Once more, we call to your attention some of the values and themes in the films that the Academy of Motion Pictures seeks to honor during this Sunday’s broadcast. I will be looking at nine of the 10 “Best Picture” nominees, as well as a couple of others.
As always, it is difficult deciding on what were the best 10 films for the past year, especially when a few potential ones, such as Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” have not yet opened in the Cincinnati-Dayton area. (A penalty for living in what Hollywood regards as “flyover territory!) However, we cannot wait, so below are the 10 out of the many fine films reviewed in Visual Parables this past year that illuminate spiritual and/or ethical issues.
The annual announcement of nominations for the Oscars for the previous year is one that film lovers look forward to with eager anticipation. “Will my favorite films make the lists?” we ask. I was happy to see that most of my favorites (see my Presbyterian News Service article on Top Ten Films by clicking here) did receive one or more nominations.
The year 2022 saw crowds returning to theaters after the Covid disaster, though not as large as before. However, James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel again drew huge receipts, reaching as of January 23 over $2 billion world-wide, surpassing the receipts generated by “Top Gun: Maverick.” Of the two it is Camron’s film that made my Top Ten List because the latter was merely an escapist film waving the flag of nationalism — no doubt a well-made, exciting film but one running counter to Christ’s boundary-breaking teachings of love and acceptance.
Oscar buzz is in full swing now that the list of nominees has been released. This year there is a full contingent in the Best Film category. I was gratified to see that three on my Top Ten list have been selected as contenders for Best Picture. There is still one film that I haven’t seen, the Japanese feature film “Drive My Car.” It will be at least a week until I can catch it at a Cincinnati theater, so I will proceed without it.
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt or postpone the releases of some films during 2021. With theaters closed during part of the year, some new releases were viewed on various platforms via streaming video. Although this has meant that I have not been able to catch all the new films, I have seen enough to compile a long enough list of candidates that still make paring down the list to 10 a pleasantly painful process.
Each year there is spirited discussion in the media about the nominations for the Oscars. This year, though the movie schedule was terribly disrupted by the pandemic, is no different.
Engaging with Matthew 25 and the three areas of focus that make up the vision — building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty — is being addressed in a variety of ways by the 765 congregations and 72 mid councils who have signed on since its launch in April 2019. Now there is another way to start those conversations and actively engage in the world around us.
Despite the curtailment of theater-going by the pandemic, 2020 was nonetheless a good one for those looking for films that do more than entertain us. I was again hard-pressed to pare down to just 10 my list of 20 or so films dealing seriously with ethics or social justice. Thus, as usual, you will find at the end of the article a list of other worthy films you should also watch before the end of the year.
