These Oscar-Nominated Films Can Be Skipped
Have you seen Bohemian Rhapsody yet !? This is fine. Lifehacker has gathered our collective experience of watching 2018 films and named Oscar- nominated films you can safely skip, including some we haven’t even watched ourselves. In fact, you can safely skip any movie, that’s how entertainment works. But they can be especially missed!
A star is born
I am happy to relieve you of any compulsion you felt when watching A Star is Born . The people who tell you this is awesome manipulate transparent light and melodramatic music. The characters and plot are subtle. Bradley Cooper has about three lines and they are all illegible. Lady Gaga can sing, but you already knew that. This is a banal love story that seems outdated, from another time, devoid of connection with a complex, multi-layered narrative and rich characteristics, say, Black KkKlansman or Can You Ever Forgive Me? More like the Star is Bored, and this star is me, not you, because you will not see this stupid movie.
Melissa Kirsch, Editor-in-Chief
BlacKkKlansman
After watching BlacKkKlansman, I realized that a lot of flaws – the mundane dialogue, the awkward arc, the weird motives that led the protagonists to rookie mistakes, the bad guys who suddenly became good guys and then suddenly became bad guys again – must have come out. … about sticking to real source materials. And then I read an essay by director Boots Riley about how the story was whitewashed to make racist cops look better . Real cops were just as hostile to black civil rights groups as they were to the KKK. There was nothing worth telling here. Do you know what to tell? Riley’s Sorry to Bother You is arguably the most culturally important film of 2018 not nominated for an Oscar.
Nick Douglas, staff writer
Isle of dogs
The island of dogs is not bad. It’s just not quite as good as another clay wonderland of Wes Anderson, the hipster god and fashion icon, Fantastic Mr. Fox . While Mr. Fox had all the stars to match (Streep! Clooney!), Isle of Dogs is so chock-full of Anderson’s favorite players that most of the time you’ll google who’s who on your phone ( oh, is that F. Murray the Voice of Abraham? ). This doesn’t mean that I don’t like Wes Anderson’s films – in fact, I love them! is simply not his best film, or even the best of his animated films. When all is said and done, it will be a footnote in Anderson’s canon, giving way to the Grand Budapest Hotel , Moonrise Kingdom, and Royal Tenenbaums .
Joel Kahn, Senior Video Producer
Green book
Green Book is a film allegedly about race relations, which resulted in a white actor being nominated for Best Actor and a black actor nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This tells you a lot about the nature of this film, and if you’ve watched the Golden Globes, then you know that the white filmmaker thinks that racism can be “solved” if people just talk and get to know each other a little better (he also, according to – apparently finds it funny to surprise people by taking out his dick on the set). This mentality has no real basis, but Hollywood loves it. In fact, he loves it so much that I’m sure we’ll be looking at a similar film in a few months – so if you miss this one, you really won’t miss a thing (other than a racial relationship film where the white leash thinks it’s real life, you can say a word with the letter N). Mahershala deserves more.
Alicia Adamchik, Personal Finance Writer
VICE
I would say skip VICE because it was very frustrating to watch. Both pace and tone were everywhere. Sometimes I felt like I was watching an overly smart PowerPoint presentation. If you watch because you see the Christian Bale act, see any other Christian Bale cinema. If you enjoy seeing him and Amy Adams interact, check out American Hustle or something. I do not know. I can’t write about films.
Claire Lower, food and beverage editor
Bohemian Rhapsody
I haven’t seen Bohemian Rhapsody , but I can safely say that unless you totally adore Queen and crave as much Queen content as possible, you don’t need to see it. Our brilliant editor-in-chief, Melissa, recently pointed out that real-life concert footage or documentary is always more satisfying than biopic, and I plan to live by that rule moving forward.
Virginia K. Smith, Managing Editor
And now it’s your turn: tell me, are we legally obliged to watch The First Man , Favorite and Ralph Breaks the Internet ?