Category: Best Acting

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Cry Freedom (1987)

Having been born on the day of the Soweto student uprising (a fact I learned at an embarrassingly old age), I am attracted to anti-apartheid stories of the 1970s. For the runtime of the movie, I really had hoped they would spend at least as much time focused on Biko’s story as they do on Donald Woods and his family. It doesn’t even reach white savior levels as much as it seems a story of a white guy in South Africa who learns to hate apartheid. Kevin Kline and Denzel Washington do fine jobs though Denzel doesn’t really transcend much beyond being his charismatic self. I did get to go down a small internet rabbit hole in learning about Denzel’s front gap.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Original Score

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Equus (1977)

I admit that the lurid one line description of the story both made me not interested in watching this while also sincerely wondering what has made it successful. I don’t know about the play itself, but the film is also a bit slow in getting started. As the psychiatrist unravels the mystery of why this boy maimed six horses, it becomes quite compelling. I’ve spent a lot of time in recent years pondering how much we should push people to be more ‘normal’ and fit into the mainstream. Any adult who interacts regularly with children particularly should be asking that question and how much to push them into abiding by what you think they should believe and be. I have mixed feelings about the roles I’ve seen Richard Burton in, but this may be one of the best so far. I am now curious to see it on stage.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

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Nomadland (2020)

I only have one Best Picture nominee left to watch from this year (Minari is sitting next to my TV, waiting to be watched) so I can’t give a definitive answer whether this deserves to be Best Picture. Thus far I’m not mad at the pick. It doesn’t scream that it is entirely a new story, but it does feel like a now story: people driven from their homes and finding an alternative way to being when capitalism fails them. It is also provides beautiful views of Middle America. I don’t know what kind of life Frances McDormand would have had if she weren’t an award winning actress, but she is truly believable as a rugged, hard-working woman able to do whatever she needs to to get by. On the other hand, as much as I love David Strathairn, in a ‘normal’ Hollywood movie he could pass off as a fade into the background everyman, but in this one, he looked too clean and pretty.   Best Picture Winner

Oscar Wins: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role; Best Achievement in Directing

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Cinematography

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Citizen Kane (1941) – Rewatch

After watching Mank, I decided I needed to revisit this. I honestly didn’t get a whole lot out of it the first time I had watched it many years ago. With more film knowledge under my belt, I sadly still don’t connect much with the story and really can’t find reason to care about a fictionalization of William Randolph Hearst and others like him. I appreciate that the story more or less circles back on itself in a creative, though not really surprising, way. Visually it is striking and this subsequent watch gave me an opportunity to appreciate the framing, which is innovative for its time even when it feels overused. I don’t know what the Best Movie Ever actually is, but this still wouldn’t get my vote.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture

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Morning Glory (1933)

For a movie that’s barely over an hour long, this took me a long time to get through. There’s not much there in a tale about a wannabe actress who is more certain of her skills than anyone around her. Katharine Hepburn had so many great roles in her career, it’s odd that this is the one that received her first Oscar win.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Leading Role

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The Trip to Bountiful (1985)

I’ve already seen the 2014 version with Cicely Tyson, which I still prefer. Perhaps because of the 20 minute difference in runtime, this one felt a bit slower to get started. It also took me quite a bit of time to warm up to Geraldine Page’s take on the Mrs. Watts character. She seemed like a petulant child at the beginning, but halfway through her travels, I had warmed to her pilgrimage to return to her beloved Bountiful.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Leading Role

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

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The Young Philadelphians (1959)

Ostensibly about the life and times of one Anthony J. Lawrence, played by Paul Newman, the supporting characters bolster a story of an entire generation of young Philadelphians and themes on history repeating itself and fighting against the expectations of others. Also featuring Robert Vaughn, an aged Brian Keith, and small roles by Billie Burke and Adam West, I really dig any film that ends with a trial featuring a wily defending lawyer.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

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Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

I first started read about Fred Hampton while watching The Trial of the Chicago 7 and looked forward to see what more this film could add to his story. I think this film did a pretty good job showing the last few years of his life. Daniel Kaluuya managed to convey his power and charisma along with the humility of being part of a movement bigger than himself. I found the Last Supper scene particularly effective in presenting the tension in the room that I’ve never seen in Biblical films. I didn’t understand it earlier in the year and understand even less after watching the film how two title characters results in two supporting actor nominations.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Wins: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year ; Best Original Screenplay; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Cinematography

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The Father (2020)

As someone who is middle aged, I spend more time than I wish to admit assessing my own physical decline and fearing any level of dementia that the future may hold for me. I thought Still Alice was tough enough to experience. Told from the point of view of the person suffering the disease, this film is my nightmare. Though I would have given the Oscar to Chadwick Boseman, I could not fault Anthony Hopkins’s performance and how he deftly portrays the various emotions such a person would experience every day.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Wins: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Adapted Screenplay

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Production Design

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Hondo (1953)

Just another one of many interchangeable John Wayne westerns. There’s an odd contradiction that the film treats the Apache somewhat respectfully while also shrugging its shoulders at their foregone demise. Geraldine Page’s character was much more interesting than anything Wayne was offering, a tough woman who knew what her expected place in society was but also knew the realities of the man she was married to and the situation she was left with.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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