Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ) (2021)

Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima. 179 min. Drama.

• Based on a Haruki Murakami story, and enjoying a 98% score on the Tomatometer, Drive My Car asks a question (to my knowledge) for the first time in movies, and asks it in all honesty: Is it possible to have extra-marital affair(s), and still have a loving relationship with your spouse? This is a thought-provoking, discussion-creating movie.
• But while this story of a man grieving the loss of his wife through a Chekhov stage play is a discussion-creator, I wouldn't recommend watching this in a group, as it is 3 hours long with a prohibitively slow pace. And it's quite obvious this slow pace is intentional: there are long sequences with people sitting around a table practicing the play, and even a scene where a deaf person uses sign language, without subtitles, as another person in the scene translates what she says, after each sentence. I'm assuming the purpose is to create a meditative atmosphere, and it works, as the movie makes you think what you're willing to accept or forgive ... before you lose something precious.
• This is the first time a Japanese movie has become nominated for Oscars in both the Best Picture and Best International Feature categories (it will likely win the latter). So you get the idea.

MoGo's rating: 7/10

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Nightmare Alley (2021)

Director: Guillermo del Toro. Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette,  Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins,  Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn, Tim Blake Nelson. 150 min. Rated R. Crime/Drama.

• Guillermo del Toro is a great director, and he always tells wonderful stories of the macabre, but I've never had a take-home message from his movies. Bradley Cooper in an Indiana Jones suit in the 1920s learns to become a psychic (a.k.a., con man), and hooks up with a psychiatrist to pull through a major con, connecting a prominent figure to the ghost of his wife. And everything is so well-crafted with a captivating cast of actors and beautifully shot in dazzling backdrops (deservedly nominated for Oscars in cinematography, production design and costume design), but at the end of the day ... it's just a good story. No take-home message.

MoGo's rating: 6/10

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The Beatles: Get Back (2021)

Director: Peter Jackson, Michael Lindsay-Hogg. 7 hrs 48 min. Documentary. 

• Yes, to slog through an 8-hour (no less) documentary, you need to be a Beatles fan. There's no way you can see this as a good use of your time if you're not. But if you are ... you will be rewarded. In addition to merely watching how Paul, John, George and Ringo (and their crew, and significant others) worked and lived through the ups and downs of the few weeks leading up to the famous Get Back rooftop performance, there are some precious moments that suddenly emerge out of the monotony, such as the songs "Get Back" and "Octopus Garden" being created for the first time, right before your eyes. And then during the final hour you watch the rooftop performance itself, and similar to how in long movies such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or Das Boot, the longer the movie, the more satisfying the ending, that concert will put you in a trance, and you think: Oh, so that's how a masterpiece is made. The concert would not have been as powerful, if this was a short 90-minute documentary.

MoGo's rating: 8/10

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House of Gucci (2021)

Director Ridley Scott. Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek. 148 min. Drama/Biography.

• Ridley Scott's second 2 and a half hour movie in the same year, after The Last Duel. The 84-year-old is unstoppable. And he actually still makes decent movies.
• The true story-inspired narrative of the Gucci family is probably not the most tumultuous biographical out there, but I found myself engaged throughout, and credit this predominantly to the screen presence of its wonderful performers. In terms of facial features, Adam Driver may not have been the perfect candidate to play Maurizio Gucci ... but even with his short screen time, Jeremy Irons' voice tone is always captivating; even though Jared Leto is nominated for a Golden Razzie, I loved his clownish presence; even though Lady Gaga has been criticized for her not-so-perfect Italian accent and not been nominated for an Oscar, she's another addition to a very short list of singers-turned-actors who can make the movie work; and best of all, there's a scene here where Al Pacino yells. I love it when Al Pacino yells.  

MoGo's rating: 7/10

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The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Director Joel Coen. Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson. 105 min. Drama.

• We already know the story of Shakespeare's Macbeth, so there's only one reason to watch this version (by of all people, Joel Coen, co-director of Fargo and No Country for Old Men): to cherish the beautiful black-and-white cinematography, and captivating set designs that make this look like a blend of theater play and cinema. Solely that component is worth your time.
• Passing. Belfast. C'mom C'mon. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Yep, black-and-white is definitely a thing this year.

MoGo's rating: 7/10

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