Category: Best Music

As a remake of The Bishop’s Wife, it’s hard to review this without comparing it to the earlier picture. Denzel is the angel Dudley come to help Vance, the spouse of the titular Houston. It’s not difficult to see how Washington would be chosen in the role previously held by Cary Grant. There are few modern actors who could pull off the debonair charm, ever capable of throwing out a grin that makes the film’s women and the audience swoon. Houston and Vance are at least as capable filling in the same roles as Loretta Young and David Niven, here with an added showcase for Houston’s singing. There are a bunch of additional characters: Gregory Hines as a property developer bent on demolishing the church, Loretta Devine as a jealous secretary, and Jenifer Lewis inexplicably cast as Houston’s mother. While neither are Must Watches for me, I slightly prefer the earlier version if only because of its shorter, tighter story, but this one is still a decent feel-good film that I don’t mind putting in every other year or so. 

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score

When her estranged drug-addicted daughter Mila Kunis once again shows up on her doorstep looking for help, mother Glenn Close tries to remain resilient against the lies, deceit, and hope that she has become all too familiar with over the years. While the story is a familiar one and feels a bit sometimes like it’s just going through the motions, the acting elevates the film. Close is a treasure, not pulling back on the array of emotions and turmoil her character experiences. Kunis isn’t afraid of portraying the ugly side of being a desperate and thoroughly addicted individual. Even Stephen Root offers a solid turn as Close’s current husband and an attempted voice of reason and support through the ordeal.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

Pushed to success by her stage-mother Minnie Driver, Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s rising star begins to crash under the pressure of show business. Saving her from herself, even momentarily, is down-to-earth cop Nate Parker. It’s not a particularly new story nor does it end in anything but a thoroughly expected way. The leads are appealing with good chemistry; both of them capable at portraying the vulnerabilities necessary to make their characters believable.   

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Eight year old Macaulay Culkin is accidentally left at home while the rest of his extended family travel to France for Christmas. Making matters worse, there is a pair of burglars preying on any home in the neighborhood thought to be empty for the holidays. It does have some fantastic touches from the various coincidences that lead to Culkin being left home alone to the film within the film Angels with Filthy Souls to the inventive cast of characters to make the home seem occupied. While there’s plenty of humor for all ages, there’s quite a bit of the film that sits firmly in kid fantasy. It’s not a must watch for me each year, but it is next tier.  

Oscar Nominations: Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Original Score

Jason Robards is a psychiatrist who falls in love with and marries Jennifer Jones, his wealthy but emotionally unstable patient. He quits his job and gets caught up in her whirlwind, hedonistic lifestyle. It’s only when it’s too late to go back to his old career that he realizes how unfulfilling he finds his current situation. The plot comes across as another version of A Star is Born; as Robards falls into alcoholism and uncertainty, his wife finds her own inner strength. Overall, despite the strong cast, it’s unmemorable. The supposed 1920s setting is lost in the bright colors and stylings for the 1960s.

Oscar Nomination: Best Music, Original Song