Another Two Nominees In One Day

Today we watched two Academy Award movie nominees, Arrival and Manchester by the Sea, both through Amazon.

First I'll review Arrival and begin by saying I don't like science fiction movies, especially those that take themselves seriously. Unfortunately, Arrival was no exception.

Not only is Arrival's plot implausible, like all science fiction movies, it's unfolding is difficult to follow and understand. And, in the end, there are way too many unanswered questions. But Arrival's worse offense is it's over-dramatization with melodramatic music playing in the background throughout the entire film.

I definitely can't recommend seeing Arrival. And I certainly don't understand why it was nominated.

Manchester by the Sea was more entertaining than Arrival, but far from enjoyable. It's a sad film about a family's hardships and how the individuals handle them. The acting is good and I liked seeing Casey Affleck in a lead role. But the overall film is ruined by it's pace, which is painfully slow, and abrupt ending.

Nevertheless, Manchester by the Sea is worth seeing. It's just not Academy Award nominee worthy in my mind.

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So this year I managed to see seven of the nine movie nominees before the Awards Ceremony. Out of those seven, I still pick Hacksaw Ridge for the win. Good luck, Mel Gibson!