Nominations for the 94th Academy Awards are announced on Tuesday, February 8. But before Tinseltown tells you which titles and performances were the best of 2021, the critics at Wylie Writes wanted to pitch in their two cents.
As we slowly, yet optimistically, rise up through the COVID-19 pandemic and take each day as they come, it’s hard not to suppress our anticipation for theatre re-openings and the current drive-in season. While movie releases seem like small potatoes when compared to the overall economy, it’s been really interesting watching the film industry rearrange titles to gauge at-home audiences, while also preparing for a gradual, blossoming theatrical experience.
In Minari, a Korean family travels from California to build a new homestead in Arkansas; in hopes that they’ll be able to create a farm and make a decent living selling their culture’s food to local markets. This premise, however, is merely a clothesline for writer/director Lee Isaac Chung to hang up different moments in this family’s life that will, eventually, piece together their memories and future.