The 8th Annual Oscars Vivisection

Well you know how it is, it’s the last hour of your work day and you’re just about to finish whatever project you’re working on and BAM! Another pile of paperwork large enough to crush a vole thuds into your in-tray with a note attached saying “today please!”

So I was putting the finishing touches to the top five of 2021, which is a little late this year, apologies, and as the calendar crept into February, I regarded the Oscars with the occasional suspicious glance, like one would the Yellowstone Caldera: surprised yet relieved nothing’s come out yet but increasingly all the more concerned it’ll happen any day. And then, right as I'm closing in on the finished draft....eruption!

On 8th February as well, with a ceremony on 27th March of all times; that’s just shy of a two month window! Man, covid’s really done a lasting number on film schedules, huh.

Anyway, as previously mentioned, I was in the middle of another post, so I’m going to attempt to keep things a little brisker this year. No 5000 word multi-category monoliths like last time. So as that’s the case, let’s stop waffling and get to the cream of the ceremony. Or maybe I should go have pudding first...

Best Picture

Belfast

‘...Irish power…’ 

To start us off is Belfast, the new Kenneth Branagh period piece based on his childhood experiences at the turn of the seventies in the titular Northern Irish capital, at the genesis of what would become known as The Troubles. For the most part, people seem to have really taken to Belfast, particularly those who may have grown up during that era. On the other hand, I have heard some sniffier reviews from people suggesting it’s a nostalgic navel-gaze that doesn’t comment on the situation as much as it thinks it does.

But I've not seen it yet, so I couldn’t possibly say. My mum liked it though. Belfast went straight to my “to do when I’m bored one evening” list when it came out, but now it's snagged itself a nomination, I’ll upgrade its status a bit and give it a look in time for the results ceremony.

Will it win Best Picture? Maybe. My gut instinct is that it's one of the most likely candidates: it’s a period piece set at the time when most Academy voters were growing up, it’s got a lot of big names in it, good-ol’ Chuckles Branagh is directing, and there’s stuff going on politically in the background that aids its dramatic edge. This does rely, however, on an elderly American audience understanding and caring about Northern Irish politics, which I’m not saying they necessarily don’t, but if there were going to be a hangup...

 

CODA

‘...fish power…’ 

I do kind of remember this film coming out last year, at an unusually sensible time for once, and yet, when the nominations were announced I was convinced I’d never heard of this film until I IMDb’d it, which might be a first for me since I started reviewing the Oscars. I also now remember people raving about CODA for all of a day before it seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth. I guess that’s what happens when you’re an Apple TV exclusive.

At any rate, I’ve given CODA a watch and you know what, it really surprised me. The plot sounds like your typical cliché comfort movie: Ruby, the only hearing child in a deaf family, is torn between her dream of becoming a singer and her commitments and love for her family, who need her to help them with their fishing business. Throw in the classic “father doesn’t understand daughter’s passion” device (although admittedly in a very literal sense here) along with Standard Teen Romance Subplot B, and you’ve got a film that on paper should be relegated to only being viewed with a tub of ice cream and a temperature.

And yet, something about CODA really clicked for me, as it did for a lot of people it seems. It might just be as simple as an exceptionally good execution of that standard comfort movie format, but there definitely feels like something more going on here. It might be the performances, of which Eugenio Derbez as music teacher Mr. V is the highlight, or maybe the deaf representation that feels motivated by genuine intent for once rather than insincere box-ticking, feeling fresh and engaging as a result.

It’s certainly not perfect: there’s a sequence involving a fishing boat inspector that felt particularly contrived, born out of uncharacteristic idiocy and there only to drive some late second act conflict, yet ultimately going nowhere particularly. It also feels like most of the characters besides Ruby don’t get as much character development as I feel they should, especially her love interest, who feels very much like the default stock character that comes bundled with the aforementioned Standard Teen Romance Subplot B kit. But these are ultimately nitpicks on an otherwise very solid and enjoyable story.

In terms of Oscars, it could go either way. On the one hand it is a genuinely good crowd pleaser with broad appeal, a happy ending, and even that representation that the Academy loves to show off.

On the other hand, it’s also an Apple TV exclusive. And that’s not just me being snarky: in previous years we’ve seen Academy members, most notably Steven Spielberg, voice a certain sniffiness towards streaming service films, claiming they are not equal to traditional theatrical releases and shouldn’t be Oscar eligible.

Obviously, this is horseshit.

But this argument first started showing up in 2019 when Roma was one of the front runners for Best Picture, and while it’s impossible to say if the prejudice against streaming cost it the win, Netflix has had at least one film in the nominations every year since Roma’s defeat, and has still yet to triumph.

So being an Apple TV exclusive, it’s possible CODA might face the same uphill battle. The other thing that might hinder CODA is it is by far the earliest release of the nominations, and while this is something I’m usually very happy for, it does give the film a disadvantage in terms or recency bias, something the Academy is likely to succumb to. This is the only film here that came out long enough ago to be realistically forgotten about (at least if my own experience is anything to go by) and combined with the fact that until now, I hadn't heard anyone talk about this film since it came out, suggests maybe it doesn’t have the staying power it needs to win over the voters.

 

Don't Look Up

‘...idiot power…’ 

Speaking of streaming films, Adam Mckay’s Netflix-exclusive Don’t Look Up has managed to snag a nomination somehow.

DiCaprio and J-Law (the lesser known PCM audio format) star as two scientists who discover a meteorite large enough to cause an extinction-level event hurtling straight for Earth. They attempt to warn the world, only for the media, government and public to at first not care about or understand the threat, before evolving it into a point of political contention and opportunistic capitalism. It’s ended up being a somewhat divisive film, and not necessarily based on its audience’s political views.

Personally, I was kind of lukewarm to the whole thing. It all felt a bit too surface level and thinly spread; there’s so many different angles and elements of the subject matter to tackle that Mckay tries to just scattershot as much of it as possible but giving none of the elements enough time to really develop satirically. The end result is a film that points out a lot of things without really investigating any of them.

“Hey, isn’t it crazy that people care more about celebrity gossip than life-threatening news?”

“Yes, Don’t Look Up. The Simpsons was parodying that back in the 90s.”

“But isn’t it…isn’t it just CRAZY?”

The other problem is the classic case of reality being stranger than fiction: the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic, of which this film is most directly pointing to, is an intricate web of ludicrous bullshit that you absolutely could not make up, because your editor would tell you to redraft and make it more realistic. There’s just nothing really in this film that feels surprising or shocking compared to what’s actually happened in the last few years, and combined with the lack of depth discussed above, the overall experience is a film that doesn’t really say or stir much of anything.

Is it at least funny? Ehh, sort of. There’s occasional glimmers of humour, but a lot of it falls flat in that boomer-y kind of way (why is it so difficult to understand how memes work?!). It is an entertaining film, however: the performances are good, there’s the occasional good line and overall it’s better than I thought it would be, in that it’s merely fine rather than cringe-inducingly terrible.

But I have no idea why it’s sitting here with an Oscar nomination. Being (or attempting to be) a provocative comedy, and one that takes aim at politicians and the media in a very politically charged time, it seems a little outside the Academy’s comfort zone. It’s also, as above, not particularly good, and it’s a Netflix-exclusive film, so overall not a lot of things going for it. About the only really Oscar-y thing about it is Adam Mckay himself, who’s previous films Vice and The Big Short were nominated for Best Picture in their respective years, although none of them won. If it weren’t for his name, I wager this film wouldn’t be on this shortlist (and I’d further wager it might be a bit better of a film). But if he didn’t win Oscars for his previous efforts, this certainly ain’t the film that’s going to change that.

The only other theory I really have is this is more of a political statement by the Academy rather than a serious contender, like what happened with Black Panther. Don’t Look Up has been a very popular film, shooting into the ranks of Netflix’s all-time most watched, and with its political pertinence, maybe this is the Academy’s way of piggybacking on that by shouting “hey kids, we’re hip and relevant! We, too, hate… *checks cue card* …people being fucking idiots.”

 

Drive My Car

‘...car power…’ 

Haven’t seen it, and frankly wasn’t expecting it here. I mean, how often do three-hour-long Japanese arthouse films show up in the Academy awards of all things? Not very often it would seem, since as I understand this is the first Japanese film to receive a Best Picture nomination, and with Parasite, is probably one of few to receive both a Best Picture and Best International Feature nomination.

Along with its other nominations for direction and original screenplay, clearly something about this film has gotten people excited. Either that or the producers have really gone all in on the Oscar campaign for some reason; a lot of dinners being organised, if you catch my drift.

Not sure to what end though: I mean it’s only the Oscars. A point to prove, perhaps? Or maybe just trying by any means necessary to get the film a sodding half-decent western release. Why has the one cinema vaguely near me that was showing Drive My Car stopped doing so after the film got nominated?! Is John David Washington in charge of this release schedule?

Anyway, I can't see it winning. Knowing the academy voters (which of course I do, personally, on a very intimate level), I can very easily see all of them skipping this film due to an inability to be arsed, and it’s probably fair to say it’s the least accessible film on this list for a general American audience. Besides, films like this don't generally hang around in the mainstream sphere, they tend to do much better as cult hits for Criterion snobs to fawn over on Letterboxd.

“Nick, what’s that you’re importing from Barnes and Noble?”
“NOTHING!”

 

Dune

‘...desert power…’ 

I'm not gonna review Dune here, because I’ve got plans for it someplace else, but suffice to say I absolutely loved it and it is hands down my favourite of the nominated films.

But in terms of the Oscars, this is a curious pick. When it comes to Best Picture, Parasite is probably the only instance in recent memory of the Academy choosing the legit best film of the year as the Best Picture winner, and it’s even rarer when said film is a genre film, namely a high-concept science fiction epic. Normally films like Dune get thrown a couple of technical nominations like VFX and sound and then get shunted to one side, much like Villeneuve’s previous film did, the fantastic Blade Runner 2049, but this year the Academy has really rolled out the red carpet for Dune with a mind-boggling ten nominations. I mean, bravo to it: it’s totally deserving of the praise, but it's rare for the Academy to actually acknowledge that.

The last comparable film to this was Mad Max: Fury Road, which was also a big, high-concept sci-fi blockbuster and also received ten Oscar nominations, and for almost the exact same array of categories. So a pretty good comparison really. Fury Road swept the technicals, winning six Oscars, but did not win Best Picture, losing to Spotlight, and I expect the same thing to happen to Dune. Except the losing to Spotlight bit, that would be a bit of a stretch.

The Academy just does not like genre films, and despite how popular and critically lauded Dune was, I cannot see the Academy changing their stupid ways. The best hope Dune has it that it’s adapted from a novel that most Academy members are probably old enough to have grown up with, and many of them probably have a sense of nostalgia for both the book and the strange ‘82 David Lynch adaptation, and maybe that investment might be enough to thaw their withered old hearts and give Dune the award it really deserves. 

 

King Richard

‘...tennis power…’ 

It's funny, when King Richard came out, someone commented that it would probably do quite well at the Oscars, and I remember thinking “fuck, I forgot the Oscars existed”. Turns out they were right, though. Sort of. I mean, it’s got six nominations, sure, but is it going to win any of them?

Probably the baitiest film of the year, adopting the classic paint-by-numbers biopic format and featuring big name actor Will Smith in a Big Serious™ central performance as a troubled real life figure who is in some way responsible for greatness. And if we are following Oscar Bait Bingo here, you can also probably safely tick off “vague glimmer of a current political topic”, “big emotional moment to trick people into thinking they’re more invested than they really are” and “overall whiff of insincerity”.

But look, this is just based on the trailer and gut instinct: I’ve not seen the film. Maybe it’s fine. I think the reviews have been broadly positive, if a little underwhelmed, and the Williams sisters have executive producer credits, which lends the film a certain authentic endorsement.

Still, I don’t think it will win much, certainly not Best Picture, and I’m probably not going to catch this one anyway. Sports dramas rarely do anything for me if they’re not focused on Formula 1 rivalries, and not only did the trailer have my eyes glazing over, but none of the reactions I’ve seen to this film have been strong enough to suggest anyone really cares, especially compared to other films on this list.

 

Licorice Pizza

‘...nostalgic power…’

I went to see Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film more out of a sense of duty as a film critic than out of personal interest. PTA and I have never quite seen eye to eye, and as is sometimes the way with these kinds of films, the overwhelmingly glowing reviews left me more with a sense of dread than excitement.

Some of Licorice Pizza's detractors have said it’s the least Anderson-y film PTA has made so far, but all things considered, that might actually be why I liked it so much. Licorice Pizza is essentially PTA’s version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, in that it’s a nostalgic navel-gaze into the Los Angeles of the director’s youth, foregoing a strict plot in favour of a more meandering series of scenarios involving the same core characters, just kinda hanging out in the environment and going on misadventures.

And what's weird is I hated this in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and yet here I really kinda vibed with it. So what gives? For one thing, while both films don’t have an overarching plot as such, Licorice Pizza still has plenty of stuff going on. The story follows teenage star Gary Valentine over the course of a summer as he tries to make it big with a series of ambitious businesses and get-rich-quick schemes, all the while befriending Alana, a school photographer who becomes helplessly fascinated by him. What this means for the plot is we have a narrative backbone in the form of the burgeoning relationship between Gary and Alana that gives the film direction, while the story plays out more like a series of semi-self contained sequences, focusing on Gary’s schemes and the situations they land him and Alana in.

What this also means is that plot is more of a secondary consideration in favour of the characters and their relationships, which is where Licorice Pizza really shines. Alana and Gary are incredibly engaging, charismatic and just fun to watch, and their chemistry is what really pulls the film together, as problematic as it might be.

And it is, don’t get me wrong. The biggest problem with Licorice Pizza, and the one that I see most often cited by people who didn’t like it, is the age difference between Alana, 25, and Gary, 15. Yeah… It’s very difficult to justify the age gap, and while I’ve read a couple of different ideas on the subject, some of which offer quite insightful analyses of the film that I hadn’t initially considered, I completely understand people who are put off by it, and I personally think not much would have been lost from the story by closing the age gap a little bit. It’s a deeply complex and delicate discussion and one that I really don’t have time to explore here (and believe me, I tried), especially when others more eloquent than I have already written on the subject.

But in the end, I found the charm of Licorice Pizza overshadowed its stickier elements, and it evoked a sense of youthful bliss and optimism that fit the nostalgic setting way better than whatever Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was trying to do. This is easily my next favourite of the Best Picture candidates after Dune, and an early front runner for my favourite film of 2022, but what about the Academy?

Well, it’s a period piece set in a time and place that Academy voters grew up in, and it’s got a respected big name director in PTA. That being said, PTA and his films have frequently been Oscar nominated without seeing any wins, so either we’re going to have another Roger Deakins moment with a long awaited win, or the cycle will perpetuate once again. Personally, I feel Licorice Pizza is more likely to win than most of the films listed here, although it’s important to note, for its similarities, that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood didn’t win Best Picture in the year it was nominated.

Although Licorice Pizza does have at least one distinct advantage over it: it isn’t complete and utter shit.

 

Nightmare Alley

‘...circus power…’ 

Again, I was not expecting this film to show up here. Nightmare Alley is Guillermo del Toro's remake of a 40s film of the same name, based on a book of the same name, following the rise and fall of Bradley Cooper’s conman Stanton Carlisle. Based on the title, director and some of the production design, you could be forgiven for expecting a horror film from Nightmare Alley, but the fact we’re talking about it in an Oscars roundup pretty much proves it isn’t one. It’s really more of a noir-y thriller that just happens to have a macabre, horror-inflected aesthetic. And if those horror elements were any stronger, I can guarantee this film would not be here.

Regardless, I enjoyed Nightmare Alley. It’s a solid film, but I don't really have much to say about it. It's quite a long film, but I think the length justifies the way its plot works, in terms of the progression of time and the rise and fall of the character. And while there are two clear halves to the film, separated by a two year time jump and a distinct shift in setting and production design, both sections neatly integrate and the themes are still maintained and evolved across the transition. Plus, everything neatly circles back to where the film started, in a way that was very satisfying, if apparently super predictable, as smarter people than me have insisted.

I don't think it’ll win Best Picture, though. Handy hint, if I start one of these sections with some variation of the phrase “I'm surprised to see it here”, that's pretty much code for “it's not going to win”. It has got a lot of star power behind it, and del Toro did win Best Director for his previous film, The Shape of Water, which also managed to win Best Picture somehow. You know, that was another film infused with a horror aesthetic that wasn’t actually a horror, and did really well at the Oscars despite not being their usual cup of tea. So maybe Nightmare Alley stands a chance after all.

 

The Power of the Dog

‘...dog power…’

After what I presume to be a heroic Oscar campaign, Jane Campion’s new Netflix film The Power of the Dog has somehow ended up with twelve nominations in total, including Best Picture. For reference, that puts it on par with the likes of Ben-Hur, Gladiator, and Schindler’s List.

Baffling, really, as of the nominees that I’ve seen, this is by far the worst one. And it’s the worst kind of film to try and review because it’s not bad in any tangible objective sense that I can point to and explain, it just completely and utterly failed to engage me for a single minute of its runtime. I don’t know if it was the direction, or the acting, or the story, or even just the genre (I have a bad track record with Westerns) but right from the start I just could not generate any enthusiasm for this story, and frequently found myself checking the timeline to see how long was left, and groaning like Tina from Bob’s Burgers every time.

I genuinely wish I could offer more critical insight but I just found this film relentlessly dull. More power to you if you got something out of it, but for me the genuine high point of the film was getting a cheeky glance of Benedict Cumberbatch’s wang. And I’m not even gay.

Despite all of this, I can’t help but think Power of the Dog has a decent chance of winning the top prize. While by no means a guarantee, as La La Land can attest, Dog Power does have by far the most nominations this year with twelve, of which only Dune comes close with ten, and a lot of the big 10+ record breakers like Titanic and From Here to Eternity went on to win the Best Picture award for their respective years. It’s also a Western, which is a genre a lot of Academy voters are old enough to have a nostalgic affinity for, and it’s a big old period piece full of big name actors acting.

But then again, it is a Netflix exclusive. And it’s a bit shit. So you know, swings and roundabouts.

 

West Side Story

‘...musical power…’

And lastly, Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, which again, I’ve not seen. But instead of hearing my baseless thoughts, why don’t we outsource this section to someone who has seen it for a change. Long time friend and fan Grace, who podcast listeners will remember from all the way back in our fifth episode, went to see West Side Story, and had this to say:

Set in New York, the story follows the increasing tensions between two street gangs; the Jets and the Sharks. Similarly to Romeo and Juliet, from which the story is based, two characters from rival sides, Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler), immediately fall in love, much to the disapproval of her brother Bernardo (David Alvarez). Angered by this, Bernardo is soon arranging a fight with rival gang leader Riff (Mike Faist) and it’s a race against time for Tony to try and stop it from happening.

When it comes to making film musicals, money is usually the main concern, and so there’s a tendency to cast big names rather than casting actors who will do the musical justice. They have to cast people who can dance, but a lot of the time they neglect the quality of the singing performances, and it's let other adaptations down in the past, such as Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables and Joel Schumacher’s Phantom of the Opera.

That's one reason why I liked West Side Story, because it features several first time actors, such as Rachel Zegler who makes her film debut. But despite this, I felt the singing was weak, and compared to the original film, the passion behind the vocals felt very bland.

Although not a huge fan of the songs, I will say the one stand out performer for me was Anita (Ariana DeBose). She had very strong vocals compared to some of the leading cast and you really felt her emotions. I just wanted to give her a massive hug! I can definitely see her in with a chance of winning Best Supporting Actress.

I enjoyed the choreography, and the costumes, especially for the Sharks, were very colourful and memorable. Whilst enjoyable, I didn’t come away from West Side Story thinking “Wow, this is amazing.” It was a good adaptation and there were some memorable moments, but I haven't seen many people recommending it, and I know box office-wise, it didn't pull in as many people as they’d hoped. Good film, but not good enough that I can see it winning Best Picture.

Man, I should get guests to write the blog for me more often: think how much time I’d save!

So, with all that out of the way, what're the ranked predictions looking like? I'd say something like this:

• Belfast
• Licorice Pizza
• The Power of the Dog
• CODA
• West Side Story
• Nightmare Alley
• Dune
• Drive My Car
• King Richard
• Don't Look Up 

And now, the rest!

Best Animated Feature

Someone call the RAC, it’s time for a breakdown. This year, we have three Disney nominations, in Luca, Encanto, and Raya and the Last Dragon, and two non-Disney nominations in Flee and The Mitchells vs the Machines.

Flee, by the way, is doing very well: it’s got nominations for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature, and International Feature, which has got to be a first. Not too shabby for a film that’s barely out. You don’t really see animated documentaries all that often; I can only really think of Waltz with Bashir, Tower and I suppose Waking Life. So you know, it's nice to see it exist and do as well as it has. However I can tell you right now it won’t win, partly because it isn’t Disney, and partly because the Academy, who almost certainly get confused by the difference between animated films and kids films, won’t vote for a more mature and depressing film over one with family appeal.

Speaking of family appeal, The Mitchells vs the Machines is also here, and might actually stand a chance. It’s the best film in the shortlist for one thing (leaving Flee aside momentarily), and considering how well-received it was, there’s probably a fair few people out there who’d agree. It’s also got the joys of filmmaking at the centre of its story, which always helps to give the Academy a little ego stroke. It’s worth noting Into the Spider-Verse, the studio’s previous work (which I’m 95% sure was made on the same software) had a similar glowing reception and wound up winning the Oscar for its year, despite its lack of Disney-ness. Although it was Marvel, to be fair. So what I’m saying is, it’s possible.

If I had to put money down, Disney would still be the safest option, and out of the three of them I’d have said Encanto was the most likely winner. Raya and the Last Dragon is just a bit pants and between Luca and Encanto, while I personally enjoyed Luca more, I think Encanto has the edge in terms of popularity and recency bias. But then Luca is a Pixar film, which have historically been the big cheeses in this category, with Walt Disney Animation Studios yet to win against one in the same year, so maybe this is a risky bet.

While Encanto has my wager, The Mitchells vs the Machines definitely has my heart, and even a  glimmer of hope. If it wins, it’ll be be only the third non-Disney win in this category since 2010, and I am all here for it: let’s do some dethroning!

 

Best International Feature

As previously mentioned, Flee and Drive My Car have both made it on the shortlist, but do you know what isn’t here? Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodóvar’s new film, which has had a relatively mainstream, if recent release. It's a pretty solid and interesting film and I'm surprised it didn't get a nomination.

You know what else isn't here? Titane, the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or, and probably, I would have said, the most popular and noteworthy international film of the year. Although I suppose it’s not surprising considering Titane’s horror elements and just, well, the film in general. I guess New French Extremity isn’t exactly the Academy's standard fare.

But you know what else isn’t here and absolutely could and should have been? Petite Maman; Céline Sciamma’s delightful new film about memory and mother-daughter relationships! Between this and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, I’m guessing Sciamma just does not give a shit about the Oscars, and absolutely fair play if so, because otherwise she has been robbed!

 

Best Production Design

I want to try something, just a fun little experiment. Let’s apply the old costume design rule to choose a prediction and see what happens.

Rule 1: If there’s a period piece, that film will win. 

Well, technically they’re all period films, it’s just Dune’s period is 8000 years in the future instead of the past. I mean that is technically a period.

          Rule 2: If there’s more than one period film, the oldest period will win.

So it looks like The Tragedy of Macbeth is set to be our winner. I will be checking back on this and if it turns out this rule worked, that’ll be really fucking funny.

 

Notable Omissions

And lastly, some quickfire notable omissions:

• No Best Original Song nominations for Annette (boo), probably because Sparks are above all of this (yay)

• Speaking of Sparks, no Best Documentary Feature nomination for The Sparks Brothers 

• No Best Animated Feature nomination for Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time. Notable but unsurprising

• No C'mon C'mon in any category, despite the fuss everyone made about it

• Spencer, most surprisingly, snubbed for Best Picture. Kristen Stewart is deservingly nominated for Best Actress, but nothing else at all for the film, despite demonstrably having an Oscar campaign, so what gives? 

   

Phew. I think that's everything. I am actually going to cover the results this year, unlike last time where I just kinda...didn't. So if you're down for that, you can join me and Andy over on the Ciné Rambles Podcast, which is finally returning for a third season, starting in April with our Oscar results show! Tell your friends!

 

In the meantime, I'd better check how we're doing on the word count front.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Oscar Nominations 2021

I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or because we've all been cooped up in our houses for most of a year, eyes closed and fingers in ears as we try to imagine everything being not quite so fucked for a few hours, but the passage of time has lost all meaning to me.

When the Oscar nominations dropped last week, it barely even registered with me how odd it was to be starting awards season two months later than usual, or even that it was two months late: you could have told me it was still January and I probably would have taken an embarrassingly long time to question it.

But at any rate, this is where we are: the slimmest pickings the Oscars may have ever seen. There definitely seems to have been a scramble for worthy qualifying films this year, such that the final selection is taking monumental amounts of piss when it comes to the whole '2020 release' thing. And of those that have been chosen, some in particular seem to have attracted a lot more awards than any sane person would have attributed in a normal year.

But hey, I guess if there was a year where only one film was made, I suppose it would probably win a record share of Oscars, even if it did lull everyone into a gentle doze.

Best Picture

The Father

Well let's get things rolling with what may be the most egregious example on the list. Us Brits aren't to expect The Father on our screens until mid fucking June. June! 2020 release, my arse. Like Parasite, a seemingly arbitrary number of months have just been stapled onto the American release date, only this time they've gone too far and landed the film way past the point where anyone will still care, rendering the entire exercise pointless.

It is interesting to scroll through this list and see that none of the films here are what I would traditionally describe as bait, for what might be the first time ever. Turns out when cinemas aren't going to be open during awards season, all those crusty-old Spielberg-directed Meryl Streep biopics magically vanish into the aether, who'd've thought. That being said, of all the films on this list, this is the one that probably feels the most baity, or at least certainly looks the most baity at a distance.

It sounds very much like an acting film, if that makes any kind of interpretable sense. Just two big name actors, Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins in this case,  acting at each other for ninety minutes. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and the IMDb blurb was enough to win my interest over with musings on life, death, memory, and other existential concepts, but it still seems like the kinda thing that was more comfortable on stage.

It's definitely gunning for some Oscars, I suspect Best Actor and Actress, but I don't think it's much of a threat to the other Best Picture nominations. Oh shit, maybe it is bait then. Ah well, better luck next time.

 

Judas and the Black Messiah

The first of the three entries that have been released over here, although just barely in time for the nominations. Shame that it had to do so as one of those £15 digital rentals that make the fatal mistake of thinking most people watch films with their entire family at all times: a hivemind family where no-one has individual tastes or ever wants to just watch their own thing. It also doesn't account for eternally single film bloggers like me. Hello!

Not to mention, I happily spend £5 or even £10 in some cases to watch a film at a cinema where it's presented in the best possible format, but now I have to spend three times that amount to watch it on my comparatively shitty home setup? For the same price they're asking, I could at least buy a Bluray copy to keep permanently and watch as often as I like, and that's assuming I buy it brand new at release without waiting for a sale.

I don't have anything against pay-per-view digital rentals as a concept, but they've got to be more realistic with the pricing, especially when Netflix and Prime offer a months-worth of unlimited film and TV content for less. No wonder piracy's an issue.

But I digress. I have checked out Judas and the Black Messiah and it does stand up to most of its hype. It's a film that's really made by its performances, with Daniel Kaluuya oozing charisma as the revolutionary leader, while LaKeith Stanfield convinces with his emotionally torn double agent. Jesse Plemons and Martin Sheen are also worth a mention for their particularly slimy villains, and Dominique Fishback as Hampton's fellow revolutionary sister and girlfriend, who in a particular scene at the end manages to communicate so much with naught but a single facial expression.

Crucially, Judas succeeds in crafting a genuinely enjoyable and entertaining experience out of pretty heavy subject matter, which makes its emotional punches hit all the harder as we reach the horrifying ending.

It's a strong film for sure, and the added relevance of George Floyd and the BLM protests from the past year only adds to its power. In terms of predictions, I wouldn't consider it the front runner for Best Picture, exactly, but I think it does stand more of a chance than several of the films on this list. Despite the diversity shown in the awards this year, we know from previous years the Academy rarely awards the top prize to a film quite this politically galvanised, often aiming for safer, more crowd-pleasing affairs (see Green Book vs Blackkklansman from 2019), so I wouldn't be surprised if Judas is snubbed for something that doesn't make the Academy feel quite so guilty.

Mank

It occurred to me at the time that through sheer lack of competition this year, Mank was in a position to be quite the darling at the Oscars. This was offset slightly in my mind when I watched it and saw how rubbish it was, but there was still enough boxes ticked and an empty enough playing field that I was braced for it getting a couple of nominations.

A couple, mind you. Not fucking ten.

Between this and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, what is it with dull, plot-less nostalgia trips about old Hollywood based to varying degrees on real life where the main character just potters around doing stuff with little in the way of any major obstacles and the event that should be the entire point of the story crammed into the final few minutes and getting ten Oscar nominations?

I recall being asked on the podcast at the time whether I thought Mank was Oscar bait, and I still stand by my diagnosis that it isn't, or at least wasn't intended to be, but I can't deny it certainly looks that way now. There are definitely some very Oscar-friendly elements here if we start to break it down: romanticising Old Hollywood, a film about filmmaking, a revered and prolific actor (Gary Oldman) playing a real life 'troubled' figure in history, a subject matter centred on a weakly controversial topic that makes old Academy voters feel like the stories edgy even though it really isn't (in this case, the writing credit for Citizen Kane, despite both parties being dead and no-one giving a shit, compare to say the Watergate scandal in The Post which stopped being controversial decades ago).

Again, I get that there wasn't much to choose between this year, but for a film that feels so underwhelming and mediocre, the elements this film has been nominated for is mind boggling: Direction, Production Design, Sound, Original Score, Makeup and Hair, Costume, Cinematography, plus of course Lead Actor and Actress and Best Picture. 

As always, period piece means seemingly automatic nominations for Production Design, Costume, and Makeup and Hair, but other technicals continue to baffle. How has a film as sonically forgettable as Mank been nominated for Original Score and Sound? As for cinematography, outside of being shot in black and white, I can't think of anything notable or even particularly interesting about Mank's cinematography.

Do you know what it hasn't been nominated for? And this is the most telling: screenplay. For all the "flash" (and I use that term very loosely) that Mank has in its production values and acting and directing talent, it still can't distract from the fact that at its core, it's a boring uneventful story. A man sits in a bed and types on a typewriter, and every now and again he goes and mooches around a film studio and yells witty verbose insults at people the film assures us were famous Hollywood figures. That's it, that's all there is. You sit there bored out of your mind for two hours waiting for it to pull some kind of punch that will bring it all together, and it never comes.

The sad thing is this whole film started as a screenplay written by David Fincher's late father, that he has realised on screen in his memory, which maybe explains why no-one stepped in to improve the plot, but I'm sorry David, your father's script just isn't very interesting. And all the Gary Oldmans and black and white cinematography in the world cannot rescue that.

In terms of awards, I can't fathom Mank winning the Best Picture: Mank is the worst of the three films here I've seen by quite a margin, and if the other contenders here are as good as I've heard, then Mank is surely the dullest of the lot. Maybe it'll snag some of the other more minor awards like Costume and Makeup/Hairstyling, but even then, Mank isn't the only period film this year, and being up against Emma in both categories, it's not the eldest period setting either.

As I pointed out earlier, the similarities between Mank and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are many and intriguing, and while Tarantino's snoreful epic had an equal number of nominations, it only won two relatively minor statuettes, and I predict a similar fate for Fincher's effort.

I've previously referred to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as 'three hours of cinematic wank'. Well, let's just say this was two hours of cinematic Mank.

Minari

I'm guessing this was the fault of Sundance back in January last year, but I feel like I've been hearing about Minari for absolutely ages. With a UK release date of April 2nd, it's actually coming out right in the middle of awards season, which is pretty orthodox when you think about, but just with the timings of the pandemic, especially with the displacement of the Oscars ceremony, and it feels like we've been waiting for Minari a lot longer than usual.

I've been hearing a lot of good things, particularly from the Letterboxd community, and if I were to pick the most likely winner (and the format usually indicates that I do), my gut says Minari has the strongest chance. I can't put my finger on why exactly; just something tells me this is going to be the one. I suppose it might help that it's got a non-white cast which gives the Academy the chance to look progressive. But maybe that's a cynical way of looking at it; maybe the Academy will give it Best Picture because it's a genuinely enjoyable film.

It's also completely possible it won't win at all, rendering all of this a moot point. Shame it's not out yet or I might have something more interesting to say.

Nomadland

It's looking like a post-results day release for this one, so once again, little to say here. What I can say is Frances McDormand is fantastic, and if her performance in this is anything like as good as in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, then I'm sure she'll have no problem winning another Best Actress award. Again, gut feeling tells me this will be one of the frontrunners, but I have very little to base that on, other than it being highly-praised but still relatively unpolitical compared to other nominations on the list, and that Frances McDormand's in it. Well, we'll just have to wait and see.

Promising Young Woman

IMDb is reporting 'May 2021' for a UK release date, so once again I'm at a loss for any meaningful input and will be until post-ceremony. With violence against women being a particularly hot topic here in the UK in the wake of the Sarah Everard case, you'd think now would be an ideal time to finally release a film like this, or would trying to capitalise on the zeitgeist like that maybe feel too exploitational? (not that Hollywood's above that kind of thing)

Regardless, it's a film I've been hearing about for a little while now, and perhaps the film on this list that I'm most disappointed hasn't come out yet cause I'm genuinely intrigued by it. Of all the Best Picture nominations, this one feels like it has the most passionate support among filmgoers, or at least among the filmgoers I hang out with, and my trusty gut is telling me this will be another top contender duking it out with Nomadland and Minari. But then like Judas, could it perhaps be too incendiary for the safe, crowd-pleasing Academy?

Sound of Metal

We're not getting this one until May either, so that makes four films on this list that aren't even coming out in time to make use of the Oscars hype, which to me just beggars belief. 

From the bits and pieces I have gathered about Sound of Metal, both in passing and through cultural osmosis, it does sound really interesting and I'm actually pretty excited to see it. A story about a heavy-metal drummer losing his hearing is not only is a great starting concept (with echoes of Whiplash in themes of pursuing an artistic obsession to a mental and physical breaking point), but also has tonnes of potential for interesting use of sound and vision to convey the horrors of losing a sense, especially amidst an environment of sensory overload.

While I'm personally won over by the concept, I'm definitely surprised it's ended up on the shortlist. Something about it seems un-Oscary, I suppose, but I'd struggle to put into words exactly what I mean by that. How convenient. In a more normal year I suspect it wouldn't have made it, perhaps snagging a couple of technicals and then showing itself out, but then I suppose one of the advantage of a year like this is that smaller, more interesting films like Sound of Metal get a chance to shine when maybe perhaps they wouldn't.

The Trial of the Chicago 7

The last film on this year's shortlist is also the third and final one that I've been able to see, and as it turns out, my favourite of the bunch. Trial of the Chicago 7 is the second directorial effort of Aaron Sorkin's, lauded writer of snappy dialogue, and so what better genre to try his hand at than a courtroom drama, where audience engagement lives or dies on the dialogue. And as the writer of A Few Good Men, one of the great courtroom dramas, Sorkin's effort turns out about as good as you could expect.

These courtroom scenes are, as you'd hope, where the film really shines, with each member of the ensemble cast getting their chance to shine, most memorably Sacha Baron Cohen's smart-mouthed comic relief and Mark Rylance's genial lawyer, not to mention one of the most hateable film characters since Percy in The Green Mile: Frank Langella's villainous Judge Hoffman.

Outside of the courtroom, we also see glimpses of the corruption going on amidst the trial, as well as the escalating events of the riot that landed them there, revealed in snappily edited flashback as the titular seven recount the decisions and actions that led to the chaos, and of course the police brutality they were met with in return.

Between Sorkin's razor-sharp dialogue and his blood-pumping/boiling scenes of rioting action, Trial of the Chicago 7 is a surprisingly exciting and entertaining film, considering its dry-sounding premise, and the time absolutely flew by watching it. As mentioned above, this is my favourite of the nominations I've seen, and so by default I guess is my pick for Best Picture. In terms of actual predictions, it hovers somewhere around the middle for me. It feels like the kind of thing the Academy would enjoy, being both a period piece and a script-heavy story. And of course the courtroom drama is one of those classic formats that remind Academy voters of that lovely Old Hollywood period they love so much. On the other hand though, the police brutality that sits at the heart of the story and the deliberate parallels it draws with recent events might make it a little too spicy for the Academy's top prize.

 

Ranked Predictions (from most to least likely winner)

1. Minari
2. Nomadland
3. Promising Young Woman
4. The Trial of the Chicago 7
5. Judas and the Black Messiah
6. Mank
   
7. The Sound of Metal 
8. The Father
   

Best Original Score

As someone who is literally listening to the Tenet soundtrack as he writes this, and hasn't stopped listening to it since it came out in early September, and may not have loved an original film score before as much as he has loved this one, can I just say, quite simply:

What.

The.

Fuck.

I'm also quite displeased at the lack of The Trial of the Chicago 7, which I thought had some pretty excellent music, especially in its montage scenes. As far as I can tell based on the soundtracks page on IMDb, those were licensed cues, so that's almost certainly why, and if so, this was the same reason why Blade Runner 2049 got snubbed back in 2018, which was an incredible shame considering the original compositions on there were some of the best tracks Hans Zimmer's ever done. But alas, this is a jig I've danced before.

I wonder if Tenet's been disqualified because of its inclusion of THE PLAN, the credits song written by Travis Scott (specifically for the film, mind you). Maybe some adjustments to the rules need to be made: as long as there's an original composition in the soundtrack it should be eligible, but then arbitration can only be made based on those original tracks, so any licensed tracks just get ignored. Tenet and Blade Runner 2049 would be laughing, but maybe Trial of the Chicago 7 and something like Baby Driver would fare worse.

On the complete flipside, you know what is eligible and received a nomination and absolutely does not deserve it? Let's see if you can all sing-a-long: it's Maaannnnkkkk.

Fucking Mank? Who the fuck is listening to the Mank soundtrack? Mank's soundtrack is so inconsequential, if you'd asked me about it I would have said it didn't have one. Someone lobbied hardcore on that nomination. Buncha inbreds wouldn't know a good score if smacked them round the face!

 

Best Original Screenplay

As I kinda alluded to earlier, I think Judas and the Black Messiah owes a lot to its performances, and while that's not to say it was badly written, far from it, I think something like Trial of the Chicago 7 was much more impressively written, I suppose. For a film that is so dialogue driven, as courtroom dramas often are, the writing has to be absolutely razor sharp. Of course, this is Aaron Sorkin we're talking about, one of the industry masters of this kind of dialogue and exposition-heavy stories, and while "Aaron Sorkin is a good writer" is hardly a fresh take, it doesn't make him any less deserving of a statuette.

I've heard some people call out the cheesiness of the ending, and while I'd agree it was quite a lurchingly abrupt end to the narrative, I'm not sure I'd call it cheesy. It's certainly set up throughout the story and it makes a pretty substantial point that gets right to the heart of the protagonists' original protest. I can see why some people might not be as thrilled though, it does kinda feel like the film's just gotten bored and declared "right that's your lot, I'll tell you the rest via text dump, now leave me alone!"

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Interesting that both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya are here as supporting actors and not as leads. Kaluuya you could argue I suppose, but was Stanfield not the protagonist? It's hard to know what to make of such a distinction, especially when Judas has no nominations in the leading actor/actress categories so I guess no-one was the lead? I'm not sure I'd even class the film as an ensemble particularly, so who knows what's happened here.

For what it's worth, of the two of them I think I enjoyed Daniel Kaluuya more, and of the three performances here I've seen, I suppose he'd probably be my top choice. As much as I loved most of the acting in The Trial of the Chicago 7, and not that I don't think Sacha Baron Cohen was very entertaining in his role, on the contrary he was very enjoyable as the comic relief, are we just going to completely overlook Frank Langella's performance as Judge Hoffman?

I don't know how much of his impact was just the things he said (i.e. Sorkin's dialogue) versus the actual performance, but the man's gotta be doing something right if I'm literally shouting at him from my sofa as he dishes out yet another completely vile, contradictory ruling on a trial he's already decided the outcome of.

Mark Rylance is also very likeable as their lawyer, a beacon of level-headed sense in a courtroom ruled over by an incompetent megalomaniac. If either of these two had been nominated, they'd absolutely be my first choice, but in their absence, Cohen, Kaluuya and Stanfield are all worthy picks.

Best Sound

Ah, warmest of welcomes to the Best Sound category, making its debut this year. May Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing forever rest in peace in their pointless, unnecessary graves. Separate graves, of course, cause you know, they're so different and distinct.

Suppose I can't really make fun of it anymore, the Academy actually fixed one of my suggestions. This may be the last joke I ever make about Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. I mean, it probably won't be because I'm very unoriginal, but still, last time I can make a relevant joke I suppose. Now we just sit and wait for everything else I've ridiculed the Academy for over the years to get reversed, presumably starting with Meryl Streep having her acting nominations forcefully taken away from her.

Prediction-wise, nothing's necessarily jumping out at me. Greyhound has the advantage of being a war film, which often lends itself to interesting sound design, but then also I feel a strong case can be made for Sound of Metal, which is about a drummer going deaf whilst playing in a heavy metal band, which not only makes it a story inextricably linked to sound but also gives it a lot of opportunities to play around with mixing and experimental audio effects.

You know what film shouldn't be here though? I'll tell you what, why don't I let you figure it out? 

 

Best Film Editing

The Trial of the Chicago 7 had some really neat editing, and while I can't say it should win without having seen the others, I think it's a worthy nomination. That's it. That's all my thoughts on the subject. Were you expecting a joke or something? Not everything has to be funny you know.

Sheesh. 

Best Visual Effects

Well Mulan can get in the bin for a start. I know this is gonna sound weird coming from me, but the most notable absence here is Marvel; normally one of the big superhero blockbusters routinely finds its way into the visual effects nominations. Which kinda just reinforces what a weird year it's been, with none of the big expensive summer blockbusters that often find themselves here.

Well, almost none. The big news here is Tenet, which is also for me the clear winner. Say what you like about Nolan, but one thing he's got absolutely nailed to the rotating floor is effects. Not only does Nolan do so many of his effects practically, but he also doesn't allow that for even a second to restrict his ambitions, and in fact he pushes himself and his crew to achieve some of the craziest stunts in recent cinema. And when it comes to Tenet, just take your pick of exquisite setpieces: the Protagonist's inverted fist fight with himself, cars driving backwards at speed on the Estonian highways, an elaborate rolling truck heist, or maybe a real Boeing 747 jumbo jet crashing into the Freeport? Even little things like bullets being 'dropped' in reverse from the table into characters' hands, something you'd think was just reversed footage, was achieved with hidden strings pulled through the character's costumes (arguably an over-engineered solution if you want to get cynical about it).

Tenet was a flawed film, and while people can criticise the writing or sound mixing as much as they like and I'd be inclined to agree, when it comes to action spectacle, Tenet packs an absolute punch, and I'd be shocked if anyone disagreed that it fully deserves the visual effects Oscar.

 

Best Animated Feature Film

Pixar has two entries this year, because apparently they don't win quite enough. Of the two, Soul is of course the clear winner, and while it pains me to have the equivalent of the arsehole jock team win this award, there's no denying Soul was a fantastic film and worthy of the praise it receives. And Soul will win, because it's Disney Pixar, and since that only narrowed it down to two, it's the notably good one rather than just the perfectly fine one. Cause this is what happens when a studio has enough of a stranglehold on an art form that people think their output is all that exists in the world of animation.

But hey, let's play the game and at least entertain the idea of the Academy not being completely predictable when it comes to animation.

Pixar's runner-up effort Onward was, as above, perfectly fine, although certainly nothing special and if the western animation scene was any more diverse this film would have disappeared beneath the waves. It's nice to see classic stop motion is still seeing some representation in the form of Farmageddon, with Aardman being seemingly the only other major studio besides Laika keeping the art form alive. I never got around to seeing Farmageddon, although I genuinely did consider it, but if it's as charming as Aardman's other efforts, or even its uninspiringly-named predecessor Shaun the Sheep Movie, then it's placement on this list is deserved. While there's been a stop motion entry on most of the last few year's Oscar rosters, none of the have won since Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005, so it would be pretty awesome if Farmageddon won just for the sake of variety, and to prove that stop motion is still an equally valid and vivid art form alongside 3D computer animation.

Then we've got WolfWalkers, the latest film from Cartoon Saloon which had a limited release here, but between COVID restrictions and work, I never got a safe opportunity to see it, much to my frustration. It is available on Apple TV, but since I refuse to get Apple TV, I'm just praying that it'll be rereleased when the cinemas reopen here in the coming months. Cartoon Saloon are one of the few major western studios still making traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, and by god have they got a talent for it. Their animations are filled with not only some of the most beautiful hand drawn animation outside of Studio Ghibli (hey, maybe even better than), but also an enduring heart and soul of human creation. Their films never feel like squeaky products in the way Pixar often does, but instead actual genuine works of human art. Song of the Sea in particular is an absolute visual feast, full of imaginative designs and richly textured environments, and truly one of my favourite films of the last decade. And it made me cry, which I admit with absolutely no shame.

Refreshingly, Wolfwalkers seems to have attracted quite a lot of attention (or maybe I'm just hanging out with the right people) and seems to have been the most publicised of Cartoon Saloon's releases so far, so there is still a remote chance that it could win, even though it won't. False hope is still hope, and what's more it can be the first step towards a day of real hope.

To clarify, Soul is still a great film in its own right, and might even be the best film here, but I'm sick of Pixar winning nearly every single year simply because they're Pixar and the only animation studio most people can name. My point is even if Soul was subpar, it would still be on this list and would probably still win, and that's the problem here.

The Oscars are about politics rather than quality at this point anyway, so fuck it, Wolfwalkers should win, even if it isn't as good as Soul. This is a political stance: ¡Viva la animación 2D!

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role

To be fair, Gary Oldman's performance was by far the most interesting and engaging part of Mank so this is probably one of the few nominations it deserves. For a film that is made up almost entirely of scenes of Gary Oldman typing and scenes of Gary Oldman getting drunk and yelling at old-timey Hollywood people who I'm apparently supposed to recognise, it is at least commendable that the latter scenes are generally enjoyable, and that's pretty much entirely down to Oldman's delivery, so credit where it's due: I mean I literally gave this film an extra half star on Letterboxd purely for Oldman's performance alone.

The most notable nomination here though is for Steven Yeun's, which makes him the first ever Asian American Best Actor nominee. So that's pretty rad. Speaking of diversity, this year's selection is pretty racially well rounded I would have said, with three out of the five picks being people of colour. Riz Ahmed in particular is a joy to see among these ranks as he has long been a well known and liked British actor and personality. Most notably starring in the pitch black satire Four Lions, he's also been a long time campaigner for diversity in film and TV, especially for British Asians and Muslims, so it feels fitting for his efforts to be finally receiving more mainstream recognition.

 

Best Director

Considering recent (well, ever-present I suppose) controversies in regards to the lack of female directors in both the film industry generally and in the Best Director Oscar nominations specifically, (particularly with Greta Gerwig's absence last year for Little Women) it's pretty cool to see not one but two whole female directors in this year's list.

Hey, it doesn't sound like a lot, and I guess it truly isn't, but for a ceremony as creaky and old-man-dominated as the Oscars this feels like a pretty big step. And what's more it doesn't even feel like pandering cause as far as I've heard Nomadland and Promising Young Woman are genuinely great, well-made films.

Since, again, it is the only film here I've seen, it'd be remiss of me not to mention Mank and its absolute lack of directorial flair. I would consider Fincher to be somewhat of an auteur, maybe not in an in-your-face way like Wes Anderson or Tim Burton, but if you look at films like Seven or Fight Club, or even more recent works like Gone Girl or The Social Network, there's this kind of broody atmosphere and rich visual texture that really makes his films stand out, and there's just... none of that in Mank. You wouldn't even know it was Fincher just from watching it. Not saying that being auteur is the only mark of good direction, but as previously mentioned Mank is a boring mess soooo there's really not much going for it direction-wise at this point. 

 

Snubs and Notable Omissions

Unsurprisingly, it's been a bit of a weak year for film overall and while there are a fair number of deserving picks here, there are also a few notable omissions, made particularly conspicuous by just how slim their competition was.

While I personally wasn't particularly engaged by it, I am surprised Boys State didn't get a nomination for Best Documentary considering the acclaim it got and its current sociopolitical relevance. Alternatively, Feels Good Man, a documentary I enjoyed a lot more, also wasn't nominated, perhaps because the Academy doesn't understand Internet culture and so had no clue what the film was about, despite it also having a lot of sociopolitical relevance.

Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, as well, I thought would have made more of an appearance, being one of the few other big lockdown releases, but has received only a nomination for its score. I've read some middling reviews of it, but it's not like that's stopped the Academy before.

The most notable absence for me is Never Rarely Sometimes Always, an incredibly powerful and honest portrait of the logistical, societal and bureaucratic nightmare of trying to get an abortion in America, especially as a teenager. It's quite an understated and lowkey film experience, instead full of many moments of quiet contemplation, but its titular scene still manages to put you through the emotional wringer, unfolding in one unbroken take where Autumn tells us through gradually escalating tears everything we need to know about her situation with nothing more than those four titular words. For me, Best Actress and Best Picture nominations should have been a no-brainer.

But of course, there's one film I've not seen mentioned here at all, whose exclusion absolutely shocks and appals me. Honestly, I feel slightly sick inside. One film stood head and shoulders above everything else that came out this year, nothing even came close. It impressed not only at the box office but with audiences and critics alike. I speak of no other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Where is it, Academy? Where's Sonic's Best Actor award? Sonic's witty remarks and pop culture references hit me where I live and made me cry like a little girl. Where's his statuette, Academy? 

Where's. His. Statuette.

 Welp, that's your lot. Join us next month for the results rundown and hopefully my thoughts on Minari. And apparently nothing else.

Ciné Rambles' Top 5 Films of 2020

Well, it's certainly been an interesting year. One for the history books. I won't dwell too much on this year's cataclysmic events like I'd ususally do in these intros, since I'm sure everyone's acutely aware of them already, not to mention exhausted by them. Suffice to say, it's been a year of hardship and suffering, and a reinforcement of some of the uglier sides of the human condition, from both the politicians who run our countries and from the otherwise normal people who cannot think of anyone other than themselves.

So I don't know about you, but I could do with a bit of cheering up this festive season. This year more than any other, escapism has been high in-demand, and while the ball landed squarely in television's court this year, there have still been a number of standout films worth celebrating from the desolate remains of what was once a pretty promising 2020 release slate: the shiniest of the cinematic gems that kept us going through the strife.

Last year's rules are still in play, so only films that begun their wide UK release in 2020, and while I did make a reasonable effort to catchup, there will of course be films I missed (although I think this year's list is pretty agreeable). And if you're intereseted to see how the rest of this year's films stacked up, you can peruse the full ranked list here.

5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire - Céline Sciamma

Perhaps a little lower on the list than most people would have gone for, but hey it's still on the list, what do you want from me. This film seems to have really struck a chord with a lot of people, and while I did really enjoy it, I probably should preface that I don't quite love this film as others do, or at least not yet. My opinion may climb on a rewatch, but for now, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a really solid fifth place.

In any character-focused romantic drama, it's the acting and direction that make or break the film, and I think a lot of Portrait's success is down to these two crucial elements. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel are phenomenal as the leads: their passion for each other is so believable, and their interactions throughout the film are brimming with a really genuine chemistry that's often quite rare in the genre.

Céline Sciamma's direction, too, pulls all the elements together to create a film that feels surprisingly relaxed, even calming at times with its beautiful beach-side setting and small, intimate scale. And yet beneath it all, every scene is loaded with emotion, both joyous and melancholy alike, be it in subtle subtextual flickers or in powerful frissonic creschendos. The final scene in particular left me with a bittersweet pit in my stomach, and even, almost, some tears.

So any reason why it's not higher up the list? No, not really. Potentially a bit of overhype may have crept in, as I only managed to see this last month and I've been hearing about this film since at least February. I mentioned at the top, I suspect my thoughts may improve further on a rewatch, and it's certainly something I'm looking forward to. Now I just have to wait for the Criterion bluray to get a region B release... (pretty please).  8/10, High Recommendation

 

4. Tenet - Christopher Nolan

Tenet will probably end up making a lot of other people's lists just out of sheer lack of competition, but even in a busier year I think I'd find it difficult to leave it off. It's without a doubt the weakest film here objectively speaking, but something about it just keeps drawing me back in: I've really not stopped thinking about it since I first saw it, and that was four months ago. We have discussed Tenet on the podcast, and I will be doing a big ol' post going into more detail on my thoughts at some point next year, so for now I'll try my best to summarise.

There are a lot of reasons to dislike Tenet, and I'd probably agree with most of them. The characterisation is laughable, in fact we don't so much have characters as we have cogs to turn the plot. We have a villain who wants to destroy the world because he's evil, and a man who wants to stop him because he's been told to: it's all a bit lacking in emotion and human motivation. The plot and time travel mechanics are frequently obtuse and either underexplained or not given enough time to be taken in, and yet the film constantly patronises its audience for not being able to keep up, in a way that's quite reminiscent of Primer, a film which thoroughly pissed me off for this exact reason.

And yet, Tenet also has some of Nolan's best action sequences yet (and that's saying something), both on smaller scale scenes like reversed one-on-one brawls, all the way up to a for-real plane crash and a truly breathtaking truck heist. Underneath it all, we have what might be my favourite film score since Blade Runner 2049, maybe even better than. From The Mandalorian to this, Ludwig Göransson is fast becoming my new favourite film composer, and here his soundtrack pulses with a frantic energy that pushes every action scene into overdrive, imbued with backwards rhythms and ticking clocks and looped sirens; it's the Dunkirk score on crack, an ever-present reminder that time is running out and every precarious, death-defying scenario could bring everyhing crashing down. POSTERITY, 747, TRUCKS IN PLACE, FAST CARS, RAINY NIGHT IN TALLINN. If you haven't already, go listen to these tracks and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Tenet is everything you've come to associate with Nolan's films, but pushed to the extreme, both the good and the bad. The result is a film that I, and many others, have found a lot of issues with, and yet I just can't ignore how much this film excites me every time I think about it. That's got to be worth something, right? 8/10, High Recommendation

3. Soul - Pete Docter

A pretty late entry in the year, but it counts. While Pixar has made their fair share of mediocre sequels and Good Dinosaurs over the past few years, they still have the capacity to deliver phenomenal animated features, and Soul is up there with their best.

A comparison to Inside Out, director Pete Docter's last film, is pretty inevitable, as on paper both films are on different sides of the same coin: one exploring the human mind and one exploring the human...well, soul. It's not really fair to judge either film as a comparison to the other, since they are doing their own distinct things, but since I did rewatch Inside Out this Christmas period anyway, I figured I should probably mention it.

I still really enjoy Inside Out and it retains a lot of that emotional power it had on my first viewing, but I do like Soul more. For me, a big part of it was that I went into Soul expecting a big sad moment like in Inside Out and other recent Pixars like Coco and Onward, and was pleasantly surprised when I realised Soul didn't have one and, more to the point, didn't need one.

Soul is a lot more of a relaxed, easy-going experience, and I actually really appreciate that. In some ways it feels like a more mature film: there's almost something quite transparent about the way Inside Out tries to pluck at your heartstrings, while Soul has realised that it doesn't need to be emotionally devastating to be profound or memorable. In fact, despite dealing with concepts of life and death and even the meaning of existence, Soul's story feels very low-key and almost unburduned by the weight of its existential concepts. Instead, Soul's message is all about appreciating the small details of life and the value of simply being, and existing in the world.

There's also some gorgeous animation on display, particularly in the Great Before, where entirey metaphysical concepts are rendered visually in a way that live action could never even attempt. Even the Great Beyond, a relatively simplistic design inspired by A Matter of Life and Death, through its animation and sound design mananges to fully communicate a truly unnerving existential dread while still maintaining a beautiful, yet disquieting simplcity not unlike a black hole.

Soul is exactly the kind of meaningful, optimistic content we all need right now, and it made me want to just lie down in a field somewhere and take in the smell of the grass and the currents of wind moving across my face and listen to the birds sing in the distance. Which was quite a shame considering the circumstances. 9/10, High Recommendation

 

2. The Lighthouse - Robert Eggers

Man, it feels like I watched this film in a different era, let alone a different year. I saw this for the first time when I met a friend for the afternoon in London: we saw it with about forty other people crammed into the tiny screen at BFI Southbank centre, a sold-out screening. Inconceivable now, but back then it was just a normal year.

Considering how 2020's release slate was all but wiped out from April onwards, it's probabaly no surprise that the top two slots came from the first quarter of the year, which I suppose is unusual considering often it's the end of the year when the big hitters are released. 2020 became less a year of anticipating which film would shine brightest and more if there was anything left to compete with these early champions that set the bar so high.

The first of these was The Lighthouse, which quite prophetically is all about being confined to a small building and isolated from the rest of the world. Broadly speaking a horror, but thats proabably a debatable point depending on how you define the genre, and The Lighthouse kinda straddles several genres anyway.

The best way to decribe it is a film of textures. The movietone ratio and black and white photography go hand-in-hand with the production design and period dialogue to give the film this air of scratchy authenticity, that only amplifies the opressive atmosphere created by the purgatorial setting. Special mention also goes to the film's haunting, nightmarish soundscape that drenches every scene with an encroaching malaise: the roar of the waves, the creaking of wooden floorboards, the thundering fog horn, the screams of seagulls.

Together, it creates a powerful paranoia that imbues every scene with symbolic suggestion. Is it just an argument about cooking? Just a fight with a seagull? Just a lighthouse, even? Or is there something more mythical at work beneath it all. Soon the lines between reality and insanity are blurring, and you know nothing good can possibly come from this as the characters hurtle towards their fates.

The Lighthouse is rich in potential meaning, but while there is plenty of room for audiences to discuss and debate their intepretations, the film still works on a literal level as a tale of deteriorating lucidity amongst men trapped at sea, so while it's still definitly closer to art-house than mainstream cinema, it retains a level of accessibility that not only endears itself to general audiences, but will keep them coming back for more. 9/10, High Recommendation

 

1. Parasite - Bong Joon-Ho

Surprising absolutely no-one. I mean, even if Corona hadn't happened and this year's original lineup of films proceeded as planned, I'd still be willing to wager Parasite would be sitting here on top. Seemingly every viewer and critic on the planet has unanimously adored this film and as far as I'm concerned it's with very good reason, because it's really not that often that a film as finely crafted as this one comes around. Not only is it a masterfully-assembled, genre-defying work of cinema, it's even managed the rare triumph of being accessible and appealing enough to the western masses to find mainstream success without sacrificing any of its artisitc integrity at all, instead merely telling a well-told story that is recognisable and translatable across all nations and still exciting at the same time, to the point that even people who don't watch foreign/subtitled films gave Parasite a shot. Even the Acadamy loved it enough to give it the first ever Best Picture award for a non-english language film, and they're not exactly known for their diverse taste in film.

I do insist on keeping these top fives spoiler free, and so if you want to hear some more in-depth and specific comments I have on the film, you can watch our Parasite discussion from the podcast here, and if you haven't seen Parasite yet you absolutely should check it out, no questions asked. In the meantime, I'll do the best I can here.

There really are very few things to speak ill of, and overall it's one of those beautiful experiences where the more you think about any given detail, the more meaning and intricacy and subtext you discover. The one thing I will say is that on the second watch the film becomes a little unbalanced pacing wise; after quite a significant event which feels like it should be more of a midpoint, we go almost immediatly into the climax, which still works but considering how fresh and drastic the shift in status quo is, it feels like maybe a little more down time inbetween these moments, perhaps playing with the new precarious scenario, could help break up the tension a bit and even out the last half hour, pacing-wise (Hopefully that made sense for the people who've seen the film). But this is a minor quibble on an otherwise near-impeccable product. Any other element you care to name is phenomenal. The ensemble cast? Fantastic. Cinematography and editing? Beautiful. Production design? Exquisite. The writing? *chef's kiss* And at the centre of it all is a director wielding complete elegant mastery over his craft. 

Bong Joon-Ho is up there with Park Chan-Wook as one of the finest directors of South Korean cinema, and while Parasite is far from his first hit, this definitly feels like a consolidation of all his past achievements into one magnum opus that's put him squarely in the spotlight. And now the world watches and waits for his next move with breathless anticipation. 9/10, High Recommendation

And so the gaping maw of 2021 lays ahead, promising more misery and frustration, no doubt. For me, this year will be a game of 'how many of the delayed 2020 films are gonna get pushed back to 2022', with a bonus round of 'count the dying breaths of the golden age of streaming'.

Well, who knows what state the world and the film industry will be in this time next year. It's an incredibly hard time to be optimistic, but I'm sure no matter what happens, we'll all find our own ways to pull through, and the ever-enduring human spirit will defeat the roughest of what the year has to offer.

For what it's worth, I wish all of you readers a happy and prosperous 2021, and a great big thank you as always for reading (and listening), and I hope you'll return for many more ramblings in the new year!