Oscar Nominated Film Review: The Holdovers – stepping back in time to the 1970s

Hello Readers,

My review today is about the critically-acclaimed, Award Season darling with hit performances from Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and newcomer, Dominic Sessa, it is of course, The Holdovers. From the outside, this film may seem simple: set in the winter holidays of an elite boarding school in Massachusetts in 1970. Most of the students have homes to go to but for a select few they have to ‘hold over’ until the term starts again.

The film has a very Seventies feel with the clothes, props and even the overall look that makes it appear to have been shot on film given the texture and the aspect ratio. This was in fact a technique used by the director and cinematographer.

I chose to watch this film due to its acclaim with several nominations and wins for its cast and crew and also after watching the trailer I thought the concept sounded fun, maybe with Dead Poet’s Society connotations of the student/teacher bond.

The Holdovers (2023)

What helped the audience settle into the film was the fact that we picked up just as students are going home for Christmas. We see some of the life of the Barton Academy, where the privileged and largely white send their boys, before the school empties out. We are left with Angus Tully, a clever yet quiet boy who has a penchant for bending the rules, two younger lads, a rebel whose father has refused to pick him up unless he cuts his long hair and Teddy who is an antagonist of Angus. Left to look after them are the unpopular and unfortunately pungent Mr. Hunham, a Classics teacher and the school cook, Mary.

Over the course of the film, you discover the secrets and hidden parts of their personalities although the group shrinks smaller again when Angus becomes the last boy standing. With a Christmas party, meals at the local diner and a trip to Boston, Angus and Mr. Hunham along with Mary when she is not visiting her sister, form a unique bond that transcends genetics.

Angus begins to understand why Mr Hunham is so grouchy and Mr Hunham learns things about Angus that help him understand that everyone has their own problems going on under the surface.

The highlights of the film included the cinematography, capturing the beautiful countryside scenery surrounding the school campus and the bustling Boston complete with ice skating rink and street book fairs. I also enjoyed the acting of Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa as their characters were both in a place of needing a supportive bond. You could see the emotion behind their faces and even with them both being in a privileged position, it was clear that life had not treated them well with personal/family issues.

Even though Da’Vine Joy Randolph is a great actress and has been nominated (and won) awards for her role of Mary, I don’t think the material she was given did do her justice and I think with more scenes, her role would have felt more pivotal as the only featured female role. Her character was in grief over the death of her son in the Vietnam War but apart from a couple of moments, this was not immediately apparent.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and the story. It was a world that is unfamiliar to myself and I am sure many people. The setting of 1970 almost didn’t factor in apart from references to the Moon Landing or other cultural moments. It was definitely a character driven film but the backdrop of the snow and Northwestern USA in an almost forgotten decade lifted it up to award status. I would be surprised but not disappointed if this film won Best Picture at the Academy Awards

Happy Watching,

Robyn

Review: The Post and Oscar Nominations

Hello readers,

I recently saw The Post starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep so I am going to write my review and talk a bit about the context of the film and what it means in today’s climate in the USA. Also I am going to share my opinions on some of the Oscar nominations.

The Post (2017)

The Post is set in 1971 and tells the story of the Washington Post trying to print the Pentagon Papers – around 7,000 pages of government secrets about the relations between the United States and Vietnam for over 20 years. The information was kept quiet by the government to protect themselves until Dan Ellsberg, who worked for the Department of Defence, leaked the papers to the New York Times. The paper was told not to print any more of the secret documents unless they wanted to be taken to court by the US government. The Washington Post who wanted to be taken seriously as a national newspaper, found the source and decided to also print the Pentagon Papers. They all have to face decisions between obeying federal law and avoiding jail or fighting for the freedom of information and letting the public know what their government had been doing.

The Vietnam War had many casualties including over 50,000 American soldiers. 100,000 men were sent to fight by President Kennedy. Four US Presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon were involved in the Vietnam War and authorised thousands of troops being sent to fight in a war they knew they could not win.

Apart from Government secrets being kept from the people and freedom of the press, another issue addressed in The Post was sexism. Although Katharine Graham was the publisher of the Post, she still had to prove herself worthy enough of being on the board of the paper. She was the only woman on the Post’s board. For example, at an important meeting for the Post, when she was trying to get investors to back selling stocks for The Washington Post, Ms Graham had prepared her speech and another man next to her took over her speech. She did eventually manage to command the room and the decision to print the Pentagon Papers came down to her and not a man.

Overall I think the Post was a great film and very relevant to today’s US Government and the ideas of ‘fake news’ and the rigging of elections. I give the Post 5/5.

Also in other film news this week is the release of the Oscar nominations for this year’s awards. Many great films, actors, directors and other crew members were nominated.

Image result for oscars 2018

The biggest award of the night, Best Picture has many great contenders. I have only seen Call Me By Your Name (which I wrote about in November) and The Post but I hope to see a few more before the awards are handed out on March 4th. Personally, I think Call Me By Your Name was one of the best films of the year in terms of storyline, the actors, the setting, the director and the score. It has been nominated for 4 Oscars in total including Best Actor for Timothée Chalamet, Best Adapted Screenplay, James Ivory and Best Original Song – ‘Mystery of Love’ by Sufjan Stevens.

Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Other great films in the Best Picture category are Darkest Hour, about Winston Churchill and how he helped to win WWII; Dunkirk, about the famous battle of Dunkirk in WWII and the rescuing of over 300,000 troops from France; The Shape of Water which has a staggering 13 nominations and is about a woman connecting with an alien in the 1950s; and Get Out, a horror film about an interracial couple visiting the woman’s white parents for the weekend.

All of these films have received high praise so far, and have done well in other award shows. Darkest Hour directed by Joe Wright has a total of 6 Oscar nominations including Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Make Up and Hairstyling. Gary Oldman has already won the Golden Globe and SAG Award for his role as Churchill. This year was the first time he has won any awards.

Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Lily James in Darkest Hour (2017)

The war film Dunkirk directed by Christopher Nolan has 8 Oscar nominations including Best Sound Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Director, Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Score.  Starring in the film is Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, James D’Arcy, Harry Styles and Mark Rylance. Christopher Nolan has also been nominated for the David Lean Award for Direction at the BAFTAs this year.

Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk (2017)

The Shape of Water has nominations in many categories including Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Score and Screenplay, Best Sound Editing and Mixing and Best Cinematography. This comeback from Guillermo Del Toro, is set in the Cold War and stars women as the important characters.

Doug Jones and Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water (2017)

Get Out has 4 Oscar nominations in total including Best Director and Best Actor for Daniel Kaluuya. Kaluuya has also been nominated for an EE Rising Star BAFTA Award for his breakthrough role.

Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out (2017)

The other Best Picture nominations are Lady Bird, Phantom Thread and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

I hope that Timothée Chalamet wins Best Actor, but I predict that Gary Oldman will win as he has already won a Golden Globe and SAG Award for his outstanding portrayal of Winston Churchill.

I would like Margot Robbie or Meryl Streep to win Best Actress for their roles in I, Tonya and The Post. I think any of the nominees, also including Sally Hawkins, Saoirse Ronan and Frances McDormand could win.

For Best Director, I would like to see Greta Gerwig win as she is the only female nominee and her work is outstanding or Jordan Peele, for Get Out, his amazing debut. I feel like Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk or Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water may win the Oscar.

The other awards are still important but I have picked a select few to comment on. If you feel inclined, please leave a comment below with who you want to win at this year’s Oscars.

Happy Watching,

Robyn 🙂