The Oscar Project
We are now less than two weeks from the end of the year, and with that I begin my countdown of my top ten films of 2022. I will be releasing a new film every weekday through the end of the year, culminating with my number one pick on Friday, December 30th. If you prefer a video version of this list, you’ll have to wait until the 30th for that as well. I don’t want to give it all away before revealing the entire list! #10 - PreyThis film almost landed on my list of surprises of the year and looking back, I probably should have made a spot for it on that list, but I’m glad I get to expand on it here. The film is the latest entry in the Predator franchise (affiliate link). It’s different from your typical Predator film though. There are no hulking marines to be found. The protagonist isn't fighting against the predator with automatic weapons or anything futuristic. No, this is set in the early 1700s on the great plains in what would someday be a part of the United States. How does that work, you ask, when the predator brings so much technology to the fight? It works because Naru, the films hero is smart. Despite the predator’s superior technology and strength, Naru knows the territory and she uses that to her advantage. Now, when you look at the film itself, there are some wonderful elements to it. While I don’t think it will end up with any Oscar nominations next month, there are beautiful elements of cinematography throughout that truly capture the vast plains locations. The costumes and makeup feel real to the period whether it is the natural outfits worn by Naru and her tribe, or the animal skins of the French trappers that try and fail to face off against the predator. And even though the story is familiar when it comes to the Predator series, this version of it feels fresh and the actors give fully into their characters so that you believe this could actually happen. A friend of mine floated the idea of a whole series of Predator movies like this where a predator is dropped into different period in human history, sort of like the Assassin’s Creed games (affiliate link). I think this might work for a while, and it would be awesome to see how the Vikings, Zulus, Egyptians, or Samurai would handle facing off against a deadly predator. I doubt it will happen, but I would love to hear your speculation on how these films might go. I would argue, as many others have, that this is the best Predator movie since the original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That is high praise to put on any film in this franchise, but I feel it is fully deserving of that spot. My only hope is that whatever comes next in the series will live up to the new high bar set by Prey. The rest of the posts in this series are all linked below.
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It's the weekend many people have been anticipating for over a decade. Audiences finally get to see what James Cameron has been working on the for the last 13 years since the release of the original Avatar. The first film from 2009 remains the highest grossing film at the worldwide box office, ahead of Avengers: Endgame by a little over $100 million. At the domestic box office, Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens have all surpassed Avatar. But worth noting is that James Cameron's two most successful films in terms of box office receipts, (Avatar and Titanic) are still among the top ten both domestically and worldwide, and remain the only two films in the top of those lists not made in the last ten years. Even with inflation and the rise of premium format screens that have also increased ticket prices, few films have been able to match the box office success of Cameron's biggest films. Now, does that mean that we'll see Avatar: The Way of Water vaulting into the top of the box office charts this weekend? Probably not. Looking back at 2009, the first Avatar had an opening weekend box office of just over $77 million, which puts it as the 113th best opening weekend, right between 2006's Tom Hanks film The Da Vinci Code, and the 2018 reboot of Halloween. Titanic only pulled in $28.6 million in its first weekend, making it the 637th best opening weekend since those numbers were tracked consistently. Obviously we know a bit more of what to expect this time around with The Way of Water. Cameron has waited so long to complete this film because the technology didn't exist to shoot underwater scenes like he wanted. It harkens back a bit to making The Abyss and some of the struggles he went through to shoot underwater scenes in that film. Let me know in the comments below if you're going to see Avatar: The Way of Water this weekend. I'm hoping to go myself after just watching the original the other night on Disney+. Limited ReleasesWith Avatar: The Way of Water dominating the box office this weekend, there is little room for anything else, but a few limited releases are dropping in case anyone is looking for something that's NOT Avatar.
It’s the end of week two of my 2022 Year in Review. I hope you are enjoying the posts and have perhaps stumbled on something new to check out as you enjoy the holidays this year. Today I’m finally releasing my top two first time watches from 2022. They are both films that I wanted to see as soon as they were released, but didn’t get to right away. As a reminder, the list so far is:
2: Encanto (2021) Certain films hit differently based on your life experience, and this is one of those. By now I think it’s safe to assume that you’ve probably seen Encanto (multiple times if you have young children), but it’s worth revisiting here. If you don’t know, the film is the story of the Madrigals, an extended family that all have magical gifts that have been granted to them by an eternally burning candle. The family is led by the matriarchal Abuela and is full of lively characters including her daughters Julieta (heals people with her cooking), Pepa (her mood controls the weather), and the long-lost son Bruno (can see the future). The grandchildren are just as unique, and in true Disney musical fashion, the opening number “The Family Madrigal” gives you the lowdown on everyone involved. I think what makes this film work so well is that anyone can find a character or two that they connect with. We see this great big family and despite outward appearances, they’re not perfect. Our main protagonist, Mirabel, is a bit of an outcast because she never received her gift. Her sister Luisa has the gift of superhuman strength, but we learn that she’s about to crack because she tries to shoulder all the burdens of the family. The other sister, Isabela, can make beautiful flowers bloom wherever she wants, but like Luisa, feels pressure to maintain her appearance of perfection, and longs for the ability to make mistakes from time to time. As usual, the music is infectious, and I probably don’t need to remind you about that song dealing with Bruno (it’s right here in case you miss it) but I urge anyone to take a moment and listen carefully to “Dos Oruguitas”. Give it a listen in the original Spanish and then check out an English translation of the lyrics. It is the turning point of the film for me, and I know there are plenty of people out there who wish someone in their own family would realize what needs to be done to mend a broken relationship. Lastly, it goes without saying that this is a beautiful film. Disney always seems to bring it on this front and Encanto is no exception. The colors throughout the film are tremendous, and it feels very authentic for the place and time where it is set. I cannot say enough about this film, and if by some miracle you haven’t seen it yet, check it out today. Encanto is available on Disney+. 1: Interstellar (2014) I’m a bit ashamed to say this was a first time watch for me, but this is a safe space, right? This was a huge gap in my movie resume when it comes to one of my favorite directors, Christopher Nolan and after watching it, I was so mad that it had eluded me for so long. Now, I have been a fan of Nolan’s since first seeing Memento back in the early 2000s. Following and Insomnia are now my only two remaining feature films of his that I haven’t seen. But back to Interstellar, I thought I knew the basic premise of this film, but what I saw ended up being so much more, as I should have expected with Nolan. The short version is that Matthew McConaughey plays Joseph Cooper, a former astronaut turned farmer who is recruited lead a mission away from Earth in an effort to find a suitable planet where humanity can migrate. The mission takes him and his crew through a wormhole into another galaxy and after failing to find a suitable planet to harbor life, Cooper ends up falling into a blackhole where he eventually figures out how to communicate back through time and space with his daughter, giving her the information she needs to solve a gravity equation and the human race. It's a lot to take in, and that story unfolds over two and a half hours of film, but even with that long running time, nothing feels wasted. Like most Nolan films, the tendrils of the story wind and unwind themselves around each other repeatedly in unexpected ways. You have to pay attention, but when you do, the payoff is incredible. The acting in the film is superb as Nolan always seems to get the most out of his actors. McConaughey’s reaction to seeing his family all grown up when little time has passed in his own life is something that has been memed into ridiculousness at this point, but it remains a powerful moment. The names in this movie are huge, from Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, to John Lithgow and Nolan regular Michael Caine. Casey Affleck and Timothée Chalamet cover Cooper’s son as a boy and an adult, while Matt Damon shows up as an astronaut that Cooper and team meet on one of the planets they investigate. It’s a testament to the film that I didn’t even know he was in it before seeing him show up on screen. I’m reminded a bit of James Cameron when it comes to the variety of things that spring from Nolan’s imagination. Of course, Cameron is much more concerned with the dangers of advancing technology (see Terminator and Avatar), while Nolan seems to be focused on the nature of time and how it could possibly be manipulated for various good or bad intentions. I’m so glad that we have people like Cameron and Nolan making movies today because they are able to keep things fresh and new. Now I just need to find where I can watch Following and Insomnia. The rest of the posts in this series are all linked below.
We’re on to the number three and four top first time watches of 2022 for me and I have a couple more Oscar nominees from last year in the mix. Both are readily available on streaming services you probably already have, so go check them out if you haven’t already! 4: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised) (2021) The second of my top 10 first time watches that was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film last year, and this one won. I watched this a few weeks before the Oscar ceremony and so glad that I did. The film looks at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a music festival that took place over the course of the summer that year. The festival itself brought in musical acts including Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Sly and the Family Stone, all of which can be seen in the film, along with many more. The festival was also put on the same year as Woodstock, just about 100 miles away, and yet most people have never heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival. I loved seeing all the different musical acts as they were in the last 1960s, but also the other aspects of the festival. People bringing picnic lunches, cooking food on the grass at the shows, and of course dancing. Debut director Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson of The Roots brought such love and care to the subject matter that it showed in the presentation of the film. Along with that, the fact that he was able to interview many of the participants and organizers some fifty years later, shows how important it was to those involved. Even if you have no interest in the cultural elements of this, I strongly urge you to check out Summer of Soul for the music alone. If it doesn’t get you on your feet at least once, then you might need to check your pulse. Summer of Soul is available on Hulu. 3: Don’t Look Up (2021) I’m pretty sure there are two types of people that watch Don’t Look Up: those that see it for what it is and are appropriately scared at how accurately it portrays our social media obsessed society, and those who look at it and think that it’s straight up funny and could never possibly happen. Unfortunately, it’s that second group that the first group is truly afraid of. There is so much going for this film, that it’s hard to know where to start. The basic premise is one we’ve seen before in films like Deep Impact and Armageddon (affiliate links). An astronomer (Jennifer Lawrence) and her professor (Leonardo DiCaprio) discover a comet that will impact Earth in just a few months, causing an extinction level event and must warn the world, hoping to spur humanity into saving itself. However, where Deep Impact and Armageddon focus more on the act of saving ourselves, Don’t Look Up chooses to instead focus on the direct impact of such news on society, especially in an age where national news outlets can gather data from tweets and Facebook in real time. Don’t Look Up is true satire and goes way over the line. Would our societal response to news like this be quite this bad? Probably not. But based on events in recent years, there would be some in our world that would take things to the extreme. All the elements of our insane world are on display here. You have the President (Meryl Streep) and her chief-of-staff/son (Jonah Hill) who only care about the upcoming election. There is the billionaire tech CEO (Mark Rylance) who is only worried about how he can turn the crisis to his own profit. And don’t forget the always jovial news hosts (Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett) who relegate a truly newsworthy item like a comet colliding with Earth to the last 3 minutes of their show. Is it over the top? Yes. But unfortunately, I think things HAVE to be a bit overblown to get any sort of consideration these days. Don’t Look Up is just that film that slaps you across the face and says “wake the hell up people!” Don’t Look Up is available to stream on Netflix. As always, I’ve linked to the other posts in this series below.
It’s Wednesday, and it’s time to reveal my number five and six first time watches from this year. Today’s films are both from last year, and both Oscar nominated which means I as watching them in the lead up to the Oscars back in the spring. Let me know your thoughts on these great movies if you’ve seen them. 6: Nightmare Alley (2021) This film was definitely much better than I anticipated going in. There is a bit of a slow start to it, but once it gets rolling, I was fully invested in the story. As a remake of a film from the 1940s, I was surprised to see how well this held up with a modern visual touch. Yes, the story is still set in earlier times, but the ability to do so much more with the camera is what makes this film worth watching. There are some excellent performances in the film from Bradley Cooper to the ice-cold Cate Blanchett. Even the supporting roles like Toni Collette and David Strathairn shine in their limited screen time. But what really does it for me is the world that director Guillermo del Toro creates. Del Toro is known for creating fantastic worlds and while this is one that is more grounded in reality than some in his filmography, you can tell right away that it’s his world that we’re playing in. The film is currently available on Hulu so definitely check it out if you haven’t already. 5: Flee (2021) This is yet another film I probably never would have seen if it hadn’t been for a number of movie podcasts I listen to and for it getting nominated for a number of Academy Awards. That said, I’m so glad I saw it and glad that I keep an open mind for things that approach movie making in a new way. Flee is the story of a young boy named Amin who flees Afghanistan and eventually ends up living in Denmark. To cut the summary off there is a huge disservice to the film because it’s so much more than that. Over the course of the film, we get to see the horrors that Amin and his family have to endure from trudging through frozen forests in Russia, to being sent back by patrols in the ocean when they try to cross from one country to another. The journey out of war is not fun and the film portrays that well. Compounding things is the fact that Amin is gay and comes from a country and a culture where that is not accepted. As the film is told in animated flashback, we also get a few contemporary scenes (also animated) that show him with his partner looking for a house. The fact that a documentary was made as an animated film speaks to the innovative things that are possible with film, and I’m so glad I was able to appreciate this addition to the cultural conversation. Flee is also available on Hulu, so please check this out as well if you haven’t seen it yet. As always, I’ve linked to the other posts in this series below.
Up next today is my 8th and 7th favorite first time watches from this year. Yesterday we had two completely different films, and the same could be said for these two selections. 8: Belfast (2021) After all the hype for this film at the Oscars last year, it ultimately only received one award, for Best Original Screenplay, out of the seven nominations it had, including Best Director and Best Picture. This is one of those films where it has to really connect with you on a personal level to raise it to the top of all films in a given year. Unfortunately, like Cyrano in yesterday’s post, this didn’t hit me like that, but that doesn’t take away from the beautiful aspects of the film. I agree with the nominations of Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. They were the heart of the movie for me. In other areas, the film was beautifully shot and I was a bit surprised it didn’t garner a Best Cinematography nomination last year. I know many people get turned off by films presented in black and white these days, but I felt it really gave the film some beautiful visual moments that couldn’t have been achieved in color. 7: Clerks II (2006) I’m not sure how I missed writing a review of this when I watched it back in September. I figured it would be hard to top the original in pure craziness, but somehow this film matched if not even exceeded the first. It’s interesting that this lands on the list the same day as Belfast. While Belfast was a beautiful film that I downgraded slightly because I didn’t connect with it on a personal level, Clerks II was an OK film that I have to elevate because it does connect with me. Granted, I don’t have personal experience with some of the wilder elements of the film (donkey) but at its core, the film is one of two friends growing apart because they are at different points in their lives. I think we’ve all experienced something like that at least once, and that’s what elevates it for me on this list. Kevin Smith has had some big hits and some duds throughout his career, but I think it’s safe to say he knows how to tell a story and definitely knows how to get a laugh, the crazier the better. If you’ve missed any of my posts in this series so far, check them out below and leave a comment with some of the best movies you’ve watched from the past this year.
I hope everyone enjoyed my first week of posts last week. If you missed any of them, they are all linked below and I will continue to add links for the remaining posts as I lead up to the end of the year.
Today I’m bringing you numbers 9 and 10 on this list, with two more each day throughout the week.
10: Cyrano
This feels like a definite cheat because the film was only released on a VERY limited basis in 2021 with the majority of its theatrical run coming this year, but the official release date was December 17, 2021, so I’ll go with that. As anyone who reads my posts regularly knows, I am not a huge fan of musicals, unless done a certain way. I did enjoy the version of Les Misérables from 2012 and also enjoyed last year’s tick, tick… BOOM!, but this one didn’t work for me. However, it still ends up on my top 10 list because of the other aspects of the film. The costumes are amazing, the choreography is stunning, and the visuals in the film are beautiful. For those elements, I it enough to land it here.
9: Deadpool 2
Coming in at number nine on my list is the sequel to the 2016 film Deadpool. I had seen the first one previously, but for whatever reason had never gotten to the second one. I’d seen a few clips, but never the entire film. This was one of the cases where the sequel lived up to the hype of the original. Ryan Reynolds is perfect as Deadpool, and the new storyline took things in a fresh direction. I looked at both of the Deadpool films after the announcement of the upcoming Deadpool 3 that will be released in 2024 (hopefully). I’m excited to see the character back on the big screen and rest assured that I won’t be waiting four years before going to the new film! I've been putting together weekly preview videos for about four months pretty consistently, and I decided it's time to bring back my weekly preview post here on the website. If you prefer to have your preview in video form, I've included it below as well. I hope you enjoy and I look forward to bringing you more movie content. I used to do these posts every week and I think I stopped in part because of Covid when there weren't any new releases out. I never picked it back up, but I enjoy doing them so I'm going to work on getting consistent with them again. If there is anything you would like to see added to these posts, please drop a note in the comments below and don't forget to leave a note letting me know which one of these movies you are most looking forward to this weekend. Wide ReleasesFather Stu: Reborn After the return of Top Gun: Maverick to theaters last week, Sony is trying to cash in on bringing a movie back to theaters for a limited run during the holidays. Now with a 'PG-13' rating instead of 'R', Mark Wahlberg's biopic returns to theaters to tell the story of Stuart Long, a boxer-turned-Catholic priest. Here's your chance to check it out in theaters once more or you can catch the full original version which is currently available on Netflix. The Whale This may be one of the most anticipated movies in a long time (next week's big release aside) because it marks the return of Brendan Fraser to the big screen. The Whale tells the story of a teacher who weighs over 600 pounds as he strives to reconcile with his estranged teenage daughter. The buzz around this film has been picking up in recent weeks and it is sure to get Fraser at least into the Oscar conversation, if not picking up a nomination for Best Actor. Spoiler Alert Based on the biography Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies (affiliate link), this film seems like a bit of a downer since it's all about a man dying of cancer. Ben Aldridge (Pennyworth, Fleabag) stars as Kit Cowan who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, Home) is his partner Michael Ausiello who must deal with the thought of losing his friend and partner of 14 years. Sally Field (Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump) plays Cowan's mother. Limited ReleasesThe limited release slate is relatively small this week, but includes the following films:
Today is the last post of the week and the last of the smaller categories in my Year in Review. If you missed any of the other posts, please be sure to check them out at the links below.
For this post, I’m not separating short films into smaller categories but including everything in one: live action narrative, documentary, and animated. So, without further ado, let’s get into the top five short films I saw this year. If you're interested in watching them for yourself, the movie titles link to the films except "Boxballet" which is just the trailer. 5: Boxballet This fun animated short film was one of five nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the Oscars earlier this year. It is a brief love story, a bit reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, between a hulking boxer and a dainty ballerina. The visual style is so different from what we normally see in animation, and that’s what made it one of my favorites I saw this year. 4: The Queen of Basketball Let me tell you, I loved meeting Lusia Harris in this film. Harris is the star of this short documentary that won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject this year and even in her 60s, she was a vibrant personality in the interview portions of this film. Chronicling her college basketball career during which she won three national championships and a silver medal at the Olympics. She would go on to become the first African American woman inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Sadly, Harris passed away in January 2022 just a few months before this film received its Oscar. 3: Robin Robin Another animated short film that was nominated for Best Animated Short Film earlier this year, “Robin Robin” is so much fun and I’ve watched it several times with my kids and when I went to the theater to see the full slate of animated short film nominees. he film is stop-motion animation, and features voice talents of Richard E. Grant and Gillian Anderson, but the true star is Robin, the young robin who grew up in a family of mice. She makes a terrible mouse (mainly because she’s a bird) but tries to prove to her mouse family that she belongs by sneaking into the Who-Man house at Christmas to steal the star from the top of their tree. Fire this one up on Netflix this holiday season to kick off your next movie night. 2: Audible This film actually lost out to “The Queen of Basketball” in the Best Documentary Short Subject at the Oscars this year, but I put it slightly ahead on my own list. This one is just on the limit for consideration in that category, but looks at the story of Amaree McKenstry-Hall, a deaf football player at the Maryland School for the Deaf as he and his teammates and friends deal with the pressures of performing on the field, while mourning the loss of a close friend to suicide. Any one part of that description could make a great film on its own but putting them all together and in a short film is truly amazing and fully deserving of the nomination it received. 1: Lynching Postcards: ‘Token of A Great Day’ Just like last year, my top film on this list is extremely difficult to watch, but for completely different reasons. “Lynching Postcards” is a tight 15 minutes but speaks volumes in how it covers its subject matter. The film documents the history of “lynching postcards,” small souvenirs people could send to relatives and friends to celebrate their role in or attendance at public lynchings of African Americans throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. I sat and watched this film in disgust, amazed at the cruelty that could lead people to do these things in the name of hate and fear, but was forced to draw a line straight to the social media of today. While it is an incredibly difficult film to watch, it is necessary, and I highly recommend anyone taking some time to watch for themselves.
I really hope you are enjoying the posts this week as the kick-off to my Year in Review. If you missed any, please be sure to go back and check them out at the links below.
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AuthorI'm just a film buff who wants to watch great movies. Where else to find the best, than the list of those nominated by the Academy each year? Archives
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