Marriage Story - 6 nominations

Best Motion Picture of the Year - Noah Baumbach, David Heyman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Scarlett Johansson

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Adam Driver

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Laura Dern

Best Original Screenplay - Noah Baumbach

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) - Randy Newman

Marriage Story could just as easily be called "Divorce Story," except that it couldn't.  Let me explain.  At first glance, the film is about a couple who have come to the end of their marriage, but don't hate each other.  They want to act like grown ups and people who care about each other and their son, and they walk the tightrope between being true to that goal, and listening to their lawyers who have seen the worst in people and don't trust anybody.  These family lawyers are sharks, and they want their clients to behave as though the other is working clandestinely to screw their former spouses.  There are so many moments in the film that are powerfully  resonant, whether you have been through a divorce or not.  Small slights, annoyances, and aggressions that undermine each individual's call to his or her better nature, and each person's trust that the other will continue to be committed to their common goal to be decent through the worst of the separation.  These are behaviors that both spouses recognize as insidious as they do them!

Marriage Story hurts.  There is no good guy, there is no bad guy.  How frustrating to observe the deterioration of a marriage without severe animosity.  How hard not to have a protagonist nor an antagonist.  There is no one to root for and no one to root against.  That's a ballsy film.

Every actor in this film is wonderful, particularly Alan Alda who was not nominated.  Laura Dern is likely a lock for the win.  If I'm being honest, I would have happily taken Adam Driver out of the Best Actor competition in favor of Eddie Murphy for Dolemite is My Name, or Taryn Edgerton in Rocketman.  But Driver is on a sharp rise in Hollywood and his talents are clear.

I would be remiss for my fellow Oscars nerds if I failed to acknowledge that this is Randy Newman's 22nd Oscars nomination (he's won twice).  Newman is brilliant at creating songs and scores for film, and this score is no exception.  Though I don't believe that he will capture this one, I can say that his work is worthy of the top 5.

For a good juxtaposition of a divorce movie where there is a clear good guy and bad guy (sort of), you can watch Kramer vs Kramer, the Best Picture winner for 1979.  It won 5 Oscars, and I think was the first of the modern divorce tales in the Oscars mix.

Watch the trailer here:

Jojo Rabbit - 6 nominations

Best Motion Picture of the Year - Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Scarlett Johansson

Best Adapted Screenplay - Taika Waititi

Best Achievement in Costume Design - Mayes C. Rubeo

Best Achievement in Production Design - Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková

Best Achievement in Film Editing - Tom Eagles

I am so excited to talk about Jojo Rabbit, a farcical film about a young member of the Hitler Youth who discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their cupboard.  Meanwhile, little Jojo has an imaginary friend... Hitler himself!  A very different kind of Hitler, the kind who is basically a play companion with the same hopes and fears that Jojo shares.  The child's life is not a simple one - he is basically flunking out of Hitler youth, his sister has died, his father is gone, and he must rely on his mother to keep him safe.  She is secretly a member of the resistance, and how she gets Jojo to challenge his own assumptions before her secret guest is revealed is beautiful.  What if you were raised in a time and place where the conventional wisdom led to the horrors of the Holocaust?  Would you see it happening or would you accept what leaders are telling you?  How would you know the moment when leadership has turned the corner from popular to evil?  These are the questions that this satire explore in a variety of ways, and it seems particularly relevant in this time and place.

I was quite taken by Jojo Rabbit.  Some of the events that transpire are absurd.  It reminded me of a Sarah Silverman joke... Nazis, they might be evil but they are so cute when they are little.  (with apologies to Silverman for butchering her joke.) . There are so many small and big moments in this film, it is really hard not to be both entertained and provoked to thought.  I loved it.

And now for the other recommendation.  So far, I have shared books connected to the films, or other documentaries related to the nominee.  This time, I'm recommending another film by the extraordinarily talented Taika Waititi, and it's one you probably haven't seen.  Waititi wrote Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a film produced in New Zealand that is utterly charming and worth your time.  You can see what a talented writer TW is, and I bet you'll fall in love with this film as much as Jojo.  Waititi has a knack for finding children who are not actors and making them compelling, wonderful lead characters.  You'll enjoy both!

Watch the Jojo Rabbit trailer:

Dr. Strange and The Jungle Book - Visual Effects nominees

Dr. Strange

Visual Effects - Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli, and Paul Corbould

Another Marvel masterpiece, Dr. Strange follows the life of Stephen Strange, brilliant surgeon and total narcissist, who loses the precise use of his hands in a terrible accident.  He discovers a monastery in Kathmandu where he learns the ways of a mystical force that allows him to join a group of monks sworn to protect the world and combat the forces of evil.  The Visual Effects in this film are remarkable - a combination of Inception and Avatar in their mind blowing beauty.  When I first saw this film, my first comment when it concluded was, "this will be nominated for Visual Effects."  Plus, the narrative is captivating enough that even folks who have no affinity for superhero films will love it.  It's an incredible accomplishment.

The Jungle Book

Visual Effects - Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Dan Lemmon

We all know the story of The Jungle Book, and this film is one of Disney's attempts to remaking their animated stories into live action movies.  Little man-cub Mowgli has been raised by a pack of wolves, and when Shere Khan makes it clear that he intends to kill Mowgli if he doesn't leave the jungle, Mowgli must flee to safety among his own kind.  Along the way, he is escorted by his friend Bagheera, and they meet many characters along the way - some friendly like "Bare Necessities" appreciator big bear Baloo, and some dangerous like "Trust in Me" anaconda Kaa.  There is a truly standout performance by Christopher Walken as King Louie.  This film does justice to those of us who saw the original Jungle Book as children, and captivates those seeing this version as their first introduction.  The Visual Effects are spectacular and the animal wrangling incredibly impressive.  Even adults will love this film!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - 1 nomination

Visual Effects - Dan LeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a very satisfying film from the world of superhero movies.  It's another in the Marvel series featuring solo projects for The Avengers, and it hits on all levels.  The visual effects are certainly marvelous, though no more of a standout than any of The Avengers films along the way.  It's a superhero movie, we know that the effects are going to be superb, so this nomination is hardly surprising, though I don't know how the Academy chooses from among the obvious choices.

The story is a fun one, with Captain America doing his best to fight a mysterious enemy and the super villain group HYDRA, who seem to have infiltrated the good guys at SHIELD.  When Director Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is gunned down, he warns our hero to trust no one in the organization. Nonetheless, he partners with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a new friend, The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), to root out the evil, which he discovers to be closer to home and his own past than he expected.

Even though I'm a huge fan of all of the Marvel films, I have to admit that there is one element that always puzzles me.  Captain America, in this film, is fighting a big baddie who threatens the safety and vitality of the world.  Why doesn't he get on the phone at some point and ask his buddy Iron Man to come help out?  Ok, Thor is in another dimension, so he may not have cell service and the Hulk is likely off somewhere picking out clothes that go well with his shade of green, but if a threat this big is facing the world, you don't have time for a two minute phone call?

We may never know the answer to this question, but what we do know is that for a fun, popcorn movie, Captain America is a winner.  You can check out the trailer here: