10s Movie Review - Roma

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Yalitza Aparicio, Marin de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Nancy Garcia Garcia, Verónica Garcia, Andy Cortés, Fernando Grediaga, Jorge Antonio Guerrero, José Manuel Guerrero Mendoza, Latin Lover, Zarela Lizbeth Chinolla Arellano, José Luis López, Edwin Mendoza Ramirez, Clementina Guardarrama, Enoc Leaño, Nicolás Peréz Ralor Félix, Kjartan Halvorsen

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE. WEEK 23: A MOVIE THAT WON AN OSCAR

Description: A year in the life of a middle-class families maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

Review: Alfonso Cuarón doesn’t make films, he creates cinematographic experiences. The Mexican director is known for his ‘long takes’: a minute-long shot, without any stops, that set the tone of intensity for his films. Just watching and listening isn’t enough, he wants you to be part of the situation. The desperation and fear needs to felt withing every fiber of your body. Just look at that car chase scene in “Children of Men” or when two astronauts drift away in “Gravity”. In “Roma” the ‘spectacle’ comes from everyday situations.
Mexico City is the décor for the film, that hardly has a plot. The focus lies on the maid of a middle-class family, Cleo. Cleaning up dog poo from the patio, preparing meals for the family. And it’s not your standard tale about class differences. We get to see that in an early scene where the family is watching television. When Cleo sits with them, one of the children lovingly puts his arm around her and is sad when she has to leave.
Cuarón lets the images speak for itself. And this seems logical for a filmmaker, but not a lot of directors manage to put this many expression in a single frame, without having to say a word.
“Roma” is a slow-burn, not very fast paced. It’s a film that focuses on details and stays close to reality, with a surreal edge. Technically it’s a masterpiece. A really beautiful film.

Rating: 5 / 5

Academy Awards 2019 - Results

Who watched the Oscars last night? Well, I did. And I said I felt lucky. I was so wrong, because this year the Academy finally decided to be more surprising. In one way, it's a good thing. Because I like to being surprised. Some wins really made me extra happy this year.

Spike Lee winning for best adapted screenplay, for "BlacKkKlansman". He is a man with a voice that should be heard, someone with an important message to tell. And he finally got the recognition he deserved.

No Disney winning the animated feature award, but "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse". Not so much a surprise, but a great change. This category has gotten so predictable, I'm glad that this year it wasn't Disney or Pixar (even though I love them).

Olivia Colman is a fantastic actress, I already knew that. But I'm glad that she was finally recognized by the Academy. Her performance in "The Favourite" is amazing. I sure as hell thought Glenn Close was going home with the best actres award. I was wrong.

Mahershala Ali is one of the greatest discoveries of the past years. And him winning the best supporting actor award for "Green Book" was one of the few wins I was sure of. Well-deeserved.

Alfonso Cuarón took home two awards, for best director and best cinematography, for the movie "Roma". He is a genius director and maybe even more a briljant cinematographer. Very cool to see him take away both awards.

The best picture category is Always the hardest to predict, but this year I was absolutely sure "Roma" would win. Wrong again! Underdog "Green Book" won and it was actually the movie I was hoping for.

Academy Awards 2019 - Predictions

Tonight it's Oscar night. And here are my predictions for the 2019 Academy Awards. I'm feeling Lucky this year!!!

Best Motion Picture of the Year: "Roma"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Best Performance by and Actress in a Leading Role: Glenn Close, "The Wife"
Best Performance by and Actor in a Supporting Role: Mahershala Ali, "Green Book"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Best Achievement in Directing: Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"
Best Original Screenplay: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, "The Favourite"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowirz, Kevin Wilmott and Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"
Best Achievement in Editing: Barry Alexander Brown, "BlacKkKlansman"

Best Achievement in Production Design: Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart, "Black Panther"
Best Achievement in Costume Design: Ruth E. Carter, "Black Panther"
best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney, "Vice"
Best Achievement in Music Written for a Motion Picture (Original Score): Terence Blanchard, "BlacKkKlansman"
Best Achievement in Music Written for a Motion Picture (Original Song): Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt, "A Star is Born" (Shallow)
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Tom Ozanich, Dean A. Supancic, Jason Ruder and Steven Morrow, "A Star is Born"
Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou, "First Man"

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russel Earl and Daniel Sudick, "Avengers: Infinity War"
Best Documentary Feature: "Free Solo"
Best Documentary Short Subject: "End Game"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"
Best Animated Short Film: "Bao" Best Live-Action Short Film: "Marguerite" Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: "Roma"