Life was pretty hectic last fall and winter, and I stepped away from sharing my movie reflections. It’s not that I wasn’t seeing movies. I was. And I enjoyed many of them thoroughly. I just did not get my thoughts down. Penning these musings stayed at the bottom of my to-do list, never to reach the top to receive the attention needed to get that satisfying strike-through or check mark. The fall of 2019 and its following winter were so different from years past, I told myself. Well, that’s what I thought then.
Oh to go back now to then, that time a year ago that feels, in hindsight, like such a simpler time than it is today as we enter Fall 2020. Currently, although our temperatures are still blazing hot outside, I feel the anticipation of cooler days and nights — that southern fall and winter weather I love so and that brings not just football and crisp mornings and lit fire pits, but also great movies. See, this is the time of year I would start looking up the lists of predictions, catching up on movies I’d missed in the spring and summer, getting excited about those set to release over the next three months.
Alas, of course, this fall is different. Although I was so excited to finally live somewhere that would have more showings—showings of the smaller films that had award buzz, of foreign films, of documentaries—theaters are only just reopening after being shuttered for almost half a year. Screenings are smaller and fewer. I don’t even know what films are being released this year; I hear that many studios are holding films to release them later when more people can—and will—go to the theaters. Sigh.
But chin up. It’s not as if we don’t have good, new movies out there. We do. Last week, a friend asked me about Oscars 2021. She wondered what films could be or would be included. And that’s all I needed for inspiration. I knew the Academy had relaxed some of its rules for the 2021 awards. And I’ve since learned they’ve also pushed the Oscars to late April (bumped two months from the originally-planned late February ceremony). For me, it became time to get back to movies.
Okay, so I’m not actually in a theater. The list I’m currently working from contains movies accessible via streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) services. I can do this because the Academy changed its rule about what movies are eligible. Previously, a movie was required to be released in a theater before it was available for streaming to be eligible for an Academy Award.1 This meant that a movie cannot first be released for home viewing via streaming services; if it is, it is disqualified. COVID-19 came. Theaters closed in March. Fortunately, pivoting with COVID-19, the Academy relaxed the absolute nature of its rule, and for 2021 it will allow movies that had planned an initial theatrical release to be eligible, even if the movie went straight to streaming. This is great news for us!
(Note too that theaters have finally re-opened. Those movies can release in a theater for a few days before going to streaming or VOD. Thus, they can be eligible IF they are willing to be released this calendar year. (Note also, though, that LA County rule for movies. I don’t know if the Academy has relaxed that rule for movies that do go ahead and release in a theater before streaming. Ah, do we have another Roma-esque debate in our future?)
I know. I know: watching at home is not the same. How I long to relish in the glow of big screens, the boom of the surround sound, the smell of movie theater popcorn, the joy of seeing the previews for all of the other big-award-worthy (or giant lizard) films. And I’m sure at some point, I’ll wander back into those theaters. At some point. For now, though, the words “winter is coming” have a different sense of dread that is couched in reality instead of that of fantasy that we almost gleefully looked forward to when shared by George R.R. Martin and HBO.
Scouring the internet, reading up on all that’s been released since January 1 this year, I have learned that I’ve plenty of films to watch on my smaller screen, whether catching up on those released earlier this year or finding those that went straight to streaming and on demand, studios relying on the new, relaxed rule. (For a list of fall movies, check out this list from Indiewire.com for the top movies to see that are coming out this fall.) Added to that, the joy in talking about movies with that friend last week and the excitement brought by reading about some of them means that also now I think I’ll get back to writing about these films. I wrote a piece for work a couple of weeks ago. That nudged my inner voice to wake. Last night I watched one of the touted films I’ve found. Watching it made me want to spend a little time at the keyboard to work out what I thought of it. That longing didn’t just nudge my voice. It basically pushed the inner voice plum out of its comfy, quiet bed. Yes, it’s time to pick this back up.
In the meantime, I copied below my list from last winter. Before I dive into new films, I figured I might at least share the lists from last year, even if I did not reflect on them here publicly.
Happy viewing, friends!
Movie Lists and Picks: Oscars 2020
Before today, I had not looked at this list since February 9. But until that time, it was a working list. See, once the movies are nominated, I make a list of all of the movies to cover my top eight categories. Some years I get more movies in and more categories covered, but I shoot for at least these top eight. Until this past year, I’d been quite successful for a long run at seeing all of them. Alas, as you’ll see below, I did not get to them all this past year.
After I have that list made, As I watch more and more films in a category, I start developing my favorites. Granted, if I didn’t see all the films in a category, it’s not a fully fair choice, but I make one nonetheless. I mark my top choice with one asterisk (*) and my second choice with two (**). These can change as I watch more and as I reflect back more.
Then, it’s finally awards night. As we learn the winners, I mark those too. this past year, my choices aligned with the Academy in a few areas. In others, we had completely different winners. (I still think Brad Pitt’s award was a mistake. Sure, he was good, but he didn’t seem like any other character he usually plays. It was just Brad Pitt on screen. (Gosh, I really should have written more about that when I watched it, eh?))
And by the way — I highly recommend you watch Parasite if you have not yet. It’s fabulous. But I must also say, it’s also different and certainly will not be everyone’s cup of tea. But that’s what’s fabulous about art, yes? 😉
Movies 2020
To see by February 9 (this is my original list. As I see a movie, it gets moved down. I keep the “left to see” at top, which is especially helpful when I’m seeing a film with friends.)
Still left to see:
__ 1917
__ Ford v Ferrari
__ Bombshell
__ Pain and Glory
Already seen:
- Richard Jewell.
- The Two Popes
- Harriet
- JoJo Rabbit
- Joker
- Parasite
- Judy
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- The Irishman
- Little Women
- Marriage Story
- A Beautiful Day
- Knives Out
Picture
1917
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
**Joker
*JoJo Rabbit
Little Women
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite +winner
Actress
**Harriet (Cynthia Erivo)
Marriage Story (Scarlett Johansson)
Little Women (Saoirse Ronan)
Bombshell (Charlize Theron)
*Judy (Reneé Zellweger) +winner
Actor
Pain and Glory (Antonio Banderas)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Leonardo DeCaprio)
Marriage Story (Adam Driver)
*Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) +winner
**The Two Popes (Jonathan Pryce)
Supporting Actor
**A Beautiful Day (Tom Hanks)
*The Two Popes (Anthony Hopkins)
The Irishman (Al Pacino)
The Irishman (Joe Pesci)
Once Upon a Time (Brad Pitt) +winner
Supporting Actress
**Richard Jewel (Kathy Bates)
*Marriage Story (Laura Dern) +winner
JoJo Rabbit (Scarlett Johansson)
Little Women (Florence Pugh)
Bombshell (Margo Robbie)
Director
1917
The Irishman
*Joker
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
**Parasite +winner
Writer: Adapted
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit +winner
Joker
**Little Women
*The Two Popes
Writer: Original
Knives Out
**Marriage Story
1917
One Upon a Time in Hollywood
*Parasite +winner
- A movie also had to be released “for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County for a qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days, during which period screenings must occur at least three times daily, with at least one screening beginning between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.” Wow. Guess LA County is the place to be if you want access to all the best movies! Well, they do have Hollywood and all, so I suppose that makes sense.