I was going to make this week’s post about the Dragon Age series and why I love it, but then I remembered the Oscars were this weekend and I do love my movies. I admittedly wasn’t as familiar with this year’s listings, but I almost never miss this awards show and was curious to see what would win after a year of surviving a pandemic and the wave of protests we saw as people yelled louder than ever “Black Lives Matter”. I’m happy to see more diversity in both the nominees and winners this year. I’m sorry it took us demanding change, but isn’t that always how these things go? There’s definitely still work to do, however. (Best Actor and Actress both went to old white people when IMO others deserved it more, but admittedly I also am judging based on snippets seen and not whole pieces of work). I will take my wins where I can get them, and focus on what I liked about the show.
In terms of the actual ceremony, it was quite different this year. I’m not sure I like not having a host, but I did like the setup of having people seated at tables instead of a more traditional theater. It made it feel less stuffy to me.
In terms of the winners that stuck out to me: I did not know much about Sound of Metal until today but a friend mentioned it was one of their favorites for the year and it beat Soul for Sound and also won Best Film Editing so I am now intrigued and need to see it. The winner for Best Short I also had never heard of, but it’s on Netflix as part of their “Black Lives Matter” collection. I was moved by the speech focusing on the problem we continue to have with policing in America, and am glad Netflix helped uplift their voice.
Time has no meaning for me anymore, so I forgot Tenet was part of this year’s slate of movies. I would have seen it in theaters, but at the time I didn’t have one open except a drive-in far enough away to not be worth it. It will be available on HBO Max in May and I’m looking forward to finally getting to see it.
I loved the speech from the Best Supporting Actress winner, Youn Yuh-jung. She was funny and charming and genuinely surprised. “How can I beat Glenn Close?” I want to be friends with this woman, please and thank you.
Jon Baptiste gave a great speech too. I love watching him on The Late Show, I love his music, and I just generally love him as a person (at least as much as you can love someone you’ve never met). We have been in the same room though, as I attended an event he did at Carnegie Hall. I’m happy to see him get the win along with the rest of his team for Best Original Score in Soul.
Speaking of music, the break we got with Questlove playing songs and quizzing people on if they were nominated or won awards was FANTASTIC and I especially loved Glenn Close playing along and having fun with it. Stuff like that is what makes the Oscars more than an awards show. We also got a look at Questlove’s upcoming film Summer of Soul, which I will definitely be checking out.
Mank got a lot of buzz this year, enough that I finally looked it up to see what it was about. Between the description and starring Gary Oldman (how did I miss this film, I usually watch everything he is in) I need to add this to my Netflix queue. It won for Best Production Design and Cinematography and was nominated for Sound, Supporting Actress, Director, Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score (that one Trent Reznor lost to himself, which is fun), Best Actor, and Best Picture.
I expected Sound of Metal to win Best Picture but it went to Nomadland. I was also surprised they did that award before Best Actor and Actress. I originally assumed it was to have Chadwick Boseman’s posthumous win be the ending note, but instead we got…. Anthony Hopkins? Don’t get me wrong, I love him but I don’t get choosing to end it on a lack of an acceptance speech. I also would have given it to Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal if not Boseman. I was 100% sure he was going to get it and was left kinda stunned and disappointed. Overall I enjoyed it but the ending was underwhelming.
As I watched the Oscars I wondered if I had been hiding under a rock this past year. So many nominees had stars or directors I usually follow very closely. I’m glad I watched the awards and got a whole list of movies to watch in the coming weeks. All but one of them is either currently streaming or will be soon. Here’s what I will be checking out (and possibly writing about) in the coming weeks:
Da 5 Bloods
Two Distant Strangers
Sound of Metal
Onward
Soul
Tenet
Mank
Judas and the Black Messiah
Trial of the Chicago Seven
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Of those, Da 5 Bloods, Soul, Onward, and Tenet were already on my radar. Others would have been if I had been paying closer attention. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Academy deemed the best of the best, even if this was a light year for film. Apparently it wasn’t as light as I originally thought.
What films did you love this year? Let me know in the comments below.