Movies to stream: In the Mood for Love 🇭🇰, Boogie Nights ⭐️ + Oscars Final Predictions

Happy Thursday! I hope you’ve been having a great week.

Today I’m recommending the film that inspired Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight and one of PTA’s greatest. Both movies are told in quick-cutting vignettes. Plus, my final predictions before Oscar nominations next week.

In movie news: Elizabeth Banks will direct the film Cocaine Bear, which is about a bear that accidentally eats 70 pounds of cocaine. The wild part, it’s based on a true story.

And with that… have a great weekend!

In the Mood for Love 🇭🇰

▶ Streaming on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel

Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love. Courtesy of The Criterion Channel.

In the Mood for Love is a Hong Kong romance that follows neighbors Chow (Tony Leung), a journalist, and Su (Maggie Cheung), a secretary, who strike up a platonic friendship after suspecting their respective spouses are sleeping together. However, as their time together marches on, they realize love may be in the cards.

Why it’s great: Credited with influencing many films including Best Picture winner Moonlight, Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love is now consistently regarded as one of the best films of the century. Instead of relying heavily on a plot, the film communicates a mood (!!!) of lust, desire, and, of course, love. Through various vignettes carefully staged and gloriously splashed in red tones, we understand the feelings that drive the relationship rather than actions. Light some candles, get under a comfy blanket, and let the film wash over you.

Adorable behind-the-scenes footage of Leung and Cheung dancing between takes.

🎥 Wong Kar-Wai // ⏱ 98 mins // Trailer

Similar to: Moonlight, Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Boogie Nights ⭐️

▶ Streaming on Hulu

Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights. Courtesy of Hulu.

Set in 1977, Boogie Nights follows high school dropout Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) who is recruited by porn filmmaker Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) to appear in one of his films as “Dirk Diggler.” Sprawling over a decade, we follow the rise and fall of Dirk’s career where he finds a chosen family in those in the industry (Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Heather Graham).

Why it’s great: Boogie Nights is my favorite kind of movie. The one that ends and you miss hanging out with the characters. And while many of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films deal with difficult men, in Boogie Nights every character, even Dirk Diggler, is designed to mine you for empathy. It’s not difficult when the highly hilarious and enjoyable screenplay allows every actor — legendary in their own right — to shine. It’s almost impossible to pick a standout because everyone is so damn good. It’s a 70s cocaine-infused romp that captures you in the opening long shot and ceases to let go until it cuts to black.

🎥 Paul Thomas Anderson // ⏱ 86 mins // Trailer

Similar to: Tangerine, Support the Girls

Who will be nominated at this year’s Oscars

I told myself at the start of awards season that I wouldn’t do Oscar predictions. But you know what? I’m doing plenty of things I said I wouldn’t do, so here they are. No alternates, no rankings, just predictions in alphabetical order.

The Oscar nominations will be announced on Monday on YouTube and ABC.

Best Picture: There can be between 5 and 10 nominees. To be nominated a film must receive 5% of the total first-place votes.

• Judas and the Black Messiah

• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• Mank

• Minari

• Nomadland

• One Night in Miami…

• Promising Young Woman

• The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Director: I know, no Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7. I have a sneaking suspicion that he has the least narrative of the main contenders and will be bumped by Shaka King, who’s peaking at the right time with Judas and the Black Messiah.

• Lee Isaac Chung, Minari

• Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

• David Fincher, Mank

• Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah

• Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Best Actress: The winner is still up in the air, but these five feel pretty locked.

• Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday

• Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

• Frances McDormand, Nomadland

• Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Actor: At this point, the other nominees don’t matter. It’s deservingly Chadwick Boseman and everyone else.

• Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

• Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• Anthony Hopkins, The Father

• Gary Oldman, Mank

• Steven Yuen, Minari

Best Supporting Actress: I struggled with this category mostly because I didn’t know what to do with Amanda Seyfried (Mank). However, she missed one too many precursors. Plus, Mank just doesn’t seem to have enough steam to push her through.

• Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

• Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy

• Olivia Colman, The Father

• Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian

• Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Best Supporting Actor: I think Da 5 Bloods is going to underperform all around and with Boseman nabbing a Best Actor slot, I think it’s unlikely he shows up here. Instead, the cutest damn kid on the planet should take the final slot.

• Sasha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

• Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah

• Alan Kim, Minari

• Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

• Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami…

📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.