Cutting Through Rocks - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Sara Khaki,Mohammadreza Eyni

This film was completely unexpected. Sara Shahverdi is a different kind of woman living in a small town in Iran with a big family and an incredible work ethic. She runs for city council and not only does she win (the only woman in the entire list of 200 council members across all of Iran), she gets the highest number of votes, which also entitles her to the community’s stamp. She spends her days helping people, stamping legal documents, managing construction, riding her motorcycle and busting gender roles. This is not always welcome in her community, but her strong will and her ability to win people over are incredibly inspiring. Her personal crusade is not only to make people’s lives better, but specifically to help girls be safe, be educated, and to do more with their lives than they ever thought they could (and certainly more than getting married at age 10, 12, 15). What a warrior. But not everyone is on board with her ideas, and suddenly the state accuses her of having too much masculine energy and puts her under review, whose final outcome could be forced gender reassignment surgery. But don’t worry, Sara would never go down without a fight.

While I have never assumed that things in Iran were great for women, this film gives a deep dive into what communal attitudes are, and what it’s like when women have essentially no say in their own lives. Hardly shocking but certainly tragic, and one wonders how much farther that society would advance if they didn’t disempower literally half of their brain trust. What a fantastic documentary well worthy of your time.

Come See Me in the Good Light - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen

If you know me really well, you know the true delight I feel being able to congratulate genius comedian Tig Notaro on an Oscar nomination. So that alone was enough for me to be excited about this film, but then to meet and really learn about poet Andrea Gibson was the win of watching this film. Facing a difficult cancer, following her through the ups and downs of tumors shrinking then growing, seeing her manage her own grief but also experience that of her wife, and what it is to finish out one’s life while still having goals and joys and experiences - this film captures what sucks about dying and what is magnificent about living.

When you google Gibson’s poetry, you see beauty and laughter and insight and WOW, what a special human taken far too soon from the world. What I loved the most about this documentary is that it altered the “nearing death” genre and choosing to end the narrative before Andrea died, allowing us and those who knew her to remember her only as the very alive spirit that she was, and shielding us from the aftermath. This was the true brilliance of the documentary - it didn’t make death look easy, it didn’t make Andrea look angelic, but it absolutely made the point of the film to be the impact of life rather than the finality of death.

This was one of my favorite movies of this Oscars season, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is available on Apple Plus.

The Alabama Solution - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Documentary Feature: Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman

It’s one of the deadliest prison systems in the country, an inauspicious description to be sure, where violence, abuse, neglect, and death is ubiquitous. The film captures a number of stories of the worst kind of incidents, and while anyone would argue that prison is not meant to be summer camp, it is also not meant to be a death camp either. While we can’t know the full account, there are former prison guards who have corroborated some of the accusations, and in at least one case, a family’s pursuit of justice for their son is recounted. But the other fascinating part of this film is the sort of Norma Rae level organizing done from inside this prison where prisoner workers went on strike which spread throughout Alabama and beyond, where incarcerated people demanded better living conditions and better treatment.

Naturally, the Governor refused to accommodate any of the requests and moreover, also failed to investigate any of the accusations - despite the fact that illegal cell phones captured and smuggled out video evidence of the abysmal treatment.

Now here’s the challenge that lays before us, friends.

• It’s hard to find empathy for those who have committed evil acts, and yet should the state on behalf of the people of the state commit evil acts upon those who have committed evil acts to teach them not to commit evil acts?

• The law is the law, breaking the law is bad. Smuggling cell phones into prisons is illegal. Taking video evidence without consent is illegal in some states. What happens when illegal cell phones taking illegal video captures illegal behavior from the people who represent the law and not those breaking the law? Is it possible to keep from having one’s head explode with the conundrum of championing the breaking of the law against people who are jailed for breaking the law? (If that’s not an Ouroboros of a problem, I don’t know what is!)

The bottom line here is that this is an excellent documentary that you should watch. I don’t assume that documentaries always represent the full story nor the full truth, but this documentary does what the best of them do… it inspires us to at least want to learn more and to ask ourselves some hard questions that by any moral person would at least be thought provoking if not outright troubling. If you can live in a simple and happy land where this movie makes you shrug and say, “whatever, they broke the law, they deserved it,” then I hope no one in your orbit ever lands in an Alabama prison. (or any prison, for that matter.)

Weapons - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Madigan

Weapons is the perfect example of a movie that I would never have watched if there hadn’t been an Oscars nomination involved. I’m not a big fan of horror/psychological thriller, and I’m definitely out on jump scare movies. But the return of the brilliant Amy Madigan to the big screen was ample reward for braving the film, and what beautiful symbiosis to be nominated 40 years on the nose after her first nomination for a movie that I barely remember, and 37 years after Field of Dreams for which she deserved to be but wasn’t nominated at all (“It’s just like the 60’s!”)

The film begins with the disappearance of all but one of an entire class of children in a small town, and their teacher (Julie Garner) who becomes obsessed with finding them. When she visits the remaining child’s parents, it is clear that something is not quite right with them and she meets the mother’s aunt (Amy Madigan) who appears unwell but recovering and apparently there to take care of the child. As the teacher and the father (Josh Brolin) of one of the missing children get closer and closer to solving the mystery, this bizarre and particularly creepy aunt becomes more and more suspicious.

I have to admit that for all my protestations about having to watch the movie, I really enjoyed it. The cast was superb, the story was tight, and the scares were… well… not terribly scary (though more than sufficiently for my taste). It was more psychological thriller than horror film (thank goodness) and I was surprised and delighted at how good it was. It’s hardly a “don’t miss” but if you have a little time and HBO Max, I vote to see it. While Amy Madigan is not currently favored to win the category, her performance was strong and could grab an unexpected upset.

Song Sung Blue - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Hudson

Based on a true story, Song Sung Blue tells the heartwarming and equally heartbreaking story of Mike and Claire - otherwise known as Lightening and Thunder - who reinvent the celebrity impersonation genre building a following for Neil Diamond “essence.” They create such an outstanding stage show in Milwaukee that they make a name for themselves and get invited to open for Pearl Jam (which apparently, did actually happen!) As their stars are on the rise, tragedy strikes Claire as a car plows into her while she is just standing in front of the couple’s home, thrusting her into a deep depression as she battles her way back to normalcy.

Kate Hudson garnered her second Oscar nomination, this time for actress in a leading role and boy does she deserve it. It’s stunning that Hugh Jackman wasn’t recognized because the pair make the film what it is, and one without the other is like peanut butter without the jelly - good on its own, no question, but the magic that happens when together makes the whole better than the sum of its parts. I don’t know what it is that put her over the top without him, but the most important thing about Song Sung Blue garnering the single nomination is that I at least get the opportunity to invite you to see the film. If it does nothing more than remind more people that Neil Diamond’s music is so much more than Sweet Caroline (and hello Sulemon!), then the movie has more than done its job.

If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You - 1 nomination

 

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Rose Byrne

Doing it all gets a whole new meaning in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Rose Byrne plays a therapist whose child is dealing with an eating disorder and being nourished by a feeding tube, whose family has been displaced from their home due to a flood, whose husband is away on military duty, and whose patients need her in some healthy and sometimes toxic ways. Each one of these stressors would be more than enough, but they also come with a dose of guilt, shame, and plenty of judgement from others about how she “should” be managing them. If you’re anything like me, just reading that paragraph gave you a pang or two (or more) of discomfort, and boy does Rose Byrne play the life as most of us experience it - desperately wanting to do a good job, every success in one area is also a failure in others, and more than a modicum of sincere frustration and genuine anger.

The film has the chaos of Marty Supreme without all the funny parts, and certainly without any big wins. Nobody wants to live like that, and yet most who do have no choice and very little way out. How much can one person take without cracking up completely? That’s the question this movie grapples with, ironically with a therapist who can’t simply change her circumstances by simply changing her attitude. This film is both hauntingly familiar and disturbing enough to avoid if you can’t hack it. But if you do, you might just learn something important. (or you’ll have a movie to tell your friends/family, “JUST WATCH THIS, it will explain everything for me!”)

Sirat - 2 nomination

 

• Best International Feature Film: Spain

• Best Sound: Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas

A man and his young son are searching raves taking place in the desert looking for their daughter/sister who they haven’t seen in many months. She is an adult but still, they haven’t even heard from here and they are worried, walking around asking everyone they can if they remember seeing her. When the rave is raided by soldiers, they follow some “professional ravers” to another potential venue. The ravers warn them that they don’t have the right kind of vehicle to transverse the treacherous terrain, but they go nonetheless, determined to find their family member. There is something very suspicious about these ravers though, and we are always just a bit on edge while the three vehicles do what they can to stay together.

And then there is THAT moment. The moment when the movie you think you have been watching becomes a different movie entirely. A moment so dramatic and unexpected that the gasp I let out took a few minutes to subside. Those moments continue all the way to the very end of the picture, and it is for these twists and turns that I award Sirat my “hidden gem award.” Longtime readers of the blog know that the award is given every year to a film that I hadn’t even heard of before it was nominated for an Oscar, and then once seen it became one of my favorite and unforgettable movies of the year. For the reason, I highly suggest seeing Sirat. While it is not an easy film, it will not easily be forgotten.