Oscar nominees you might not know about 🏆
Oscar nominees you might not know about 🏆
Another Round, Wolfwalkers, and Feeling Through
Happy Thursday. Here are some resources for Asian Anti-Racism. Take care of yourselves.
In movie news: After the backlash over a Zoom-less Oscars, the Academy announced that they would add a European venue so nominees overseas are able to attend the ceremony. They will also reimburse travel costs for nominees.
Today’s movies are all lesser-known Oscar nominees from this year. Enjoy!
Another Round 🍻
Another Round is a Danish comedy-drama, nominated for Best International Feature and Best Director for Thomas Vinterberg, that follows four middle-aged friends who toil their days teaching at a prep school. The men, all unhappy in their own way, decide to start an experiment to answer one question: how much would their lives improve if they were constantly drinking alcohol? Here’s the trailer.
Why it’s great: While the premise sounds ripe for a debaucherous drinking comedy (though it certainly has its moments), Another Round has a lot more on its mind. Frankly, it’s the movie equivalent of “men would rather ___ than go to therapy.” Firmly planted in the feeling of aimlessness and regret that many men of a certain age feel, Vinterberg explores how people come to terms with their own shortcomings and how drinking may or may not be the panacea.
Feeling Through 🚌
Feeling Through is an NYC-set short film that follows Tareek (Brooklyn native Steven Prescod), a homeless teen just managing to get by trying to find a couch to crash on and asking for swipes on the Subway. One night, he encounters Artie (Robert Tarango), a DeafBlind man, who asks for help getting home. Watch it here:
Why it’s great: Based on writer/director Doug Roland’s own experience encountering a DeafBlind man on the street in New York, Feeling Through is not only wildly empathetic to both its subject’s plights, but also the pure human connection that comes with living in a city where no two experiences are alike. Gorgeously acted by newcomer Prescod and DeafBlind actor Tarango, Feeling Through leaves you uplifted.
Wolfwalkers 🐺
Wolfwalkers is an animated fantasy adventure produced by Cartoon Saloon, a small Irish studio that is now 4 for 4 in Best Animated Feature nominations for its films, that follows a young wolfhunter and her father who journey to Irish to eliminate the last pack. Instead, she finds herself befriending the “enemy.” Here’s the trailer.
Why it’s great: Like the studio’s other films, Wolfwalkers gets incredibly far on the sheer beauty of its animation style that uses new technology to produce vivid hand-drawn frames that immerse you in the world — not dissimilar to Hayao Miyazaki’s films. And like the legend Miyazaki, directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart create an epic ethereal fantasy with philosophical musings on its mind.
2 trailers to watch
👠 Zola premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival to high acclaim. The film is based on the infamous 148-tweet Twitter thread in which Zola (Taylour Paige) meets a sex worker named Stefani (Riley Keough) and goes on a cross-country road trip that becomes more than she bargained for… and then some.
🚤 The Night House, which also premiered at last year’s Sundance, follows a grieving widow as she begins to believe the lakehouse her late husband built for her is haunted. What she discovers is far worse. Here’s my review from the fest.
📽 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.