You know what’s a great distraction from the stuff of every day life? Movies. Oh boy do I love the movies! Yesterday the nominees for the 92nd Oscars were announced and I watched it live with pencil and paper in hand, ready to update the list of movies I need to see.
Now. I’ve been doing this whole see-all-the-best-picture-nominees for many many years and I already had a pretty exhaustive list of potential nominees (courtesy of Kym this year since my head wasn’t in the game last month) but it’s so exciting to create the actual list of nominated films. It’s also exciting to know that I’ve already seen several and I’ve got a plan of attack for seeing (most) of the rest.
Of the Best Picture nominated movies I have seen four total: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, A Marriage Story, Little Women, and 1917. I have also seen Bombshell, which was not nominated in the Best Picture category but Charlize Theron was nominated in the Best Actress Category, Margot Robbie was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress Category and the movie also received a nomination for Makeup and Hairstyling. The Best Picture nominated movies also received nominations in other categories. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was nominated in ten categories total, A Marriage Story received six nominations, Little Women had a total of six nominations and 1917 came in with ten nominations.
It should be easy enough to see the other Best Picture nominees except for one. The Irishman is on Netflix, JoJo Rabbit, Joker and Parasite are already (or will be) on Amazon before the Oscar show. Ford v. Ferrari will be trickier. It’s currently in the theater but it’s not playing near me. And by near me I mean somewhere less than 45 minutes away and other than Boston because parking. Sometimes when a movie is nominated for Best Picture the release becomes wider and I’m hoping that will be the case with this movie. (Cross your fingers for me please.) I’d also like to see some of the other movies that have been nominated for various categories and are available for watching at home like Harriet, The Two Popes, Judy, The Lighthouse, and Pain and Glory. I’m hoping to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood but, like Ford v. Ferrari it’s not playing near me so we shall see on that one.
I don’t have any predictions yet since I haven’t seen all of the movies but I will say that I have enjoyed the 4 that I have seen and think they are all worthy of being in this group. We just saw 1917 on Sunday and wooo boy is it intense! Little Women is charming and although I’ve heard some people don’t like what they did with the timeline I have to say that for me it kept it fresh and I enjoyed it immensely. A Marriage Story is an utterly realistic portrayal of the disintegration of a relationship. Finally, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is fascinating and an incredible blend of fantasy and history.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this years race to the Oscars!
Thanks for the reminder that I want to see Ford vs.Ferrari. I still miss the days when Oscar night meant Spring was here with the stars in their sunglasses in the California sun. Geez, I’m old.
I’m crossing my fingers for a wider distribution of Ford v. Ferrari! I’m not a big moviegoer, but I would go see that one. I looked for a theater where it was showing last weekend but wasn’t willing to drive 60 min. (I have the book on my list, but Matt Damon isn’t in the book!) Same with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, so I hope we get opportunities to see them soon.
I’m in the minority in that I don’t really enjoy going to movies. I’d rather watch at home. But even at home I tend to get fidgety and even bored. Having said that though, there are a few I’d like to see. I did watch the Irishman on Thanksgiving and loved it (super strange that I loved a 3.5 hour movie!!).
I had hoped to see a more diverse group this year – but I knew that was an epic fail when #SoWhiteOscars was trending on Twitter yesterday. We don’t typically go to see movies.
Seen: Little Women (very engaging, plus so many knittable garments!); Two Popes (surprisingly interesting); and Beautiful Day in the neighborhood (not really about Mr. Rogers.) Hope to see JoJo. There’s so much angst, turmoil, division, tragedy, and foreboding in the world today, I will not seek it out for entertainment!
I saw Little Women last week with Kate & Al and we LOVED it! Lots of tears. Our only main issue was that we thought Timothée Chalamet seemed a bit young as Laurie (especially with the timeframe) (he did not/does not age)… and, according to Ali, Christian Bale is THE ONLY/BEST LAURIE!! EVER! Haha! (In contrast, we thought Gabriel Byrne was a bit old for the role of Friedrich Bhaer in that version.)
I usually don’t end up seeing many of the nominees until after the Oscars (i.e., when they’re available to rent/stream) because I so rarely get to the movie theater. I did see Little Women this year — it was our Christmas Day movie — and really liked it, and I’m a bit ticked that Greta Gerwig didn’t get nominated for best director. I also saw A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood because my husband is on the board of our local PBS station, which also happens to be the station where Mr. Rogers was filmed, and they did a local premiere as a fundraiser. I’m glad to hear that a lot of these are or will soon be available online, because there are several that I’d like to see before the awards are given out!
So much to watch…so little time! I thought Little Women was great. Hoping to catch a few before the show…and I’m disappointed with the lack of diversity too. It. Just. Keeps. Happening.
I loved Jojo Rabbit–it’s such a unique, weird vision of a Nazi movie. A Marriage Story was wonderfully heartbreaking. Loved the Two Popes. Though Little Women was incredible (Greta was robbed in the Directors nomination)–though why was Frederick French?. I thought the Irishman was good but ennnnnndless. They could have cut an hour out of it easily. Haven’t seen Ford V Ferrari, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, or Harriet (which I am eager to see) yet. No interest in Judy, but now I feel like I HAVE to watch the Joker.
I hate to say it, but the last several years I have become disenchanted with the Oscars. I feel like the movies have gone downhill a bit due to overseas distribution being the big money maker. But, I do love a good movie, so I will be watching to see when they become available in a format and location that I can see.
Sending all the good movie vibes your way to see Ford v. Ferrari. Movies aren’t my thing and movies about cars (although folks who have seen it promise it’s about way more than that!) aren’t either … but I have heard GREAT things about it! I might be seeing Frozen 2 on Monday. Did it garner any nominations? 😉
I did see The Irishman and A Marriage Story. I enjoyed the Irishman but it does have violence. I so wished some of those actors would have received an award at the earlier award shows. I thought Marriage Story was a little off!! Now I need to find time to watch some others before the Oscars. I enjoy reading your blog and seeing the photos you post. You and Dale have a very happy life. survivor972002@midco.net
The only one of the best movie nominees I have seen is “Judy” but I LOVED it. It’s a sad movie as it takes place in a very sad time in Judy Garland’s life, but Renee Z is fabulous as Judy. I recommend this one! Hope to see some of the others, either before or after the Oscars.
So many good movies nominated this year! I had been planning on taking my dad to see Ford v. Ferrari at the Imax theater for months before it came out. He got sick just as it came out and we never did get to go. Afterwards I didn’t have the heart to go watch without him. But now I want to see it, and it’s not playing anywhere close! I wish I had gone when I could have. We loved Little Women and 1917 is next on our list.
When I was in high school my boyfriend and I would sometimes get to see 2 movies on the weekends. Of course, these were the cheesy 80s movies and I’m not even sure any of them won Oscars! I will say Ford v. Ferrari is fabulous so hopefully you’ll have a chance to see it. We don’t get out to the movies much anymore so seeing FvF was a real treat. I do want to see the Mr. Roger’s movie, but my husband wasn’t a fan of the show as a kid, so I’ll probably be on my own on that one. 1917-did look interesting as well. Look forward to your run down on this year’s nominations.