Oscar Weekend

This year I've seen 5 of the 10 Oscar Best Picture nominees and for the most part I'm really loving them {we really want to watch Killers of the Flower Moon this weekend, but at 3.5 hours it's a commitment!}.  While they say Oppenheimer is a guarantee to take home the big prize, you can't go wrong watching any of these films which include some amazing performances and wonderful stories.  

Barbie was the first film of the bunch we saw and I absolutely see where all the summer hype came from.  While it may look frilly and fun from the outside {which parts of it definitely are!} it is such a poignant and important social commentary that everyone needs to see.  10/10.

Be warned - Oppenheimer is 3 hours long and the timeline jumps around throughout the entire thing.  Once you know that, sit back and enjoy this true story of the creation of the atomic bomb and the internal struggles associated with creating something so destructive.  Amazing performances and a truly gripping story, we've been waiting to watch this one since we were in New Mexico and told about the filming of it there.

I say that we are in our Paul Giamatti era since we're deep into watching Billions, and The Holdovers made me love this actor even more {if possible}.  The story of a grumpy teacher, a lonely student, and a grieving cook forced to spend the holiday break together is full of funny adventures and heart wrenching bonds and is absolutely one of my favorite movies of the year.

I watched Maestro on the plane the other week and was in awe of the natural dialogue and chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan in this story about the great conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia.  A beautiful story that spans a lifetime, I liked this telling of their story a lot more than I thought I would.

Past Lives is a quiet, thoughtful film about love, destiny, and timing and I absolutely loved the themes and questions this story brought up.  Greta Lee is wonderful as Nora, a South Korean immigrant who is reunited with her childhood love after 20+ years and the emotions, connections, and even silences are beautiful to watch.

xoxo,

stephanie marie