Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Original Screenplay 2020

The Contenders:

Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman (winner)
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 2020

The Contenders:

The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland (winner)
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Thirty Pieces of Silver

Films: Judas and the Black Messiah
Format: Blu-ray from Sycamore Public Library on rockin’ flatscreen.

Today, Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison for the murder of George Floyd. Frankly, that’s twice as long as I thought he’d get and about five times less than I think he deserved. It makes tonight’s viewing of Judas and the Black Messiah particularly poignant. Fifty, sixty years ago, Chauvin doesn’t get convicted, so in that respect, perhaps we’ve moved a little forward. But George Floyd is still dead, so maybe we haven’t moved that far.

Judas and the Black Messiah is about the life and death of Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), the 21-year-old deputy chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party who was gunned down in his bed by Chicago police the night before he was to go to prison on bogus theft charges. It’s also about Bill O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), the man who was turned into an FBI asset and was used to take down Hampton.