Nomadland

frances mcdormand has a rare ability to appear in films that seem by their description to be the proverbial "oscar bait," but turn out to be much more than that. i'm not suggesting that she's never done such a film, but through a potent combination of her ability to pick good projects and elevate material, a good number of films she's starred in have been able to avoid that label even if that's how they were positioned. nomadland is a great example of that. mcdormand is as good as she's ever been in chloe zhao's adaptation of the book nomadland: surviving america in the twenty-first century.... read more

nomadland is an incredibly natural and authentic film that drifts at its own pace with some intensely beautiful moments. however i found myself not really engaging with the character of fern as we followed her journey. my engagement with the film really was inversely corelated with the amount the focus was on fern as opposed to the other nomads who faded in and out of the film. i don't mean that as a criticism, merely an observation. frances mcdormand gives a fine performance, but i don't think any one story can encapsulate the entire culture that nomadland is seeking to present. chloe zhao... read more