The Father (2020)

Continuing to catch up on recent Oscar nominees. If Nomadland had been as I feared, I'd make a point not to watch this one next, because it promised to be a bit drearier than most of the competition, in a year with only dramas up for Best Picture.

In what might be the present era, elderly Brit Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) feels sure he can take care of himself. He doesn't welcome any assistants hired by his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman). At his most hostile and paranoid, he accuses them of theft and her of looking for an excuse to move him into a nursing home so she can claim his property. I'm a little surprised he doesn't accuse Anne of gaslighting, because he becomes increasingly confused about the apartment, whom to expect there, and what people have and have not told him. Anne also grows in stress, almost to the point of insanity, and her husband (Rufus Sewell) is less patient still.

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

As often happens, I felt obliged to watch a movie featuring someone who recently died, in this case Sean Connery. He's one of the actors I've watched most, so there weren't many promising titles left. This one's pretty popular but has a bunch of other big names and countless speaking roles, so I wasn't sure it would showcase him well.

Based on a book that's at least partly based on reality, it tells of Operation Market Garden: In 1944, British, American, and Polish forces plan to use paratroopers and tanks to capture numerous bridges in the occupied Netherlands. Many soldiers doubt the feasibility of the mission, as it involves considerable travel along narrow roads, there's fog to consider, and even if the Germans don't send their best, they won't be pushovers. If you know this chapter of history, you know the doubts are correct.

Legends of the Fall (1994)

No, it has nothing to do with The Fall. Reportedly, the title refers to the biblical Fall, but I'd hardly know from the movie itself: The characters aren't particularly religious and never say anything about the events of Genesis. Maybe the relevance is clearer in the Jim Harrison novella from which this is adapted.

The Netflix description makes it sound primarily like a war movie, but that's only for the first act. In 1914, Montana rancher William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins), despite having served as a colonel, is disillusioned with the government and doesn't want his three sons to fight in World War I, but Samuel (Henry Thomas) and Alfred (Aidan Quinn) insist. Tristan (Brad Pitt) feels obliged to come along to protect Samuel, not least for the sake of Samuel's intended, Susannah (Julia Ormond). Since Netflix hinted as much, I might as well tell you he fails. The rest of the story is shaped by this failure.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor's eponymous movies always struck me as somewhat odd compared with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's not exactly designed for viewers to relate to, being a demigod prince from another realm. And unlike Wonder Woman, he really doesn't face any of the challenges that ordinary people typically face. This may explain why I never felt the motivation to watch his movies in a theater -- until now.

When the not-so-immortal King Odin (Anthony Hopkins) passes away, Princess Hela (Cate Blanchett), goddess of death, can finally return from a long exile, planning to expand Asgard by conquest. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) together are no match for her. Complications in their retreat send Thor to Planet Sakaar, where he promptly gets enslaved (the god of thunder is surprisingly susceptible to electrical shocks) as a gladiator. If you've seen the ads, you know that that's how he meets "a friend from work" for the first time since Age of Ultron....

The Remains of the Day (1993)

I have to reach pretty far back these days for an Academy Best Picture nominee that I haven't seen yet and might want to see, apart from some of the most recent. In truth, I didn't know much more than that about TRotD going in -- only that it was a rather esteemed drama starring Anthony Hopkins two years after his first turn as Hannibal Lecter. And Emma Thompson, accidentally in back-to-back reviews on this blog.

Had I noticed in advance that they play a butler and a maid in a mid-20th-century lord's manor, I would have thought hard before adding the DVD to my Netflix queue. Stories of old-time aristocrats, perhaps especially in Britain, threaten to bore me. A focus on their staff doesn't help much. Yeah, count me among the few non-fans of Downton Abbey. At least its predecessor Gosford Park has amusing moments, which I cannot say for TRotD.