Issue #35: HARD TRUTHS and SMILE 2

The movies the Oscars were too SCARED to nominate.

Hiiii,

It’s been a minute, huh? But we’re old friends so we don’t dwell on that. We get right into it!

The Oscars are on Sunday. And I truly, deeply wish I were excited about that. Despite my better judgement, I really do love an awards show. I like it when a show host cordially roasts an audience of multi-millionaires. I like it when two strangers struggle to read stilted, overly earnest introductions from a teleprompter. I like it when a grown woman can barely walk in her stunning outfit at the work function. And I love talking shit through the whole thing.

This awards season has been pretty exciting, too. I thought Nikki Glaser did an incredible job hosting the Golden Globes last month. And the Grammys this year were… actually quite good???

And despite the fact that Hollywood was able to take one of the most important Broadway musicals EVER for people who were middle school theater kids in 2004 and actually adapt it so well that it’s headed to the awardsiest award show of them all… I’m struggling to rejoicify.

There are two snubs I just can’t get over:

HARD TRUTHS and SMILE 2

Yeah, I said it. These two films should be dominating awards season. And I should be independently wealthy in my beach mansion living an Ina Garten lifestyle. But not everything that should be, is, ya know?

Moving on…

HIGHBROW: Hard Truths (2024)

Question for you: When you’re around a miserable person, how do you react? I’m talking one of those perpetually discontented, the-world-is-against-me types. Perhaps you encounter one out in public during a road rage incident or at your just-barely-above-minimum wage retail job. Maybe they’re a member of your family, turning every holiday gathering into an exercise in tiptoeing around emotional landmines. Maybe, you’re married to them, and now your life is a living hell that you consensually helped build… oops, dark but true!

I am almost certain that at least one of these examples has brought someone to mind because, unfortunately, misery is so common, it’s practically doing spoken word in a Microsoft commercial. And while misery does exist in all of us to some degree (the human condition be like…), there are those extra special people simmered in an especially thick stew of suck. Mike Leigh’s latest film Hard Truths pays homage to that person.

Hard Truths is a small film in many ways. Small cast, small story, small runtime (97 minutes? A luxury these days). But let me tell ya, these artists are doing BIG work.

The film centers on two sisters. Younger sister Chantelle – played by the stunning Michele Austin – is a hairdresser living in London. She’s personable, funny, she’s got good chat and has beautifully close relationships with her two adult daughters. Older sister Pansy – in a masterclass of a performance from Marianne Jean-Baptiste – is SO not that. She is a H-A-T-E-R. Like, proper h8r, mate. It’s cutting. She don’t give a fuck about this dancerie.

To hear Pansy complain about the most mundane parts of life is to be assaulted with a misery so noxious, it will send your nervous system into fight or flight. This clip from the Hard Truths (IMO, a better sell for film than the trailer) is an excellent snapshot of Pansy, how she moves through life, and how those in her life move around her.

Jean-Baptiste does such a beautiful job of bringing Pansy to life, finding the humor in her misfortune, finding the humanity in her pain. And I appreciate how generously the film treats this complex and repellent woman. She is fully realized in all her shades, as is the world that Pansy inhabits. Every character, every relationship feels well-baked and lived in. This particular quality was so notable, I was curious to learn more about how the filmmakers achieved this.

Lucky for us, Jean-Baptiste appeared on The Daily Show and offered a peek into how she, director Mike Leigh and the rest of the cast collaborated and improvised to create such a true-to-life story. Because, not for nothing, I was wondering how this 80 year old white, English dude hit so squarely on so many (ahem) hard truths about sisterhood between two middle-aged Caribbean-British women.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste did attract some Oscar buzz for her performance, but ultimately, Hard Truths was not included among the nominees. Their loss.

Hard Truths is available to rent or buy on a bunch of different platforms, but why not go straight to the distribution company and watch it on Bleecker Street’s website? Idk just a thought.

LOWBROW: Smile 2 (2024)

If the Oscars were relevant, we all know exactly what film would have broken the record for most nominated of all time. Obviously you also know because I’ve already written the title twice in this newsletter, but still! You already knew this on a psychic level. Smile 2 IS the most POWERFUL film of 2024. That’s not an opinion. That’s a fact.

Six should be less afraid of how seven eight nine, and a little more focused on how Naomi Scott ATE UP the role Skye Riley. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s back up.

Smile 2 is a follow up to the delightfully watchable Smile (another fave I highly recommend). Both share this weird [compliment] tone that exists somewhere in the overlap of horror, thriller, camp, and gore-comedy. But the second Smile film has two things that first did not: Budget and original pop music. And they are used accordingly.

Smile 2 picks up where Smile left off — mild spoiler — with a young man trying to get rid of the smile curse that he picked up at the end of the first movie. Through a chain of events, world famous pop star Skye Riley ends up with the smile curse, and as a result, suffers from dark visions and violent hallucinations. To those around her, though, she just looks like she’s having your run-of-the-mill overworked, undervalued, overexposed, under-cared for, totally violated, substance-dependent pop star mental breakdown.

The film’s signature curse does offer a very cinematic illustration of trauma — and in this case, the very specific trauma that can come from being a young, successful and very public performer. But what I appreciate most about the film is how far it pushes that visual creativity. Smile 2 won’t insult you with a few caught-a-shadowy-figure-over-my-shoulder-in-the-mirror jump scares. Smile 2 respects you. Smile 2 knows you’re open to mind expansion. Smile 2 wouldn’t have included a scene where a group of backup dancers moves as one, terrifying, smiling organism if it didn’t. Smile 2 LOVES you.

There’s so much I could praise about this film: the full out pop production, the unhinged marketing, the audacity to hang your entire horror franchise on people smiling creepily—fearless choices across the board. But the thing I keep returning to is Naomi Scott’s performance. Mama put in work, okay? Skye Riley experiences so many different kinds of pain, and Scott brings something unique and heartbreaking to each moment. Physically and emotionally committed, triple-threat, bold, surprising, arresting… I mean, what more could the Academy voting body want in lead acting performance? I’m pretty sure Naomi Scott is a deflated husk, out there somewhere, getting her fluids replenished from crying and screaming and sweating and dancing them dry for her art. And she gets what? Not a single acknowledgment from a major awards body? Like, helloooo? Is anyone home?

And in a year when musicals are having their Oscars moment too. What a missed opportunity.

Thank god we have good taste and support good art, right guys?

Smile 2 is streaming on Paramount+ or available to rent and buy.

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Ah, it feels good to be back. I have a lot to share and a lot to get off my chest, so I hope you’ll join me in this exciting new chapter of HB/LB (one where I actually publish, can you even imagine?)

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That’s all for now. See you in the next one, babe.

xoxo,

Simone