January 7, 2021 – Life and Other Disasters

A new year, a new sub-category on the Thursday Movie Picks feature. This series is hosted by Wandering through the Shelves and offers you a weekly prompt to post some movie recommendations/talking points according to the theme. Usually, you are supposed to post about 3-5 examples, which I find a very manageable amount.

This week is part of the Oscar Winner Edition, which will pop up every now and then during the year and will let us focus on movies that received the Academy Award. I have a confession to make here and it is that I often skip the critically acclaimed stuff and rather watch my unknown indies or the super mainstream stuff, but let’s try and see what I can talk about in terms of Best Picture winners anyway.

Parasite

This movie made history for a reason. I watched it with part of my family and I am pretty sure that the majority did not enjoy it and it was a bit violent for me too at times, but the subject matter and execution were still 100% worthy of the four awards. I can still remember almost everything about it so clearly and the subtitles were no issue at all. Get over those, people!

The King’s Speech

I had this super strong obsession with Madonna’s movie W./E., which is about the brother King George took over for. It was lovely to see the other side of the story and especially his struggles with his stutter and how he overcame it in the King’s Speech. Also, Colin Firth is always very enjoyable to watch.

Slumdog Millionaire

Not saying this movie is perfect in terms of representation at all, but I watched this on the plane home from the US when I was 15. I was both excited to see my parents again, but also deeply sad that I had to go back home. It was such an odd mix of emotions and with the flight seeming endless, this movie actually managed to occupy my brain quite well. For that, I appreciate it a lot.

Nominees Who Would Have (Also) Deserved the Win

The Academy can obviously vote however they like, but here are some movies I also liked (this does not mean they always should have won instead of the actual winner, but are stuff I enjoyed):