Mature cinema viewers don’t care for Oscars. They don’t care who are nominees, they don’t care who got snubbed. They watch cinema that appeals to them whether it has created waves at The Academy or not. It is because they know Oscars are all about power, politics, publicity and propaganda. It is not necessarily an evaluation of qualitative cinema. Further, cinema is subjective. If a title clicks with me but not for him then it has achieved success on its own. No matter whether academy members have seen it or not. But thanks to media who has made Oscar award the biggest thing in the world. I have come across people who never watch English films, let alone foreign-language ones, refers me a film they have watched at the local theatre with popcorns in their hand and annoying kids on their lap with a convincing tone ‘we watched this film yesterday, it is an oscar movie’ while that movie still awaiting verdict. See, how popular the Oscars are!

I, however, don’t belong to the mature cinema viewers category. I look forward to the Oscars every year and like most of them there, tried to watch all the nominated ones before the grand event. I know the hard realities behind this particular award very well but still do care. While mature cinema viewers value honesty, I get swept away by the emotions – which are, I do agree, overdone sometimes. Over the years, Oscar awards have become too political. Once nominees are announced, the winners are selected not on the grounds of merit or quality but rather on the issues they have addressed. Through the awards, the academy tries to make a statement about its integrity and honesty by manipulating the well written speech and press releases. Why!, because it is all about money, because they think themselves ‘the president’ or the award show is some kind of American election. In this way, they could garner some popularity and fuel their self-established superiority, and, of course, make some cash from the telecast.

Not every movie which has been selected is good film, nor those who have not been selected are bad – everybody knows this. Thus, Oscar is fun and it should be treated similarly as those popcorn flicks.

But thanks to the pandemic, things are little different this year. Almost all the pictures that have been selected are watchable. They belong to a certain class of their own and have certain power to compete with each other. I am glad there is two films – Nomadland, Promising Young Woman– in the best picture category made by women – both of them are best director nominees – and one of them is Asian.  And there is also Minari – a film based on a Korean family – as best picture nominee like Parasite of 2020. It also has nominees in best actor and supporting actress. There is Riz Ahmed a British-Pakistani nominated as best actor as well for his soul melting work in Sound of Metal. I never had taken the Black Panther actor Late Chadwick Boseman seriously until I saw Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. I am glad and sad for his posthumous best actor nomination. The unforgiving Viola Davis as voracious Blues singer Ma Rainey has a best actress nomination as well for the same film and I hope she will shatter all other nominees from the floor. Judas and The Black Messiah and The Trial of The Chicago 7 – two best picture nominees are relevant to the current time and most deserving to be seen by all even if none fails to win the topmost title. I am incredibly happy for Judas and The Black Messiahadditionally for Warner Brothers has sent this in place of the most overrated Christopher Nolan’s PURE GARBAGE Tenet. With Dunkirk, I thought Nolan is getting mature but after Tenet, it seems, he is suffering from the inverted identity crisis after all. I am glad there is almost no popular films in any of the category and there is diversity across all the categories. But I would have been absolutely ecstatic if Disney’s animated feature Soul could have won an entry to the best picture category as well because it is more than an animated feature.

The weakest film in the best picture category is perhaps the Promising Young Woman. I know people call me names after this line. But I feel this film is very Hollywoodish, very formulaic. I absolutely relate to the issue the film is raising and the point it is making. But as I have said, film is about stories, about feelings, experiences and it is also how you are telling that story. But Promising Young Woman is a film I have seen many times. It is a film where filmmaker is trying to act cool just like a teenage kid. All the metaphors, all the twists are absolutely direct – on the nose. The most surprising revelation for me was The Sound of Metal. From the look of it, it is a film I would probably not watch. But it fascinated me – in the ways it is made and the way it made me feel. In next 4/5 years I may forget about the story but I will remember particularly two moments from the film. I love Frances Mcdormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri but lot less in Nomadland. It is heartbreaking to see her like this. Nomadland will probably win the best picture but to me the most moving and incredible films are Minari and The Father. The Father got power, it captivated me, it got control over me, I could not move for a single second during its runtime. It is a film that will move you internally and yet make you so weak that you become numb. I love Chadwick Boseman but let’s be practical- he is not here to acknowledge the appreciation. Hence, I hope the academy will keep their politics aside this year and get the astounding Anthony Hopkins another best actor award for his stellar performance as the father. Minari is a film which proves the point is cinema is universal irrespective of language, culture, and geography. Every one of its viewers will find themselves in any of the characters of the film. While watching it, one will feel that this script cannot be written, it cannot be planned, it is happening spontaneously in front of your eyes. My mother used to remove the earwax from my and my sister’s ears when we were child. I don’t know many mothers in real life who does this. But the mother in the film is doing that in Minari. And everybody loves their grandmother – no matter how weird they are sometimes. I wish Youn Yuh-jung who plays grandmother in the film get the best supporting actress award.

For last few years, I am losing interest in the best picture nominees and looking forward to the international or foreign film nominees as they are always a breath of fresh air. No formula, no factory-made structure and largely unpredictable – they leave a print on both heart and mind. By this time every year, I usually finish watching all the foreign language nominees. But not this year. I could only manage to watch 3 – Another Round, The Man who Sold His Skin, Better Days. I have read great things about the Quo vadis, Aida? but not able to get to watch it till now. Better Days was usual but unpredictable- addressing an issue of bullying at school. It is very warm and has a tinge of Korean romance. I love the way it is paced and distorted. The Man who Sold His Skin is probably my pick from the three as it is fresh, artistic, and dynamic – taking steps to everywhere to drive its point home. A desperate Syrian man sells his back to an artist – will feel like a philosophical slow burn film but it is actually fun and beyond. It is shot articulately and very provocative. Knowing it is inspired from a true event, it will be a food for thought for some days. However, Another Round seems to be getting the trophy this year. I love its lead actor Mads Mikkelsen – especially in the brilliant The Hunt by the same director. I may have to watch Another Round once again to realize why it is being praised more than the other nominees. Though I agree some moments in the movie got my tears. The film got my heart but not my vote.

Personally, out of the all I have watched, the most memorable were Minari and The Father. I would be rooting for them on 25^th April.