Sunday night, the Academy Awards glistened on our television sets, as viewers tuned in to watch the pageantry involved in selecting movies that most people would never see but nonetheless, reached critical acclaim. The event, historically lambasted for its lack of diversity in previous years, managed to not drop the ball in regards to that controversy this year, and a poignant selection of films such as “Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures” received Best Picture nods, alongside a diverse cast of actors and actresses nominated for their roles. As always though, many complaints were filed about the snubs from nominations and selections alike, as there is no true perfect method for deciding film quality. Subjectivity is the name of the game, and in that same vein, the following five films managed to capture my attention in masterfully imaginative ways.
5. Captain America: Civil War
It had to make the list, in my book. Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has spread like wildfire since “Iron Man” first released in 2008, but “Captain America: Civil War” managed to outdo all of its predecessors in every way imaginable. Directed by the Russo brothers, this film captures emotions in a way that Marvel films typically don’t, and the end product is a spectacle of beautiful special effects, riveting conflict and a tremendous performance by Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.
“Civil War” is the best comic-book film since “The Dark Knight,” and while it may not receive acclaim from the Academy, its value to the genre of comic-book films is undeniable.
4. Fences
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning play by August Wilson, “Fences” tells the story of the relationship between Troy Maxson, his wife Rose and his son Cory. The film reaches its heights with masterful performances from Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, both of whom manage to engage in a two-hour long struggle for who steals the screen with greater intensity.
“Fences” isn’t groundbreaking cinema by any means, but rather its excellency is rooted in the performance of its two leads. The film wouldn’t be the same without either Washington or Davis, giving a testament to the weight that they carry in their portrayals of the pitfalls that often existed in 1950s African-American urban life.
3. La La Land
There’s two types of people it seems: those who love “La La Land” and those who hate it. I happen to be the former. Damien Chazelle’s widely acclaimed musical not only delivers catchy tunes, remarkable choreography and an exceptional performances, but also a story that shreds the status quo of storytelling with an unexpected closure. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone portray flawed characters, which make their story all the greater, as the audience can easily relate to their struggles and decision-making.
This is coupled with a visual style that mimics classical Hollywood, and the result couldn’t be much sweeter. While I may have enjoyed Chazelle’s previous film “Whiplash” just a bit more, “La La Land” has more heart than “Whiplash,” and the result is a movie that harkens back to older days and gives an anything but a stoic reminder that movie musicals have the potential to blow us all away.
2. The Birth of a Nation
Using the title of D.W. Griffith’s racist propaganda film from 1915 meaningfully, Nate Parker’s directorial debut is visually stunning, emotionally moving and poignantly powerful with its portrayal of Nat Turner’s historic slave rebellion. From the opening shot to the closing scene, the film is riddled with moments that brought tears to my eyes, showing the inherent horrors of slavery and the lengths that many went to for freedom.
Filming for the movie only took 27 days, but the result of that short span is a moving picture that provokes debate about empathy, retaliatory violence and the current state of racial injustice in society. Words don’t do this film enough credit.
1. Arrival
When I left the theater after seeing “Arrival,” I didn’t speak to anyone for a solid hour. My mind was fixated on the acting, editing and plot that tells the story in such a way that no film has done before. It might be premature for me to say, but “Arrival” is the best film that has come out in the past five years.
Amy Adams leads the way with a performance that deserved an Oscar nomination, but her portrayal of a linguistics professor tasked with translating alien language plays second fiddle to the introspective philosophical nature that invokes “Interstellar,” “Contact” and even a smudge of “Fight Club.” “Arrival” will renew your faith in the wonders that moving pictures have the potential to illustrate, doing so in a way that is more subtle than it is brash. It’s a paradoxical blockbuster that doesn’t feel like a blockbuster and an alien movie for people that don’t like aliens.
The Birth of a Nation, directed by Nate Parker, wasn’t nominated for any Academy Awards.
