TELEVISION & FILM
Streaming
Grab the chance to stream some of the films taking a starring role in this year’s Oscar nominations
OSCARS special
HISTORICAL DRAMA
Napoleon★ ★ ★ ★ Available now on Apple TV+
Galloping through decades of dense gravitas as the complex man often lionised history, director Ridley Scott’s take by history, while Vanessa Kirby has on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte is more screen presence in equal measure as his blockbuster than biography. Beginning formidable wife Joséphine. The sheer in 1793, as the guillotine sends Marie spectacle and expertly staged set pieces Antoinette’s head tumbling during the make Scott’s 28th feature film — which French Revolution, the film follows is nominated for Oscars in the visualNapoleon’s swift progression through effects, production design and costume France’s military ranks and corridors of categories — an epic fit for an emperor. power. Joaquin Phoenix lends plenty ofhistory, while Vanessa Kirby has screen presence in equal measure as his formidable wife Joséphine. The sheer spectacle and expertly staged set pieces make Scott’s 28th feature film — which is nominated for Oscars in the visual effects, production design and costume categories — an epic fit for an emperor.
THE PICK OF TV & FILM ON DEMAND
Past Lives★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Available now on Netflix
““Write what you know” goes the saying, and Celine Song makes a virtue of doing just that with her affecting debut feature, which is nominated for best picture and best original screenplay. The story takes a similar trajectory to Song’s own life, as 12-year-old Nora and her family leave South Korea to start afresh in Canada. Twelve years later, Nora (played as an adult by Greta Lee) is living in New York when she is contacted by her childhood sweetheart, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), and youthful emotions stir. Romantic yet rooted in reality, the film is naturalistically played and unhurried, and will captivate and charm you.
Society of the Snow
★ ★ ★ ★
Available now on Netflix
The 72-day ordeal for the survivors of Uruguayan Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes in 1972, is sensitively re-created in this Spanish-language drama. Director JA Bayona sticks close to the reported facts and drills into the psychology of the situation, immersing us with epic white vistas (partly filmed at the real crash site) and meticulous details, including rightfully Oscar-nominated prosthetic make-up work. It may be harrowing and sometimes grisly, but the film’s compelling ensemble cast and Bayona’s measured direction ensure the experience is riveting, never gruelling.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Available now on Apple TV+
Martin Scorsese’s ambitious 26th feature has an impressiv
