Green Book is a nice little odd couple movie about racism in the early 1960s, and Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali (who won his second Oscar in support) are very good in it. But the best picture of the year? I didn't see that coming.
I'd argue that two other best picture nominees — Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman — have much more interesting, and frankly, more entertaining things to say about race relations in America.
The former, the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a primarily Black cast, is the story of T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the newly crowned king of Wakanda, who must decide whether to use his hidden kingdom's immense power and wealth to help the world or to take revenge for centuries of colonialist exploitation. The film was a smash hit and a cultural phenomenon.
The latter, Spike Lee's most successful movie since 2006's Inside Man, is the true story of a Black FBI agent (John David Washington) who infiltrated the Klan in the 1970s. Funny and infuriating at the same time — racists are so stupid and unfortunately so real.
For my money, both are not only better than Green Book but are also more likely to stand the test of time. But that could just be me. Hats off to the Academy for nominating all three of them.
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. Best animated feature winners are noted with an @. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
The most underrated movie of 2006 is Spike Lee's Inside Man, a terrific little caper flick that quickly turns into something a lot more interesting.
My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself. I told you my name, that's the who. The where could most readily be described as a prison cell. But there's a vast difference between being stuck in a tiny cell and being in prison. The what is easy. Recently, I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery. That's also the when. As for the why, beyond the obvious financial motivation, it's exceedingly simple: Because I can. Which leaves us only with the how. And therein, as the Bard would tell us, lies the rub.
As promised in his opening monologue delivered straight into the camera, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen, who also starred that same year in Alfonso Cuarón's dystopian sci-fi classic, Children of Men) has masterminded a meticulously planned bank heist — or has he? His intricate caper immediately turns into a hostage situation as half the New York police force descends on his location.
Enter veteran hostage negotiator Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington, great as always — I'd pay to watch him read the phonebook). So far, it all sounds a bit like a remake of Dog Day Afternoon or maybe even Die Hard.
It isn't.
This is the strangest bank robbery in history. Nobody seems to be in a hurry to steal anything, or negotiate demands, or make a getaway when they're done. Instead, Russell and his crew sit and wait. And wait. And wait.
It's a game of cat and mouse, and Detective Frazier strongly suspects he's the one holding the cheese.
Superb supporting work from Jodie Foster as a sleazy fixer, Christopher Plummer as the bank owner in need of her services, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Frazier's bemused partner, and Willem Dafoe as a trope-busting SWAT commander who is neither a bloodthirsty psychopath or a bumbling buffoon.
Director Spike Lee also treats us to an up close look at how a post-9/11, multicultural New York has changed since the gritty days of classic 1970s crime pictures (The French Connection, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three). Indeed, this might be the best use of the city in a movie since Woody Allen's Manhattan. The most insightful, anyway.
Supporting work and demographic insights aside, though, it's the high-stakes sparring between Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, two of my generation's coolest actors, that makes this movie so much fun to watch.
This is to date the highest grossing movie of Spike Lee's career.
A great Saturday night picture. Highly recommended.
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. Best animated feature winners are noted with an @. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
If you're old like me, you might remember all the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching that accompanied the release of Spike Lee's masterpiece, Do the Right Thing, back in 1989. The movie holds up even if its critics' hysterics look pretty comical in retrospect. Lee basically predicted the Black Lives Matter movement thirty years before it had a name and laid out the injustices and frustrations that underlie it.
A true artist with his finger on America's pulse and the best picture of the year.
So of course the Academy gave the Oscar to Driving Miss Daisy, the essential message of which is Keep your mouth shut and your eyes on the road, Morgan, and eventually the old white lady in the backseat might learn to tolerate you. Try as I might I couldn't shoehorn it into my top ten. Or maybe I just didn't want to.
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
And on a personal note, I passed a milestone last week. When I say I'm happy to be here, you can bet I really mean it!
A good year for movies—Do The Right Thing, Cinema Paradiso, Crimes and Misdemeanors, When Harry Met Sally, sex lies and videotape, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot, The Killer, Glory, Roger & Me, Henry V, Driving Miss Daisy, Batman, Say Anything, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Kiki's Delivery Service, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure ... and on and on.
It was an even better for getting married. At least if you were Katie-Bar-The-Door and the Mythical Monkey.
P.S. I'm sure the head of my alternate Oscar pal, Erik Beck, will explode when he sees I didn't pick Denzel Washington's supporting performance in Glory—and I don't blame him. Let's just say I'm saving Denzel Washington's award for Malcolm X, which I think is the best performance of his career and the one I'd want you to see if you were only going to see one.
PICTURE (Drama) winner:Do The Right Thing (prod. Spike Lee)
PICTURE (Comedy/Musical) winner:When Harry Met Sally ... (prod. Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman)
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
Posts
