Who I’m Rooting for this Year2 min read

The Academy Awards has always been at the centre of controversy with the most recent only coming a couple of years ago when people shunned the Awards Ceremony for not having any BAME nominees.

It’s almost that time of year again as we inch closer to the 90th Academy Awards in March with a diverse range of nominees for Best Picture.

But the two that have stood out for me in the past year are Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.

I love Jordan Peele as a comedian and to witness the success that his directorial debut has gotten give myself and others a lot of joy.

We all went into the cinema expecting a dark comedy/ horror parody but what it turned out to be a was a great piece of social commentary on the plight of African Americans and other minorities living in the States.

It’s one of those movies that people say you need to watch twice or more to fully appreciate as Peele uses many subliminal hints during the movie for the viewers to catch attention.

The movie as a whole is a dramatic metaphor down to the simplest of things foreshadowing events that happen later in the story.

Which is why is has gained so much critical appraise over the last year.

Though the humour is subtle, Peele takes a realist approach to the horror element that has viewers at the edge of their seat until the end credits.

Christopher Nolan on the other hand, is the epitome of modern art and cinema.

With a consistent portfolio of Oscar-worthy movies, he has yet again impressed with his latest War Drama Dunkirk.

Many however were conflicted with the quality of this movie as they believe that this isn’t the best that Christopher Nolan has to offer.

We look up to him because he manages to take a holistic approach with his movies; balancing the action and vision with a great story.

A lot of viewer questioned why Nolan watered down the characterisation.

But I say that this movie is a visual master piece with a haunting soundtrack, realism and a unique take on the Dunkirk evacuation with for different perspectives.

If he focused on in-depth characterisation, the movie would’ve been eight hours.

I like many felt like we were immersed into a warzone when first seeing it in cinema.

And that’s the thing about this film, it’s only designed for the cinema if you really want to appreciate it.

The sound of planes in the sky, bombs dropping and guns cracking make this movie ranks among the likes of Apocalypse Now and Hacksaw Ridge for some of the greatest War Drama’s in movie history.

The other nominations this year were pretty good to in terms of the balance of genres.

However, I hope one of these two get the award as I believe they deserve it.