Burning Questions From The 2021 Oscars

 

With viewers more unfamiliar than ever with the nominated films this year, isn't it strange they didn't open with a big montage?

Isn't this whole setup unusual, even considering?

Doesn't the old school dinner table layout look like something out of footage from 1950's Oscar telcasts?

Wasn't Regina King asked to handle a lot for someone who wasn't officially the "host?"  

Content aside, didn't she do pretty well? 

After the cool visual of her walking through Union Station with the Oscar, didn't everything just start going downhill?

Did any chance of the show providing an "escape" pretty much go out the window within the first few minutes?

Was reading those andecdotes for the nominees probably a better idea on paper than in execution?

Weren't they kind of long-winded?

Was this their big plan to make the show more exciting?

Were you worried they'd just continue this all night without showing any clips of the nominated films? 

When The Father won for screenplay, was I thinking it's too early to miss a big one like that already? 

Can anyone really argue with that winning? 

Did Laura Dern steal Bjork's Oscar dress?

Where can I get one of those Oscar lamps on everyone's tables?

When Laura Dern very sincerely started talking directly to the supporting nominees, did you wish they'd go back to reading those andecdotes? 

Did Daniel Kaluuya take full advantage of the fact there was seemingly no time limit put on the speeches or live orchestra to play him off? 

Have we lost faith that Steven Spielberg can direct something of supreme importance again?

Having your doubts West Side Story is that movie? 

They're doing Best Director NOW? 

Is Zhao's victory a spoiler warning for Best Picture?

Is shaking up the order of major awards the only noteworthy thing they've done with this show?

Did they just play "Live and Let Die" right after Zhao's emotional speech about her childhood? 

How can they show no clips of the nominated performances or films?  

Didn't it feel good not have multiple sound categories screwing up your scorecard?

Did you hear the announcer brag about the show "running on time?"

Is she counting her chickens before they hatch? 

Can we get an update on that in about an hour?

Were you thinking "Finally!" when they actually showed clips of the animated films? 

Is this the first time I've gotten both Animated and Live-Action Short?

Did it all go out the window with Documentary Short?

Didn't My Octopus Teacher director Pippa Ehrlich completely win the night with her speech?

Didn't Tenet deserve more love at the Oscars? 

Don't you immediately think "Marilyn Monroe" when talking about Maria Bakalova in Borat? 

Am I the only one who still feels bad for Amanda Seyfried? 

Didn't that woman giving the death stare to the camera look thrilled to be nominated for Tenet?

How can you not smile at The Father production designer's career inspiration starting with One Eyed Willy's ship in The Goonies? 

Shouldn't I have known that black and white usually equals a Best Cinematography win? 

Then again, isn't it ironic Mank's Eric Messerschmidt won the cinematography statue Gregg Toland didn't for Citizen Kane?  

Is 80 years the longest the Academy's ever waited to make up for an Oscar loss?

Wasn't Harrison Ford reading the Blade Runner notes a pretty good bit?

At least by this show's standards? 

Am I imagining this or didn't Tyler Perry win a similar award already a few months back? Or was it a year? The whole thing's a blur. 

Seemingly overnight, has Zendaya become the most famous, recognizable actress?

So I'm guessing we won't be getting performances of the Original Song nominees this year? 

Did anyone call "Fight For You" winning that category? 

Did Andra Day's reaction to Purple Rain's lack of a Best Song nomination sum up everyone's thoughts on the Oscars? 

What did we just see with Glenn Close?

Can we really say the censors at ABC were working overtime when both bits were entirely scripted? 

Were they zooming through the In Memoriam segment this year or what?

Um, Jessica Walter? 

You don't hear the announcer bragging about making such great time anymore, do you? 

Best Picture...NOW?!

Did this placement basically just give away what category they're closing with? 

Did Frances McDormand just howl like a wolf? 

If Netflix can't win Best Picture in a pandemic year, will they ever?

Should we be glad Zhao's holding on to the Best Picture Oscar since Frances McDormand has a penchant for misplacing them?

Did I speak too early?

Does McDormand winning (again) prove right everyone's theory that the "Academy does what the Academy does?"

Were you worried what that meant for Boseman? 

Have they ever finished an Oscar show with the winner(s) being completely absent?

No pre-recorded message or anything?

How foolish were they for putting Best Actor on last?

Didn't a really big assumption accompany that decision?

Is that a mistake they won't be making again anytime soon?

While it couldn't have been handled any worse, can anyone really say Boseman was robbed when Hopkins, one of our greatest actors, won for the best performance of his career?

At 83 years-old, can anyone blame Hopkins for not taking the trip out there for this show?

After actually watching it, will he be even more relieved he didn't go? 

Has there ever been a more shocking outcome in the two lead acting categories?

Or such a flat non-ending to the telecast?

Were you thinking that at least the whole Moonlight/La La Land fiasco was entertaining? 

Does this whole debacle make as good a case as any to give the producers a heads up on who's winning? 

Do they need to be introduced to the concept of video packages in between segments?

Maybe having hosts isn't such a terrible idea after all? 

Are Anne Hathaway and James Franco still available? 

Does the "worst Oscars ever" complaining contingent actually have a good case for once? 

Doesn't it seem like they just completely threw the towel in on this year's telecast?

While simultaneously trying entirely too hard? 

Well, at least they made good time, right?

Is there a good chance that none of the major four networks will carry the show next year?

Would that be such a bad thing?

Tenet

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh, Himesh Patel, Clémence Poésy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Running Time: 150 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)
 
Pending its heavily discussed arrival into theaters, Christopher Nolan's Tenet was promised to "save movies," which is a silly expectation to thrust upon any major release regardless of quality, but one Nolan can at least partially put on himself. Instead, it ended up being the equivalent of a tree falling in the forest, with the few who did risk venturing out to see it leaving perplexed and frustrated by its complicated plot, among other perceived issues. But those who loved it really did, touting it as a visionary accomplishment that's staggeringly original even by the director's highest standards. So here we are, and if two completely conflicting viewpoints could ever both be true, it's now.

What hits the screen is ultimately matters most, and as confusing as certain sections of this are, its strengths and weaknesses are plainly obvious, laid bare for everyone to judge. Technically, it may be the most ambitious picture Nolan's made, while still justifiably earning its label as his most inaccessible. Following the more conventional Dunkirk, it returns him to the cerebral mind mash that's become his trademark, both for better and worse. That inescapable feeling he's become a parody of himself in the public consciousness has always been mitigated by his sheer talent, the full scope of which is given an incredible platform here, despite any of the film's perceived faults.

When a CIA agent known simply as the "Protagonist" (John David Washington) has his life saved during an extraction operation at a Kyiv opera house, he ends up captured and tortured by unknown mercenaries. With the rest of his team dead, he's recruited by this covert organization called "Tenet," which is experimenting with time manipulation technology, such as bullets that can move backward through time. These inverted objects are believed to have come from the future, as The Protagonist is aided by his mysterious contact Neil (Robbert Pattinson) in tracing them to Priya (Dimple Kapadia), an arms trafficker who reveals they were purchased by ruthless Russian oligarch Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh). 

After approaching Sator's estranged art appraiser wife, Kat (Elizabeth Debicki), The Protagonist soon discovers the bitter, volatile nature of their relationship, which hinges on blackmail stemming from a falsely authenticated drawing. As he and Neil close in on Sator's catastrophic plan involving the inverted technology, they realize its capabilities are far more dangerous than initially feared, resulting in not only the entropy of objects, but people as well. With Sator holding all the cards, The Protagonist will have to depend on Neil and Kat to help stop him before it's too late. For everyone. 

It's odd resisting the temptation to describe Tenet as a time travel film because in many ways that's exactly what it is, and also isn't. When characters come face-to-face with past versions of themselves the general rule is that it qualifies as such, even if part of this confusion stems from the fact that nothing in the narrative is spoon fed to us.You can't help but feel the audience is being placed in much the same way as The Protagonist in that there's a certain disorientation that defines the first thirty to forty minutes where you literally have no idea what's happening or why. We're given some information, then a little more as he gets closer, before the film really kicks into high octane mode and everything somehow comes together as it goes.

A highway heist sequence and a gripping airport-set fight with a character moving backwards through time form the mostly solid foundation of a plot that's very Bond-like in presentation, aside from the script's complex, impenetrable ideas that required an almost inhuman level of attention from viewers. Most of it does make sense upon retrospection, but you're so absorbed in the breakneck action sequences and undeniably cool aesthetic that even its admittedly overlong two and a half hour running time feels less like a chore than a mission. And that's actually more of a compliment than it seems when you're talking about considerably harder science fiction than either Nolan's own Inception or Interstellar. This aims higher, unconcerned with the touchy feely component many thought bogged down that latter effort in the end. Clinical and cold as ice, this doesn't come without a cost, as its plot is packed with expository dialogue that gives up frustratingly little. 

Having disregarded most previous complaints about sound in Nolan's films, issues are unmistakenly noticeable this time, even on a home viewing. At the risk of joining a chorus of dissenters, it's called for here since there is a legitimate challenge hearing and understanding some the dialogue due to background noise or Luwig Göransson's score drowning it out. While he's probably the single best composer working today and this is a top tier effort from him, there's hardly a minute in the film where there isn't music, occasionally detracting from verbal exchanges that relay key information. It's to Nolan's credit that every spoken line is that important, but he just saved Oscar viewers the trouble of having to distinguish between sound mixing and editing this year since it won't be nominated for either. If he was going to so boldly demand this get the widest theatrical release at the worst possible time, it would have benefited him, and us, to fix that. 

Washington is the ideal fit for the unnamed Protagonist, subverting what could have easily been a standard issue superhero by conveying a fearful everyman quality that's masked by his cool and competent professionalism in the face of insurmountable danger. Branagh is barbaric in the best way possible as Sator, legitimately chilling and sadistic every moment he's on screen. If Pattinson has the least to do as Neil, he does it better and more agreeably than just about anyone else would, radiating a brooding inteligence that gives glimpses into why his run at (The) Batman is likely to work. 

The movie really belongs to Elizabeth Debicki as Kat, a physically and psychologically abused spouse desperate to get out. But here's the kicker. While that's exactly what it is, everything about that just seems like so much more in her hands. Unmistakably distinct and captivating in how she speaks, looks and carries herself, she brings an intellectual curiosity to the proceedings that would have been glaringly absent otherwise. The actress has been quietly on the upswing in various roles, but this feels next level, representing the best kind of supporting performance in that it's almost invisibly indispensible. Of all the crazy, inexplicable events that occur, it's actually her scenes opposite Branagh that strike the hardest, giving the film that emotional core we previously assumed was lacking. 

Tenet is something we've never seen before, and while it may take many more viewings and the use of subtitles to completely sort out, it's also unforgettable, looking and feeling like a groundbreaker the more you back away from it. Having finally made his own Bond film, this plays better than most of them, while containing a concept you'd believe gestated for over a decade and uniformly excellent performances from an intriguing, eclectic cast. Having already gone through the inevitable phase of parsing through it all, it's both more and less complicated than it appears. But as polarizing as it is, you'd have a harder time writing it off as insignificant, signaling that Nolan hasn't lost his touch, consistently confounding us as we bang our heads against the wall.