Well: I slacked off for one month*, and this is what happens: A backlog of stuff to share and not enough time to share it**. Now we’re in March, and hey, no time like the present to catch you all up.
Let’s get it.
Short version: The Worst Person in the World is one of the best movies you can currently see in theaters***, and it would be one of my “best of 2021” picks if not for Neon’s release strategy****. I’ve followed Joachim Trier‘s career nearly since the start, and I’d love for y’all to check this one out and get familiar with his work. He’s a good director. Controversial take, I know, but still.
You can read my full piece, which puts the movie in its context as a story of Norwegian millennials, over at Mic.
*Two.
**There’s plenty of time.
***It’s Neon, so it’ll go to Hulu eventually; for now it’s theaters only, which may not play well for you if you’re nervous about sitting in an enclosed space with strangers for 2 hours.
****In short: A qualifying run for the Oscars in December leading into a general audience run months later. The qualifying run rules dictate that a movie “may qualify with a traditional theatrical release, completing a seven-day run in one of six qualifying cities (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco/Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta), screening at least three times daily, with at least one screening between 6 pm and 10 pm daily”; this is the basic rule with new exceptions made during COVID. I understand the strategy, and it’s working for this particular movie per its Oscars nominations, but I also hate feeling like a larger part of studios’ PR wing than I already do, so movies released this way do not, in my heart, count for the year they’re being promoted for. They count for the year they go wide.
A Constant Visual Feast 