Wes Anderson returns to the world of Roald Dahl with his now Oscar-winning short, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. The film tells the story of Henry Sugar, a man who learns to see without his eyes, allowing him to become the richest man in the world. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular role and is joined by Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Ralph Fiennes in supporting roles.

Freaknik didn’t survive the end of the ‘90s, and many debate if it was truly something that advanced the cultural mainstream, or just a party that spiraled out of control. Despite all the historical footage and Freaknik’s reputation for being debaucherous, this documentary doesn’t tell a story that is as outrageous as its marketing makes it out to be.

Things finally start to ramp up towards the end, and by then the slow place turns into a mad dash to the credits. Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon show up for a couple of scenes and the movie could have benefited from having them on screen longer, but maybe the budget wouldn’t allow for it. The absurdity of the plot and what the bad guys are chasing make for some good, cheap laughs, but it just seems too little, too late. 

Anyone who has followed the Oscars knows that factors outside artistic integrity play into the eventual winners. Must a film or performance be great to land a nomination? Generally, yes. But the art is only part of the equation. Studio support, marketing campaigns, the past work of a nominated artist, and even the reputation of key players have a role in determining winners. Therefore, we think it’s worthwhile to toss those factors aside and talk about who deserves to win this year’s Academy Awards.  

What differentiates The Zone of Interest from other lesser films centered around the Holocaust is its refusal to engage in the tropes. The atrocities of the Nazis are so inhumane that filmmakers humanize these characters. Whether it is Winslet in The Reader falling in love with a boy, all while “accidentally” committing genocide due to her inability to read, or Tom Cruise in Valkyrie playing a real- life German soldier who conspired to kill Hitler.

One of the most shocking events the documentary explores is that just a couple of years after the bomb test, there was a surge in infant deaths among the families in the nearby towns. In the decades that followed, there was a large amount of cancer cases that were too numerous to be a coincidence or a medical anomaly. It was clear that the radioactive fallout was wreaking havoc.