Oscars Line-Up and Trivia 2020

It’s that time of year again – the movies have been chosen, complaints have been made, and ReelTalk is going to cover them one at a time.  Joker leads the pack with 11 nominations; The Irishman, 1917, and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood follow with 10 nominations apiece. 31% of the nominees are women (though this year’s lineup has once again mostly excluded women and nominees of color in the “major” categories), and Netflix has garnered 20 nominations, despite some claims that it is not entirely relevant cinema.

Knives Out: Entertaining Escapism

Rian Johnson has directed five movies (and three episodes of Breaking Bad, just FYI), but Knives Out may be the most important one, because Johnson has been getting flack ever since Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out. Johnson even designed a character based on the Star Wars fanboys who constantly trolled Johnson after The Last Jedi. It’s clear, however, that Johnson has talent, as both a writer and a director, after taking the helm of a whodunnit that stays one step ahead and keeps audiences completely entertained for the full two hours. Knives Out is the kind of movie that people actually go to the movies for – you enjoy yourself, you are engaged and invested, and best of all, you don’t already know how the story is going to end when you walk in.