The current movies that are up for award consideration this year are not what I would have expected from a year like 2020. This past year has been a train wreck crashing into a dumpster fire for many of us.
The pandemic and subsequent production shut down caused months of unemployment and financial instability. The entire country has been on stress overload trying to navigate home-schooling, remote work, and now getting a vaccination. It’s been an incredibly trying year.
So you’d think the current crop of films up for award nominations would contain more uplifting films. The pile of screeners and streaming links I have are mostly for movies that are anything but cheerful. It’s a far cry from the uplifting depression-era musicals and comedies that flooded theaters in the 1930s.
This year’s offerings include some fine films containing excellent performances. However, I wouldn’t advise watching most of them if you’re feeling anxious or depressed. It would have been very trying to work on some of those productions in the best of times.
Here’s my take on a few of the films I’ve watched so far:
- The Father
Anthony Hopkins plays an older man descending into dementia in this touching drama directed by Florian Zeller. Hopkins’ nuanced…
