The Return of Cinema Wellman!

        Hello, and welcome BACK to Cinema Wellman! I am your host, David, and I’m so glad to be back in the studio after a lengthy hiatus that was not my idea. 

A perfect storm of three things caused us to shut down for several months. In no particular order of stress and angst inflicted; we had to deal with software issues, a chipmunk infestation, and an existential crisis. 

Hopefully our new software (DaVinci Resolve - not a sponsor) will not be as problematic and unreliable as our previous software (unnamed - definitely not a sponsor) was.

The vermin infestation required us to totally dismantle the set and empty the entire studio space so the exterminators could exterminate. That whole process took a few months, not to mention 47 full industrial sized trash bags, but now we appear to be chipmunk free. 

And, if you were wondering, there will NOT be a “Chipmunk Movie” episode in our future since I’m still not on speaking terms with them at this moment. 

We attempted to shoot and post several episodes during the infestation, but the software mess helped lead to the existential crisis that had me questioning pretty much every decision I have made over the past 45 years. 

So new software, a hopefully chipmunk-free studio, and a bit of a mental health overhaul and we are back for Season Four of Cinema Wellman!

Better late than never.

If you made it back, thank you, and we appreciate you. 

A few programming notes to begin. 

Season 4 will see the return of our “Top 10/Bottom 5” lists. After a brief switch to a “Best & Worst” of the month, we’ll be returning to our “Top 10/Bottom 5” format. 

Instead of monthly, we will be presenting these lists quarterly because we’re still not sure how many episodes we’re going to do in Season 4 and we don’t want to clog things up with me fawning all over movies from the 40s every month.

I am self-aware.

So, look for a “Top 10/Bottom 5” episode very soon and then again at the end of June, September, and December. 

We will continue many of the series we began during our first three seasons including a fan favorite (based on no statistics or feedback) “Which Was Worse?” Our 8th “WWW?” will be one of the first episodes of Season 4 and…spoiler alert…I LOVED one of the movies. 

Go figure. 

Other episodes to look for in the near future will include a rundown of our favorite animated films of all time, an episode about Hollywood’s “Hays Code” era, a salute to the late, great Gene Hackman, and the details surrounding our quest to see a new movie every day for a calendar year.

Today’s episode will focus on a quick look at the 97th Academy Awards. We didn’t get things back in time for a full Oscar episode like we’ve done in previous seasons, so there’s no need to go through the ballot with predictions, etc. 

I will give you my ranking of the 10 Best Picture nominees along with a reminder, to paraphrase Jeff Lebowski, “Yeah, well, you know, it’s just, like, my opinion, man.” I don’t know any more about movies than anyone else who watches a lot of movies. 

I only know what I like. So, for what it’s worth, here’s Cinema Wellman’s ranking of this past year’s 10 Best Picture nominees. 

And, for the record, I’m still salty about the Academy’s idiotic decision to include 10 films in the Best Picture category.

Some years there aren’t even five worthy films.

Here’s our breakdown:

10) Nickel Boys - I liked the story and the themes, but I really didn’t like the way it was shot. I was distracted by the technique used and it took away from my enjoyment of the film. 

9) A Complete Unknown - I’m just not a fan of Bob Dylan’s music, which is why it appears here. I didn’t dislike this movie; I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I think a true Dylan fan would. 

That being said, I do know a true Dylan fan and they weren’t blown away by it and said they wished it was made about another part of Dylan’s life.

8) Emilia Perez -So I guess there is such a thing as bad press. The pre-awards season darling was severely damaged by old social media posts by its star. I found this movie interesting, but also kind of a mess. 

7) The Brutalist - This could have been #7, #8, AND #9 because it’s so damn long! Three hours and 35 minutes?!? I understand why it’s this long, but that doesn’t mean I needed to enjoy all of it. Way too long for me, although Brody was excellent and I think he deserved his Best Actor Oscar. 

6) The Substance - This movie was absolutely off the rails. It is a straight up body horror movie, and parts of it are truly nasty. Demi looks great and did an excellent job in this film about beauty, fame, aging, and a lot of other stuff. 

I know several people that wouldn’t be able to sit through this. 

5) Conclave - This is the pope movie with a twist. Wonderful cast, interesting story, but I felt like I had already seen movies about choosing a new pope. Not a pope as unique as this one, but…

4) Dune: Part II - When the Best Picture nominees were announced and I saw this included in the list I was pleased and surprised. Pleased because I thought it was a very good movie, surprised because I thought it came out two years ago!

3) I’m Still Here - This was the last of the 10 BP nominees that I saw, and I was truly impressed. This was a gut-wrenching story about a woman and her children dealing with the political “disappearance” of her husband. 

I didn’t realize until after I had seen it that it is a true story that took place during the military dictatorship in Brazil in the early 70s. 

It didn’t win best picture, but it did win Best International Feature Film, which I think was deserved. This film features a “Twenty-Five Years Later” slide that hit me like a sledgehammer. 

I sometimes think directors overuse those time reminders but thinking about a family going through this pain and uncertainty and then being told that it was still going on a quarter of a century later was stunning. 

2) Wicked - There’s always trouble when a “popular” movie (you see what I did there) is included in the BP nominees because I’m sure there are members of the Academy who think that a popular movie that does well at the box office isn’t quite what they’re looking for.

 That doesn’t hold true for Wicked.

Based on the novel and Broadway musical, Wicked was really a wicked good time.

I hosted not one, but two Wicked screenings for a group of work friends recently, and it was all great fun.

I could do an episode about those screenings alone. 

1) Anora - I was so happy when Anora was announced as this year’s Best Picture. 

I honestly thought it was the best of the Best Picture nominees. I thought it realistically portrayed the life of a sex worker in a compassionate way. 

I hate the movie Pretty Woman so much, but I won’t waste time on that rant right now. 

Mickey Madison was amazing. She did an excellent job with a complex character, and I thought she deserved her Best Actress Oscar although many thought Demi Moore was a shoo in.

So that’s how I ranked this year’s Best Picture nominees. 

Overall, I was pleased with the major winners. Anora took Best Picture and Best Actress as I already mentioned, along with Best Director Sean Baker.

Brody was a worthy winner of Best Actor, but he was a bit of an ass during his speech if you ask me. 

The supporting acting awards were also well deserved in my opinion.

I thought Zoe Saldana’s performance was the best part of Emilia Perez, and Kieran Culkin was terrific in A Real Pain.

I actually correctly picked all of the major winners this year which is extremely easy to say now that all of the winners have been revealed, but I don’t lie, so….

Well…. that’s a wrap for the Return of Cinema Wellman.

I am very excited to be back in the studio bringing you this nonsense whenever I’m able.

We hope you join us next time when we will run down the Top 10/Bottom 5 of the 1st Quarter, which will cover the 157 movies we screened during the months of January, February, and March. 

Well, not ALL 157 movies!

Just the Top 10 & Bottom 5.

Until then, take care.