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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2019)
February 20, 2019 Page 15 My Picks for Best Films of 2018 C ontinueD from p age 6 and director Carlos López Estrada have assembled a nimble explo- ration of how what we expect to see shapes what we actually see. The story is built around a long- term friendship between a white man (Casal) and a black man (Diggs) whose lives and paths are beginning to diverge in ways the white man especially cannot begin to appreciate. Humor and poetry and inventive imagery help to carry this film well beyond what most even attempt, and help us to see and hear what we most- ly aren’t able to name. [Rated R for language throughout, some brutal violence, sexual referenc- es, and drug use; deserved Os- car nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (López), Best Lead Actor (Diggs), and Best Original Screenplay (Diggs and Casal).] 6. “Foxtrot” won an audience award at last year’s Portland Inter- national Film Festival--which is especially noteworthy for a com- plex film about grief and cycles of violence in families and countries. The film opens with an Israeli couple being informed that their son has been killed in action--but all is not as it seems. By telling a particular family’s story extreme- ly well, this brilliant film finds a way to surface the most difficult of larger questions; it feels both immediate and cosmic. This film deserves the most focused atten- tion, as it shifts back and forth be- tween locations and time periods to tell a story that would not have this impact told any other way. [In Hebrew; rated R for some sexual content including graphic images, and brief drug use; deserved Os- car nominations for Best Foreign Language Picture, Best Director (Samuel Maoz); Best Original Screenplay (Samuel Maoz); Best Actor (Leor Ashkenazi); Best Ac- tress (Sarah Adler).] 7. I’m surprised and disap- pointed that “Mary, Queen of Scots” did not fare better this awards season. For my money, there is no better performance by a lead actress than Saoirse Ronan in the titular role, and both she and Margot Robbie as Queen Eliza- beth deliver complex and quite satisfying portraits of what it feels like to have positional power but not practical power (something I happen to know something about). Both women were monarchs by birthright, but in a world in which men controlled everything, and the film makes a convincing case that they chose conflicting routes to managing all that compromised power and male energy--and wisely, the film leaves as an open question who chose best. No film directed by a woman was nomi- nated for Best Picture this year; no woman director was nominated for Best Director; and the best per- formance by a woman, who hap- pened to be playing a powerful and clear woman leader, also wasn’t recognized. Accident? I think not. See this underrecognized film, and give some thought to how the dy- namics depicted have morphed but Stephan James and Kiki Lane star as a young couple relying on their love to sustain them through unspeakable hardships in “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Photo courtesy Annapurna Pictures not disappeared--and learn about two fascinating women. [In En- glish, French, Scottish Gaelic and Latin; rated R for some violence and sexuality; nominated for and should win Academy Award for makeup and hair; also nominat- ed for costume design; deserved nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Josie Rourke), and Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan).] 8. My favorite documentary of the year, “Eating Animals” was not widely released, though you can now stream it on Amazon Prime. I saw it at the Portland In- ternational Film Festival--and I’ll admit I was not enthused about seeing it, fearing that I would learn a bunch of horrifying in- formation and not know what to do in response. That is indeed what happened--and yet I loved the film and found the energy to C ontinueD on p age 19 2019 February C alendar MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY 18 President’s Day 19 Former planet, Pluto, Discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 Phonograph Patent- ed, 1878, Thomas Edison Mr. Roger’s Neighbor- hood Debuted, 1968 25 26 Quiet Day Artist Pierre Auguste Renoir born, 1841 Levi Strauss born, 1829 20 John Glenn Orbits Earth, 1962 Love Your Pet Day 27 Uri Shulevitz born, 1935 International Polar Bear Day 21 Malcom X Assassinat- ed (1965) Washington Monument dedicated (1885) 28 Public Sleeping Day Gold Seekers arrived in San Francisco (1849) FRIDAY 22 George Washington born, 1732 Be Humble Day World Thinking Day SATURDAY SUNDAY 23 24 International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day U.S. Flag raised at Iwo Jima (1945) Steve Jobs born, 1955 Wilhelm Carl Grimm born, 1786
