Movie Season

Some people wallow joyfully in Christmas. Others mark baseball's opening day on their calendars or start watching Super Bowl coverage at 9am. Me, I live for the Oscars. Every year at the end of January, I tune in to the nominations announcement, then spend the next month cramming in as much as possible before the March telecast. I like the Oscars so much that I don't even like Oscar parties—too many people talking when they should be paying attention.

So for the next month, most of my recs will be Oscar nominees. There's so much wild, beautiful art showing in your local theater in the days ahead. Go revel in it!

🎥 The Zone of Interest
Nominated for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, International Feature, and Sound

Yes this is a Holocaust movie, but it's one you haven't seen before. It's the true story of Rudolf Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz, who lived with his family on the grounds of the concentration camp, separated by a mere wall. There is one plot point to this movie and it hits it over and over again, perfectly. How could these people - including 5 children - go about their daily lives as the depths of human suffering were plumbed in their backyard? The director chooses not to show any of the violence, depicting it via sound instead. That somehow makes it worse.

🎥 American Fiction
Nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Score

A damn hilarious commentary on Black art and how white people interact with and influence it. Jeffrey Wright is one of my favorite actors and brings just the right amount of empathy and nuance to his role as a tortured author. He's also kind of an ass at times, which is great! Humans are complex, man. It should also now be mandated that Sterling K. Brown play every comedic role in Hollywood. He'll make it work.

📺 True Detective: Night Country (Max)
In case you haven't heard, True Detective is back and it's freaking great again. It's set in Arctic-Circle Alaska, during the time of year when the sun never rises, so the creepy factor is baked right in. Starring Jodie Foster, a huge cast of indigenous actors (YAY), and a frozen pile of naked corpses, it's so well done that I became legitimately sad when I didn't have an episode to watch last Monday. Damn HBO and their old-school ways.

That's it for today. I'm sending one more Smart Things on Wednesday to the whole list, and then it's only for Super Friends. I'm also going to start making monthly playlists, so make sure you subscribe!

Have a great week xoxo