Category: Oscar Nominee

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Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

As someone who has no interest in watching all of the Marvel films, I had to go into this not care about all the details and continuity I didn’t understand in watching this and there are a whole lot. When Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man receives a rejection to MIT because of previous events, he convinces Benedict Cumberbatch to magic away everyone’s knowledge of Spider-Man but his stupid interference ruins the spell and causes Spider-Men and villains from other universes to arrive in his universe. It’s really a clever and entertaining look into multiverses. As much as the Disney monopoly damages modern entertainment, their bank does mean no hero or villain got forgotten in bringing it all together. I’ve watched the Tobey Maguire trilogy, so it was fun seeing his character work in the new universe. Holland’s Spider-Man is an inept disappointment, so Andrew Garfield easily became my favorite of the three and I may actually check out his version.   Action  Scifi

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Visual Effects

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Warrior (2011)

Brothers Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, estranged from each other and their recovering alcoholic father Nick Nolte, separately make the decision to compete in a winner takes all mixed martial arts tournament. I don’t find enjoyment from fighting sports in general and even less the beat the hell out of each other version that is mixed martial arts, so I wasn’t attracted to the plot presented here. The characters at their base are uninteresting clichés: Edgerton being a financially struggling teacher and father and Hardy brooding, secretive ex-military. Luckily the actors manage to sell their roles well and the performances by the three are really strong, making a contrived set-up feel somewhat believable and rather engaging.   Sports

Oscar Nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

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I Am Sam (2001)

Sean Penn is a man with an intellectual disability, raising his seven year old daughter Dakota Fanning, who due to plot contrivances is suddenly forced to prove his worthiness as a parent. Though my Oscars dedication meant I had to check out Penn’s performance, I had long avoided watching this film. It was both better than and as bad as I had feared. Penn’s performance is dedicated and sincere, but it still feels like just a performance. Michelle Pfeiffer, as the hardened lawyer who has a change of heart, is just one big trope of a character. The film requires the viewer to mostly ignore the first seven years of fatherhood where he would have had to somehow afford formula and diapers when he later struggles to buy his daughter a single pair of shoes , where he receives state assistance and at some point registered his daughter for school but no legal entity questioned his parenting fitness until he got arrested for simply talking to a prostitute. Fanning is the film’s high-point. She gives an exceptionally mature performance for such a young age and there’s a real sweetness to her interactions with Penn.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Leading Role

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The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)

Grand Duchess Joan Bennett’s country has been overtaken by dictator George Sanders. When she meets up with the current Count of Monte Cristo Louis Hayward, he falls for her and attempts to help her retake her rightful place of power. The politics are possibly a bit too convoluted for an adventure film of this type, but was probably poignant at the time. Unfortunately that plot weighs down what would otherwise be a lighthearted romp. There’s still plenty of swashbuckling fun, but is mostly forgettable.  Adventure  Action

Oscar Nomination: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White

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The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)

Barbra Streisand is a somewhat frumpy, English professor who lives with her domineering mother Lauren Bacall; Jeff Bridges, also a professor, feels that sex gets in the way of his important work. When Barbra’s sister Mimi Rodgers answers Jeff’s personal ad on her behalf, it leads to a romance built on mutual respect and intelligence but little physical affection. Nothing about this film feels based in reality. Streisand is somehow presented as unattractive (at least until she goes through the requisite makeover montage, lightening her hair and putting on a skin tight dress) but so interesting and charming that her students hang on her every word and she had previously attracted Pierce Brosnan. At the same time, Bridges is a hugely successful author who attracts supermodels but can’t get students to stay for his entire class, which also is simultaneously standing room only. The details of their physical relationship are so confusing, with not even an occasional friendly hug or sleeping in the same bed but occasional sex is on the table, that the central conflict rings false.

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

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Heaven Can Wait (1943)

When playboy Don Ameche arrives at the entrance to Hell, Satan has him recount the sordid details of his life to prove his worthiness. He enjoyed a lifelong love with his wife Gene Tierney with the expected ups and downs that occur in many relationships. His one big crime in life seems to be carrying on affairs throughout his marriage, though what these ‘affairs’ actually consist of doesn’t get explained beyond a bracelet bought for another woman. The lack of context behind his ‘bad’ ways makes the Hell premise nonsensical. Ameche is occasionally charming, the leads have a sweet meet-cute that leads to an elopement, and there’s some appealing supporting work done by Charles Coburn and Marjorie Main, but the rest just drags with me still wondering how he ended up in Hell in he first place.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Cinematography, Color

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Tequila Sunrise (1988)

Mel Gibson is a drug dealer trying to go straight; Kurt Russell is his childhood friend, now a Los Angeles detective, trying to bring down a Mexican drug kingpin who has connections to Gibson. The attraction both of them feel for restauranteur Michelle Pfeiffer adds extra tension. For some reason, the way the story is told is so convoluted and long that it quickly becomes tedious. I’m sure there’s a good tale in there, but it would probably have found a female lead who had better chemistry with the male leads than they have with each other even with an unnecessarily over-extended sex scene. That film would still include Raul Julia though.

Oscar Nomination: Best Cinematography

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Four Daughters (1938)

Claude Rains’s four daughters are all musically talented and ready to catch the eyes of the male musicians and neighbors who visit their home. The daughters are played by three of the Lane Sisters and Gale Page. Unfortunately Page sticks out as a sore thumb amongst the actual siblings. Though she tries, she lacks their natural camaraderie and charm. The story itself is mostly unmemorable with unnecessary tension added to the obvious central romance between Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Sound, Recording

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A Very Long Engagement (2004)

During World War I, Audrey Tatou’s young fiancé was one of a handful of soldiers who were given an almost certain death sentence after being convicted of committing self mutilation in order to escape. She devotes her life to discovering the truth about his fate. It’s surprising to see Jean-Pierre Jeunet directing what sometimes feels like a fairly straightforward war film, but there’s no doubt many of his whimsical touches. Tatou’s optimistic resolve and the twists and turns her story takes as she searches for the love of her life often feels like Amélie has been transported back in time.   War  Romance

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Art Direction

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Parallel Mothers (2021)

While in the hospital giving birth to her daughter, single photographer Penélope Cruz meets pregnant teenager Milena Smit. The two women’s lives continue to entwine in accidental and purposeful ways. While it’s not my favorite Almodóvar work, the blending of Spain’s national traumas under Franco with the localized experiences of the mothers works well. Cruz once again gives her best work under his direction.

Oscar Nomination: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

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