Following a traditional playbook, the movies contending for the best picture Oscar sometimes attempt to justify their worth through an appeal to historical importance.
But this year, things have taken a more personal turn, with stories that come from the heart.In Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” for example, the director’s intimate connection to the story of his childhood in a suburb of Mexico City, told through the eyes of his family’s maid, is palpable in every frame.
“A Star Is Born” adapts an old, familiar Hollywood property, but director Bradley Cooper has said he mined “the deepest parts of myself” to tell a story about fame, addiction and broken relationships.Other films are passion projects for their directors: Barry Jenkins has long wanted to bring James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk” to the screen, while Adam McKay continues his incisive social commentary with “Vice,” examining Dick Cheney’s rise to power.
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