John Wick 2

John Wick 2 wasn't released in time to be a contender for the upcoming Academy Awards, and I'm pretty confident that it won't get any recognition next year either.  But who really cares?  There is a sequence involving handguns, a shotgun, and an assault rifle that is so energetic and fluid, it's like giving an award to the audience.  Please strike that last sentence, it was inappropriately corny.  Probably my favorite part of John Wick 2 is that his dog {spoiler alert} doesn't die.  Now if you've seen the first movie, you'd know why that's so important.  The gun-fu gets old after a while, but it's quite amazing through the entire aforementioned sequence.  The reunion between Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne brought a smile to my face - this almost made up for the third Matrix movie.  Thanks so much for bringing up that piece of crap!

Best Picture

The following films have been nominated for Best Picture:
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Hacksaw Ridge
Arrival
Lion
Fences
Hidden Figures
Moonlight
Hell or High Water

Out of these nine films, I'll definitely watch La La Land again, because it was light, fun, family friendly, and Ashley really liked it.
 
Manchester by the Sea was deeply depressing, with Casey Affleck single-handedly bringing a dark cloud of bleakness to an otherwise sunny coastal town.  For this role he deserves the award for Best Actor.

Hacksaw Ridge honestly doesn't deserve to be in the running for Best Picture; I can only suppose that its anti-war message won favor with the Hollywood crowd.

Arrival was a really good character study packaged in a decent science fiction film.

The first half of Lion was a moving story about a boy lost in India; unfortunately he wasn't in the second half.

Fences may be a good play, but the film version isn't a good translation.

I'm glad to have seen Hidden Figures, it's a good film about amazing women.

Moonlight is the most dynamic film of the nine, and while I grieve the message it delivers, it deserves to be Best Picture this year.

I had my very first Shiner Bock after seeing Hell or High Water.  I had my first White Russian the night I saw The Big Lebowski.  Characters that Jeff Bridges plays in movies have good taste in adult beverages.

As for Best Supporting Actress, I'd say Viola Davis in Fences gave the most powerful performance.

Best Supporting Actor is the hardest to choose from, but I would probably vote for Mahershala Ali in Moonlight.

I've only commented on categories for which I saw all the nominees.  On a side note, Jess and I tried to watch the all the feature length documentaries nominated this year, but after 7 hours and 47 minutes of O.J.: Made in America, can you really blame us for not seeing the rest?  By the way, it was quite good.

Captain Fantastic

Captain Fantastic is the best movie about homeschooling ever made.  

Viggo Motensen plays a fierce, modern day Transcendentalist, father of six children.  He and his wife decided to raise their children in the forests of Washington...  At this point Mortensen's character would interrupt me, and point out that I'm merely describing the plot.  He would prompt me to provide an analysis of the movie instead:  I found it surprising that the director, Matt Ross commits an entire film to a man who, by all societal standards, is in the wrong.  That we see the story from this man's perspective, makes us sympathetic because we feel his emotions.  Yet we also find him reprehensible because we see his actions.  Ross' film handles this contradiction like a great novel, not seeking to draw clear conclusions, rather allowing the viewer to absorb the information and contemplate what it all means.

Other than the profanity, field-dressing deer, and anti-Christian rhetoric, this movie is a pretty accurate representation of the homeschooling experience..

Hell or High Water

To paraphrase the great Roger Ebert, a movie about why people do what they do is far more interesting than what they do.  Director, David Mackenzie's Hell or High Water follows two brothers as they rob a string of banks, with an emphasis on why they've chosen this path.  In the vein of No Country for Old Men, the lawman on their trail is a central character, whose motivation is also relevant to the story.  In a lesser film, these three characters would be one-dimensional, good for a few laughs, with a focus on the action, likely with a plot twist to keep things interesting.  Hell or High Water rises above its genre to give us a thoughtful (without being heavy-handed) film about brotherly love, and a reminder that justice and vengeance are not the same thing.

Jeff Bridges as the Texas Ranger had the most interesting role in this film, and once again inhabits his character so completely.  While he plays-off his racially-charged derision as merely joking around, we sense that there is some emotional damage that has skewed his personality.  He's not talking this way (as he claims) to toughen-up the recipient, rather he's doing it to protect himself from being hurt.  This comes abruptly apparent after a sequence of raised tensions during a hilltop pursuit; the Ranger's response is involuntary and represents a complex range of emotions.

Some of the dialog, and certain plot points seem a little forced, but these are minor quibbles.  A film like this reminds me of how amazing No Country For Old Men is; only once in a great while does practically perfect film come along.  In the meantime, Hell or High Water will do.

Moonlight

People can inadvertently be on the right side.
People can knowingly be on the right side an misbehave quite horribly.
I suggest that the opposite of these statements can also be true.

Moonlight is a film in three parts, following Chiron from boyhood to manhood, as he struggles to survive on the streets.  Chiron catches the attention of a drug dealer named Juan, played by Mahershala Ali, who cares for the young boy as an adoptive father.  Juan is the central character in Chiron's life, being his teacher, confidant, and ultimately his role model.  At its heart, this is a film about the importance of fatherhood, and a cautionary tale to those of us who are fathers:  What we do and say will have a serious impact on who our children become.

From a young age Chiron is teased for being "different" and eventually comes to the conclusion that he is romantically attracted to one of his male classmates.  The film presents this as Chiron's natural path, portraying those who mistreat him as cruel and primitive... and cruel they most certainly are.  In a fallen world it is often impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked; everyone's in the wrong.  I found this film to be extremely sad, partly because I felt such compassion for Chiron, but mostly because such an effective film can be subversive.

Moonlight is an effective film, beautifully shot, with precise editing, an excellent score, and great acting.  I believe that the director, Barry Jenkins set out to portray someone knowingly on the wrong side (Juan the drug dealer) behaving quite honorably (in the way he cares for Chiron).  Now if only we could get people knowingly on the right side to behave accordingly.

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures uses a well established formula to tell a compelling, and sometimes surprising story.  This is a rare combination; typically filmmakers try to surprise us with their storytelling style, here it's the story itself that's surprising.  Hidden Figures, directed by Theodore Melfi, shines the spotlight on historical figures that usually don't get any recognition.  Melfi does a good job keeping this film focused, understanding that an intimate examination of a few people is most effective.  I liked that the characters were allowed to develop, and while much of this was predictable, it still was a pleasure to watch.  One of my favorite scenes happened towards the end of the film, when a supporting character surprises one of the main characters with a demonstration of extreme generosity and humbleness.  This stood out to me because Melfi had taken the time to set up this scene in such a way that it enriched the entire story with a moment of true joy.

I hesitate to say anything bad about a good movie, so I won't.

Fences

Fences is quite simply a film about a family in Pittsburgh, spanning from the late 1950's through the 60's.  Race, economic status, religion, work ethic, etc. are all topics addressed in the film, but ultimately I believe that family is the subject.  Denzel Washington directed and stars, playing the charismatic, and domineering father.  Children from three different mothers are being raised by the current wife, which complicates the definition of family.  The worldview presented in this film is a messy one, wherein Denzel's character is definitely the central character, but is not the hero of the story.  Actually, it would be difficult to argue that any of the characters qualify for this title, everyone here is flawed, and there isn't much hope for redemption.  The film suggests that each of the family members contribute to their own suffering.  The wife enables the father, the sons become their father, and the best friend does nothing substantive to make a difference.  Ultimately all the characters are trapped in a hopeless cycle of despair... that may have been a better title.

The film is unique in it's portrayal of a family, where not much happens, and there isn't a plot to speak of.  Unfortunately this film suffers because it feels so much like the play on which it is based.  The actors often sound as though they are reading their lines; they're well written lines, but still it's distracting.  With the exception of David Mamet and Quentin Tarantino, I'd prefer not to hear the writer when the actors are speaking.

Lion

Lion is a story told in two very distinct parts.  The first half is almost a documentary in the way that it follows the main character, Saroo as he wanders through the streets of Calcutta.  The second half of the film feels 'movie-ish' in comparison, with recognizable actors who find themselves in situation that feel somewhat contrived.  I will leave my review of the second half of the film at that, and focus instead on the opening act.

The performance by Sunny Pawar in Lion is reminiscent of Quvenzhané Wallis' performance in Beasts of the Southern Wild back in 2012.  It is extremely effective when such a young actor is able to be so convincing in a role.  Of course I realize that anytime you place a child in such horrific conditions it is only natural to have an emotional response, so much credit must be given to the production designers and editor.  That being said, Pawar played his part so well, showing a wide range in his reactions to various situations.

I believe that this film has a good message, which so often is lacking in movies today.  Even though the second half doesn't rise to the level of the first, it's still part of the film, and seeks to deliver an uplifting conclusion.  For these reasons I liked the movie, and would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Star Wars: Rogue One

That I saw Rogue One on opening day, yet I am just now getting around to writing a review should tell you something.  This movie is well crafted, entertaining, and cleverly fleshes-out the a backstory which was briefly mentioned in A New Hope.  It's actually the last three or four minutes of the movie, where everything ties together, that Rogue One is at its best.  That's good news for the moviegoer, because a good ending can redeem an otherwise blasé offering.  The bad news is that a good ending can punctuate just how blasé the rest of the movie was...  It wasn't until days after seeing the movie that it struck me how all the main characters had {spoiler alert} died, but I didn't really care because I had seen Darth Vader go medieval on some Rebels and Princess Leia circa 1977.

More than anything else this probably proves that attachments formed in youth are strong, while attempts to recreate experiences from youth are impossible... because we are no longer that person.