In this episode, Tyler and David highlight some notable individual achievements in film in 2018 as well as some recent articles that have proved Tyler right.
Thoroughbreds was perhaps my favorite movie of the year (First Reformed, as you noted, wasn’t “entertaining”). I came away from it singing the praises of Olivia Cooke, but someone else pointed out that Anya Taylor-Joy had the harder job, and I couldn’t really disagree. Cooke’s character had stopped caring to the point where she’s not putting on much of a performance most of the time, whereas Joy is always wearing a facade that we get to see some cracks in. The oddness of the character as written already made Cooke stand out (as she did for me), whereas Joy doesn’t have that advantage. I found a copy of the script as it was written for the stage, and it was considerably less subtle and with more foreshadowing, so I think the changes Finley made were for the best.
Speaking of First Reformed, I could pedantically point out that not every character got much dimension, but I agree with you on the ones you mentioned.
I’m so glad to hear Tyler spotlight Bad Times at the El Royale a bit, because I am also surprised absolutely no one is talking about it, ever. (I secretly hope it will get a Production Design Oscar nom so people remember it but it has apparently vanished into thin air). I agree that the performance of Lewis Pullman in there is a really great supporting performance, and one that grows in fascinating ways as the film goes on (his character maybe surprises us the most?). I’m glad to know someone else saw and liked this movie!
Thoroughbreds was perhaps my favorite movie of the year (First Reformed, as you noted, wasn’t “entertaining”). I came away from it singing the praises of Olivia Cooke, but someone else pointed out that Anya Taylor-Joy had the harder job, and I couldn’t really disagree. Cooke’s character had stopped caring to the point where she’s not putting on much of a performance most of the time, whereas Joy is always wearing a facade that we get to see some cracks in. The oddness of the character as written already made Cooke stand out (as she did for me), whereas Joy doesn’t have that advantage. I found a copy of the script as it was written for the stage, and it was considerably less subtle and with more foreshadowing, so I think the changes Finley made were for the best.
Speaking of First Reformed, I could pedantically point out that not every character got much dimension, but I agree with you on the ones you mentioned.
I’m so glad to hear Tyler spotlight Bad Times at the El Royale a bit, because I am also surprised absolutely no one is talking about it, ever. (I secretly hope it will get a Production Design Oscar nom so people remember it but it has apparently vanished into thin air). I agree that the performance of Lewis Pullman in there is a really great supporting performance, and one that grows in fascinating ways as the film goes on (his character maybe surprises us the most?). I’m glad to know someone else saw and liked this movie!