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THE ENVELOPE LOS ANGELES TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019Photograph by Neon;illustration by Jason Schneider For The Times
nominated “Cold War” director
Pawel Pawlikowski, marking the
first time since 1985 that two
foreign-language films were feted
in the director category. Interna-
tional films popped in the cine-
matography and animated feature
categories too. And “Roma”
pulled in a total of 10 nomina-
tions.
The moral: Oscar voters,
including all those new interna-
tional members, are (maybe) just a
bit more aware that they can
reward movies from all over the
world across their ballots.
Which is why when I was at
the Toronto International Film
Festival last month, standing in a
mile-long line for “Parasite” on
the Ryerson University campus,
pot smoke wafting through the air
(“bong” jokes were in generous
supply), it wasn’t hard to imagine
the momentum for this movie
continuing for months. It didn’t
take a contact high to believe that
“Parasite” could earn nominations
for picture, director, original
screenplay, cinematography, film
editing and international feature.
Of course, “Parasite” could be
nominated in all these categories
and not win any of them, includ-
ing the most obvious one, where
it likely will compete against
Pedro Almodóvar’s sublime “Pain
and Glory,” an achingly beautiful
movie that also should be nomi-
nated for best picture.
But for all its virtues, “Pain
and Glory” lacks one crucial thing
— its own beer. The mere exist-
ence of Bong Joon-hops, created
by L.A.’s own Boomtown
Brewery, points to the passion
that “Parasite” produces among its
fans, a base that straddles cine-
astes and the kind of weirdo genre
enthusiasts who frequent the
Alamo Drafthouse and consider
“Idiocracy” to be the most impor-
tant movie of the 21st century.
The beauty of the tribute isn’t
lost on Bong. Alamo Drafthouse’s
beer director, John Gross, pre-
sented the filmmaker with a glass
when “Parasite” screened last
month at Fantastic Fest, the annu-
al genre film festival held in
Austin, Texas. Before Gross could
ask if he liked beer, Bong had
already downed the contents
(love those notes of peach flavor!)
and asked for another.
Will we be lifting a glass in the
movie’s honor after the Oscars in
February? Yes! Absolutely. Right
now, I’m singing along with Nina
Simone. It’s a new dawn. It’s a
new life. It’s a new day. And I’m
feeling good. It’s not going to last
... but I’m feeling good.