I saw Cary Fukunaga‘s Beasts of No Nation (Netflix, 10.16) again last night, and it’s still “a major, triple-A-approved, Apocalypse Now-influenced African inferno flick” of the first order, which is what I wrote after catching it at Telluride five or six weeks ago. Ben Affleck and Elizabeth Banks were among those who attended as a way of showing support. Their message: “This movie is not about a game of backyard tiddly winks but it’s devastating art…undeniably alive and probing and hallucinatory.” The conversation point at the Chateau Marmont after-party (hats off to the Netflix guys for offering tons of delicious food) was Affleck having re-imagined Fukunaga’s first name as “Cory.” It became a running joke when John Horn introduced the director-writer-cinematographer as “Cory” Fukunaga as the post-screening q & a began. Bottom line: Beasts is a masterwork — now watch Academy fuddy-duds (i.e., the ones who will be voting for Bridge of Spies and The Martian on their Best Picture ballots) do 100-yard sprints in the opposite direction.


Cary Fukunaga during last night’s post-screening q & at the DGA.


“Borrowed” — i.e., totally stolen — from Variety.