Now that we have the shorts out of the way, it’s time to discuss the big guns, the feature films that that will compete for Oscar gold this Sunday. I’ve got to be honest: I watched most of these in a marathon before the actual nominations were announced. Normally, I’d have been all over the new releases when they came out, but…well, you know.
Most of my predictions for what would be nominated were correct, some weren’t, and in some cases I was pleasantly surprised. For example, Jena Friedman, a comic whose Soft Focus specials for Adult Swim I absolutely loved, got co-nominated for her writing work on Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the title of which Priyanka Chopra Jonas unfortunately had to read in full while presenting the nominations. As I’d expected, Mank cleaned up with ten nominations, and if my predictions are also correct, it will barely win any of them.
Of the better known of the nominees, Nomadland is the clear frontrunner for me in general, having already racked up a ton of award wins, and in my opinion a Best Picture Oscar is in the cards. Minari and Promising Young Woman have also been winning big, the latter being an unexpected awards contender. Not that I didn’t think it was good, but it’s not the kind of movie I typically expect to see at awards season, and that I’m always pleasantly surprised to see there when it is. Sound of Metal is looking like a major contender for the acting awards, while the late Chadwick Boseman may win Best Actor in a Leading Role for his powerful final performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Now, let’s get to the best feature films of this year, those that you may not have seen but absolutely should, whether they win or not. Typically, the highest quality films are mainly nominated in the International and Documentary categories, and this year is no different. Frankly, I consider these films to be some of the best films of the year overall, on par with if not better than many of the Best Picture nominations.
Let’s first look at the documentary selections. Alexander Nanau’s Collective is also not only my favorite of the documentary nominations, it may in fact be one of the best films nominated overall. Collective chronicles a group of Romanian sports reporters investigating the aftermath of a nightclub fire, as dozens of survivors begin dying under suspicious circumstances. The truth they uncover is bigger and more horrifying than they ever could’ve imagined. I don’t want to reveal too much about this film (truly one of the most stunning pieces of documentary cinema I’ve seen recently), but I hope it gets seen by as many people as possible. This was originally slated to be released stateside in May 2020, before those plans were derailed by the pandemic. Had Collective come out under normal circumstances, I would’ve seen it as a testament to the power and necessity of dedicated journalism, but in the wake of the pandemic it gains a new dimension that makes this film one that is absolutely not to be missed. I can only hope the Academy agrees.
If they disagree, though, my next guess for the Best Documentary winner would be Amazon’s Time. The film follows entrepreneur Fox Rich as she campaigns over two decades to get her husband Rob released from prison for a burglary they committed together in the early 1990s. Mixing her video diaries over time with footage shot in the present day, all presented in gorgeous black and white, the film presents a portrait not only of one woman’s quest to see her husband released, but the passage of time in relation to one’s family.
Netflix’s Crip Camp is another documentary film that, while I don’t expect it to win, I also think shouldn’t be missed. An astonishing true story of social justice, the film begins with the story of a summer camp in the early 70s in Berkeley for people with disabilities. Those who attend the camp finally feel they have a place where they belong, but when the summer ends and they have to return to their sobering regular lives, the camp members begin a fight for civil rights that takes them to the nation’s capital. Crip Camp is an inspiring, empowering, and captivating movie that must be seen to be believed.
Finally, Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher is one I did hear being talked about a bit at the time of release, but if you haven’t seen the film, now is the best time, as it’s up for an Oscar. The film follows filmmaker Craig Foster who, while diving in a South African kelp forest, bonds with an octopus that changes his worldview. One thing all these films have in common is that they feature ordinary people (or octopi) who find themselves in real-life stories that are as engaging as fictional dramas. I think that’s the beauty at the heart of documentaries: you never know what will happen if you decide to just start filming.
For the international films, I have heard some say that Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round may take home the gold statuette. The film is about a group of teachers who decide to improve their lives in a decidedly unorthodox way: based on the writing of an obscure philosopher who believed humans are born with a deficit of alcohol in their blood, they each drink during the day to see if they perform better in life. The comedy that results from this premise quickly gives way to poignant drama. While I don’t agree that it should win, it’s easy to see how it could. Vinterberg has been nominated before, and the film has racked up a considerable amount of awards. Another film I would definitely keep an eye on is Derek Tsang’s Better Days, which has also been highly awarded; it’s also a film I liked considerably more than Another Round. Better Days follows a bright but bullied (and I mean bullied) student who befriends a street punk who agrees to protect her, until a shocking development threatens their relationship. It’s part social issue drama, part gritty crime movie, and part love story, all wrapped in what feels like the darkest anti-bullying afterschool special ever made.
My pick for the best of the international films, though, is, again, Collective, which follows last year’s nominee Honeyland as the second nomination double-header in both the international and documentary categories. Also highly acclaimed was Quo Vadis, Aida?, the intense story of a translator in 1990’s war-torn Bosnia working at a UN refugee camp who attempts to save her family. The film maintains a sense of urgency throughout, led by an outstanding performance by Jasna Djuricic.
There is one more nominee for best international film, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin, which I highly enjoyed. The film takes place in 2011 and is the story of Sam, a Syrian refugee who flees to Lebanon. An art collector agrees to give Sam a visa on one condition: he will have it tattooed on his back in order to become a living art exhibition. Sam travels to prestigious museums around the world with his visa tattoo, but at the cost of becoming a commodity. Mixing great performances with some absolutely brutal satire, the film is bound to be unlike many other Oscar nominees you may have seen. My main complaint is with the ending, which even with the film’s bizarre premise tested my suspension of disbelief. That said, those who want some truly adventurous cinema should check it out.
There are two more films I’d like to discuss. First, if you haven’t seen Florian Zeller’s The Father, you absolutely should. Not only is it nominated for six Oscars, but it is truly one of the best films of last year. I’m sure there are those out there who heard that this film was about a father who starts succumbing to dementia and wrote this off as an acclaimed but stereotypical Oscar weeper (looking at you, Bill Maher). However, don’t be fooled. In fact, The Father was absolutely nothing like I expected, a stunning achievement that I honestly cannot easily put into words. This is because the impact of the film is purely cinematic, using many, many filmmaking tricks to achieve its emotional impact. I was personally floored. The Father’s star Anthony Hopkins is easily one of the contenders for the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and I believe that The Father could also take home the awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Production Design. I currently don’t have this one ranked highly in my predictions, it having earned far more nominations than wins at various earlier awards events, but I will say you shouldn’t be surprised if this one causes some upsets.
Finally, I’d like to bring up one film that I wish could win something, I really do, but barring a miracle I don’t think it will: Thom Moore’s Wolfwalkers. It’s currently nominated only for Best Animated Feature, but it’s easily one of the best films of last year. Wolfwalkers follows a young girl in 17th century Ireland who wants to hunt wolves like her father, but after an encounter with the wolfwalkers, werewolf-like beings who live in the forest, she begins to question her town’s fear of wolves. There’s a lot about this film I could gush over, from its beautiful scenery, to its action and drama, to the absolutely breathtaking 2D animation (look out for the amazing “Wolfvision” sequences, a hand-crafted achievement in the age of computers). The truth is, though, that the Best Animated Feature award almost certainly has Soul’s name on it. Look, I absolutely loved Soul, and I don’t think it shouldn’t win just because it’s a Pixar-produced juggernaut of a film (not to mention that it and Wolfwalkers are the only two of the nominated five I think deserve the award). I just don’t want Wolfwalkers to be overshadowed if it loses, and I feel animated films still don’t have enough respect compared to their live-action brethren. However, that’s another blog post for another time.
Well, there are my thoughts on the competing films that deserve your attention, especially since some are going to win regardless. Which ones? We’ll all find out Sunday.
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