The 2019 Oscars, How I See It
I saw 8 out of the 9 Best Picture Nominees. Here’s where I stand with them.
First, a disclaimer: I have two kids in elementary school. I coach two basketball teams, including a volunteer gig as an assistant for a high school varsity team, which means I’ve watched more tape of games featuring San Marin, Drake and Redwood High Schools than I did of actual movies. I have a full-time job that involves three hours of commuting each day. And I finished my third screenplay (Shameless plug: Here’s the poster for it).
So when I say that I only saw eight of the nine nominees for Best Picture, please understand. That’s a huge achievement.
And about that: I think it’s monumentally stupid business that not all of the Best Picture nominees aren’t available to rent before the Oscars. My wife and I decided to have an inside “date night” and purchased “Green Book”. It was cheaper to buy than going to the theater. Fine. But we’d rather have rented it, and if she didn’t watch it with me, I wouldn’t have paid the money for it. So it’s just stupid.
A disclaimer: When I watch The Oscars, I very rarely go into it with one favorite in mind. This isn’t a sporting event. It’s an opinion. There’s almost always a group of films that I think are Best Picture worthy, and if one wins, I’m beyond happy. And there’s always films that I think are not, and if they do win, I’m bummed.
Last year, I would have been ecstatic if “Get Out”, “Lady Bird” or “Phantom Thread” won Best Picture. Obviously, they did not. “The Shape of Water” did, and although I enjoyed it, I for sure know that history will not look favorably on that decision. But it’s a good film. Just not historically good.
So here’s what I got.
Worth Considering
There were some films that I thought merited Oscar-worthy attention but didn’t make the cut.
“Eighth Grade”, “A Quiet Place”, “First Man”, “Sorry to Bother You”, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse” were phenomenal, each one exceptionally conceptual in the stories they were trying to tell, and thoughtfully creative in how they executed it. They all clearly deserved a nomination, and none will quietly go away in the annals of time. Great stuff by all. I’m really jealous of how ballsy and on-the-ledge they were. Take a bow.
And I still haven’t seen “Widows”, “If Beale Street Could Talk” or “First Reformed” yet, which I’ve heard all great things about.
Apologies
“The Favourite”, one day soon we‘ll meet. Had you been available to rent On Demand, we might not have had this issue. Talk to your distributor.
Oh Hell No
There always seems to be a front runner in this section. So here’s the deal. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I did. Very much. Any time I can spend two and a half hours in a theater listening to Queen songs on those speakers is a great time. And Rami Malek’s performance is great. And yes, those twenty minutes where they recreated “Live Aid” was probably the best twenty minutes of film this year. But the rest of the film was an absolute mess. The script was filled with cliches and mindblowing historical inaccuracies that go beyond perception and head straight into lying. There’s absolutely no tension whatsoever. The characters are empty. And they ignored a much better Freddie Mercury biopic, edgy and genre-bending and uncomfortable, really, in lieu of a tired Queen movie. The fact that this is nominated for Best Picture is an insult — and that it won a Golden Globe is a joke.
And there’s “Vice”. Look, I loved “The Big Short” and I feel that it was clearly the best film of 2015. Adam McKay crafted a brilliantly creative way to tell that very complicated story in a fun way to make it clear enough. The problem with “Vice” is that it’s not a complicated story, and using the same devices for “The Big Short” in this movie cheapened it. It was a crutch they didn’t need and it felt like a diversion. Plus, I don’t know what the point of the movie was. Who was Dick Cheney really? I still don’t know.
Yeah, Pretty Good.
I had some mixed emotions going into my inside date night “Green Book” movie. Not with my wife, mind you. I’m all in on her. But rather, for seeing a movie that has so much baggage attached to it. So I decided to put all of that aside and tried to judge the film on its merits. And here’s the deal: even without the controversies, the movie itself is problematic. You could guess what was gonna happen next pretty easily. We’ve seen this tired trope many times before. Look, racism is solved! Everyone clap! And it’s really “Driving Miss Daisy” but reversed. But, at the end, Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen were so great, and so great together, that they elevated everything and smoothed over all the flaws. The two of them turned what could have been a forgettable flick into an extremely enjoyable movie, full of laughs and charisma and heart. Look, Peter Farrelly knows how to make warm, dumbed-down films like these. It just should never be a serious Best Picture contender. Oh no, not at all. But it’s fun.
So Close, But Not Quite
I just loved “BlacKkKlansman”. It’s a great script brought to life by great performances and the usual great directing by Spike Lee. I mean, it’s incredible that it’s a true story. And I can’t believe how much I laughed during this. I mean, Spike Lee has a way to bring some brevity into deep subjects, but this was a tour de force. It’s a crime that this is his first nod for Best Director, and that this is his first nom for Best Picture. “Do the Right Thing” will forever be one of my favorite movies, and I’m not alone. Also, John David Washington deserved way more consideration for Best Actor than he got. He was revelatory.
These Three. Please.
“Black Panther” is more than just one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It’s more than just a statement about the brilliance of black artists and the market for black audiences. It’s more than just the best superhero movie ever made. It’s more than just another proof point for the magnificent resumes of Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan and others. It’s so much more than all of that. It’s simply a great great film, and it’s everything going to the movies should be. I’d be so excited if this won for “Best Picture” because history will remember this as the year “Black Panther” changed everything.
“Roma” is an incredible achievement in writing, directing, acting and cinematography, a masterpiece for a legendary artist at the height of his powers. And it’s a story worth telling, especially now, about the superhuman powers of women to uplift themselves and everyone around them when things are trending badly. This movie blew me away, and I wish I saw this in theaters instead of just on Netflix. Plus, when we talk about films changing the movie industry, “Roma” and its distribution through Netflix does just that. Alfonso Cuaron might be our best living storyteller. Let’s enjoy him at his apex.
And “A Star is Born” was, just, I mean, I’m gushing, really. That first hour was just about the best hour of film and storytelling you’ll ever see. Bradley Cooper wrote, directed and acted the hell out of this film. It’s a travesty he didn’t get nominated for directing. Did you see Lady Gaga’s performance? She didn’t get there by herself. This movie gave me all the feels. It gives everyone the feels. It’s a tremendous achievement that, on the third remake of this film, Bradley Cooper was the one who got it right. Big time.
Epilogue
I actually thought it was a really good year in film. My top four are really great films that stand up to any film in any year. They’re the kind of stories I wish I came up with, scripts I wish I’d written, and grateful that I had the chance to see them.
