The results were fascinating: a mix of box office hits and art-house winners. In some ways you aligned with the critics, especially in your very top picks. But controversial films like “Eddington” and “Friendship” also ranked high with readers even as documentaries barely made the cut.
The one film everyone agreed on was One Battle After Another, PTA’s latest, based (very loosely) on Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. Readers rated it #1, and their two reviewers rated it #1 and #2. It isn’t rated extremely high at IMDb (7.8), but it’s off the charts with reviewers.
Metacritic: 95/100
Tomato Meter: 95%
Popcorn Meter: 85%
Sinners and Weapons were the two original breakout films of the year in the United States (at least among theatrical releases.) I think Sinners was mostly an American thing as it didn’t do all that well in the rest of the world and I, as a Canadian, didn’t get the positive reaction to what I thought was a mess of a film (albeit with great music), of course, I’m not speaking for any other Canadian. I thought Weapons was a very good movie.
Lower down that list, I hated Mickey 17, it was overly long and became very preachy.
As a Canadian, I thought that Sinners was maybe the best movie that I have seen in the past 10 years. All other Canadians in my immediate circle who saw it (albeit that is not a large number of people 😀) were equally enthusiastic.
Most movies in recent years have been utter crap. Every year the box office results get worse and worse. Rankings on the New York Times, Variety etc., have no reflection on the opinions of the general public/audience. Readers of these media outlets live in their own bubble, their own niche.
There’s a lot of truth to that, but I think One Battle After Another is not the usual artsy-fartsy bullshit. It’s an effective thriller with plenty of action and a comprehensible narrative. There’s also a lot of social satire, but it’s not the “laugh out loud” kind. It’s dark, with broadly exaggerated characters and situations, like Pynchon’s own work.
That said, I’m not sure Pynchon will recognize his work here. It bears only a faint resemblance to Vineland.
“but it’s not the “laugh out loud” kind.”
I’m that guy in the theater that does laugh and everyone else goes WTF. I luv that.
Or you might have a situation where almost everyone else in the audience is laughing and you are just looking at your watch and hoping that the film will be over soon. I had that experience watching Uncut Gems and Poor Things.