The Shoulda-Been-A-Contender Awards
Our favorite 2018 movies on streaming that were robbed of an Oscar nomination
This may shock you, but sometimes the Oscars get it wrong. I know, crazy! But just look at the long history of blunders in Best Picture over the years: The King’s Speech over The Social Network, The Artist over literally anything else in 2011, Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas, and the list goes on and on since they started handing out little gold statues way back in 1929.
But sometimes they get it so wrong that extremely deserving movies aren’t even nominated. That’s the case with the four titles below that we picked out. Shamefully, none of them were even nominated for a single Academy Award this year.
So, no, you won’t hear their names called on Sunday night, but they are absolutely worth our attention. Check them out this weekend before the big night, and then join us in mourning their absence.
(And make sure you read our very first newsletter from last week, where we recommended the best Oscar-nominated movies from 2018 on streaming.)
Billy recommends…
Leave No Trace (streaming on Amazon Prime)
No modern director has launched the careers of female actresses quite like Leave No Trace director Debra Granik. First, she made a star out of Vera Farmiga who went on to star in the Martin Scorsese movie The Departed (admittedly, she had a terrible Boston accent). Then she made a star out the biggest actress of the 2010s, Jennifer Lawrence.
After seeing Leave No Trace twice I think Debra Granik has found her third star in actress Thomasin McKenzie, who plays a teenage girl named Tom. Her portrayal as a homeless girl living with her father is the best portrayal of a teenager I have ever seen. Everything written by Granik is portrayed so realistically by McKenzie, specifically the naivety of a teenager. She blindly follows her father, but in a good way. Her dad, played brilliantly by Ben Foster, constantly provides in every way. Emotionally and practically. Therefore she has no reason to question the scenario she is in until her and her father are forced into living somewhere else because they were caught by the police living on public land. For the first time Tom sees the positive aspects of community and through that positivity has the temptation to rebel from her father. Her father purposefully hid Tom from the outside world. No community could provide what he wanted for his family. So he decided to live without one, causing a drastic rebellion from his daughter, Tom.
I remember so well my first temptation to rebel and therefore relate to Tom so much. She rebels so much more maturely than I ever did (sorry Mom). I cannot recommend Leave No Trace highly enough. Please give this one a shot.
Eighth Grade (streaming on Amazon Prime)
I am doubling down on the two best father/daughter movies of 2018. Eighth Grade has a much different vibe than Leave No Trace. Eighth Grade plays into the 1980s coming of age movies that we all love, but played slightly more real. Teenage YouTube superstar, annoyingly talented, and unexpected director, Bo Burnham, steals the show from behind the camera. Burnham, who made his nut on YouTube, attempts to portray the current state of social media through the eyes of an eighth grade girl experiencing the last week of eighth grade, and he nails it.
It infuriates me that this movie is rated “R”. There are some curse words. Get over it. Every teenager should have the opportunity to see this movie. It accurately encapsulates the unrealistic expectations that social media can bring: a constant comparison to other people you interact with each day. Except you primarily see the best from other people on social media and that can create an unexpected depression. Kayla, played so well by Elsie Fisher, struggles with these comparisons greatly. She wants to be something she is not. Or at least, doesn’t know how to be that way yet. All of that brings awkwardness and some truly hilarious scenes. The hilarity brings such a fun energy that this film desperately needed. The audience needs that feel of 1980s coming of age stories to get through the awkward.
After all the sadness and hilarity, Burnham brings home the audience with what may be the best father/daughter moment I have ever seen in film. At the height of Kayla’s depression her father comforts her in the most beautiful way. I will stop there as to not spoil anything, but this scene will give you a mix of tears and smiles.
I implore you to give Eighth Grade a shot. The story may have modern technology as a backdrop, but every generation will find commonality and empathy with the main character, Kayla. Everyone will love this one.
Drew recommends…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (streaming on HBO Now)
Back in fifth grade, someone convinced our entire class that Mister Rogers was a retired Navy SEAL with dozens of confirmed kills. Apparently he wore those long sleeve cardigans because he was hiding the many, many tattoos that covered his arms. Well, none of that turned out to be accurate… but it’s telling that everyone believed it.
Back then, and especially today, Fred Rogers seemed too good to be true; he just had to be hiding something behind that soft smile. The documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? posits that the gentle, friendly, and generous man we all watched on TV was exactly that in his personal life. It’s clear he cared deeply about children and about displaying kindness to all, which can seem weird in a cynical, ironic culture.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? masterfully takes us through Mister Rogers’ life and career, showing us how an ordained minister from Pittsburgh became a truly iconic television figure. With overwhelmingly positive reviews (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a successful box office (it’s the 12th highest-grossing doc ever), it was shocking when the Academy failed to nominate it for Best Documentary. Even though you won’t hear its name called during Sunday’s Oscars, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a film I’d recommend to anyone with even the slightest memory of Fred Rogers.
Near the end of this life-affirming documentary, I found myself incredibly moved by its portrait of Mister Rogers. In a divisive political and cultural era, this humble, unassuming, and sincere man seemed like the most radical person I’d ever laid eyes on.
Annihilation (streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu)
For the sci-fi crowd, Annihilation is a must-watch. Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s terrific 2014 novel, the story follows a group of five female scientists into a strange quarantined zone called “The Shimmer.” What happens next defies science and natural explanation, but makes for a thrilling and challenging ride.
If you’ve read the book Annihilation, you should know that this is not a faithful adaptation by any stretch. Writer-director Alex Garland (Ex Machina) keeps the main story intact, while completely rethinking the second half of the book. While I don’t think he necessarily improves the narrative, his retelling certainly makes for a fascinating movie. The trailer does a pretty good job setting the table for the madness that is to come. Natalie Portman is as sharp and committed as usual in the lead role, while Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac round out the rest of the talented and compelling cast.
If I keep typing I will start to give away some of the astonishing turns of Annihilation, so let me just end with this: I saw it a full year ago and I still haven’t been able to shake this enigmatic and mystifying sci-fi nightmare.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please pass it along to a friend, share it on social, or shout it from the nearest mountaintop. We’d appreciate it.