Category: Oscar Nominee

Posted on 2022-03-18 | No Comments |

The Power of the Dog (2021)

In 1920s Montana, ranchers Jesse Plemons meets and marries widowed inn owner Kirsten Dunst, much to the chagrin of his abusive brother Benedict Cumberbatch. During the summer, Dunst’s son Kodi Smit-McPhee visits the ranch and also endures Cumberbatch’s abuse but overtime finds common ground with the rancher. Not being a fan of Jane Campion nor really of Westerns, I didn’t have high expectations of going in, but I came away quite impressed. There’s a long interwoven tale here of shifting power dynamics, sexuality, and gender roles that slowly reveals itself and doesn’t become clear until its final moments, and maybe not even then. The performances are strong across the board and play against each other in incredible ways.

Oscar Win: Best Achievement in Directing

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2); Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role; Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Achievement in Production Design; Best Sound; Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Film Editing; Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

Posted on 2022-03-18 | No Comments |

Encanto (2021)

Mirabel Madrigal is the only member of her multigenerational Colombian family who was not bestowed a special talent as a child. On the day her younger cousin Antonio receives his gift, Mirabel notices that the Madrigal’s magical home seems to be cracking at the seams and she’s determined to find out why. Like Raya and the Dragon before it, this film is beautifully animated with even more gorgeous backgrounds and details. Unfortunately Mirabel isn’t a particularly inspirational main character and many of the other family members would have made more appealing leads. I like Stephanie Beatriz as an actress, but her voice does not come across anywhere near that of a teenager. The soundtrack is apparently very popular, but didn’t work organically within the movie for me. Instead the songs feel like they were made for an eventual stage production than this animated film. Both the build up and the resolution of the main conflict are a bit muddied, but I do like the concepts of familial pressures and magical gifts even if some of those were a bit duds in terms of usefulness.

Oscar Win: Best Animated Feature Film

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score); Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

Posted on 2022-03-17 | No Comments |

The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)

This musical follows the life of Molly Brown, a Colorado socialite best known for her assistance during the evacuation of the Titanic. Debbie Reynolds plays the spunky title character. In the first scenes, she comes across as an over-the-top, goofy, backwoods yokel, similar to Betty Hutton’s hammy portrayal in Annie Get Gun. Luckily the story quickly moves on for the character and presents her steely, determination to getting what she wants out of life. The gorgeous costumes and Reynolds’s energetic portrayal are the best parts of the films. The writing and the music on the other hand leave a bit to be desired. The big event is only given a few minutes toward the end, with Molly’s bravery presented as a quick montage of her rallying her lifeboat-mates. There are more scenes of the character on the ship in 1997’s Titanic than in this one.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Sound; Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment

Posted on 2022-03-17 | No Comments |

Summer of Soul (2021)

During the summer of 1969, the Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of six concerts held in the then Mount Morris Park, became known as the Black Woodstock as a counterpart to that other musical festival taking place the same year. Featuring a wide range of artists such as Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, the Fifth Dimension, and Nina Simone, filmed footage of the concerts were not seen by the general public since that year. The treatment of the footage is very similar to other concert films I have watched recently, namely Soul Power and Wattstax, with the power of the performances being interrupted by talking head interviews. The interviews here do include reflections from people who were actually at the event which gives context to what it means in modern times to the communities represented but I would love to see more of the performers. The glimpse at fashions and styles of the time are great; I want to recreate the Brady Bunch-esque stage background somewhere in my house.

Oscar Win: Best Documentary Feature

Posted on 2022-03-17 | No Comments |

Carefree (1938)

Frustrated with his fiancée Ginger Rogers’s ambivalence toward marriage, Ralph Bellamy asks his friend, psychiatrist Fred Astaire, to help out. The plan backfires as Rogers becomes convinced that Astaire is the one she loves. It’s a weak entry for the Rogers-Astaire pairings. There’s an overreliance on hypnotism as a plot point resulting in blatantly ignoring any agency for Rogers’s character. That does result in her going after most of the male characters with a shotgun, but that’s not enough to carry the film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Art Direction; Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Scoring

Posted on 2022-03-15 | No Comments |

Die Hard (1988) – Rewatch

Beginning a Die Hard marathon, I had to start with a rewatch of the original. During Christmastime, NYPD cop Bruce Willis has recently arrived in Los Angeles in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife Bonnie Bedelia. He shows up at his wife’s office holiday party only to have his plans waylaid by a group of hostage-taking German terrorists, led by Alan Rickman. It’s not a surprise that this inspires yearly arguments over whether it counts as a Christmas film or not; people are just looking for an excuse to watch this classic again. It’s filled with plenty of action and humor. Unlike his recent roles, Willis does more than just squint at the camera and seems to actually be enjoying himself. Though I find his German accent a bit suspect, Rickman otherwise completely kills it as an absolutely iconic bad guy.

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing; Best Effects, Visual Effects

Posted on 2022-03-15 | No Comments |

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

During a cross-country family road trip to transport quirky teenager Katie Mitchell to film school, the family encounters an obstacle in the form of a newly launched series of home robots determined to capture all humans and launch them into space. There are so many dysfunctional family road trip and technology taking over films ( The Addams Family and Ron’s Gone Wrong both from this year) that simply mashing the two together doesn’t make this film magically fresh. It doesn’t bring anything new to either of those genres. Visually, though the humans look like all other generic computer animated humans these days, the textures of the film are softer and the scenes in the robot headquarters are a highlight, brilliantly colored and designed.

Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film

Posted on 2022-03-15 | No Comments |

The Lost Daughter (2021)

Middle-aged, translator and college professor Olivia Colman’s Greek vacation is interrupted by the arrival of a large extended family’s arrival to her previously secluded beach. The family, especially a mother and her young daughter, awakens complicated feelings about her own experiences raising her two daughters. The film rests on Olivia’s performance and she carries it incredibly well. While her decisions don’t always make sense, the emotions she conveys are real and raw. She’s a complicated woman with complex experiences regarding career and family that are portrayed in a unique manner. While they don’t necessarily have similar mannerisms, the casting of Jessie Buckley as the younger version of the character gives a fairly seamless connection between the present and flashbacks.

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

Posted on 2022-03-15 | No Comments |

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

In a war-torn city, a theatre troupe’s performance of the life and adventures of Baron Munchausen is interrupted by the man himself. The disruption causes the actors’ contract to be cancelled and the Baron insists on saving the city. This film was a notorious flop, which is a shame because it offers a fun adventure flick. I really enjoyed John Neville’s portrayal of the baron. It cannot live up to the wonder of Zeman’s The Fabulous Baron Munchausen and has some surprising adult tones mixed in an otherwise family friendly story, but it’s visually fanciful with twists and turns through the various adventures that conveys a great message in its circular telling.

Oscar Nominations: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Effects, Visual Effects; Best Makeup

Posted on 2022-03-14 | No Comments |

Grand Canyon (1991)

With a cast including Kevin Kline, Mary McDonnell, Steve Martin, Alfre Woodard, and Danny Glover, my interest was piqued regarding this film. Set in Los Angeles, the film follows a somewhat interconnected cast of characters living and working in a city that is apparently under siege. There are almost car jackings, abandoned babies, and characters getting shot over a wristwatch. In between all the violence is heavy-handed dialogue philosophizing about all these experiences. The connection between the characters is so tenuous that I wasn’t even sure why Alfre and her friend Mary-Louise Parker were even in the movie until over halfway through. The one bright spot was the relationship developing between Woodard and Glover. There was a natural, sweetness as the two got to know each other.

Oscar Nominee: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen