Category: Oscar Contenders
Mank: Citizen Mankiewicz
by Matt Ward
Though it’s expressed as a work of fiction, film scholars commonly understand the 1941 cinema classic Citizen Kane to be an unofficial biopic of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and the launching of Orson Welles’ film career. But the film also served as the magnum opus of social critic and Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, a man who battled with Welles for writing credit … Read More Mank: Citizen Mankiewicz
Hillbilly Elegy: In search of Oscar gold
by Matt Ward
Hillbilly Elegy has everything awards season voters seem to want in a best picture contender. It’s a film with A-list actors giving showy performances in an adaptation of a true story from an Academy Award winning director set in the recent past that gives insight into the current political climate. There’s plenty of golden reasons why Netflix paid $45 million in January for the … Read More Hillbilly Elegy: In search of Oscar gold
On The Rocks: The best, worst of two people talking
by Matt Ward
Sofia Coppola’s new film doesn’t really go much of anywhere, but the road traveled is easy and the banter refreshingly charming. Evoking a Woody Allen-esque style, Coppola’s On The Rocks hit AppleTV+ this weekend to little fanfare, but with a softer touch, a melancholic wistfulness and the dulcet tones of Academy Award nominee Bill Murray philosophizing on why men tend to stray from committed … Read More On The Rocks: The best, worst of two people talking
The Trial of the Chicago 7: Turning words into actions
by Matt Ward
Cinematic wordsmith Aaron Sorkin is back at it again, with his dogged brain gushing dialogue onto script pages filled with unforgettable moments and sharp, biting lines. The man behind powerful screenplays like A Few Good Men, The Social Network and Moneyball takes his second turn behind the director’s chair, filming a script he wrote himself about the events surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention. … Read More The Trial of the Chicago 7: Turning words into actions
Da 5 Bloods: Battle scars never fully heal
by Matt Ward
Four men – aging Vietnam vets laden with the scars of their service – return to the land that forged them in search of their fallen commander’s grave and the gold bullion that lies with it. For a filmmaker like Oliver Stone, this story would be a bombastic tale of frustration and anger boiling to the surface without much humanity under the surface. Director … Read More Da 5 Bloods: Battle scars never fully heal
Shirley: The horror of everyday life
by Matt Ward
Movie goers are often frightened by things that aren’t real – clowns with red balloons living in the sewers, killers that strike in dreams with a bladed claw, vampires, mummies and witches. But in a simpler, yet somehow more complex way, it’s the things that are plausibly realistic and feel authentic to our own lives that prove to be the greater terror. While major … Read More Shirley: The horror of everyday life
Emma: Comedic matters of the heart
by Matt Ward
Smaller films – like independent features or period dramas – usually require word of mouth to jump start their box office success and get in front of as many eyes as possible. Autumn de Wilde made her feature directorial debut in February with a modest period comedy that was about to take off commercially after early critical success. Then the novel coronavirus pandemic forced … Read More Emma: Comedic matters of the heart
The universal language of cinema: ‘Parasite’ breaks barriers as 92nd Academy Award winner for Best Picture
by Matt Ward
Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films. – Bong Joon-ho, Oscar-winning writer and director of “Parasite” Before Sunday night, a lot of things were different in the world of cinema. A foreign language film had never won Best Picture at the Academy Awards; no South Korean film had ever earned a nomination; … Read More The universal language of cinema: ‘Parasite’ breaks barriers as 92nd Academy Award winner for Best Picture
92nd Academy Awards preview: Parasite v 1917
by Matt Ward
For the sake of posterity, here are my predictions and thoughts on tonight’s Academy Awards: Best Picture: Going to win – 1917, the runaway winner at BAFTA and odds on favorite tonight, the Academy will likely favor an old standard in Best Picture winners: the technically proficient, period war epic Should win – Parasite, probably sitting in the runner-up chair, Bong Joon-Ho’s masterpiece has … Read More 92nd Academy Awards preview: Parasite v 1917
1917: War close at hand
by Matt Ward
You’ll never see Roger Deakins on screen, but he’s in every frame of director Sam Mendes’ new war epic “1917,” from the opening frames bathed across a sea of endless green grass until the final cut to black before the credits. World-renowned as a master craftsman in his art, the British-born Deakins achieves his magnum opus with “1917” – a visual spectacle combining his … Read More 1917: War close at hand
Uncut Gems: Loving the uncomfortable
by Matt Ward
Tense situations often provide for the best drama and leave bystanders watching things unfolding on the sidelines captivated in awe. It’s a compulsion that pulls us to slow down and gawk at accidents and train-wrecks; the very thing that allows a television program like “The Jerry Springer Show” to exist. Cinematically, that uncomfortable draw that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats can … Read More Uncut Gems: Loving the uncomfortable
Little Women: Frantic urgency in domestic life
by Matt Ward
Another period drama remake of an oft-told story isn’t what cinema needs these days. There’s far too little originality in filmmaking to warrant updated versions of a book that already has six feature film adaptations. “Little Women” is the exception. From the opening moments where writer/director Greta Gerwig begins at the end, it’s readily apparent that Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age novel about four … Read More Little Women: Frantic urgency in domestic life
Cinematic Considerations 