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The post The Next Best Picture Podcast – Interview With The “Better Man” Visual Effects Team appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us anywhere you listen to podcasts or listen in the embedded player below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you’re feeling generous, you enjoy what you hear, and you want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, and you’ll receive some exclusive podcast content from us.

You can follow Daniel & Dan and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter @howatdk & @dancindanonfilm

The post The Next Best Picture Podcast – Interviews With “Better Man” Director/Co-Writer Michael Gracey & Star Robbie Williams appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us anywhere you listen to podcasts or listen in the embedded player below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you’re feeling generous, you enjoy what you hear, and you want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, and you’ll receive some exclusive podcast content from us, including this review ad-free.

You can follow Matt, Ema, Dan, Cody, Will & Tom and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars and Film on X at @NextBestPicture, @ema_sasic, @dancindanonfilm, @codymonster91, @mavericksmovies & @thomaseobrien

The post The Next Best Picture Podcast – “Better Man” appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Certainly, the year has plenty of options to choose from, including some truly unorthodox takes on the music biopic domain. “Piece by Piece,“ for instance, explores the life of Pharrell Williams through an animated Lego world. The narrative scope (following Williams from childhood to stardom) is firmly within the music biopic realm. Having everything told via Lego bricks, though, that’s more unusual. Given its animated feature, “Piece by Piece“ will inherently be limited in its Oscar potential. However, don’t count out this production from possibly getting a Best Original Song nomination, given that the Williams tune “Happy“ previously got recognized in this category.

Speaking of unusual, there’s also the Robbie Williams biopic, “Better Man,“ which reimagines the English musician as a CG chimpanzee. It’s a bold move that’s already garnered some divisive (though also some deeply euphoric) responses from critics after its fall film festival premiere. “Better Man“ may end up being “too weird“ or ribald for Academy voters, while the relative obscurity of Williams in America won’t help the feature stand out. Still, domestic distributor Paramount’s got supreme confidence in “Better Man,“ as seen by its August 2024 Telluride debut. Don’t count out a crowdpleaser music biopic, especially one taking these big swings. Plus, given its digital leading man, “Better Man“ could end up being a shoo-in for a Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination.

Getting more reactions after its fall film festival premiere is another late 2024 music biopic: “Maria.“ This Angelina Jolie feature is helmed by Pablo Larraín, a filmmaker whose works have become something close to recurring fixtures at the Oscars in recent years. Generally reserved notices for “Maria,“ though, could keep it from scoring a slew of Academy Award nominations, even with domestic distributor Netflix footing an inevitably costly For Your Consideration campaign. Jolie, though, will be a contender for Best Actress, while Edward Lachman has a shot at a Best Cinematography Oscar nomination. Like “Better Man,” “Maria“ is one 2024 music biopic that would be foolish to discount already.

If there’s any significant potential Oscar contender among this year’s music biopics, it’s James Mangold’s Bob Dylan feature, “A Complete Unknown.“ All the ingredients, conceptually, are here for the Oscars to respond greatly to “Unknown.“ Dylan is a famous figure recognizable from the youth of many older Oscar voters. Timothée Chalamet is well-liked by the Academy, as seen by his previous “Call Me by Your Name“ Oscar nomination. Then, there’s the fact that the last big Mangold music biopic, “Walk the Line,“ scored a slew of Academy Award nominations and even a big win for Reese Witherspoon. However, no amount of Oscar-friendly ingredients can guarantee a film Oscar glory. Award-season observers won’t know “A Complete Unknown’s“ chances until the film screens at the end of this year. Searchlight Pictures allegedly won’t bring “A Complete Unknown“ to the film festival circuit. Instead, the studio is rolling out the film like a general theatrical release rather than an arthouse feature with months of advanced showings. That could suggest Searchlight’s tremendous confidence in the film’s box office potential, as further seen by its prime Christmas Day release date.

“A Complete Unknown” will be the last major movie of the 2024-2025 award season left unseen. Its title is fitting – it’ll be a wild card until the very last minute. There’s certainly promise here for it to become an Oscar champion, but that’ll all depend on the quality of the movie itself. For now, what is clear is that there aren’t a bunch of other revered music biopics crowding “A Complete Unknown” out of the Best Picture category. If “Unknown” gets some real hype behind it, it’ll be the only 2024 music biopic making a real run at the biggest Academy Awards category.

The sheer ubiquity of these films and their proximity to award season once again suggest how critically important music biopics have become for Hollywood studios. While these weren’t chopped liver before 2018, “Bohemian Rhapsody“reaffirmed these films’ box office and award-season potential. Most importantly, “Bohemian Rhapsody“ accomplished everything without much in the way of critical praise. In an increasingly precarious theatrical marketplace, studio executives are undoubtedly salivating over the notion of “foolproof“ movies aimed at adults like music biopics.

Even if none of this year’s music biopics go on to score Best Picture Oscar nominations, there’s no way this genre is going to vanish from the theatrical landscape anytime soon. So many more of these are on the way in 2025 and 2026. Studios are committed to this form for the foreseeable future, which means these movies will continue to be significant award-season players. We’ll know soon if this year’s crop of “Walk the Line“ successors like “Better Man“ and “A Complete Unknown“ can live up to the sizeable awards legacy of other titles – or if they’ll hit an awkward flat note in their pursuits for Oscar gold.

Which of this year’s music biopics do you think is most likely to get some Oscar love? What’s your favorite music biopic from this year? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.

You can follow Lisa and hear more of her thoughts on the Oscars & Film on her portfolio here

The post Which 2024 Music Biopics Could Get Some Awards Season Love? appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us anywhere you listen to podcasts or listen in the embedded player below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you’re feeling generous, you enjoy what you hear, and you want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, and you’ll receive some exclusive podcast content from us.

You can follow Matt, Lauren, Dan, Cody & Giovanni and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter @NextBestPicture, @laurenlamango, @dancindanonfilm, @codymonster91 & @TheGiovanniLago

The post The Next Best Picture Podcast: Episode 411 – NYFF62 Continues, 2024 AFI Lineup, “Emilia Pérez,” “Juror #2,” “Babygirl” & “Better Man” Trailers appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us anywhere you listen to podcasts or listen in the embedded player below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you’re feeling generous, you enjoy what you hear, and you want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, and you’ll receive some exclusive podcast content from us.

You can follow Matt, Will & Jorge and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter @NextBestPicture, @mavericksmovies & @jdonbirnam

The post The Next Best Picture Podcast: Live From The 2024 Telluride Film Festival – Part 2 appeared first on Next Best Picture.

THE CAST – Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton & Alison Steadman

THE TEAM – Michael Gracey (Director/Writer), Oliver Cole & Simon Gleeson
​
THE RUNNING TIME – 134 Minutes

“Better Man” is probably (and hopefully) the closest we’ll ever get to a “Deadpool” musical. The Robbie Williams biopic is crass, meta, and self-aware, full of F-bombs, dick jokes, winking asides to the audience via narration, copious amounts of CGI, and even its share of graphic violence. And, just like Deadpool, it’s not nearly as groundbreaking as it thinks it is. Because, at the heart of “Better Man,” for all the tools it uses to earn its R-rating, it’s still yet another musician biopic following the rise/fall/redemption arc, complete with failed marriages, substance abuse, and daddy issues. This is one that just so happens to feature a CGI chimpanzee instead of Williams.

Yes, you heard that correctly. Former Visual Effects Supervisor-turned-Director Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman“) collaborated with the visual effects team at Weta – who brought you Gollum and the “Avatar” aliens – to render Williams as a photorealistic CGI chimpanzee in every single scene. The chimpanzee progresses through the classic beats of a musician biopic otherwise. Williams grows up with a neglectful father, hustles his way into show business in large part to try and find the love and acceptance he was denied as a child, joins a band, finds success (and drugs), sets out on his own, has a rocky marriage, sees his substance abuse worsen and almost derail his career, confront his inner demons, and then perform a redemption performance.

What makes “Better Man” stand out is, well, aside from the fact that there is a CGI chimpanzee in every scene, is that, whereas most musician biopics sanitize their subjects, Williams is depicted unrelentingly as an asshole – even from the very beginning. This film does not want to make you particularly like or even root for its subject. Williams’ narration feels like a cross between Deadpool and Ewan McGregor in “Trainspotting” and further hammers this home with constant jokes. An example is when Williams is getting a handjob and makes eye contact with his manager, quipping, “For once, Nigel wasn’t the biggest Wank in the room,” and says things like, “For legal reasons, I am required to tell you that X is a super nice person.” The quips are often low-hanging frat-type humor, but they sometimes land. However, they do little to endear Williams, who spends the majority of the movie brash and arrogant to the extreme, abusing every substance under the sun, cheating on his wife, and berating his friends.

Of course, most musician biopics have a period in the second act where the musician declines; in this case, the film’s two-hour-and-15-minute runtime, at least an hour and 40 minutes, is dedicated slowly to Williams’ debauchery and destructive lifestyle. The honesty is admirable, truly, especially when compared to sterile PG-13 biopics like “Bohemian Rhapsody.” And yet, the result is that much of the film drags; it’s repetitive seeing Williams behave like an ass and continue to destroy his life over and over again, especially when the film spends little to no time trying to make him likable from the start. Moreover, while emotional, the final 15 minutes don’t feel entirely earned, especially because Williams’ friends and lovers are so thinly scripted and barely fleshed out that the time spent repairing his relationships with them lacks much weight. Also, the conclusion of Williams’ storyline with his father feels unearned.

The film undoubtedly has style. Tracey’s VFX background shows as he drenches the film in CGI spectacle, including drug-induced hallucinations and literal manifestations of Robbie battling his (also CGI) demons. The CGI monkey is remarkable. Weta nailed the hard-to-manage lifelike eyes, and the work on Williams is only slightly less impressive than that in the recent “Planet of the Apes” movies. At the same time, the extensive CGI detracts from the spectacle of the musical numbers on display. The camera often leaps about too effortlessly, and both the music and the aesthetics of these numbers feel too slick, with an autotuned feel similar to how it often felt in “The Greatest Showman.” That being said, the choreography is frequently creative. One musical number feels right out of a hyper-choreographed “OK Go” music video.

“Better Man” is all competently put together but just drags. And, despite all the crass, self-aware humor and visual flourishes, it doesn’t do much to shake up the structure of a biopic. Whereas a “Walk the Line” or “Ray” – even if cliched – reminds you why the musician at its center was a beloved musician, “Better Man” is so focused on the spectacle and on showcasing the unsavory parts of Williams’ life that it doesn’t really demonstrate to an audience why his music was so beloved.

The post “BETTER MAN” appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us anywhere you listen to podcasts or listen in the embedded player below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you’re feeling generous, you enjoy what you hear, and you want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, and you’ll receive some exclusive podcast content from us.

You can follow Matt, Will & Jorge and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter @NextBestPicture, @mavericksmovies & @jdonbirnam

The post The Next Best Picture Podcast: Live From The 2024 Telluride Film Festival – Part 1 appeared first on Next Best Picture.