I didn’t get My Year in Movies blog post up yet, and the Oscar nominations just got announced this morning, so I guess I will combine the two into a single commentary.
When I saw the list of Oscar nominations this morning, my first thought was, “If you want Oscar nominations, make a manly film about manly men. Don’t even think about making a film about womenfolk…”
I mean, Joker, which tells the story of a comic book villain’s descent into madness gets 11 nominations; Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, a tribute to a fictionalized 1960s got 10, as did Martin Scorsese’s epic mob drama The Irishman, and the creatively shot WW I film 1917. Now I’m not dissing all of these films by any means. Once Upon A Time was one of my favorite films of the year, and I’m looking forward to seeing 1917here in Kearney later this week. But the one thing these movies all have in common is a massive overdose of testosterone.
I have no particular objection to manly films. I agree whole heartedly with Alyssa Rosenberg’s discussion of the virtues of Ford vs. Ferrari, a rather masculine film that I loved. It’s one of my favorite racing films that told a great story of the battle of car builder Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) who have a problematic relationship and yet are united in trying to beat the Italian Ferrari. The film also has a surprising nuanced relationship between Miles and his wife, played by Irish actress Caitriona Balfe.
But, let’s look at some of my other favorite movies of the year.
I thought Little Women was one of the most enjoyable and interesting movies I saw all year. And I say this as someone who had never read Little Women, nor did I know its most famous plot point. While much of the acting in it was spot on (especially from Florence Pugh who plays the difficult sister, Amy), this is clearly a film that belongs to director/screenwriter Greta Gerwig. She got a well deserved best adapted screenplay nomination, but no nod for best director. She tells the story assuredly with a current and historic timeline that brought a new storytelling convention to a 150-year-old story.
Singer/songwriter Amy Speace, writing on Facebook today, had this to say about Gerwig’s work on Little Women:
I mean: talk about a tall mountain to climb. And she did it with originality and it was gorgeously shot which means gorgeously directed and there were GREAT performances which means she was an amazing director AND the screenplay?? I mean: what’s a freaking woman gotta do? Personally, I thought it was a way better film than “Hollywood”. And I liked Joker a lot but not as much as Little Women…
Even more unforgivable was the complete neglect of nominations for the Chinese/American film The Farewell that tells a starkly original story of an immigrant family in the US having to deal with a pending death back in China. The family goes home to China to visit grandma, but they are not allowed to tell Grandma she is dying. Actress/comedian Awkwafina displays enormous depth as the granddaughter of the apparently dying grandmother. There was also no Oscar love for writer/director Lulu Wang who based the film on her own family’s experience. And how can you resist a movie with the tag line “Based on a true lie”?
I cannot understand how Apollo 11 did not get a nomination for best documentary. Released on the 50th anniversary year of the first moon landing, it tells the story of the Apollo 11 flight with all period footage, much of from previously unseen 70mm film footage. Telling the story with nothing but sound and images from the time made it fascinating, telling it with large amounts of new footage and sound made it fantastic. Here’s a link to the review I wrote when the movie first came out.
Another documentary featuring “found footage” that I really enjoyed was Maiden, the story of the first all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Cup round-the-world sailing race. The boat’s name was Maiden, and the film features a wide collection of footage shot at the time of the 1989 race. Captain Tracy Edwards was in her 20s and had only been a cook in a previous running of the race. Unlike Apollo 11, Maiden was not a big commercial success, but it was a great story of adventure on the high seas.
Finally, I really enjoyed Blinded By The Light, a movie about the universality of the appeal and meaning of Bruce Springsteen’s music; based on the real-life experience a Pakistani young man growing up in Britain.
Not showing up on my list are Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, or Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the like. I enjoyed them all. But truth be told, as much as I love science fiction and adventure films, I’m getting a little tired of overly long, overly produced event movies.
I have yet to see 1917, Ready or Not, and Parasite, two of which I’m planning to see this week.
We haven’t seen everything, but enjoyed and liked “Ford vs Ferrari.” I had met Carroll Shelby in ’57 at the Texas State Fair. He was in a tent behind the Automotive Exhibit Building, selling Maseratis and OSCAs. We talked for 45 minutes and he was very friendly and nice to a 14-yr-old budding car nut.
I enjoyed “Star Wars” and will eventually see “Joker,” “JoJo Rabbit,” “Two Popes,” and (probably) “Once Upon a Time…”
I thought “Little Women” was outstanding and deserved the nominations it got. I’d be tickled pink to see it win Best Picture and Best Actress. I think Greta Gerwig should have gotten Best Director. The film was great!
My biggest disappointment is that “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” didn’t get nominated. We loved it!
Today Joanne and I saw “Just Mercy.” It may not have been Oscar-worthy, but it was an excellent film that did an outstanding job of conveying a message that needs to be seen and heard by all members of our divided society. The actors were excellent, the cinematography was very good, and the direction seemed to be spot-on.