Category: Oscar Nominee

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The Worst Person in the World (2021)

Renate Reinsve is a directionless 20-something whose experiences in various jobs and relationships are chronicled over the course of fourteen chapters. While the film had a few poignant moments, overall, I didn’t relate to the main character, especially as the film progressed, nor the decisions she made in her aimlessness. In fact, all of the characters that receive any narrative in the film come off as potentially interesting at first only to reveal them as dull and dislikable. Regardless, I found the chapter divisions interesting in that they jumped in and out of the main character’s life, though they like everything else in the film got less engaging as the film continued. Reinsve’s performance is strong; it just seems that the narrative didn’t really know what to do with her.

Oscar Nominations: Best Original Screenplay; Best International Feature Film

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Flee (2021)

For the first time in 20 years, Afghan immigrant Amin Nawabi shared the truth of his experience immigrating to Denmark by way of Russia with his friend, director Jonas Poher Rasmussen. Mainly told in a classic animated style interspersed occasionally with archival footage, Amin’s entire family experienced horrors together and individually in leaving their homeland, horrors that continue to resonate in Nawabi’s current life and relationship with his boyfriend. It’s an important, powerful tale, presented in a very personal way, that at least for me felt a bit removed in its narrative and visual style.

Oscar Nominations: Best Documentary Feature; Best Animated Feature Film; Best International Feature Film

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The Last Voyage (1960)

Obstinate captain George Sanders of an aged transpacific ocean liner refuses to heed his crew’s warnings to the detriment of a number of souls on the vessel. Married passengers Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack must contend with the results of one of his early bad decisions if they don’t want to be joining those going down with the ship. While boat settings aren’t my favorite, I always enjoy a good disaster film. What keeps this one from being among the greats is that instead of spreading the tension over an all-star cast, most of its attention is focused on the boring couple and their incompetent child. One of the few reprieves from their tale of woe is the well-oiled, muscular command of machinist Woody Strode.  Disaster

Oscar Nomination: Best Effects, Special Effects

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Kings Row (1942)

Primarily featuring the perspective of future doctor Robert Cummings, the film follows a group of childhood companions as they grow up amongst the secrets and scandals in the titular small town. Also featuring Charles Coburn and Claude Rains in supporting roles, it showcases what is possibly the best film performance of Ronald Reagan’s entire screen career. Unsurprisingly the adapted material was greatly neutered by the Hays Code from the source novel as it apparently features references to incest and homosexuality, The film surprisingly still manages to include themes of euthanasia, mental illness, and blatant malpractice.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

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The United States Marine Band (1942)

Performances of various tunes by the United States Marine Band are filmed at various Washington DC landmarks, interspersed with footage of the marine training. The quality of the performances are top notch, but it’s still a bit of an oddity directed by the renowned Jean Negulesco. Obviously made as a bit of patriotic propaganda early in World War II, I presume there are at least some people who could be bought in by it.   Music

Oscar Nomination: Best Short Subject, One-reel

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Sons and Lovers (1960)

Young aspiring artist Dean Stockwell’s ambitions and relationships with women are hindered by his ties to his supportive but domineering mother. The performances here are all exceptionally strong, especially Stockwell in the lead and Wendy Hiller and Trevor Howard as his parents. The story meanders a bit with the narrative not cleanly flowing between scenes, but there are surprisingly frank in its discussions and expressions of sexuality for a period piece made at the time.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White

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Silverado (1985)

Four cowboys, Danny Glover, Kevin Kline and brothers Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner, become acquainted by happenstance on their way to Silverado and join forces to rid the town of a corrupt sheriff and his compadres. There’s a few too many side stories and the group doesn’t even reach the city until well into the film, but it’s entertaining enough for what it is. I kept thinking Sam Elliott should be in this film, but instead there’s John Cleese, Linda Hunt, and Jeff Goldblum. All weird choices for a western, but each really makes the best of their roles and are actually the only parts that pull the film from being a completely forgettable trope parade.   Western

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound; Best Music, Original Score

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On the Bowery (1956)

This docufiction film begins by following Ray, a railroad worker who arrives in New York City looking for enough work to feed his alcohol addiction, and the other men he meets in similar circumstances. While the film offers a bleak portrayal of these characters’ lives, because of the film’s form, it’s hard to know what is real and what is scripted. It does make for an interesting viewing experience, but difficult to know if it deserves a documentary label despite its nomination.

Oscar Nomination: Best Documentary, Features

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The Good Earth (1937)

In early 1900s China, young farmer Paul Muni marries Luise Rainer, a slave in the village’s Great House. The couple experiences extremes of highs and lows together, wearing down every ounce of strength from the wife. If one can get beyond the very blatant yellowface, it’s an epic family drama that celebrates hard work and ingenuity to improve and maintain one’s station, though a bit too simplistically. The lead performances are a uneven when held in comparison; Muni is almost comically cheerful, while Rainer’s face is filled with sorrow often in the same scenes.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Wins: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Cinematography

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Film Editing

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David Copperfield (1935)

Freddie Bartholomew plays the title character, an orphaned young boy who in Disney princess fashion encounters heroes and villains who guide him toward adulthood. For the most part, the film seems to follow Dickens’s tale and Bartholomew has a well earned reputation for his performances as a child actor. The film slows down in the second half when the character ages and Freddie leaves the story, but it remains an engaging adaptation that kept me interested in seeing the outcomes for the various characters.  Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Film Editing; Best Assistant Director

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