by Public Service Associate Juliana
I adore this time of year. The release of Oscar nominations makes it completely appropriate to stay home cuddled on the couch night after night watching movies. The 97th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 2, so for the month of February, I consider movies my homework.
I print a list of the nominees, then highlight what I’ve already seen and make note of what I’d like to see. Films up for Best Picture often receive nominations in multiple categories, so I focus on those first and then dabble around the other categories depending on availability.
Part of the challenge is figuring out how/where to watch certain films. I research which movies are streaming, which can be potentially borrowed from the library, which are still in theaters, and which might need to be purchased or rented. I don’t end up seeing every film that has received a nomination, but I sure put some effort into it.
My husband and I are both movie lovers, to the point that we try to schedule vacation days this time each year. Once our dates are set, we work to create an itinerary of movie theater show times. We’ve done this with weekend trips in New York and most recently in Pittsburgh, scheduling ourselves to see a movie or double feature each day.
This February, while in Pittsburgh, a cinema we love was showcasing Best Animated Feature nominees, Flow and Memoir of a Snail. I was enamored by Memoir of a Snail, a moody and melancholy stop-motion film filled with scenes of hoarding and betrayals and claymation characters’ eyes welling up with tears. It’s very sad. It’s also VERY funny. And the characters read a lot. And one of the snails is named Sylvia after Sylvia Plath. I loved it.
Another theater in Pittsburgh was showing The Brutalist and A Complete Unknown. Our long weekend trip made it much easier to block out the three and a half hours necessary to watch The Brutalist. I have absolutely adored Adrien Brody since high school when I saw him in Tori Amos’ very strange music video and then also when he became the youngest actor to win an Academy Award for his performance in The Pianist. I was eager to watch him take on the role of László Tóth. It’s a true commitment to see the film in theaters because it basically becomes the only thing you do that day. We saw it in the afternoon and spent the rest of the night (and the next few days) talking about it.
To watch all the nominees for me isn’t about being able to predict winners as much as it is about structuring my life. I always loved being a student because I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing and when. So, I give myself this movie homework assignment and love how clear and focused it feels. Filling out an Oscar predictions ballot is like taking a final. Let’s get studying.
Nominated Films to Reserve with Your Library Card:
- Alien: Romulus| DVD
- The Apprentice| DVD
- Conclave| DVD
- Dune Part 2| DVD
- Gladiator II| DVD
- Inside Out 2| DVD
- Sing Sing| DVD
- Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat| DVD
- The Substance| DVD
- Wicked| DVD
- The Wild Robot| DVD
Page to Screen Reading and Fun Library Connections:
- A Complete Unknown soundtrack| cd
- Conclave by Robert Harris| book
- Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald| book
- Magic Candies by Hui-na Paek| children’s picture book
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead| book
- Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire| book