- by guest commentator Larry Lee
“What a long, strange trip it’s been.” ( Truckin, by the Grateful Dead, 1972.) That’s how I feel about the last year in movies. First of all, the year was about 14 or 15 months long, with the Oscars pushed from the end of February to April 25th. Second, with the pandemic and quarantining all year, those 14 or 15 months seemed much longer. But although delayed, the Oscars, like the tide, is upon us. The show must go on. Oscar buzz and campaigning has been increasing in recent years, but this year, with the extra time and without theaters as venues to make their case, it seems as if the pre-Oscar hype has surpassed all previous records. That’s strange, as we have an odd collection of small and indie movies being hyped for awards, with even obscure nominees getting the full, all-star treatment. (In a recent Los Angeles Times, there were full page adds for the the nominated song from the little-seen movie The Life Ahead, and for Colette, one of the nominated documentary shorts.) There is no behemoth movie like Titanic or Lord of the Rings sucking all the oxygen out of the room. So smaller, more idiosyncratic movies can breathe. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.”
As in past years, the mainstream media has inundated us with their opinions about Oscar snubs and surprises, but this year the effort seems strained. There are, in fact, few snubs and surprises. OK, I might have nominated Delroy Lindo for Da 5 Bloods instead of Paul Raci for Sound of Metal. But the nominations in the major categories seem largely justifiable. Critics, as usual, have a lot to answer for. (Note to A.O. Scott of the New York Times: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is definitely not the best movie of the year. Not even close.) But it’s always fun to think about the ten best movies of the year. Len has given us his Top Ten (or 13!), and I will get to mine below. But let me start with a few introductory comments.
To Stream or not to Stream, That is the Question.
In a year when most of us could not, or would not, enter a theater, the movies we saw were all streamed into our respective abodes. Kudos to you if you have a terrific home theater setup in your house, but I know a lot of young people just stream movies on their computers. Or worse, phones. Needless to say, that is not an ideal way to watch, say, a sweeping World War I epic like Blizzard of Souls, Latvia’s submission to the International Feature Film competition. Or Quo Vadis, Aida?, about the war in Kosovo, Bosnia’s submission and one of the five nominated films in that category. (Although both narrowly missed my Top Ten list, I recommend both films, if you can find them.) But the pandemic being what it was (and still is), the field would be skimpy indeed if only movies shown in theaters were eligible. So I understand that some movies that were available by streaming only are now Oscar eligible.
But not all. One could certainly consider Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, its five thematically-connected films taken together, as one of the great cinematic accomplishments of the past year. Sure, its five installments were of varying lengths and different topics, but all generally concerned the history and experiences of British-Carribean people in London in the recent past, and that should be enough to consider them as one grand film worthy of an Oscar nod. (I note Sergei Bondarchuk’s 9+ hour long version of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, now available on the Criterion Channel, was released in four separate installments that, considered together, won in 1969 what was then known as the Best Foreign Film Oscar.) And Anya Taylor-Joy was so good in The Queen’s Gambit — much better than her performance in the reboot of Jane Austin’s Emma — and possibly worthy of an Oscar nomination. (The costumes were great as well.) And David Byrne’s American Utopia, directed by Spike Lee, was certainly worthy of some Oscar love. But all three movies were sold directly to streaming services (Small Axe = Amazon Prime, The Queen’s Gambit = Netflix, American Utopia = HBO Max), would have spent no time in theaters had there been no pandemic, and are thus outside Oscar’s ambit. Why? Were these three films eligible, they might well have shown up on my Top Ten list for 2020. Obviously, with the pandemic waning, the Academy will have to sort out its eligibility criteria, but in the meantime, with a surge in the supply of streamed movies, and with major studios holding back their tentpole crowd-pleasers (e.g., a new James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig) and Oscar-bait prestige films (like Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story), we have a unique year for the Oscars, full of small, indie, and edgy movies. Only time will tell if this will be just a one off, or the beginning of a sea change for Oscar.
But the plethora of offerings available to stream should not elide the fact that many great or notable movies from last year — movies that might appear on a critic’s Top Ten lists — were neither available in the theater, on VOD (video on demand), nor are now on any popular streaming service. I do not include movies on my list that are not easily available, but such invisibility should not preclude some mention of movies like Undine, Christian Petzold’s love fable about a water nymph in present-day Berlin, or Sun Children, Iran’s submission for the International Feature Oscar competition, a thriller involving young children enrolling in a school so that they might tunnel for treasure. Both are fascinating and entertaining. Also worth mentioning, but apparently not easily available, is El Olvido que Seremos (alternately translated as Forgotten We’ll Be, or Memories of My Father), a vastly entertaining movie from Columbia about a father’s (and a family’s) struggles during social upheavals in Columbia’s society in the 1970s.
Falling somewhere in the middle is the immensely entertaining Heist of the Century, a thriller from Argentina, rentable on Amazon Prime for $19.99. Pre-pandemic, my wife and I would routinely spend that much (and more) to go see a movie. Now, it seems quite expensive. If others feel the same, that could upend the movie business as well. But this movie, about a well-planned bank robbery, does not appear to have any deeper meaning, but it sure was entertaining. If you like heist movies (e.g., Ocean’s 11, Inside Job, Logan Lucky, The Italian Job), this one is recommended.
Before getting to my Top Ten list, a couple of side observations:
A Bad Year for the F.B.I.
Distrust of people in power has always been fertile ground for movies to plow, both in this country and others. The lies, the corruption, the hypocrisy, the resulting death and destruction and ruined lives: A festival programmer could create an entire film festival of such movies. This year was an especially bad one for our own Federal Bureau of Investigation. We are far from the hagiographic TV shows like The Untouchables and The F.B.I. (“A Quinn Martin Production!”), and the 1988 movie, Mississippi Burning, which falsely portrayed the FBI as heroic in their investigation of the murders of three civil rights workers. (In fact, they simply paid an informant to reveal what he knew about the murders.) Maybe the change started with 2011’s J.Edgar, with Leonardo DiCaprio’s star turn portraying FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as a cross-dressing hypocrite. In Ava DuVernay’s 2014 movie Selma, we learn how the bureau surveilled and tried to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And in the recent Seberg, from 2019, Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of actress Jean Seberg showed how she was destroyed by intrusive FBI surveillance, instigated by her association with the Black Panthers.
This year, several movies continue this trend, documenting the venality, illegality, and outright racism of the FBI. In Judas and the Black Messiah, nominated for several Oscars, we learn of the FBI’s COINTEL program, in which they infiltrated the Chicago branch of the Black Panthers and orchestrated the outright assassination of Fred Hampton. In The United States vs. Billie Holiday, for which Andra Day is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the FBI has a hand in persecuting her for her drug use, as well as her insisting on singing the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit, as if that somehow posed a threat to the nation’s security. (Was the FBI in favor of lynching? Or was it their sense of White superiority at work?) And in The Trial of the Chicago 7, nominated for several Oscars including Best Picture and a front-runner for Best Picture Oscar, the FBI is shown working behind the scenes to unfairly discredit peaceful antiwar protesters in 1968. MLK/FBI, shortlisted (but ultimately not nominated) by the Academy for an Oscar for Best Documentary, is based on newly declassified documents about the FBI’s actions against Dr. King. All in all, a very bad year for the FBI. And that is not even to mention James Comey.
Reality Cinema
Perhaps it is the influence of reality television, but it seems there has never been such a blurring of the line between narrative and documentary filmmaking as what happened in 2020. Nomadland is is Exhibit A, of course, with its documentary-like feeling and use of non-professional actors, but we have also seen documentaries with strong narrative threads. Collective, about the investigation of a nightclub fire in Romania that leads to a wider revelation of government corruption, is nominated for both Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film, and seems not too much different than 2015’s Best Picture winner, Spotlight. When I watched the wonderful documentary, The Mole Agent, from Chile, I was initially unsure whether it was a documentary or a narrative feature. (It’s the former, and is nominated for an Oscar in that category.) And My Octopus Teacher, the story about a man’s relationship with an octopus in the wild, brought back memories of other, wholly fictional movies about the tender relationship arcs between humans and wild animals, like Never Cry Wolf (1983), The Black Stallion (1979), and Free Willy (1993). I wonder if this trend will continue?
My Top Ten
I echo Len’s comment that it was particularly hard to choose a Top Ten this year. There were so many deserving movies and none strongly stick out as superior to others. What is noticeable is the lack of polished, Hollywood star vehicles, with their predictable endings. (Green Book, anyone?) With that said, I will choose just ten films, with the understanding that there were several other movies nearly as deserving, and that my “top” movies were chosen by a combination of artistic merit and my own preferences.
10. The Man Who Sold His Skin (rent on Prime Video, $4.99) This submission from Tunisia seemed a long shot for an Oscar nomination — how many Tunisian movies can you name? — but the move is a fascinating meditation on such varied topics as the world’s refugee crisis, the meaning and purpose of art, the exploitation of people from the developing world by wealthy countries (and wealthy people), and, ultimately, the scope of a person’s autonomy over their own body and their ability to choose what to do with it. And my description of the film as a “meditation” is not meant as a euphemism for “slow”; the movie moves at a brisk clip and is actually quite suspenseful.
9. Minari (Premium rental on Amazon Prime Video, $19.99) This admittedly small movie has, over the past year, surprisingly grown in stature to the point where it is now nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. At one point, it seemed much like Kelly Reichert’s admirable film, First Cow, in scope and stature. But on closer reflection, Minari is the superior film because its themes are so, well, right now. An immigrant family struggles to make it in America against all odds (see, e.g., The New Land (Swedish immigrants), A Better Life (Mexican immigrant), even The Godfather: Part II (Italian immigrants).) Sure, the family in Minari are from South Korea and speak Korean, but the story is a universally American story. We can all see our parents, our grandparents, or our forebears in this story. That they are from Korea is almost beside the point: this is an American movie. That their difficult struggle was poignant and admirable makes me like the movie all the more.
8. Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (rent on Amazon Prime, $4.99) This unusual movie, which Hungary submitted for Oscar consideration, is full of ominous atmosphere and emotional confusion. When Marta, a Hungarian ex-pat living in America, meets the man of her dreams at an international medical conference, they (apparently) make plans to spend their life together. Accordingly, she leaves a prestigious position in New Jersey and moves to Budapest. When she arrives, the man does not recognize her. Or does he? A bit like a Hungarian version of Vertigo (without the murder).
7. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) Playwright August Wilson is an American treasure, and we (filmgoers) are so lucky to have a filmed version of this play. Like 2018’s Fences, with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, this movie is so intense, so personal, so emotional, and so American, with its themes of Black empowerment (or lack thereof), corporate abuse of creative talent, and the difficulties of realizing one’s dreams. That Chadwick Boseman passed away shortly after making this film makes his performance doubly poignant.
6. Martin Eden (stream on Kanopy and Mubi, rent on Amazon Prime) A beautiful retelling of Jack London’s once famous (and scandalous) 1909 novel of the same name, director Pietro Marcello creatively resets the American novel in Italy. Time is carefully managed so we are not 100 percent sure when this is all taking place, but the rise of facism in Italy is a factor. Martin, a working class sailor and essentially a lump of clay, meets upper class Elena by happenstance and becomes determined to better himself in order to be worthy of her love. He becomes an autodidact, educates and reshapes himself, and eventually moves into the upper classes. The movie has themes of libertarianism and anti-facism, but ultimately, Martin’s self-improvement seems to leave him no happier than when he started his journey.
5. Nomadland (Hulu) More than any other movie, this one seems to have captured the zeitgeist of America under Donald Trump. Forget the Rapture: the denizens of this movie are the ones who were left behind. Through no fault of their own, they have been left to fend for themselves. There are no glittering jewels, no garish gold decorations, no exclusive country clubs, no ego-boostering so common in Trump’s world. Just real people, doing the best they can. And they are real: aside from Frances McDormand and David Straithairn, the actors in this movie are all non-professional, actually living the nomad life in their trailers, vans and cars. Touching, disturbing and at times beautiful, this film is like a meditative neo-Western, with the characters relying on their own self-sufficiency and guile to make it in a wide open, sometimes hostile world. And like Alan Ladd’s gunfighter in Shane, when Fern (McDormand) has the chance to settle down and leave the life on the road, she can’t do it. She knows who she is and realizes she can’t be anyone but her true self.
4. News of the World (rent on Amazon Prime, $5.99) I know I’m likely the only one who has this film on a Top Ten list, but hear me out. First, its pedigree is stellar: Tom Hanks as the protagonist, Captain Kidd, and the director is Paul Greenglass, who helmed several of the Jason Bourne movies, as well as United 93 (2006) and Captain Phillips (2013). The movie looks great. Second, the film is another neo-Western, taking place just after the Civil War, when the West was very unsettled and dangerous. Kidd makes his living in those uncertain times as an itinerant news reader; that is, he travels from town to town and, for a small fee, he reads the news from big city newspapers to the local populace. So the movie portrays a nascent phase of what we might now call the information age.
Third, the movie can be seen as a non-racist updating of John Ford’s classic Western, The Searchers. Kidd encounters a German immigrant girl, Johanna (played by Helena Zengel), after she has been living for some years with the Kiowa tribe after they killed her immediate family. Kidd decides to transport the reluctant Johanna 400 miles to unite her with relatives she no longer remembers. Unlike John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards in The Searchers - who we are not sure until the very end whether his racism and hatred of Native Americans will lead him to kill, rather than rescue, Debbie (Natalie Woods), who has been living with a tribe of Commanches - Hanks’ Captain Kidd is a sympathetic character who is simply trying to do the right thing for Johanna. Finally, as the movie delicately portrays Johanna’s slow but steady evolution from overt rebelliousness to a place in which she trusts in the good Captain, the movie, ultimately, is about personal connection, and the family you choose, rather than the family you were born into. In our time of fractiousness and line-drawing, that’s a message worth receiving.
3. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) This movie was long at the top of my list, and only an honest reassessment of what movies linger in my memory has it been downgraded somewhat. But it remains an admirable retelling of an important story, done with verve and wit. For those too young to remember 1968, this movie should be required viewing, if for no other reason as to serve as a reminder of how strong feelings of social justice can lead to personal action urging societal change, and how established power structures (and those people populating such structures) will feel so threatened that they will resort to the trampling of civil rights and twisting application of the laws to avoid confronting such change. For those who thought the social foment of the last four years (like Black Lives Matter protests) are a new thing, well, check out 1968. The whole world is watching.
2. Promising Young Woman (rent on Amazon Prime, $5.99) This movie felt like the Jo Jo Rabbit of 2020; that is, Promising Young Woman is the most audacious film of the year. It tells an important and contemporary story, of course, of the consequences of sexual assault and toxic masculinity. But it does not slot easily into an established genre; the closest one being the rape-revenge genre. But the film is so much more than that, and expertly maintains its tricky tone throughout (kudos to director Emerald Fennell), not an easy thing to do, as its candy-coated color scheme keeps us emotionally off-balance throughout the film. Sure, you might feel uncomfortable with some of the protagonist’s choices, but why should a rape-revenge movie feel comfortable? There are enough surprises along the way to move things along, and the ending is emotionally satisfying. What more could you want?
1. Judas and the Black Messiah (HBO) In the last few months, this movie rose a little (and The Trial of the Chicago 7 fell a little) in my estimation because, although Judas covered some of the same ground and portrayed essentially the same time period, Judas seemed so much more, well, real. The patter is less snappy than in Aaron Sorkin’s film, the situations seem less absurd, and the danger and tension emanating from Lakeith Stansfield’s portrayal of Bill O’Neal — the titular Judas — was sometimes hard to take. It was a confusing time, I guess, but I don’t think it was that confusing, especially when you consider that Fred Hampton was assassinated by police as a result of O’Neal’s information. But the film puts you inside that world and, like O’Neal, you feel as if you cannot escape. Shaka King definitely deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
Coda
The Top Ten aside, every year there are small movies that are very enjoyable on their own terms. Not worthy of an Oscar nomination, and not even Top Ten honorable mentions per se, but not experimental or avant garde either. Just nice little movies. Here are three from 2020 I recommend:
The Photograph (HBO) A lovely, multilayered love story — actually, two love stories, with one told in flashback — with Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield as a couple you’d like to know.
The Half of It (Netflix) The story of Cyrano de Bergerac, recast and reformed to present day high school in a small town in Washington, with the Cyrano role played by a Chinese immigrant girl coming to terms with her sexual orientation. Nothing feels forced, the emotions seem real, and it is really sweet and touching.
Driveways (Showtime, Kanopy) Starring Hong Chau and Brian Dennehy in his final role, this little movie tells the story of a Kathy (Chau), single mom with a shy son named Cody, who both travel to the home of Kathy’s estranged sister. The sister has passed away and Kathy, of limited financial means herself, must clean out the house and get it ready for sale. The grumpy neighbor, Del, a Korean war vet, played with tact and understanding by Dennehy, slowly befriends the boy. The set up could be trite (think The Karate Kid and Mr. Miyagi), or the racial difference highlighted (think Gran Torino). Instead, it is just a decent old guy, whose loneliness is somewhat lessened when he meets Cody. Their ensuing relationship, though unlikely, nevertheless feels true and touching. A nice capstone to Mr. Dennehy’s long career in movies, and a wonderful bookend to his prejudiced sheriff in First Blood, the first (and best) of Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo movies.
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