For movie-lovers, there’s always a mad dash right before the Oscars to watch as many of the nominated films as possible. After the big show, however, all that buzz dies down. There’s less pressure to see the movies that we were all just rushing to see. We resign to waiting for them to pop up on Netflix or HBO, but more often than not, we forget about them altogether.
Let’s stop doing that.
We’ve got an entire year before that pressure to crash course the Oscars returns, so let’s make a promise to ourselves to see the movies we wanted to see. There were so many great films this year – my favorites were Parasite, Uncut Gems, Little Women, and (why the hell did the world forget about) Us?
But before Bong won his well-deserved OscarSSSS or Greta got snubbed, they were making great films that were overlooked by the big American award shows during their release year. If you missed some of their earlier work, it’s time to watch the movies that made these filmmakers great.
I scrolled through a few of our favorite streaming services and dug up three movies with connections to this year’s big winners or nominees (and two films from this year that should have gotten more shine!)
Okja (Netflix)
Bong Joon-Ho’s critique of the meat industry comes in the form of the world’s cutest CGI beast. This movie’s been described as Miyazaki meets Speilberg, which would be enough to sell me. But guess what else? Tilda Swinton’s in this. Actually, two Tilda Swintons! What else could you want?
Frances Ha (Netflix)
Greta Gerwig stars in the titular role while also co-writing alongside her husband, Noah Baumbach. Both Gerwig (Little Women) and Baumbach (Marriage Story) were nominated this year for their brilliant work, but there’s something especially soul-affirming about Frances Ha. You will never hear “Modern Love” the same way ever again.
Good Time (Netflix)
While the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems went unrecognized at the Oscars, it was a massive hit at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, winning Best Directing, Best Editing, and Best Male Lead. Since Uncut Gems isn’t streaming yet on Netflix in the U.S. (damn you, Canada!), Good Time is a more than serviceable fill-in. Robert Pattinson will make you forget that he used to be a glowy vampire.
WRITTEN BY: @RipJaredTLC – Jared Caracciolo
What was your favorite film from last year?
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