Greyhound - 1 nomination

Best Sound
Warren Shaw 
Michael Minkler 
Beau Borders 
David Wyman 

Tom Hanks plays Captain Krause, a new US Navy commander in World War 2 attempting to cross an unprotected piece of the ocean, the "Black Pit," bringing much-needed supplies to allied troops in Europe. The ship is part of a caravan of allied ships and they are of course attacked by German submarines.  Captain Krause has incredible instincts for battle and is the perfect commander - tough, kind, appreciative, knows the names of his crew, and maybe a little too perfect for a character.  (When the crew successfully defends the ship and blows up a German submarine, Captain Krause refuses to celebrate because the Germans who died were also souls in the world... what a beautiful and probably unrealistic portrayal - a little too goody goody for my taste.). The film has the requisite super kind kitchen crewman with the super special relationship with the Captain killed in battle, and with some exceptions, is basically a series of naval battles with submarines.  I mean A. LOT. OF. BATTLES. which are no doubt based on the true story but making the film less than engaging.

On the other hand, the sound is noticeably magnificent, even for an amateur like me who probably normally couldn't tell the difference.  As I have noted in prior years, war films do very well in the sound category because of the many layers of sound required in every scene.  Now that Sound Mixing and Sound Editing have merged into one category, you can easily imagine the layers of dialogue, booming sound effects, music, and ambient sound all layered into the major moments of the film.  But, the movie isn't good enough to be labeled "Academy Award nominee," and I don't really recommend it.

Watch the trailer here.

We're just two days away from the Oscars, so you still have time to download and listed to our 2 Movie Jews bonus episode on the nominees!  Here's the link or you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more. 

 

News of the World - 4 nominations

 

Best Sound Oliver Tarney  Mike Prestwood Smith  William Miller  John Pritchett

Best Achievement in Production Design David Crank (production design)  Elizabeth Keenan (set decoration)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) James Newton Howard

Best Achievement in Cinematography Dariusz Wolski

I really wanted to love it.  It has all the right elements - who doesn't love Tom Hanks? Who doesn't love a period piece? Who doesn't love adventure?

Here's a movie where Captain Kidd (who doesn't love a character named Captain Kidd?) agrees to take a girl back to the place where her only living relatives reside.  She has been through hell - first her parents were murdered by the Kiowa Native Americans who kidnapped her, then the people who became her Kiowa family also died.  Captain Kidd is a civil war veteran who travels around the country to read the news to the illiterate masses, making him an experienced traveler and the perfect person to bring this girl to another place to call home.  She doesn't want to go and they don't really speak the same language.  As if that scenario isn't challenging enough, there are also nefarious characters out in the old west, and Captain Kidd must protect his charge at all costs.

It wasn't a bad movie, per se, but it was slow.  Even the moments that should have been exciting felt very one-note.  The bad guys are just really bad guys, and their dialogue could well have been, "I'm a bad guy.  This is me saying bad guy things."  This movie was not my favorite but if you have nothing else to do, it's what I would call "good enough."  Nothing to prioritize.

Watch the trailer here.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - 1 nomination

Supporting Actor - Tom Hanks

This is not a biopic of Mr. Rogers.  This is a film of a troubled reporter, Lloyd Vogel, trying to deal with his own personal baggage, and the unexpected kindness and friendship of Fred Rogers who he had been sent to profile for an article.  The movie is based on the real life Vogel and his real life friendship with Mr. Rogers, but it is unclear how much - if any - of the details in the film are true.  But it doesn't matter. What is portrayed so beautifully is the essence of Mr. Rogers, and it is done in a way that creatively uses the familiar style of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.  We see Fred at the back end of his career in the later stages of his life, and we even get a glimpse into Rogers' own struggles with anger - remnants of a difficult childhood and how he evolved as a person to deal with his demons.  What Hanks does that is so memorable is embody the epitome of the man who appeared on our television sets.

This is not the story of Mr. Rogers' life.  This is one story of how Mr. Rogers impacted others' lives.  Whether the exact details of narrative are factual or not is irrelevant.  The movie feels true, and it feels true because of Tom Hanks' performance in the film.  We already know that he is a flawless actor.  It would be imprecise to say that this is the first time that he has played a real person, but it's fair to say that this is the first time he truly became (another) real person.  (That scene changing his shoes; it's eerie.)

Of course, without a doubt, there is only one thing to recommend if you liked this film... and even if you didn't like this film (because you didn't think it was enough about Mr. Rogers himself.)

Here's the trailer:

The Post - 2 nominations

Best Picture, Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger
Actress in a Leading Role, Meryl Streep

"The press was to serve the governed, not the governors."  One can hardly think of a more timely quote from the famous opinion of the majority upholding The Washington Post's decision to publish the Pentagon papers against the express wishes of the Nixon White House.  This dramatic telling of the history of the media and their difficult decision about whether to publish is the heart of the The Post.

Interestingly, the working title (almost until release) of this film was "The Papers" and not "The Post."  I applaud the decision to change the title and here's why - it's almost irrelevant WHAT they were struggling to publish, and absolutely critical to understand that for Kathryn Graham, a wrong decision could mean the ruining of her family's prized possession, The Washington Post publication.  Not only that, but should the courts have ruled against them, that could have made the editors and owners guilty of a felony, a classification which means that her company couldn't own tv stations - the very product that was bringing in a vast income for her family's business.  So the consequences of a wrong decision was very real.  With the now famous words, "let's go," (that's real according to both Bradlee and Graham in interviews when they were alive) Kathryn Graham demonstrated the kind of leadership and courage rarely credited to women in the early 70's, and Graham herself credits this moment in her own history as one that brought her to the women's movement (among many others, including being sued by women reporters at another of their publications, Newsweek.) 

Meryl Streep (deemed an overrated actress by our President), earns her 21st Oscar nomination with this film, and as usual, she deserves it.  By the way, that is the highest number of nominations for ANY actor, man or woman, by 9 nominations.  (Jack Nicholson in second place with 12 nominations.)  For me, watching her evolution from the woman thrust into a power position she didn't want for which the men in her business gave her little respect, to a woman who tells Bob McNamara, "I'm seeking your advice, not your permission," (perhaps a real quote, perhaps not) is one that made me cheer in my seat.

Then, we see the excellent portrayal of Ben Bradlee by Tom Hanks.  To learn more about Bradlee, I highly recommend the documentary, "The Newspaperman: Ben Bradlee," which portrays a dogged editor who desperately wants to improve the quality of the newspaper, and who lives the Kathryn Graham philosophy that quality breeds profit.

The Post is another "Apollo 13" film - we know the outcome, and yet the film has us at the edges of our seats.  I thought it was not only one of the best films of this year, but was also one of the most important as we strive to learn from our own history.  If you watch the film and aren't compelled to have at least one conversation about how it applies today, I think you've perhaps missed the point.

Sully - 1 nomination

Sound Mixing - Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Surely you already know the story of Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger who heroically landed a plane in the Hudson to save all of the passengers on board after birds flew into and knocked out several of its engines.  This film dramatizes that landing and the investigation that took place in its aftermath by the National Travel Safety Board.  The story shows officials' suspicions that the landing was actually a result of pilot error.  It's an intense film and the best part of the movie was when they showed what transpired in the cockpit while the emergency was taking place.  Tom Hanks was on everyone's "will be nominated for Lead Actor" list.  I wouldn't have been surprised to see it on a possible Best Picture list.

But here's the part that you only find out when you do a little research on your own.  The bulk of the story focuses on what feels like a witch hunt to prove that the pilots were at fault. The dramatic hearings squarely depict seemingly disappointed NTSB officials who, upon realizing that there was no pilot error, must begrudgingly admit that he is innocent of the charges.  This never happened. There was indeed an NTSB investigation as is required of all flights that have disastrous or near-disastrous endings.  By all accounts, the report that the NTSB issued following the investigation praised Sully for saving the passengers and crew. And the simulations that are depicted in the film to demonstrate pilot error?  Well, in real life, they only predicted an ability to get to another airport in about half of the attempts.

I know I say this with at least one film every year.  Narrative movies are not documentaries.  Filmmakers have no obligation to show you the events as they occurred.  They have no obligation to do research, to show a balanced view of the actual story, or to deliver anything other than entertainment.  (I say this now and well in advance of my forthcoming review of "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," which will surely be more controversial.)  To take biographic films as gospel of real life events is an error in judgement.  

So, while I enjoyed the film and the sound mixing is terribly well done,  I am glad that this film didn't become the official narrative of the amazing Sully Sullenberger.  The truth of his story will always be more impressive and more heroic than this film could ever depict.