Chugging Onward!

Movie: A Fantastic Woman
Nominated for: Foreign Film
How I watched: Movie Pass
When I fell asleep: Early on I suffered a few head nods, but I had to keep my eyes open to read the subtitles!
Thoughts: I don't know what to say about this movie. It was a moving tale about grief and how to get along in the world when you don't fit the prescribed mold. Somehow, it felt like it was missing something. I craved an epiphany or a big payoff of some kind. However, I was really happy to see a transgender story on the screen.



Movie: Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Nominated for: Acting
How I watched: Redbox
When I fell asleep: I started this movie and immediately fell asleep for one hour! I had to get up, make popcorn and restart.
Thoughts: I didn't get this movie. The performance seemed varied and inconsistent; I could never figure out if the main character was weird or impaired or on the spectrum. The character was inconsistent; his choices didn't follow logically for me. The ending was abrupt and contrived. Not my favorite.



Movie: The Florida Project
Nominated for: Acting
When I fell asleep: Not today
Thoughts: This was an essentially plot-less movie that depicted the living conditions of some of Florida's slum-dwellers.  Some performances were notable, Willem Dafoe being really good and one child actor in particular (Brooklyn Price) being outstanding. There were some character reveals that were brilliant. The ending of this movie was a complete puzzler. Just when they had me roped into a really heart breaking moment, they switched into some sort of fantasy sequence that made no sense and then cut to black. I had to go and read an article proclaiming this ending the best ending of any movie in years (exaggerate much?) but they didn't convince me. It may have tried to be that for me, but it fell short.