Oscar movie roundup

MINARI

Nominated for a bunch of biggies (picture, director, actor, supporting actress). I thought it was...fine. It's a nice little movie, with a nice little specific story, but it kind of bored me a lot at times. I liked how each member of this family was very much their own character, even the wife, who could have come off as a monster.

SOUND OF METAL

Nominated for best picture and actor, this is about a heavy metal drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. I had a weird reaction to this one. On one hand it is incredibly immersive. The sound design is brilliant at making you feel like you are right there with the Riz Ahmed character. It's unpleasant, but by design. Ahmed is great, as is supporting nominee Paul Raci, and frankly my beloved Olivia Cooke would have been more than worthy of a nomination herself (although she disappears for a large chunk of the movie). But this film also really put me off, as for much of the film the Ahmed character is trying to find a way to afford a surgery to restore his hearing, and he is basically punished by the film for daring to want this. Um, pretty sure 99.99% of people would want to have this surgery done, but here it's presented as akin to him being an addict (the character is a recovering addict). Then the surgery doesn't work out as hoped and it is presented as a fate he deserved. I don't get it. The actual ending is good though. 

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI 

Great film, which deserved more nominations. This is about a real encounter  (dialogue fictionalized) between Malcolm X, Sam Cooke (supporting actor nominee Leslie Odom Jr.), Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali. It's clearly a stage play adaptation but that never bothers me when the performances and dialogue (nominated screenplay) are as good as they are here. Odom is the nominee but any of the 4 could have been. I think it's especially impressive to give a standout performance as Ali or Malcolm X when both have already been portrayed so indelibly in films. 

TIME

Got a screener link to watch this best documentary nominee. I couldn't get into it at all. The story is surface compelling, about a woman trying to get her husband out of prison, but this isn't presented in a way where you could even follow the story. It was like a collage of home movies.

PIECES OF A WOMAN

Vanessa Kirby got a best actress nomination for this film about a woman dealing with the fallout of the death of her newborn. The whole opening is the home birth, done very realistically (I'm glad I will never be pregnant). The rest of the movie after this is pretty much just a melodrama. Natalie's The Other Woman did this kind of story much better. Kirby is very good though, a good breakout for an actress I had only seen in a couple action flicks before. 

THE UNITED STATES VS BILLIE HOLIDAY

Best actress nominee (and first time actor) Andra Day plays the title character, in a film less chronicling her career and more how the FBI was out to get her for years. The film shares a lot of plot with the better Judas and the Black Messiah, and its biopic elements are familiar. Good thing Day is so good, and that director Lee Daniels brings some needed weirdness into the proceedings.

THE WHITE TIGER 

Reminiscent of Slumdog Millionaire, this is about an Indian man who becomes the driver/servant for an upper class family. The screenplay was nominated here and it's a well told story with a very unique protagonist. The only actor I recognized here was Priyanka Chopra, who is excellent, but the lead guy really carries this. I wish this film had gone longer, cause the last 20 minutes are really rushed, I felt.

Oscar picks (who I want to win):

Best Picture: Seems like it's gonna be Nomadland, or maybe Trial of the Chicago 7.  I would go Nomadland or Promising Young Woman.

Best Director: Chloe Zhao wins this easy. 

Best Actor: Chadwick Chadwick Chadwick. In any other year maybe Hopkins.

Best Actress: PLEASE CAREY!!! Nothing against McDormand at all, but c'mon this needs to be Carey. 

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya seems a lock. I personally would go with Lakeith Stanfield from the same movie. 

Best Supporting Actress: The grandma from Minari is the favorite. Okay. I would go with either Olivia Colman or Maria Bakalova.