. X actually declared, “Winner!,” even though, of course, Hugh is not nominated for anything.)

Deadpool and Wolverine.

In addition to Hugh being so good, the movie is often amusing, mainly with fourth-wall-breaking lines. I’ve always thought Ryan Reynolds is funny, but I just can’t get behind him right now with all the name-calling and legal-haggling between his very creepy wife, Blake Lively, and her recent director/co-star, Justin Baldoni. All the drama is making Ryan look not very good.

A Complete Unknown—This was more interesting than I had expected. I actually didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never known much about Bob Dylan except that I once saw him in concert from the front row center, (because I took a close friend for her birthday, not because I wanted to see him,) his son lives not too far from me, he occasionally appeared on the Chabad Telethon when I did, and…he once asked one of my best friends to marry him!!! And I once read that he liked his women to look a bit dirty. Eww.

Timothée Chalamet was shockingly good as Dylan. I soooo admire that he not only learned to sing like the music star, but to play guitar! That is soooo impressive. I thought that I was going to vote for him until I saw Colman Domingo in Sing Sing.

Timothee Chalamet and Edward Norton in A Complete Unknown.

I’m definitely voting for supporting actor Edward Norton. But why in the world was Monica Barbaro, who played Joan Baez, nominated for not just a SAG but an Oscar??? She did basically nothing but sing a bit! That is one of the most head-scratching nods in history. Knowing she was nominated for a few awards was actually distracting—I kept waiting for her to have at least one moment that made me say, “Wow,” but it never came. She didn’t do anything wrong; it was just a nothing part to begin with.

Sing Sing—There is no comparison—this is hands-down the best film of the year! With the best cast. My mind is blown.

It’s the tale of a prison acting program. As it went along, I told Mr. X this must be a real story, or else they would have made it a fictional prison, not the most famous one, Sing Sing. And it turns-out that it is all true.

Even though the “actors” were all perfect, I said that, outside of the star, Colman Domingo, they must be the real guys because I had never seen any of them before. But how can so many amateur actors be that good??? That real-life program must be some great teacher. I once auditioned for a TV show to play…myself! No kidding—it had my name on the breakdown! But guess what? I did not get the part. To play myself!!! So I know how hard it is to do so, especially for non-pros.

The cast of Sing Sing.

As far as Mr. Domingo goes, he is really brilliant in this one. It can’t be easy to work with mostly non-professional actors, especially all the emotional scenes with Clarence Maclin, playing his then-incarcerated self. It’s all mind-boggling.

There’s so much to say about this story, but since these are mini reviews, I heavily suggest you research the movie a bit for yourselves, whether you even see this movie or not. You will be amazed. Let me just say, the real John “Divine G” Whitfield, (who co-wrote and co-produced this film,) spent more than twenty-four years in prison for a murder he did not commit! I’m sick over it. I hope all this success now helps him heal more than a bit.

The Piano Lesson—There is no weak link in this one. Every member of the cast is excellent. And interesting. I’m thrilled that Danielle Deadwyler is nominated for a SAG Award, while disgusted that she didn’t get an Oscar nod.

And John David Washington was outstanding! He talked faster than I do the whole time, which is impressive in itself, but he did it all in a spot-on Southern accent! The interesting thing to me is that I didn’t know the actor’s name as the film was going along, but I was really enjoying his performance. I was wondering where they found such a good unfamiliar actor. And then, in just one short sentence of his, I thought he sounded like Denzel Washington a bit. And I immediately realized that he’s…Denzel’s son! And his other son directed, while Denzel and one of his daughters were on the producing team. What a creative family affair.

The cast of The Piano Lesson, around the controversial piano.

Meanwhile, The Piano Lesson is the movie version of a very famous 1987 August Wilson play. Not a fun story, but an interesting one.

The one funny thing for Mr. X and me is that we saw a couple of Wilson’s plays many years ago, and we got this one confused with his Two Trains Running, so the entire time we watched the movie, we kept waiting for a character to say, “I want my ham!” Samuel L. Jackson’s character mentioned being a ham early on in the narrative, and one of the guys in it seemed a tad slow, as the ham-wanter we remembered is, so we assumed we had the correct play. I can’t believe we were disappointed to not hear a line we’ve been talking about for a few decades now!

Wicked—First let me say that I’m not a fan of the stage musical of Wicked. It’s not bad, but I’ve seen it three times, (two here in LA, once on Broadway,) and just don’t love it like so many people do. So I saved this film for last. [Note: If I had seen it any time earlier, I would have done a full review of it on its own—there’s so much more to say about it that I can in a mini review!]

I totally recognize the gargantuan effort that went into making it. But when I asked Mr. X how it could not be winning every Best Picture, (or any actually,) he said, “It lacks magic.” But then he loved Jeff Goldblum, (about whom I’ll tell you my fun personal story in a minute,) but that was just a minute or so of his dancing. So he was not loving the movie.

My main annoyance is not about the movie itself, but this discrepancy: how can Ariana Grande, (who’s using her full birth last name, Grande-Butera, in the credits,) be nominated as the Supporting Actress, when Cynthia Erivo gets the nods as Best Actress??? They could not be more equal! They even have that “Favored Nations” billing. It’s insane. I want to know who put her in this category!

Wicked.

Also annoying is this: I know that they want to make the money for two films instead of just the one Wicked should have been, but it’s just crazy to make it into two parts—this one and the second one next year. And, at two hours and forty minutes, Part I is waaaay too long. It got tedious very fast. We had to keep pausing it to take breaks. (Thank goodness we watched it at home and not in a theatre!)

But the dance scenes are amazing, the sets and even graphic designs are stunning, and above all, Ariana is wonderful! I knew she could sing, but her work here is a revelation. And who knew she was such a good little actress?

But it was really enough already. Now I’ll have to wait until next year to hear the ladies sing my favorite song from this show, For Good.

Speaking of something good, here’s my Jeff Goldblum story: I had been doing my local TV show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, for a couple of years, and was at an industry screening, when the big hand of the guy behind me reached out and grabbed (in a nice way) my shoulder. I turned around and there was Jeff, asking me, “Are you that girl on TV?” When I said yes, he said, “Oh, you’re marvelous,” in his inimitable Jeff Goldblum way. We talked for a few minutes after the movie, and that was that.

And then about a decade later, three of my besties and I were at a club to see Jeff and his jazz band, the drummer of which my friend knew. She and I were standing there before the show, when Jeff came over to me, and asked if I remembered that we met! I was so shocked that I couldn’t even talk, so, thinking that I did not remember, he told me the whole origin story that I just related here. I can’t tell you how impressed my friend was. She ran over to the other girls and shouted, “Jeff Goldblum loves Karen!!!”

And that’s a wrap for my 2025 Mini Movie Reviews! So lastly, (and perhaps most importantly,) let me tell you that I hope to live-tweet at least some of the SAGs, especially the arrivals, this Sunday. (And I’ll do it all again next Sunday for the Oscars.) I’m @MajorCelebrity on that platform, so if you don’t already follow me, you may want to do that right now. One of my Super Bowl tweets received over five thousand views, so you don’t want to be the only one to miss-out on my bon mots!

I wish some of our screens had been empty, too, instead of the movies we saw!

This second crop of films I’m reviewing, which each have at least one Oscar or SAG nomination, (of course—why else would I be reviewing them for you?,) is pretty much yin and yang. (If you missed Part I of my Mini Movie Reviews, here’s the link to it: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2025-part-i.)

But in general, I’m realizing that there are not many really excellent movies this year, at all. The only one that’s actually good, Anora, is basically porn with a story. I wish I had the memory erase pill for at least a couple of them.

So let’s get to my mini reviews right now, so I can start forgetting them! (I’m once again going in the order that I saw them, in case that makes any difference to my opinions.)

Emilia Perez—Run, don’t walk, away from this movie. All during it, Mr. X and I kept saying how weird it is. It’s not very good to begin with, and the attempt at making it a musical is just annoying. It took us three—count them, three—sittings to finish it!!!

Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon in Emilia Perez. If only the rest of the movie was as pretty as this one scene!

But I was impressed that Zoe Saldana is not only a fluent Spanish-speaker, but can act in a second language. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her act in English!!! But she’s pretty good in this one. And Selena Gomez doesn’t have her same dumb voice in Spanish that she does in English. So those are positives.

Besides that Zoe Saldana is the lead actress of this film, as opposed to the supporting category she’s been relegated to for the entire awards season, and the fact that supposed lead Karla Sofia Gascon has been consistently nominated as Best Actress, (meaning the lead one,) when her role, despite being the title one, is actually supporting, there’s a much more serious new controversy in regard to the latter woman. And that is that racist, Islamophobic, and just plain old offensive former tweets of hers surfaced, infuriating just about everybody. There was supposedly even one about her future co-star Selena Gomez, which she claims is fake. (It reads, ““She’s a rich rat who plays the poor bastard whenever she can and will never stop bothering her ex-boyfriend and his wife.”)

The whole debacle is extra-odd because Karla herself is transgender! (She was an absolutely gorgeous man, by the way, but that’s a story for another time, which is most likely never.) Voters in the Academy and guilds are basically “woke” these days, so they might have been tempted to vote for Karla because of her transgender sitch, (she’s the first transgender person nominated for an Oscar in their new gender,) and she is good in this film, but now the voters all just want to forget about her. This real-life tale is even weirder than her movie!!!

Anora—I liked this one, despite the first hour or so being basically porn. And not even the soft kind! I feel like there must be something wrong with all the filmmakers involved to show that much raw sex. Seriously. They must be sick f**ks. The same story could have been accomplished with one percent of what is in the film in that area. And that’s a shame because the acting is all so good that I would want young people to see it, but not the way it is now.

One of the few NON-porn scenes in Anora. (L-R) Yura Borisov, Mark Eidelshtein, Karren Karagulian, and Mikey Madison.

I also didn’t love the story, in general, and was on edge the whole time, fearing that something really horrible, (like a rape or murder,) was going to happen. (I’m doing you the favor of letting you know that it does not.) And it didn’t really have an ending.

But the entire cast is perfect in this one, which is what makes the movie good.

Being from Brooklyn myself, you can rarely fool me on who has a legit Brooklyn accent. But Mikey Madison, who plays Ani, totally did. She’s from the Valley out here in LA, but sounded soooo naturally Brooklyn. Big props to her.

I was the most taken with Yura Borisov, the guy who plays Igor, especially in the very last minute or two, but I (wrongly) assumed no one else even noticed him. To my shock, he’s the actor from this film who received an Oscar nod for Supporting Actor! And rightfully so. And one for a SAG, as well. I had thought it was the kid in the film, Mark Eydelshteyn, who had gotten a nomination; I would have been happy if he had received one, as well.

Okay, I have to digress one minute to tell you an amusing personal tale that this film reminded me of. Before shooting began, the cast of Anora all moved to Brighton Beach, the Russian section of Brooklyn, where the film takes place. Mikey Madison said that she moved there before the others in order to soak up the atmosphere to get into the character. I chuckled when I read that because, many years ago, my first agent, Tina Marie, was also a waitress at the famous deli Canter’s in Los Angeles. She got me an audition to play a Russian girl, who is a spy or in trouble or something like that. (It was an hour drama, not a sitcom, believe it or not.) So they really wanted the actress to do a Russian accent. At that point, the only accent I could do was my own Brooklyn one! So one night a few days before my audition, Tina called me up to run over to Canter’s because there were two Russian women who worked in the bakery section, and they offered to talk to me on their breaks, so that I could get their accents by osmosis. (Or something akin to it.) I did it, of course, (and had some cheesecake while I was there—two birds, one stone,) but did not get the part. So that little caper didn’t work for me as well as it did for Mikey, but I totally understand what she was doing for her craft.

The Substance—Just when I didn’t think any movie could be more stupid, annoying, and a supreme waste of time than Emilia Perez, comes this turd. It’s just a dressed-up horror film! If you feel you must see it, definitely do not eat before you go, and block your eyes for every scene that involves food.

Demi Moore and Mareret Qualley in The Substance.

My smartest friend in the world told me a few months ago that this is the worst film she’s ever seen. And then Demi Moore won a Golden Globe for it, so I just had to judge for myself. And the one who is correct is…my smart friend. Of course. This is a “D” movie, at best, something you’d watch on a not heavily-trafficked channel in the middle of the night. If you’re a sicko.

Early on in watching it, I told Mr. X that “it’s like what an old French guy would make, with two obscure actresses.” And then at the end, (yes, I did finish it, just for you guys!,) I found-out that it was basically all French-made!

Mr. X chimed in with, “It’s the longest movie, regardless of time.” Touché!

He added, “The only thing more grotesque than the special effects is Demi’s nomination.” Actually, her being nominated for an Oscar is an insult to the Academy Awards!!! What is wrong with the voters this year? Besides how nothing her work is, she’s hardly even in it!!! She’s a supporting actress at best, and doesn’t do anything special with the role. Her face is basically just being used as a canvas for special effects make-up! The only thing she should receive an award for is letting people see her awful, saggy butt.

And then this is what they turn into! it’s not supposed to be funny, but it is. And by the way–can The Elephant Man sue?

I’m assuming The Substance is supposed to be a condemnation of all the anti-aging desperation, (which is odd because few have had more plastic surgery than Demi Moore herself,) but it’s soooo stupid. And the premise is flawed to begin with. If the woman is injecting herself with a mystery substance in order to be younger every other week, and the guy in charge of it is insisting both version would still be her, (he keeps saying, “You are one,”) she would have the experiences as a younger version of herself, and not become just some entirely different young girl! It’s all so idiotic. And not even well-written.

Yet, not only is Demi up for awards, she keeps undeservedly winning them! (At this past week-end’s Critics Choice Awards, the critics made the wrong choice!)

Mr. X thinks her being feted for such a nothing role and performance is due to her major support for her ex-husband, Bruce Willis, since his crushing dementia diagnosis. Since there’s no other logical explanation for it, (except maybe that she’s old, but then why hasn’t Pamela Anderson gotten more nods?,) he may be correct.

On top of Demi’s being continuously erroneously nominated, the picture itself has! As has the writer/director/producer, Frenchwoman Coralie Fargeat. I guess this all proves that wonders will never cease.

I only wish I had seen it in a screening so I could have heard all the laughter that was sure to be going on in those last ten minutes or so, which felt like ten years!

The only thing slightly good about the whole shebang is the sets and shots. And neither is worth my time.

Gladiator II—I’m sure this is a great film. A real blockbuster. Very well-done. And from the films I’ve seen so far, just for the scope of it, it really does deserve to win Best Picture at this point. (But it definitely will not because most voters are idiots, even in show business. And it’s not nominated in that category! Read my last paragraph in this review.)

A gorgeous visual in Gladiator II.

But it’s just not my cup of tea, on any level. I’m not into violence, blood, injustice, and confusing plot lines and characters, including ones I described to Mr. X as “the sniveling man and creepy gingers,” much to his amusement. And this is another one that took us a trio of sittings to get through.

And even though I’m sure that it’s best to be seen on a super-big screen, (like at a movie house or screening room,) we preferred to see it at home in our living room. We have a very big TV, (as big as my eyes will accommodate to see anything that close,) along with an excellent auxiliary sound system. But the main two reasons to view it at home are these: To have subtitles, (even though they’re all speaking English, just with various accents, which is one weirdness of the film,) and also to be able to speak out loud the entire time—I had a question for Mr. X, about exactly what was happening in the movie, just about every minute!!! But he didn’t understand it, either. I finally had to break down and research it. And it’s still confusing!

The worst thing about it, besides the violence, (which is the reason we got to see it to begin with—SAG actually gives out an award for stunts, rightly so,) is Denzel Washington’s New York accent, which does not go with the action, at all! I actually laughed out loud when at one point near the beginning, Denzel’s character asked the gladiator what language he spoke, but declared whatever it is to not be a problem because he speaks “all of them.” Then why, although he’s in Ancient Rome, does he sound like he grew-up in Brooklyn???

Paul Mescal in Gladiator II.

Luckily for us is that the only SAG nod it garnered is that one for stunts, (a category the Oscars stupidly eschews,) so we don’t have to assess anything else about Gladiator II. Those technical aspects of it are all excellent, of course. But very shockingly, the only Oscar it’s up for is Costume Design! How about Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Visual Effects, Production Design, Sound, Make-up, and especially Best Picture??? You’re telling me there are ten better films this year?! I think not. I told you the Academy is very odd this year.

That’s it for this bunch. I will finish-up my mini reviews before the SAG Awards in another couple of weeks. But I’ll leave this one with a line that struck me from Gladiator II because it’s what we’re all wishing for the United States right now. So just sub “America” in for “Rome” here. The gladiator says his wish is, “A Rome where all could live under fair law and be protected. A Rome of the senate. A Rome of hope.” From his mouth to God’s ears.

As far as movies in general go, Mr. X and I spend the end of November until January 6th, (which is deemed “Little Christmas,”) watching only holiday offerings from the Hallmark Channel et al. It’s been our tradition for the past seven years, and, goony as those telefilms are, I love it.

Ensemble nominees for the SAGs.

So, despite all of our invitations to the many Screen Actors Guild screenings, we had been missing-out on every new real movie this season.  Since we have to vote on those SAG Awards by February 21st, we’re trying hard to catch-up on all those films now.

And just so you know, all of the major awards-giving entities, (the Oscars, Golden Globes, SAGs, Critics Choice, and the ones from the individual guilds,) have different nominees. Many overlap, but not all.

By the way—no one is ever “snubbed.” Others just get more votes. Period.  I covered the topic here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/karens-rantskarens-lessons-does-no-one-in-hollywood-know-the-meaning-of-the-word-snubbed.

Now, as for the SAGS, we have seventeen movies to see. (My guild’s awards are all for only acting—duh, we’re actors!—with an extra one for stunts; I feel it’s awful that the other awards shows don’t honor those hardest workers in the biz!) So I’ll do mini reviews of a few of them at a time in the next month. Believe me, I’m scrambling to see them all in these next short, uber-busy three and a half weeks. I’m one of the very few who rightly feel that, in order to vote fairly, we all need to see every nominee in the time allotted.

Here’s the first batch, in the order that Mr. X and I viewed them:

A major stunt in The Fall Guy.

The Fall Guy—We decided to begin our run of movie-watching for the year with the only one we assumed would not be painful, except for the incredible stunt men doing most of the heavy-lifting! And I was correct. Ryan Gosling is his usual darling, low-key-fun self, Emily Blunt is very amusing, (which I’m not sure I knew about her before,) and the stunts are spectacular. The only problems with this movie are that the story is a bit stupid and it’s waaay too long, (ostensibly just to get more, and the biggest, stunts in.)

Karen Salkin, on the left, (of course!,) getting knocked down on The Fall Guy TV show with two other actors.

By the way, despite the title, theme song, and same moniker of the lead character, (Colt Seaver,) this movie really has nothing to do with the old TV show of the same name, on which there was once an interesting guest star—yours truly!  It was one of my first TV acting jobs, after I had been doing my show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, for a year or two. The Fall Guy often featured themes for the guest star bookings, and I was so honored because the theme for this episode was comedians. And I was the only female they thought was funny enough to include!!! I loved it. On top of that, I got to play the trophy wife of a rich, famous actor. And I even had my own stuntwoman!

Conclave—Even though this Jewish girl didn’t understand a lot of the goings-on in this story of the world’s Cardinals choosing a new Pope, (and truth be told, even Mr. X, a Catholic school boy through college, didn’t get some of it,) I found it to be quietly fascinating. I even stayed up that entire night researching it all—the movie, the book it’s based on, and all the catholic terms and ceremonies.

A stunning image from Conclave.

But how in heck did Isabella Rossellini get any nominations for her performance in this one, let alone for an Oscar??? Or, actually worse—because the nods are from actors who should know better—a SAG??? She’s as good as any actress should be in the role, but nothing special, at all.

Conversely, Conclave should have definitely been nominated for an Oscar for Cinematography, but was not. I don’t get that. It’s gorgeous—some of the shots literally took my breath away.

My favorite image from Conclave.

I do have to admit that I figured-out pretty early who the new Pope would be, along with the twist. But I was still pretty riveted, nonetheless, perhaps to see if I was correct.

A Real Pain—Now we’re on to a story involving my ethnicity! The only thing I didn’t understand about it is how does Kieran Culkin qualify as a supporting actor? He and Jesse Eisenberg are totally equal co-stars!!! I do think that Culkin is really good, but Jesse, who has received no nominations anywhere, is even better. He has one scene near the end that is perfection. (But he did get an Oscars nod for writing the screenplay.)

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain.

The guys play cousins on a tour in Poland to see where their grandmother grew up. And, of course, semi-comic drama ensues.

By the way—I believe that my own grandmother was perhaps born in Poland or maybe Russia, although she always denied it. She and her siblings were raised in New England, and had the high-class accents to prove it, so her real heritage didn’t come up often.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Pamela Anderson, who both look a million times worse in the actual film.

The Last Showgirl—This one was hard to watch. Within the first minute, Mr. X said, “This is so depressing.” And he was correct. Adding to the gloom of the tale is the way it was shot—almost all in way-too-close close-ups! And trust me—no one wants to see Jamie Lee Curtis and even Pamela Anderson up-close and on a big screen! Although I admire the braveness of those women, the entire production is just so sad.

The acting is good, and I’m sure the story is real for many people not only in Vegas, but in show biz in general. I’m just glad it wasn’t longer.

Okay, that’s it until I have the time to watch four or five more movies. If it gets down to it, though, I won’t be seeing Dune: Part Two—the first one was more than enough waste of time.

There has been so much on my mind since yesterday that I feel the need to address it all right now. Some sad, some happy, some perplexing. But all of them interesting.

So here are a few of my recent thoughts:

DONALD SUTHERLAND DEATH

I was shocked when I read that Donald Sutherland had died. I had no idea that he had been unwell for a while. Even though the prolific actor was eighty-eight-years-old, my heart still sank.

Donald Sutherland.

I met Donald Sutherland only once, but he surprised me by just how sweet and intense he was. It was at the opening night after-party for a show he was starring in in L.A. The single and attractive friend I had brought along really wanted to meet him. So even though I really do not like to bother the toast of a soiree, I went over to laud him, just so she could chime in. And he did not take his eyes off mine for the next ten or fifteen minutes! He asked me everything! He was not trying to hit on me at all—he was just a nice person who seemed to be interested in others. I really appreciated my very brief time with the man.

And I have to apologize to Donald Sutherland for something. And that is thinking he was going to be the killer in my favorite TV show in years, The Undoing. But that’s how good of an actor he was—he tricked even my honed detective skills!

And now, my heart goes out to his family, fans, and friends, especially our great mutual pal, Elliott Gould, who has had a forever-bond with Donald ever since they starred in the classic movie M*A*S*H together. I’ll ask him to tell me a story or two about the Canadian legend this week.

R.I.P., Donald Sutherland.

JJ REDICK

New Lakers coach JJ Redick, speaking nicely with a ref in the past, which will most likely not be the case now!

As I predicted on Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers hired former NBA player JJ Redick as their new Head Coach, despite the fact that he has never served in that capacity anywhere before. Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who just shepherded that team to the NBA championship, is perhaps the youngest coach ever at thirty-five, (he’ll be thirty-six at the end of this month,) but he had been an assistant coach in small colleges forever, and he come up through the ranks to sort-of luck into the Celtics head coach position a couple of years ago. That’s the hard coaching path that he took, and most pro coaches have similar ones.

As I stated just a few days ago in this e-zine, (in my article about Danny Hurley turning the position down, which you can still read here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/basketballkarens-thoughts-danny-hurleys-excellent-decision,) JJ Redick has never even coached Little League, let alone anywhere else. He’s never even been an assistant coach in college! He’s never done anything more than play ball in high school and college and the NBA. And he’s been a commentator for the past couple years. But, again, never any kind of coach. (And trust me, I researched him quite a bit to make sure I was correct!)

Part of Joe Mazzulla’s coaching history.

So, I don’t really predict great things for him in the pro league. His contract is for four years, but I have a feeling that the Lakers will suck at the beginning of the season, and JJ will be gone by December. I really feel that they needed to hire a veteran coach, such as Jeff Van Gundy or Mark Jackson or Mike Brown, but oh well. As many of you know, even though I love Los Angeles, in general, more than anyone else I’ve ever met, I just have never gotten behind the Lakers. So there you have it.

BRONNY JAMES PREDICTION

Now to continue on the Laker tip, here’s what I think will happen here. I feel that LeBron James struck a backroom deal* with the Laker powers-that-be to make sure that his son, Bronny James, gets on the team with him. And if they do not choose him in the draft, (or even after the draft because he’s not really a hot commodity, and for sure not one of the sixty best players coming into the league, so in a fair world, he would still be available after the draft ends,) then LeBron and his son will go elsewhere. *[Note: I just read that their agent is declaring that they are not a “package deal,” but I beg to differ. So we’ll see.]

LeBron and Bronny James.

So, to any NBA teams who are reading this, here’s what you need to do: Unless you have first, second, or third pick in the Draft, if you’re ahead of the Lakers’ #17 choice, you should choose Bronny just to be able to trade him to the Lakers. Even though he doesn’t seem to be a great player himself, (which means that a team couldn’t get much in a trade for him,) I feel that the Lakers will do anything to get him, to keep LeBron James on the team. So if you choose Bronny before the Lakers can, you can basically write your own ticket of just whom and what you want in exchange for the kid! That would be a genius move, (even if I do have to say so myself.)

By the way, I really do want to see a father and son play together in the NBA, and this will be our best chance for that. I applaud LeBron for being such a dedicated father. Even though he’s still a great player, I don’t know if he would still be playing if it were not for the opportunity to play on the same team as his son. So I really hope that it will come to pass, and in this upcoming season, for sure. (But what’s LeBron going to do when his second son comes up in the world??? I’ll ponder that question some other time. As you can see, I have enough on my mind for one day!)

CAITLIN CLARK

I’ve honestly never seen anything like this in pro sports before—opponents being allowed to harm a fellow player with no repercussions from the league! It’s disgusting. By that I mean both the treatment of Caitlin Clark and the non-calls and no fines for the offenders.

Caitlin is not only the best player in the WNBA in quite awhile, but she’s also the only reason that any of the other players in the league are having people see them play. Just about no one has been interested in seeing women play basketball before this season, and now they finally have someone who is so good and intriguing that she’s selling out the previously empty arenas!

Just one recent incident against Caitlin Clark, (on the left,) as she’s about to get battered by a 235 pound opponent!

Plus, the teams have had to fly commercial all these years, (and I highly doubt it was even in Business Class,) but because of Caitlin, they are finally having charter flights. They need to be grateful for the girl, not evil to her!

It’s bad enough that she’s been left off the Olympics team, which, of course, she’s been more than gracious about, but she’s getting thrown around by bigger women, on purpose. And no one is doing anything to help her.

I hate to say it, but I agree with everyone else that it’s about race. (I would say that if it was the other way around, too.) And jealousy. All those other women, especially the ones Caitlin played against in college, (yes, you, Angel Reese,) are so jealous of her that it’s making them extra-crazy. And they need to stop it this very second before someone gets really hurt.

The refs need to really take charge. And, very shamefully, Caitlin needs to have a bodyguard with her.

But most importantly, the WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, needs to issue a warning. She can make it generic, such as, “If any player harms another player, they will be suspended indefinitely, effective immediately.” Dot, dash, end of story.

LOS ANGELES JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

Photo by Nina Herzog.

I hope you all read my preview of this local annual film festival the other day, (here’s the link, in case you missed it: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/upcomingmovies-los-angeles-jewish-film-festival-2024-preview,) and that many of you were at the Opening Night Gala the other night. I wasn’t planning on also doing a review of it, but the event was so excellent, that I just have to tell you a little bit about it. And remind you that the festival is happening right now, and advise that, if you’re in SoCal, you should check out all their other offerings.

My friend Nina and I were overwhelmed by the number of people who turned out for the opening night. It was at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, which has a massive auditorium, and it was absolutely packed! We got there a little bit before 7PM, when it was due to start, and the line of well-dressed ticket holders was already around the block.

The reception came first; I really didn’t know what to expect in the way of food, but it was all delicious! And plentiful. The buffets featured several kinds of finger foods, and Nina and I loved it all. There were mini knishes, (of course,) hotdogs in “blankets,” chicken fingers, beef “cigars,” and vegetables on one table, and on another was Chinese food, (also of course.)

In addition to cut-up fruits, the desserts were marble cake and some mini pastries, such as cheese danishes.

The snack table! Photo by Karen Salkin.

And then, we made the most incredible discovery at the other end of the spacious lobby-–a whole table full of all kinds of packaged treats! It was a snack bonanza. There were tiny chocolates, crunchy quinoa chocolates in several different flavors, and Hawaiian sea salt macadamia nuts. That was my favorite area, of course.

There were also different alcoholic beverages. I don’t drink, but I believe I saw bottles of wine and vodka.

And the movie itself, Guns and Moses, was very good. Even though I knew it was a crime drama, it had me jumping several times. There were fun surprises and even a bit of humor. I’m going to try to attend some of the other films in the Festival, and I hope to see many of you there.

I was glad to see a serious security force all over the venue. And we had to go through metal detectors, which, in this day and age, I really appreciated.

www.lajfilmfest.org

BLUE BIRDY SPORTS BAR AND CAFE

Blue Birdy in WeHo. Photo by Karen Salkin.

My glowing review of this new eatery on the Sunset Strip is coming on Monday, so please be sure to look for it then. Here’s a quick preview: The picky Mr. X loved what he ate there! And you will not believe what his favorite dish is. You can try guessing, but I doubt you will get it. So remember to check back early next week to see how you fare.

If you’ve been reading all of my recent movie reviews–mini and otherwise–you know by now how upset I am by soooo many of the nominations, for all the movie awards. (If not, just scroll through the pages, or look for them in the “Search” boxes on the right.)

But now the granddaddy of them all, the Oscars, is upon us, and then it will finally all be over. Yay! You would think that I could calm down after that, but you’ll be wrong—I’m always upset by what I consider to be unfairness.

The ten Best Picture nominees.

Before I mention some of the head-scratching choices the various voting bodies have made over the past few months, let me tell you that Mr. X and I rarely agree on anything. But we both feel the same way about everything I’ve been saying about the films this year. He’s a really good, successful actor, with no professional jealousies whatsoever, so I’ve always respected his opinion. And that makes me even more confident in what I’m writing here. I love when he and I are of the same mind! (You can also weigh-in, in the Comments section below.)

And even though none of the nominations and awards impact my own life, of course, I’m still pretty upset about them! Many of them are just not right.

I’ll get into a few specifics in a minute, but first I have to remind you that no one was “snubbed!” I don’t want to get my blood boiling by getting into the definition of the word again, so if you’d like to understand what “to snub” means, here’s the link to my recent column about it: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/karens-rantskarens-lessons-does-no-one-in-hollywood-know-the-meaning-of-the-word-snubbed.

Now, let’s discuss the nominations and winners of other awards this season that are still making my blood boil.

I haven’t seen many special performances this season, and I’ve seen *almost all of the movies! The absolute most special one belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon, and he hasn’t even been nominated for an Oscar nor a SAG! I wish I could have written him in when I voted for the SAGS! *[Note: I have yet to see Best Picture nominees Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, though. I can’t find the former, and I can’t bring myself to watch a film about Nazis that is basically about an absolutely horrendous true setting.]

A few of this year’s deserving nominees, (although I have no idea who that cartoon character over Bradley Cooper’s shoulder is!)

The other two best performances that I’ve seen this year weren’t nominated, either. Fantasia Barrino deserved a nod as Best Actress in The Color Purple, and her co-star, Colman Domingo, definitely should have received one for Best Supporting Actor in the same film. He did get a nod as Best Actor for his starring role in Rustin, but he deserved both!

Conversely, the absolute head-scratcher nominees, (who are all good enough in their films, but that’s what every employed actor should be!,) are America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling in Barbie, Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, and DaVine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. And those latter two will probably win! Oh wait—the popular Emma Stone may beat Native American Lily out for Poor Things, although her sex-filled performance is basically just porn!!!

There have been other strange nominees and winners over the years, so why would I think that 2024 would be any different? (One can always hope, though.)

For example, how did Peter Sellers not win Best Actor for his ingenious turn in Being There over the victor, Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer? That was a true shonda!

Of course, there’s so much more to the Oscars than just Best Picture and best performances. And I am interested in all of it. But I doubt that many of the rest of you are, so I’ll just leave it here. But if Billie Eilish wins for Best Song, I’ll scream! [Note: I have no idea how Diane Warren’s song goes, but, after more than a dozen nominations with no victories, I’m really rooting for her once again.]

The 2023 Oscars telecast.

I want to say, “May the best [whatever category] win,” but it rarely does. And in this case, some are not even nominated! And we all know who and what will come out victorious, by all the previous erroneous wins this season, so we know fairness and good taste won’t start happening now.

And, with so many more Academy voters now than ever in history, (to keep up with diversity,) and many of them flexing their muscles by nominating and voting for very odd choices, thinking they’re reflecting the times, (when they’re really just ignoring the real quality work, and rewarding the mediocre–and in some cases less than,) movie awards seem to be going in the wrong direction.

But, of course, I’ll weigh in on all the proceedings next week, so keep an eye out for that. And I’ll try my best to live-tweet all of it on Sunday. So if you don’t already follow me on Twitter/X, this would be a good time. I’m at @MajorCelebrity on that platform. I’m often a little behind in my Oscars, and even the arrivals, watching, but so are many of you, so I doubt I’ll have any spoiler alerts on there. I write about their outfits and looks, not winners and losers. Until my full write-up next week! Then all bets are off!

This has been a woefully non-special season of films. While some have been interesting enough, and a few of the performances have been excellent, (as they should all be in show business, especially when one is earning the big bucks,) few have stood out as particularly awards-worthy for me. And the ones that have, such as from Fantasia Barrino and Leo DiCaprio, have not been rewarded enough.

The there have been some years that it was a shame that someone had to lose-out because more than one performance was brilliant, (such as Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy losing to Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, or John Hurt not winning for his ingenious turn in The Elephant Man because DeNiro did Raging Bull in the same year.) But for the SAG Awards this year, I had to vote for just the least unspecial performances, which is a shame. Few of these actors would have even been nominated in other years!

In case you missed my duo of earlier 2024 Mini Movie Reviews, here are the links to them so you can catch up: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviewsmini-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2024-part-i and itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviewsmini-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2024-part-ii.

And here are the links to my full reviews of Killers of the Flower Moon (itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-review-killers-of-the-flower-moon) and Barbie (itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-review-barbie-movie-do-not-take-the-kids-and-stay-away-yourself.)

Now here’s my third, and final, crop of 2024 Mini Movie Reviews, so you have them before this Saturday’s SAG Awards. Some of the films are up for Oscars, some for SAGs, and some were nominated for January’s Golden Globes. That means that they all deserve the ItsNotAboutMe.TV treatment.

Here they are:

The Color Purple—All the other films I’ve seen recently I was just watching; this one I was involved with. I cried my guts out for a solid ten minutes near the end of the movie, while not shedding a tear, nor even having many smiles, with the rest of the crop.

The Color Purple.

I put off seeing The Color Purple until last because I’ve seen the more-often-than-not horrific story before, both on stage and in the old non-musical film, and was dreading witnessing it again. But because I’m always into fairness, I had to see it before I voted for the SAGs this week.

I’m also a fan of Fantasia Barrino, and that she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar or a SAG is a travesty! Especially when she deserved it soooo much more than some of the actual nominees. And so did Colman Domingo for Best Supporting Actor. I adore Ryan Gosling, but for him to be nominated for playing Ken over Colman’s gut-wrenching performance in this one is making me sick. Truly. (I’ll discuss all of this in-depth right before the Oscars in a few weeks.)

Fantasia Barrino and Taraji P. Henson.

As to this entire film, it turned-out to be my favorite. There’s so much talent involved—who knew that Taraji P. Henson could sing like that??? And even though the happiness of dance really doesn’t go with the sad scenario, I always love to see excellent dancing.

Here’s something to know in advance: I had to go back when I saw certain names in the credits because I did not recognize three famous people in small roles—Ciara, Blackish‘s Deon Cole, and H.E.R.! You will not believe it!

Maestro—While Bradley Cooper definitely gives his all as Leonard Bernstein, especially in a late scene of him conducting an orchestra, (and I give him major credit for also writing, directing, and producing this film, while seeming to just spend his days walking his young daughter around Manhattan, per the gossip sites!,) I’m not sure that he’s entirely successful throughout. So I’m still deciding if I should vote for him or Colman Domingo in Rustin.

Bradley Cooper in the six-minute conducting scene!

The same goes for Carey Mulligan here—I have it down to her or Annette Bening for Nyad. (I love all these one-word titles—so much less to type!!!) At first, I had no idea what accent she was trying to do. And then when the character said she’s from Chile, (which is one of the truths in the film,) I was upset from that moment on because her accent was either from New England or just regular Ol’ England!!! But I looked-up videos of the real Felicia the next day, and there was her true voice, meaning Carey is all correct in this film.

I still can’t figure-out exactly what the focus of the film is. Is it that Bernstein was gay while married? We never saw how he fell in love with his wife, if, indeed, he even did! And they didn’t show us if she knew all along or not. But it’s not enough about his music career, so that can’t be the story, either. I actually had no idea what was going on for a lot of the over two hours.

And Bradley’s accent and voice go in and out, from caricature to more true, so that’s a bit annoying, as well.

Also, why are parts of the film in black-and-white while the rest is color? This is not The Wizard of Oz, (nor a Woody Allen film,) for goodness sake!

So just take it for what it is, and enjoy what you can.

Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan.

Oh, by the way, as a Jewish person, Cooper’s fake nose didn’t bother me even one little bit. He needed it to look like Bernstein! What is wrong with people to have an issue with it??? Actors have to lose or gain weight, and change their hair, nails, teeth, etc. for roles, so why is a proboscis enhancement considered to be such a big deal here?! I don’t get it.

What he should have done, though, is wear brown contact lenses—his blue eyes are so prominent in Maestro, and, although light, Bernstein’s eyes were brown.

Rustin—The star of this one, Colman Domingo, is actually the first actor I’ve seen for whom I can vote. He actually deserved a nod for his creepy turn in The Color Purple, as well.

And the film itself is really good. It’s a historic story that really needed to be told. [Note: As a matter of fact, I suggested to one of the Executive Producers, David Permut, several years ago, that he should do a film about this historical important man! I don’t know if he brought my idea to the Obamas, or if they brought it to him, (which would mean that Barak’s brilliant mind on this topic matched my lesser one,) so I’m a tad perplexed about that situation, but I’m still glad that it got made, either way.]

Colman Domingo in the center.

But what was Chris Rock, (of whom I’m a big fan,) doing in there??? He’s just way too recognizable and way too…Chris Rock! Every time he appeared on-screen, it took me out of the story. They definitely didn’t need him, and should have cast an unknown in that role.
And, although she is impressive in some of her work, her opera background, and having received her Masters from Yale, how did Da’Vine Joy Randolph get such big credit at the end, for just singing a couple of lines as Mahalia Jackson??? Crazy.

There were a few other head-scratchers in this one, as well, but these two were the biggest.

American Fiction—This is my second favorite movie of the season. It’s amusingly profound and very real. And Mr. X appreciated that there was no violence in it.

However, while the actors give excellent performances, I really didn’t see any that are awards-worthy. The entire cast is nominated for the SAGs as an ensemble. (Since it’s Screen Actors Guild awards, all the awards are for actors only—duh. Hence, no Best Picture, only best cast.) They are all good, so it’s a possibility. (But I have a feeling my idiotic fellow union members will hop on the inane Barbie band wagon and award this group award to them, while the fair among us will go with The Color Purple or Oppenheimer.) But for Sterling K. Brown to be nominated for Outstanding Male for this is just nonsense! He’s really good, as always, but not better than, say, Colman Domingo in The Color Purple.

Sterling K. Brown, Jeffrey Wright, and Erika Alexander.

But the overall message in American Fiction is a good one. I’m just not in love with aspects of the ending.

Past Lives—This is a charming film, in half English and half Korean. However, being an incredible romantic, it was painful to me. I can’t tell you why, to not ruin the story for you.

But it is an interesting tale of love that takes place over twenty-four years and in four countries. And pay attention to the opening few minutes. They turn-out to be brilliant.

Teo Yoo, Greta Lee, and John Magaro.

Oh, I’ll just tell you a bit about them because that scene pertains to me in a tiny way. It features a couple of unseen strangers wondering who the three people they’re seeing in a bar are to each other. It made me laugh for two reasons. Firstly, my mother often did the same thing. And secondly, and more personally amusing, is that when I was doing my show, and I’d go to dinner afterwards with several assorted pals and audience members, we’d occasionally get stares because we were such a disparate group. Rarely did anyone ask how we knew each other, because that is really rude, but when a brave someone did inquire about the connections, I’d chuckle to myself as I’d politely explain. I still smile when I think of those instances.

Air—Though not nominated for the SAGs or Oscars, I wanted to see Air because it had some nods for the recent Golden Globes, which, knowing the subject matter, I could not imagine. After the first ten minutes, Mr. X said he was done with it, but I insisted we plug on, in case it got better, which it did. At the end, he actually declared, “This is a good film.” I agree.

In case you don’t know, it’s the story of how Nike got NBA rookie Michael Jordan to agree to do his shoe with them. A tale like that is not intrinsically interesting, however this one sort-of is. But a small part of the scenario depressed me a bit, on a personal level, because back when I was doing my TV show, Converse had asked if they could send me sneakers.  (I had a deal with Reebok back then, but I was really allowed to wear anything I wanted. ) But because I’m the laziest person on Earth, I never followed-up with them.  Being so lazy has made me miss out on a lot of things like that, which this movie sadly reminded me of.

Matthew Maher, Matt Damon, and Jason Bateman.

On a happier personal note, I have to laud Julius Tennon, who plays Michael’s dad, James. I’ve met Julius a few times, (because his wife, Viola Davis, and I were both Theatre majors at the same college, and share our “daughter-hood” status bestowed on us by our beloved Acting professor, Dr. Bill Hutchinson,) but had never seen him act before. I didn’t even know he’s an actor! And I must say he’s perfect in that small role. He seems as sweet in the film as he is in person. So that was a highlight for me.

To remind you–the Screen Actors Guild Awards will be on this Saturday night, and then the Oscars will be two weeks after that, so this is my final group of Mini Movie Reviews before the end of the 2024 awards season. But, because I’m soooo upset about many of the nominations, I plan to share my final rant on the topic right before the March 10th Oscars.

Lastly, I’ll try my best to live-tweet the SAGs on Saturday, so if you don’t already follow me on Twitter/X, this would be a good time. I’m at @MajorCelebrity on that platform. And remember—the SAGs are not on a cable channel this year; the show is now on Netflix, which I often inexplicably resent.

In case you missed Part I of my Mini Movie Reviews 2024 early last week, here’s the link to catch you up: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-reviewsmini-reviews-mini-movie-reviews-2024-part-i.

And here are the links to my full reviews of Killers of the Flower Moon (itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-review-killers-of-the-flower-moon) and Barbie (itsnotaboutme.tv/news/movie-review-barbie-movie-do-not-take-the-kids-and-stay-away-yourself.)

Now here we go with my second crop of mini reviews. Of the quartet, only Ferrari has no Oscars nods, although Penelope Cruz should have definitely received one. And possibly even won it! But I’m proud to say that my fellow SAG members did nominate her for one of our own awards, so at least there’s that.

To remind you: I try to not know what a film is about before I see it; I want to experience it for myself, with no preconceived notions.

Let’s get to them now, in no particular order:

Oppenheimer–Raise your hand if you’re not a science nerd and really did enjoy this very popular movie. Or is that just me?

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer.

I’m sure that some Mensa folk loved it, but I had no idea what was going on for most of the film, even with my 147 IQ!!! I had to fight sleep the whole time. I’m grateful that I saw it at home, as opposed to in a theatre because I could not stop asking Mr. X questions about what was going on. And even he rarely knew, either!

They really needed to show us the dates of each scene, so we knew which era is which. It was all crazily confusing.

The cast is basically a sausage-fest, (because it was mainly males involved with the tru story,) so even though the woman played by Florence Pugh was Oppenheimer’s real-life girlfriend at one point, the director had to throw in the sex scenes of them just to make the otherwise colorless film more appealing to the masses. There was no other reason for them.

And at one point, Oppenheimer told a committee that he had a first wife who they never showed, so what was up with that? After researching him later, I couldn’t find an earlier wife than the one played by Emily Blunt, so why did they even put that confusing sentence in the already over three hours film!?

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Star of the film, Cillian Murphy, is, of course, excellent, but that he was nominated for an Oscar and a SAG over Leonardo DiCaprio, who is the best of the best this season, is making me sick.

As to Oppenheimer overall, I didn’t know anything about this man going in, and this movie didn’t enlighten me much.

Nyad—Annette Bening deserves an Oscar just for letting herself look so awful in this film!!! Warren Beatty must really be regretting that I never called him back when he called me all those decades ago to say he loved my show, and ask me out! (Before they were married, of course.)

Jodie Foster and Annette Bening.

But, seriously though, from the films I’ve seen so far, she really does deserve the Oscar. And every other award, as well.  (But, of course, it will very undeservedly go to Lily Gladstone because she’s Native American and they need to show diversity. If not her, then it will go to media darling, (though I cannot figure out why that is,) Emma Stone, for her basically *porno role! *[Note: Refer to the link at the top of the page if you missed my recent review of her film, Poor Things.]

Of course, for this one, I did know a bit of the subject beforehand because long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad seems to have always been famous in the sports world. But I had no idea that the subject of the film is her many attempts to swim from Havana to Florida…when she was in her sixties!!! Oysh. Despite knowing her name and sport, the only time I ever saw her was during her one-week stint on Dancing With The Stars a decade ago.

Jodie Foster and Annette Bening.

It is a bit of a rugged topic, but Annette Bening and Jodie Foster are both wonderful in it, which is reason enough to see it. As a matter of fact, Jodie deserves the Oscars win, as well, but I have one Supporting Actress nominee (Danielle Brooks) yet to see. Compare Jodie’s acting job to that of America Ferrera’s in Barbie, a nomination that is an insult to all actresses everywhere. (And bite my tongue, with the stupid fuss people are making about Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig not getting nods, America just may win! I have to go throw-up now just writing that sentence!)

And, at just two hours, Nyad is the second shortest film up for consideration this year! That alone should win them something!

The Holdovers—While an interesting enough film, with good performances, neither Paul Giamatti nor Da’Vine Joy Randolph deserve any nominations, let alone for Oscars! And how they won Golden Globes is also head-scratching.

(L-R) Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Giamatti, and Dominic Sessa.

Leonardo DiCaprio is worlds better than Giamatti in the Best Leading Actor category, and the performances of Penelope Cruz and Jodie Foster this year in the Supporting category are both superior to that of Randolph. Penelope isn’t even nominated for the Oscar! How can that many nominators be so blind? (Or, more likely, jealous. They feel better about themselves when less attractive people are in the running. I mean it.)

The real stand-out among the cast of The Holdovers is Dominic Sessa, who plays the sad teen-age boy who has to stay behind on Christmas break with his elderly teacher and lunch lady. While watching his wonderful performance, I could not figure-out how I’ve never seen him before. But it turns-out—this film is his very first anything! He was just a student at one of the New England boarding schools that was used as a location! He never did anything before, (nor since, actually,) not even a commercial or music video! The Holdovers is it. Wow—that’s mind-blowing. And now he’s just a college student. I hope he has a big career coming-up. (Dominic ought to get every role that Ezra Miller should get fired from!!!)

Dominic Tessa and Paul Giamatti.

Speaking of the heartbreaking trio, how the Golden Globes put this movie in the Comedy category is another mystery. As I’ve explained in my Mini Movie Reviews—Part I this year, the Golden Globes organization classifies films as either “Dramas” or “Musicals or Comedies” so they can give out double the number of awards, and thus get more famous nominees on their broadcast. What a shonda.

Ferrari—If this film is supposed to show us the life of Italian racing car legend, Enzo Ferrari, it fails miserably. It looks like the action takes place over just a few months, and in portraying only that time span, the powers-that-be made it all slow and confusing.

The beginning is especially murky. When even Mr. X has no inkling as to what is happening, there’s not much hope for the rest of us.

The entire film is lacking focus, and since we have no idea who some of the characters even are, no excitement is built.  It doesn’t help that all of the men look alike.

Patrick Dempsey.

I also am not a fan of some of the casting, which, in some instances, is even odd. That includes Patrick Dempsey in the very small role of an old Italian driver who wins the big race. Why could they not have cast Italians, (or, at the very least, Europeans,) in most, if not all, the roles? The same goes for Shailene Woodley as the mistress. All I could think of whenever she was on the screen was that insane (possibly fake) engagement to Aaron Rodgers a few years ago.

The producers’ first choice to play Ferrari was Christian Bale, (who would have been perfect,) and then it changed to Hugh Jackman, (who, despite my adoration of him, I cannot imagine in this role,) but, when they dropped-out, it should have gone to another foreigner, not Adam Driver.

How they chose Driver I cannot imagine; his performance is on one note all the way through. Perhaps that’s what the real Enzo Ferrari was like, but come on, man, give us a break! Nobody knows if any of this dialogue, or the scenes themselves, are real, so pep-up your performance a taste!!!

Penelope Cruz, in her most brilliant moment.

On the other hand, in one of the early scenes, Penelope Cruz, without uttering a word, is so powerful that, just as I was thinking the same thing, Mr. X declared, “Winner!”

Right now, I can’t decide between Penelope and Jodie to vote for this month’s upcoming SAG Awards, but this performance points-out just what a travesty it is for America Ferrara to have been nominated for an Oscar, especially while Penelope is left-out! That inanity seems to have been perpetuated by the Academy heads wanting to throw Barbie a bone or two, while knowing that while nothing from that movie, (outside of perhaps set design,) deserves nods of any kind, they would look like heroes to feminists and Latinx if they gave one to America. Mr. X and I, (and fans of fairness the world over,) are disgusted by this whole debacle.

My research on Enzo Ferrari after we saw the film showed me that many of the characters and incidents in Ferrari are fictitious, which, of course, there’s also a tiny disclaimer to that effect at the very end of the credits. I hate that!

All drivers in this pic–Adam Driver in the middle, with all his Ferrari drivers.

By the way, I feel a tad bad saying any of the above because, after working with Michael Mann, the director of this one, on an earlier film, Mr. X received Christmas cards from him for years! So I’m not in love with myself for maligning his work now, but you know that I’m always honest.

The SAGs will be here in just a mere two weeks, and then the Oscars arrive shortly after that, in early March, so I’ll get to my third (and perhaps final) group of Mini Movie Reviews before then, no matter how lacking some of the films may be. As always, you’re welcome for watching them for you, so you don’t have to waste your time, (and money!,) on them.