Category: 2020s

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Lead Me Home (2021)/Audible (2021)

It shouldn’t be news to anyone that there’s a homelessness epidemic in American cities, especially on the West Coast. That’s the only message Lead Me Home has to offer. It spends more time on aerial footage of said cities than the handful of unhoused individuals whose heartbreaking stories are featured. There isn’t much depth to these stories nor any causes or solutions to the problem presented.

The subjects of Audible are deaf high school students who are all associated with their football team’s winning streak. These students are also connected in their grief over the death of their friend and former classmate. The short touches on many subjects that teenagers are dealing with, such as sexuality, mental health, family issues, and being part of a community, but unfortunately that’s a lot to unpack in 40 minutes so it remains mostly on the surface.  Sports

Oscar Nominations: Best Documentary Short Subject (Lead Me Home; Audible)

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The Power of the Dog (2021)

In 1920s Montana, ranchers Jesse Plemons meets and marries widowed inn owner Kirsten Dunst, much to the chagrin of his abusive brother Benedict Cumberbatch. During the summer, Dunst’s son Kodi Smit-McPhee visits the ranch and also endures Cumberbatch’s abuse but overtime finds common ground with the rancher. Not being a fan of Jane Campion nor really of Westerns, I didn’t have high expectations of going in, but I came away quite impressed. There’s a long interwoven tale here of shifting power dynamics, sexuality, and gender roles that slowly reveals itself and doesn’t become clear until its final moments, and maybe not even then. The performances are strong across the board and play against each other in incredible ways.  Best Picture Nomination  Western

Oscar Win: Best Achievement in Directing

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2); Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Production Design; Best Sound; Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

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Far From the Tree (2021)

Included with the DVD for Encanto, this short follows a young raccoon as she travels with her father from their forest home to the nearby seaside. Whenever she wanders from her father’s view, he aggressively returns her to safety. With a traditional animated look and tight story telling, this was much more my sort of thing than the movie it accompanied.   Animals

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Encanto (2021)

Mirabel Madrigal is the only member of her multigenerational Colombian family who was not bestowed a special talent as a child. On the day her younger cousin Antonio receives his gift, Mirabel notices that the Madrigal’s magical home seems to be cracking at the seams and she’s determined to find out why. Like Raya and the Dragon before it, this film is beautifully animated with even more gorgeous backgrounds and details. Unfortunately Mirabel isn’t a particularly inspirational main character and many of the other family members would have made more appealing leads. I like Stephanie Beatriz as an actress, but her voice does not come across anywhere near that of a teenager. The soundtrack is apparently very popular, but didn’t work organically within the movie for me. Instead the songs feel like they were made for an eventual stage production than this animated film. Both the build up and the resolution of the main conflict are a bit muddied, but I do like the concepts of familial pressures and magical gifts even if some of those were a bit duds in terms of usefulness.   Musical

Oscar Win: Best Animated Feature Film

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score); Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

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Summer of Soul (2021)

During the summer of 1969, the Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of six concerts held in the then Mount Morris Park, became known as the Black Woodstock as a counterpart to that other musical festival taking place the same year. Featuring a wide range of artists such as Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, the Fifth Dimension, and Nina Simone, filmed footage of the concerts were not seen by the general public since that year. The treatment of the footage is very similar to other concert films I have watched recently, namely Soul Power and Wattstax, with the power of the performances being interrupted by talking head interviews. The interviews here do include reflections from people who were actually at the event which gives context to what it means in modern times to the communities represented but I would love to see more of the performers. The glimpse at fashions and styles of the time are great; I want to recreate the Brady Bunch-esque stage background somewhere in my house.   Music

Oscar Win: Best Documentary Feature

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Julia (2021)

This documentary chronicles the life of Julia Child. I’ve probably watched too many biographical films lately as this one doesn’t at all stand out in form. It uses archival footage from her shows and appearances along with interviews from people who knew or were inspired by her to tell her story. Child is rather formidable as a subject and that is the documentary’s strength. She discovered her love for French cooking well into adulthood and only began sharing that love with the greater public through books and television much later, continuing with her work all the way to the end.

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The Dry (2020)

Federal Agent Eric Bana returns to his hometown after many years away to attend the funeral of a childhood friend who died during an alleged murder-suicide. His friend’s parents entreaty him to investigate the crime, which awakens memories of the mysterious death of another friend when they were teenagers. Set in a drought-ridden part of Australia, the setting is strong in creating the atmosphere of a small town riddled with secrets. Bana is appealing as a lead here and makes me want to see him in more low-key stories such as this.  Crime

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The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

During a cross-country family road trip to transport quirky teenager Katie Mitchell to film school, the family encounters an obstacle in the form of a newly launched series of home robots determined to capture all humans and launch them into space. There are so many dysfunctional family road trip and technology taking over films ( The Addams Family and Ron’s Gone Wrong both from this year) that simply mashing the two together doesn’t make this film magically fresh. It doesn’t bring anything new to either of those genres. Visually, though the humans look like all other generic computer animated humans these days, the textures of the film are softer and the scenes in the robot headquarters are a highlight, brilliantly colored and designed.

Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film

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The Lost Daughter (2021)

Middle-aged, translator and college professor Olivia Colman’s Greek vacation is interrupted by the arrival of a large extended family’s arrival to her previously secluded beach. The family, especially a mother and her young daughter, awakens complicated feelings about her own experiences raising her two daughters. The film rests on Olivia’s performance and she carries it incredibly well. While her decisions don’t always make sense, the emotions she conveys are real and raw. She’s a complicated woman with complex experiences regarding career and family that are portrayed in a unique manner. While they don’t necessarily have similar mannerisms, the casting of Jessie Buckley as the younger version of the character gives a fairly seamless connection between the present and flashbacks.

Oscar Nominations: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role; Best Adapted Screenplay

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Hive (2021)

With her husband still missing after the Kosovo War, Yllka Gashi’s Fahrije is alone left to care for her two children and father-in-law. With few prospects in a disapproving patriarchal society, she concocts the only plan she can think of, to market homemade ajvar, hopefully with the support of the many war widows in her village. Even before she tries to recruit the other women in her scheme, there’s a connectedness between them, helping each other get through their shared predicament. Based on the true story of one Kosovar village, Gashi brings a quiet determination to her headstrong character, resolute in helping her family survive while also still struggling with the questions of her husband’s fate .

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