Don’t call it a comeback.
No seriously…..don’t. I have no idea if this post is a one-off or a tentative return to the world of pop culture blogging. The myriad reasons that I went on a “temporary break” that turned into nearly a year-long hiatus haven’t changed, but I have missed this. So no labels.
But whatever this, I couldn’t let the Academy Awards happen without me saying something. It’s just how I’m built. So since there is a lot of ground to cover and I don’t have much time to do it, here are my very efficient, one-sentence thoughts about all of this year’s Best Picture contenders:
- Bohemian Rhapsody – A good performance (Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury) in a very mediocre movie.
- Black Panther – The most fun I had at the theater this year – Wakanda forever! (Full review can be found here – remember when I reviewed movies?)
- The Favourite – Not as funny as I was expecting and definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but filled with strong female performances.
- BlacKKKlansman – I hadn’t watched a Spike Lee joint in a while, but I really enjoyed BlacKKKlansman – depressing this story is still so relevant, but uniformly great performances from the cast.
- Green Book – I ride or die for Mahershala Ali, but this movie is problematic.
- Vice – I’m usually here for whatever Adam McKay is laying down and this is no exception – I enjoyed his storytelling and I’ll be damned if Christian Bale didn’t become Dick Cheney.
- A Star is Born – Frankly I think this one is overrated, but I’ll admit “Shallow” is a banger.
- Roma – Still sitting in my Netflix queue since subtitles requires a level of focus that I have not been capable of lately.
As for the actual Oscar ceremony, I’m not even sure I’m going to watch this year. This isn’t a year where I have strong feelings one way or another about the movies nominated – I don’t hate anything with the passion that I previously did War Horse or Extremely Loud & Incredible Close nor was I enchanted with anything quite like the years Moonlight and Birdman won. Basically I have no real rooting interest and the Academy has really gone out of their way to make the ceremony unwatchable – no host, constantly changing their mind about what will or will not be in the telecast – so I think I may just watch Twitter for the highlights. I am far more invested in the season finale of True Detective, which will be airing at the same time (side bar – we all think Amelia is dodgy, right?).
Have thoughts about this year’s Best Picture nominees? Share them in the comments.
And forever long this lasts…….it’s good to be back.