-
-
share-
shareI came close to seeing "Arrival" and "Hacksaw Ridge" but never got around to it. Heard that both of them were really good though.
share-
shareOkay. I did see the documentary "O.J.: Made In America." It was a pretty interesting take on the Simpson case. I also followed the TV mini-series on FX "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" which was also very well received. I'd highly recommend both to anyone interested in this case, as I thought that they were very well done.
As for the rest of these titles, any of them that I missed I usually end up getting caught up with by mid-year or so.
-
shareThe documentary itself is divided into five "parts" so it is quite lengthy. Despite its runtime, it was well worth it for me, though, as I actually learned a few things that I never knew about the now infamous case before. The same can be said about the FX series as well. Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Sarah Paulson really shined in that series, along with some other members of the cast as well. Although I just read an article from "People" online that mentioned that Cuba Gooding Jr. is "relieved" that the series is over based off the fact that it put him in a "dark" place often time. He even had his pastor pray for him to "renew" his spirit too. Sounds like it was understandably rough for some of them. You'd never know it, though, based off their exceptional performances.
shareI've seen Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Jackie, La La Land, Lion, and Manchester by the Sea. I have every intention of seeing Moonlight when it's available here. I enjoyed all of them except for La La Land.
shareBest Picture Nominees
Have seen all except "Fences"
First of all I think that none of the best picture nominess fall into the "high rewatchability" category
Arrival - 7/10
- great atmosphere & direction
- I didn´t like the moral choices of Louise ...
- ... they are thought provoking though
- in a nutshell: style over substance
Hacksaw Ridge - 7/10
- impressive battle scenes
- even liked the 1st half of the movie lots of people were bitching about
- don´t get all the praise for Garfield´s performance though
- sometimes a bit too preachy although the Christian angle of the movie could have been handled far worse
- ending was great
Hell or High Water - 8/10
- just a well made movie all around
- stellar performances of everyone involved, especially Chris Pine took me by surprise
Hidden Figures - 6/10
- too much of a typical Hollywood movie
- many historical inaccuracies for the sake of dramatic effect
- except for a few scenes Henson´s performance was pretty average
- use of contemporary music took me out of the movie
- I´m thankful that I got introduced to the story behind the movie though
La La Land - 6/10
- first of all I have to admit that I´m biased when it comes to Musicals because I generally dislike them (except for "Blues Brothers" - if that counts)
- Damien Chazelle would deserve Best Director Award, direction certainly is the best thing about the movie
- music is average at best - hated the first two songs - "City of Stars" is lackluster & overused
- John Legend songs also nothing to write home about
- Best scene in the movie for me is hands down the Pool Party sequence with the cover band
- I generally liked the non-musical/dialogue scenes
- again: I respect all the talent involved, this is a well crafted movie but story-wise & dramatically it´s nothing special
Lion - 7.5/10
- very good soundtrack
- It took me 10-15 minutes to get into the movie but then I was invested till the very end
- generally good acting performances ...
- ... Dev Patel was hit and miss though - didn´t deserve the Best Supporting Actor nod for sure
- very moving, especially towards the end
Moonlight - 7.5/10
- beautiful direction - despite the content just a beautiful movie to look at
- again, great acting - I hope that Maherrshala Ali gets the Oscar - would have been great if he´d had more scenes
- Naomie Harris would be a deserved winner as well
- first two thirds are near perfect
- last third is pretty weak compared to the other two
Manchester by the Sea - 8/10
- loved the realism
- solid to even great acting from the majority of the cast
- although the story doesn´t leave much room for comedy the movie made me smile from time to time
Other movies that are nominated in other categories:
Florence Foster Jenkins 7.5/10
- great performances by Streep & Grant
- singing scenes hard to watch (but somehow that´s a positive I guess)
- beautiful art direction - didn´t except that it will be that impressive
- fine balance between comedy and drama
Nocturnal Animals 7.5/10
- Opening Credits scene: WTF ?!? that was uncalled for, at least to that extent
- Michael Shannon kicks ass
- Due to the content it borders on unwatchable but for me it still was impossible not to get involved
- Dense Atmosphere
- I hate Jump Scares but the one in this movie was kinda forgivable and pulled off nicely
O.J. Made in America - 8/10
- very detailed 5 part documentary on racial conflicts in the US, O.J.´s career, the crime, trial and the time after
- a bit too lenghty though - 8 hours was too excessive
Star Wars Rogue One - 7.5/10
- pleasant surprise, liked it more than Episode VII
- definately better than any of the Prequels (that´s not hard to achieve though)
- The Two main characters are a bit bland, really liked the rest of the team
- it´s a fitting prelude to the original Star Wars
- great effects - was impressed with a certain human CGI character (still uncanny valley but they did a good job)
Toni Erdmann 7.5/10
- what a fucking weird movie :)
- hard to watch since you feel embarrassed for the characters pretty much all the way through
- the main characters appearance and odd behaviour (teeth anyone ?) got on my nerves ...
- ... although it is pivotal for his character
- This movie didn´t need to be 160 mins long - you easily could trim 20 mins of fat
- despite that it´s a mesmerizing movie and kept me thinking about it´s themes
Just Passengers and Arrival. I watched mostly fun awesome movies last year.
shareBEST PICTURE
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Moonlight
Manchester by the Sea
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Viola Davis (Fences)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
None!
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Life, Animated
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Toni Erdmann (Germany)
(But who needs to see any others when you've seen this!?! :D)
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Arrival
Fences
Moonlight
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Jackie
La La Land
Moonlight
I have Hell or High Water on Blu Ray - meant to watch before tonight, but too late now! I'm in the UK, so a few films haven't been released here yet.