It’s time for the Oscars, and The Movie Gourmet will be rooting for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Parasite, which lead my Best Movies of 2019. I’ll be rooting for Adam Driver (actor), Brad Pitt (supporting actor), Laura Dern (supporting actress), Bong Joon Ho or Quentin Tarantino (director and original screenplay) and Taika Waititi (adapted screenplay for Jojo Rabbit).
Roger Deakins should win the cinematography Oscar for 1917; overall, I wasn’t impressed with 1917, except for the technical achievements, so I would be OK with 1917 winning some technical Oscars. I haven’t yet seen the favorite for best documentary, American Factory, which is streamable.
If Honeyland or The Joker win anything, I will become nauseous. If 1917 takes Best Picture, it will be projectile vomit.
OUT NOW
- The masterpiece Parasite explores social inequity, first with hilarious comedy, then evolving into suspense and finally a shocking statement of the real societal stakes. This is one of the decade’s best films.
- Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson are brilliant in Noah Baumbach’s career-topping Marriage Story. A superb screenplay, superbly acted, Marriage Story balances tragedy and comedy with uncommon success. Marriage Story is streaming on Netflix.
- Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman is tremendous, and features performances by Al Pacino and Joe Pesci that are epic, too. It’s streaming on Netflix.
- Uncut Gems is a neo-noir in a pressure cooker. Adam Sandler channels a guy racing through a gambling addiction and the resultant financial desperation. It’s the most wire-to-wire movie tension in years.
- Rian Johnson’s Knives Out turns a drawing room murder mystery into a wickedly funny send-up of totally unjustified entitlement.
- Refusing to play it safe, director Francisco Meirelles elevates The Two Popes from would have been a satisfying acting showcase into a thought-provoker. It’s streaming on Netflix.
- 1917 is technically groundbreaking, but the screenplay neither thrilled me nor moved me.
- The earnest documentary Honeyland failed to keep me interested.
ON VIDEO
The character-driven suspenser The Gift is more than a satisfying thriller – it’s a well-made and surprisingly thoughtful film that I keep mulling over. The Gift is available to rent on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and to stream from Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
Turner Classic Movies continues its 31 Days of Oscar on February 8 with Atlantic City, one of only 43 movies that have been nominated for all of the Big Five Oscars (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay). Susan Sarandon plays Sally, a hard luck waitress in Atlantic City at its shabbiest. She’s never met anyone like her neighbor Lou (Burt Lancaster), an elderly small-time hood, who behaves as if he’s mob royalty, despite the fact that he lives across the alley from Sally. Despite his station, Lou has the confidence that comes from having seen every situation before. Sally’s nogoodnik ex entangles the two in a life or death drug buy. Top rate.
REMEMBRANCE
Here’s my tribute to Kirk Douglas.