Don't Look Up - 4 nominations

 

Best Motion Picture of the Year Adam McKay (producer) Kevin J. Messick (producer)

Best Achievement in Film Editing Hank Corwin

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) Nicholas Britell

Best Original Screenplay Adam McKay (screenplay & story by) David Sirota (story by)

It starts as a comedy and satire, to be sure.  Scientists are warning of a meteorite that is plummeting toward earth that is sure to be a planetary killer.  Politicians are doing what they do - weighing how to save the earth while simultaneously delivering for their donors who would like to figure out a way to make money from the meteor's resources, and then finally, how to get the masses on their side.  How to sew discord among the people who are told there probably isn't even a meteor and that it's the liberal agenda combined with the "lamestream media" trying to dupe you into believing them, distracting from the plain truth in front of them.  When the meteor is suddenly visible from space, they are told not to look up into the sky so that they can continue to believe the lie.

It's true, I was laughing for most of the movie until it just felt too real and I just got nauseous.  The parallels are hard, so hard to watch.  There is even a moment when scientists figure out a way to launch missiles which would blow up the meteor and saving the earth, and the rockets are turned around for a wealthy CEO (a Jeff Bezos type) who wants to see if there are ways to profit from exploring the meteor's resources.  I heard an interview with Oscar nominated Adam McKay, and it's clear that they started to work on this film as a metaphor for climate change, and then COVID came along as the life-imitating art-imitating life reality.

The cast is great, the writing is whip smart, and frankly, it's the great liberal "I told you so" screw you mental masturbation so very targeted at those who are anti-science, easily duped by trite phrases and rallies.  But the I told you so seems less satisfying in the face of earth's actual destruction.  All I could think about as the movie concluded was my wise friend Steve Serpas' brilliant saying, "Understanding is the boobie prize."  Sure, they were right all along.  Sure, the media carried the talking points and never did any real analysis.  Sure, people could have easily fixed it by caring more about each other than individual rights or than doing their "own research" with no expertise to evaluate that "research."  But does any of that matter when the entire planet is dead?

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THE LEGO MOVIE - 1 nomination

Best Song - Everything is Awesome, Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson

In The Lego Movie, Chris Pratt voices Emmett, an ordinary construction worker who plays by the rules of society.  Elizabeth Banks voices Wild Style, a rebel who is convinced that Emmet fulfills a prophecy of being "the special," or the person who holds the key to saving the Lego universe by stopping Lord Business (Will Farrell) from freezing everyone into place.  As Emmett and Wild Style pursue a way to foil Lord Business' evil plans, they pick up assorted Lego characters as they travel the many neighborhoods of the Lego galaxy.

The Lego Movie was one of my favorite movies of the year, and for sure one of my favorite animated movies of the year.  (Color me a little bitter that it wasn't nominated for Animated Feature.)  It was funny and did an amazing job of pulling from all of our favorite Lego sets - there is an amazing scene where all of the Lego representatives come together and it seems like everyone who is anyone in the Lego world appears.  The cast of actors include everyone from Morgan Freeman to Alison Brie, Jonah Hill to Will Forte, and half the fun is figuring out who is playing whom.  

Everything Is Awesome is the nominated song that is meant to represent the nature of the Lego society - that is, group above individualism and rigorous adherence to the "way it's meant to be done" over exploring new ideas.  However, it is simply impossible to get the song out of your head once you've gotten it in.  (Watch the youtube clip at your own earworm peril!)  While I don't think it will win this year, I do love the song, because, well, everything about it IS awesome!

One more note about The Lego Movie - this film had every chance of feeling like a big product placement commercial for Legos.  The fact that it was a great film with an authentic story and a genuine lesson only speaks to how well it was done.  I recommend it most highly.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 - 1 nomination

Animated Feature - Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold

Hiccup and Toothless are back and now that they have made peace between Vikings and Dragons, they have moved on to exploring the world.  The find an ice cave filled with amazing dragons and something even more significant - Hiccup's mother appears who we thought long dead.  Together, they must all protect the dragons from the evil Drago who wants to control the dragon species and therefore, the world.  All of Hiccup's friends are back in this sequel, which means we get to hear from the likes of TJ Miller (ahem, in TWO Oscar nominated animated films), Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, and they all bring the funny that they brought in the first installment of this story.  Also a key plot point in the film is the deep control that the alpha dragon has over all dragons, and whether friendship and love are enough to overcome one's DNA - can Toothless surmount his dragon programming and remember his bond with his best friend?  Is it fair to hold Toothless accountable for actions he committed while under the alpha dragon's spell, or are there some things that are simply unforgivable?

These are the themes that fill How to Train Your Dragon 2, while also being a visually stunning work of animation.  The story is compelling, the characters are well drawn and surprisingly complex for an animated film, and it's just a delight to watch.  Of course, dragon anthropologists may dispute some of the details of the dragon portrayals and the descendants of the evil dragon in the film have yet to issue comment, but overall, I'd call it a terrific film well worth the watch.