Pretty Good Bets

 These ones MUST be included!



Movie: Vice
Nominated for: Update - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay and Best Makeup
How I watched: Movie Theatre
When I fell asleep: Not a bit
When it had me: Right after the logos
When it lost me: Never
What I have to say: I was a big fan of The Big Short and an even bigger fan of this movie. This style and humor works for me and I pretty much wish Adam McKay had been my history teacher. Christian Bale is astounding in this role! The rest of the cast is also great but also incredibly spot on for matching their real life counterparts. While I don't think that is required for a biopic, I'm still impressed with that achievement. This movie is another example of flashbacks and cutaways used very briefly to provide emotional context or to visually ground the viewer. I love this editing tool; I want to use more of it. (I wonder if older audiences find it more jarring than younger ones? I wonder if we are so accustomed to the ADHD effect of our smart phones that we can tolerate that better than earlier generations? I wonder why I consider myself a younger audience member? Are a lot of 70 year olds going to see Vice?) Anyway, the movie was terrific. Unless you are a conservative and then I imagine the movie is extremely offensive and a pack of lies.



Movie: Won't You Be My Neighbor
Nominated for: Update - I was so wrong! This is NOT nominated
How I watched: A Screening at School
When I fell asleep: Not at all, but my eyelids felt heavy with wine.
When it had me: Listening to Fred Rogers speak with passion about children.
When it lost me: I may have gotten a bit bored here or there.
What I have to say: I'm one of those people that does't want to admit out loud that I find the beloved Mr. Rogers pretty creepy. I don't think he was bad in any way and yet he puts me off. I was blown away learning about him and his mission in life. He was Brene Brown before Brene Brown was; he was all about acknowledging the inherent worth in every human being, living a non-judgmental, shame-free life and giving to everyone he met with an open heart. That is absolutely stunning. Even more stunning is that he lived in a time where you could use TV to spread that message while still being a humble pastor with a tiny local studio. I realized that he connected with everyone with vulnerability and authenticity. Because that isn't the norm in our society that kind of open-ness feels incredibly intimate and that's why he creeped me out. Mr. Rogers WAS trying to touch a part of me that is considered very private by most of society, and all Mr. McFeely jokes aside, it was never a bad thing!



Movie: The Favourite
Nominated for: Update - Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (twice), Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing
When I fell asleep: I didn't but I felt a bit distracted.
When it had me: A period piece about lesbians? It had me at the trailer.
When it lost me: I can't point to where specifically, but it didn't keep me the whole time.
What I have to say: First off, I watched a couple of trailers and thought this was going to be a hilarious comedy. Wrong. It IS black comedy and there are laughs but the central theme is not one of zany aristocrats. It's about power, manipulation and whether or not you know what winning looks like when you set out to play a game. The acting is superb, the dialogue is sharp and shocking, the design and costuming are fantastic. And yet, something about this movie never congealed for me. Individual scenes that were each enjoyable somehow didn't seem to connect with a power that let me know I was going somewhere specific. I'm still not sure if this is due to my errant expectation when I started or not. I liked it but didn't love it.