My No-Predictions Take on the Oscars Best Pics, 2022...

Deep into this week-leading-up-to-the-Oscars, you can’t turn around (not here in L.A., at least) without someone, somewhere, making predictions. Talking potential upsets. Lamenting (or applauding) all the change, as two of the (seemingly) Most-Likely-to-Take-Home-the-Big-Prize nominees—for the first time, ever—come from… streamers.

That last, to me, is really the most interesting takeaway from the—well, let’s go with “once again, unusual”—2021 movie season, for which we have the Weirdness of the Global Pandemic to thank (or blame, YMMV). With theaters shuttered for sizable chunks of 2020-2021—and feeling, to many of us, like dicey propositions even after the ‘plexes resumed operations—there was little choice but to see some of, if not all, the new flicks, by streaming them from the comforts of our own sofas.

Which… is precisely what I did. Every single Best Pic Nom (as well as plenty of other, un-nominated films) watched from either my sofa or my boyfriend’s, on much-smaller-than-Big-Screen-screens. [Crazy times, eh?]

Keeping in line with this whole everything-is-weird theme, I thought it would be fun to do a different sort of pre-Oscars round-up. Not erudite, individual reviews; you can read plenty of those elsewhere. And not a prediction of who/what’s gonna win, either. Just a few thoughts on each of the ten nominated films… in the order in which I watched them. [You still with me? NOT the order in which I rank them, at this point, or where I think they’ll place, but in how I watched ‘em.] 

So, here we go…

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Don’t Look Up

This Adam McKay-directed film was a disappointment of epic proportions. [There, I said it.] Yes, it boasted a huge array of major acting talent (Leonardo di Caprio, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, etc.). It should have been brilliant!! Yet sadly, this broad (ugh, very broad) satire went waaaaay over the top… straight to Tropetown. Every cheesy, easy, obvious nudge-and-wink was telegraphed a mile ahead of time, and every point (and certainly legit points were there to make!) was hammered in, as though by Thor, in a fit of obscene rage. Such a letdown… and, for me, SO unworthy of any Oscar noms.

Licorice Pizza

Paul Thomas Anderson may be an acquired taste, but, as with cilantro and hot sauce and—okay, not beer—it’s one I most definitely have. This is one of the wackiest, most hilarious, so-crazy-because-it's-actually-based-in-reality delights I’ve watched in… well, a really long time. A not-exactly-leisurely-(and more about that, later)-but-also-not-frenetically-paced look at a specific period of time (the early 1970s), in a small area of The Valley (that being the sprawling San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles), centered around a little group of people (who were or wanted to be in "the biz”). A love letter to a bygone era, it's charming, funny, smart, surprising… and based on a lot of actually-true stuff. What a gem.

Belfast

Who would expect that a film about “The Troubles” in Ireland (the shockingly-hostile fights purportedly between the Catholics and the Protestants—but in reality, more a violent debate about being part of the U.K. or becoming an independent Ireland) in the late 1960s, would be focussed like a laser on how it affected one wee family in Belfast? Kenneth Branagh, that’s who. What a lovely film… perfectly-cast (Judi Dench, 'nuff said!), beautifully-acted (and never over-acted), masterfully-directed, and written from the heart. (Plus, that gorgeous b/w… <swoon>) This one is most definitely something special.

Nightmare Alley

I didn’t even realize this was a remake [I know, I know] until after I’d watched it! (If I had, it would’ve no doubt added a bit of color to my thoughts…) Still, Guillermo del Toro is, as always, amazing, and the visuals here are absolutely gorgeous. [Seriously, I can watch anything that man makes; his creations are simply… breathtaking.] A fantastic cast (mostly female-centric, hallelujah!) in a cautionary tale about how (a quest for) wealth and power corrupts… definitely an interesting watch.

West Side Story

Okay, so I may be one of the only Gen-Xers out there (or maybe not, I dunno) who hadn’t [and still hasn't, after the fact] seen the original movie—or some Broadway (or lesser) production of same—before, but… there you are. I had [have] not. Still, I had a vague idea of it, and assumed that a Steven Spielberg take would surely have the angels singing in my ears (or possibly pixies, like in a Disney flick?), but… no. [Actually, Oh, HELL, NO, would be more accurate here.] I absolutely hated this one. 

So, yes, there were some technically-fantastic shots. And yes, Ariana DeBose. (But really, thinking that one actor out of such a huge cast was good is not high praise, here.) The production values were great. All of that. But… it left me not just cold, but angry… disgusted that I’d spent [wasted] more than two hours of my life on… that. 

Dune

Okay, so this is a tough one; I really wanted to love this film. I’d watched [sat through] the 1984 (original) version, multiple times. I’d also watched the TV mini-series. [I have not, however, read the novel—nor do I intend to, so there’s also that.] I have a genuine love for sci-fi, and Frank Herbert’s novel is beloved by many, so my hopes for a Dennis Villeneuve take on it were high. And yet…

For me, it was slightly-less-boring and ponderous than the ’84 version… but only by a smidge. I didn’t (okay, and still don’t) find Timothée Chalamet especially captivating. Once again there's an awful lot of very slow build-up to… well, not a lot, frankly. [Yes, I know a Part 2 is on the way... but the job of Part 1 should be to make me really wanna see the next installment.] This one may be absolutely-frakkin’-gorgeous to look at—and it is—but as a whole? <YAWN>.

The Power of the Dog

So, westerns are not typically my bag… although I’ve always loved the time period. [In general. I’m way more into female-centric period pieces, I freely admit.] But, I do love some westerns, so had high hopes for a Jane Campion take on one, and the hype, oh, it was huge.

Benedict Cumberbatch was very good in an unusual role for him. (Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons were also very good, but not such great stretches, in their respective roles.) The production design, the cinematography, the editing? All, beautiful. [Seriously, why do so many westerns wind up as Oscar noms? There is such gorgeous stuff to shoot, to dress, to construct..!] And, the themes within are oh-so-topical—fascinating, really, since the original novel was written in 1967.

The only real downside to this one, for me personally, is that—technique and beauty aside—I didn’t emerge moved. I had no great desire to immediately go out and share my thoughts with my besties. The substance is there… but not really in a life-enhancing way, for me.

CODA

I don’t know why I held off on this one for so long; maybe I [foolishly] assumed it would just be a different spin on the same ideas in Sound of Metal (which I definitely enjoyed, last year). WOW, was I wrong.

Right up front, though, let me address the elephant in the room: yes, it’s formulaic. [That, however, is an argument I vehemently object to, without further convincing conversation; most things are somewhat formulaic, if you really want to analyze at the nitty-gritty, “has this ever, in the history of ever, been done before?” level.]

What CODA has going for it—in spades—is that it puts a very unique [and important] twist on the same ole “young person who wants to follow their dreams, despite their family” tale… giving voice to an under-represented population (the deaf) and particularly, on how a hearing person in a mostly-deaf family operates. This is a story I haven’t heard, seen, or even thought about, before! And, the fact that deaf actors actually played those roles? Gives the whole film an undeniable realness… a heart, soul, and genuine depth, that belie any of those “but this has story has been done before” arguments.

A great story about regular people (and no real villains), with no grand special effects or flashy costumes, and boasting of only one bonafide star (Marlee Matlin)? Turns out to be unexpected Movie Magic.

Drive My Car

Even if I’m watching from my own home (and can pause, take bathroom-and-snack breaks, stretch my legs, etc.), a three-hour movie—which this one is—is a tough sell for me. So, I held out until… well, I couldn’t really wait much longer. And what I felt, after sitting there for [okay, probably closer to 3.75 hours, with all those breaks] was… the same story could’ve been told more succinctly. (Oy.)

The story itself is a poignant one: a mid-life actor—a recent-widower—comes to terms with his muddled feelings of anger, bitterness, guilt, and grief over his wife’s passing, with the surprising aid of an also-damaged young woman—one weighed down by plenty of her own baggage—platonically(!), over a period of weeks. Their pain is visceral, and it’s easy to sympathize with each character. The problem is that both are holding all of that inside, and it’s really only at the very end of the film that we have a full understanding of what the “all that” actually is. Tighter editing? Less-leisurely storytelling? I feel that a good 30-45 minutes could’ve been removed, for a more-accessible, impactful telling of their stories.

King Richard

I’m really not sure why I waited until the very last to watch this one; Will Smith is a notoriously-likable actor, and, even without being an uber-fan of tennis, only someone living under a rock wouldn't be familiar with the ridiculously-talented sisters Williams. [Regardless, something had to be viewed last, right?] 

The hype for this one is spot-on; the title role really is a Smith tour-de-force, bringing to fascinating life the tale of a man driven to have his children [five daughters, no less!] not only succeed, but to have better lives than that which he had. Told, as it is, from his POV, it’s a much-better biopic than if it had been about either (or both) of the girls, Venus and Serena, because we already know how their lives turned out. [In the public, not the private, eye, of course.] From their father’s—and to a not-insubstantial degree, also their mother’s—perspective, though, we get a really interesting look at things we had no idea about. 

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You want a prediction? Well, still not gonna make one of those. (Many, many people with more insight have already done so.)

But, if I’m giving you my druthers? I’m not-so-secretly hoping for a CODA win, because this is the one that had me at all the feels… and, in a weirder-than-all-get-out year of watching all the films at home, I think “Had Me at All the Feels” is as good a thing to pin my own personal hopes for a winner on, as any.

Any thoughts, comments, or the like, on the aboves? Feel free to leave ‘em below… :)

~GlamKitty