One Battle After Another, director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Sinners, director Ryan Coogler.
Hamnet, director Chloé Zhao.
No Other Choice, director Park Chan-wook.
Avatar: Fire and Ash, director James Cameron.
Q: Why do you feel that some genres like comedy, horror, and action really struggle to break into Best Picture?
A: I think there’s this stigma out there that these movies are seen as lesser.
He goes on to discuss Martin Scorsese, whom we can both agree is one of the greatest filmmakers, and remarks that comic book movies are roller coaster rides.
Scorsese has been a consistent critic of the genre, from his op-ed feature in The New York Times from 2019 entitled “Martin Scorsese: I said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain.”
William Howells believes that if the Academy were brave enough, it would nominate Liam Neeson for Best Actor.
If we look at horror, Sinners broke theatre records, and it should be nominated for Best Picture.
Our long shot for the category would be 28 Years Later, or Warfare.
With Warfare, it simply presents the situation of war; it starts in the war and it ends in the war. There is no real space for character development, because Warfare is 90 minutes of real-time war.
Best Actor
Dwayne The Rock Johnson, for The Smashing Machine.
Leonardo DiCaprio, for One Battle After Another.
Daniel Day-Lewis, for Anemone.
Paul Mescal, for Hamnet.
Best Supporting Actor
David Johnson, for The Long Walk.
Last year, the Oscars had The Substance, where an actor could come in and be like, “Yeah, I’ve done stupid movies, got the paycheque, but I can act.” This year, we may have Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
David Johnson should sweep the Best Supporting Actor awards this season with his magnetic and heartcrushingly raw performance in The Long Walk. His only downside may be the popularity of the Stephen King film and the Thriller/Horror genre. If it were possible for a full cast to earn Oscars, it should either go to Warfare or The Long Walk.
I, for one, would like to include Cooper Hoffman for Best Actor, but the competition this year may be too high; however, between The Long Walk and Liquorice Pizza, he has proven his father proud.
Best Actress
Ariana Grande, for Wicked: For Good.
Emily Blunt, for The Smashing Machine.
Emma Stone, for Bugonia.
Emma Stone is the Christphor Nolan for the Actress category, with two Oscars under her belt: La La Land in 2017 and Poor Things in 2024. The Best Actress category is always the hardest to predict. Male actors start their Oscar runs early; their performances have always been centred on the Oscars, and women can be pushed aside.
The most likely highest-grossing film, Wicked: For Good, with a leading female cast of Cynthia Erivoand Ariana Grande, may be dismissed in these categories for their previous nominations in Wicked.
Technical Categories
F1 for editing and sound.
Superman for visual effects and score.
But perhaps, the more interesting awards this film season are the BAFTAs. Leading with Warfare, with a full British cast and British filmmaker, Hamnet, starring Irish actor Paul Mescal, The Roses, starring Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch.
My personal “long shots”
The Materialists for Cinemateography, or directing.
Die, My Love for either Jennifer Lawrence or Robert Pattinson.
Attempting to repeat the success of It Ends with Us without the media spectacle, Regretting You doubles down with a leading cast starring McKenna Grace, Allison Williams, Dave Franco, and Mason Thames, and the director, Josh Boone, from The Fault in Our Stars.
But even great acting and directing cannot stop the car-crash writing in Colleen Hover’s plotlines. Morgan, played by Allison Williams, finds out she’s pregnant with Clara, played by McKenna Grace, and marries her high school boyfriend.
From the very start, it’s clear the direction of the plot, with the non-subtle characteristics of the introverts, Morgan and Jonah, played by Dave Franco, in their relationships compared to their other halves, Morgan’s sister being Jonah’s other half.
Dave Franco plays the pining, vulnerable best friend very well, and as subtly as the film allows, though it’s let down by lazy original writing.
Flash to the present: Clara has her own high school romance. Driving to her mother’s birthday, she spots Miller Adams, played by Mason Thames, and stops to give him a ride home.
The driving force of the plot occurs the next day, when Clara’s father and aunt get in a car accident.
To both the actors, Dave Franco and Allison Williams, and the director, Josh Boone, credit, the hospital scene may be the most heartbreaking of the entire film. Allison’s disorientation as she loses two of the most important people in her life, and then zones in on Dave Franco, on the hospital floor with his newborn son, who smiles at his father, not understanding the gravity of his father’s cries.
But, lest we forget, this is based on a Colleen Hoover novel.
The twist? The husband and her sister were having an affair. An affair that plots back further than her reunion with Jonah, a plot further than their newborn, Dave Franco plays the mixture of a father grieving both his girlfriend and the possibility of his newborn’s paternity. Morgan at first is unwilling to believe Jonah’s concerns.
Until they agree to return to her husband’s car, which is parked at a hotel, even worse, a hotel he used to take Morgan to. A stomach turn, as Jonah returns with their stuff left at the hotel, and pulls out a piece of lingerie.
Morgan runs straight to her husband’s car, smashing it and kicking it, all while Jonah watches. Only to take the vehicle back to their house.
The plot between the mother and Jonah feels more substantial, more human, and driven by years of yearning without action.
In comparison, the daughter Clara, understanding, is going through turmoil trying to navigate life without her father and aunt, and a classic from Colleen Hover, placing guilt on herself for texting her aunt before the accident. This alone would be a great film, but it falls flat when it adds her romantic interest, Miller Adams.
It causes unnecessary pain to the love interest, unnecessary plotlines that are resolved within the next scene, since they are high schoolers, and many harsh decisions that Miller ignores as she grieves.
It seems that Colleen Hoover’s primary goal was to brand this as a YA Romance novel, rather than crafting a compelling story. This singular focus on romance leaves other important themes unexplored, leading to a sense of disappointment.
With such a focus on pure romance, the widening gap between Clara and her mother remains unaddressed, and the film’s exploration of grief feels overshadowed by teenage angst and romantic plotlines.
It’s truly disappointing, especially considering the promising opening act that centred on the mother-daughter relationship. The film seemed to be building towards something significant, only to veer off into more conventional romantic plotlines, leaving a sense of missed opportunities and loss.
The writing wanted too much; it tried to gather every theme, a piece of every kind of cake, without taking the time to develop, bake, and ice it. Making, frankly, a mess that the actors and directors tried their best to save.
“Dave Franco cries more than an entire theatre watching the movie, but hey, whatever pay cheque you need to fuel the Dave Franco universe of horror” One and a half stars.
Emilia Pérez, the most nominated film for a non-English language in Oscar history and the most nominated film of the night, had thirteen Oscar nominations.
Two wins from the BAFTAs for Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Supporting Actress, Zoe Saldaña.
Three grabs from the Critics Choice, a noticeable pattern with Best Supporting Actress, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Song.
Zoe Saldaña continued her sweep into the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Thirteen Oscars nominations for a film described as:
“You’ve probably never seen a movie like Emilia Perez before – and whilst there is enough meat in the performances to make you somewhat glad you did, you might not want to again.” Said NME Reporter Sophie Butcher.
“Emilia Pérez implicitly promises a movie unlike anything you’ve ever seen, and technically, it delivers…” Said Paste Reporter Jesse Hassenger.
As expected, first-time nominee Zoe Saldaña beat out Isabella Rossellini for Conclave, Ariana Grande for Wicked, and Felicity Jones for The Brutalist.
As of last year, Saldaña has become the second highest-grossing female lead actor after Scarlett Johansson for her appearances in films such as Avatar and Avengers.
In her speech she said, “My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am the proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands.”
While many can agree Saldaña is a brilliant actress, Emilia Perez has been in controversy after controversy for its portrayal of the Mexican cartel, transwomen, and the tweets from co-star Karla Sofía Gascón.
The film itself cannot be held upon Saldaña shoulders, but the French director Jacques Audiard.
Her comments after the Oscar win were received in mixed reception:
“I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended. That was never our intention… I don’t share your opinion. For me. the heart of this movie was not Mexico… these womne could have been Russia… Could have been from Israel. Could have been from Gaza.”
So now Zoe Saldaña says the heart and matter of Emilia Pérez was never Mexico. She has her Oscar now. Masks off. pic.twitter.com/8j4NM2u8wa
This has to be a joke,how do u make a film portraying another culture and country, the people from that country say they're offended….AND YOU SAY YOU DONT AGREE when you're not even from that country 😭😭😭 bye girl lol
The other Oscar Emilia Pérez took home was Best Original Song for “El Mal”.
In the other competition, Diane Warren, nominated for “The Journey” in The Six Triple Eight, lost the original song Oscar for the sixteenth time in her legacy.
However, Emilia Pérez lost out for International Feature to Brazilian drama I’m Still Here, which marks Brazi’s first win in this category.
The month of February has been buzzing with the awards season, leaving many to question who will take home the Oscar. Adrien Brody has taken home the BAFTAs and Critics Choice, all for his lead role in The Brutalist.
It seemed all neatly tied together for Brody to take home his second Oscar win until Timothée Chalamet won the SAG award, becoming the youngest male to win.
Chalamet’s possible Oscar win would set him as the youngest male actor to receive an Oscar in this category, and Adrien Brody would set a record of 100 per cent Oscar nominations to win if he takes home the Oscar.
A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold, has been in the works for almost six years, the same amount of time Brady Corbet has been working for free on The Brutalist.
Chalamet has absorbed himself into the character of Bob Dylan and encapsulated his singing voices.
Brody spent over a year learning Hungarian for a fictional architect, rebuilding his life post-World War Two.
The Brutalist has received backlash for using Generative AI to draw inspiration from Brutalism architecture and for using AI to enhance the Hungarian spoken by Adrian Body and Felicity Jones.
Film Editor, Dávid Jancsó defended the actors on Deadline: “Adrien and Felicity’s performances are completely their own”.
The actors worked alongside a dialect coach, Tonera Marshall, to learn the language and perfect the accent as much as possible within one year.
Some audiences have suggested the film should not be nominated for the Oscars, as it not only allows for the use of AI but celebrates it.
It is standard practice within Hollywood and the Music Industry to clean up audio post-production, and it has never received backlash before.
Jancsó said, “We should have a very open discussion about what tools AI can provide us with.”
While the film has received academy awards from the BAFTAs, the SAG Awards, and ten nominations from the Oscars, it was not produced by Hollywood.
Corbet had a budget of ten million dollars for the film.
Jancsó and the rest of the production partnered with Respeecher, a Ukrainian software company which used AI software to save the film’s budget.
The AI did not change the actors’ performances; the software made minor sound changes to specific letters to make them sound like native speakers.
A film critic, William Howells, said: “I don’t agree with any AI used in any film, but in this case, it was not used to take away anybody’s job, so I am okay with it”.
The editor also confirmed that human illustrators were used to draw and create the architecture seen in the film.
When asking an AI bot a very simple and basic prompt, “Can you please draw illustrations of architecture based on the brutalism style that emerged in the 1950s among the reconstruction of the post-war era?” The brutalism style is known for its exposed concrete, monochrome colour palette, and angular geometric shape. THIS IS IMPORTANT.”
ChatGPT:
Gemini:
FLUX-1:
AI bots can be used as a starting point to draw inspiration, not design the entire architecture in a film.
The Brutalist represents the combination of new and old that should no longer be feared or dismissed.
It was filmed on a 35mm VistaVision that has been previously used in films such as Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock and has been almost obsolete since the 1960s.
The film also brought back the cinema experience by having a fifteen-minute intermission.
AI was a building tool in the film project to save money and time when both were restricted.
The arts are an expensive career path and usually unrewarding to film directors.
If the Academy considers AI not a tool but a reason not to reward the film, it is cementing the economics that underlay Hollywood.
On Sunday, Adrien Brody won the Oscar in the Best Actor category.
During his speech, he said, “I pray for a healthier, happier, and more inclusive world. “
The Brutalist won a key category in Best Cinematography, and British Score Writer Daniel Blumberg won for Best Original Score.
Blumberg won the BAFTA last month for the score.
The Brutalist mixes piano, saxophone, brass, and percussion to convey Adrien Brody’s character’s inner torment.
With no wins for the young actor Timothee Chalamet, one can only hope next year will be his season, even after great films like A Complete Unknown and Dune: Part Two.
A member of the London Chess Club deliberates during a friendly game
Hands linger over chess pieces, silently debating the possible outcomes, all with a ticking clock counting down as everyone retreats into their world, but not isolated, a comfortable knowledge that chess players surround the room battling the same questions.
Perhaps they had already considered all the outcomes; even the younger children stare at the chess boards and back up at their opponents, curious about the thoughts inside their heads.
A bustling sense of community within the quiet concentration.
Chess enthusiasts gather for an intense tournament in the cozy MMyElephant Park
Many members of the London Chess Club and the UWE Chess Society have only played online before; now, they can soak in the silent deliberation.
Chess.com and Lichess saw a stark rise in membership accounts during the 2020 Lockdown, and this success continued into 2022, as Chess.com reached over 100 million members.
London Chess Club Organiser Harry comments that since the lockdown and the Netflix series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, the community has become larger and larger each year as they move from cafe to cafe.
Rows upon rows of friends, fathers and sons, and young children all sat in the MMY Elephant Park since the London Chess Club merged with the local London Knight Club in 2024.
Members of London Chess Club concentrate on their next moves
Four years have passed since the end of the lockdown, and community chess clubs such as the London Chess Club and university chess societies are booming.
Co-founder of the UWE Chess Society, Edward Honey, believes the increase in online platforms will increase communication between universities, allowing arrangements such as inter-university Chess to become the norm.
The increase in interest has led to YouTube phenomenons such as Gotham Chess, encouraging the next generation of Chess players.
President of the UWE Chess Society, James Meadows, said: “The youth of today shapes the future of tomorrow.”
Eight-year-old Chess player at London Chess Club
An eight-year-old at the London Chess Club mentioned playing Chess for two weeks, first inspired by YouTube channels.
Her father has encouraged her passion for the game by taking her to the chess club, where Organiser Jed helps teach the young chess player.
The youthful spark of passion for strategies.
London Chess Club Organisers, on the left Harry, and on the right Jed
The London Chess Club organises monthly tournaments for around 50 to 100 players, divided into different rating groups: Pro, Intermediate, and Novice.
Various Grandmasters have dropped the club, including Pia Cramling, Alessia Santeramo and Noel Studer.
Harry explains that a Grandmaster is a title awarded to Chess players; other titles include Female Grandmaster and International Master.
Chess transcends generations and brings players together in casual and competitive play
University can become a lonely environment, with stacks of papers piled high on desks, a new labyrinth of hallways and faces to memorise, and the grey hues of British weather threatening to unleash the rain.
Upon walking into a room full of beginner and more advanced chess players, a warmth of light glows with the friendly welcome of the UWE Chess Society.
Photography Credit to Edward Honey. Edward Honey playing in a timed chess match
Co-founder of UWE Chess Society, Edward Honey, started the society in his second year with the old President; in his third year, the other committee members agreed that Edward should be President.
As the 2023/24 President of the UWE Chess Society, his primary aspiration was for the society to be a place where students can come together and improve their chess skills.
Co-founder Edward Honey said, “I just wanted it to be an inclusive place where beginners and advanced players could meet, have fun, and enjoy the game of chess.”
A member of the 2023/24 UWE Chess Society and the President of the 2024/25 UWE Chess Society, James Meadows, reflected on the society’s founding: it “started up again in 2022 because students started talking to each other when they were playing at a chess board in the engineering building.”
Member of UWE Chess Society, Thomas Kitch, mid-play in a friendly match
While Chess maintains a serious reputation, the players themselves are not.
On Valentine’s Day, the UWE Chess Society had a hand-and-brain tournament instead of the more traditional format.
Hand-and-brain Chess involves two team members on each side: one person as the hand moves the pieces, and the other person as the brain voices which type of piece.
The team, however, cannot collude with each other.
Sometimes, the game can become a source of madness and frustration when one teammate takes a different direction.
But at the final checkmate, the two teammates have strengthened their understanding of how each other plays and reflected more deeply on themselves.
The beauty and tension captured in a Father and Son chess match
The President of the UWE Chess Society, Meadows, said: “Our hand and brain events encourage players to work together, so it really helps in creating a sense of community.”
Meadows will continue the hand-and-brain tournaments to help members bond together.
Co-founder of UWE Chess Society, Edward Honey, said: “It’s a lot easier to create a competitive team from a sociable club than to turn a competitive club into a sociable environment.”
Honey arranged other social events for the UWE Chess Society, including fresher fair stalls across campus to play Chess against the 2023/24 Committee, solving chess puzzles, and a Christmas trip to Chase and Counters to bond the members.
His goal as President was always to keep the group tournaments competitive but fair and fun.
Four tables are divided into groups where players compete with a set timer, and from the tables, one player would come out to play against a different table.
The lingering over pieces to the quick touchdown and rushing to press the chess timer to begin re-considering your move or waiting for the plan to unveil.
Honey won the April UWE Chess Tournament by three points.
President of UWE Chess Society, James Meadows, playing chess
James Meadows took over as President in the 2024/25 academic year.
If Honey had more time, he would make inter-university Chess more accessible, and Meadows has continued his work with future matches in the Bristol Chess League.
President of UWE Chess Society, James Meadows, said it “will give our players the opportunity to play competitive classical chess”, but he remains focused on creating “a real sense of community.”
Both Honey and Meadow focus on fostering a strong sense of community within the University.
James Meadows strategising in a friendly game of chess
Honey returned in July after graduating with a first-class honours degree as an alum member.
President of UWE Chess Society, James Meadows, said: “I’ve known from very early on when I started playing chess that it is so much more enjoyable when the experience is shared with others… you realise that you have a lot in common with people”.
While it maintains its status as a Chess society, some members bring other games, such as Geoguesser, similar to the fostering of the game community at the London Chess Club.
Graduate Student, Jun, playing a friendly game of Go at London Chess Club
The London Chess Club has expanded its reach to another game called ‘Go.’
UWE Chess President Meadows said: “Chess mirrors life, and we can learn a lot about life and ourselves when we play it.”
The Go Club inside the London Chess Club
The teacher of Go, Jim, believes the same psychology about ‘Go’.
Similar to Chess as a strategic and older game, two players place pieces down in order to capture more territory than their opponent.
Whether through online platforms, local tournaments, or social events, the game of Chess continues to unite people of all ages and skill levels, proving that its relevance in modern society is as strategic and timeless as the game itself.
This story contains descriptions of sexual harrassment that readers may find upsetting.
Blake Lively has taken legal action against Justin Baldoni, the director and lead actor, and Jamey Heath, the lead producer of the film ‘It Ends with Us’.
The men hired public relations expert Melissa Nathan, most known for her previous client Johnny Depp, in a similar social media smear campaign against Amber Heard.
Scooter Braun, owner of Taylor Swift’s masters and alleged participant in the edited phone call between Kanye and Swift, is the majority stakeholder in the TAG PR company run by Melissa Nathan.
“He wants to feel that she can be buried,” a publicist working with Mr. Baldoni wrote in an August 2nd message to Ms. Nathan.
“You know we can bury anyone,” Ms Nathan wrote.
Lively filed a complaint in November 2023, claiming Baldoni improvised physical intimacy and discussions of his sex life, including encounters in which he may not have received consent, and claiming Heath showed a video of his wife naked to Lively. Both entered her trailer uninvited while she was undressed or breastfeeding.
Before shooting, she objected to sex scenes he wanted to add since she considered them gratuitous; the alleged changes were a scene for Lively to orgasm on-camera and a detailed scene of the younger actress losing her virginity.
Neither scene appeared in the original novel by Colleen Hoover.
After her complaint, the following January, they had a meeting between Lively, Baldoni, the producers, and Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds.
Wayfarer Studios agreed to have a full-time intimacy coordinator.
It was noticed by social media accounts Reynolds had blocked Baldoni on Instagram.
Upon the film’s release, the cast, including Lively and author Hoover, informed Sony and Wayfarer they would not appear alongside Baldoni.
The media presented this as a disruption over Baldoni’s and Lively’s creative differences. The film distributor Sony supported Lively in hiring editors to create a different cut of the film, for which she received producer credit.
Sony had an official promotion plan instructing the cast to focus on the hopeful and uplifting aspects of the film instead of the domestic violence and focus on the floral film.
Lively faced backlash for her insensitivity; in return, Balodni’s PR team decided to highlight the survivors of Domestic Violence to help his interests.
Baldoni received an award this month for being an ally to women.
Following the complaint filed with the California Civil Rights Department against him, WME has since dropped Baldoni.
Lively continues to be represented by WME.
Melissa Nathan wrote in a message to Ms Abel: “and socials are really really ramping up. In his favour, she must be furious. It’s actually sad because it just shows you have people really want to hate on women.”
Nathan’s proposal to hire contractors, such as Jed Wallace, to lead a digital strategy to change the narrative. The hatred of Lively increased on TikTok with mass support to Baldoni.
It is impossible to determine the extent to which social media accounts or reporters were involved.
Kjersti Flaa, a reporter, posted clips with Johnny Depp with #JusticeForJohnnyDepp in 2022 amongst the Amber Heard smear campaign.
Flaa also re-uploaded a clip from a 2016 interview with Lively, who snapped back after her baby bump comment, which further branded Lively as a mean girl.
A document claimed to read the team planted stories about the weaponism of feminism, like women such as Taylor Swift, who have been accused of utilising these tactics to bully others into getting what they want.
Taylor Swift is friends with Lively and her husband, Reynolds.
Swift has been named Person of the Year by Times Magazine twice, once in 2016 during her sexual assault trial against former DJ David Muller and in 2023, following her successful Eras Tour re-claiming her stolen music by Scooter Braun.
Swift became the first mass-cancelled celebrity on Twitter following Kanye’s leaked phone call, found to be edited years later, and the Famous music video in which he made a naked waxwork used to humiliate and harass Swift.
A social media post featuring Braun (a stakeholder in Ms Nathan’s PR Company), Kanye West, and Justin Bieber increased the cancellation.
It was impossible to escape the Kanye Swift feud in 2016; Swift went into hiding until she released her return album, Reputation.
Amber Heard escaped the Johnny Depp trial by moving to Spain with her daughter.
However, in 2022, TikTok feeds were clogged with content over the trial bashing Amber Heard and acting out scenes from their marriage.
A dystopian theatre production.
Lively, Heard, and Swift suffered through a similar smear campaign created through social media manipulation due to their inability to find the model of a perfect victim.
Even upon releasing the complaint, social media remains siding with Baldoni due to Lively’s past actions.
Mass disinformation campaigns are not subjected to politics; the tipping point of the far-right is to build a narrative of manipulative women, to attack reproductive rights, and to undermine the court system of sexual assault and harassment.
A society that already does not believe in women, a society built to hate them even more.
Before agreeing instantly with a social media post, consider researching the issue. Effective disinformation relies on information overload and an effective social media plan.
In a statement, Ms Lively said, “I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted.”
Devil Youth Studios is a Skateboard clothing brand that doesn’t just focus on style, but also on practicality. Their designs, inspired by animations and video game graphics, are magnificently curated into beautiful drawings on cosy jumpers and t-shirts. These clothes are not just for show, but are perfect for wearing even if you fall off your skateboard. The designer’s imagination is the source of these initial drawings, which have blossomed into the ones you see today on their clothes.
Devil Youth Studios was not just a thought, but a moment of imagination that the owner turned into reality in 2019. This journey, from a mere idea to the brand it is today, is a testament to their passion and ambition. Based in Bristol, the Skateboard capital of the UK, they are proud to be a part of this vibrant community. A stroll down the centre of Bristol, even in the light rain, is a sight to behold, with friends united by their love of skateboarding and fashion, all wearing the Devil Youth Studios brand.
The wind swells, the ocean breeze circles in salt rust around you, men in half-deserted streets roll up their car windows, the dimming sun hidden behind darkening clouds, the light of the cinema glows within, drawing you inside, and destiny awaits. The click of the machine, the blink of electricity, the drip of the rain outside, the ticket leading you to the screen with Twisters marked above it.
The original Twister, directed by Jan de Bont, has left an indelible mark on my life, and Lee Isaac Chung continues his legacy. Like many children who deeply connected with The Lion King or Toy Story, I had a similar love affair with Twister. This film’s portrayal of the power and unpredictability of nature inspired me to pursue Geography A Level and Environmental Science. It’s a testament to the film’s influence on my career choices and my fascination with the darker side of nature.
The newest film directed by Lee Isaac Chung Twisters stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos as the protagonists. The film was shot in various locations, including Oklahoma City and Cashion, Okarche, El Reno and Chickasha, to capture the story’s essence and the tornadoes’ power.
The Plot and Characters:
Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a PhD student interested in cloud microphysics. Javi (Antony Ramos) is responsible for data collection, and three of their close friends are also involved. They need the perfect storm, the perfect conditions, the perfect tornado. However, these conditions make a tornado align too well to create an EF-5 tornado instead of the EF-1 tornado they were searching for to test their theory. The science group’s hypostasis uses sodium polymer to remove the critical element of moisture to ‘disturb a tornado’. Theoretically, it should work, but the technology to understand a tornado has not evolved yet, and there is not enough polymer for an EF-5 tornado.
The lighthearted innocence of five PhD students in the field, highlighted by the use of video cams, and the passionate excitement for a tornado turned on their heads as the thing they loved became the thing that killed them.
The film’s opening scene, where Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character screams in agony as the tornado claims her two best friends and her boyfriend, is a powerful emotional punch. The beauty of the shot, the chaos unleashed by the tornado, and the raw pain in the scream all cut to a serene white scene, almost like heavenly imagery, and then back to Daisy, covered in blood and dirt, walking through the tornado’s aftermath. This scene, with its emotional intensity, draws you in and sets the tone for the rest of the film, making you feel deeply engaged and connected to the characters. The contrast between the white eeriness and the filth conveys Kate’s loss of innocence, her love for a tornado wiped out and replaced by fear. The grey that haunts her, the grass destroyed in the path of the tornado, her heart destroyed in the path of the tornado, her ‘childish belief that’ she ‘could make a difference’ killed in the path of the tornado.
The film is a rollercoaster of non-stop action. There’s never a dull moment as it moves from one heart-pounding action sequence to another, punctuated by gut-wrenching emotional moments that keep you on the edge of your seat. The constant thrill and excitement of the film’s action sequences will keep you engaged and thrilled, making you feel each moment’s adrenaline rush and the suspense.
Five years later, Javi returns to Kate’s life with a mission and an idea to help analyse tornados. Kate has a natural gift that none of the other characters can even grace against, and that’s the feel, the presence, the essence of a tornado. The film begins.
(I would like to officially get this out the way: I would like to apologise to Glen Powell. I have only watched him Set It Up, which I hated, and I take it back, the man can act).
The echoes of Jeb throughout the film land a gut punch to my soul. They are so hidden in the movie that once you start noticing the trail left behind by you, you can not help but have glisten form in their eyes and trail water droplets down their cheeks. As Kate contemplates staying in New York or helping Javi, she is comforted by a ghost, Jeb, holding her the way he held onto her during the tornado. It is the first essence of warm tones since the accident, and as quickly as it appears, it is wiped away by a cut through the loud train tracks and her awakening in her cool-tone apartment. One can only imagine this is a regular occurrence in her life. The moment Jeb is echoing through her is during the Toronado with Owens. The mother repeats the words Jeb did, and if you listen so closely, you hear the actor also echo those words. Love truly is the knife turning inside me. Jeb is there saving Kate over and over, and his actions are reincarnated as Javi uses the physics of levers to help Kate get Owens from under a truck. Kate finally lets go of Jeb as she looks to the sky, which she once begged to; she smiles, knowing she completed their science project and has done right by him.
My director and film-critic friend, Billy Howells, wrote: ‘Let’s face it: a sequel to Twister released 28 years after the original seems like a pure cash grab, but Chung gives this movie a reason to exist artistically. It absolutely has the “tornados destroying shit” you expect from the original, and that is very well done, but his handling of the characters is what makes this movie special.
Through these characters, the audience experiences loss and what to do when their dreams conflict with their moral values. These themes and how they are structured around the characters, especially Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kate, make it not just a fun watch but an emotionally invested one. For those reasons, Twisters feels like a true summer blockbuster and not just a product made from a machine.’
During my casual scoop on the Internet, I saw an opinion that Kate and Owen should have completed the enemies-to-lovers trope with a final kiss. The enemies-to-lovers trope a popular narrative device in romantic films and novels, was hinted at in ‘Twisters’ and was the driving force behind the original Twister but not fully realised. I agree with the Executive Producer, Steven Spielberg, that it is better without a kiss. The intensity of their love does not require the physical notion of a kiss; there is something better about the undercurrent of waiting and waiting for confirmation. It is what made Jurassic Park’s couple, directed by the Executive Producer, sizzle and live longer in film history.
Cinematography and Directing:
One can always spot an indie director by their use of camerawork inside a car. The camerawork matched the panic and chaos; it captured the fear on everyone’s faces and the haunting use of reflection. The switch from careful, smooth camerawork during the calm to the handheld whiplash camera during the storms was captivating. I only hold one note: the scene in which Owens and Kate are hiding in a pool from the tornado. I wish the camera was tilted further down upon Kate; you just about saw Owens, and I felt that it almost ruined such a beautiful moment about Jeb and Kate with Owens slightly in the shot. I still cried my eyes out, nonetheless. There was also precisely one shot where they had the rainwater go on the camera, and it’s one of my favourite B-roll shots.
My director and film-critic friend, Billy Howells, wrote: ‘When it comes to big-budget blockbusters, studios tend to have a habit of hiring indie filmmakers. Said indie filmmakers will have only previously made movies where the entire budget is the catering budget for a blockbuster.
On the surface, studios do this to intrigue people, but they actually do it to take creative control away from the filmmaker and shape the movie into a guaranteed money-maker.
In the case of Twisters, director Lee Isaac Chung previously made Minari, which had a budget of $2 million and was nominated for several Oscars. His hiring for Twisters made me very worried due to everything I just mentioned, but this truly feels like a Lee Isaac Chung movie.
I remember watching ‘The Idea of You’ and all these new films surrounding teenagers worried that I had started to see the future of filmmaking through the spine-enduring, cringe-worthy way they used social media, hashtags and cinematography. So when Boone (Brandon Perea) brought out the iPhone with the vlogging equipment, my heart dropped for the original Twister; however, I backtracked, and they did an incredible job. The use of YouTube, vlogging, and live streaming flowed the way video camera footage rolled throughout the film. It is one of the first times I have witnessed this used effectively, leaving me pleasantly surprised and intrigued by the film’s innovative approach. I appreciate that they still had the video cam footage involved; my heart will always love them and believe they should be in every film ever. It adds a level of charm that nostalgia cannot survive without.
Soundtrack:
I can assure you with my hand on my heart that as soon as my paycheck comes in, I will give my money to the employee to buy a Twisters vinyl. This film’s soundtrack, filled with classic country tunes, has become a significant part of its identity. It’s a good day to love country music, and it’s a great day to celebrate the impact that music can have in a film. Personally, the soundtrack is the first thing I notice and the first thing I will scroll onto my phone whilst leaving the cinema (even before writing a Letterboxd review). It sets the film’s tone, makes or breaks the dramatic scenes, and combines emotion.
The most noticeable songs in the soundtrack are ‘Aint No Love in Oklahoma’ by Luke Combs and ‘Out of Oklahoma’ by Lainey Wilson. Luke Combs is used to introduce Owen; it is soulful and driven, and it plays on the truck speakers as he drives in. It reminds Kate of the country, further emphasised by her nickname of city girl; it is the masculinity of America, the epitome of the cowboy, the rough and rugged man unafraid of tornados. He is an extension of nature himself.
The two songs mirror each other in a reflection of the characters. ‘Out of Oklahoma’ is the ghost of the country life as Kate returns home to her mother; she cannot outrun her hopes, her dreams, and her fears as she almost dies in another tornado alongside Owen. She hasn’t returned home in the entire five years. Reflecting Kate, it is a slower, more melancholy country song; it is a long sequence compared to the fast-paced film as she returns and finally breathes. But the film needs it.
Wardrobe and Makeup:
The wardrobe and makeup department brought this film together. I am so sick of recent careless makeup mistakes in cinema or the need to be airbrushed while they are in the middle of a natural disaster or a horror film. The makeup of this film exceeded my expectations, and I noticed it even more on the second rewatch the next day. It made the chaos and panic ever so more natural, the sweat dripping off Glen Powell and the dust combined in Daisy Edgar-Jones’s hair. It created the illusion that they got swept up near a tornado and fought against the odds. The film’s technical aspects, particularly the wardrobe and makeup, are truly impressive and will leave you appreciative of the attention to detail, making you feel impressed and immersed in Daisy Edgar-Jones’s world.
An example of both Kate’s character development and the wardrobe department, she begins in cool-tone colours, the whites, the blues. One could represent the figure of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, who famously wore blue and white, hence the colours of Storm Par. Alternatively, the film depicts the clean slate she wants after the accident, while Owens wears warm tones and browns to showcase his rustic side, unafraid of nature’s dark side. Another essential detail is the side-by-side of Kate and Javi in New York, both in shirts, but Kate’s is tight, restrictive, and buttoned up. In their first tornado chase, she continues this in a turtle neck and a shirt. At the same time, Javi wears shirts throughout, but buttons show his professionalism and relaxed nature despite the military training. The military background, while not quite dived into, was an interesting character point showcasing his trauma to the incident without so drastically pointing it out in writing. Another wardrode example is the change in Kate’s hair from painfully pin straight in New York to the wavy blonde mess in Oklahoma, showing her return to her roots and finally accepting the chaos, not trying to control everything due to her behaviour towards losing her boyfriend. Referring back to the cool and warm tones, she starts to wear warmer tones as she slowly begins mixing with Owens. The climax of her wardrobe coincides with the film’s climax, as she wears a red vest top and loose brown trousers to chase the last tornado. This shows she has let go of her past traumas, and the influence of Owens has brought back warmth and purpose in her life.
In conclusion, I spent my week watching this film in cinemas three times, and I cried every time. It never lost its sparkle on rewatch, and I feel a gravitational pull to it. In my books, it’s a classic.
First Published via HUB Magazine when I was Editor-in-Chief.
Date Published: 3rd November 2023.
Hosted by Scott Channon in UWE’s Student Bar every third Thursday of the month is UWE’s Open Mic Night. Whether you are a musician, a comedian or a spoken word poet, the Open Mic Night is open to all. Enjoy a few cheap drinks, live music, and bring a few friends.
A welcoming and livingly crowd, ready to support and here your music. There is a sign up board next to the stage for anyone that would like to be involved, open to everyone.
The event is hosted and organised by Scott Channon, a musician himself.
Max Meadows is an indie rock musician. He sang two originals, as well as Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger. A musician who brilliantly combines childlike wonder, and etherealness with an undertone of melancholy.
Stretched Thin is a solo artist. He sang two originals and a cover of The Pixies Where is my Mind?
Girlstupid is a folk acoustic band formed of Via (vocals), Jess (Guitar), and Molly (Vocals). They beautifully covered Boygenius’ Not Strong Enough, Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, and Phoebe Bridgers’ Georgia.
Skye Collacott Williamson 