Beautiful Boy, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse amd First Man

Movie: Beautiful Boy
Nominated for: Update - Not nominated
When I fell asleep: I did not.
When it had me: Immediately. A parent with a missing kid and I was in.
When it lost me: Rapt, horrified attention, all the way.
What I have to say: Thoughtful acting, strong editing, compelling and nightmarish story for any parent. I cried a lot and talked to my kids about drugs afterward. I didn't even know going in that it was based on a real story; once I figured that out I felt even worse. The texture created by the memories of innocent childhood were so incredibly powerful. I normally would not choose this movie for myself out of fear that it will be emotional torture. I'd much rather watch a slasher film that gets my heart racing, but I'm glad when Oscar season makes me take the time for a movie like this.







Movie: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
Nominated for: Best Animated Movie
How I watched: Movie Theatre, twice
When I fell asleep: Nope
When it had me: Peter B. Parker, crying in his bathtub
When it lost me: Never
What I have to say: This movie was so special on so many levels. The message that anyone can "wear the mask" of heroism and the realization of that by showing us such a beautifully diverse group of characters doing so. The deep love of family that guides the hero into his future. The authenticity and vulnerability of Peter B Parker that had me cackling and crying and gasping for air in my theatre seat. The animation style and sense of humor. All of this was wonderful and so enjoyable that this film is on my short list of top picks for the year! I might have argued for this to be added to the Best Picture category but HOW could they add TWO superhero movies in the same year?





Movie: First Man
Nominated for: Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects
When I fell asleep: With only 20 minutes left to go. Had to walk around and rally for the end.
When it had me: Noise in the cockpit!
When it lost me: Going to the moon
What I have to say: Sound editing absolutely rocked it in this movie! I was blown away by the overwhelming aural experience of the textures and rumbles and louds of their version of what it was like to be an astronaut willingly hurling yourself through space in sheets of riveted together metal. I was moved by this experience at home! I wish I'd seen it in a theatre. As far as story, this is a more personal and dark look at space travel than we have seen through other films about the space race. I liked connecting to this famous astronaut as a human being. As noted above, they kind of lost me when they headed to the moon. I mean, I knew they would make it so it's hard to keep the tension, right? But then they hit me with some more awesome sound work and silence that got me right back. I'll be cheering on Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan for Sound Editing for sure!