OSCAR WATCH 2020: the movies

OSCAR WATCH 2020

I've been a bit quiet with Oscar Watch this year. With every year, I find my love for the Oscars dimming. I think, for me, it is twofold.

Firstly and most importantly, for me The Oscars are about my true love, classic film. And there are very few people attached to that era left. Over the years you had those special moments where the true classic filmmakers would appear and it felt so utterly romantic and idyllic. Not to say the filmmakers today are not great, there are many I love, but because of the media today, we know and see them, they are not held at a distance. And usually these moments were unexpected. Nothing unexpected happens anymore, I want to be shocked and delighted, this is why we go to the movies. This of course leads me to the ceremony. It is stiff and way too scripted, not too funny and kinda perfunctory.

The second thing is the supposed controversy, and this will continue to happen until the main glut of the academy (old white men) die out. It is as simple as that. And also, films are just not as good as they were. True independent cinema seems to have died out. This could all be linked or just the torrid conservative way of the world since 9/11. The days of me heading to the movies every weekend and spending the entire day seeing three films back to back are over. A lot of films are churning out the same ole, same ole and it is boring. Television is where it is at unfortunately. I hope this will pass, I always have hope.

Anyway, let's look at 2020 and the films I did see.

Best Picture

A last ditch attempt on the day before Oscar Day had me ticking off all 9 of the Best Picture nominees. Here is a brief overview.

Ford V Ferrari - I missed this when it came out, but there was a re-run of Oscar nominated films last week so I caught it. I was so glad I did, it is a really great story and a true action thriller. I do love motor car racing, so it ticks my very brief, lol, action boxes. Christan Bale is always such a great character actor and he was outstanding as the cocky Ken Miles. Damon is always solid, he was born to play Shelby. The supporting cast was great, but the racing scenes were brilliant. Even though you know the outcomes, you are on the edge of your seat. Before seeing it I did wonder why it was here, but having seen it, it is worthy of being on this list. Is it a contender, of course not.

The Irishman - yes, this is long, and really did need an edit, but it was a great film. I do love Scorsese, and yes he has covered this ground before. The acting was great, that goes without saying. I loved seeing Pesci and Keitel (especially Keitel) again, I miss seeing them in movies. The set design fabulous and the story entertaining. It is a Netflix film, and I am not going to go into this in detail. I do not have an issue with films being released this way, but the academy will. This is certainly deserved but it does feel like old ground for Marty. 

Jojo Rabbit - this movie was quite the revelation and is soooo close to my favourite movie the list. I cannot stop thinking of it. It's subversive, it's funny, it  is original. Taika Waititi is a genius, I thought that before, I KNOW this now. His Hitler was note perfect, he could have overplayed or underplayed, he walked a fine line beautifully. Scarlett Johansson is everything, her performance is so beautiful, I can't even. The supporting cast are also great. But young Roman Griffin Davis is the best thing about the film. I am not a big fan of kids in films, but he is superb. This film IS a holocaust film and it does pack a punch, but the comedy balances the drama perfectly. If you haven't seen this film, you really must. This is why I still will go to the movies.

Joker - I still don't know what to say about this movie. Phoenix is outstanding, that goes without saying. However I did not love the movie. I appreciate it and I see what it was trying to do. I went in, having listened to the the podcast between Michael Moore and Todd Philips, wanting to love it. But that just didn't happen. It felt long, and it upset me deeply in the wrong kind of way. I thought it was too violent, and violence (used well) usually does not upset me. I can see that it is depicting our times and about mental health and abuse and so on. I totally get all of that, and appreciate it, but it still left me cold.

Little Women - I loved this a lot. I love Gerwig and was curious to see how she would present one of my all-time favourite books. It was wonderful, the Hepburn version is still number one for me, but this comes close. She nailed the characters, the story, the setting, everything. Saoirse Ronan was a formidable Jo. I was worried about Emma Watson as Meg, but she was solid. I knew Florence Pugh would be a fabulous Amy - she is an actress to watch for sure. The supporting cast were superb. The only thing with the time movement was that Beth's death lingered much more than it usually does so I cried a lot more than usual. Gerwig was robbed of a Best Director nom.

Marriage Story - this is another film I cannot stop thinking about. Baumbach always does that to me though. It was an interesting story told beautifully. I really feel for both Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, on any other year, they should have won. They gave such great performances. Driver's was showier but Johansson's was more subtle and nuanced which is difficult. Her face, sometimes she didn't need to say anything. This is my third favourite movie of the group.

1917- this is fresh and it was an extraordinary film. The 'one take' shot was something else but then so was the story. I do not think I have felt this tense in a movie for a very long time. I have to say I am not a fan of war films, but I understand why they are important. I've seen enough and read enough to know they are wrong, but when will the rest of the world (old white men...again) catch up. The mostly unknown cast were superb, and the cameos from Colin Firth, Sherlock and Moriarty (Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott aka Hot Priest) were lovely little moments. This will surely win Best Picture and Directing and other technical awards. I thought halfway a film of me watching this would be amusing, i jumped a lot and pulled a lot of faces. Damn you Sam Mendes.

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - this is my favourite and possibly the best film Quentin has made. I loved it so very much. Brad and Leo were so very good, the whole cast was great. The story was a fabulous Hollywood one, and I loved it. Almost how I feel about The Oscars, the oldies being swapped for young 'ens. The attention to detail on the set design and cinematography was superb. The music perfect. This is pure QT. If any film deserves to win Best Picture and Directing it is this, but it won't. And that's a real shame.

Parasite - this is a tight social drama/thriller, showing light on the privileged in a country where so many are not. The vacuousness of the privileged is ripe for satire. This is very black comedy and much more a drama than anything. When "Kevin" a smart kid from a poor family scores a gig teaching the daughter of an uber rich family English, he manages to whittle his way into the family with his own in a very clever and underhand way. But will he get away with what he has done. This is a great film, it could win Best Picture but I am not so sure it should. International Feature Film absolutely, and Original Screenplay most probably.

But we will know in less than 24 hours.