Thoughts on the Oscar nominations today: [link]

I still have a lot to see in general, but I'm almost done with the main nominations for Indie Spirits and have seen a lot of fantastic stuff. Current Top 20 for 2021:
The Power of the Dog
Petite Maman
C'mon C'mon
Pig
Shiva Baby
The Lost Daughter
Drive My Car
Swan Song
Red Rocket
The Last Duel
Plan B
I Care a Lot
Fear Street Part Three: 1666
No Sudden Move
The Novice
The Matrix Resurrections
Zola
Don't Look Up
Black Widow
Fear Street Part One: 1994

ETA: That's the Swan Song with Udo Kier, not Mahershala Ali, because there are two Oscar eligible films with the same name this year.

Huh. I’m used to not seeing about half the nominated movies, but I don’t even recognize the names of most of those. It’s probably because I haven’t been going to the theater much this past year, so I haven’t seen many previews.

A lot of the Indie Spirits just recently became accessible or aren't yet. This is a helpful compilation of where you can see various Oscars noms: [link]

I've only seen The Lost Daughter and Black Widow from that list. Several others are on my to watch list.

I've only seen The Lost Daughter and Black Widow from that list. Several others are on my to watch list.

I liked it, but I found The Lost Daughter profoundly uncomfortable to watch. Black Widow just made me mad we didn't get a BW film years ago, though I suppose then we wouldn't have gotten Florence Pugh, who was far more fun than I expected her to be.

Tweeting out my wish list for the Oscar noms the night before, I realized that many (all?) of my favorites from last year are in some way about grief and loss. Make of that what you will.

I guess I should watch The Power of the Dog, then. It looks profoundly disturbing. The only one on the WHOLE LIST of nominations I have seen is tick tick BOOM, and I didn’t finish it. I will watch MacBeth and probably Encanto

I didn’t really ever love new movies like you guys- I prefer television, but I usually have seen a few!

The last year when I saw all the nominees was 1997. And I actually liked them all- Shine, The English Patient, Jerry McGuire????, Secrets and Lies, and Fargo. I imagine Fargo and Secrets and Lies still hold up, but Shine and The English Patient probably have problems. I do wish Naveen Andrews had become a big, big movie star.

So many movies I have not seen! I usually realize there's a lot I haven't seen at this point, but this year it is a whole new level of missing out. All I've seen from megan's list is Black Widow and Matrix Resurrections. Movies feel like too much of a time commitment lately, I dunno. I know I want to see Macbeth but I haven't felt like I could sit still for it.

I will watch MacBeth and probably Encanto

Encanto is great. I think you'll love it.

I guess I should watch The Power of the Dog, then. It looks profoundly disturbing.

It is. Like the The Lost Daughter, it has a slowness and almost awkwardness which is profoundly uncomfortable and tense-making (at least for me).

So many movies I have not seen! I usually realize there's a lot I haven't seen at this point, but this year it is a whole new level of missing out. All I've seen from megan's list is Black Widow and Matrix Resurrections.

Probably a third to half my list is Indie Spirit screeners, so not on the general radar, and some I only watched because they finally have an app that makes it really easy to do. I've pretty much seen the ones I was most interested in but I still have Parallel Mothers and Passing and then I'll probably watch a few more that are directed by women.

Movies feel like too much of a time commitment lately, I dunno. I know I want to see Macbeth but I haven't felt like I could sit still for it.

A lot of my movie selections are based on time involved. I have to really want to see something that clocks in over 2 hours. Since the Math Greek has been here, and we are both fairly cautious pandemic-wise, we've pretty much settled into a routine of work during the day, late afternoon walk, dinner & a movie. Longer movies only happen if dinner ends up on the early side. Luckily Indie Spirit movies tend to meet that and, if they are over, it is not because of unnecessary bloat.

Speaking of unnecessary bloat, I just watched Nightmare Alley. It has a lot to recommend it, but man does it drag in the middle. In the last few days, I've watched that and Tick, Tick... Boom! (not a great film, but interesting and there's a moment where it sort of clicked into place for me) and CODA. CODA was much better than I expected. A sweet heartwarming family drama/sports film dynamic. Not a great film, but certainly a crowd-pleaser. It's a remake of a French film that I've seen clips of because it stars one of the more popular French winners of their version of The Voice.

Other fun, shorter films I would recommend from my list are Shiva Baby (on HBO) and Plan B (on Hulu, and, if you like that, check out the recent similarly themed Unpregnant on HBO).

The Lost Daughter definitely had that uncomfortable feel, but it also made me lol a couple times.