Here it is, Oscar season, and the program airs this Sunday
night. It may be all kind of silly and
pointless, but when did that ever stop me from giving my opinion? Every
year, I always make it a point to see all nine Best Picture Oscar nominees and
then rank them according to how I liked them.
Meanwhile, you may be saying, “I haven’t been in a movie theater in
years”, but you might want to know what to see when it comes out on DVD or Netflix,
right? I should lecture you on getting
out of the house once in a while, pay the ten bucks, and see a movie while it
is still a thing…
… but of course I won’t do that.
I may be dumb as a post when it comes to filmmaking, but I
know what I like: an interesting story,
told imaginatively.
Overall, I didn’t think most of these nominees were much
above ordinary, except for one of them
and that is my #1.
Here we go, from my “most deserving of an Oscar” to the “less
deserving of an Oscar” to “Huh??..”:
1) La La
Land. It’s exceptional, a creative,
colorful sometimes-musical. Ryan Gosling
and Emma Stone totally nail their roles.
I went back and saw it a second time and liked it even more.
2)
Manchester
by the Sea. A beautiful
heartbreaker. Casey Affleck is
perfect. Michelle Williams is memorable
in one scene in particular. This movie
feels like real life.
3)
Hidden
Figures. Three of the nominated
films are based on true events. This
one, about three African-American women crucial to the space program of the
early ‘60s, might surprise some of you not alive during that era. This movie is entertaining and feels good.
4)
Moonlight. Excellent acting, especially Naomie Harris as
the crackhead mom. Intense and
challenging, I just wasn’t sure what I was supposed to feel when it was all said and done.
5)
Lion. Another tear-jerker, this
little-boy-lost-in-Calcutta story. The
little kid is great, as is Dev Patel as the grown-up version of him. It drags a little during the
sitting-at-the-computer scenes, but overall it is a winner.
6)
Fences. Fences is
probably August Wilson’s best play and I like it, but this film adaptation
always feels like a filmed stage play.
Denzel Washington is amazing, though, as is Viola Davis.
7)
Hell or
High Water. I had really low expectations
for this one, and I ended up sort of liking it.
There were times when I would have appreciated subtitles for some of the
conversations, mumbled in West Texas-accents by the two brothers, the main
characters. Jeff Bridges (a/k/a “The
Dude”) is fun as the sheriff.
8)
Hacksaw
Ridge. Agreed, this is quite the
story. But the battle scenes, with heads
being blown up and such, just went on and on, as if the filmmakers were
enjoying the blood and gore way too much.
It doesn’t help my opinion that this film was directed by notorious
bigot Mel Gibson.
9)
Arrival. How can a story about aliens from outer space
be so mind-numbingly dull? Amy Adams is cool, though.
My choices for the other major categories:
Best Actor: Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea. Denzel might beat him out, though.
Best Actress: There is a good chance that Isabelle Huppert
might win this Oscar for the French movie, Elle,
but I didn’t see that, so I gotta go with Emma
Stone for La La Land, and who doesn’t love Emma Stone? Meryl Streep has very little chance of
winning for Florence Foster Jenkins,
but it would be fun to watch her, in her speech, verbally shred our over-rated so-called
President again.
Best Supporting Actor: I’m not sure why Dev Patel is in this category instead of Best Actor, but I’ll go
with him for Lion.
Best Supporting
Actress: Same with Viola Davis – why not on the Best Actress
list instead? She certainly deserves an
Oscar for Fences.
Best Director: Damien Chazelle for La La Land. Of course.
That’s it for this year.
My endorsement is usually the Kiss of Death for nominees, but, hey, I am
due for some validation!
If you watch the Oscars, enjoy. Let me know what you think. Cheers!
