If Beale Street Could Talk deserved more than three nominations, Mirai and Ralph Breaks the Internet worth watching

In between traveling and going to concerts, I've been able to squeeze in a few Oscar-nominated movies. I wish I could have gotten them in before the big show to give me a better perspective, but a person can only do so much.

4/13/19 If Beale Street Could Talk, nominated Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, won Best Supporting Actress, 2018

If Beale Street Could Talk was directed by Barry Jenkins (director of Moonlight) and was based on the novel by James Baldwin. The story is set in 1970s New York City and focuses on the love story of Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (KiKi Layne); it's a love story that takes a tragic turn when Fonny is falsely accused of rape. Fonny and Tish have been friends since they were little kids, and their friendship evolves into a romantic one. The story is told via flashbacks, which don't always work (in my opinion), but they do here. It does make it challenging to give you a straightforward narrative type review, and I don't want to ruin it, so I'll be careful. Tish provides the narration, describing her experiences as a young, black woman who is trying to earn a living working at a perfume counter, which include describing the differences in how the clientele treat her when choosing perfume. Her words and the visuals of one particular customer was downright creepy. Tish finds out she's pregnant when Fonny is in jail; she has told her family, and they are very supportive, and a little excited to have a new life in the world. They have Fonny's family over to tell them the news, and that was one of the scenes that blew me away, the fast paced dialog, the interaction of the characters and the fact that so much was packed into maybe less than ten minutes. Fonny's family doesn't think much of Tish and her family, they think Fonny deserves better, and his mother certainly doesn't approve of the new baby. Tish's sister, Ernestine, is someone I would want in my corner the way she defends her younger sister, and doesn't back down from the holier than thou attitude of Fonny's sisters and mother. Oscar-winner Regina King as Tish and Ernestine's mother, Sharon, tries to keep everyone cool and levelheaded, while always supporting her family, including Fonny. This is a family that never gives up trying to help vindicate Fonny, even if it costs them every cent they have. They raise the money to send Sharon to Puerto Rico to talk to the rape victim, Victoria, to try and convince her to come back to New York and admit that she misidentified her rapist under pressure from the arresting officer. As aside, I thought it was very important that Sharon, and the family, never denied that Victoria was raped, just that she was not raped by Fonny. The meeting between Sharon and Victoria was so powerful and painful to watch. There is a lot that is painful to watch in this movie, the injustice done to Fonny by a cop who has an ax to grind; hope that is dashed in minutes; the humiliation that Tish experiences at work. There is also a lot that is hopeful, the incredible love of Tish's family; a strong, intact black family going against stereotype; strong women: Ernestine works in a law firm and gets an attorney to help Fonny; Sharon goes, by herself, to Puerto Rico to help Fonny, which must have been scary, especially if she had never been out of the country and spoke no Spanish, and was on her own (this was in the 1970s, so probably a huge challenge); Tish who never gives up on Fonny. I hope this is enough to pique your interest if you haven't seen it. I actually think the movie was robbed in terms of Oscar recognition because I think KiKi Layne should have been nominated for Best Actress (perhaps a long shot give then way everything played out, but she was tremendous); how could Barry Jenkins not get a nomination for Best Director? And I don't think it would have been a stretch for Stephan James to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. James Baldwin had an interesting and complicated relationship with the United States and I think that comes through in this story.

4/16/19 Mirai, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2019

I was recently describing Mirai to a friend, and I found myself hemming and hawing about if I liked it or not. I couldn't outright say "Oh my gosh, you have GOT to see this movie.", but I also couldn't say I hated it or disliked it. The more I told her about it, the more I think I did like it, but there were parts I didn't care for, if that makes sense. What I really did like about the movie and thought made it special was how it gave the main character, Hun, a little boy who recently became a big brother, insight into his family and their 'origin stories', if you will. It involves a little bit of time travel and you have to surrender to the whimsy (maybe that's my hang up). Hun is having a hard time adjusting to his baby sister and the fact that he is no longer the center of his family's universe. As he has his outbursts (which are incredibly annoying and one of the things I disliked about the film), he also meets members of his family in the past, learning about his parents when they were children, his grandparents when they were young adults, and in a little twist, he meets his sister when she's older. All of these encounters teach Hun a little lesson about patience, tolerance, understanding, etc. As an adult watching this, I felt a little pang of jealousy (not jealousy exactly, but wistfulness maybe), because I think it would be magical, interesting and whatever other word I can't think of at the moment, to see what my grandparents were like in their twenties, or what my parents were like when they were kids. I guess I connected with those feelings. Hun's shrieking when he had his temper tantrums was enough to make me want to stop the DVD, that's how obnoxious it was. But I'm glad I stuck with it.

4/20/19 Ralph Breaks the Internet, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2018

I wasn't all that interested in seeing Ralph Breaks the Internet when it came out in the theaters, and still not thrilled after it was nominated for Best Animated Feature for 2018. My interest in animated feature films has waned, at least as an Oscar category because the rationale for selecting the winners, much less the nominees, just seems geared to sappy, oversentimental films, dominated by Pixar or Disney, not necessarily creative or innovative. Thankfully that was remedied (this time at least) when Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse won. Anyway, back to the movie at hand. So, it was with a little bit of reluctance that I started watching Ralph Breaks the Internet. John C. Reilly reprised his role as Wreck-It Ralph, who was formerly a big meanie in his video game, but revealed to have a heart of gold; Sarah Silverman as Vanellope, a driver in a racing game, who is also Ralph's best friend; and Taraji P. Henson as Yesss, the personification of an algorithm that determines what trends on the Internet; and several other new and returning characters from Wreck-It Ralph. The arcade is entering the Internet age and all that goes with it: social media, online auctioning sites, viruses, firewalls and updated video games. Ralph and his big two-dimensional heart get into a little trouble when he tries to give Vanellope a surprise and update her racing track. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, and that is pretty much how the movie goes, one good deed, one unexpected consequence, and so on. Shank (voiced by Gal Gadot) is a tough talking, fast driving character in a new type of online racing game (new to Vanellope). Vanellope admires Shank, but loves the freedom and unpredictability of this game compared to her old, familiar Sugar Rush. I was pretty ho-hum on the movie, until about 40 minutes in, and I can't tell you what happened, but then I started to like it. I do remember very distinctly thinking to myself that I was way more interested in this movie than The Incredibles 2, which bored me to tears. It might have coincided with the introduction of all of the Disney Princesses (plus Moana and Ella and Anna from Frozen); there are several other pop culture references that you have to be paying attention to or you'll miss them. I am glad that I liked the movie, still not sure it deserved an Oscar nomination.