What Ingrid Watches

The trailer that I present to you today is also linked to the Oscars; Our Mothers is actually the Belgian submission for the International Feature Film Oscar. To be honest, the choice of this movie came as a total surprise, not only for Belgian movie viewers but also for critics everywhere in general. Many had expected that my country would have chosen Young Ahmed by the Dardenne brothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne), which won the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival of this year. The movies by this duo - usually social dramas - are quite successful, especially with the critics and at film festivals. But critical success does not automatically guarantee an Oscar nomination. In the past, Belgium did submit movies by the two brothers (for the International Feature Film Oscar) and none of them actually got nominated, let alone shortlisted. Is this the reason why this year we chose another movie by another director? Mind you, Our Mothers by Guatemalan director Cesar D...

In May of this year, Parasite won the Palme d'Or at the Festival of Cannes. Ever since that moment, the last movie by director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Okja) has received one raving review after another and it is now even considered to be one of the best movies of 2019. But how well will this South-Korean movie do at the Oscars? Let's face it: Asian movies usually don't do so well at the Oscars. Granted, regularly an Asian movie will receive a nomination in the category of foreign film, but that's about it. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was one of the very few to receive other nominations, including Best Movie but that's about it... Will Parasite prove to be the exception to the rule? Is the audience ready for another foreign movie with subtitles? The critics at least are! Neon, who will launch Parasite in America, has got some big plans. With its campaign, it will try to achieve the mere impossible: nominations for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Movie, Bes...

Ever since the trailer of The King was released on the Internet, people have been talking about 2 things; the long blonde hair of Robert Pattinson and the incredibly talented Timothée Chalamet. I have to admit that even when I saw the trailer for the first time online I had to gasp. To be honest, I have never been a fan of the Twilight series or Robert Pattinson. But some years ago I saw Bel Ami and he really impressed me in that gem. And apparently, he is receiving praise for his role as the Dauphin in The King. But most of the praise goes to Timothée Chalamet, who sports an ugly haircut in The King and speaks with a convincing British accent. He is only 23 years old, but what a talented young man! If you love movies, you must have seen Call Me By Your Name (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and Beautiful Boy (for which the Academy ignored him). This is a great actor in the making. The King will know a limited release and will stream on Netflix from November. Th...

It's the end of August and slowly but surely, Oscar season is heating up. Right now, a lot of countries are selecting the movie that will represent them for the Oscar of foreign language film. 16 countries - and counting - have done this so far. Flashback to 1993, when Cuba chose its most successful movie ever... In an ice salon, somewhere in Cuba, two men meet. One is David, a student in political science, in favour of the Cuban revolution, who has just been dumped. The other is a flamboyant gay photographer, Diego, who opposes the revolution and is clearly smitten with the student. From the beginning, it is clear that these two men are each others' opposites and not just on a political level. The movie follows the budding of the unlikely close friendship between the two men through a series of conversations. Diego can not help but fall with the gorgeous student and David gradually comes to a better understanding of Diego's political choice. Enter Diego's lovel...