It is that time of the year when the cinematic procession culminates towards the glittering night of Oscars. This time it will be held on 27th of Feb and so thought of writing a blog about my take on best picture nominees in Oscars this year. On the principle I feel its quite unfair to compare these movies and rank them, because all of them have been made on different subjects and have received different treatments from very different directors. But still i will go ahead and will produce a rank of mine which ultimately culminates to the best picture chosen by myself.
This same kind of exercise i had attempted to perform last year too, as i navigate through my drafts where i had started writing about the movies like "Sicario" and "The Hateful Eight". But now i have firmly decided to complete this activity.
This year Academy has nominated 9 films in best movies category "Arrival", "Hell of High water","Hacksaw Ridge", "Moonlight","La La Land", "Hidden Figures","Lion" , "Fences" and "Manchester by the Sea". Topics in these movies range from a sophisticated science fiction to a riveting family drama, from an enchanting dazzling musical to a hardcore staunch war movie. Please read through to know about my views on these movies.
9. Hell or High water
Chris Pine and Ben Foster starrer "Hell or High water" is like a slow poison which seeps onto you slowly and steadily. Tim McKenzie (director ) and Giles Nuttgens (cinematographer) have been able to capture the laid back milieu of Texan countryside . They have maintained that rugged and sluggish feeling throughout the movie.Its a simple story about two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) who do some low key bank robberies across the state of Texas to earn some money and to save their old family ranch. It is followed up by how the Texan Rangers led by Jeff Bridges intelligently crack them down.
What actually steals the show is the funny and spooky conversation between Texas rangers Jeff Bridges and his Mexican deputy Gil Birmingham .The chemistry they share is catchy and witty. Jeff Bridges keeps on joking and poking Gil on his Mexican identity forth and back throughout the movie. This act has also landed an Oscar nomination for Jeff Bridges in best supporting actor category.
I have kept Hell or High water at the bottom of the list mainly because i felt it had offered nothing new and we have kind of witnessed these kinds of westerns before.
8. Fences
When he hits it , he hits it hard. Denzel Washington is one such actor who can carry a movie alone on his shoulders at its length. And on top of that when he comes behind the camera he becomes even better. This movie is all about a man (Denzel Washington) being an African American how he tries to raise his family in 1950s America. This deals with the contemporary 1950 situation and Denzel's characters beliefs and thought processes at those times. This movie is based on August Wilson Pultizer awar winning play with the same name "Fences ".Aptly supported in Voila Davis in his wife's role which has rightfully earned her best supporting actress Oscar nomination and Joyan Adepo as Cory (his son). This is a powerful film packed with some strong intense and emotional dialogues. Denzel Washington is very well known to harbor on racial issues in his direction. He did the same with "The Great Debaters" which in my opinion was another resplendent movie. This film has also earned Denzel Washington a Best actor nomination and he remains a strong contender for that.
7. Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures is a story of a group of African American women who contributed significantly to the success of a first manned space mission for NASA in 1950s and 60s. The movie tethers on the line of how a person can succeed against all the odds if he relentlessly pursues towards it. The main protagonists of the story fight against the two most prominent issues of all time i.e. against racism and gender indifference .Here all the 3 female leads (Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae act well ,complemented by a very subtle and resplendent display of acting by Kevin Costener as the NASA project lead. This movie navigates through the common taboos of that era and finishes the movie on a good note. Climax at the end seems to be bit cliched but this is the case as always with an adaptation of real life stories.
Hidden figures is a good movie to watch with family. It sometimes goes into the details of mathematics (i sometimes i felt how blessed now are we with computers and can't think of writing such lengthy formulaes and their deductions on board.), so an apt movie if you want to inculcate the culture of mathematics and science in your kids.
6. Moonlight
Just before i start my review of moonlight i should mention that from now the serious business will begin . From moonlight and the movies above in the list we will see the truly unique concepts, mind twisting cinematography, editing and direction which will touch the heart and brain of a movie goer.
Moonlight is a story of a person of African American origin traced from his childhood to his adulthood. It shows his travails in the rough neighborhood of Miami where he explores his feelings and his sexuality. Brilliantly acted by all the 3 characters in the character of Chiron. This movie is very unassuming and subtly directed. A must watch for all the movie goers who like serious movies. Mahershala Ali brilliantly captures the scenes in a pretty short role as the character of Juan which has rightfully earned him an nomination for best supporting actor.
I would end this blog post with this and will provide my reviews for rest of the five movies in my next blog post . As i had mentioned before from Moonlight the serious business has kicked in and art of movies will be at extreme display for the next five movies.
PS: All the images are courtesy of IMDB
This same kind of exercise i had attempted to perform last year too, as i navigate through my drafts where i had started writing about the movies like "Sicario" and "The Hateful Eight". But now i have firmly decided to complete this activity.
This year Academy has nominated 9 films in best movies category "Arrival", "Hell of High water","Hacksaw Ridge", "Moonlight","La La Land", "Hidden Figures","Lion" , "Fences" and "Manchester by the Sea". Topics in these movies range from a sophisticated science fiction to a riveting family drama, from an enchanting dazzling musical to a hardcore staunch war movie. Please read through to know about my views on these movies.
9. Hell or High water
What actually steals the show is the funny and spooky conversation between Texas rangers Jeff Bridges and his Mexican deputy Gil Birmingham .The chemistry they share is catchy and witty. Jeff Bridges keeps on joking and poking Gil on his Mexican identity forth and back throughout the movie. This act has also landed an Oscar nomination for Jeff Bridges in best supporting actor category.
I have kept Hell or High water at the bottom of the list mainly because i felt it had offered nothing new and we have kind of witnessed these kinds of westerns before.
8. Fences
7. Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures is a story of a group of African American women who contributed significantly to the success of a first manned space mission for NASA in 1950s and 60s. The movie tethers on the line of how a person can succeed against all the odds if he relentlessly pursues towards it. The main protagonists of the story fight against the two most prominent issues of all time i.e. against racism and gender indifference .Here all the 3 female leads (Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae act well ,complemented by a very subtle and resplendent display of acting by Kevin Costener as the NASA project lead. This movie navigates through the common taboos of that era and finishes the movie on a good note. Climax at the end seems to be bit cliched but this is the case as always with an adaptation of real life stories.
Hidden figures is a good movie to watch with family. It sometimes goes into the details of mathematics (i sometimes i felt how blessed now are we with computers and can't think of writing such lengthy formulaes and their deductions on board.), so an apt movie if you want to inculcate the culture of mathematics and science in your kids.
6. Moonlight
Moonlight is a story of a person of African American origin traced from his childhood to his adulthood. It shows his travails in the rough neighborhood of Miami where he explores his feelings and his sexuality. Brilliantly acted by all the 3 characters in the character of Chiron. This movie is very unassuming and subtly directed. A must watch for all the movie goers who like serious movies. Mahershala Ali brilliantly captures the scenes in a pretty short role as the character of Juan which has rightfully earned him an nomination for best supporting actor.
I would end this blog post with this and will provide my reviews for rest of the five movies in my next blog post . As i had mentioned before from Moonlight the serious business has kicked in and art of movies will be at extreme display for the next five movies.
PS: All the images are courtesy of IMDB
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