February 15th: The Holdovers - a film about a grumpy school master having to babysit pupils at a posh boarding school who can’t go home for Christmas could have been a cross between The Breakfast Club and Dead Poets Society, and it would have done well. However, The Holdovers manacles to nimbly avoid feel-good cliches, thanks to a small but consistently excellent cast, as well as tight scripting and solid direction, and instead delivers a bitter-sweet gem of a film.
The only real issue is that those involved won’t get the recognition they deserve because the Oppenheimer juggernaut is sweeping everyone else aside in the awards, although I was pleased to see Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA and she, rightly, has been scooping up awards in that category. Paul Giamatti, unfortunately, may have to sit out most of the awards ceremonies, although he did get the Best Actor Golden Globe.