The following article was written by Matt Mottl, the Public Services Assistant at the Manitowoc Public Library.
It’s that time of year again where movie lovers rejoice and come together to eagerly see what films will win Best of the Best during this amazing season. The Academy Awards are just around the corner, so obviously being the movie aficionado that I am, it’s time for my 2nd Annual Whatcha Watching: Oscar Edition to happen!
There are a lot of interesting nominees this year, including films in the horror genre finally getting some love by The Academy with the body horror spectacle, “The Substance” getting some love, as well as going back to epic proportions with the sweeping giant, “The Brutalist” topping off at three-and-a-half hours long! We also have some musical films getting into the mix, with the polarizing “Emilia Perez” achieving the honor of receiving 13 nominations, which is just one shy of the small club of films that have achieved 14 nominations in the past. The Broadway-smash-hit-turned-movie, “Wicked,” is also getting a lot of love and is one my personal favorites of the year thus far and yes, I might be a little biased—I’ve seen it on stage twice!
I love to see diversity and not just your typical films being nominated over and over again. I believe this year’s lineup of nominees really has started to change things up a bit! I can’t wait to talk about this in my upcoming program again. Joining me for Round Two of Oscar Talk is, of course, my second-in-command, Tim Gadzinski whose film knowledge—dare I say—surpasses mine to a great degree. Fellow coworker and past guest, Lisa Devins-Horohoe—who loves the Oscars just as much as I do—will be joining us, as well.
Matt Mottl
We all have great conversations about the nominees, so we are very excited for this Whatcha Watching! We will be doing it a little differently this year because instead of doing the program before the Oscars, we will be doing it a few days after the ceremony has completed. If anything crazy happens at the ceremony (which usually does!) we can now talk about it and voice our thoughts. Please no more slapping hosts!
This year, I have made it my mission to see as many nominees as I can. Typically, I tend to stick to Best Picture/Acting nominees, but this time around, I want give everything a fair shot at viewing and eventual discussion. I will be seeing the Live Action and Animated Shorts this year for the first time because, fortunately, they get shown in theaters where I live. We will definitely be talking about those. I also want to try to see the international/animated nominees. What I’ve seen from these categories in the past have been some of the best films I’ve seen in my life, so why not see as many as I can when I can! Hopefully, my fellow cohosts can see the majority of them as well because I would love to have a really good discussion on as many nominees as we can, so fingers crossed!
I really do love this time of year! If you do too and want to join in, please join us on March 6 at 6 PM on Manitowoc Public Library’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/manitowoclibrary) and YouTube channel for a good-old Oscar discussion among movie lovers. And please comment your thoughts during the stream as well! Let’s get as many people talking movies as possible!
I look forward to seeing you all and happy watching!
