Oscar 2017 - Best Picture

I was considering skipping the final Oscar entry for this year. Besides the fact that I rushed the previous, I'm also disappointed of what we have on the list... I kept hoping this week when I watched the last couple movies that I'll finally get to "the one". Well, I didn't ... although maybe there's still a small exception...

I did write about "Arrival" already. It's an interesting idea in the "time travel" context, but hardly believable given the way it's explained in the end. Ultimately it's the fault of the book, not of the movie, but even the movie, it's not Villeneuve's best ... Enough said.

"Fences" adapts a play, whose author is also posthumously nominated for the script. We have some excerpts from the not so happy life of a black family. The movie gets across the racial aspects issues, and delves into a more general area of family problems. I would actually say that the second half of the movie could be used as definition for the idea that "families are very complicated", and it also might touch some sensitive aspects depending on the viewer. However, to get there, you have to get through the first half of the movie, which has too many unnecessary lengths...

I did write also about "Hacksaw Ridge". That's the small exception in this list I was referring to. Still, even though the movie is undeniably good, and Gibson's comeback as director is a really nice surprise, something still seems missing... Something that we had in "Apocalypto", in "Passion", and mostly in "Braveheart". There's some feeling there which here is faded, not completely but it is :) ...

"Hell or High Water" is a revenge story. And as any revenge story has a sort of catchy romantic side. Two brothers, from yet another family with problems (that's a recurring theme this year), decide to solve the issue of a mortgage with the "help" of the bank that set it. Up to some point I would say that the movie is ok, but in the end it got a bit too rough due to some unnecessary kills... or maybe I'm getting too disgusted about the reality of life and I prefer watching fairy tales :)...

"Hidden Figures" is a sort of biopic of three black women who worked at NASA in computing during the first space missions. The movie is not bad, but from somebody who's active in a technical area I can't get over some obvious exaggerations. Besides that, somehow brought back to me memories on a "A Beautiful Mind", and we can't compare that with this...

And we're getting to the "La La Land" about which I also wrote already. Given the massive appreciation this seems to get, I think that people are fed up with life issues, may these be family related, poverty, social/racial/whatever inequity and others, and expect from a movie exactly what I'm saying since ages that I think a movie should offer = a time to clear your head of reality's daily issues with a story. And I have to admit that "La La Land" is probably the closest in this list, although... even even here, the ending brings you back from the fairy tale.

"Lion" presents another incredible life story, of a child from India who gets lost more 1500 km away from his mother, ends up adopted by an Australian couple, and finally after around 25 years finds his way back to his still living relatives... The story is touching, but even though the irony is that his life probably turned more positive like this, it has some really really sad parts in it...

"Manchester by the Sea" brings us another family with issues. The main character has to move back to his town he left after an arson he unwillingly provoked years ago, when his brother dies, and his nephew needs a legal guardian. The interesting part here is a calm that the movie expresses from start to finish. It somehow tells you that things will eventually settle, no matter how complicated the situation is... Is it like that, it's not like that... In any case, it's more comforting :)

"Moonlight" moves through three periods of the life of a young black gay living in a rough community somewhere in Florida. We don't get rid of the "family issues" factor. Even harsher and bitter than the previous, and without an actual "solution" in the end. It's not what I expect from a movie, I'm sorry. However, this sorts of get as second favorite in various polls for getting the award. I hope it stays like that...

Verdict: Well... "La La Land" doesn't seem to have much competition, so I doubt we'll see a surprise again :). I'll stick to my personal option of "Hacksaw Ridge" being the best movie in this list. At least due to the unreal of the reality that gets it closer to a fairy tale ;) ...