American Fiction (2023)

[StatisticalOutlier]

No topic for American Fiction? 

I thought it was a whole lot of fun.  I particularly enjoyed his interactions with his siblings, which I didn't think would be a focus of the movie, and loved it when his sister told him his book changed her life...because it was just the right height to stop her dining room table from wobbling.  Aah, siblings.

I could weave a blanket out of Jeffrey Wright's voice, I'd wrap myself up in it and never take it off.

[EtheltoTillie]

This is a great movie!  We’re streaming it. It’s funny and sly and serious. 

[Shannon L.]

I really enjoyed it.  I heard it called "outrageously funny" and I, personally, wouldn't go that far--I thought it was more serious with some funny moments. 

[SoMuchTV]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

This is a great movie!  We’re streaming it. It’s funny and sly and serious. 

Where’s it streaming? Last I checked it was still in theaters. 

[EtheltoTillie]

11 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Where’s it streaming? Last I checked it was still in theaters. 

It's now available to rent in all the usual platforms.  I admit we paid the high initial price of $19.99, as we really wanted to see it, but it would have cost more at the theater for two tickets.

[Browncoat]

I saw this in the theater last night, and loved it!  I thought it was hilarious with some serious moments.  The ending(s) at the awards banquet slayed me, and I can't decide which one I liked best.

I did think he should have been honest with Coraline from the start, though.  I think she would have been cool.  It was interesting, too, that the female author couldn't (or didn't want to) see the similarities between "Fuck" and "We's Lives in Da Ghetto."

Jeffrey Wright as Monk, trying to act "street" had me in stitches every time.

[Scout Finch]

Up until today, it's only been available for purchase on Amazon Prime but now it can be rented, too, which I promptly did, and really enjoyed it! For the past few years, time sneaks up on me and at the last minute decide I really should watch a bunch of the nominated films and performances since I avidly watch the Oscars regardless and it would be much better to have an informed opinion!

The only time I've set foot in a movie theatre in about the last 10 years was to see Godzilla Minus One--twice, because this 60-year-old woman loves Japanese monster movies! I much prefer to just stream movies on the small screen at home but knew that this one required the whole immersive big screen and popcorn experience.

I think I'm in the minority because out of all the Best Pictures so far--I only have two left to watch this weekend but The Zone of Interest is still only available to purchase--I did not care for Oppenheimer at ALL! I think Killers of the Flower Moon and American Fiction are my favorites so far.

I wasn't thrilled about seeing Sterling K. Brown in this, however, it turns out that he delightfully plays the complete opposite of the insufferable Randall from This Is Us (I even skip the Gordon Walker episodes during Supernatural rewatches)!

 

 

Edited March 9 by Scout Finch

[txhorns79]

I rented it on Amazon.  I liked the movie, but felt maybe it was a little overhyped.  There were also some subplots that felt tacked on to increase the running time.  I do give credit to Tracee Ellis Ross' agent.  She got second billing, but probably only had a little more than five minutes of screentime.       

Edited March 9 by txhorns79

[EtheltoTillie]

On 3/8/2024 at 8:04 PM, Scout Finch said:

Up until today, it's only been available for purchase on Amazon Prime but now it can be rented, too, which I promptly did, and really enjoyed it! For the past few years, time sneaks up on me and at the last minute decide I really should watch a bunch of the nominated films and performances since I avidly watch the Oscars regardless and it would be much better to have an informed opinion!

The only time I've set foot in a movie theatre in about the last 10 years was to see Godzilla Minus One--twice, because this 60-year-old woman loves Japanese monster movies! I much prefer to just stream movies on the small screen at home but knew that this one required the whole immersive big screen and popcorn experience.

I think I'm in the minority because out of all the Best Pictures so far--I only have two left to watch this weekend but The Zone of Interest is still only available to purchase--I did not care for Oppenheimer at ALL! I think Killers of the Flower Moon and American Fiction are my favorites so far.

I wasn't thrilled about seeing Sterling K. Brown in this, however, it turns out that he delightfully plays the complete opposite of the insufferable Randall from This Is Us (I even skip the Gordon Walker episodes during Supernatural rewatches)!

 

 

I’m waiting for Godzilla minus one to come to streaming. Hilarious that last night the visual effects Oscar winners brought plastic Godzilla models on stage to claim their statues and then couldn’t juggle all the statues and models. I’m with you on Oppenheimer too. I caught Past Lives this weekend— good film but not Best Picture material. Finally Poor Things, also tried to watch this weekend but couldn’t make it past 30 minutes or so. Only stuck with it that long because it couldn’t believe it would continue in the same vein.

Edited March 11 by EtheltoTillie

[Crashcourse]

I saw this last night on MGM+ just before the Oscars.  I hadn't heard much about it before seeing it, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. 

I figured Jeffrey Wright wouldn't win the Best Actor Oscar because Cillian Murphy was the favorite, but I was ecstatic that Cord Jefferson won for Best Adapted Screenplay.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

I saw this last night on MGM+ just before the Oscars.  I hadn't heard much about it before seeing it, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. 

I figured Jeffrey Wright wouldn't win the Best Actor Oscar because Cillian Murphy was the favorite, but I was ecstatic that Cord Jefferson won for Best Adapted Screenplay.

I am also ecstatic that this won Best Adapted Screenplay.  I hope it leads to more Percival Everett books getting adapted.  The Trees is begging to be adapted as a film.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I am also ecstatic that this won Best Adapted Screenplay.  I hope it leads to more Percival Everett books getting adapted.  The Trees is begging to be adapted as a film.

He’s got this new novel coming out that’s basically Huck Finn in the POV of Jim. It’s getting great reviews and I can’t wait to read it!

[Ohiopirate02]

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

He’s got this new novel coming out that’s basically Huck Finn in the POV of Jim. It’s getting great reviews and I can’t wait to read it!

I have heard that the audiobook is really good, so I am planning on listening to this on audio.

[Cress]

On 3/8/2024 at 7:04 PM, Scout Finch said:

I wasn't thrilled about seeing Sterling K. Brown in this, however, it turns out that he delightfully plays the complete opposite of the insufferable Randall

I loved him in this movie. He's funny and outrageous with all his drug problems and his money problems from his divorce. Yet he has serious moments too like when their mother said something homophobic, but later he was invited to that wedding. You could see it really touched him.

I agree that Monk should have confessed the truth to his girlfriend when she asked him where his money came from. Instead he said it was none of her business, so he was still withholding his true self from her.

Edited March 16 by Cress

[Spartan Girl]

Finally rented it and it was as great as everyone said it was. Glad it got Best Adapted Screenplay but I wish it got more.

On 2/20/2024 at 6:56 PM, Browncoat said:

It was interesting, too, that the female author couldn't (or didn't want to) see the similarities between "Fuck" and "We's Lives in Da Ghetto."

Well, Monk admitted he hadn’t read the whole book, he just read excerpts and judged it based on his own biases. And Issa’s character was right to call him out on his pretentiousness. He was right about the racist hypocrisies of the white dominated publishing industry but he had no right to trash her for benefitting from it. She did work hard on it while he wrote his book as a joke. Also you don’t shouldn’t judge others for their reading tastes, even if you think they’re crap.

[tennisgurl]

I'm really glad I finally got a the chance to see this, it was just as good as I wanted it to be. A lot of really funny bits, but plenty of serious moments too. My only real complaint was not getting enough Tracee Ellis Ross and Issa Rae, when you advertise Tacee and Issa, I want Tracee and Issa!

Even if Monk was clearly making everything up in his book to troll the white publishing establishment, it did seem like there might have been a bit of his own life there, mostly with the scene where his characters act out a scene between the main character and his father, seemed to be him working out his issues with his own dad's affairs, which he had just found out about. In general I really liked the family dynamics, they felt very complicated and very real. I also loved the multiple endings, complete with mega dramatic slow motion shooting. 

If they ever make a film adaptation of Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, that would make a great double feature with this movie. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Finally caught this on Amazon Prime once the rental price dropped to less than I would've had to pay to see it in a theater.

Wow, did this movie actually out Tyler Perry? I can't imagine they did it without his tacit permission though. Maybe at this point he figures either it's an open secret or his loyal fans don't pay the rumors any mind.

Lol when "Stag" went into his little pimp walk as he went to meet the film producer who was buying his novel. Codeswitching indeed.

I still haven't managed to finish reading the book this movie was based on. So far I've found the writing style impenetrable. Cord Jefferson certainly deserved to win the Academy Award for adapting Erasure into a screenplay because that had to have been a difficult task.

Quote

If they ever make a film adaptation of Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, that would make a great double feature with this movie. 

After I finished watching American Fiction I did a search to see if a movie based on Yellowface was in the works. There isn't one yet as far as I could tell but I hope it happens eventually. Yellowface offers many similar perspectives on how the publishing world tends to deal with authors of color and with cultural issues.

[Milburn Stone]

I expected to like the movie, and instead loved it. Far more substantial and innovative than I expected it to be. And the comedy parts made me laugh out loud, which I practically never do from movies or tv shows, even when I find them amusing.

I haven't seen Oppenheimer, but I highly doubt Cillian Murphy's performance could have been more Oscar-worthy than Jeffrey Wright's. 

Edited March 30 by Milburn Stone

[SoMuchTV]

This is streaming on Prime now. 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 3/16/2024 at 9:45 AM, Spartan Girl said:

She did work hard on it while he wrote his book as a joke.

Yet Monk's book skyrocketed. I think they were trying to point out there how actually good he was. She did a lot of research and worked hard, and he blew his book out without batting an eye. 

I thought Issa was also going to be in on it, that she was playing them all too, and in a way she was, but more corporate about it. 

I finally got around to watching it because it was on Prime. 

I really liked it though. Lots of funny reaction shots from Wright and the dig about selling books at the airport. 

Just everything he did resulted in more success. 

 

[SlovakPrincess]

It's rare to find a movie that is merciless in its satire, but is still full of heart.  I loved Monk (even when he was being difficult to love, as his brother told him), his family, and his agent.  Just fantastic performances all around.  

Jeffrey Wright can do so much with the most subtle facial expression.  

When Lorraine and Maynard invited Cliff (and the two guys he picked up) to stay for the wedding, and Cliff was so appreciative ... 😪   And really all the scenes with Monk and Cliff.  

They felt like real people to me.  At the end of the film I found myself thinking

Spoiler

"I really hope Coraline calls him back!  He's got to get her back, she's perfect!"

 

Even "Willy" and "Van Go" gave good performances when Monk was imagining his writing.  When "Van Go" turned and was like "WTF?!" to Monk after Monk killed him off in the book, 😆 

The conversation between Monk and Sintara was great.  She immediately saw through the pandering and phoniness of "My Pafology / F**k" -- and we find out that her book was different because it was based on actual research and real life stories.  Yet, she knows she's contributing to a genre that stereotypes Black people.  Obviously, so is he, and arguably far more egregiously, and while we know it's mostly because he needs the money for his mom, he's being a hypocrite - but we're still on his side while he's arguing about how wrong it all is!  So many layers to that scene.    

Edited Saturday at 12:58 PM by SlovakPrincess

[Crashcourse]

When Monk was reading Lisa's last words at her funeral, I laughed at her mentioning Idris Elba and Russell Crowe as her loves.  🥰

[DoctorAtomic]

I'd like to know what actual research Sinatra did because what she read was just as tropey and pandering as Monk's book.