Mid-October Highlights: Bros & Tar

One is a prestige Oscar drama about a dangerously powerful woman. The other is a joke-dense, gay romantic comedy. They are insanely different, but oh they have both entertained me so much at the movies this month and deserve your eyeballs. Let's get into it.

Tar: Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tar, an erudite and fiercely intelligent American woman who is currently the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. By all accounts, the woman is a paragon, and in the opening moments of this movie, we will be treated to scenes where we watch her talk to people and hold her own, with a passion for music and a very precise vocabulary. However, writer-director Todd Field is not interested in a hagiography. And what follows is two and a half hours of watching the absolute collapse of our protagonist. 

I cannot give away more details, but my God, give Cate Blanchett her Oscar now. She is in every scene of this film and you simply cannot look away; watching her confidence start to turn against her and crumble in epic fashion is remarkable. Her hand gestures when she is conducting music are utterly mesmerizing, and the way she talk to her musicians, switching effortlessly between English and unsubtitled German is a wonder to behold. She has transformed into this character in an astonishing way, and I was captivated.

I went into this movie expecting to be bored out of my mind. Why did it have to be so long? Why did the trailer make it look like a plot-less nightmare? I was convinced this was a prestige film with no substance, and I have never been more glad to be proven wrong. It is impeccable in every way, not just that Blanchett performance. There's an attention to detail in every frame, including the sublime costume design from Bina Daigeler that captures Tar's strength and severity and relentless pursuit of perfection. The production design of her apartments is jaw-dropping. And the soundscape she inhabits always has something going on, some relentless beat in the background, something that is niggling at her and reminding us that all is not well. It's not just the majesty of the symphony she conducts. Even when she is at the gym, she is punching a bag to the rhythm of classical music. 

The supporting performances from Noemi Merlant as Tar's long-suffering assistant, and Nina Hoss as Tar's even-more-suffering wife, are incredible, and they serve as the perfect emotional counterpoint to Tar's almost demonic self-possession. But oh when that mask starts to slip, things go downhill real fast. The long running time of this film is truly worth it because you need to marinate in these characters and watch the trajectory of Tar's fall. And I still cannot get over the final shot of this movie. It was the coup de grace that convinced me that I had just watched a masterpiece. 

Bros: Starring Billy Eichner (who also co-wrote the screenplay with director, Nicholas Stoller), this movie is a joy from start to finish. It is the story of Bobby (Eichner), a single gay man in his forties in New York City, who is pseudo-famous as the host of a popular podcast and has just been appointed as the curator of a new LGBTQ+ History Museum in Manhattan. He thinks he is content with hookups and no commitment, but then he meets Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) at a club, and the two of them embark on a romantic journey that will keep you riveted with all its twists and turns. 

This movie is absolutely brimming with jokes. You almost can't dare to laugh at them because you are bound to miss the next one that follows immediately after. It is a laugh-out-loud script that captures the essence of Eichner's angry Billy on the Street persona, but also imbues him with so much warmth and humanity. Bobby and Aaron both have a lot of demons they are battling, which is why they are still single and afraid of commitment, and this is a movie about how two mature adults reconcile their baggage and decide whether or not they can in fact manage to stick it out in a relationship. It's wise and loving, but also funny and sexy as hell.

It is also an ode to the LGBTQ+ community and a celebration of their history and diversity and the many ways in which they can disagree with one another but also rally around each other. This movie has everything: heart, humor, and heaps of filthy jokes. It is sweet and spectacular, a raucous night out at the movies, and you should definitely treat yourself.