For the past few years, I have tried to watch as many of the nominees for the Academy Awards in the categories of feature length documentary, short documentary, live-auction short film, and international film. The nominees were announced on February 4, 2022. I have been watching some over the last month, but not everything I watched made the list. I will need to get busy to see everything by March 27th. You can read more about the 94th Academy Awards here at their website. In the meanwhile, I will continue to update this list as I watch the films (and if more films become available for streaming), and I will let you know my thoughts.

Update – much to my great disappointment, my favorite categories will not be broadcast on the Academy Awards show this year. “The new plan will allow more time for comedy, film clips and musical numbers, Rubin explained. But the Academy head acknowledged that the move could prompt bruised feelings.” (Variety article) Honestly, aren’t the musical numbers mostly terrible? And unless it is Ricky Gervaise hosting, the comedy often falls quite short. Documentary short and live action short will both be done apart from the telecast. It may make sense for live action short, as so few of the films are available for viewing. Scroll to the very bottom to get my take on Best Picture Nominees.

Best Live-Action Short Film

Ala-Kachuu – Take And Run – not available for streaming
“Sezim wants to fulfil her dream of studying in the Kyrgyz capital when she gets kidnapped by a group of young men. There, she’s forced to marry a stranger. If she refuses the marriage, she is threatened with social stigmatization and exclusion.”

The Dress – YouTube limited time release
“In Tadeusz Lysiak’s Oscar-shortlisted film a maid working in a rundown motel in rural Poland longs for intimacy, but will the repeated visits of an intriguing truck driver change the loneliness of her situation?” Sukienka/The Dress is a Polish film, and not for children. It is also beyond bleak. There’s no happy ending in this film for sure. It’s powerful, but I rather wish I could remove it from my mind. Watch at your own discretion.

The Long Goodbye – available on YouTube
Did you love Riz Ahmed in The Sound of Metal? This short (12 minute) film goes from wedding preparations to horror. So much is packed into so few minutes. Ahmed is an actor and a rapper, and you will get a rap from him at the end. In a time when so much is placed on where one is from, or rather, where one’s ancestors are from, and people are killed for the color of their skin, this dystopian piece is unfortunately not terribly far from reality. It’s violent, so be aware of that, but it is worth the watch.

On My Mind – not available for streaming
“A desperate and loving husband wants to sing and record a karaoke version of the song his wife loves the most, and which symbolizes their bond the best. It leads to heartbreak, sorrow and regret.”

Please Hold – HBO starting March 17
“Mateo (20s, Latino) is arrested by a police drone without explanation. Finding himself locked in a fully automated jail with no means of recourse, Mateo realizes he’s fallen through some kind of crack in the system.”

Best Documentary Feature

Ascension – available on Paramount +
“Exploring the pursuit of the Chinese Dream in modern society. Presenting a contemporary vision of China that prioritizes productivity and innovation above all.” My goodness, this is a mesmerizing film! It takes you into countless Chinese factories and in their service industry to see how the workers live and face their lives in an emerging world. I loved this film, and highly suggest you check it out!

Attica – available on Hulu
“During the summer of 1971, tensions between inmates and guards at the Attica Correctional Facility are at an all-time high. On the morning of Sept. 9, it all comes to a head as Attica becomes the stage for one of the largest U.S. prison riots ever.” Honestly, I watched most of this documentary, but had a hard time keeping my focus. I will give it another try and get back with you.

Flee (Denmark) – Hulu
“Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin opens up about his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan. He looks back over his life as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he’s built for himself and his future husband.” This film is a triple-threat, nominated for Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature. Your first responsibility is to select SUB or DUB. That’s right, like many anime films, you can choose if you want subtitles or for it to be dubbed into English. Folks, I’ll be honest here. I had a bad headache and I’m not a huge fan of listening to the Danish language, so I went with the DUB version. It was also a treat for me, because the main character is voiced by Riz Ahmed, who is also one of the executive producers.

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – available on Hulu
“Over the course of six weeks during the summer of 1969, thousands of people attend the Harlem Cultural Festival to celebrate Black history, culture, music, and fashion.” If you like history and you like good music, you won’t want to miss this great film. It is amazing to me that Woodstock has gotten such a lasting legacy and so much coverage, and the Harlem Cultural Festival missed out.

Writing With Fire – not available for streaming
“In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men emerges India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women. Chief reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions, redefining what it means to be powerful.”

Best Documentary Short Subject

Audible – Netflix
“Shaken by a friend’s suicide, a deaf high school football player copes with family and relationships while anticipating his final homecoming game.” This film, currently available on Netflix, was worth watching. Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting much as I’m not a crazed football fan, but connecting with the players as they worked through their loss was especially touching. I was left wondering what life would be like for them after high school.

Lead Me Home – Netflix
“Fighting just to survive, California’s homeless population suffers as housing costs soar, pushing more of the disadvantaged onto the streets.” I loved this film. Homelessness continues to be an issue in major cities across the nation, and thoughts are often divided on what to do about it. The United States seems to have lost its will to provide care for the least among us. We are one of the only first-world nations without a robust public housing program. Section 8 housing vouchers are difficult to get, there are not enough apartments, and removing individuals away from their support networks can cause greater problems. I could talk all day on public housing and the housing crisis in America. Watch this film!

The Queen Of Basketball – New York Times (available on YouTube)
“Lusia “Lucy” Harris Stewart is a pioneer in women’s basketball, leading a rural Mississippi college to three national titles, scoring the first basket in women’s Olympic history in 1976, being the first and only woman to be drafted into the NBA.” If you want a delightful film that will make you happy to watch, this is it. You’ll fall in love with Lucy Harris Stewart. Again, you might not care much about basketball, but this film is well worth watching.

Three Songs For Benazir – Netflix
“The story of Shaista, a young man who — newly married to Benazir and living in a camp for displaced persons in Kabul — struggles to balance his dreams of joining the Afghan National Army with the responsibilities of starting a family.” If you want to get a good view on what life is like in a camp for displaced persons in Kabul, this will help. There’s not much hope at all for a better life, and yet they still want to live. Your family and friends can help to hold you back from achieving more than what you are as well, and addiction is everywhere. Still, Shaista loves his wife and she seems to still love him. You find yourself hoping for a better life for them and their children. A short film, worth watching.

When We Were Bullies – not yet streaming online but available on HBO March 30
“A coincidence leads filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt to track down his fifth-grade class and fifth-grade teacher to examine their memory of and complicity in a bullying incident 50 years ago.”

Best International Feature Film

Drive My Car (Japan) – HBO Max
“An aging, widowed actor seeks a chauffeur. The actor turns to his go-to mechanic, who ends up recommending a 20-year-old girl.” This one is a bit of a slow-starter. It’s done in many languages including Korean sign language, but it’s all subtitled into English. As a foreign film, it’s not what you expect, but what you get is worth it in the end. Beautifully shot in Hiroshima, you can’t help but be drawn into the characters and their tragedies. It’s another long film, perhaps broken up into a few days, but worth the watch.

Flee (Denmark) – for rent or purchase through Amazon Prime Video
“Recounted mostly through animation to protect his identity, Amin opens up about his past as a child refugee from Afghanistan. He looks back over his life as he grapples with a secret he’s kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he’s built for himself and his future husband.” This film is a triple-threat, nominated for Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature. Your first responsibility is to select SUB or DUB. That’s right, like many anime films, you can choose if you want subtitles or for it to be dubbed into English. Folks, I’ll be honest here. I had a bad headache and I’m not a huge fan of listening to the Danish language, so I went with the DUB version. It was also a treat for me, because the main character is voiced by Riz Ahmed, who is also one of the executive producers.

The Hand Of God (Italy) – available for streaming on Netflix
“In 1980s Naples, Italy, an awkward Italian teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he’s inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.” The thing I love about foreign films is that they just don’t follow the American film trope. At all. I never know where a foreign film is going until it’s all over, and then I wonder what I saw. This family will stay with you, as will the scenery.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) – available for rent or purchase from Amazon
“An aspiring singer living with his grandmother in the capital of Bhutan dreams of getting a visa to relocate to Australia.

The Worst Person In The World (Norway) – not currently available for streaming
“A young woman battles indecisiveness as she traverses the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path.“

Best Picture

This category is a little harder for me. I do not go to the theater to see films. I wait for it to come on streaming, and then I have to somehow remember where it is and that I wanted to see it in the first place in order to catch it. Of last year’s nominees, I’ve still only seen The Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Anyhow, this year there are ten nominees. Again, I’ll update this as I watch.

BELFAST – Amazon Prime

It’s no surprise I loved Belfast. I’ve always had an interest in the troubles in Northern Ireland. As an American who was raised Episcopal but doesn’t practice anything these days, the idea that one would turn to violence over religion is absurd. I mean, I know that the troubles are about more than that, but come on. When I was young and went to visit my friend Elizabeth Sheldon outside of London on an air force base, there were IRA bombings happening in England. I believe there was one that took place while I was there, as I remember one night we came home from some outing and had to stop and show ID. And Derry Girls…don’t get me started. That might be my favorite TV show ever! Belfast is in black and white and has lovely cinematography. It shows a snippet of family life of a protestant family that doesn’t really see the difference in religions, either. It’s got a fantastic cast and is just beautiful in every way. I’m pulling for this one to sweep the awards.

CODA

Apple TV +

DON’T LOOK UP – Netflix

The premise of this didn’t sound too interesting to me, and honestly I don’t really care for Jennifer Lawrence, but I gave this movie a try and I’m glad I did. The plot has a great division in the country that somewhat closely matches the division between trumpers and everyone else, with an impending doom in sight. In the movie, because of the party in charge of the country at the time, survival of the planet is all but a guaranteed failure. It’s funny and cautionary as who you vote for really does make a difference when it comes to life and death and how policy can create changes that have a ripple effect far beyond one’s expectations. It’s well worth a watch.

DRIVE MY CAR – HBO Max

This film is also up for best international film feature. It has subtitles, and I know not everyone enjoys that. I’ve reached the age where, if I want to catch every word of dialogue, I need to have the subtitles on for everything anyway. This one is a bit of a slow-starter. It’s done in many languages including Korean sign language, but it’s all subtitled into English. As a foreign film, it’s not what you expect, but what you get is worth it in the end. Beautifully shot in Hiroshima, you can’t help but be drawn into the characters and their tragedies. It’s another long film, perhaps broken up into a few days, but worth the watch.

DUNE

Available to purchase or rent from Amazon Prime

KING RICHARD

Available to purchase or rent from Amazon Prime

LICORICE PIZZA – Rent or Purchase from Amazon Prime

This is a fun movie, set in the 1970s. The main character, Gary Valentine, is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son Copper. Sisters from the band Haim are also in it. Though I enjoyed it, I’m not sure what to make of it. Is it the modern day Stand By Me or Empire Records?  Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn both play small roles in it and are unlikeable. I guess Sean Penn is unlikeable anyway, unless you can forgive his violence against women. The film is Los Angeles at it’s best, the idyllic never-ending summer of your youth. Roger Ebert suggests it’s the best movie of the year. I’d like to know what you think.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY – HBO Max and Hulu

I watched this one on HBO Max. You thought Power of the Dog was long? This tops it, at a full 2.5 hours. You all know I love a good carnival show. There’s not enough of the carnival in this one for me. Maybe I need to write my own carnival movie? I should see if I can dig up the 1947 version of this movie, for it is a remake and based on a book. If you like that film noir setting, and I most certainly do, you’ll like the cinematography. It’s violent, and the characters are disgusting and unlikeable. Still, I could see myself watching it again for the costumes and sets alone.

THE POWER OF THE DOG – Netflix

Well, this is an interesting film, and it leaves me with some unanswered questions at the end. And I mean, at the end of a more than two-hour movie. If you can’t stand a horse-beating scene, you’ll probably want to skip this one; the scene is short but uncomfortable, though not gory or bloody. I’m still wondering what I watched, really. I think it will stay with me though, so maybe that is worth the watch. At the end, I can’t think of anyone I’d recommend it to except for folks who watch films specifically for the Oscars. If that’s you, and it is me, have at it.

WEST SIDE STORY

Available on HBO Max and Disney + starting March 2

Which of the 2022 Oscar Nominees did you watch? Who are you hoping will win? Let me know in the comments!