Film & TV

These filmmakers wear their inspirations on their sleeves, yet they have been given the freedom to define their art on their own terms, unbound by the constraints of the past. Some succeed more than others, but each film reflects the sensibilities of Hollywood’s most coveted demographic.

If the documentary shorts showcases the power of raw storytelling, the animated shorts proved to be the wild card of this year’s ceremony, offering a mix of deeply bizarre and undefinable taste, for better and worse.

It’s a movie that doesn’t rely on cheap jump scares and focuses on what it does best, for the most part. It’s a solid film for anyone who enjoys a little blood and gore with their comedy.

Because there is significant overlap between Academy voters and membership in film industry guilds, paying attention to awards from the Directors Guild of America, Producers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild helps, but these organizations no longer mark the cards as obviously.

The early scenes do a good job of establishing Elwood’s character. He is a naive and hopeful teenager who wants to aid the civil rights movement and get a good education. He is kind to a fault and easy to root for as a protagonist.

Sterling K. Brown is an extraordinary actor, and Agent Collins is, to put it bluntly, a badass. He is kind, but also ruthlessly devoted to family and duty. Despite carrying scars from a serious past injury, he is an impressive physical specimen who doesn’t fear confrontation.

A different movie with this premise and a small budget could have possibly worked. With a different script or a different director, this premise could have delivered a gripping, interesting film -- instead of what 'Inheritance' really is: not terrible enough to be amusing, and not original enough to have any novelty value.

Where Oppenheimer displays total control of his craft of visual storytelling, the film fails the shortcomings of its script -- specifically, the choice to tell this story as a musical. The decision is dumbfounding.