On Wednesday, January 30th, our firm was slated to go out for our semi annual “dinner and movie” night. We had decided to see the Ruth Bader Ginsberg movie “On the Basis of Sex.” Unfortunately, mother nature didn’t cooperate. She sent us something called “The Polar Vortex.” If you have never heard of this term before, it is essentially a low- pressure area (a wide expanse of swirling cold air) that is parked in polar regions. During winter, the polar vortex at the North Pole expands, sending cold air southward. If you are wondering where I learned all of this, I watch a lot of Cheryl Scott, our top Chicago weather forecaster, and if you live in the Chicago area, you’d know why.
Anyway, on January 30th, the low temperature that night hit minus 22 degrees. We were planning to head to the local, outdoor drive-in movie theatre. I had folding chairs in the back of my SUV. To my surprise, our accounting staff all bailed on these plans – preferring to work an extra night of tax season in a balmy 68-degree office.
Instead of writing a movie review about “On the Basis of Sex” (which I never did see), I am going to write about the three Oscar nominated movies that I did see last year and tell you which one I think is going to win on February 24th.
BlacKkKlansman
This Spike Lee film is based on a true story about the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department in the early 1970’s. John David Washington plays the roll of Ron Stallworth, who joins with his counterpart Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to go undercover and infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. While Detective Stallworth never actually meets with the Klan for obvious reasons, he talks to them on the phone and they have no idea who they are talking to. When Detective Stallworth does have opportunities to attend Klan meetings, his partner Flip Zimmerman goes in his place. Despite the voice differences, the Klan never figures out the ploy.
The movie has both comical and dramatic scenes. It will hold your interest from the get go. All of the characters are well developed and believable, including Topher Grace playing the role of head Klan leader David Duke. Perhaps the most meaningful aspect of this movie occurs in the last five minutes. Spike Lee shows a montage of footage from the “Unite the Right” rally held last year in Charlottesville, Virginia. One can’t help but draw comparisons between the incidents of racial injustice that occurred in this movie with the recent events that occurred in Charlottesville. Perhaps some things never change, but this movie provides great insight into these problems and is definitely an Oscar worthy movie to see.
Green Book
I saw this movie having no idea what it was about, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The movie, inspired by a true story, stars Viggo Mortensen as Tony Lip, a tough bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, who is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world-class African-American pianist on a concert tour in the Deep South. In the 1960’s, there were only certain establishments in the South where African-Americans could stay. These safe places were listed in a guide called “The Green Book.” The movie follows these two individuals around the South, where they confront racism and danger, while at the same time learning to understand and respect each other on their journey of a lifetime.
The premise of this movie really focuses on the relationship between these two men. Tony Lip introduces the polished and sophisticated Don Shirley to Chubby Checker’s music, eating fried chicken with your hands and throwing the bones out the car window. Don Shirley teaches Tony Lip that writing letters to his wife should be more than just telling her what he ate for lunch. In fact, it was pretty funny when Tony’s wife would read the Don Shirley dictated letters out loud to his Italian family and friends sitting at the kitchen table, and all the wives would start admonishing their husbands to write and talk more like Tony Lip. Many of us married men have been part of this scene before, but nothing like comedian Sebastian Maniscalco (in a bit role) to lend a little humor to the scenes. So why is this movie Oscar worthy? Because in the end, we see the metamorphosis of two completely different men who end up developing a lifelong friendship.
A Star Is Born
This is the third version of this movie. In 1937, it starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. In 1976, it starred Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. And now, we have Lady Gaga paired with Bradley Cooper. We all know Bradley Cooper from his prior films such as Silver Linings Playbook, The Hangover and American Sniper. But, can he really get up on the stage and sing with Lady Gaga? Well, if Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is known professionally as Lady Gaga, then Bradley Cooper can now officially become Lord Gaga. Quite honestly, he really holds his own on the stage with Lady Gaga (who by the way, gives a really convincing performance in the title role). Cooper plays the role of Jackson Main, an aging rock star struggling to stay relevant. Cooper trained daily for six months with Willie Nelson’s son Lukas, taking guitar, piano and voice lessons. He was able to get his voice down an octave for this role. All of the songs he performs in the movie were done live with Lady Gaga. Be sure to catch them on stage again to reprise their roles at the Academy Awards this Sunday night.
In case you haven’t seen this movie or don’t know what all of these “A Star Is Born” versions are about, the storyline concerns two artistic people, who meet in a random encounter at a bar. We watch their relationship develop as Cooper’s Jackson Maine struggles with his demons and Gaga’s role as Ally lives her dream to become a successful singer. As the movie progresses, we witness both the beauty and heartbreak of their relationship, and the inevitable conclusion to this iconic love story. Will this movie win the best picture Oscar? Who knows, but do yourself a favor and listen to or buy the soundtrack, really some top notch music!
And the Winner is…
OK, here comes the envelope. It is being opened by our resident celebrity presenter (just kidding, we have no celebrities who work here). However, I can tell you one thing for sure – nobody but me knows the results in this envelope. Unlike the PricewaterhouseCoopers fiasco from two years ago, CTM knows better than to mix up the results and announce a false winner!
None of the movies I saw this year will win! Instead, I am predicting the best picture award will go to Bohemian Rhapsody (which recently won the Golden Globe award for best picture). Bohemian Rhapsody is a true story based on the band Queen and their extraordinary lead singer, Freddie Mercury. Now, I have to admit that my least favorite song ever and still today is “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Anytime I hear this song, I immediately turn off the radio. So, I think that it would be fitting that this song and movie will garner the best picture award! We can even bet on this. If I am correct, I will work the rest of tax season listening to my normal music. If I am wrong, then I’ll have to buy this song and listen to it every day before I prepare my first tax return – just hope you aren’t my first client of the day!
