2019 Nominee Watch – April 5th

There is lots of new horror coming out this weekend, along with some films that look to be just plain fun. Check out the best contenders for Oscars in the post below. There are definitely a few with potential.

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The Best of Enemies
In what appears to be the next version of reigning Best Picture winner Green Book, Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell take on an odd couple of civil rights activist Ann Atwater and local KKK leader C. P. Ellis as they fight over school integration in 1970s North Carolina.

There might actually be more in common with this film and BlacKkKlansman, especially with the KKK connection, but it is the most recent in a long line of films showing people from two completely different cultures coming together and possibly working out those differences. Just like the two films mentioned above, the hope in a film like this is for audiences to take a look at the action and realize that the events depicted on screen are only 40-50 years in our own history. Despite the claims to progress, many of these events are still very recent in the grand scheme of history.

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Both Rockwell and Henson have been previously nominated for their acting with Rockwell winning two years ago for his role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Even though it comes early in the calendar for awards, I definitely see a possibility for both leads to receive nominations from the Academy for their acting. There is also a strong possibility of a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination here as well.

Pet Sematary
I'm a little creeped out just from watching the trailer for this film and I've been seeing billboards for it around my town for a few weeks now. I have unfortunately never seen the original film version of this other than a few snippets when it's been on television, nor have I read the original book. It's on my list at some point, but just one I haven't had a chance to get to yet.

The concept here is simple, family buries cat in creepy pet graveyard, cat comes back to life only to lead to the death of the daughter, family grieves and father buries daughter in same graveyard to bring her back to life. Daughter returns, but...different.

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While this might be a strong update of a classic horror film, I don't see much potential on the awards front. Jon Lithgow in a supporting role is the biggest name in the cast although Jason Clarke is becoming more prominent lately (Mudbound, Chappaquidick, First Man). One long shot here could be Best Adapted Screenplay, but re-makes tend to lose some oomph in categories like that.

Shazam!
This isn't the superhero movie we deserve, but it might be the one we need as a little palette cleanser before the heaviness of Avengers: Endgame arrives later this month.

Shazam! looks like it will be a fun film that doesn't take itself too seriously. A teen receives superpowers from a mysterious figure that give him things like super strength and super speed, but he still has the mind of a teenager. It reminds me a little of Spider-Man since there appear to be some of the same kid problems, but this one is definitely going for more laughs.

The other film this conjured in my mind was what Big would look like if Tom Hanks turned into a super hero instead of just an adult.

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If you're wondering where you recognize Shazam from, Zachary Levi played Chuck in the television series of the same name. He was also the voice of Flynn Rider in Disney's Tangled. Mark Strong (Kingsman, Zero Dark Thirty) plays the villain Shazam must cross paths with.

Don't look for any Oscar nominations here, this one will be purely for the fun of it.

Limited Releases

• Amazing Grace – Listen to the late Aretha Franklin sing Amazing Grace in this concert film/documentary.
• Berserk – A down on their luck writer and movie star try to face fear head on and become involved in a night from hell.
• Billboard – Radio personality Casey thinks up a crazy content that leads to people camping out on a local billboard.
• Division 19 – A modern day Running Man where a prison inmate escapes and the chase to find him is broadcast on live television.
• The Haunting of Sharon Tate – Hilary Duff plays Sharon Tate, a Hollywood actress haunted by vision of her death.
• The Head Hunter – A viking warrior seeks out the creature that killed his daughter.
• High Life – A space explorer (Robert Pattinson) and his daughter struggle to survive.
• Peterloo – Historical drama about the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators by British military forces.
• The Public – Emilio Estevez directs an all-star cast in this film about a public library turned homeless shelter.
• Storm Boy – A businessman explores his boyhood when he raised a baby pelican that he found stranded on the beach.
• Unicorn Store – In Brie Larson's directorial debut, she plays a woman kicked out of art school who receives an invitation to "The Store" that sells what she needs, leading her to build a home for unicorns. (Netflix)
• The Wind – A woman faces the isolation of living in a remote plains area.
• Suburban Birds – Chinese film about an engineer sent to investigate ground changes in an abandoned suburban area.
• Exhibition on Screen: Rembrandt – Limited time opportunity to see some of the painter's most famous works. (April 9th)
• The Man Who Killed Don Quixote – Jonathan Pryce stars as an actor who believes he is Don Quixote after playing the character in a film directed by Adam Driver, all in this Terry Gilliam directed film. (April 10th)
• Wild – French film about a man selling his body on the streets. (April 10th)
• The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Big Foot – Oscar nominee Sam Elliott stars as an old war hero sent on a quest to find and kill Big Foot. (April 10th)