Ryan McNeil
Lots watched over the last two weeks. I would have regaled you fine folks last week, but I didn’t want to interrupt the week-long Oscar discussion
This stretch brought me back to MOONLIGHT one more time, so allow me one last chance to get a few words down about this Best Picture winner.
My first encounter with it in the fall was deeply affecting. I came away from it with feelings of love…of sorrow…of having heard a singular voice. It stuck with me then and stuck with me in the months that followed to hold down my personal spot as the best film I’d seen all year.
However, I never expected it to win Best Picture. Not when I first saw it, and not even as award season began in full. Part of it was just the knowledge that my favorite films of the year seldom go on to win Best Picture. Since I’ve been keeping this site, it happened once early on, and then once more. It’s just the way things go, and that’s fine.
However, to see this film walking away with the top prize – not even getting into the craziness surrounding how it happened – is, well, somewhat unbelievable.
The Academy doesn’t award films like MOONLIGHT. Never have. When they reward films that are stories surrounding people of colour, they are always set in the past. The actors in it are chauffeurs, or maids, or slaves, or soldiers. They are never homosexual. They are never made for under two million dollars. They do not centre on the search for identity for men of colour in America.
Hell, Best Picture is seldom a story set in modern-day.
What I love about this win is the way it will turn people’s attention to a different sort of story. Whether they flock to theatres, or they watch it from the comfort of their couches…they will watch a story unfold that centres on lives that are not their own. Or better yet, they will watch a story unfold centred on lives that are their own.
Little Chirons and Little Kevins will see themselves reflected back from the glow of their televisions. They will see the same questions they are asking be asked aloud…they will see the same challenges and think about new ways to face them. Or perhaps best of all, they will be inspired to tell *their* story, and fill in some of the glaring gaps on the cinematic landscape.
For me, this prize going to this film was never about taking away from any of the other nominees. I enjoyed every one of the other nine and believe that they make up one of the very best classes in Oscar history. What MOONLIGHT’s win is about, is perhaps a turn in the way Hollywood looks at itself…and a turn in the way it looks at the world.
There is a lot of work to be done…but MOONLIGHT’s win is a bold first step.
Here’s the week at hand…
Screenings
A CURE FOR WELLNESS – Anyone else wanna re-watch REBECCA with me?
GET OUT – One of the best movies from this young year
LOGAN – Jeez, do I wish more of Fox’s comic films were like this. More tomorrow.
Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE SHALLOWS – This was better than I thought it would be. More thrillers need to be handsome, short and sweet like this.
THE KILLING FIELDS – Now and then, films come along that remind me of how much I once wanted to be a photojournalist.
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS – I feel like Hugh Grant deserved more love for this film.
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS – I’d actually love to see a sequel to this movie that brings the band back together.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE – Seriously, when did The Rock get so funny?
LITTLE WOMEN – I couldn’t get through this movie without thinking about Joey and Rachel’s book discussions in Friends.
THE STEPFORD WIVES – Saw this the same day as GET OUT. Talk about an awesome double feature!
Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Seen Before
MOONLIGHT – One of the best films to win Best Picture.
3 WOMEN – I love how quietly messed-up this Altman classic is.
Boxscore for The Year
35 First-Timers, 22 Re-Watched
10 Screenings
62 Movies in Total
How’s about you – seen anything good?