My Tiny Reviews of ½ Dozen of the Oscar-nominated Best Films

American Fiction: It’s smart. It’s funny. It’s about a writer and the contortions writers suffer in order to get attention in this broken publishing world. Jeffrey Wright does a great, almost understated job as Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, who whips up a “blaxsploitation” novel in place of his usual literary fiction. Instead of making a point as he intended, he makes a gazillion dollars when the “fake” book strikes gold. I relished this film on multiple levels.

Anatomy of a Fall: As my viewing partner said, “French films haven’t changed much over the decades, have they?” I fell asleep after an hour.

Barbie: See it on the big screen, although it’s probably too late to see it with a theatre full of ecstatic tweens, as I did. I had a great time watching it. Director Greta Gerwig has been robbed of nominations as Best Director by most of the awards shows (I watch them all), considering the amazing and complex job she did.

The Holdovers: Curmudgeonly towards people but sentimental about the elite prep school where he attended and has taught most of his life, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) gets stuck “babysitting” the one student who has nowhere to go over Christmas. The third person staying there, the cook Mary Lamb, is played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who has rightfully been scarfing up the award wins for a fantastic performance which is full of attitude and emotion. The movie is not unpleasant, but quite predictable as it proceeds to humanize the friendless teacher.

Maestro: Although I’m generally not a fan, I thought Bradley Cooper gave a powerful performance which kept me engaged from start to finish. I join those who felt it was a shame that the gay side of his life was underplayed in the film. Yes, he had the kind of purely sexual experiences included as rather grubby betrayals, but we are given insufficient mention of his long-time lover, who was a key part of his life. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this one.

Oppenheimer: I do apologize but I could only do one hour of this loooong film, even though I paid $5.99 to stream it. There is only so much I can take of self-important white men going all profound on me. If it starts to stream for free before the Oscars night, I’ll try again – but only out of a sense of duty since it has been winning winning winning.

Rustin: Although it was not nominated for Best Picture, I am including “Rustin” for it was my favorite film this year. I could not believe it was dissed. However, Colman Domingo has rightfully been nominated for Best Actor as he gave us a mesmeric performance of Bayard Rustin, the legendary organizer of MLK’s March on Washington and a galvanizer in the Civil Rights Movement. Colman is apparently only the second gay man playing a gay man to receive a nomination. Rustin was mistreated and excluded by the more conservative leaders of the movement, but eventually gained his rightful place next to MLK, and pulled off the amazing gathering we celebrate annually.

Comments

[nancy wechsler]

Better to watch "Brother Outsider" (available on Kanopy) than Rustin. Or watch both. Brother Outsider is the better film in my opinion.

[Frieda Werden]

Thanks!

[Tracy Moore]

Katz, these are great descriptions of the pieces you chose! Keep it up!
Love,
Tracy