The funny thing about Oscar-winning movies - Fiona Duff

Frances McDormand as Fern in the Oscar-winning Nomadland

You would think I should have learnt by now. Films that win the Oscar for best film are generally pretty rubbish, at least to my uneducated eye.

On Tuesday, for the first time in about 15 months, I went to the cinema with friends. I cannot begin to say how excited we were. The auditorium was not even a third full what with all the social distancing malarkey, but we settled down to watch Nomadland I had heard some film buff on 5 Live talking about how this simply had to be seen on a big screen so that is why we chose to see it for this outing.

However, it was a bit meugh to be honest. Of course Frances McDormand was brilliant, although quite why we had to see her peeing in a field is beyond me. The scenery was amazing, music really lovely but it sort of went nowhere and was a bit repetitive at times. And seemed to go on for a long time - although only 100 minutes according to my watch.

I had gone with a friend to see Parasite, which won in 2019 and we couldn’t really see what the fuss was about. Later we went to check out the French film Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, released in the same year, and both decided it was a far superior film. Indeed I would go as far as to say that it is probably one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.

The other Oscar winning films which have been bored me witless are too many to mention here, but there has been a heck of a lot of my pocket money wasted going to check them out. And why are so many of them so depressing?

So on leaving the cinema we four made a pact. We need to find a comedy to go to view next time; something that the critics have hated and is unlikely to have even a wink at an Oscar. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.