Though I'd thought I wouldn't, I've ended up finding time to watch a fair few of the Oscar-related films this year.
Haven't seen The Father or Judas and the Black Messiah yet, as they're both still a bit pricey to get hold of, but I've seen Minari, Nomadland, Mank, The Trial of the Chicago 7, One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Sound of Metal, Promising Young Woman. I even started Tenet last night, which currently seems like a parody. We'll see.
I'm not, in general, an Oscars hater. Far from it. Though there are baffling decisions and mishaps and though there clearly has been years of bias which it is only fitting to try to redress, I do also think that each year, the Oscars usually puts up for contention some excellent films. It's not like the Grammys or the Brits which, to me, have no actual relationship to what is "good". I don't think there are that many actual bad films that make it to the Best Picture shortlist.
Saying that, in an ordinary year, maybe several of this year's films wouldn't have made the shortlist... who knows?
Minari, Nomadland and Sound of Metal felt almost like a trilogy to me, though their similarities were coincidental - all about people living in temporary accommodation, experiencing loss and trying to gain something, about illness/disability, all showing America as a beautiful, frightening country, all showing glimpses of the compassion of strangers/new friends.
I think Minari was probably my favourite, surprisingly hilarious and heartwarming. But McDormand and Riz Ahmed were both superb in the other two.
Maybe next year, the Oscars will be more "back to normal" but I was pretty impressed, even in this strange year, at the crop of films they've brought attention to.
Though, saying all that, Palm Springs was better than all of them ...
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