Just because a film has the revered Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Steve Jobs, The American President, Charlie Wilson’s War, Moneyball) attached to it as a screenwriter doesn’t mean we should automatically assume it will be a hit. The screenwriter has hit some home runs on the big screen. He’s the mastermind behind a few of the most revered television shows (The West Wing, Sports Night, The Newsroom) of the last 25 years. But that doesn’t mean that everything he touches will turn to pure gold. Venturing into just his second movie as a director (Molly’s Game), The Trial of the Chicago 7 is far from a film that should receive a Best Picture nomination. Sadly, it could very well win the top prize for 2020. Of the eight Best Picture nominated movies for 2020, only three finished in my top ten. In other years, I don’t think any of the three would have found a spot in my end-of-the-year list. 2020 was not a great year in the history of the world. The year in film was no exception.
Category Archives: 2020
The Father (2020)
Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day, Amistad) gives the second-best performance of his career (The Silence of the Lambs) in a film that fails to overwhelm, like most of the other best picture nominees. Disguised by the outstanding performances of many of the other movies nominated for Oscar’s most prominent award of the night, The Father (Florian Zeller’s directorial debut) is a very well-made film that we should remember for its story, its performances, its execution, and its all too real haunting reality. I’ll concede to that if these things meet the checklist of a Best Picture-nominated movie. But there was something while watching this highly engaging film that felt like it didn’t deserve to be a movie that was one of the eight best in any year. With that said, 2020 as a whole did not generate many great films. In that regard, The Father merits its acclaim. The counter-argument is that the Academy doesn’t have to nominate up to ten films. Before 2009, only five films were able to receive a nomination. Since then, the fewest number of Best Picture nominated films for a given year has been seven (2018). 2020 would have been a year that warranted the minimum number of selections. However, the top movies, as a whole, were so poor that it would be just as challenging to distinguish five that are that much better than eight.
One Night in Miami (2020)
Adapted plays that play out on the silver screen in a fashion that makes you feel like you are watching a play are not my favorite. That’s not to say they don’t always work because sometimes they do. Fences is an excellent example of this done correctly. That movie undoubtedly was successful because of its actors (most notably Denzel Washington and Viola Davis). Like Regina King’s One Night in Miami, Fences only had a couple of stages (in the backyard, front porch, and house). But while each movie was based on a stage performance, Fences felt raw and honest, whereas One Night in Miami felt…well…staged.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Something that seems too good to be true usually is war is hell, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, or a variety of other euphemisms can be used to describe Spike Lee’s (Malcolm X, He Got Game) 2020’s Da 5 Bloods. While this is not Lee’s first venture into a historical war drama (2008’s Miracle at St. Anna), it is his first look at the Vietnam War. While a strong contender for a Best Picture Oscar nominee, Da 5 Bloods could also give Lee his second Best Director nomination (2018’s BlacKKKlansman). Its best Oscar nomination chance is Best Actor (Delroy Lindo – The Cider House Rules, The Last Castle).
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
As I write this post today, it has been just hours since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named its nominees for The 93rd Academy Awards, recognizing the best of what may have been its most unique year. 2020 was a pretty dreadful year all around. It was my most challenging, trying, and somber year. I’ve mentioned quite a few times in other reviews that most of the big blockbusters that were initially scheduled to be released were delayed to 2021 in hopes that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic would signal a return of moviegoers to the theaters. The jury is still out on each of these. Indeed, some theaters that closed their doors back in March of 2020 will never open their doors again. Others will see far less patronage because many movies have Video on Demand releases on the same day or shortly after their theatrical release.