Wrap Up: What I Was Watching In January 2020
In January, my goal was to try to watch as many remaining award contenders as possible and I think I’ve just about finished the list! I’ll do a piece sharing my absolute favorites of the Oscar nominees next week, but overall, I’ve been pretty impressed by a lot of these movies. Spoiler alert: I am still obsessed with Parasite and am already counting down to win I can just buy my own copy of the new Little Women.
Richard Jewell
In theaters
Somehow, despite growing up two hours away from Atlanta, I had never heard about this story. Maybe that added to my enjoyment of this movie since I didn’t exactly know how it was going to end, but either way, I thought it was extremely well acted and held my attention every moment it ran.
The Verdict: 4/5
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
In theaters
Who couldn’t love Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers? Does it get more pure than that? This film may not spend as much time on the kind children’s television show host, but you still get an insight into how he was on and off the screen. However, I felt the plot surrounding the reporter who the movie is truly about was far less interesting than the story he was writing.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Queen & Slim
In theaters
Warning: this movie will give you a lot of emotions and make you potentially feel uncomfortable. Which is great, because that is exactly what it aims to do. It’s a modern day Bonnie and Clyde with a twist: there’s more to the story than them just being two cop killers on the run. But that’s not necessarily what the world sees.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Spies in Disguise
In theaters
All I knew about this one going in was that Will Smith voiced a spy who got turned into a pigeon by a young scientist voiced by Tom Holland. And that’s really all you need to know. This movie is fun, cute and one of the most unique premises I’ve seen in an animated movie in a while. It’s far from perfect but it’s awfully adorable.
The Verdict: 3/5
Little Women
In theaters
Despite being an English major and a constant reader, Little Women never made it into my repertoire outside of a rather memorable Friends episode with some spoilers. Seeing this movie made me want to take a week off work and read it immediately. I cried, I laughed and I was in awe of how beautiful this movie actually was. Even if you think it wouldn’t interest you, I’d beg you to reconsider.
The Verdict: 4/5
Lady Bird
Amazon Prime
I’m embarrassed with how long it took me to watch this movie, but seeing Greta Gerwig’s Little Women gave me the push I needed to finally sit down and see it. And it was so much fun. It felt in the same sub-genre as Booksmart which is something I absolutely love. More well-written, female coming-of-age stories please!
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Marriage Story
Netflix
Next on my ‘watch all the nominees’ parade was this much-talked about film. I appreciate it being on a streaming service to be so accessible, that’s for sure. I don’t think it lived up to the hype for me, though. I could never get past who the actors were so it kept me separated from the emotion that the plot really needed me to feel.
The Verdict: 3/5
Missing Link
Hulu
I was baffled when this one the Globe for animated film because I remembered seeing the trailers for this and rolling my eyes. Watching the full film solidified that for me. Nothing about it was really exceptional, and it was extremely similar to Abominable, which I actually thought was a bit cuter and I remember a lot better.
The Verdict: 2.5/5
Klaus
Netflix
Okay, sure, it’s past Christmas, but if a holiday movie - let alone an animated holiday movie - was nominated for an Oscar, I had to check it out. It’s pretty much a variation on the claymation Santa Claus Is Coming To Town but it’s cute. They manage to expand it without it dragging and it managed to warm my heart even in the cold that is January.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Zombieland
Netflix
I’m normally the last person to watch anything involving zombies, but I kept hearing that this was more of a comedy that just coexisted in a world that contained zombies. When I saw it was leaving Netflix, I decided I had to check it out. It was a really fun watch, but I’m not sure it stands out too much - other than not being your typical zombie movie.
The Verdict: 3/5
Catch Me If You Can
Netflix
I think I’ve seen snippets of this over the years, but I got another push from the Netflix “this is leaving soon” message and decided to watch it from start to finish - and really loved it. Some of the accents were a bit much but the story was fascinating and kept me invested until the last scene - and wishing I could see more.
The Verdict: 3.5/5
Are you crossing Oscar noms off your list? What do you still hope to see before the big award show?