As it’s Oscar time again, there are a few films on this list which have been nominated. The first is a series of unusual short films by the wonderful Wes Anderson adapted from a Roald Dahl collection written at various times during his life, aimed at an older audience. Henry Sugar, an independently wealthy man who enjoys gambling, finds, and reads a doctor’s report on a strange patient the doctor met while stationed at a hospital in India. This patient, who called himself “The Man Who Sees Without Using His Eyes”, had the ability to see even after the doctors had medically sealed the man’s eyes shut and bandaged his head. Sugar decides to master this art and use it to his advantage. The cast in all four films is somewhat minimalistic. Winner of the 2024 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Bradley Cooper co-writes, directs and stars in this Oscar-nominated biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein. I was in high school when our music teacher exposed the class to Rhapsody in Blue. Although a Beatles and Stones fan, I was blow away by the intensity of this mix of jazz and classical styles. This is an exploration of the complex love story of Leonard and actress Felicia Montealegre, a story that spans over 30 years-from the time they met in 1946 at a party and continuing through two engagements, a 25-year marriage, and three children. To say Bernstein was a complicated man is an understatement. I wouldn’t have put up with him for 25 years! Bradley is excellent as Bernstein.

This interesting film is based on the true story of Bayad Rustin, who helped Martin Luther King Jr. and others organise the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin, a political activist, is influenced by the speeches, thoughts and actions of King. When given the task of organising and coordinating a freedom march of around 100,000 people to the White House he puts his heart and soul into it. His enthusiasm and infectious energy motivate his co-workers to put in their best, resulting in a successful walk for Civil rights. As I knew very little about Rustin, I found this an enlightening story and Colman Domingo’s performance certainly lifts the experience, as shown by his 2024 Oscar nomination.

Maggie Gyllenhaal writes and directs the brilliant Olivia Colman, in her thrice Oscar-nominated debut feature. The story meanders along, and it does get confusing as to what it all means at times, but it is well worth viewing. Leda is a middle-aged divorcee devoted to her work as an English teacher and to her two children. When her daughters leave home to be with their father in Canada, Leda anticipates a period of loneliness and longing. She decides to take a holiday by the sea, in a small coastal town in Greece. Leda encounters a family whose brash presence proves unsettling, at times even threatening. The seemingly serene tale of a woman’s pleasant rediscovery of herself soon becomes the story of a ferocious confrontation with an unsettled past.

This Oscar-nominated documentary from India can be confronting and unsettling at times. The story tells of Ranjit, a farmer in India, who takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented. One of the most disturbing scenes is where village members, both male and female, try to blame the victim and the victim’s family and insist that Kiran should marry one of the rapists and that the village conflict should be settled within the village. The society’s honour culture insists this is the only way to remove the “stain” on Kiran’s family. I was appalled that the women in Kiran’s village did not support her in this ordeal, and at the lack of respect in general for women in India. Although, of course, they’re not the only country in the world with this attitude. It will take massive changes in society to overcome this viewpoint.

This wonderful documentary won the Oscar for 2021 Best Documentary Feature, and deservedly so. For me this was a film was filled with familiar places as I lived in South Africa for some time many moons ago. This was a joy to watch. Such a calming effect on the mind. The story follows Craig Foster who, after years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, meets an unlikely teacher, a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust, and they develop a rare bond between human and wild animal. This delightful film makes one realise we are all part of this spectacular planet.

This movie is inspired by Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, a plane that crashed in 1972, leaving the surviving members of a rugby team stranded for 72 days in the Andes Mountains. This story has been recounted many times, in particular in Frank Marshall’s 1993 film Alive. The plane was chartered to fly the team to Chile, catastrophically crashing on a glacier in the heart of the Andes. Only 16 of the 40 passengers survived the crash in one of the world’s toughest environments, forcing them to resort to extreme measures to stay alive. I was hesitant to view this harrowing drama, but it had garnered two Oscar nominations, so that seemed promising. I found this film to be more expansive than Alive. Filming was in chronological order to allow the actors to steadily lose weight to portray the effects of starvation.

To quote an audience review, “a movie about a space spider trying to get a man to understand why his wife is leaving him should not be this good.” I’m not sure I entirely agree with that. It is different, I will say admit, and has similarities to Ad Astra. But I found myself playing online scrabble as at times the pace was somewhat slow, but not slow in a good way as in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Adam Sandler stars as fictional astronaut Jakub Procházka in this sci-fi drama, based on Jaroslav Kalfai’s novel Spaceman in Bohemia, which details Jakub’s eight-month-long solo journey to investigate the mysterious Chopra space cloud above Earth. It’s also described as an intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery. There are philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of hazelnut spread, which I don’t find delicious. It is an interesting break from Sandler’s normal comedy fare. This is not billed as a comedy, but I must say I did laugh out loud a few times, possibly in the wrong places.

An interesting, enlightening, and intimate portrayal of trailblazing political icon Shirley Chisholm, the first Black Congresswoman and the first Black woman to run for President of the U.S., and the cost of accomplishment for Shirley herself. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Susan Scarf Merrell, Regina King shines in the lead role as the film explores the story of Chisholm’s boundary-breaking and historic presidential campaign, based on exclusive and extensive conversations with family, friends and those who knew her best. Having known very little about Shirley Chisholm, I thoroughly enjoyed finding out more about this amazing woman.

Not usually being one for fantasy, I had refrained from watching this film which, as the tagline states, is not a fairytale, but I do like Millie Bobby Brown who is a fine actress. She stars as Elodie, a young woman who meets a handsome prince and they fall in love. At their wedding it is revealed that the prince had more sinister reasons for courting her: she is to be sacrificed to a dragon that has been terrorising the kingdom. Elodie now has to fight for her survival, and that of her family. There’s a lot of action, most of which takes place in the dragon’s cave so it’s pretty dark for the majority of the film. But it’s worth a look as it packs a lot into 107 minutes, which a few directors could take note of. Princess Elodie is no damsel in distress, she’s a woman to be reckoned with. And that’s what we like to see.