Unsolicited Movie Review - 2021 Oscar Edition

Here we go again. Oscar time is upon us. Not to belabor the fact that this has been a strange year……but this year has been exceptionally strange.  I did not see any of this year’s nominees in an actual theater. I hated it. However, it was not necessarily devastating to the process. The movies have been streamed and the ballots have been cast. This is me taking a few minutes to reflect on the Oscar nominees and humbly offer my opinions on said list. A few years ago, the Academy expanded the number of movies that could be nominated for Best Picture to 10. This year the voters presumably found 8 movies worthy of the top honor. Unlike a lot of years there really wasn’t a movie in this year’s class that I hated….Dammit!  Conversely, I am not sure there is a masterpiece of the ages either. Time will tell. Regardless these 8 films are all worthy and as much as I would love to hate one of them I really can’t.

There are three films that rely heavily on non-actors (real people) to add authenticity to their story, a modern day Grapes of Wrath, 4 period pieces with varying emphasis on the period, Hannibal Lecter losing his mind, the first Asian and the first Muslim Best Actor Nominees, an actor who appeared in The Black Panther playing an actual Black Panther and Borat playing a serious role….sort of and one of the more satisfying revenges in a film I can recall.
All these films achieve connecting you with the stories and most importantly the characters. What else could you ask for? I know. How about popcorn and a theater and sticky floors and squeaky seats and……but that is for a different column.
 

These are my rankings. This is not necessarily what I think is going to happen with the award. Do not use this list to make bets. You will lose your house. These are listed in the order that I would vote for them if I had such a vote for Best Motion Picture. I would love to hear from you and know what you think.  

 

Promising Young Woman – No other movie smacked me so bluntly and so unexpectedly as Promising Young Woman. No other movie surprised my as much as PYM. Two choices that I just did not see coming. This could have easily been movie of the month or a slasher horror film or a silly romantic comedy. Lesser hands could have and would have made this a less consequential film. Instead, we have a serious examination of one woman’s dedication…even compulsion…for justice or at least vengeance for her friend. While it is a bit cliché to say good people have done bad things and bad people have done good things. PYM expands that and demands accountability for those that did wrong and those that looked another way…..ourselves included. The story takes a few minutes to find its purpose and direction. When it does, be careful. That purpose and direction may be coming to hit you between the eyes.

Minari

Some movies foreshadow their story so poorly that they become predictable and bore you to death. Some films intentionally lead you down a path just to drop the floor out from under you. Those can be fun even if they are ridiculously manipulative.  Then on occasion you get a film that is patient and subtle and deliberate. It engages you with characters and a story and keeps you interested with the choices and directions as the story unfolds. On some levels Minari is a standard fish out of water tale. A young Korean family moves to rural….very rural…Arkansas because the father has a dream of making his life as a farmer and he has a vision.  It would have been easy for the director of Minari to fall into cinematic tropes of overly aggressive racists or typical cultural differences. Those stories are important, but they are not this story. The director slyly uses the viewers built in expectations to suggest tension that is not even there only to allow the story to develop further without relying on overused cliches. This is a story of family and struggle. It is a story of husbands and wives and making a better life. It is a story of trust and commitment and discovery and most importantly love and eventually understanding.

Nomadland 

Stark , raw, believable and touching. Nomadland is a movie of its time yet it has the potential of being timeless. It is also the front runner to win this award. Frances McDormand plays Fern. She is a modern day Tom Joad devastated by events beyond her control. Where Joad has his family on a specific destination to the promised land of California, Fern’s road is more ambiguous but no less desperate and much lonelier. Fern’s is a continual journey with no goal beyond living. She finds a community along the way. Other fellow travelers resigned to a life of constant motion and changing landscapes either by circumstance or self-awareness.  Frances McDormand’s ability to strip any sense of ego and pretense from her acting serves her so well. There is no sense of “star” or “privilege”.  She blends into this amazing life and community seamlessly. The lives and tales of the people she encounters serves the story. Most importantly it builds in the viewer such a level of admiration for the perseverance of those who have found this life through choice or more often through desperation.  

Mank

There are few Hollywood legends more juicy and more famous than the tale of the making of Citizen Kane. Orson Welles commentary on the corruption of power through his veiled expose of William Randolph Hearst was and is a masterpiece. It was Welles’ opus. He was 27 and created this brilliant film where he was the star, the director and the co-writer…….well that’s where Mank comes in.
Mank was  Herman J. Mankiewicz legendary screen writer as much for his writing as his drinking and carousing. An amazing writer, Mankjewicz was known as a script fixer and worked on dozens of projects often receiving no credit. He was brilliant and funny and bigger than life and a raging alcoholic whose self-destructive behavior was nearly as legendary has his talent. He was also part of Hearst’s inner circle. Mank the film is much like the man himself. It is quick paced, fast witted, extremely smart and entertaining as hell.  The writing is in his style with the same brilliant banter and dialogue Mank made his trademark. Shot in a gorgeous Black and White that stands as such a contrast the to the ever- present grays of morality in the lives of these men. The parallels to Kane are not subtle nor are they meant to be. Just like Kane these stories are about men who may be larger than life, but the real drama and truth only comes once they begin to comprehend just how small they are.

The Father

If Anthony Hopkins had never played Hannibal Lecter he would still have been a legendary actor. His bona fides are second to none. At 83 he would be the oldest actor ever to win Best Actor. He is ridiculously awesome but set that aside. This is about Best Picture, and The Father immerses you in a slow, frustrating demise of an otherwise brilliant mind. Adapted from a stage play The Father attempts to make the viewer feel the anger, fear, embarrassment and helplessness of someone suffering from dementia.  What you see and what you hear is not necessarily what you saw and what you heard.  Hopkins’ ability of subtly switching his emotions from elation to confusion to anger add vital human effect the director needs to tell his story. You are at times upset, hopeful, sad, offended, surprised, suspicious, exhausted and eventually resigned to the cruel fate the situation. That comes as much from the editing and construct of the film as it does from the brilliant performances by all the cast.

                                                                                    Judas and the Black Messiah

Few actors have had a better run in the last several years than Daniel Kaluuya. His options and choices have been second to none. Judas and the Black Messiah is another stellar film. Excellent performances top to bottom. The Black Panthers elicit such extreme emotions across the political and social landscape that this movie will be completely dismissed by some and overly praised by others just off that basis alone.  Because of the current political climate, the film becomes less of a period/historical piece about a turbulent time in the civil rights movement and more of a direct comparison and parallel to current struggles in today’s legal and political system.  The more things change. Judas and the Black Messiah gives much deserved depth and dimension to what is all too often viewed through flat, binary, monochromatic lens.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Of all the films this year ToC7 is one that I will watch again and again. It will probably find its way to TNT or FX. It has stars, it is an interesting retelling of a famous trial. It is a grand courtroom drama, and it is just entertaining as hell. Aaron Sorkin is phenomenal at his job. He fills this already interesting story with superbly timed dialogue and gives ample opportunities for an absurdly gifted cast to shine. There is civil unrest, legendary characters, an over-the-top villain to hate and a group of passionate, albeit colorful, underdogs fighting for justice. What’s not to like?  It is by far the most commercially friendly of all this year’s selections and I do not mean that as an insult. ToC7 does not have the built-in cache or artistic freedom of an indie pic. It works inside stricter parameters and for that may be a bit more formulaic. However, formulas are formulas for a reason……they work.

Sound of Metal – In a bit of theme this year is another film that uses several “non-actors” throughout the story to increase the authenticity of the story and lets me honest…..save money on salaries. Call me a cynic. I’ve listed Sound of Metal at the bottom of my list but that doesn’t mean it is a bad film. To the contrary it is an extremely emotional film and character study of a man losing what he thinks is his entire life after fighting so hard to regain a life he had lost before. Riz Ahamed plays a heavy metal drummer who wakes up one day to find he has lost most of his hearing practically overnight and probably will lose more. From there the movie reveals his struggles with addiction and how losing his hearing is also losing a life he had fought so hard to regain to begin with. This anguish fuels an even greater struggle in Ruben to refuse the reality he now finds himself and a desperation to hold onto this life as he knows it even though it is already lost. The acting is devastatingly good. You truly ache for Ruben and his inability to accept. 

So there is the list.  8 really well done films with a broad range of interests, styles, direction and topic.  Let me know what you think!!

My lunch with Larry King.....Sorta

In the summer of 1993 I was living in College Park, Maryland working for my national fraternity as a Summer Recruiter. The chapter was going through reorganization and I was tasked with traversing the state meeting with incoming freshman and their parents.

It was the summer before my last semester. Shelli and I had been dating a couple of years. I was worrying, at least as much as I worry about anything, about the how in God's name I was going to get a job after December graduation. The two best prospects were going to work full time for my fraternity or trying to get a job on Capitol Hill working for the office of a member of Congress. Neither position paid more that about $12k a year but who needs money?

One of the the prominent alumni of the Maryland chapter was Paul Weller a respected lobbyist (yes I know that is a bit of an oxymoron but true) on K street. My friend and part-time mentor John Kruse had worked several years in the world of DC fundraising and made sure I got in contact with Paul as someone good to know. If I wanted to work in DC he would be a great resource. Also, I think John was somewhat nervous that without a job after graduation I would be sleeping on his sofa and his new bride Susan probably wouldn't have approved. Paul was very gracious and invited me to lunch right a way.

I was 21 from the Smoky Mountains of NC, driving a beat up Ford Tempo getting ready to have lunch with a DC lobbyist. So on a Wednesday morning I put on my ONE navy blue, double-breasted, worsted wool suit I bought from Steinmart for $99. To be fair, it looked great dressed up with a shirt and tie that cost more than the suit itself. Shelli Hamer York had helped my pick it out for just such an occasion. Got on the train and rode into K street like I was somebody. I had visions in my head of Granny in the back of the truck on the opening of the Beverly Hillbillies. I found Paul's office which was nice but modest. I hadn't tripped or farted and nobody was staring at me. So I was doing all right. Paul came in and we shook hands. The first thing I noticed was he wasn't wearing a $99 suit from Steinmart. Then I noticed his tailored shirt with french-cuffs and his "Presidential Seal" cuff links. Dorothy wasn't in Kansas anymore. After intros and some small talk he asked where I wanted to eat and I am pretty sure I responded with "Its Your Town Paul" . LOL what a schmooz! We walked a couple of blocks up the street to Paul's favorite spot called Duke's. He said it like I was supposed to have heard of it but the only Duke's I knew was a mayo. I was feeling a bit more like a rube. Paul walked at a quick step and I hurried along with my faux-leather portfolio under arm trying to make sure I didn't trip or otherwise embarrass myself. Then we ducked into an office building which I found odd. With a name like Duke's, I was expecting to be standing at a counter eating a greasy dog, a dive with ambiance. Then we got on the escalator. Maybe not a greasy spoon I thought. At the top of the escalator, which I disembarked without falling, there were 2 large double doors. They were opened for us and we entered Duke's. As we stood a moment waiting on the maitre d, I glanced to my left to a huge glass case with three silver trophies. Three Vince Lombardi trophies from the 3 Super Bowl championships of the Washington Redskins. Paul must have seen me standing there with my jaw open and explained to me that Jack kept the trophies here so everyone could enjoy them. You know, Jack. Old salt of the earth, buddy and pal Jack. Or as I would have referred to him Mr. Jack Kent Cook the legendary owner of the skins. I'm sure I grunted and we were led to our seat.

Between the reception area and the table I saw no fewer than 3 Senators, 2 House members, 1 current cabinet member and a future Secretary of Defense all having lunch. If I told you my head wasn't spinning I would be lying. I was star struck as much as if my Mom had met Elvis. I had a romantic idea about Washington and politics and from what I could tell I was currently smack dab in the epicenter. We were seated by a window overlooking L street if I recall. All the waiters in Dukes were middle aged men. I found that extremely odd. Most restaurants I could afford the wait staffs were teenagers and women. All of Duke's linens were crisp. All of Duke's silver was sparkling. Everything was professional. Dukes was famous for their homemade pickles and fresh baked onion rolls. I ate both and I assume they were phenomenal but if I am honest I didn't taste a thing. Paul had a martini and I ordered a Heineken. The only thought that kept going through my mind was "Dear God I hope he offers to pay!" I literally had $7 in the bank and less than that in my wallet. Once we were settled I started looking around and glanced to my right. There, two tables over was ....Larry King. Not sure how I missed him before but there he was larger than life. His table was on the front side of a dividing wall. So it looked like he was holding court. There was himself and what I would assume were staff and a couple of lunch guests. One was an author he we going to interview that night. While we sat there everyone who was anyone stopped by to say hello to the King. I didn't know this at the time but Larry King was famous for his routines. For instance, every morning of his life he darted into the same barber for a touch up and a shave. He also ate lunch almost every day at Dukes. And he must have because it was like he owned the place. It was his world and he was letting everyone else hang around. He was younger and still quick to his feet to shake a hand or hug a neck. Like I said we were close and all the "Hello Senator" "Good to see You Tom" exchanges were just like I was sitting there. I was having lunch with Larry King...sorta. A few weeks later I was watching the Larry King show and he mentioned lunch at Dukes. Silly as it seems, it felt so familiar. Oh yea, I remember dining there. Just like it was Arby's or KFC. It was was our place. LOL....My old buddy Larry. Do you remember seeing the Senator the other day? Like I said, what a schooz. lol Paul and I finished our lunch. He assured me I must try the soft-shelled crab. They weren't always in season but we lucked out. He was right. I didn't take a bite till Paul did because I wasn't exactly sure how to attack it. I was feeling a little less like Marcel Ledbetter in a Jerry Clower story but not much. And I have to admit the crabs were divine. Luckily, I was able to come out the ether long enough to talk to Paul about the recruiting efforts at the chapter, some current events and possible job opportunities in DC for when I graduated. Paul and I stayed in touch the rest of the summer and he took me out for Monte Christo's another time but not at Duke's I must not have been nearly as hopeless as I felt. Paul wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation for which I was always grateful. I made it back to Raleigh a few days after classes had started for my last semester. Then spent the next semester planning for a job and praying I didn't fail Spanish III. Paul's letter and some other contacts got me a couple of interviews with Congressmen and a shot at working in Kansas for the national fraternity. In the end, I also got a job offer in the private sector that was an astonishing $22k a year with a company car and promises of exoctic travel to places like Hamden CT, Adairsville GA and Williamston, NC. If that wasn't enough of an enticement it came with the added bonus of letting me stay in Raleigh and not causing Shelli the excruciating heartache of me moving hours and hours away. I mean seriously, how often was she going to have the opportunity to snag someone who had lunched at Duke's with Larry King?