The Oscars for 2020 films have come and gone, which means it’s time for Maria and Brandon to talk about last year’s films, the showings at the Oscars, and their new picks to add to their list of films to cover in this podcast.
Academy Best Picture: Nomadland – A woman in her sixties who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
Academy Best Adapted Screenplay: The Father – All Bimbo ever wanted was to be a father to his children and a husband to his wife, but providence has a different plan altogether.
Academy Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman – Nothing in Cassie’s life is what it appears to be—she’s wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she’s living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs from the past.
Brandon’s Pick: Palm Springs – Stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.
Brandon’s Pick – Minority Voices – Da 5 Bloods – Four African American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
Brandon’s Retro Pick – Frances Ha (2012) – A story that follows a New York woman who doesn’t really have an apartment. She apprentices for a dance company, although she’s not really a dancer, and throws herself headlong into her dreams.
Maria’s Pick: The Sound of Metal – A heavy-metal drummer’s life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing.
Maria’s Pick – Minority Voices – Forty-Year-Old Version (not virgin) – A down-on-her-luck playwright thinks the only way she can salvage her voice as an artist is to become a rapper at 40.
Maria’s Retro Pick – Double Trouble – Black Book (2006) and Elle (2016) –
Black Book: After narrowly escaping death, young Rachel Rosenthal becomes part of the Jewish resistance, assuming the name Ellis de Vries. Her superiors order her to seduce a Gestapo officer named Ludwig. Ellis is successful in her mission but soon finds herself falling in love with her mortal enemy.
Elle: A successful and ruthless video game company CEO attempts to track down the man who had assaulted her in her home. Soon, she is thrown into a massive cat-and-mouse chase with no end in sight.
Peculiar Picture Show 