So here we have the final ten!!! Let’s peep into the probables of this year’s Oscars one last time.
Passing has some exquisite performances by Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga and is adapted with great sensitivity from the novel by Nella Larsen. The story is about two women on either side of the color line who undertake an intersectional identity exploration.
The Power of The Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst, is an adaptation of a Thomas Savage novel that talks about an assured thematic shift happening towards repressed sexuality and masculinity. This exquisitely crafted film is about solitude, torment, and jealousy.
Red Rocket is a film based on the 2016 US presidential primaries and stars Simon Rex and Suzanna Son. It portrays the wicked embodiment of the Trumpian ethos with big talk, empty promises, and zero accountability.
Respect is a powerful account of self-actualisation that spans 20 years. With Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker in key roles, the movie is a Liesl Tommy biopic, honouring his legacy.
Spencer starring Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, and Sally Hawkins, is about a three-day Christmas weekend hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Sandringham estate in Norfolk in the early 90s and is far away from the more decorous treatment of The Crown on Netflix.
Summer of Soul is about a Harlem culture festival that drew 300,000 people who weren’t charged a cent. The fest showcased around twelve dozen acts. This electrifying documentary by Thompson, who is an accomplished musician himself, is about those concerts and talks about the political environment in which they were held.
Tick, Tick…Boom! stars Andrew Garfield and Alexandra Shipp and is about a struggling playwright who waits tables during dinner and is also trying to complete a futuristic dystopian musical for the past eight years, named as Superbia.
Titane showcases phases of body horror and female revenge, but also wants to tell a strangely affecting story. The film tries to showcase what women are up against in the present scenario.
The Tragedy of Macbeth is the most modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, and is a lucid retelling that has masterful black and white visuals.
West Side Story is nowhere taking place of the 1961 screen version but is more inclusive, has a youthful casting and is appropriate ethnically. The film has Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler and is a retelling of the timeless tale but for the new generation.
As the final list of nominations is set to be released soon, it will be exciting to see which of the films we’ve been highlighting over the last three weeks will make it to the LED’s at the Oscars in 2022.
