The time of the Academy Awards is always a fun one. People share their favorite and least favorite movies and debate over who should win gold statue hardware and who should not. I saw most of the nominated films and late in the Oscar season caught “Parasite” which was probably my favorite movie of the year. I don’t want to say anything more, just SEE it and you’ll thank me afterwards.
Anyway, for the next couple of weeks your local theater screens will be showing some of those films that pick up Academy Award honors. It’s a good opportunity for movie fans to catch up to see what’s the big fuss about this actor or actress and this or that movie.
So what I want to do is steer you toward some lesser known flicks that never made waves at the Academy Awards in years past but are worth your time to check out. Most of these should be available on pay per view via Amazon or Xfinity. However, if you want to kick it old school, go to your library and check out the DVDs for the films I’m listing.
First here are some thrillers/dramas that will keep your eyes locked on the screen for the duration of the film.
LAYER CAKE (2004) Way before his James Bond movies, Daniel Craig played a British drug dealer trying to get out of that business in a smart and twisty drama. This is one of the best drug caper movies I’ve ever seen.
WIND RIVER (2017) Elizabeth Olsen (younger sister to Mary Kate & Ashley) showed her acting chops in the stark “Matha, Marcey, May, Marlene” and she does well in this rural mystery. Olsen plays an FBI agent trying to solve the murder of a young girl on a lawless Indian reservation. Jeremy Renner co-stars and it features a fantastic intense stand-off with guns drawn and plenty more thrills.
STOKER (2013) Mia Wasikowska plays an oddball teen mourning the sudden loss of her father. Her nasty mother (Nicole Kidman) and creepy uncle (Matthew Goode) who just got out of a mental institution crank up the eerie drama. The twists and turns are never obvious and you’ll like every frame of “Stoker.”
Now here’s a set of “coming of age” movies that you may not be familiar with.
THE WAY WAY BACK (2013) Duncan (played by Liam James) is a an awkward teen. His single mother (Toni Collette) drags him to a summer cabin to bond with mom’s harsh and hard to figure out boyfriend. (Steve Carell) Allison Janney plays a free spirited neighbor but the scene stealer here is Sam Rockwell who manages a water park and mentors Duncan. I’ve always liked Rockwell’s acting (he won an Oscar for “Three Billboads Outside Ebbing Missouri) and his humor and charm in this film is worth seeing.
SHORT TERM 12 (2013) Lots of good films came out 7 years ago and that includes this drama about a small alternative school for troubled kids (who live on campus) and have sad backgrounds to put behind them. Future Oscar winner Brie Larson is the lead star as one of the administrators who tries to improve the lives of these soon to be graduates while coping with her own problems. Another future Oscar winner Rami Malek plays a new teacher at the school who has lots to learn about working with these special students.
DEAN (2017) I’ve written before about this part drama-part comedy and my enthusiasm has yet to waver on it. Demetri Martin is Dean, a 20-something cartoonist coping with the loss of his mother while his father (Kevin Kline) plans to sell the family home. Son and father find their own ways to grieve and they meet some new people along the way. Dean’s letter to a friend at the end of the movie is priceless and there are smiles and tears leading up to it.
So if you’re looking for some off the beaten path films that will light up your life as much as the recent Oscar winners, you’ve got six to recommendations to check out.
NEXT WEEK’s BLOG : Hitting to all fields.