Tag: Under the Skin

Oscars: The Case of Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest

As we do every year on this here blog, Oscar nominations lead to my Case Of series. What are they? Glad you asked. These are 35 posts covering the nominees for Picture, Director, and the four acting contests. For each one, I give you the case for the movie/director/actor winning and the case against it with a verdict tidying it up. It’s like a trial, but no one goes to prison.

It began with the ten BP contenders and now it alternates alphabetically between the hopefuls in the five other big races. Today we arrive at the Director quintet and it starts with Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest. Let’s get to it!

Previous Directing Nominations:

None

The Case for Jonathan Glazer:

The English filmmaker’s fourth feature comes after three acclaimed predecessors: 2001’s Sexy Beast, 2004’s Birth, and 2014’s Under the Skin. The Holocaust drama is the frontrunner for Best International Feature Film and had a solid showing with five nominations. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of other directors in recent years who took the prize along with IFF like Alfonso Cuaròn (Roma) and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite).

The Case Against Jonathan Glazer:

Cuaròn and Joon-ho didn’t have to compete against the juggernaut that is Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer. He is the far and away favorite. Glazer managed a BAFTA mention, but didn’t make the cut for Critics Choice, the Globes, or DGA.

The Verdict:

Barring a massive upset, Nolan towers over all competitors.

My Case Of posts will continue with Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon…

Oscars: The Case of The Zone of Interest

As we do every year on this here blog, Oscar nominations lead to my Case Of series. What are they? Glad you asked. These are 35 posts covering the nominees for Picture, Director, and the four acting contests. For each one, I give you the case for the movie/director/actor winning and the case against it with a verdict tidying it up. It’s like a trial, but no one goes to prison.

It begins with the ten BP contenders and then alternates alphabetically between the hopefuls in the other five big races. I’ve already covered nine of the BP nominees and they are linked at the bottom. This category’s posts conclude with Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. Write-ups for the others are on deck!

The Case for The Zone of Interest:

After acclaimed features including Birth and Under the Skin, Glazer enters the awards zone with Interest. The German historical drama managed five nominations including Director, Adapted Screenplay, International Feature Film, and Sound. It’s had an impressive run at precursor nominations including the Globes in Drama and the PGA ten.

The Case Against The Zone of Interest:

Anatomy of a Fall has outshined it in victories with foreign races, including at the Globes and Critics Choice. It was definitely a question mark whether this would even make the cut at BP.

The Verdict:

Due to France choosing to submit The Taste of Things instead of Anatomy, Interest is the heavy favorite to take International Feature Film. That should be the only statue it picks up during the ceremony.

My Case Of posts will continue with Annette Bening in Nyad…

Oscars: The Case of American Fiction
Oscars: The Case of Anatomy of a Fall
Oscars: The Case of Barbie
Oscars: The Case of The Holdovers
Oscars: The Case of Killers of the Flower Moon
Oscars: The Case of Maestro
Oscars: The Case of Oppenheimer
Oscars: The Case of Past Lives
Oscars: The Case of Poor Things

Oscar Predictions: A Different Man

Writer/director Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man was one of the more buzzed about titles premiering at Sundance and early reaction is that it lives up to the hype. With reviews indicating it crosses multiple genres, Sebastian Stan stars as a formerly disfigured man with Adam Pearson (who has neurofibromatosis in real life) playing him in a stage production. Renate Reinsve (who drew acclaim raves for 2021’s The Worst Person in the World) costars.

With a 90% RT score, critics are saying this is tough story to pull off and that Schimberg generally succeeds. One also gets the vibe that this is a very A24 production. Translation: mainstream crowds might be turned off.

That said, A24 could mount a campaign for two of the three top performers in particular. Stan is said to give a career best performance in lead while Pearson is getting plenty of attention for his supporting turn. You may recognize him from an extremely eerie scene in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin from 2014. If those actors can be in contention, other top of the line races could follow. I wouldn’t count out a Makeup and Hairstyling nod either. Let’s see how hard its distributor pushes. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: The Zone of Interest

Jonathan Glazer takes his time between projects. Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest is his fourth feature in two decades plus. Starting out as a commercial and music video maker, his 2000 debut was the acclaimed Sexy Beast which earned Ben Kingsley a Supporting Actor nod. Follow-up Birth in 2004 nabbed Nicole Kidman an Actress nom at the Golden Globes in Actress (Drama). Glazer’s third effort Under the Skin from 2013 with Scarlett Johansson wasn’t an Oscar or Globes player, but the sci-fi pic garnered plenty of rapturous reviews.

A decade later, Interest may well put him in an awards zone beyond the actors he’s directing. Based on a 2014 novel by Martin Amis, the cast is led by Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel, Medusa Knopf, and Daniel Holzberg.

Chilling is a word I’ve seen used to describe Zone in more than one write-up coming out of the Cannes debut. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 100% thus far. Hüller, recipient of various nominations in Europe for 2016’s Toni Erdmann, is drawing raves for her performance as the wife of Friedel’s concentration camp commandant.

With the right marketing push from A24 (and I think we can assume they’ll make a dedicated one), this should be a potential contender for Picture, Director, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography. International Feature Film might be a given. If it truly resonates with voters, other down-the-line races like Film Editing and Score and Sound could be in the mix. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

2014: The Year of Scarlett Johannson

Scarlett Johannson has been on quite a roll lately with her mix of mega blockbusters and critical indie darlings. It manifested itself best in 2014 and “Scar Jo” had quite the banner year. She is indeed deserving of my third post focusing on six performers who had a merry 2014!

April 2014 gave us a prime example of her deft mix of films both large and small. Johannson made her third appearance as Black Widow (after 2010’s Iron Man 2 and 2012’s The Avengers) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Everyone expected it to be a blockbuster, which it exceeded expectations on the critical and financial level (topping out at $259 million domestic).

That same month she starred in Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer’s hypnotic indie pic that cast her as an alien learning what Earth is all about. Her performance contained little dialogue, yet it may be her strongest work yet.

Her work in acclaimed indie fare continued into May with her supporting part in Chef, Jon Favreau’s unexpected hit that earned $31 million domestically.

By July, she may have had her most impressive showing when she headlined the action pic Lucy. It earned a robust $126 million and much of it was due to her star power alone in shoot-em-up genre pics.

Scar Jo’s dalliances between popcorn flicks and indie hits looks to continue beyond this year. In May, she’ll make her fourth Black Widow turn in The Avengers: Age of Ultron before working with the Coen Brothers (alongside George Clooney and Channing Tatum) in Hail Caesar!

For my post on The Year of Shailene Woodley, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/12/23/2014-the-year-of-shailene-woodley/

For my post on The Year of Kevin Hart, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/12/23/2014-the-year-of-kevin-hart/

For my post on The Year of Chris Pratt, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/12/23/2014-the-year-of-chris-pratt/

For my post on The Year of Angelina Jolie, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/12/23/2014-the-year-of-angelina-jolie/

For my post on The Year of Michael Keaton, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/12/23/2014-the-year-of-michael-keaton/

Under the Skin Movie Review

Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin is one of those films that your film geek friend will likely rave about while the vast majority of audience members won’t enjoy it. This is no doubt an “art film” and it’s not for mainstream filmgoers in the least. For me, there is enough truly amazing visuals in the pic that I felt it worth my time. However, be warned – you may not feel it’s worth yours.

Loosely adapted from Michael Faber’s 2000 novel, Under the Skin stars Scarlett Johannson as a nameless alien being trolling the Scottish countryside for men to destroy. We are never given a reason why she’s doing so and it doesn’t much matter. She lures these men in the simplest way possible… her disguise is that she looks like Scarlett Johannson. There’s another “male” alien accomplice who rides around on a motorcycle and assists her.

Her cold and calculated seductions take a turn when she begins to develop some feelings about what she’s doing. It allows her to spare the life of a man with a severe facial disfigurement. And it leads her to form an awkward relationship with another man that she attempts to have a normal sexual relationship with.

Under the Skin has a dreamlike quality to its proceedings throughout. If you’re the type of art house enthusiast who revels in captivating imagery, there is much to take in here. There are shots in the picture – an abandoned child in a murder scene, the luscious Scottish landscapes, the alien’s character revealing her true body – that will stay with you and are creepy and haunting. Daniel Lindin’s cinematography and Mica Levi’s musical score are terrific. And Johannson once again proves why she’s one of the best actresses today. She has little dialogue and much of her most powerful acting is done through her expressions. It’s one of her most remarkable performances.

There is a lot to be admired about Under the Skin and yet I won’t deny that the pacing is slow and tough going at times. This is not a film for mass consumption, but for “film people” (you know who you are) – it’s definitely worth a look.

*** (out of four)