Cinema in Context Cinema in Context

Space Opera Sequels. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen begin by discussing our reactions to Dune: Part Two, how it compares our perspectives of Part One and how the films connect to the source text. We talk about our opinions and connections to The Empire Strikes Back (aka Star Wars Episode V), and our experiences watching it growing up. We praise the performances in the films, especially Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill in The Empire Strikes Back, and Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson and Florence Pugh. We discuss the prowess of George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Denis Villeneuve, Hans Zimmer and John Williams.

Unpacking the Academy Awards. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss the 96th Academy Awards ceremony. We begin by talking about the presentation of the ceremony itself. Our conversation moves to the Best Picture category and we consider Oppenheimer, Zone of Interest, American Fiction and The Holdovers. We discuss the Sound category and the skill of how The Zone of Interest was put together. We move into a conversation about Poor Things, including the performance of Emma Stone, the design elements in the film and the politics of the script. We talk through a range of smaller categories and touch on Maestro, Godzilla Minus One, The Creator, and the performances of Lily Gladstone, Carey Mulligan and Sandra Hüller. We talk about the Screenplay categories, the performances of "I'm Just Ken" and "What Was I Made For", reminisce about previous ceremonies and winners, and finish by discussing the animated and documentary categories.

Scandalous love affairs. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and Doug Dillaman discuss May December (2023) and Notes on a Scandal (2006). We begin by hearing each person's reaction to watching or rewatching Notes on a Scandal. We touch on the real case that both films are based on, focused on the relationship between Matu Kay Letouneau and Vili Fualaau. We talk about the performances of Dame Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Bill Nighy, Juno Temple, Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton and Corey Michael Smith. We discuss our reactions, criticisms and praise for Todd Haynes' May December. We begin to explore the ways both stories deal with a fraught subject and whose perspective we focus on. Sarah and Jeremy present their own perspectives from teaching and how they navigate creating and maintaining safe spaces for teenagers. We finish by considering how this story might be told again in the future and whose perspectives need to be highlighted.

Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss the films they watched over the December-January holiday period. We talk about Bluey (2018-Present), Wonka (2023), Ferrari (2023), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire (2023), The Holdovers (2023), American Fiction (2023), All of Us Strangers (2023) and Poor Things (2023).

Conductor composer biopics. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Maestro (2023) and Amadeus (1984). We begin by discussing the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and its connection to the film. We talk about the film itself and how it tells the story of Mozart, as well as fabricating its own cinematic narrative. We praise Maestro and its feats of cinema, especially the performances of Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper.

The good, the average and the weird. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss their film and television highlights of the year, including each of their best film of the year, their biggest surprise, their biggest disappointment, their wildcard film or television season of the year and their best television show of 2023.

Here are the films and television shows we discussed:
• Films of the year: Anatomy of a Fall (Sarah); Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (William, with runner-ups Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Nimona); Theater Camp (Jeremy, with runner-ups Triangle of Sadness and Barbie)
• Biggest surprise of the year: Napoleon (Jeremy, with a special shout-out to Scream VI); Living (Sarah); Once Upon a Studio (Wiliam)
• Biggest disappointment of the year: Astroid City (Wiliam, including parts of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar); The Creator (Sarah, with a mention of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody); Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Jeremy, with shout outs to The Flash and Beau Is Afraid)
• Wildcard: Scrapper and River (Sarah, with shout-outs to Triangle of Sadness and How to Have Sex); Chang An | Chang'an san wan li and Moon Man | Du xing yue qiu (William); Mrs. Davis (Jeremy, with shout-outs to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Red, White & Royal Blue)
• Best season of television of the year: Jury Duty (Sarah); The Bear, Season 2 (William, with runner-ups Reservation Dogs and Scavengers Reign); Faraway Downs (Jeremy, with shout-outs to reality show Survivor and crime mystery show Poker Face)