20th Century Women š¹
Plus, your guide to this year's Best Picture nominees
š Happy Monday! Welcome back and happy Oscars week!
Todayās recommendation is for one of my favorite kinds of movies āĀ nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars and nothing else. Plus, your guide to this yearās Best Picture nominees.
If youāre new here, welcome! Donāt forget to subscribe to get notified when we have a new recommendation:
Donāt forget: You can see every movie I ever recommended right here.
Today's movie //Ā Streaming on Netflix20th Century Women
Itās 1979 in Santa Barbara, California. Jimmy Carter is president. The Vietnam War recently ended. Dorothea (Annette Bening) is 55 years old and her son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) is 15. However, as the turn of a new decade approaches, Dorothea has trouble getting through to Jamie. So, she enlists the help of punk rocker Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and wiser-than-her years teen neighbor Julie (Elle Fanning) to help raise him. [Trailer]
Why you should watch it: āI know him less every day.ā That line directly cuts to the heart of what 20th Century Women is about ā parenthood. Specifically, parenthood in the face of drastically different experiences of childhood. Dorothea grew up in a different world than her son, so trying to raise him seems impossible. Not unlike parents now trying to raise Gen Z.
Mills makes the interesting choice of having the characters be omniscient. Their voiceovers talk openly of their fates. The things that happen in the rest of their lives āĀ even their deaths. And while the movie is largely quirky and charming, that fact adds a melancholy sheen to it all. There are so many small tidbits about life, love, and happiness in 20th Century Women that it feels like therapy. Thatās what the best movies really are, arenāt they?
Directed by Mike Mills
Runtime 118 mins
Year 2016
Genre Comedy Drama
šŗ Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
Recommended if you like...Best Picture nominees
Every week, Iāll take a genre, director, or actor you want to see more of and give you three movies to get started with that arenāt available for streaming just yet or Iāve recommended in the past. Today is this yearās Best Picture nominees.
Why do the Oscars matter? The Best Picture category at the Oscars is supposed to be a capsule of the prior year in cinema. This year, more than many years this decade, does just that with what was nominated and what wasnāt. Iām going to talk about four nominees today in order of preference.
š Parasite: So many movies this year talked about income inequality and class warfare ā Hustlers, Knives Out, and Ready or Not are other examples. However, none were quite as well-crafted as Bong Joon-hoās Parasite. Melding the genres of thriller, comedy, and horror with Bongās signature satirical edge, it is truly a brilliant puzzle of a movie that youāll want to solve over and over. [Trailer]
šŗ Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
š Marriage Story: I think weāve been starved for great family dramas lately. And last year gave us the treat of a few āĀ The Farewell was a standout. However, Marriage Story is the kind of prestige drama we donāt really see nominated at the Oscars anymore. Noah Baumbach, who based the movie on his own divorce, gets the psychology of the give and take (and sometimes take and take) of relationships so well. Whether itās pro or anti-marriage Iām still not sure. [Trailer // Full review]
šŗ Streaming on Netflix
āļø 1917: Thereās always at least one technical marvel of a movie nominated at the Oscars. And like 2017ās Dunkirk, Sam Mendesā 1917 fits the bill. Made to look like it was shot in a continuous take, 1917 is as technically impressive as it gets. From the almost impossible production design to the career-high work by cinematographer Roger Deakins and composer Thomas Newman, itās as much a sensory experience as it is an emotional one. [Trailer // Full review]
In theaters now
š Little Women: Costume dramas have been less prevalent at the Oscars in recent years, however, thereās been a large renewed focus on female-directed films about women. Last year was a banner year and yet we have an all-male Best Director lineupā¦ Greta Gerwigās innovative reinterpretation of Louisa May Alcottās classic novel shows that literary adaptations donāt need to be boring and can be modern in their themes. If only the Oscars could catch up. [Trailer // Full review]
šŗ In theaters now
Thanks for reading! Please continue to share the newsletter with your fellow movie lovers. Have a terrific weekend!
See you on Thursday!
Karl (@karl_delo)