Like the state of the Oscar Best Actress Race this year, the release dates in the Covid-era has been all over the place, But, film survives and thrives even with cineplex locations closed. The list is very much impacted by the times but art replicates the trauma around it into many forms as these films reveal.
I warn you, there are many, many surprises here.
Here we go...
1. MINARI (directed by Lee Isaac Chung):
- based partially on Chung's childhood, Minari is the story of every minority immigrant in America. We go through the stages with the family: we hope the crops grow, we pray for the loneliness to ease and we are so here for the battle between David (Alan Kim) and grandma (Youn Yuh-jung) as they duel to the point of love. Unlike Parasite, Minari has no deep or surface family machinations and that's okay...they just are trying to be.
2. DA 5 BLOODS (directed by Spike Lee):
- let's first acknowledge incredulity that Lee's film only received one Oscar nomination. Da 5 Bloods is about black Vietnam vets heading back to the country for lost gold, recently uncovered after a landslide. What follows is sheer mania and surprising action that never gets out of hand. Of course, there's Delroy Lindo as Paul, the unofficial leader of the pack and we witness his crumble into instability, nearly taking everyone with him.
3. SOUND OF METAL (directed by Darius Marder):
- when a metal rock drummer starts to lose his hearing, he recognizes that it signals big changes. Riz Ahmed stunningly takes us on a rollercoaster of emotions, endearing us in the process to his life as he battles to keep his sanity and life. Kudos to, as well, a star turn by Paul Raci.
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4. TENET (directed by Christopher Nolan):
I won't pretend to fully understand what Nolan was trying to achieve here but suffice it to say I was hooked the entire time. He is pulling these puzzling masterpieces as if from will now and that's the sign of a master on top of his game.
5. NOMADLAND (directed by Chloé Zhao):
beautifully shot and grittily acted by McDormand yet it's the surrounding stories and actors that make Nomadland such a quiet joy. From Swankie bravely dealing with her imminent cancer-related death to Dave (an underappreciated David Strathairn) hoping, pleading that Fern will fall in love with him. McDormand plays to her strengths of juxtaposing tension and resolve, almost blindingly, and always alienating loved ones against the backdrop of a broken system that discards its aging.
6. NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (directed by Eliza Hittman):
a must see for young women facing the possibility of a pregnancy and all that comes along with it. The film pristinely looks at how Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) internalizes her pain and anguish during her unplanned pregnancy, thankfully with her cousin Skylar (a touching performance by Talia Ryder). They head to New York and in the process of terminating life, find harsh realities as well.
7. HOST (directed by Rob Savage):
it shouldn't have work as well as it did but the innovation of filming Host was noteworthy but everything else exceeds expectations: the creepiness, the special effects, the story itself. This was the scariest film last year and one of the shortest and not a second was wasted.
8. DATING AMBER (directed by David Freyne):
she's gay, he's gay and both are closeted teens trapped in a small Irish town with no future prospects. Then she, the titular Amber (Lola Petticrew) comes up with the genius idea of them going out together as a couple. What ensues is at turns sheer joy, heartbreak and most importantly, a bond of friendship.
9. UNCLE FRANK (directed by Alan Ball):
when the patriarch of a family dies, his outcast gay son returns and reunites with his family. Simple yet touching on many inner demons that love finally conquers.
10. THE CLIMB (directed by Michael Angelo Covino):
Covino also stars in this charming buddy film that, like the first The Trip film, keeps things fresh despite tackling familiar tropes.
