The COVID-19 pandemic left no part of society and culture unaffected. The movie industry and Academy Awards were no exception. Movie theaters closed, releases were pushed back by months or in some cases a full year. Studios sold some movies to streaming services like Netflix, Apple TV+, or Amazon Prime. Warner Bros. boldly released their films in theaters and on their streaming service, HBOmax, simultaneously. The movie industry did its best to adapt to pandemic times and the Academy Awards did the same. The date of the ceremony was pushed back by two months and the eligibility period for qualifying films extended beyond the calendar year. The last time the eligibility period was longer than 12 months or covered more than a single year was at the 6th Academy Awards for films released between August 1st 1932-December 31st, 1933. The following year the Oscars moved from a seasonal schedule to a normal calendar year, until 2020.
The 93rd Academy Awards for films released in theaters or on streaming platforms between January 1st, 2020-February 28th, 2021 was held on April 25th, 2021. The venue was Union Station in Los Angeles, instead of a traditional theater and the set up had the look and feel of a casual lounge with nominees at tables spread out across the room. To those familiar with Academy history, it was a reminder that the awards ceremony began as a hotel banquet. The number of attendees were limited to ensure safe social distancing, with some nominees making appearances from all over the world. There was once again no host, but actress-director Regina King opened the ceremony in style.
Some of the changes were good (letting all the winners speak until they finished without the threat of being played off), others were not (no clips at all from the nominated films, except for Best Picture). The most drastic change was announcing Best Picture before the end of the night. Chloe Zhao's Nomadland won the big award with Best Actress going to Nomadland's star, Frances McDormand, her third Best Actress Oscar win, afterwards. Paradoxically, the night ended anticlimactically with the biggest upset of the ceremony. Anthony Hopkins won his second Best Actor Oscar for The Father, over the frontrunner and presumed winner, the late Chadwick Boseman. Hopkins was not in attendance so the award was accepted very briefly on his behalf by the presenter, Joaquin Phoenix, and the ceremony ended rather unceremoniously. Hopkins indeed gave an incredible and deeply affecting performance (in a movie I did not particularly care for), and the 83 year-old cannot be blamed for not wanting to travel during a pandemic. It is clear that the producers of the broadcast expected the show to end with a win and tribute to Boseman, but instead we got a speechless, unusual ending to an already unusual Oscars. It was a big gamble on the part of the broadcast producers and it did not pay off.
There were important milestones at the 93rd Academy Awards. Nine of the twenty acting nominations went to performers of color and a record number of women (70) were nominated across the 23 categories. Steven Yeun became the first East Asian actor nominated for Best Actor for Minari. For the first time ever, two women were nominated for Best Director: Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman and Chloe Zhao for Nomadland. Perhaps the most significant win of the night was Chloe Zhao for Best Director, becoming the first woman of color, and only the second woman ever, to win the award. Yuh-jung Youn became the first Korean actress to win Best Supporting Actress for her outstanding performance in Minari.
The diversity of the nominees reflects the diverse collection of films nominated for Best Picture. At first glance, they may seem like a dour bunch. They deal with hearing loss, memory loss, job & home loss, the murder of an activist, a quest for retribution, the struggles of immigrant farmers, the trial of protesters falsely accused of inciting a riot, and a washed up writer dealing with his past. However, I think there is something to be gained from nearly all of the nominees and they prove Roger Ebert's claim that "no good movie is depressing" (though The Father really challenges this). They speak to socio-political issues being dealt with today or show that after our personal or emotional hardships, a catharsis is possible. They did what movies are supposed to do: they showed us what it is like to be someone else. For better and/or worse, they capture what we were feeling and dealing with in 2020.
My Pick for Best Picture of 2020/21: Sound of Metal
Sound of Metal took home two Oscars for Best Sound and Best Editing and I would have given it at least one more award: Best Picture of 2020/21. Movies about addicts and addiction are tricky. They can slip into melodrama and unearned sentiment or serve as a pretense for a performer to show off their range. The same goes movies about a character losing a sense or ability. This is not the case with Sound of Metal. If the main character is an addict in recovery, the movie pretty much requires a scene where, after doing well, they hit rock bottom or relapse. These moments happen in real life but they often feel contrived in movies because dramatic structure requires them to happen at the end of the second act. I was so invested in Ruben’s adjusting to his new life that I was dreading this obligatory scene. What Sound of Metal delivers instead is something unique to its characters and story and is all the more moving because of it. I suppose what I responded to most in Sound of Metal, aside from Riz Ahmed's performance, is that it never did what I expected, especially at the end, which is a big treat. The filmmakers know what Ahmed's Ruben discovers: our most significant realizations and epiphanies come from unlikely places at unexpected times.
“What writer failed to notice the Screen Writers Guild needs an
apostrophe?”
At first glance, Mank seems like a movie I would very much enjoy,
and, if I’m being honest, probably be lenient towards. It is a combination of
all of my favorite movie things: it is a movie about making movies, about a writer, set in classic Hollywood, depicting real
life figures and events, and directed by a modern master filmmaker. The only
thing it is missing for me is a role for Judy Greer or Natalie Portman or Anne
Hathaway. Specifically, Mank is about the screenwriter Herman J.Mankiewicz and his professional and personal experiences working in Hollywood
in the 1930’s that led to him to write Citizen Kane. The master
filmmaker is David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, The
Social Network). I believe he is one of the truly great directors working
today, but Mank does not come close to measuring up. Mank is not
a bad movie at all, but it is an underwhelming one.
Mank opens with a conventional biopic setup. Having recently broken
his leg in a car accident, semi-washed up, semi-alcoholic Herman Mankiewicz,
referred to by everyone—and quite frequently—as Mank, is taken to a bungalow to
recover, dry out, and write a screenplay for the highly anticipated film debut
of Broadway and radio wunderkind Orson Welles. An English typist played by Lily Collins is assigned to take dictation and as Mankiewicz works, he reflects on
his past.
The “present” of Mank is 1940, but the bulk of the film
takes place in flashbacks to Mankiewicz’s days as a contract writer for the
studio system in the 1930’s. Gary Oldman (now in his early 60’s) plays
Mankiewicz in 1940 (when Mankiewicz was in his early 40’s) and also in the
flashbacks (when Mankiewicz was in his 30’s). The age difference between the
actor and the character is worth noting because it means that Oldman is always
in makeup or shadow or peculiar lighting. No matter where we are in the
timeline, Mankiewicz always feels like a weary soul. Gary Oldman is without a
doubt one of the most versatile actors, capable of disappearing into a role
(with or without the aid of makeup and costumes). He does a fine job playing
the principled, semi-alcoholic writer whose talents are for his craft, not the
social and political side of Hollywood. Just like everything else in the movie,
Oldman’s work is adequate and neither sinks nor saves the movie.
Mank is filled with inaccuracies that go beyond the usual dramatic
license you expect from a movie based on a true story. This is bound to
frustrate those familiar with the events and people depicted and leave those that
aren’t familiar with the wrong impression. It is well known that the main
character of Citizen Kane is based, in part, on newspaper magnate
William Randolph Hearst, who was very involved in Hollywood to bolster the
career of his girlfriend/mistress, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried). It is also
true that the Hollywood studios created fake newsreels for the 1934 California
gubernatorial election to derail the campaign of progressive Democratic
candidate Upton Sinclair and swing the election to the Republican candidate.
There is little to no evidence that Mankiewicz found himself at the center of
the studio executives’ election scheme or that he wrote Citizen Kane as
a shot at Hearst for the part he played in producing the fake newsreels. The
screenplay, written by Jack Fincher, director David’s father, seems to take its
cues regarding the writing of Citizen Kane from the largely discredited
essay “Raising Kane” written by Pauline Kael, in which she claims that Orson
Welles played no part in the writing of Citizen Kane and simply added
his name to the screenplay.
I was really disappointed by the attention paid to Mankiewicz’s
friendship with Marion Davies and her portrayal overall. Of course, Davies was
more than just the actress turned trophy girl of a rich man, but she has only a
few scenes, one of which of which gives her no lines. I did not get a real
sense of her as a person or her friendship with Mankiewicz. Amanda Seyfried has
earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as Davies; I
wish I had seen what the Academy saw.
Screenwriters do not usually get A-level biopics—I can’t remember
any aside from Trumbo, another lackluster movie. I’m glad that Mank
turned the spotlight from Welles to Mankiewicz, even if the film is less
interesting than its subject. Hopefully Mank inspires its audience to
learn more about the writer, his work, and the at times unsavory, but nonetheless
interesting, behind-the-scenes of classic Hollywood.
P.S.
You will find a fuller but still incomplete portrayal of Marion
Davies and her relationship with Hearst in the films RKO 281 and The
Cat’s Meow. Those films also give a fuller picture of the seemingly
unlimited power and influence of Hearst. Neither of those films has the heavy-duty
credentials of Mank, but they leave a deeper impression.
Nominees: Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas Urbanski, producers
Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Jack Fincher;
Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins
Production Companies: Netflix International Pictures, Flying Studio, Panic Pictures, Blue Light
Distributor: Netflix
Release Date: November 13th, 2020
Total Nominations: 10, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actor-Gary Oldman; Supporting Actress-Amanda Seyfried; Director-David Fincher; Cinematography-Erik Messerschmidt; Costume Design-Trish Summerville; Makeup and Hairstyling-Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri, Colleen LaBaff; Original Score-Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross; Production Design-Donald Graham Burt (production design), Jan Pascale (set decoration); Sound-Ren Klyce,Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance, Drew Kunin
Promising Young Woman is the rare kind of movie that
remains engrossing and even exciting in its more uncomfortable moments, of
which there are many. Revenge movies are intertwined with, and can’t help but
exploit, violence in one way or another: tragic violence leads to righteous
violence. As the premise for an action movie, they are usually pretty
entertaining. For the icky and loathsome rape/revenge subgenre, the result,
more often than not, is usually grim and joyless. However, the debut film from
writer-director Emerald Fennell is a different kind of revenge movie; in fact,
it is a different kind of movie all around. To describe this film as simply a
revenge picture, or a dark comedy, or a social issue movie, or a thriller would
be a disservice. It is all those things and more, much more. Just like its main character, Promising Young Woman plays with expectations to great effect. This is is easily one of the best films of 2020.
Carey Mulligan gives an absolutely incredible performance as
Cassie, a 30-year-old medical school dropout with a peculiar hobby. On certain
nights she dons a completely out of character outfit, goes out to a club or
bar, and pretends to be falling down drunk. Without fail, a man will offer to
take her home… or back to their place. Once they are alone and the man begins
to take advantage of the nearly passed out Cassie, she reveals that she is not
drunk at all. They have been caught, and what she does next is not what you might
expect.
The movie becomes something really special when
the revenge plot kicks in. A chance meeting with someone from her medical
school days spurs Cassie to give certain people from her past their overdue
comeuppance for an ignored crime. The film reveals slowly, piece by piece, the
events in Cassie’s past that set her on her current path. Fennell’s screenplay
spares us flashbacks or exposition dumps. Cassie becomes more and
more layered with each bit of information revealed and Mulligan’s performance
becomes more complex and interesting as well. Cassie goes to some dark places
and does unlikeable things, but Mulligan always holds our interest if not our
sympathy. As smart as I think Fennell’s screenplay and direction are, I also
think that Promising Young Woman does not work without Carey Mulligan. Her
Best Actress Oscar nomination is well deserved.
Cassie’s revenge targets are numbered, literally, with roman
numerals. You might be reminded of The Bride’s list of revenge targets in Quentin
Tarantino’s Kill Bill or The Bride’s list of revenge targets in François
Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black. While those women only had murder on
their minds, Cassie’s revenge for her targets is far less violent, but far more
devastating. Cassie’s goal is not what you would expect from decades of
movies in which a woman is wronged or abused, toughens up, then has a
physically violent revenge. What happens in Promising Young Woman is so
much more interesting and, in many ways, more disturbing.
Promising Young Woman’s valid commentary on rape culture
and those that participate in it or look the other way and society’s attitudes
towards the abuse of women is so interwoven into the story that the film never
feels didactic. Even in its darkest moments, Promising Young Woman is
never dour or grim or dreadful. There are great moments of tension and unease and it has difficult scenes and difficult characters, but the film itself is
not difficult to watch. As Roger Ebert would say, “no good movie is depressing.”
There are moments of comedy, both light and dark, that break some of the tension
and offer some relief but they also enhance the tone of the scenes. It is a
delicate balance but well executed. The shifts from light to dark,
comedy to drama, are stealthy and believable thanks to Fennell’s deft
direction. Her sharp and clever screenplay takes turns and then turns again and
every turn is challenging and intriguing. Fennell's Oscar nominations for Best
Director and Original Screenplay are very well deserved. It is impressive and
wonderful that everything in Promising Young Woman works as well as it
does. I wish more movies were this daring and inventive.
Nominees: Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, producers
Director: Emerald Fennell
Screenplay: Emerald Fennell
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Allison Brie
Production Companies: FilmNation Entertainment, LuckyChap Entertainment
Distributor: Focus Features
Release Date: December 25th, 2020
Total Nominations: 5, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actress-Carey Mulligan; Director-Emerald Fennell; Original Screenplay-Emerald Fennell; Editing-Frédéric Thoraval
A title like Judas and the Black Messiah tells you not only the kind of relationship the main characters will have but also how it will end. It also sets up the characters as figures of mythic and grand proportions. Fortunately, the approach by director Shaka King, the Oscar nominated screenplay, and the excellent cast emphasize the human elements of this true story. It seems as though everyone involved in making this film knew there was little that they had to do to convey the importance of the story of Chicago Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton and the events that led to his death. This may sound like a heavy film given the subject matter, and at times it certainly is, but, in addition to the people and events depicted, the craft and skill on display in every aspect of the movie make it well worth watching. I was reminded of a Roger Ebert quote: “No good movie is depressing; all bad movies are depressing.” Judas and the Black Messiah is a good movie.
The film opens with Bill O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) finding himself in an unfortunately ironic predicament. He has been caught by the FBI for impersonating an FBI agent in order to steal cars from unsuspecting bar patrons. Now, real FBI Agent Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) offers O’Neal the choice between going to prison or infiltrating the Black Panthers and becoming an informant. O’Neal takes the deal, eventually working his way to becoming the head of security for the Panthers and the driver for Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). As he passes information to the FBI, O’Neal also comes to believe in the cause of the Panthers and finds himself greatly conflicted. Stanfield has great emotional scenes with dialogue and quiet moments trying to hold back his conflicted emotions. His character is always under stress, always presenting one persona to Hampton and the Panthers and another to the FBI. His betrayal of Hampton is by no means excused, but Stanfield shows us the emotional and mental state of the man driven to it.
As good as Stanfield is, the real standout is Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton. He captures the confidence and charisma of the 21-year-old activist, but the screenplay also allows us to see him in private moments like him reciting along to a record of a Malcolm X speech to practice his own oratory skills. Dominique Fishback as Debra Johnson also gives a great performance as Hampton’s fiancé. When she first attends a Black Panther meeting, she is immediately captivated and enchanted by Hampton’s speech. Kaluuya’s performance makes her attraction both to his words and his presence easy to understand. His scenes with her allow for quiet, intimate moments that further show this figure from recent history as a real person. Kaluuya is the frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, in part because he is actually a co-lead along with Stanfield, who is also nominated in the Supporting Actor category.
True stories can make for great films, but great films based on true stories do not necessarily make for great history. I do not doubt the authenticity of the characters or major events depicted or the FBI plot that led to Hampton’s death. I have read and seen enough documentaries to know that J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI was motivated by his serious but mistaken belief that the Civil Rights movement was being controlled by communists and had to be stopped before it destroyed the country (here Hoover is played by Martin Sheen in a performance too small to be especially good or bad, however, his makeup is especially bad). Judas and the Black Messiah is the best kind of based-on-a-true-story film: it engaged me with the story and characters, giving me a real sense of what things were like for them, and it makes me want to learn more about the events and people depicted. The film ends with documentary footage and these short clips actually enhance the emotions of the movie instead of undercutting them. If you already know the story of Fred Hampton and the FBI’s insidious campaign against him and the Black Panthers in the late 1960’s, the reason to watch Judas and the Black Messiah is for the incredible performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield.
This isn’t just another biopic or a reenactment. At times it plays like a tense thriller in the same vein as Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. At other times it plays like a quiet drama. At every moment we are made aware of the social imbalances and injustices that motivate Hampton and the Panthers and come, too late, to move O’Neal as well. It is unfortunate and frustrating that these social imbalances and injustices are still being dealt with today. Judas and the Black Messiah comes as close as
any movie does to bringing history to life.
Nominee: Shaka King, Charles D. King, Ryan Coogler, producers
Director: Shaka King
Screenplay: Will Berson & Shaka King; story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenneth Lucas & Keith Lucas
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback
Production Companies: MACRO, Participant, Bron Creative, Proximity
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 12th, 2021
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Supporting Actor-Daniel Kaluuya; Supporting Actor-LaKeith Stanfield; Original Screenplay-Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas; Cinematography-Sean Bobbitt; Original Song- H.E.R., D'Mile, Tiara Thomas for "Fight for You"
“Those moments of stillness, that place, that's the kingdom of God.”
While hanging out with musician friends at shows I noticed that before playing, they all put in earplugs. I wondered why since I thought this would make it difficult for them to hear each other. This was very much not the case. If you’ve ever been to a loud concert, it is way, way louder on stage. So, the premise of Sound of Metal, about a working-class heavy metal drummer whose world is turned upside down by sudden and profound hearing loss, is frighteningly believable. Thankfully, my friends still have their hearing.
The path that Ruben, played by Riz Ahmed with one of the best performances of the year, finds himself on is abrupt and unexpected to put it mildly. Likewise, the film never quite goes where you expect, but you believe every moment and every emotion. I wasn’t expecting Sound of Metal to receive 6 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, but I am very happy that it did because I cannot think of many movies from 2020 that I enjoyed more.
Faced with the loss of his hearing, his livelihood, and potentially his relationship, Ruben also fears losing his four years of sobriety from heroin. In need of immediate and special help, his girlfriend and bandmate, Lou (Olivia Cooke), takes him to a sobriety house especially for the deaf. The house is run by Joe (Paul Raci), a deaf Vietnam veteran and recovering alcoholic who gives off the impression that his inner peace only came after a hard struggle. He takes Ruben under his wing but tells him that his program is about finding a solution to the problem in his mind, not his deafness. The scenes of Ruben at the deaf sober house and learning how to live without hearing are interesting and very engaging. Director Darius Marder’s gentle approach to the characters and Ruben’s journey gives us the feeling that we are getting a window into a real community with real people, not participating in a kind of cultural tourism.
As much as I admire the approach taken by Marder’s direction and the screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Abraham, Sound of Metal works so well because of Riz Ahmed’s performance. This is not a case of an actor showing off their talents by playing a character with a disability. Ahmed plays a full range of emotions but the real pathos comes from his facial expressions, especially his expressive eyes. Most important of all to the movie’s success, he is not afraid to show big vulnerability on screen or show just how afraid and anxious someone in this situation would feel, especially if they were a musician.
Though we see Ruben getting on well at the sober house and with the larger deaf community, he still wants to have cochlear implant surgery which he believes will allow him to return to his old life. This is at odds with Joe’s belief that being deaf is not a handicap or something to be fixed and leads to one of the most compelling and affecting scenes of the movie; one that likely earned Ahmed and Raci their Oscar nominations. It is easily one of the best moments in any movie I saw over the last year.
I will admit that I was hesitant to watch Sound of Metal at first, despite its positive reviews, because a movie about a young musician going deaf seems like a heavy or even depressing movie. However, Sound of Metal ends up being an uplifting film without delving into melodrama or smarmy sentiment. Every aspect of this movie is low-key, allowing every moment to feel genuine.This is not the kind of movie with twists but it does have unexpected narrative turns which are best left to be discovered along with Ruben. All of the unexpected places, both physical and emotional, the story takes us are what make it memorable. The empathy in the performances from Paul Raci, Olivia Cooke, Mathieu Amalric, and, most of all, Riz Ahmed are what make it so moving. Sound of Metal is something special: a film so seemingly simple but deeply affecting. It is a character study so well executed that it transcends its premise and puts us so in tune with the main character that its final moments become spiritual, or philosophical, depending on your inclination.
Nominees: Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, producers
Director: Darius Marder
Screenplay: Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci
Production Companies: Caviar, Ward Four, Flat 7 Productions
Distributor: Amazon Studios
Release Date: November 20th, 2020
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actor-Riz Ahmed; Supporting Actor-Paul Raci; Original Screenplay-Darius Marder, Abraham Marder, story by Derek Cianfrance; Editing- Mikkel E.G. Nielsen; Sound-Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés Navarrete, Phillip Bladh
“This is the Academy Awards of protests and as far as I'm concerned it's an honor just to be nominated.”
The Trial of the Chicago 7 resonates as much as it does because even though it is a dramatization of events from 50 years ago, it feels like it could have been based on current events. I knew next to nothing about the Chicago 7 before watching this movie, but I also know that good movies don’t always make for good history. However, The Trial of the Chicago 7 does the best thing a movie based on an important true story can do: it gives me a strong sense of what things were like for the people involved and it makes me want to learn more. I have never cared much for Aaron Sorkin’s TV projects, but I have really enjoyed his film writing (A Few Good Men, The Social Network) and even his work as a director (Molly’s Game). As with Molly’s Game, Sorkin writes and directs, but it is clear that Sorkin the writer is at the helm. Aaron Sorkin is aware that his forte is writing speeches and debates and that awareness can also be his problem. This based-on-true-events courtroom drama is in many ways what you expect, but it is no less satisfying to watch.
Protests against the Vietnam War at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago turned into riots and 7 people (actually 8) were arrested and charged with crossing state lines to intentionally start a riot, though, of course, this was not true. We see dramatizations of the trial, strategy sessions and arguments the 7 have with each other and their lawyer, and flashbacks of the events leading up to the protests turned riots and why that turn happened (it might be unfortunately no surprise or shock to find out that the police, not the accused 7, escalated the protests into riots).
This is the epitome of an ensemble cast. Every role, major and minor, is a distinct one and played by recognizable name or face. It is an impressive and slightly distracting cast. When the defense team tracks down an important witness you spend the preceding scene wondering what celebrity will be waiting for them at the end of the hall. The standouts of the ensemble are Sacha Baron Cohen, who has earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in the very showy role of Abbie Hoffman, Mark Rylance as William Kunstler, the determined lawyer for the 7, and Frank Langella as the prejudiced, frustrating, and incompetent Judge Julius Hoffman. Eddie Redmayne gives a good performance as Tom Hayden, the head of Students for a Democratic Society, but his best scenes are his arguments/debates with Cohen as Abbie Hoffman. I really enjoyed their scenes together; both are on the same side and want to achieve the same goal but are on different paths.
The 8th person on trial is Bobby Seale, the national chairman of the Black Panthers, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. who was not involved in the planning of any of the DNC protests but was charged nevertheless and lumped into the trial as part of the FBI’s campaign against the Panthers. The scenes with Seale are noteworthy not just for the injustice being dealt to him but for Mateen’s performance as well. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the federal prosecutor and does a good job in a pretty restrained role. John Carol Lynch and others also turn in solid performances but in a cast this stacked it is difficult to stand out.
The story of the Chicago 7 is perfect material for Sorkin. It allows for lengthy speeches, wordy arguments, memorable characters, and declarations about political and moral values. The runtime is just over two hours but for a dialogue heavy movie, it is well paced and engaging. I think Sorkin successfully makes this into something more than just another courtroom drama. The Trial of the Chicago 7 feels like a pageant at times but it is one that needs to be performed and is done so very well. This film doesn’t have the at times frenetic feel of Molly’s Game—which really feels like he was trying to recreate Danny Boyle’s lively aesthetic—or an especially distinct visual style. Here Sorkin lets the dialogue and performances shape the movie.
Nominee: Marc Platt, Stuart Besser, producers
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance
Production Companies:Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Cross Creek Pictures, Marc Platt Productions, ShivHans Pictures
Distributor: Netflix
Release Date: September 25th, 2020
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Supporting Actor-Sacha Baron Cohen; Original Screenplay-Aaron Sorkin; Editing-Alan Baumgarten; Cinematography- Phedon Papamichael; Original Song-Celeste, Daniel Pemberton for "Hear My Voice"
Best Pictures #67: 2020 (93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee Minari
“Minari can be put in kimchi, put in stew, put in soup. It can be medicine if you are sick. Minari is wonderful, wonderful!”
Minari feels both familiar and unique at the same time. It is certainly a special movie which I very much recommend. It has earned
6 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and I think it is deserving of the
recognition and praise it has so far received. Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung
based this story of a Korean family settling in rural Arkansas in the 1980’s to
start a farm on his own similar childhood experiences. In dramatizing his own story, Chung has made a film that is personal and relatable even if
you are not Korean, or a farmer, or an immigrant. If you’ve tried chasing any
part of the American dream, you’ll recognize something in Minari.
Stephen Yuen and Yeri Han play Jacob and Monica, a Korean couple
who have just moved from California to Arkansas with their two young children,
Anne and David, to pursue Jacob’s dream of having a big farm—like the Garden of
Eden—that will thrive and allow the family to do the same. Monica is skeptical
to say the least, especially when she sees the trailer on the plain plot of
land that is to be their new home. Adding to her anxiety is David’s heart
murmur and how far away they are from a city and a hospital. The arrival of Monica’s mother, Soonja, complicates some things (like the
sleeping arrangement in the small trailer) and livens up others.
Minari’s focus is on the relationship
that shy 6-year-old David has with his outspoken grandmother, Soonja. This isn’t
a cutesy movie about a little boy and his sassy grandma, though they certainly
have that dynamic. David doesn’t like that she doesn’t act like a “real”
grandma: she doesn’t bake cookies, she swears, watches wrestling, and drinks
Mountain Dew. Yuh-jung Youn as Soonja steals every scene and is far and away
the standout performer of the film. She has earned a well-deserved Best
Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and would be my choice to win if I were allowed
to pick the winners. She isn’t just funny—which she is—or the character most
out of place in this new home—which she is—but the emotions she stirs and her
relationship with David are the heart of the movie. Alan Kim as David is just what
you hope for in a child actor. He does not draw attention to himself and his behavior always comes across as natural, not contrived,
even when he is playing a gross prank of his grandma. They share a wonderful,
quiet scene together at a creek near the farm where she plants minari, a leafy
vegetable; it is my favorite scene in the movie.
Steven
Yeun, nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and Yeri Han work very well together as a
believable married couple. He is determined but not bullheaded and she is not
unsupportive or a nag but is justifiably feeling isolated and concerned. It is
clear that they care for each other and even though they are at a place where
their future together is uncertain, we do not feel that they have a bad
marriage. Will Patton, a familiar face even if you don’t recognize his name,
has a small role with a notable performance as the kindhearted but very
eccentric local who gladly helps Jacob on the farm. He speaks in tongues randomly and, in a scene
late in the movie, performs an exorcism that is simultaneously comical and
emotional.
The beautiful Oscar nominated score by Emile Mosseri would
be my pick to win that category, again, if I were allowed to pick the winners.
It is ethereal and enchanting and brimming with pathos. Chung has a tenderness
in his direction and his screenplay—both are Oscar nominated—towards each of the characters and their points of
view. My only real
complaint is the plot contrivance that leads to the climax, but it is not a
major strike against the movie because it drives the drama of the story forward and the final
moments won me back easily. From start to finish Minari is filled with
the kind of small, intimate and affecting moments that are so rarely done well
on screen. Wonderful, wonderful Minari indeed.
Nominee: Christina Oh, producer
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Screenplay: Lee Isaac Chung
Cast: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-jung Youn, Alan Kim
Production Companies: Plan B
Distributor: A24 Release Date: February 12th, 2021
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actor-Steven Yeun; Supporting Actress_ Yuh-jung Youn; Director-Lees Isaac Chung; Original Screenplay-Lee Isaac Chung; Original Score-Emile Mosseri
Best Pictures #66:
2020 (93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee The Father
"I feel as if I'm losing my all leaves."
An audience will generally accept whatever happens in the first 15
or 20 minutes of a movie to be true to the reality of the story no matter the genre
or subject matter. This is when we are being introduced to the characters and
their world. Even if a movie begins with a dream or a fantasy, it has told us
what is real and what is not. The Father takes full advantage of this to
put the audience in the mindset of Anthony, an elderly man with dementia. As
you might imagine given the subject matter, this makes for a heavy viewing
experience. The Father is that kind of movie that is well made and well-acted
but cannot exactly be described as entertainment.
The film begins with Anne (Olvia Coleman) meeting her father,
Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), at his large, posh London apartment to tell him that
she has met a man and will be moving to Paris soon, so she will not be able to
look after him anymore. In the next scene Anthony finds a man in his apartment who he (and we) has
never seen before claiming to be Anne’s husband. Anne returns from the market
but Anthony does not recognize her. Neither do we. Now Anne is played by Olivia Williams and says she is not and never was moving to Paris. Director Florian Zeller, who, along with Chistopher Hampton, adapted The Father from his
play, has us share in Anthony’s disorientation and confusion with very
effective but simple techniques.
Scenes repeat and loop back on themselves. It seems like this
movie takes place over the same few days again and again. The Oscar nominated
production design makes different apartments look the same but also different.
The cinematography finds ways to shoot a room from different angles so we
aren’t sure if we are in Anthony’s apartment or his daughter’s apartment. There
is a general sense of a timeline (the editing also received an Oscar nomination),
but we are never really sure where we are in the timeline. Anthony often points
to a painting done by his other daughter, Lucy, but then one time it isn’t there anymore.
We see the faint outline that something once hung there. Was the painting
removed? Is he in a different apartment that never had the painting and hung
something else there?
It will come as no surprise that Anthony Hopkins gives not just a
good or very good performance but a great one. His Best Actor Oscar nomination
isn’t just a lifetime achievement placeholder. Anthony’s ever-changing mood and
perspective requires Hopkins to be agitated, charming, confused, calm, lucid,
frightened; often in the same scene. Yet, Hopkins does not use the role just to showcase his talents.
Even in the most dramatic scenes his performance is still full of sympathy; we see
Anthony the character first and the work of Anthony the actor later. Olivia
Coleman is a great scene partner for Hopkins and does a great job conveying her
emotions while trying to hold them back. The rest of the small cast is an
impressive lineup of great performers: Olivia Williams, Rufus Sewell, Mark Gatiss, and Imogen Poots.
The doubling and repetition of scenes and dialogue are indeed a
clever approach to dramatizing the muddled perspective of a dementia sufferer. However,
with this effect having been achieved so quickly and completely at the
beginning of the film, after a while these techniques lose their power and even
become annoying. The movie never gives us an objective reality even in scenes
of Anne alone or with her husband. I understand the filmmaker wanting to keep
us off kilter to fully convey Anthony’s perspective but there are moments where
the film is not from his perspective, including Anne’s
dream/nightmare.
The final scene is what we presume it will be and is emotionally
powerful. While appreciating The Father from an artistic and technical
view, I kept wondering who this movie is for. I cannot imagine people who have
really had Anne’s experience wanting to relive such devastating experiences. It
is not especially grim or dour or mawkish, but it would still be a difficult
watch for a movie night (definitely have something light queued up to watch
afterward). There are other works of fiction and non-fiction about the effects
of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and the emotional toll it has on everyone
involved, but I suppose this is the only one with an incredible performance
from Anthony Hopkins.
Nominees: David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi, Philippe Carcassonne, producers
Director: Florian Zeller
Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Coleman, Olivia Williams
Production Companies: F comme Film, Trademark Films, Cine@, AG Studios, Film4, Orange Studio, Canal+, Ciné+
Distributor: Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: February 26th, 2021
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actor-Anthony Hopkins; Supporting Actress-Olivia Coleman; Adapted Screenplay-Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller; Editing-Yorgos Lamprinos; Production Design-Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone
Best Pictures #65: 2020
(93rd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee Nomadland
“I’ve met hundreds of people out there and I don’t ever say
a final goodbye. Let’s just say, ‘I’ll see you down the road.’ And I do. I see
them again.”
Nomadland opens with text explaining that after 80
years the gypsum mine in Empire, Nevada closed and the town quickly ceased to
exist. Fern, a 60ish former resident of Empire, now travels the American West
living out of her modified van moving from town to town, campsite to campsite,
taking odd jobs here and there. Frances McDormand gives a wonderful performance
as Fern. She is far more understated than her characters in Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, or even Almost Famous, but, no matter how broad or
intimate the role, her great talent as an actress is to make any character that
she plays feel very real. It is no surprise that McDormand has earned a Best Actress
Oscar nomination for her work here. There is a wistful, bittersweetness to Fern
and her nomadic lifestyle and also to the movie itself.
As both writer (adapting Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book of
the same name) and director, Chloe Zhao gives her film the look and feel of a
documentary. This approach helps Nomadland in some ways and hurts it in
others. It will come as no surprise that many of the fellow travelers and
nomads Fern encounters and befriends are real life nomads. They do a fine job
in their scenes with a two-time Academy Award winner because the movie only requires them
to be themselves. A gathering of nomads in Arizona where they trade stories,
supplies, and tips and advice for living on the road is
the most interesting segment of the film. That scene along with the scenes of
the real people sharing their stories and insights made part of me wish that
Zhao had made a documentary instead of a dramatization.
Seeing the beautifully photographed landscapes of the
American West from the Nevada desert to Arizona to the Dakota badlands is a
treat. The Oscar nominated cinematography by Joshua James Richards captures the quiet, enchanting beauty in what seems like a desolate landscape.
Many scenes in Nomadland are short, giving us only snippets
of the lives Fern encounters and her own life as well. David Strathairn has a
small but great performance as a fellow wanderer debating if he should settle
down again. Their scenes together are touching moments and we want them to last
and hope they meet each other again. We get a brief scene of Fern visiting her
sister and an argument about the real estate market begins to brew but stops
short. She moves from place to place so the film cannot help feeling episodic
but it is still well-paced. Nomadland is about a wanderer, but it is never
aimless.
There is not much that feels contrived in Nomadland
but at a certain point I knew what would happen in the final scene. We spend a
lot of quiet moments with Fern but we also feel kept at a distance from her,
not unlike the distance she keeps from those that try to get close to her. We
begin the film thinking that her life as a nomad is purely out of necessity but then it seems it is by choice. Perhaps the real answer for Fern and the real
life nomads is somewhere in between. Nomadland is worth watching for the
glimpse at this quasi-off-the-grid lifestyle but to learn more about it I
suppose I will have to read the book.
Nominees: Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey (producer), Chloé Zhao, producers
Director: Chloe Zhao
Screenplay: Chloe Zhao, based on the book by Jessica Bruder
Cast:Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie
Production Companies: Highwayman Films, Hear/Say Productions, Cor Cordium Productions
Distributor: Searchlight Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release Date: February 19th, 2021
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actress-Frances McDormand; Director-Chloe Zhao; Adapted Screenplay-Chloe Zhao; Editing-Chloe Zhao; Cinematography-Joshua James Richards
