The day is finally here! Movie theaters are officially opened! I swear when I stepped into the AMC 8 in Burbank and inhaled the stench of buttery popcorn I felt like I was coming home. It kind of reminds me of the feeling when I walk into Disneyland and spot Sleeping Beauty’s castle; my soul is instantly nourished. I was actually giddy when the theater employee filled up our diet soda and we walked down the windy path to our theater. It was very clean and Covid friendly. They only allowed 12 viewers in the room, and each seat was socially distanced. We had to wear our masks the entire film unless drinking or snacking. I felt completely comfortable as I sank into my reclining chair and really allowed myself to become encompassed by the film.
In honor of theaters opening up completely, I thought I would give you all some tips on how to have the best movie watching experience (since I have gone to the movies quite a bit!).
Dress comfortably. There are two reasons I can think of to look good at the theaters …. a first date or going after church. If you are not doing those two things then your looks should be the last thing on your mind. You are sitting in a near pitch dark room … no one will have any idea if you have makeup on or not. This is the perfect opportunity to bring out those yoga pants you initially bought for going to 24 hour fitness, but has never seen the inside of a gym. Rock comfortable shoes that you will not have to think about for the two hours of the film (I recommend tennis shoes or flip flops!). You also NEED to have layers. It does not matter if it is 120 degrees outside, you will most likely be sitting in an ice box for the entire length of the film. You can also be like my mother who likes to pack thick socks to change into. It might look odd to rock slipper socks under your sandals, but I bet my mom has been way comfier than you ever have at a theater.
Get a large purse or a jacket with snack sized pockets to bring your own snacks to the movies. Don’t spend your entire life savings on a bucket of grease, when you can easily pop your own at home for fractions of the price. I have had an entire bowl of cereal during a viewing once, with temperature controlled milk. You are only limited to what you can fit in your purse or pockets. Foods I would not recommend: McDonald’s (due to the smell), loose tacos, or anything you need to look at while eating. Think finger food with as little sauce as possible. This week I packed butter free popcorn seasoned with Flavor God’s pizza flavored seasoning, and mini vanilla flavored merengue cookies.
The day is getting nearer and we have to start talking about some of the Best Picture nominees. I am halfway through them and its turning out to be a fantastic selection of films. Since I have already set the stage for my cinema adventure, lets talk about the movie I saw:
The Father
If you have not seen this film I would recommend passing this section of my writing. I also recommend that you do not watch any trailer or read any summary before viewing. This film is one that you NEED to see. I thought I had already watched the clear winner this year, but man, it is not clear at all. The Father is about a man going through stages of Alzheimer's. They set the film up almost like a horror. It shows you how terrifying and unhinging it is to go through life while your mind is slipping from you. Strangers are comfortably walking through your home, the time of day changes at the drop of a hat, and large life details slip past you. It does a great job of showing you how hard it is to have Alzheimer's, but also how hard it is to be the caretaker of someone with it. It is absolutely heartbreaking to imagine having someone you love so much, not even recognize you. The female in the story, played by Olivia Coleman, has to deal with the heartache of putting her father, played by Anthony Hopkins, in a home. She had previously given so much of herself to taking care of her father, but finally allowed herself to be selfish and move on with her life. It was such a well done film. At the end, I needed to remove my mask because it was drenched in my tears. I went to see this film with my fiancé, who has just lost his grandfather to dementia. He is not an emotional man, but I saw the pain in his eyes thinking about what his grandfather had to deal with at the end of his life. It was so well made, so real, so raw, so painful.
The Father was nominated for 7 different awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins, Supporting Actress for Olivia Coleman, Film Editing, Production Design, and adapted Screenplay.
Anthony Hopkins, hands down, deserves to win. He did such an incredible job with such a hard role to play. He was believable, emotional, and harrowing. His performance will stick with me for a very long time.
I have not watched many of the other supporting actresses yet, other than the girl in Borat, but of the two, Olivia Coleman would win. She did a wonderful job showing strength in her pain. It was a very different role than her previous Oscar winning performance, and she was able to switch gears well.
I think this has a real chance of taking best film editing. It completely made the film and allowed you to see the manic twists and turns that play in the mind of one with Alzheimer’s. I can’t imagine the editing being any better.
Even though production design did play a major role in the film (it allowed you to realize what reality you were set in), I can see other nominees winning based on the fact that they are time pieces.
Adapted Screenwriting is definitely attainable for this film.
I think The Father will be the big winner this year.
The Trial of the Chicago Seven
Do you remember the scene in Wolf of Wall Street when Leo’s character, Jourdan, drives away with his young daughter in his car and crashes? Your heart is racing as you watch him sitting in the car with blood falling over his head. It is one of those scenes where I thought, “This is the type of movies I want to write….. this is why I dream of being in the film industry.” After I watched the film I was filled with endorphins and could not wrap my mind around anything else. I felt the exact same feeling after watching The Trial of Chicago Seven. I cried, I laughed, and at the end of the film my fiancé and I were actually cheering!
The film is a true story about 8 men who were on trial for a Vietnam war protest that went awry. It follows how the war effected different men, from young activists to older fathers who serve as boy scout leaders. In the court trial there is a lot of eye opening things that happen mostly with how unfair the government was treating the activists and people of ethnicity. It always is crazy to me to watch films based on true stories showing how badly black people were treated so recently (and still being treated unfairly!). It was a great film to see in the time we are living now and there were a lot of parallels between what was happening then and what has been happening now with the Black Lives Matters protests.
This film has been nominated for five different awards:
I keep going back and forth on my pick for best picture, but it definitely teeters between The Father and this film. It was so damn enjoyable, that I did not even realize over two hours had passed by. I am very shocked it was not nominated for Best Director. The choices he made for this film, including the addition of actual footage, does a great job of making this film credible and entertaining.
I think The Father will win Film Editing, but I think this movie has great timing and the editing was perfect.
When I saw Sasha Baron Cohen was nominated for Supporting Actor I was a bit shocked. Yes, in every role he has done well, but they have not really been serious roles. He did an incredible job in this film and I was pleasantly surprised! He did great showing the comic side to his character, but the intelligence shined through as well. I think he is a very strong contender for this award.
The Screenwriting in this film was really, really well done. Just like Greenbook last year, there were lines that just tugged at me. Sasha Baron Cohen brought his skill, but he was also handed great dialogue. This could grab the award easily.
Cinematography was solid, but did not stick out as anything extra exceptional. In order to win this role, to me, every single time you pause your screen while watching this film should enrich the screen as if you are looking at art in a museum. There are better contenders, like our next film:
Nomadland
This was an odd film and man, does Francis McDormand love to be in these kinds of films. The film follows a woman whose town has closed down due to economic downturn, and whose husband had passed. She takes on the life of a nomad, living in her van and working small jobs just to stay afloat. It was a good, yet quirky film. It felt like a documentary to me, and the people seemed very real. The thing I was not too thrilled with in this film is that there was no real plot. It did not seem to really build to anything. There really was not much at stake. The plot of the film was if the main character would give up her nomad life for a more stable, solid foundation. I kept thinking, though, that there would be something else that would happen. I would actually predict things like, “Oh no, is her van going to get robbed” or “is there going to be a big conflict between character A and B” but nothing like that ever happened.
I found out after watching the film why these characters seemed real… that is because they are not actors and are real nomads! I thought that was an awesome risk that paid off for the film. The director, Chloe Zhao, found people that actually lived the life style being portrayed and asked them if they would play themselves.
Heres the scoop on the nominations for Nomadland:
Best Picture: Nah. It was an interesting film, but it does not stand a chance.
Cinematography: yes! It was filmed beautifully. I think this will probably be the only winner for them.
Directing: I think the addition of Chloe Zhao was a great one, due to her choices of using the actual people from that lifestyle. She made a few other choices that give her an edge in this category, but I don’t think she will win.
Film editing and Adapted Screenplay: falls short to The Father.
Happy watching!
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