Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal is my favorite movie of 2020.

The competition was not fierce. I've only liked three movies this year. The other two, Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and David Fincher's Mank (both on Netflix), are difficult to recommend for all moviegoers, but it's a safe bet that the ultimately uplifting Sound of Metal will touch most anyone who watches.

Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) plays a punk-metal drummer who is losing his hearing. This is not the typical rock-star-finds-success-then-crashes-with-booze/drugs-story — thank goodness. It's a story of overcoming challenges. Another reason why this should be crowned the film of 2020.

Ahmed doesn't miss a beat here. His empathetic character is played so genuine that the movie can explore further layers and questions such as the divide in those that view deafness as an identity and those who see it as correctable.

Writer-director-newcomer Darius Marder tells the story in a low-key way that is all the more riveting for it. Ironically, it is the sound of silence that is the most telling.

In a nutshell: It's the only movie in 2020 that I'd go see again in a theater in 2021.

Award potential: Sound of Metal has an underdog shot at Best Picture and Best Screenplay, but it will be hard not to nominate Ahmed for Best Actor. 

Plus, it's sure to rock the title of front-runner for the new Best Sound Oscar. (Sound Mixing and Sound Editing have finally been combined.) The sound design here brings the character's auditory condition to life; it's a work of art.

The Ten Buck Review. Worth ten bucks. (Streaming now on Amazon Prime)

Mank

In Mank, director David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac, The Social Network) tells the bittersweet story of fabled '30s screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and the creation of Hollywood's most honored film, Citizen Kane.

Written by Jack Fincher, David Fincher’s late father, Mank is a sharp screenplay that will fully engross film lovers and likely bore casual viewers. Mankiewicz's story is not a beautiful one, but the film's look is — thanks to Eric Messrschmidt's gorgeous black and white throwback cinematography. The look, editing, and screenplay, which is full of flashbacks, pays not-so-subtle tribute to 1941's Kane and films of that period.

Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) plays  Mankiewicz ("Mank") in a bravado performance alongside Mank's personal secretary Rita Alexander played by Lily Collins (Emily in Paris), boss Louis B. Mayer played by Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket), and his "co-screenwriter" Orson Welles, played by Tom Burke (The Souvenir). But it is Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables, Mamma Mia) that turns heads here. She plays starlet and famed Hearst mistress Mario Davies who was forever unfairly linked to fictional Susan Kane, the untalented singer baron Kane promoted in the film. 

Seyfried dazzles on screen and made my at-home-tv experience feel like a large cinema visit.

Aside from Oldman and Seyfried, this all adds up to a series of vignettes that film lovers will respect but miss an emotional connection to. I wanted a little more heart. The film gets lost in the bigness of the time period and would have benefitted from showing us more on the writer's process and the making of such a classic. But I'm a fan of old Hollywood so it still makes my top five films of the year list. (A pretty small list in 2020 of course.) Available now on Netflix.

In a nutshell: Old Hollywood buffs rejoice! Other viewers may skip this for casual movie night.

Award potential: Expect a tall tally of nominations for Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Original Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actress, and more. Seyfried and father/screenwriter Fincher each have a good chance to win.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The Trial of The Chicago Seven

A potential Oscars Best Picture contender quietly landed on your Netflix between Holidate and The Unicorn season one.

Yup, the awards race has begun with the early buzz from recent screenings of The Trial of the Chicago 7 from Oscar-winning writer and director Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Moneyball) as well as the announcement that all seven actors will be promoted in the supporting actor category.

It's a stellar ensemble for a film that played in theaters only a few days before hitting your TV via Netflix. The cast includes Oscar-winners Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), as well as Oscar nominees Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon). Yahya Abdul-Mateen (TV's Watchmen), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), and Jeremy Strong (TV's Succession) round out the cast.

Did I mention that this period piece set in 1969 is extremely relevant today? The story follows an infamous trial of seven charged with conspiracy arising from counterculture protests.

OK, since your expectations are as elevated as mine when I watched this, I can confess that I didn't find it worthy of the awards-season hype. However, it is a bofo courtroom drama to watch at home for free. Expect Sorkin's brand of character dialogue, grand speeches, and a big courtroom finish. 

Nobody does it better.

As for the best of the year? The self-important polish of the script makes the characters unlikeable at times and frequently unbearable. There is too much inconsistency to make this Best Picture material. However, as a film, it is completely tenbuckworthy.

In a nutshell: A quality courtroom drama with an all-star cast — free on Netflix.

Award potential: The film, director, writer, and actors are all in the running, but I don't believe the hype. Mark Rylance and Sacha Baron Cohen are the standouts of the seven. Jeremy Strong, so good in Succession, is cartoon-level bad in his role.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

42 (2013)

There's never been a bad baseball film, ever, but some rise to the top. 42 is top 10 material.

The story of Jackie Robinson's integration of MLB is in expert hands. The combo of writer-director Brian Thomas Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) and actor Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up, Black Panther) as Robinson is top of the order material. 

It's a story that has been told in film before; but not well. The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) starred Robinson as himself, for real. Even stranger, Boseman in 42 plays Robinson better than Robinson played himself. 

Playing a man who has to keep his thoughts inside while insults are shouted his way, Boseman has to communicate more often with facial expressions, which he strikes a perfect note for. It doesn't hurt that Boseman has the athletic chops as well.

Throw in Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey and John C. McGinley as the Dodgers' legendary radio announcer Red Barber and you have a big-time Hollywood treat.

I saw the 2013 premiere of this film in Dallas introduced by Jackie's daughter Sharon Robinson. The family did have a role in this film so there is a degree of glossiness to it. When it comes to 20th Century heroes, I'm fine with that.

While praised for its accuracy of events, the consensus critique of this film is that it doesn't go deep enough into Robinson's struggle. In his memoir, he wrote that he couldn't bring himself to salute the American flag or stand for the National Anthem knowing he was "a black man in a white world." That's still a discussion today, so we can hope for a film with more grit in the future. For now, a glossy formula film about a 20th Century hero is completely ten-buck worthy.

In a nutshell: A great American 20th-century true story told with movie magic

Award potential: 42 was not a factor in 2013 Oscars and similar award groups. Boseman was a newcomer at the time.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Bill & Ted Face The Music

Whoa! It's been 31 years since the original, but Wyld Stallyns couldn't keep this sequel from happening after the Keannussance of 2019, the year Keanu Reeves became bankable again. But should it have happened? After all, comedy sequels are hard and nothing looks older than a 55-year old sporting Ted hair.

The quick answer is —yes way! 

The joy of Bill and Ted (Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter) and their most excellent chemistry makes it breezy enough to enjoy and you'll catch yourself laughing out loud quite a few times. It's a dumb comedy filled with dumb characters, but with these two bros it works in a way that doesn't when, say, the otherwise brilliant Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell make a dumb comedy. The unpretentiousness of this dated teen duo certainly works in the film's favor.

So many things could have gone heinously wrong of course. Their daughters (Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine) are introduced, ugh, but not in the usual pass-the-torch way a franchise might use them. They are utilized not as springboards for a new spinoff universe, but as fresh characters that can experience the "whoa" of time travel for the first time as they round up Mozart, Louis Armstrong, and Jimi Hendrix to create the song that will save mankind. They are, in a word, bodacious.

The film tricked me a few times by introducing 2020 CGI technology, and a new assassin character. Both had my eyes rolling until it turned out the film didn't go deep into the bag of SFX or action. And just when the plot seemed to be going too broad and contrived, it pulled back quickly.

There is a lot of fan service here but those returning characters, such as William Sadler as Death, deliver on laughs. And the new ones, such as Holland Taylor and Kristen Schaal in new roles, helped the story party on.

Face the Music certainly benefits from a year without new movie content and a great 2020 comedy to compare it to, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much cinematic joy it brought.

Is this ten buck-worthy new film worth a trip to a crowded theater during a pandemic? Nope. Is it worth the $19.99 home rental cost? Probably not. But if two or more of you want to rent it, you'll be satisfied with that bodacious choice.

In a nutshell: In the world of comedy sequels, it is most triumphant.

Award potential: Despite being one of the only theatrical releases of 2020, it doesn't have a chance in any categories.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Best Baseball Film Matchups

There's never been a bad baseball film. Ever. I swear. But when you pair them up competitively, which films come out on top?


Bull Durham vs. Field of Dreams
Both Kevin Costner films will make any top ten list of sports films, but which one is tops? If you're playing Field of Dreams, I will watch. It was nominated for Oscar's Best Picture. However, when choosing the purest baseball movie, Bull Durham is truest to "the Church of Baseball" and perhaps the most fun all around. 

The first film about baseball in the minor leagues isn't just romantic and funny, it changed the focus of sports movies for years to come. In the words of Bob Costas, Bull Durham "gave us the romance of baseball without the violins." Winner: Bull Durham.

The Bad News Bears vs. Sandlot

This is the showdown that I'd like to see filmed today. 1976's Bad News Bear crew versus 1993's Sandlot team. Why can't someone make this? You're killing me, Smalls. The Sandlot simply owes too much to the former to take a win here. The pennant goes to: Walter Matthau and The Bad News Bears.

42 vs. 61*
In a matchup of stories, Jackie Robinson's integration of MLB (42) versus Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's quest to beat Babe Ruth's single-season home record (*61), Robinson's tale is obviously ahead in the count. So is the production. The combo of director Brian Thomas Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) and actor Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) as Robinson is a winning lineup.

61* touts director and noted baseball fan Billy Crystal and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) as Roger Maris and Thomas Jane (Hung) as Mickey Mantle. Crystal's love of baseball and eye for the small details of the sport can be felt in every scene. You can't go wrong with either film, but I'd give Robinson's story the edge. Winner: 42.

Cobb vs. Pride of the Yankees
In the battle of the b'ball biopics, we have heavy hitters Tommy Lee Jones (Ty Cobb) and Gary Cooper (Lou Gherig). Gherig was much more likable than Cobb and so is his film — which also has Babe Ruth as Babe Ruth. No joke. Winner: Pride of the Yankees.

Moneyball vs. Million Dollar Arm

In the battle of true stories of behind-the-scenes baseball, Jon Hamm's Disney film comes up short. Brad PItt's film is money. Who would have thought that Michael Lewis’ 2003 nonfiction book about the math of baseball could be major league entertainment? Apparently, the top screenwriting team of Aaron Sorkin and Steven Aaillian did. As well as director Bennet Miller (Capote, Foxcatcher) and the shiniest star in Hollywood too. Pitt may have won the Oscar this year for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, but this is his all-star best performance. Winner: Moneyball.

The Rookie vs. Rookie of the Year
When you're looking for a family film with hijinks and heart, go with Dennis Quaid's 2002 film directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blindside, The Highwaymen, The Founder) not the popular 1993 comedy. This is the most one-sided matchup on the list. Winner: The Rookie.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame vs. Damn Yankees

In a musical matchup, you'd think 1949's hit MGM musical with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Esther Williams would have knocked it out of the park, but there's not a lot of baseball there. In fact, Kelly and Sinatra's characters spend more time as vaudeville performers (their other job) than on the field. And the team is a fictitious one, the Chicago Wolves.

On the flipside, Gwen Verdon does her damndest to wow you in every scene, and the story revolves around a real damn team, the Washington Senators (and a matchup with the New York Yankees). Winner: In the musical match up, you can't beat Damn Yankees.

The men of Eight Men Out vs. the women of A League of Their Own

Eight Men Out is an eighties gem that needs to be seen. It features a pre-Say Anything partnering of John Cusak and John Mahoney and a pre-Major League Charlie Sheen. But how does one compare the darkness of Shoeless Joe and the bribe-taking 1919 Chicago White Sox team with the sunniness of The Rockford Peaches and opening day for All-American Girls Professional Baseball League? There's no darkness in baseball! Winner: A League of Their Own.

Awards: The only baseball films to be nominated for Oscars' Best Picture are: The Pride of the Yankees, Field of Dreams, and Moneyball. None have won.

The Ten Buck Review: All are worth your ten bucks.

Greyhound

Greyhound is a World War II thriller adapted from The Good Shepherd, a 1955 novel by famed naval fiction writer C.S. Forester. Adapted by none other than its star Tom Hanks. 

It's an adventure that was meant to open in theaters June of 2020 but has headed to Apple+ TV instead. Yes, you heard all that correct. Tom Hanks, America's Captain, has come to save us from a summer without new movies.

Hanks drives this terse thriller with a steady hand. The film is a brisk 91 minutes so it's essential that we are on board with the familiar Hanks as a heroic leader within the first few minutes. The action does not stop.

Director Aaron Schneider (Get Low) serves up a straightforward naval film with a simple mission. U.S. Navy Commander Ernie Krause (Hanks) leads an international convoy of 37 Allied ships across the treacherous Black Pit of the North Atlantic while being pursued by German U-boats (and his insecurity of inexperience).

The film, with its dynamic display of rough seas, was clearly meant for the big screen, giving viewers a hint of what a mission of this sort might have felt like. Similarly, the U-boats are mostly hidden to the viewer, creating the greatest unseen movie villain this side of Jaws.

Hanks anchors this film and lets us know everything we need to know about the commander with just simple gestures. He's amazing. While I appreciated the simplicity of a war film with one mission versus a convoluted epic, the same way I found 1911 perfect, I do wish the film had been a little longer to explore the other characters on board.

In a nutshell: This is a straightforward naval film and a real fresh treat for WWII-film lovers, but don't expect any romance or humor. Do expect a masterful, minimalist performance by Hanks.

Award potential: The Academy is recognizing TV releases this one unique year. However, the sturdy Hanks has reached the point in his career where he's not nominated. Don't expect any FX nods either. As amazing as the Atlantic comes to life, there are a few scenes of TV-quality CGI that should have been movie-quality. Its TV release will make it difficult for sound awards.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks. (Or a month's subscription to Apple+.)

The King of Staten Island

In 2013, I saw Pete Davidson on Comedy Central's Gotham Comedy Live and I've been telling people to watch this hilarious guy ever since. Pretty much anytime anyone did back then, they would wonder "what's the big deal." For good reason. He's never fulfilled the promise of his talent although he eventually reached popularity through Saturday Night Live and by dating pop star Ariana Grande.

Well, I'm about to do it again; watch this guy in his new movie.

I'm not sure how the guy who can't play straight to character in any SNL skit inhabited the lovable loser in this film, but he's great. The character deserves no sympathy, but you root for him anyway.

Davidson is Scott, a failure-to-launch-24-year old who dreams of being a tattoo artist. His mom is portrayed by Marisa Tomei. His dad, a former firefighter, died heroically. 

The script, which Davidson co-wrote, mirrors his own childhood loss; his father was also a fireman, killed on 9/11. Like his early comedy, the humor comes from pain which is likely why this whole thing works. It's a dramedy that plunges Scott into facing grief and adulthood, but there sure are a lot of laughs along the way.

All that to say this Judd Apatow-directed film is the funniest movie of 2020. It may be the only comedy of 2020, but it's great in a way the first Adam Sandler films were. I can't say it's worth the $19.99 "premium VOD" price that it is asking (while theaters aren't fully open), but it is ten-buck worthy. Invite friends over I guess.

In a nutshell: Pete Davidson finally delivers. If you think Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Knocked Up or Trainwreck are funny, this one goes on that shelf.

Award potential: None.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Ten Out of This World Space Films

If the launch of SpaceX has you in the mood to discover some new films, this list could steer you in the right direction. Simply put, there are a lot of stinker space films ranging from Plan Nine From Outer Space (1959) to a slew of recent films that ask puzzling plot questions without answering any — I'm looking at you Solaris, Ad Astra and Interstellar. 

But there is a world of film that will satisfy. I'm going to eliminate the franchise films such as StarWars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Alien to recommend these X (ten) stellar films:

The Right Stuff (1983)

Based on Tom Wolfe's book, this film follows the story of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid play the space cowboys and give us one of the first uses of the now overused Slo-Mo-Power-Walk in film. (The Magnificent Seven did it first.) It was nominated for Oscars' Best Picture, Cinematography, and Actor (Shepard) and walked away with 4 technical awards. Available on Amazon, iTunes, and all the VOD.

Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell does his best Cast Away homage as a lonely  astronaut finishing up a three-year gig at the space station —until he discovers something. The film relies on a well-appointed set and Rockwell's talents — not a bad combo at all. Free on Netflix.


October Sky (1999)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a teenage rocket builder who is inspired to escape his small town (and coal mining destiny) after the Soviet Sputnik flies over the October sky. It's a feel-good, coming of age story with an amazing cast (Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, and Chris Owen). Available on Amazon, iTunes, and all the VOD services.

Apollo 11 (2019)
Last year's most powerful doc (Winner of PGA'S Best Documentary of 2019) is simply breathtaking. Watch never-before-seen footage and audio of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins embark on that 1969 trip to the moon. Currently free on Hulu and available on VOD.

Apollo 13 (1995)
This Ron Howard-directed drama was nominated for nine Oscars and is based on the problematic events of the Apollo 13 lunar mission. Astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton,) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) find everything going according to plan after leaving Earth's orbit. Does Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) have the right stuff to get them home? Find out for free on Hulu.

Arrival (2016)
A linguist (Amy Adams) works with the military to communicate with the inhabitants of one of twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world. Of all the similarly-themed films (Contact, Interstellar), I think Arrival does the best job of providing a satisfying ending. Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker round out the stellar cast. Nominated for Oscars' Best Picture and 7 other categories. 

Moonraker (1979)
When The Spy Who Loved Me's credits rolled in 1977, it noted Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only. However, that didn't turn out to be the next film. Star Wars happened that summer too and soon everyone went to space. Yogi Bear left Jellystone Park for Yogi's Space Race on TV, Gary Marshall had Mork land in the Cunningham's Happy Days house, and James Bond actually went to deep into space.

This 007 entry landed between The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, the two best Roger Moore films, and suffered as a punchline for many years. However, in time it ranks more often in the top ten than bottom ten of 007 lists. After all, it gave fans Holly Goodhead, Hugo Drax, Jaws, and another Shirley Bassey song. Free on MGMhd, available on VOD, and totally watchable today.

Gravity (2013)

Winner of seven Oscars, including Best Director and Cinematography (It lost Best Picture to 12 Years a Slave), Alfonso Cuarón’s space odyssey gets more points for visuals than story, but it's still a fun ride to see whether Sandra Bullock and George Clooney will make it back to Earth. Available on all VOD services.



Hidden Figures (2017)

This lighthearted film tells the seriously amazing story of three NASA women behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn. Taraji P, Janelle Monae, and Octavia Spencer light up the screen as the previously unrecognized heroes. It's free on Hulu.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Is this the most critically-celebrated space films of all time? Affirmative Dave. If you've never seen man vs. machine play out in Stanley Kubrick's film from start to finish, now's a good time.

The Ten Buck Review: All worth ten bucks.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Thrills await. Resistance is futile.

This film, the final in the nine-episode Skywalker saga, will divide Star Wars fans.

There's a group that has bought into J.J. Abram's nostalgic recreation of the 70s and 80s magic (The Fierce Awakens, The Rise of Skywalker), and there is a group that wants a more inventive, fresher forward take on the series. This second group loved director Rian Johnsons Rise of Skywalker (2017).

There is no third group that wants anything connected to the grim, digital 1999-2005 series.

I understand both, but put me in the wink-and-nod former category for the Skywalker saga and in the latter, evolving category for future Star Wars films and television. To me, any film since 1981is a thrill-ride event with low expectations for inventive cinema. They are popcorn films that arrive during the holidays when I can coordinate with the friends I used to have Hasbro toy playtime with.

If you think I'm in another galaxy on this, some perspective is needed. The films in the new millennium lost fans faster than Jar Jar Binks could say "ooh moey moey," which is actually something he did say. If Abram's stellar Force Awakens (2015) had not captured the old magic, I doubt as many people would have jumped back on the ship. Abrams did it with familiar story arcs, throwback sequences, clever use of cameos, and a love for the 80s films that you feel in each scene. He does all of this again with The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars should be done with the cameos and flashbacks from here on, but I loved it here. This one is for the casual fans. For the old fans that want to enjoy a night out and the young fans that need to understand the magic.

In a nutshell: Thrilling, it is.

Award potential: Nominated for Best Visual Effects, Score, and Sound Editing.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

It Happened One Night (1934)

2020 has become a year where trying new things is more common than doing things the way we used to. Many of those disruptions have been refreshing. In that spirit, I recommend you reserve some movie-night-in time for a 90-year old black-and-white flick that you'll have to rent for a buck or two — or three. For real.

If you've seen it, you'll probably relish this reminder to rewatch. If you haven't, this is the time to see the one movie that Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Jennifer Aniston, Bugs Bunny, and every rom-com and road trip movie of the past two centuries owes something to. I received a copy of It Happened as a gift in my young twenties and it fueled my passion for film discovery.

Although it never makes the cable rotation for a generation of movie-lovers, it was hardly a secret in its day. Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, is one of the first "talkies" and the Oscar Best Picture of its year. It's in a small list of films (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Silence of the Lambs) that won all five major Academy Awards.

The plot is simple. A spoiled heiress meets a newspaper reporter in search of a story and two opposites eventually attract. It also introduced America to hitchhiking as well as a scandalous "show a little leg" scene that required a stunt double in its day. And an undershirt-less Gable reportedly caused T-shirt sales to plummet.

Depression-era civilities, culture, and machismo aside, the script and banter are amazingly fresh and it's one of the breeziest movies you can spend one hour and forty-five minutes with.

In a nutshell: You've never seen the remake because no one can touch this magic. However, it has influenced films in every decade that followed.

Awards: Winner of every Oscar it was nominated for including the top five: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. 

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Bad Education

This new film, starring Hugh Jackman, premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival along with Jo Jo Rabbit, Hustlers, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Lucky for us watching movies at home it was purchased for $20 million by HBO instead of a traditional film distributor.

Bad Education tells the true story of beloved Long Island school superintendent Frank Thompson (Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Alison Janey) who stole millions from their district.

Jackman, who has played charismatic criminal/con-men before (notably P.T. Barnum and Jean Valjean), sinks his teeth into his first bad guy role. It's a bit jarring to see him play such a deeply unsympathetic character. He gets an A+ for this as does Janey, who is in I, Tonya mode.

I won't spoil the story except to say it's unbelievable and true. Other than serving as a cautionary tale, I'm not sure what a viewer truly  gets out of watching this story play out except that the performances pull you in. But I am sure that is fun to see a new cinematic film nowadays that's not a ten-episode series.

Simply put: Who doesn't need a quality film to pop up on TV about now?

Award potential: Jackman has a showy performance that could land award contention, but with HBO taking this film to TV, he and Janney will be contending for Emmy nominations, not Oscars.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

This film was in theaters 13 years ago but it's a trip to watch during the social distancing twenties. If you self-quarantined singletons have ever wondered if you're slowing turning crazy when you do things such as talk to the Amazon Alexa with inflection, then this film will make you feel very normal.

Normal that is, compared to the main character. Lonely Lars (Ryan Gosling) is so scared of physical closeness that he orders a doll (Bianca) to be his companion. It's hardly a one-man show; this film is packed with stellar actors.  Lars' older brother (Paul Schneider), sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer), and doctor (Patricia Clarkson) all play along with Lars 

Despite the premise, it's actually a sweet little PG-13 comedy and you can thank Ryan Gosling for that. He's as masterful at playing sensitive, wounded birds (Blue Valentine, Drive, La La Land) as he is with cocksure characters (Crazy Stupid Love, The Big Short).

There are so many ways that this could have gone wrong, but sincerity pulls it through.

In a nutshell: If you've been looking for something different, Lars delivers.

Award potential: None.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Snowpiercer (2013)

All aboard!

Joon-ho is the new master of monster movies. You know, the non-literal kind. Anyone in awe of 2019’s Parasite may be inspired to take a journey through Academy Award-winning director Bong Joon-ho’s catalog of films. Okja? The Host?

I’d suggest Snowpiercer (2013), arguably his only other widely-accessible offering. Korean Joon-ho's only English-language film stars Captain America’s Chris Evans, Dr. Strange’s Tilda Swinton, and Apollo 13's Ed Harris.

Snowpiercer is visionary cinema and social commentary disguised as a prison-break, popcorn thriller. Based on the graphic novel Le Transperceneige, the story is set in the future where global warming has left the planet frozen. The only known survivors are on a train together. That’s all I’m going to say about the story.

Joon-ho delivered a 2013 eye-opener that originally shocked my senses the same way when I first saw Brazil, The Matrix, and… Parasite.

In a nutshell: If you think you can handle an armageddon sci-fi movie right now, take a ride on Snowpiercer.

Award potential: Tilda Swinton received a Critics’ Choice nomination for her role, but the film was not recognized by the Academy despite the originality of the cinematography, art direction, and screenplay. This train was ahead of its time.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The Highwaymen

One of 2019’s best films popped up on Netflix one March weekend and disappeared into a sea of streaming options the next. A half a century after Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s revolutionary Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Highwaymen delivers a retelling from the Texas Rangers' side. It sounds like a bad idea. It's not.

Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson star as Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, the potential heroes pulled out of retirement to hunt and catch the antiheroes rampaging through the South. Ma Ferguson, who sends out crews of detectives, is portrayed by Kathy Bates.

Costner hasn’t been this good in decades. He and Harrelson make a believable, bickering couple of grumpy old men, and their chemistry does make you wish you were watching this on the big screen. So does the cinematography.

Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) elevates what could have been a simple road TV movie into a cinematic treat full of period details, Texas landscapes, and star performances. It's a fun find on Netflix for sure.

In a nutshell: It isn’t going to redefine movies like Bonnie & Clyde did, but it’s an interesting perspective and one of the most entertaining films recently offered on free TV.

Award potential: None. It’s in the shadow of one of Hollywood’s greats.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The Way Back

What do you get when you combine a classic addiction film with a familiar scrappy sports team film? In this case, you get a predictable story, produced very well.

Art meets life with Ben Affleck playing an addicted 40-something with a career and life slump — and a layup shot at redemption. As an actor, he’s playing at the top of his game; think Argo. But the parallels add depth and realism to the familiar story taking place onscreen. Sports-friendly director Gavin O’ Connor (Miracle) keeps everything very real and raw, which services this film well. A glossy take on this familiar film would have been unwatchable. It may be predictable, but there were no false moments nor emotional manipulations.

This movie was originally scheduled for fall of last year when the best films of the year would been more worthy of my limited ticket money. However, now that The Way Back has shot over to the March basketball season, a traditional dumping ground for bad movies, this film is a real treat at the theater.

In a nutshell: A familiar story told well.

Award potential: Ben Affleck is solid in this unshowy role, but not memorable enough to score a nomination next January.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Win your Oscars office pool with math — stat-tastic predictions for every category

It is a unique year for Oscars, and Olivia Colman isn’t up for anything, so we’re gonna need some math to help your Oscar pool. A typical year has one or two films that near ten nominations. This year, four films have at least ten nominations. Joker boasts eleven nominations, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and the Irishman each have ten. Here's how to win:

Win the Best Director category
Go with whoever won the Director’s Guild of America award. Those winners have matched in all but seven of a whopping 71 years. And the Oscar goes to Sam Mendes for1917.

Win the Best Cinematography category The cinematographer's award (ASC) went to Roger Deakins for 1917. The British Film Academy Film Awards (BAFTA, a broader group) also chose 1917. You should too.

Win the Best Foreign Language Film category
Five stunning films are nominated, but only one of them is also nominated for Best Picture. Like last year’s Roma, expect voters to reward a double-nominated film here. And the Oscar goes to Parasite.

Win the Best Adapted Screenplay category
WGA and BAFTA chose Jo Jo Rabbit. The USC Scripter Awards, which has accurately predicted this category for 8 of the last 10 years, awarded Greta Gerwig forLittle Women. Jo Jo is the favorite on most prediction polls but there is more going on for Oscars than other award shows. Although Little Women does not have ten plus nominations, some people still think she should have been one of the five directors. Add that to the USC Spripter math and you’ve got a front runner: Little Women.

Win the Best Original Screenplay category
Quentin Tarantino is not a member and was not eligible for the Writers Guild Award and could alter the math, but the winner in this category most closely resembles the WGA’s winner, Parasite, which also won at BAFTA. Tarantino once called this Oscars award the "Tarantino Award" after winning multiple times so it may be time for someone new with Bong Joon Ho. Go with Parasite. It’s a good bet.

 
Win the Best Actor/Actress/Supporting Actor/Supporting Actress categories
The SAG voters are all actors and are the largest block of voters for the Academy Awards. Their picks align with Oscar more than any other. This means: Joaquin Phoenix, Rene Zellwegger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern should polish their speeches now.

Win the Best Animated Feature Film category
To me, this is the wild card and I'm not sure how I'm voting in any of my pools at this writing. Ten out of fourteen PGA-winning animated films also won the Animated Feature Academy Award, and it was true of last year’s winner Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse. They chose Toy Story 4, the powerhouse in this category. The Toy Story franchise is the only one to have won with a sequel (Toy Story 3). Will that help or hurt the fourth film?  I’m not sure voters like to click on numerical titles, which may be why Frozen 2 didn’t even get nominated.

Well, there is one more stat. The Annie Award/BAFTA combo is huge. Since BAFTA introduced the Animated Feature award, they’ve predicted the winner in twelve of the fourteen years. Missing out were Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and The LEGO Movie (2014). The stats point to BAFTA and Annie award winner Klaus. 

Win the Best Music (Original Song) category
There’s not a lot of math other than the fact that a song from a Toy Story film has won only once out of three films. I think that will move to one out of four times. If Cynthia Erivo wins she'll instantly become the youngest person with an EGOT. 

However, the Bitch is Back. Before their song from Rocketman, famous duo Elton John and Bernie Taupin have never won an award together. They have a Golden Globe for it and they’ll soon have an Oscar.

Win the Best Music (Original Score) category

There are two that could be singing victory. Hildur Guðnadóttir, a first-time nominee for Joker, has a 2020 Golden Globe win to her name already. Thomas Newman (cousin to Randy Newman) is long overdue with 14 nominations and a masterpiece. His haunting 1917 score could win. We need math; this award most often aligns with the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, which honored Joker.

Win the Best Sound Editing category
This category rewards “most aesthetic” sound design and the creating of sound effects. 

Whatever. The loudest movie always takes Best Sound Editing, period. Speed, Pearl Harbor, Mad Max, and Zero Dark Thirty have all won Oscars in this category. My ears are still ringing from the BAFTA winner, 1917.

Win the Best Sound Mixing category
This category rewards most euphonic sound mixing, and often varies from the Best Sound Editing award. Whiplash, Les Miserables, Dreamgirls, Ray and Chicago are among past winners.

The Academy likes war films (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker, Hacksaw Ridge, and Dunkirk have all won. But they like vehicle films too (The Bourne Ultimatum and Mad Max: Fury Road), so that narrows it to two options this year.

The CAS Award-winner often matches this award and they liked the cars squealing in Ford V Ferrari, but since CAS voted before 1917 was even screened, I’d question the math on this one. It’s a dead heat between FvF and 1917.

Win the Best Film Editing category
BAFTA chose a film not nominated here. The American Cinema Editors (ACE) award, The Eddie, has gone on to win Oscars in 13 of the last 17 years, including last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody. They chose Parasite for Drama and JoJo Rabbit for Comedy. Parasite should take this one, but without a clear math win, watch out for the heavily edited cars of Ford v Ferrari.

Win the Best Production Design category
This award, renamed from “Best Art Direction” in 2012, doesn’t usually match Best Picture (4 times since 2000). The winner of this category often aligns with either the Critic’s Choice award which awarded Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or the winner of Art Director's Guild award. The AGAs went to Avengers: Endgame (Fantasy), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Period) and Parasite (Contemporary). That’s two reasons for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to win here.

Win the Best Costume Design category
Decades ago, this award aligned with Art Direction, but that hasn’t been true this decade. 100+-year-old period pieces almost always (21/26) beat fantasy (Once, JoJo) ones. Plus, pretty dresses always do well. The Oscar goes to Little Women.

Win the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category
Sorry Joker, but the makeup and hair Oscar more often goes to realistic transformations. The Oscar goes to Bombshell.

Win the Best Visual Effects category

Since the VES Awards launched in 2002, the winner of its top film category has gone on to score the Best Visual Effects Oscar in 10 of the 17 years. But, the VES and the Oscars have differed in each of the past two years with the Oscar going to the more premier film. VES chose The Lion King for its top prize and The Irishman for its secondary prize. A nominee that also has a Best Picture nomination is an offer that is harder to refuse. So, The Irishman, right? Nope. A nomination that is a front runner for Best Picture is even better. Odds go to BAFTA winner 1917.

Win the Best Documentary Feature category (Feature)
With Apollo 11 not nominated, you would think that Honeyland, the only film in both Doc Feature and Best International Film (ever) would win. But it’s a safe bet that voters would love our current President to see Barak and Michelle Obama’s film take home an Oscar. (They didn't announce they won't be at the show until after voting ended). It also doesn’t hurt that it’s more easily seen on Netflix than Hulu. The Oscar goes to American Factory.

Win the Best Animated Short Film category
Beginning just three years ago, ALL members of the Academy (not just category peers) can pick the winners of Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short Subject and Best Live Action Short Subject. That means everyone from actors to musicians will have a say, so dumb it down a bit when making your picks. A loveable, heartfelt film about hair? Done. The Oscar goes to 
Hair Love.

Win the Best Documentary Short category  
Whether you saw this film or didn’t see any films and are just voting on the title, most voters are going to check Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

Win the Best Live Action Short Film category
Will voters gravitate to the more accessible The Neighbors Window or Syrian-serious Brotherhood? Not much match in this category. Flip a coin. 
 
Win the show’s running-time tiebreaker.
In 2002, the show ran four hours and 23 minutes. Whew! The Academy has loudly promised to come in at three hours. I’d bet on exactly three hours.

Here are the timings for the past ten years:
2009: 3 hours, 30 minutes
2010: 3 hours, 37 minutes
2011: 3 hours, 15 minutes
2012: 3 hours, 14 minutes
2013: 3 hours, 35 minutes
2014: 3 hours, 30 minutes
2015: 3 hours, 43 minutes
2016: 3 hours, 37 minutes
2017: 3 hours, 49 minutes
2018: 3 hours, 53 minutes

2019: 3 hours, 23 minutes 

Win the tiebreaker: Which film will win the most awards? And how many?
Joker has the most nominations at 11 but should be the biggest loser with 9 losses.

Number of Swarovski crystals on stage?
OK, this number is official. 40,000.

Win the Best Picture category
I saved the biggest (and toughest) category for last because we're going to have to narrow down nine contenders. I hope the music doesn't cut me off before I finish.

1. We know that past films without an editing nomination don’t often win the best prize. That would narrow the field of nine to just JoJo Rabbit, Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Joker, and Parasite. But I don't think you can count out Hollywood nor 1917, a film uniquely not edited at all, let’s reduce the list from nine to seven by simply eliminating Marriage Story and Little Women.

2. No film in the past 11 years has won the best picture Oscar without being nominated by both the Directors Guild and BAFTA, so let’s take out Ford v. Ferrari andJoker. We are down to these five:

1917

JoJo Rabbit

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Parasite

The Irishman

3. At this point, I’d normally eliminate any without a screenplay nomination, but they all have one.

4. In 17 of 71 years, the DGA winner’s film went on to win Best Film. But recently, the Academy has been splitting up the award 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019. So that’s not helpful.

5. The Globes and SAG don’t align consistently, but it’s rare when a film doesn’t win at least one of three options. Sorry, Jo Jo and Irishman. We’re down to three.

1917

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Parasite

5. BAFTA has matched 4 of the last ten years, they chose 1917.  70% of the Critics Choice Awards predict Best Picture and they chose Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Let’s eliminate Parasite, which will be awarded in many other categories but may not take the top prize.

1917

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

6. For nine of the last eleven years, the Producers Guild’s choice for Best Picture went on to claim the top prize at the Oscars. 21 of the past 30 years have done the same. 11/14 years the picture than won both PGA and Golden Globe took the Oscar too. That’s 80%. Good news for PGA winner 1917.

Good luck with your Oscars pool everyone!