I’ve seen only one of the Best Picture nominees, The Trial of the Chicago 7, which I liked but which I probably wouldn’t give such a high honor to.
How about you? And any other thoughts or observations on the Oscars this year?
I’ve seen four and would give it to Nomadland. A film about being alone probably hit home with a lot of people in 2020. I also wonder if the fact that all of the films have been so accessible through streaming might bring more interest to the awards this year. I suspect more people have seen most of the nominees than in previous years.
I’ve seen Mank, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and Trial.
Of those, I’d give it to Nomadland. I was very disappointed in Mank.
Sound of Metal seems like it’s only reason for being was to say “cochlear implants aren’t all they’re cracked up to be”.
I’ll go out on a limb and say the Academy Awards will lose even more viewers this year.
Here is a link to my post about the Animated and Live Short nominees that prompted this thread. (Thanks @Elendil_s_Heir!)
I’ve only seen four of the Best Picture nominees, but I expect that I’ll see 2-3 more by the ceremony.
Out of Mank, Nomadland, Minari, and Promising Young Woman, I’d vote for Nomadland (Chloe Zhao is an amazing filmmaker), but if I was betting on one of the four, I’d go with Mank. It just seems to me that this year, the Oscar electorate is going to be exhausted by COVID, and, out of all the nominees, Mank is the one I’d describe as a “comfort food” movie.
Of the seven best picture nominees (The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Mank, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7), I’ve only seen Nomadland so far, although I think four are available on the streaming services I subscribe to. (I haven’t felt the urge to see Mank or The Trial of the Chicago 7 or Judas and the Black Messiah.) I’m really not enthusiastic about many movies from the past year. And even though theaters have been open at times in the last few months, there’s been almost nothing I want to see. Really a boring year in movies, for obvious reasons. But on the bright side, there are several upcoming movies I’m looking forward to, some of which were delayed from the last year,
There were movies in 2020?
I’ve seen most of the nominated films, and my vote is Promising Young Woman, along with cheering for Cary Mulligan for Best Actress. But that’s just me – I like films with unapologetic raw emotion. I wouldn’t put any money on the Academy actually going with my preferences, though. They’ll probably pick something artsy-fartsy like Nomadland. I do like Frances McDormand and must have watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri three or four times, but TBH I switched off Nomadland after about fifteen minutes and went to something else. I suppose I should give it another shot.
I’ve seen all 7 nominated films. I personally enjoyed The Father and Sound of Metal the most, though I did also really like Nomadland and Minari.
I forgot about Promising Young Woman! Which is surprising because it’s my favorite of the 5 I’ve seen.
I’ve seen all of them so far except The Father and Sound of Metal. Of the rest, I didn’t dislike any, but I didn’t love any of them either. Trial of the Chicago 7 and Promising Young Woman were the most entertaining, and I enjoyed Mank, but my vote would probably go to Nomadland.
I want to set up an Oscar prediction pool for my co-workers. Does anyone know of a website that will let you do that easily? Or do I have to create my own?
Of the films in all the categories, I’ve seen:
All the Animated Shorts
All the Live Action Shorts
All the Documentary Shorts
Sound of Metal
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Judas and the Black Messiah
One Night in Miami . . .
Nomadland
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Tenet
I’m not blown away by any film I’ve seen over the past year. It’s not worth it for me to even try to pick either my favorite or my guess for the winner for Best Picture, since I’ve only seen four of the eight nominated films. If I had to pick a film I’ve seen over the past year that I enjoyed, it would be Bill & Ted Face the Music. Yes, it’s silly and minor, but it was actually fun. This hasn’t been a great year for movies.
How did you see the nominated short films? In past years, they’d have showings in theaters of all of the short documentaries, or all of the short animated films. Did they do that this year? Or was it possible to stream all of them?
Several movie theaters in the Washington D.C. area are showing the three sets of short films.
I watched all the Animated and Live Action Shorts over the weekend. IFC has the option to purchase an online screening:
Even though movies have been off the radar for the wife and me this past year, we are pulling for Carey Mulligan to win for Best Actress. I know her cousin. He lives in Bangkok, and I worked with him on two different newspapers there. A really great guy. We keep in touch.
We are so out of it regarding movies that I did not even know Mulligan had been nominated or even had a new one out until seeing her host SNL last night.
Wow! Usually this thread would be 50-100 posts by this time. I think it shows how muted the passions about movies are when they are only available through streaming.
I finally managed to see all the Best Picture nominees in the theater (even though the local theaters only opened this month). My opinion and predictions are:
The Father - Almost a filmed stage play, with some excellent performances. However, outside of the performances, while it is worthy of a nomination, I can’t get passionate about it.
Judas and the Black Messiah - A movie that leaves you seething and sad, anchored by excellent performances. However, it’s a biopic at heart, and I just can’t get excited about biopics.
Mank - A love letter to classic Hollywood films that also eviscerates classic Hollywood itself. Well shot, acting that is both modern and recalls the classic films of the late 40’s. I really like this movie, but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did.
Minari - An elegiac and heartfelt movie about what it means to be a family. It accomplishes the difficult task of simultaneously being a foreign and american film. Would have been my favorite, except for…
Nomadland - I am a Chloe Zhao fan. I’ve been a fan since The Rider, one of my favorite films of 2017. She’s only made 3 films in her career, but two of them have been masterpieces (I haven’t seen her first film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me). It will be interesting to see how her penchant for non-professional actors and internalized conflict works with a Marvel property. Anyway, I loved the performance by Frances McDormand and the story Zhao told.
Promising Young Woman - I certainly enjoyed the roller coaster ride and I’ve loved Carey Mulligan since An Education. However, while I like the nomination, it isn’t even the best #MeToo film of 2020 (IMHO).
Sound of Metal - Just got back from seeing this. A great central performance, but a story arc that didn’t take any chances with the audience.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Another “biopic at heart”. Well written ensemble drama, but it won’t replace Twelve Angry Men in the pantheon of justice system films.
Should Win: Nomadland
Will Win: Who knows? It’s a weird year. The buzz is around Nomadland, but the Academy still skews older and white, plus actors are the biggest single demographic, so that would tend to favor meaty performances as in The Father or celebrations of when “pictures were PICTURES” like Mank.
I’ve seen, among those nominated in any category:
All the Animated Shorts
All the Live Action Shorts
All the Documentary Shorts
Sound of Metal
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
Judas and the Black Messiah
One Night in Miami . . .
Nomadland
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Tenet
Promising Young Women
I plan to see Mank tomorrow. Nothing blows me away. Maybe I like Promising Young Women the best among those of the Best Picture nominees I’ve seen. I don’t think there have been any great films this year among those I’ve seen. Part of the problem is that I’ve seen so few movies this year (where the year is January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021). My personal choice for the best movie of the year is often one that doesn’t even get nominated.
Anyone know why the ceremonies are being held in a train station? I assume this is because of the pandemic.
Because it is a large open space and sentimentally it is also a frequently used location in Hollywood movies.