If I Were an Academy Member

By J. Don Birnam

February 26, 2017

Watch me in this, not Nocturnal Animals.

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4. Hidden Figures

Alright, all that aside, let’s get back to it. Hidden Figures is one of those movies that you vote for high on a Best Picture ballot simply because you like it and want to give it a hug, and not because you necessarily think it is a transcendental movie that will be lauded 20 years to come.

But the story is feel good (see, I have feelings too!), it is well told, and it is an important episode to boot. But, unlike Hacksaw Ridge, it keeps a lighter tone and never veers too dangerously off course into the overly sentimental or the obviously staged. Its ambitions are lower, and so it reaches higher.

It features three very strong performance by three very talented actresses, a buoyant soundtrack, and (there’s these words again) a different, fresh perspective than those we are used to seeing parade across the silver screen. It’s one of those movies that no one can come out of objecting to, and everyone can like. Indeed, in another year it could easily win under a preferential ballot, because no one in the room would vote it very low.

3. Moonlight

In third place, I’d probably place Moonlight, for taking on a lot of the brave and important themes that Hidden Figures does but transmitting them with a more artistic, sensible touch. Moonlight has billed itself as the story of life, and it sure is. It is the story not just of coming of age, or of dealing with sexuality, or of race and poverty. It is indeed all of those things, and no doubt it is easy for some to be enamored by it for those facile reasons alone.

But if you look beyond those superficial traits, as the movie invites you to, you will see that it is simply about being human, regardless of race, orientation, or socioeconomic status. Those things are there, but the core message of the movie is deeper and simpler at the same time. Humans are influenced by older people, good and bad, they are influenced by teenage crushes, they are influenced by their environment. Moonlight is a powerful and honest tale about how these shape a young man’s life.

There is not a single false note in the film, there is nothing overwrought or over the top about it. It is impeccably crafted, with superb lighting, a touching score, and perfect acting all around. It will never win a Best Picture prize amongst a group like the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, but too bad for them.

2. Manchester by the Sea

I rank Manchester a tad higher simply because of how real and simple yet powerful the story is. And talk about “core group” voting - this movie undoubtedly speaks to a lot of the same people who like Hacksaw or Hell or High Water, the older white men. It touches on frustrations of middle age, of stalling socioeconomic advance, of loss and suffering.

What’s most brilliant about Manchester by the Sea - aside from its brilliant acting, its confounding and perfect editing, its haunting score - is the way its approaches humanity from such a dark yet hopeful place, from such a harrowing but uplifting perspective. Amid the crying, amid the depression, is the love, the ties that bind, the things that keep us going.

It is hard to describe how exactly the movie manages to provoke all these feelings, because it does so sort of sneakily, without you even realizing it given its muted and tender pace. And that is perhaps is its important brilliance. It gets under and into your skin without you noticing it, sort of how the most important events in life sometimes tend to.




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1. Arrival

Lest there be any doubt, however, my number one pick was always going to be Arrival, if you saw me name it my favorite movie of the year. I could go on for hours about this movie.

To start, it is timely. In an age where the future seems so uncertain, when the planet seems to be betraying us, when international ties and cooperation are in peril, this movie offers a message of hope and also of warning, a lesson to avoid our baser instincts and heed our better ones. Humanity can be saved, but only if we want it to. There are nine movies in this Best Picture race and while some undoubtedly touch on themes important to certain subgroups, Arrival is the only one that touches on themes relevant to us all.

Aside from this, Arrival is a deeply personal story. It is a story about motherhood, about love, and about decisions. It is also, no doubt, about life. Louise says it well towards the end - knowing your whole life, would you choose to live it? How could the answer not be “yes,” the movie ponders? Despite the fact that we know death will snuff it, or that pain will opaque it. Life is worth living. What a simple, but beautiful and important message, and what a profound way of telling it.

And, to top it all, Arrival is a cinematic masterpiece. From the tonal art direction, to the moody cinematography, to the crucial and snappy editing, to the amazing score, and the talented acting by Amy Adams, without even mentioning the script. It fires on all cylinders, the surprises are not overly telegraphed, and it keeps you guessing even when you may think the story is flat-lining.

It is not even close for me, and my vote unequivocally would go to Denis Villenueve’s picture, and I would shower it with at least five or six other Oscars.

Twitter: @jdonbirnam
Instagram: @awards_predix


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