Category: Oscar Nominee

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Three Songs for Benazir (2021)/The Windshield Wiper (2021)

Three Songs for Benazir is an interesting documentary short about a young married couple living in a displaced persons camp in Kabul. The husband Shaista dreams of joining the Afghan National Army but his elder’s rejection of the idea means his life takes a drastically different turn. The film maintains a delicate touch by simply following the participants over the course of a number of years with no commentary except the actions of the subjects themselves.

The Windshield Wiper poses the question ‘what is love?’ through a series of otherwise unrelated vignettes. I didn’t love the aesthetic of the animation style on this one and find it rather ugly visually. The question is a bit pretentious to begin with and the film doesn’t even bother going anywhere in answering the question.

Oscar Win: Best Animated Short Film (The Windshield Wiper)

Oscar Nomination: Best Documentary Short Subject (Three Songs for Benazir)

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Salvador (1986)

Abandoned by his family and down on his luck, out of work journalist James Woods convinces his buddy Jim Belushi to travel with him to El Salvador with hopes of finding some work covering the civil war happening there. From the moment they arrive, they realize that they are a bit unprepared as the war is more serious than they thought. Not quite as intense as some of Oliver Stone’s other films, this still manages to convey some of hard truths regarding United States involvement in Central America and its impact on the people there. Woods is unsurprisingly good as an opportunistic journalist while Belushi is a bit too light with comedy relief in a film like this.   War

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

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Hawaii (1966)

In this big-budget epic based on the James Michener novel, Max von Syndow is a Christian zealot who drags his young wife to Hawaii to educate the heathens after an appeal by one of their converted princes. It takes the film a long time to even get to this point in the story and it’s quite a drag before they get to the islands. From there, it’s endlessly frustrating watching von Syndow’s fanaticism beat against everyone else he meets, especially the native population and his wife, even when they are on his side. The performances are rather good with strong appearances from Richard Harris, Gene Hackman, and Jocelyne LaGarde.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Sound; Best Effects, Special Visual Effects; Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Original Music Score

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Being the Ricardos (2021)

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were principal in creating one of the most funny and iconic sitcoms ever. This film presents a supposed week in their careers when Lucy was being hounded by the House Un-American Activities Committee while also dealing with the announcement of her second pregnancy and Desi’s many infidelities. My mother is a huge I Love Lucy fan and I have followed so much of Ball’s career before and after that I might be too knowledgeable about the subjects as presented. Nicole Kidman embodies barely an ounce of Lucy’s spark and personality. Her Australian accent came out throughout the film, while Javier Bardem as Desi didn’t seem to bother altering his Spanish accent to sound a bit like Desi’s Cuban, though he at least had some of his charm. While artistic license is expected in the writing of such a film, all of the obstacles that were faced in the movie felt far-fetched for a single week and indeed in reality were spread through the six years I Love Lucy was on the air. J.K. Simmons and Nina Arianda fared much better as William Frawley and Vivian Vance; they at least conveyed the spirit of their characters. I also liked the believable pairing of Alia Shawkat and Linda Lavin as the same character at different ages. Whatever modern message is being presented in the film is muddied, especially with allowing J. Edgar Hoover to the be hero in the situation.

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

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The Hand of God (2021)

A semi-autobiographical tale of the director’s life, the film follows Filippo Scotti as a teenaged loner living in 1980s Naples. The first half establishes the relationships and quirks among his extended family members and neighbors, a group of mean-spirited, soccer-loving Italians. Then tragedy strikes and Scotti’s character is suddenly forced to grow up. That middle moment is the best part of the film with real tenderness, affection, and heartbreak shown by the characters. The first part is grossly littered with moments of making fun of others and generally treating people horribly. I’ve probably just seen too many male coming of age stories to really get behind the objectifying of women and adults taking sexual advantage of boys to appreciate the changes that the character goes through. The Italian scenery is gorgeous at least.

Oscar Nomination: Best International Feature Film

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Affairs of the Art (2021)/On My Mind (2021)

The main character of Affairs of the Art is a middle-aged woman with dreams of being a renowned artist. She recounts her obsession with art by detailing her other family member’s obsessions, including her sister’s taxidermy. The story is a bit unhinged and the animation style is definitely not my thing.

In On My Mind, a man walks into an empty bar and orders a drink. When he realizes they also host karaoke, he aggressively pushes to use the machine against the owner’s preferences. It’s a bit of a cliched story and the actions of the characters across the board don’t feel realistic , but it is heartfelt and well-meaning.

Oscar Nominations: Best Animated Short Film (Affairs of the Art); Best Live Action Short Film (On My Mind)

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Don’t Look Up (2021)

Two astronomers Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio discover a comet hurtling towards earth and find out in a post-truth worth that it’s impossible to get anyone to take the threat seriously and more importantly to find leaders who find it politically beneficial to do something about it. The satire is a bit too on the nose most of the time and the film drags for way too long. None of the characters feel real in any way, but there are some entertaining moments scattered throughout and the overall plot is probably as realistic as any other take on the story could be. Best Picture Nomination  SciFi

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score); Best Original Screenplay

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Coming 2 America (2021)

In this sequel to the 1988 film with almost the same name, the story forwards thirty years where Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem has three daughters and is set to take over the throne from his dying father. Because they still live in a patriarchy, the daughters are useless, but luckily Eddie unknowingly fathered a son during his long ago visit to Queens. It’s the type of sequel that’s incredibly weak in plotting but strong in nods to the previous film. The original being the first R rated film I saw in the theater and still holds up for me in recent watchings, I enjoyed seeing all the old characters return and the new ones blend in relatively smoothly. The costumes are gorgeous and the makeup necessary for Eddie and Arsenio Hall to portray multiple characters is well done, but the film is missing the charm of its predecessor.

Oscar Nomination: Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

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tick, tick… Boom! (2021)

This is the film adaptation of the semi-autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson that was revamped after his death. In the film, Andrew Garfield is Jonathan, a composer and playwright approaching his 30th birthday and feeling pressure to meet the successes of his idol and mentor Stephen Sondheim while preparing for a workshop of his passion project Superbia. While I’ve never seen a production of this particular piece, Rent was the first stage production I personally bought tickets for myself and I am a fan of Larson’s work. The interweaving of Larson performing this piece with earlier preparations for the Superbia workshop along with his personal and internal struggles during this time is delicately balanced. There are bits of the music and story that hint to the future inspirations for Rent. Not known for musical work, Garfield fully embodies the late Larson in his performance. I’m unsure if I feel there were too many or not, but otherwise love the theatre cameos.   Musical

Oscar Nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Achievement in Film Editing

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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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