There’s a common thread with a lot of the nominees this year: black stories that we need to hear. In this time, a time where the world (at least some of it) is starting to pay attention to the hardships that black humans face everyday, is a perfect time for these films to come out. One of the directors, and I’m kicking myself for not remembering who, said they are happy that their film is nominated so that they can tell important stories of great black people. This person said that history often forgets anything that is not white history.
I have talked about The Father, Nomadland, and The Trial of the Chicago Seven. Now lets talk about the other five.
Promising Young Woman
This one is a little difficult for me to write about in such a small space. I have dedicated some time and energy into putting my own thoughts, as a rape victim, into a separate blog that I will release at a separate time. For now, I will say that it is a unique film with a surprising cast: from Molly Shannon to Bo Burnham. It follows a friend of a woman who was raped in college. No one believed her, and she ended up committing suicide. The best friend goes to clubs and pretends to be drunk. When “good guys” bring her home and attempt to have sex with her intoxicated body, she taunts the men or even murders them. It is a great revenge story with good acting. The things they have men say in this film is so real, so relatable, and so haunting to myself. It definitely will make all men, whether they consider themselves to be the “good guy” as so many do or if they do not, uncomfortable. Rape is a crime that rarely ever sees justice, and I am happy a film was brave enough to talk about what most woman face in their lives (every 73 seconds Someone is raped in America ). A cool thing is that if you have ever seen Call the Midwife, one of the actresses from that show wrote and directed this film. Let’s talk about the nominations:
Best Picture: Nah. It was good, but there are way better options out there.
Best Actress for Carey Mulligan. I think she did a great job. I honestly could not even tell it was her. It was a good nomination, and well deserved, but I don’t think she will beat some of the other contenders.
Directing: Maybe. The director nominations this year fell flat for me. I don’t think she will win though.
Film Editing: Another flop for me. The editing was good, don’t get me wrong, but it will not win.
Original Screenplay: If I did not like Chicago 7 so much, I might have given them this one.
Judas and the Black Messiah
I have not been able to get that line out of my head! This film follows a man (played by Lakieth Stanfield) who is arrested for theft, and instead of going to jail he agrees to infiltrate The Black Panthers. While in there he moves his way to head of security all while slipping information to the feds, especially about the head of the Black Panther, Fred Hampton. We also see the charm of Fred Hampton while he falls in love with his beau and his bravery while leading the controversial group. The film does a great job of showing both sides of the Black Panthers, the violent rhetoric and the good they did. The film also does a great job of making us feel empathetic to the thief who wants to fight for his black brothers, but also is being blackmailed by the feds. At the end of the film the thief has to drug the drink of Fred Hampton so that the cops can easily kill him. All in all it is a great film. It is very powerful. The nominations this film is up for are:
Best Picture: I still have not found a film better than The Father and Chicago 7, and this is no exception.
This film has two nominations for Supporting Actor. Both, Lakieth Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya did a wonderful job, and I would not be upset if either of them win. Out of the two, I think Kaluuya did a better job. I really see a bright acting future for him, and see him being compared later on to the likes of Daniel Day Lewis and Leo DiCaprio. He truly transforms into any character he plays. I hope he wins.
For Cinematography and Screenwriting, I think it did well and have a real chance of winning both. There is a beautiful shot, near the end of the film, where there is a closeup of Fred Hampton’s pregnant girlfriend. We get to see every emotion on her face as we hear the gunshot in the background that ends Fred’s life. There were many other powerful shots like this that make this film deserving of this award.
Mank
I just know the Academy is salivating over this film. Anytime there is a film about filmmaking it is always a winner, whether it deserves is or not. This kind of falls on the same line of Birdman for me, which is that you need to have some previous film knowledge to enjoy it. I always think of my mom when it comes to these films. She knows diddly-squat about the industry, but she really enjoys movies. They did not make this for her. I think that to win the coveted award of Best Picture of the year, you should make it for the masses. These always come off to me as pretentious, and like it is an insider between all the film conisseurs. That being said, I did enjoy the film. When you study film in school, you’re setting yourself up to watch Citizen Kane at least 30 times before you get your degree. Anytime a professor set the class up for watching it, you would hear a collective moan from the class. Not me. I could watch this film over and over, so of course I would enjoy a film about it. Basically, the film is about the writer of the film and his struggle through Hollywood and with alcohol. It shows the charm that got him close to William Randolph Hearst (who the movie is based on), and his wife. The real star of the film is the sound quality and the way the actors really transformed into their characters. You really do feel like you’re watching something from that era.
I do not believe it should win Best Picture, but knowing the Academy it probably is a contender. I would not be happy, but I would not be surprised if it wins.
I absolutely love Gary Oldman. Anything he does makes me happy, and I also have a bit of a crush on him (which could be because he played Sirius Black). His nomination for Best Actor was definitely deserved. He did a great job transforming into a man from that time. Unfortunately for him, he has big competition that have minimized his chances to win.
I was also quite impressed by Amanda Seyfried’s role. Of course, she always does good, but her vivacious, flirty yet strong take on this character was done well. Like Oldman, she won’t win Supporting Actress, but she deserved the nomination.
The Cinematography and Sound really added to this film. The shots were very Hollywood Glam, and almost made it feel like a Noir film. The sound of the actors voices put us right into a 1920’s film. It has that scratchy, kind of feel to the men’s voices and the women have that sweet, soft sound, almost like a Disney princess. I also could see them grabbing Score since it brought you right back to the era.
With a time piece it, of course, has a chance to win production design, costume, Makeup and hair.
As I do not have a favorite to win best director, it could win. I do not really have a clear opinion on this one.
Minari
This film is a favorite to win. I enjoyed it very much, but it was just slightly below The Father or Chicago 7 for me. I really enjoyed this film, and in a time where there is so much Asian hate it was necessary. This film is about a young Korean family who moved out of the city to build a farm in Arkansas. The wife has a hard time adjusting to the new lifestyle and it causes friction in their marriage. They bring their mother from Korea and we get to see a clash between two different generations: the Korean grandmother and the grandson who was born in America. In the farm, Jacob, the father, struggles to make money with their well drying up and vendors cancelling their orders. In a wet part of the farm, the grandmother plants minari, but soon suffers a stroke. Jacob, starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel when he finds someone who will buy their crop. Unfortunately, the grandmother accidentally knocks over burning trash and the farm catches on fire, ruining the entire crop. The family, nearly about to break apart, decide to stick together and run the farm. Luckily, they have plenty of Minari.
It was a beautiful film. I loved the relationship between the grandmother and son, and sheesh, was he cute. The couple fighting just seemed so real and that was hard to see. The ending wrapped it up nicely, though. If you have not seen it I really suggest that you do.
I know I have said I was attempting to stay away from predictions, but I found a subreddit about the award show. A lot of them think that Minari is a clear cut winner for best picture, and that might be true. I, still, believe in the other two films, but I would not be upset if this wins.
Steven Yuen, who is best known for his role in Walking Dead, deserved his Best Actor nomination. He did a fantastic job and you truly believed he was who he was portraying. Hopefully people will start casting more Asian roles so we could see more of him. I also think Yuh-Jung Youn, who played the grandmother, deserved her nomination for Best Supporting Actress. They won’t win, but in any other year they might have. There is just better contenders nominated.
I think the score was well made and fit the story.
I also think it has a chance of winning adapted screenplay. I know I sound like a broken record, but I want The Father to win.
Sound of Metal
I am kind of confused as to how this got nominated. I was not all that into it. The film followed a former drug addict who is in a rock band. The severe noise he is around every night causes him to lose his hearing. He ends up in a rehab facility for deaf people where he learns how to Live with his new disability. He finds a video of his girlfriend and band’s singer, who was supposed to wait for him, playing a solo concert. Upset, he sells everything he has to pay for surgery to hear again. When the surgery does not give him what he wants, and he starts using again, he asks to come back to the rehab center. The rehab leader denies his request. Then, the guy flies to see his girlfriend who lives with her parents. They make up and that’s that. It was a very anticlimactic ending to an okay film. The only thing really special in the film is the sound, where they go back and forth between what the main guys hears and then back to regular. Other than that, it’s not winning anything.
Tomorrow is the big day and I cannot wait to tell you all my predictions!
Comments