POTD: Saigon, Ahead of the World

From 2015 03 21 Saigon

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the streets of Saigon. There are motorbikes. Lots of motorbikes. Lots. Lots. Lots. Almost everyone on a motorbike wears a helmet. They also wear masks. But not for COVID-19, or at least not originally for that. Because this photo is a rerun of a POTD from 2015. Facemasks were everywhere even before the world had ever heard of COVID-19. When we visited in 2015, our assumption was that the motorcyclists were trying to keep from breathing exhaust fumes in the polluted air of the city. Maybe the habit of wearing facemasks had a beneficial side effect. Vietnam kept coronavirus deaths to just 35, and grew its economy in 2020.

POTD: Somewhere in Richardson

You tell me where.

Another Round (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Another Round (2020): Denmark. Four drinking buddies decide to test a theory that human performance is maximized with a constant blood alcohol content of 0.05%. The movie isn't about the test, or even alcohol, but the mid-life crisis that leads to it all. It's complicated. B+

United States vs. Billie Holiday (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

United States vs. Billie Holiday (2020): A black singer is persecuted by the law. America has too many similar stories. She's also a victim of drug use, greedy friends, and her own personality. Andra Day deserves her Oscar nom as the mixed-up, messed up, electrifying Billie. B+

The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

The Academy Awards will be given out Sunday, April 25, 2021. I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture. That means my opinion means something. Right?

2020 was a strange year for movies. More movies were released by streaming services this year compared to past years. Some so-called major releases were postponed until 2021. All that resulted in, in my opinion, a decent selection of Oscar candidates, but inferior to the selections of previous years. If I expanded the field of nominees, I would include two or three movies that I considered snubs.

My ranking of the Oscar nominees is based on the grades I gave the movies immediately after seeing them. In case of ties, I ordered them by my considered judgment today. Note this is not my prediction of which movie will win, but which I would vote for, had I a vote.

The envelope please. The winner of "The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures" goes to...