The Plot Against America (2020)

David Simon's sleek adaptation of the Philip Roth novel is terrifying. It is a WWII alternate history Roth wrote during the George W Bush era, but it is painfully familiar in the Donald Trump era. America realized a version of Charles Lindbergh's fascist fantasy under Trump making it an especially timely adaptation. The first few episodes are a bit slow, but the finale is extremely intense. That drive to and from Danville, Kentucky is a masterclass in suspense. The 1940s production design is excellent. The actors are all great; I think Zoe Kazan is especially good as the Bess. From what I've read, Simon changed the perspective of the novel, which was originally told by older Philip (a stand-in for the author) remember his childhood. The show is rather third person omniscient, following the action of all the characters separately. It's more natural for a TV show, but it does feel like something is fundamentally changed by making it more impersonal. And the bleak ending of the show is more pessimistic. Now that we've lived through the Trump era and see that the racists have not gone away, Simon's ending is probably more realistic, appropriately cynical.

93rd Academy Awards (2021)

With cinemas closed all year, it has been a strange year for the movies. Many studios held back their biggest releases for when theatergoers are ready to return (if they ever return). Consequently, a higher proportion of the films nominated this year are available to stream from the comfort of your home. In theory, this should increase accessibility though I think it's hard to say without box office returns to point to and with streaming services keeping their viewership confidential. In any case, I hope the Oscars ceremony really makes the case for cinemas. The pandemic has proven to be an existential threat to the great theater-going tradition, which admittedly has been in decline for some years. But there's truly nothing like sitting down in a dark room full of strangers to enjoy a beautiful film.

Best Picture:
Will Win: Nomadland
My Ballot:

1. Nomadland
2. Minari
3. Mank
4. Sound of Metal
5. Judas and the Black Messiah
6. The Father
7. Promising Young Woman
8. Trial of the Chicago 7

My 2020 Ranking:

1. Da 5 Bloods 
2. The Personal History of David Copperfield
3. Nomadland
4. The 40-Year-Old Version
5. Minari
6. The Vast of Night
   
7. Time
8. Mank
9. Sound of Metal
10. Judas and the Black Messiah
11. Soul
12. Sylvie's Love
13. Bonus: Mangrove
14. Bonus: Hamilton
    

Best Director:
Will Win/Should Win: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland

Best Actor:
Will Win: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Should Win: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
If Chadwick were still alive, this might be a close 5-way race. But no one really stands a chance. Delroy Lindo didn't even get a nomination and he gave the best performance of the year in Da 5 Bloods.

*Best Actress:
Will Win: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Should Win: Frances McDormand, Nomadland
This is probably one of the closest races of the night. Anyone can win, including a former nominee, a former winner, a former 2x winner, the reigning Volpi Cup winner--and I'm picking the non-actor.

Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Should Win: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield could potentially split, even though Lakeith Stanfield really ought to be in the lead category.

Best Supporting Actress:
Will Win: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Should Win: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win/Should Win: Nomadland (Chloe Zhao)

*Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win/Should Win: Minari (Lee Isaac Chung)

Best Cinematography:
Will Win/Should Win: Nomadland (Joshua James Richards)

Best Costume Design:
Will Win/Should Win: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Ann Roth)

Best Film Editing:
Will Win/Should Win: Sound of Metal (Mikkel EG Nielsen)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Will Win/Should Win: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson)

Best Production Design:
Will Win/Should Win: Mank (Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale)

Best Score:
Will Win/Should Win: Soul (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste)

*Best Song:
Will Win/Should Win: Io si (Seen), The Life Ahead (Dianne Warren)
This could be Leslie Odom Jr.'s O, 3/4 of the way to an eventual EGOT. But I'm betting on Dianne Warren to finally win on her twelfth nomination, which will incidentally put her 3/4 of the way to an EGOT too.

Best Sound:
Will Win/Should Win: Sound of Metal (Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Philip Bladh, Carlos Cortes, Michelle Couttolenc)

Best Visual Effects:
Will Win/Should Win: Tenet (Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley)

Best Animated Feature:
Will Win/Should Win: Soul

*Best Documentary Feature:
Will Win: Crip Camp
Should Win: Time

Best International Film:
Will Win: Another Round
Should Win: Collective

Best Animated Short:
Will Win: If Anything Happens I Love You
Should Win: Burrow

*Best Documentary Short:
Will Win: A Love Song for Latasha
Should Win: Do Not Split
Remember when Asghar Farhadi won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for The Salesman? Good movie, but people really voted for it in defiance of the "Muslim ban". This is where Hong Kong's in-the-trenches Do Not Split could potentially pull an upset in response to TVB dropping the Oscars telecast, in spite of Hong Kong's Better Days being nominated for Best International Film.

Best Live Action Short:
Will Win: Two Distant Strangers

Results: 15/23...The biggest upset of the night, apparently even for the producers, was Anthony Hopkins prevailing over the late Chadwick Boseman. Clearly, the producers were expecting Boseman to win, holding the award for last, even after Best Picture. Instead, Hopkins did not even show up, ending the show without an acceptance speech. I also missed in best actress, both screenplay categories, cinematography, song, documentary, and documentary short. Frances McDormand made the case for returning to cinemas; she is the real savior--move over Christopher Nolan.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

With our HBO Max subscription, it was finally time to tackle the original that ushered in the golden era of television. Its influence is unmistakable. It was the first show to trust its audience with a complex season-long arc, a serial plot. There is no Walter White without Tony Soprano; Anna Gunn channels her best Carmela, even RJ Mitte is riffing on Anthony Jr. It brought cinematic film making technique to the small screen. And it pushed HBO to the forefront of quality programming, becoming synonymous with prestige (and violence and nudity). It mixed suspenseful drama and black comedy in a now recognizable dramedy genre. It made bold narrative choices, and the story spent inordinate amounts of time in the hospital, wantonly killing off characters left and right.

Everyone knows it for being the gangster show, but that's really the window dressing. Its central themes are rather the Italian-American experience, family (inextricable from being Italian), the suburbs, fragile masculinity (often performative in front of the other guys, and heavily reliant on racism), and in the later seasons post-9/11 America. The series opens with Tony in his therapist's office, already attacking the idea of the strong masculine type (and possibly contributing to the now open acceptance of therapy in the mainstream), and placing Tony's mental state at the heart of the show. It asks whether Tony can be cured and the answer come season 6 is a resounding no. I think that's why I felt unsatisfied by the ending, because if Tony hasn't grown over the last 86 episodes then how could it be over?  

While I can appreciate the show and recognize its greatness, I admit that I didn't necessarily always enjoy watching it. It does feel a little dated. The very overt (and uncomfortable) racism and bigotry that may have been played for comedy back then doesn't land that way anymore. And in a different era of gender politics, the guys are less sympathetic characters today.

I May Destroy You (2020)

Michaela Coel is undeniably brilliant. She is uncompromising in her bold vision. Her characters say and do things that no one else would get away with. She creates complex, imperfect, messy characters. Arabella is a promising if unproductive writer. Terry is her sometimes overbearing ride-or-die. Kwame is an unassuming sex addict. Coel is indeed so uncompromising that it is sometimes hard to sympathize. Even when they do the right thing, when Terry unflinchingly supports her friend's self-care routine for instance, they do it in such a way that may actually be harmful.  She resists clear answers, preferring to explore the ambiguities for moral righteousness that perhaps doesn't exist. This makes I May Destroy You a challenging watch. It is not immediately accessible but it is ultimately rewarding. Coel probes several variations on the theme of consent, as well as others. The themes are both universal and culturally specific to the black British experience. She loses me a bit in the middle episodes, but she absolutely nails the landing. The last two episodes are excellent. The finale puts the title I May Destroy You into perspective. I hadn't given that qualifier a second thought until it became clear what it meant. Arabella plays through several different scenarios in her head, some of which involve her destroying her rapist (raper in British English). But in a fitting ending, she learns how to move on.

Wandavision (2021)

Wandavision ushers in a new era, not only for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but for television itself. It is the first must-see TV since Game of Thrones. It's what everyone is talking about (online, but maybe we would have discussed in person if not for the pandemic). It was appointment viewing, week to week, liable to crash Disney+ more than once. Everyone had to watch soon so as to avoid spoilers. Of course, because the miniseries is not standalone, we have to watch if we're to follow the increasingly complex MCU plot. A couple dozen movies in, it's too late to quit now. So in that way too, though it's not the first Marvel television show, it is the first for Marvel Studios, making viewing as required as with the blockbuster movies that have defined a generation of movie-going.  

 

It is fitting that this landmark sitcom pays homage to the sitcoms of yesteryear. I think the creative experimentation that makes the show unique is its strongest feature. The first couple episodes sending up the sitcoms of the 50s and 60s are the best, before the show dives deep into the MCU lore. Elizabeth Olson especially plays the 50s housewife very convincingly, and later plays Claire Dunphy from Modern Family spot on too. Sitcom actors Randall Park and Kat Dennings both add comic relief in their supporting roles. With each new era, the set changes, the costumes change, the fake "commercials" change, the songs and opening titles change (Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez are on fire) and even the comedy changes. Though the sitcom is a universal genre, our comedic tastes have evolved over the decades. And I quite liked the clever reveal about how American sitcoms comforted Wanda in her Sokovian childhood. It was natural that she would turn to them in her period of grief. Indeed, the central theme of the show is grief, perhaps unusual for the superhero genre.

The Night Of (2016)

The word that immediately comes to mind is harrowing. It's just absolutely devastating. The first episode is especially tense. My fists were clenched the whole episode in dread and anticipation. The brilliance of The Night Of is that despite the mood of impending doom that pervades the whole series, there are moments of levity. Morgan drew a good comparison to the Good Wife, with its eccentric cast of recurring lawyers and judges (John Turturro is great fun).  I think the obvious comparison is to When They See Us, also about the false accusation of a young man of color in the murder of a white woman and an ensuing look at the New York criminal justice system. He is first prosecuted in the media, and then he is forced to learn to adapt to prison life. Riz Ahmed is transformative as Nasir. He's one of the most exciting young actors today. The standard of proof in a criminal case is beyond a reasonable doubt. To me, there was plenty of room for doubt, but I was sure the jury wouldn't see it (Though the mystery is resolved by the end, it's never really about who did it. It's about whether the system will punish him anyways). I was expecting that kind of devastating ending. I was so relieved when the jury declared a mistrial and the prosecutor did the right thing. Her closing statement was rife with tension, unsure if she'd follow through on what she knew to be wrong. That said, the trial seemed unrealistic, but better for TV. It seemed like a lot of the discovery was unreasonably late, and the direct examinations sounded more like cross.
 

Sharp Objects (2018)

Yes, there is a twist at the end. No, the preceding episodes are not worth the payoff. The first six episodes are excruciatingly slow and uneventful. The last two episodes pick up, but it is already too late. All of the characters are unlikable creepy crazies. It is very dark. The whole rural southern gothic vibe is quite off-putting, as is the racism and homophobia and Confederacy paraphernalia. The twist is good but it's so last minute that we don't actually get enough explanation to be satisfied. We don't get her motivations, or how the cheerleader is involved, or how she's so freakishly strong.  The editing style was too quick for me. There are lots of hidden words that I missed. There are time jumps that are not clear cause Amy Adams looks exactly the same. There are short hallucinations that are easy to miss. We often don't know what we're seeing. It's all intentionally disorienting and I don't like being disoriented. The music choices are interesting. Why do they use the wistful Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a beautiful, colorful French musical? It doesn't fit at all.